Deep In Death: A Shelby Nichols Adventure

  Her shoulders dropped and she sat back in her chair. “I guess so.”

  “Good. I’ll be happy to help with Grayson Sharp. In fact, I think I picked up on something about him.” I lied.

  She straightened, her eyes wide and alert. “What was it?”

  Since I wanted to keep her mind off Manetto, I had to make something up and hope it made sense. “I’m not exactly sure. I just got a lot of images of the Attorney General’s office door and someone holding a bag of cash. I didn’t see a face, so it could be anyone who works there. Anyway, whoever it was placed the bag full of cash on a conveyor belt, like those you see at the airport, and it disappeared into a tunnel.”

  Billie stared at me, wondering if I was making this up or if it was real.

  “A lot of times my premonitions are symbolic…like clues, and I have to figure them out,” I explained. “So in this case, I think it’s pretty evident that Grayson Sharp is getting cash from somewhere and it’s disappearing. That tells me you should concentrate on him and his cash flow.”

  “All right. I’ll concentrate on Grayson Sharp and see if I can get an interview with him or someone from his office. Do you think you could come with me if I do?”

  “Sure. In fact, talking with someone would really help me out.”

  “Great.” She checked her watch. “Well, I’d better get going.”

  “Yeah, me too, and thanks for understanding about Manetto.”

  She twisted her lips and nodded. “I look forward to hearing your story.”

  “It’s not a story…it’s just something I’ve heard.”

  This time she smiled, thinking that was a vague answer, but it didn’t deter her. Nope. She knew a story was behind it, and since she was good at finding things out, she knew she’d get it out of me at some point. “Fine,” she said. I’ll keep in touch.”

  “Okay.” I grabbed my cookie and walked out the door with her. After another wave, I got in my car and sighed. Why had I thought eating lunch with her would be good for me? If anything, I felt even worse. How had I promised I’d explain what I knew about Uncle Joey? This was terrible. But at least now I had time to figure out a story to tell her, so maybe it wasn’t so bad. Frustrated, I leaned my forehead against the steering wheel and sighed. My first day back on the job had turned into a doozy, and right now I wished I’d stayed in bed.

  When I got home I decided to forget about Billie, Uncle Joey, and Kate, and concentrate on my case. I changed into comfy clothes and grabbed a diet soda, then took Darcy Shaw’s file into the den and borrowed one of Chris’ legal pads to write down anything that might help me keep my facts straight.

  The photo of her happy smiling face and the realization of how closely she resembled her daughter opened a flood of determination in me. I wanted…no…needed to solve this case. Someone had kidnapped this woman, and I felt in my heart she was dead. It wasn’t right. Someone needed to speak for Darcy, and if I didn’t do it, who would?

  I spent the next hour jotting down facts about the case, and the more I learned, the closer I felt to this woman. It sent a little shock through me to realize she was only a few years older than me on the day she disappeared. She had blond hair and blue eyes just like me, and at the time of her disappearance, had a couple of teenage kids at home. Her husband, though not a lawyer, was a respected architect with a great firm.

  She had just started a new job too, working for a financial investment company. That’s where the similarities stopped. She was a wiz at math and that was one of the reasons she’d been hired. The company made investments and drew up portfolios as financial planners for their customers. She’d only worked there for two months before she disappeared.

  I looked up the company on the Internet and breathed a sigh of relief to find them still going strong. I didn’t know if working there had anything to do with her disappearance, but something told me it was a good place to start. From the notes in the file, I found out the name of her boss, and called the company to make an appointment with him. Lucky for me, he still worked there.

  With a little maneuvering, I managed to talk his secretary into letting me take five minutes of his time first thing in the morning. I told her I was a private investigator hired by the police to look into Darcy Shaw’s death. It was the truth, though not exactly for this case. But since it was for a good cause, I only felt a little guilty.

  I also found the phone number of the detective assigned to the case. His name was Geoff Parker and he’d just retired last year. He answered his phone, and I quickly explained who I was. “Oh yeah,” he said. “I remember that case. I always felt bad that we never figured out what happened to her, especially when she had those two kids, you know?”

  “Yeah, I’ll bet. Is there a time I could meet with you and we could go over the case?”

  “I’m not sure there’s much more I can tell you, but we can meet.”

  “Great. How about tomorrow morning? Say around nine or nine-thirty?”

  “Hmm…yeah,” he said. “That should be fine. The wife and I are canning tomatoes tomorrow, but you can come over and talk while we work…if that’s okay with you.”

  “You bet.” He gave me his address and we disconnected.

  If I did this right, by the time I talked to him, I’d have more information about the financial company where she worked. After talking to her boss, I also planned on visiting anyone else there who may have worked with her.

  Including Darcy’s co-workers and Geoff Parker, the next person on my list was Tiffany’s father. I wasn’t real comfortable calling him since I knew Tiffany wasn’t sure she wanted him to know she’d hired me, but if I was going to do this investigation right, I had to talk to him. Maybe if Tiffany called him to break the news first, it wouldn’t be so bad. I quickly called her and explained that I needed to interview her father.

  “Yeah,” she said. “I figured you would, so I called him right after you left and told him all about it.”

  “How did he react to the news?”

  “Um…a little surprised at first, but then he was fine with it. Why?”

  From her defensive tone, I got the impression she was worried I thought he did it, so I hurried to explain. “I just wondered if he would be okay talking to me, that’s all.”

  “Oh…I’m sure he’ll be fine. Let me give you his cell number. You can call him right now if you like.” She rattled off his phone number and, after thanking me again, disconnected.

  I put the call through and waited for him to pick up. “Hello Mr. Shaw? This is Shelby Nichols. Your daughter hired me to look into her mother’s disappearance and I wondered if I could come by for a chat.”

  He hesitated before answering. “Um…okay, I guess that would be fine. I’m just…Tiffany just told me about this today so I’m a little surprised. I had no idea she was even thinking of hiring someone, but I guess that’s my fault. We haven’t talked much lately…at least since I got married and she moved out. She told you I remarried, didn’t she?”

  “Yes, she did.”

  He sighed. “There are some things she doesn’t know, and I’d like to keep it that way if I can. You see, I hired a private investigator myself after the police came up empty-handed. I never told the kids because I didn’t want to get their hopes up. You’re welcome to the files he gave me, but I don’t think there’s a lot more you can do, and I’d appreciate it if you’d drop the case after that. I hate to see Tiffany waste her hard-earned money chasing smoke. She needs to concentrate on something happy…like her upcoming wedding. Believe me, I did everything I could to find Darcy, and after all this time, I don’t think it’s worth the time or money to go digging into this. There’s nothing to find. If there was, I would have found it.”

  “I understand, Mr. Shaw, and I don’t plan on dragging this out. When can I meet you?”

  “I’ve kept the files here at my office. You can stop by anytime tomorrow if you’d like.”

  He gave me the address and my breath caught. “That’s the sa
me building complex where Darcy worked. I’ve got an appointment tomorrow morning to meet with her boss.”

  “Yeah…well, we thought it was perfect too, since we could drive to work together. You don’t know how many times I wished she’d never taken that job.”

  “I’m sure…well then…I’ll stop by sometime in the morning, probably between eight-thirty and nine.”

  I set the phone down and wondered what I’d gotten into. There was always more to the story, and it looked like I was about to find out what it was. I sure hoped it would lead me to the truth. I glanced at Darcy’s picture once more, then closed the file and put it back in my bag.

  As I left the room to get dinner started and talk to my kids about their day, I caught a faint whiff of gardenias. I glanced over my shoulder, but the scent had disappeared, and I wondered if it had been there for real, or if it was just a figment of my imagination.

  ***

  Later that night, I told Chris about my day while we were getting ready for bed. He was interested in the missing person’s case, mostly because he didn’t think it was dangerous, and after telling him all about it, I didn’t know if I should let on that I’d been to see Uncle Joey. I knew Chris would be happy Uncle Joey didn’t want me involved in his latest case, and since it was risky, it was probably best not to tell him anything, especially since I might still help Uncle Joey out, and I didn’t want Chris to wonder about my sanity.

  I told him about my visit to the police station instead, and the fact that I’d solved a murder right off the bat brought a burst of pride from him. “Wow. That’s awesome! I’ll bet Bates didn’t like that much. What did he do?” I related the story, and after I got done, Chris pulled me to his side and we snuggled together. He was thinking this sure beat hearing about my escapades with Manetto, and he was grateful he’d had that chat with him. And as long as he kept his end of the bargain, I was out of Manetto’s grasp.

  “What?” I asked, pulling away. “What do you mean by that? What did you and Uncle Joey agree to?”

  Chris inwardly cursed that he’d let his guard down and I’d caught him. That wasn’t supposed to happen. He tried to cover it with a short response. “I already told you.”

  “Apparently not everything. Come on…spit it out.”

  He rose up on one elbow and caught my gaze with narrowed eyes, thinking I might be sorry I asked.

  “Why would I be sorry? What did you do? Did you make a deal with him?”

  Chris kept his mind blank, but I still picked up the underlying alarm that I wasn’t supposed to know anything about it. “Of course not,” he ground out, but I knew a lie when I saw one.

  “You did too.” How had this happened? How did I not know about it? “What was the deal?”

  He flopped back down on his back and let out a sigh. “I’m not at liberty to say.”

  “Oh come on! You have to tell me,” I begged. Chris didn’t respond and his thoughts closed up tight, so I pulled out the big guns. “Uncle Joey called me and I went to see him today.”

  “What?” He jerked upright. “He called you? He’s not supposed to do that.”

  “Yeah, well…I guess you’re wrong about that. So what did you promise him? You might as well tell me now.”

  He huffed out a breath and pursed his lips in anger. “I told him I’d personally see to the cases he has with our firm…basically that I’d take Kate’s intended spot and represent his ‘clients.’ In return for that, he was supposed leave you alone. I can’t believe he reneged on that.” He called Uncle Joey all kinds of names in his mind, which kind of defeated the purpose since I could hear him. Finally running out of steam, he banged his head against the backboard a couple of times. “What did he want?”

  “Um…well, now that I think about it, his call wasn’t really for him. It was for Kate.”

  “Huh? Kate’s in Seattle, isn’t she?”

  “So maybe he kept his word after all.”

  “Shelby…” he growled. “What’s going on?”

  “Okay…okay.” I scooted up in bed to sit beside him. Now that I knew Uncle Joey had Chris working for him, I could understand the satisfaction I’d picked up from his mind earlier. “Uncle Joey asked me to come into the office, and when I got there, Kate was there. She’s having some kind of trouble with a partner or something, and she needs me to listen to him so she’ll know if he’s lying. I told her I’d do it for five hundred dollars…and she agreed. So, tomorrow I’m going to lunch with her and her partner. See? So Uncle Joey hasn’t reneged at all.”

  Chris couldn’t believe I was defending Manetto. What about him and everything he’d done for me? Defending Manetto’s clients wasn’t a picnic, even though it had only been one so far, but still. He quickly shuttered his thoughts and closed his eyes not wanting to get into more trouble, but not before I picked up his frustration with me and my damn mind-reading ability. The underlying conflict that I could read his thoughts had never gone away. It was the source of most of our frustration with each other, and tonight was worse than it had been in a long while.

  “I wish I’d known about your bargain,” I said, equally upset with him.

  “Yeah, well…I probably should have told you.”

  “Yes.” I sighed and tried to look at it from his point of view. “But you were afraid I’d get upset, and you were probably right. Look, I’m sorry you had to do that.” I leaned against him with my head on his shoulder to let him know I wasn’t too mad, and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in tight. “Thanks for trying to keep me safe, honey. That was really sweet.”

  He was thinking, Trying? Sweet? I’m working for Manetto and that’s the best you can do?

  “Okay… keeping me safe. That’s so…macho. Is that better?”

  Exasperated, he let out a groan and pulled me down to lie flat underneath him. He was ready to strangle me, but instead began to nuzzle my neck and then my ear before trailing kisses across my cheek to my lips. Kissing me deeply, his frustration turned into passion which fed my own, and soon the only thought in my mind was that if this was how all our arguments ended, I didn’t mind in the least.

  ***

  The next morning I woke up happy, the warm glow of knowing my man had gone out on a limb for me filled me with contentment. Taking on Uncle Joey’s clients was no small act on Chris’ part, and even though I wasn’t sure he should have done that, I knew he’d done it for me, and I felt cherished and loved. I also knew I’d have to confront Uncle Joey and tell him to back off, or at least work out a compromise of some kind. Of course, now that he didn’t want me involved in his current situation, maybe I should just leave it alone.

  Since everyone in the house had to leave home about the same time, it was a mad rush to get out the door. My kids knew I was working on a new case, but I’d told them it was about someone who’d been missing for six years and presumed dead.

  That made both of them feel better. Savannah was especially glad, since she didn’t quite trust that I could stay out of trouble. She could never understand how that happened since I had ‘premonitions’ and should know if something bad might happen to me. I could see what she meant, and I couldn’t help the twinge of guilt that twisted my stomach for what I’d put my kids through.

  Getting shot…for the second time if I counted the grocery store, had that effect. Someday, I might have to tell her the truth about reading minds, but every time I thought about it, I knew I couldn’t do it. I mean…seriously? If I knew my mom could read my mind?? I’d want to die. So there was no way I could tell my kids. I’d just have to keep it at premonitions and hope for the best.

  I made it to the financial office just after eight and hurried inside. I introduced myself to the secretary and asked her a few questions before my appointment with her boss. “So, were you here when Darcy Shaw went missing?”

  “Oh my…yes,” she said. “That was one of the worst things that ever happened here. I’d only been here a few months myself when she disappeared, and I can’t tell you how s
cared I was that it could happen to me. That’s when they hired extra security to make sure if anyone stayed late they got to their cars okay.”

  “Did it happen often that people stayed late?”

  “Oh yes, all the time,” she said. “Most of our clients come at the end of the day so there’s usually someone here until at least seven at night.”

  “That’s interesting. In the police report, it says she left home around seven-thirty to drop something off. Do you know what it was?”

  She shrugged. “I’d imagine it was some paperwork for one of the financial planners. She was always crunching numbers for them, so it must have been something they needed for a client. At least that’s all I can think of.” She was thinking that the only financial planner Darcy could have been helping was Kent, and he’d been devastated when he found out she’d disappeared, so she never thought anything of it. But what if…no, she refused to think he had anything to do with it. He was kind of a jerk though.

  “Is Kent here today?” I asked.

  “Y…es,” she stammered, thinking that was weird, she’d never mentioned his name. “He’s in his office.”

  “Great. Do you think he’d mind if I asked him a couple of questions?”

  “I’m sure he’d help if he’s not with a client,” she said. But she was thinking he wouldn’t like it at all, and worried she’d get in trouble if I barged in on him. Getting yelled at by Kent was never a fun experience. One she tried to avoid at all costs. On second thought, maybe she’d better tell me to make an appointment.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “I’ll talk to your boss first. He’s the one I’m here to see. I’ll have him show me where Kent’s office is when we’re done.”

  “That would actually be really great. I’ll let Todd know you’re here.”

  “Thanks,” I answered. She picked up the phone and soon ushered me toward the big boss’ door. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the view. His desk was nicely situated on the left side of the room instead of centered in the middle. From here he could look out the big windows and see the lush, green golf course and the park with a playground on the other side of the buildings.