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Chapter
35
Wally
awoke to find the bed beside him empty. Carol had slipped out sometime in the
night. He trudged to the bathroom and turned on the shower. He didn’t feel like
working today, but he knew he needed to make up for the appointments he’d
missed this week. He turned the faucet
on in the sink and threw cold water on his face. As he reached for a towel, he
noticed that he’d lost more hair. Wiping his face, he bent over and visually
inspected the wisps of hair that remained. In his thirties and almost bald, he
wondered what else he’d lose in the coming years. Throwing the towel on the
counter, he stepped in the shower and let the water bounce off his head. It had
been wonderful last night with Carol; it still didn’t fill the void he felt
inside. Maybe it was time to find a job in another city. Start a new life and
get away from…his past? Sam?
He
dried off and walked back into the bedroom. The clock told him he’d overslept
and was already late for his nine o’clock appointment. He picked up his phone
on the bedside table and searched through his directory until he found the
number. He changed the appointment time for the afternoon. The text message
popped up when he threw the phone on the bed.
Mrs. K wanted to talk to him sometime today, so he quickly texted back
that he would be available at eleven o’clock for an hour. That didn’t give him much time to make his
ten o’clock and get to Brookside.
He
quickly dressed, and twenty minutes later pulled up to a small brick building
on the west side of the River Market. Many of the old buildings had been turned
into lofts. This building was nestled between two five-story brick buildings.
The new owner was renovating the smaller building as a small urban market
similar to what you see in larger cities like New York. He would stock
necessities, beer, sandwiches and a few tables where people could sit down and
eat. It wasn’t the first of its kind in Kansas City or in the River Market
area, but most no longer remained. Wally checked his phone for the new
proprietor’s name before entering the open door. Wally nodded at the workman
installing a counter at the entrance where you could order and pay for items.
“Chase Daniels around?” he asked the workman.
The
workman motioned toward the back of the store where a couple of men were
attaching a rail to the shelves that spanned half the length of the store. A
ladder sat on its side on the floor and would attach to the rail to reach items
on the higher shelves.
“Chase
Daniels?”
“Out
back on the deck,” said the man holding the rail in place so the other could
drive in the bolts to hold it in place. “Hey Chase! Someone’s here to see you.”
“Thanks.”
Wally
wound around the scaffolding and out the backdoor onto a small deck with tables
and chairs to find a man, not much older than himself, applying waterproofing
to the bare wood with a lawn sprayer.
“You
Chase Daniels?”
The
man set the sprayer down and wiped at the sweat on his head.
“You Wally Sikes?”
“Yeah.
Good to meet you.”
The
two men shook hands and Daniels motioned for Wally to take a chair at one of
the tables.
“Glad
you could make it. I’ll be open in less than a month.”
Wally
shifted in his chair to get comfortable. He thought if someone had to sit in
this chair very long, they had to be a masochist.
“How
can I help you? I don’t work with storefronts. My line is supplying house wines
to bars and restaurants.”
“Your
wine is produced locally?”
“Yeah,
from local wineries. But like I said, I don’t do storefronts. I’m not like a
distributor. I represent local wineries that mainly provide wine to restaurants
and a few bars.”
Daniels
waved his hand at the deck.
“This
is my beer garden. I want to serve only local wines and craft beer.” Wally’s
puzzled looked prompted Daniels to explain.
“I
want to be able to not only serve wine, I want to sell bottles of local wine.”
“Where
will you store it?” Wally asked.
“I’m
building some shelves for the wine in the basement. Can you help me?”
Wally
stood up and gave Daniels his card.
“You
give me an idea of what you need—on paper, and I’ll see what I can do. You’ve
got a good location here for the locals, but you’re not going to get much foot
traffic.”
“I
don’t want the foot traffic. I want the local neighborhood business and the
weekend market crowd.”
They
shook hands and Daniels led the way through the shop to the front door. Wally
took one last look at the shop.
“You
were lucky to find this building.”
“My
mother found it for me. She was in banking so she was privy to information that
others didn’t have.”
“She
did all right. You said she was in banking. What does she do now?”
Daniels
became troubled.
“What
do you mean?”
“Nothing,
man. You said she WAS in banking, so I thought she might have retired.”
Chase
Daniels stuffed his hands in his pocket and averted his gaze to the sidewalk.
“She’s
been missing for about six months.”
“What
was her name?” Wally asked.
“Constance
Daniels. You may have seen it on television. She left home one afternoon and
never returned.”
Daniels
looked up and extended his hand.
“I
vaguely remember something about it. Didn’t they find her car in a parking
garage?” Wally asked.
“Yeah.
No signs of a struggle, nothing…” Chase Daniel’s voice trailed off.
“Sorry
about that,” Wally said shaking Daniels’ hand. “I’ll be in touch.”
As
Wally got in his car to drive to Mrs. K’s condo, the name Constance Daniels
tugged at him. The name sounded very familiar. He wanted to ask Daniels more
about his mother, but it was obvious that Daniels didn’t want to talk about it.
***
Olivia
sat hunched over her iPad while Samantha stood at the sink making tuna salad
sandwiches Samantha looked up as a knock sounded at the door.
“That’s
Wally,” Olivia said. “Will you answer it, please?”
“I’ve
got my hands in this tuna fish,” Samantha said with her back to Olivia. “Would
you get it?”
Olivia
heaved her body out of the chair, cast a disgruntled look at Samantha’s back
and wondered if Samantha could feel the daggers. There had been other times
when Samantha and Wally didn’t agree. This time was different. For one, she
knew that Samantha was keeping something from her. Eventually, it would spill
out of her like water cresting a dam, but for now, Samantha was keeping it
inside. Something happened yesterday between Wally and Samantha to chill the
atmosphere.
“Hi,
Mrs. K.”
Wally
lumbered into the living room. Olivia tucked her arm in his.
“Let’s
go into the kitchen,” she said.
Samantha
kept her back to them when they entered the kitchen.
“Wally’s
here,” Olivia said.
“Hi,
Wally,” Samantha mumbled.
“Hi, Sam.”
Samantha
turned around with a dull expression on her face. She leaned back against the
counter and folded her arms across her chest.
“Why
don’t you show mother that interesting picture on your cell phone.”
“Sam...”
Olivia
stepped in-between Wally and Samantha with her arms raised.
“Wait
a second! I don’t know what’s going on with you two, and I don’t care. Throw
knives at each other when I’m not around.”
“You
don’t know—”
“I
don’t care!” Olivia snapped. “Wally, go sit down at the table and tell me what
you found out about Vickie Taylor. Samantha finish the damn sandwiches and keep
your mouth shut.”
Samantha
pouted over the tuna fish while Wally sat down at the table with his back to
her. He didn’t want to see or talk to her right now. Olivia sat down in front
of the iPad, and he told her what little he knew. Olivia mulled over the
information in front of her.
“Vickie
is the unknown factor,” she said. “I know she fits in. I just don’t know how.”
Wally
turned the iPad around so he could see the table of the four women. His eyes
gravitated to the name Constance.
“Who
is this woman?” he asked.
Olivia
picked up one of the loose papers on the table.
“Constance
Daniels. She disappeared around six months ago. She was a banker. Son said she
had been dating a younger man name Michael Hayworth. Mr. Hayworth was never
found. The police believe it was someone using an alias.”
“Her
son is Chase Daniels. I met him today.”
Chapter
36
After
Wally shared his information, Olivia told him what they’d learned about
Patricia Wilson and shared her chart with him.
“These
are the names that Sam culled from online?” he asked.
“That’s
correct,” Olivia said. “As I compare what we have learned in a short time, the
three women had a lot in common. I added Vickie because I still believe she is
involved. In fact, she appeared to me again earlier this morning.”
Wally
looked up from the iPad screen with eyebrows arched.
“And?”
“She
led me to a dead body stuffed in a dumpster.”
Wally
rubbed his face with his hands.
“My
God, this is getting so out of control. You went this morning to this dumpster
that Vickie showed you?” he asked.
Olivia
explained how Samantha and she had gone to the small South Lake subdivision and
found a hand sticking out of a plastic bag, their encounter with Olivia Brandon
and calling the hotline.
“Was
it Patricia Wilson?” Wally asked.
Olivia
checked her watch.
“The
noon news is coming on. Why don’t we go into the living room and watch?”
“Can
you print off your chart?” Wally asked.
“Sure.
I’ll print it off. Why don’t you and Samantha go into the living room? We’ll
eat after the news is over. I’ll bring the printout into the living room.”
Samantha
snapped a lid on the Tupperware and set it on the table as Wally started to get
up. Wally bumped her, sending the tuna fish flying in the air. Both reached for
it, but it was too late. It bounced off the floor and rolled around in a
circle.
“Watch
where you’re going, Wally,” Samantha shouted.
Wally
started to say something, thought about it for a second and picked up the
errant bowl instead. He calmly placed it on the table, smiled at Samantha and
left the kitchen. Wally sat down on the sofa while Samantha found the remote. A
newscaster popped up on the screen with a piece of paper in her hand.
“This
just in to our newsroom. It appears that the police are investigating a tip
from the Tips Hotline. Sources tell us that the tipster actually said it was
the body of Patricia Wilson.”
The screen
changed to an aerial view of the dumpster with the lights from police cars and
an ambulance flashing. Olivia walked in at that moment and sat down in her
recliner. Samantha backed away from the television, and sat down on the sofa
beside Wally. They snuck a quick glance at each other and returned to the
television.
“You
now see an exclusive shot of the possible crime scene from our helicopter and
let’s hear from Billy Waite, our reporter on the scene. Billy, can you tell us
what is going on down there?”
“Well,
Cynthia, it appears that the police have emptied the dumpster and they did find
a body stuck in a large plastic trash bag. At this time, there has been no
identification of the body to be Patricia Wilson. They’ve taken the body out of
the dumpster and transported it to the ambulance. Back to you in the studio,
Cynthia.”
The
newscaster was handed another piece of paper.
“Our
sources tell us that they believe that the person who called in the tip to the
hotline is the same person who called in yesterday about Vickie Taylor. The
police stated they could not make any statement at this time when asked whether
indeed it was the same person. Be sure to watch the five o’clock news for the
latest developments on this story.”
Samantha
clicked off the television. They sat silently for a second until Wally suddenly
turned to Olivia.
“Did
you give Cora Brandon your name?” he asked.
Olivia
had a troubled look on her face.
“Yes I
did. That was stupid of me.”
“I
told you, Mother!”
“Ms.
Brandon can give your name to the police.”
Olivia’s
hand flew to her mouth.
“Mother,
you gave her both of our names. It won’t be that hard for the police to find
us.”
Wally
leaned forward and folded his hands.
“Sam’s
right. What are you going to do if the police knock on your door?”
Olivia
didn't know what to say. Samantha rushed to kneel in front of Olivia. Olivia
held Samantha’s hands.
“What
are we going to do, Mother?”
“I
don’t know,” she said. “I don’t know whether we can do anything right now but
wait.”
“What
will you tell the police?” Samantha asked.
“Tell
them the truth.”
Samantha
stood up and held her mother by the shoulders.
“You
can’t do that,” she said. “No one is going to believe you, especially the
police.”
“She’s
right, Mrs. K. Your accuracy is scary.”
“I don’t know what else I can do,” Olivia said
grasping Samantha’s wrists. “Vickie is the accurate one, not me.”
Samantha turned to Wally.
“Wally, think of something.”
Wally saw the pain in Samantha’s face and wished that he
could come up with some miracle that would make everything all right. He
couldn’t.
“Let me see the printout, Mrs. K.” Olivia handed him the
paper, and Wally stared forever at the names, waiting for an answer to pop out
and hit him in the face. Suddenly, he hit the paper with the back of his hand. “We
do have some commonalities that jump out at you. All of them were in some type
of finance.”
Olivia let go of Samantha and moved to sit beside Wally.
Becky
|
Gladys
|
Constance
|
Patricia
|
Vickie
|
|
Married
|
No
|
No
|
Divorced
|
No
|
Yes
|
Children
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
Successful
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Therapy
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Online Dating
|
Yes
|
?
|
?
|
Yes
|
No
|
Missing
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Lonely
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
No
|
Younger Man
|
Yes
|
?
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
No
|
Business
|
Sales
|
Finance
|
Banking
|
Real
Estate
|
Finance
|
“How so? Patricia Wilson was in real estate.”
“Which involves bankers, etc.”
“The other thing I noticed from our information from the
net is that they were all lonely and talking frequently with people online.” Wally
glanced up at Samantha. Could she see the guilty look on his face? “Three of
them dated younger men, too.”
Olivia pointed to the chart.
“And all of them used an online dating site.”
Wally traced his finger across the chart.
“I don’t think that is farfetched. So many other things
are starting to match up. It makes sense.”
Samantha snapped her fingers and pointed at her mother.
“Fish in the Sea!”
Olivia agreed.
“You’re right. They all probably had online accounts.”
“What was the name of that investment firm Vickie Taylor
worked for?” Wally asked.
“Hogue Investments,” Olivia answered.
“I looked them up on the Internet. They have only one
page with a banner stating they are taking no new clients at the moment.”
“That’s strange,” Wally said, avoiding Samantha. “Carol
Miller told me that Vickie hinted she felt Hogue Investments was using her as a
front.”
“In what way?” Olivia asked.
“Didn’t say and I don’t think that Carol thought Vickie
knew at the time.”
“So we need to find out more about Hogue Investments,” Samantha
squealed.
“Would your friend, Carol, know anything about Hogue
Investments? ”Olivia asked.
Wally could feel Samantha’s eyes drilling holes in him.
Why did she care? Why is she getting so upset? Maybe this rape thing has thrown
everything in her life off kilter. He
had to quit feeling guilty about Carol.
“I don’t think so. She just mentioned they don’t have
much of a reputation.” Samantha’s cell phone chimed. Her shoulders fell as she
read the screen.
“I forgot that I have an appointment in thirty minutes.
Mother, may I borrow some clothes from you?”
“If you think they’ll fit. You could wear that red
outfit you wore last night.”
Samantha stared at her mother in disbelief.
“You wore the red outfit to meet Phil Underwood?” Wally
asked incredulously.
Samantha avoided eye contact with Wally.
“I have to get ready.”
Wally watched Samantha run out of the room.
“She wore the red outfit,” he whispered.
Olivia saw Wally’s hurt expression.
“Forget it. I shouldn’t have said anything. Sometimes
mothers and daughters snip at each other. I was wrong to do that, Wally.”
“I can’t believe she wore that dress,” he muttered.
“It doesn’t matter what we think or believe. She’s a
grown woman, and only she is responsible for her actions.”
Wally got up from
the sofa.
“Well, I have an appointment, too. I’m going to ask
around and see whether I can find out anything about Hogue Investments.”
“Good idea. I think I’m going to see what I can find out
about Fish in the Sea.”
Wally got a big grin on his face.
“Be careful Mrs. K. Next thing we’ll see is you being
squired by some younger man.”
Olivia stood up and threw her arms around Wally.
“I don’t think so, Wally.”
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