Once Upon a Disaster

by Holly Copella

  “Can you just find something and leave it there?” Cody remarked.

  “There’s nothing on,” Bernard balked.

  Cody groaned and put his hand over his eyes. “You’re worse than a two-year-old.”

  There was a knock on the door, alerting Bernard. Cody motioned for him to relax then stood and approached the door. He peered through the peek hole then unlocked and opened the door. A police officer in his late thirties stood rigid in the doorway and stared at Cody with a stern look.

  “I’d like to talk to you about anything you may have heard next door,” the officer announced firmly. “May I come in?”

  Cody stepped away from the door. As the officer entered, he shut the door behind him. The officer turned to face Cody then frowned and shook his head.

  “We’ve got a problem,” Officer Newman announced.

  Cody’s eyes narrowed. “What sort of problem?”

  Officer Newman removed a cell phone from his pocket. “I saw traces of blood outside the linen closet,” he announced. “When I searched the closet, I found this inside a cart of dirty linen.” He pressed a button and showed him the last text message sent. The rushed text message from Russ said, “I’m innocent. Carmichael framed me. Important information on flash drive in desk. Take to FBI. Police on mob payroll. Trust no one!”

  Cody suddenly sneered then slammed his palm against the nearby wall table. “Who did he send it to?”

  “We’re not sure,” Officer Newman replied. “I’m having one of our guys at the station check into it. We should have a name in a few hours.”

  “It’s obviously someone at the office,” Cody informed him. “He must have accessed some incriminating information from Carmichael’s computer and downloaded it onto a flash drive. Whoever received this message may already have found the flash drive.”

  “We searched the office last night and his house this morning when we nabbed his wife,” Officer Newman informed him. “We didn’t find any flash drive.”

  “Obviously there’s one out there somewhere. We need to know who he sent this to,” Cody demanded. “Find out now!”

  §

  A man in his early thirties dressed in a poor man’s business suit entered the accounting office a little before three o’clock in the afternoon. His raggedy tan trench coat immediately brought to mind a bumbling television detective. He approached the front desk and flashed his badge.

  “I’m Detective Miller with homicide,” he announced in a moderately gruff tone. “Is the owner available? I’d like to ask some questions about one of your employees.”

  For a man of his age, Detective Miller looked hardened and not particularly friendly. He kept his light, curly brown hair short and neat. He stood a tick below average but had a stocky build that made him seem bigger than his actual height.

  “Russ?” the receptionist immediately gasped.

  “News travels fast,” Miller muttered then looked around. “I’d also like to look around his office, if no one has any objections.”

  “Josh and Mandy are in the breakroom with the rest of the staff,” the receptionist informed him sadly. “It’s been a stressful afternoon on all of us.”

  “I’m sure it has,” Detective Miller replied, seeming to lack compassion, although he was dealing with a double homicide-suicide. At least the perpetrator taking a swan dive from the rooftop closed his case in a hurry.

  “I’ll show you to the breakroom,” the receptionist announced while standing. It was obvious she didn’t like the young detective already. “I don’t think they’d have any objections if you wanted to look around Russ’ office, but you’ll have to ask them about that.”

  As Detective Miller followed the receptionist down the corridor, Amanda stood within her office doorway, her arms folded insecurely across her chest, as she watched him pass. She was obviously conflicted about the contents of the flash drive. The text from Russ said not to trust the police. He specifically instructed her to give it to the FBI. She watched the detective pass with mild suspicion. Which police officers were working for the Mafia? How many of them couldn’t be trusted? She shivered at the thought.

  Chapter Four

  It was nearly four o’clock that afternoon, and the office would be closing in another two hours. Josh and Mandy excused the employees who wanted to leave early due to the devastating news. Functioning as if everything were normal after what they’d learned was difficult. Amanda remained in her office and got very little done herself. She would have loved to leave early, but she always rode in with her sister and Josh. Her husband, being the wonderful man he was, offered to come and get her early if she wanted to go home under the circumstances, but she declined his offer. She needed time to think about her situation and the flash drive.

  Despite nothing unusual happening around the office, she felt uneasy almost as if she were being watched. It was ridiculous! The detective was gone after thoroughly searching Russ’ office, and no one else had arrived since then. The text was sent from someone else’s phone, which meant if Russ was telling the truth, anyone chasing him wouldn’t have known he’d contacted her.

  She spent much of the afternoon pacing her office since most of the employees had gone home, so there was no one around to see her subconscious pacing. Amanda turned and was startled to see a fifteen-year-old girl standing in the partially open doorway to her office. She jumped causing the girl to raise her brows with a curious look.

  “Jumpy today, Aunt Amanda?” the teenager remarked.

  Amanda stared at her teenage niece a moment with surprise. “Jade?” she practically gasped. “I thought you were away at spy camp.”

  Jade laughed at the comment. “Yeah, it’s not spy camp,” she remarked then groaned. “I wish it were. It’s so lame there. I thought it’d be like junior police training, but it’s more like cheerleading camp. I had to get away from all the games and campfires.”

  Jade had her mother and aunt’s girl-next-door beauty. She would grow into a beautiful, independent woman. Perhaps a little too independent.

  Amanda stared at the teen a moment longer, uncertain how to respond. “Jade, that camp is twenty miles from here,” she remarked. “How did you get here?”

  “It was only a two-hour hike through the woods,” Jade replied without care then shrugged. “I caught a bus once I reached the four corners.”

  “Do your parents know you slipped away from camp?” Amanda suddenly demanded and folded her arms across her chest. “They’re going to kill you if they find out.”

  “No, they don’t know,” Jade firmly replied then raised an arrogant brow. “I was hoping you’d be the understanding aunt and not tell them either.”

  Amanda groaned and sat on the edge of her desk. “So I’m just supposed to forget you popped into my office? Don’t you think Judy at the front desk will tell them?”

  “Nope,” Jade replied while grinning. “I slipped in the back entrance.”

  She eyed her young niece. “The back entrance? That door is locked.”

  “Yeah, code lock,” Jade replied. “You don’t think I know the code? Believe me; I don’t want to get caught skipping camp. My parents will freak.”

  “And you came to me just to implicate me in your crime?” Amanda remarked while smirking.

  “No, not exactly.”

  Amanda stared at Jade a moment then chuckled softly. “You need money.”

  “Bingo,” Jade chirped while hiding her smile. “Just enough to grab some dinner, catch a movie, and for the bus back to four corners. I’ll be back at the camp before dark.”

  Amanda straightened while groaning and headed for her purse, which was in the closet hanging beneath her favorite black, leather jacket. “And what about when the counselors ask where you’ve been all day?”

  “Nature walk,” Jade replied a little too eagerly while flashing a smile. “And it’ll be the truth.”

  Amanda rolled her eyes to keep from laughing. She removed some money from her wallet then stared at her leather
jacket a moment with her back to Jade.

  “So no one knows you’re here?” she reconfirmed.

  “No one but you,” Jade replied. “Don’t let me catch you squealing on me. I’ll have a badge one day, and I’m not beyond giving you a ticket.”

  Amanda removed the flash drive from the front of her shirt and stared at it a moment. She looked back at her jacket hanging in the closet.

  “I won’t tell a soul, just so you don’t tell on me either,” she replied without looking back at the young girl. “Make sure no one sees you leaving.”

  “Not a problem.”

  Amanda reached inside the inner pocket of her leather jacket and easily ripped the thin liner. She slipped the flash drive through the small rip, allowing it to fall between the liner and outer layer of the leather jacket. It would remain safely somewhere around the bottom of the jacket until she could later retrieve it. Amanda removed the jacket from the closet and turned to face Jade. She handed her forty dollars and the jacket.

  “Take the jacket,” she firmly insisted. “By the time you’re in the woods this evening, it’s going to be chilly.”

  Jade accepted the jacket but was more interested in the large amount of cash she was being handed.

  “Forty dollars?” Jade gasped with surprise then beamed at Amanda. “Thanks, Aunt Amanda.”

  “Just remember,” she warned. “No one can know you were here. If your parents find out you skipped out on camp, and I knew about it, they’ll never let me live it down.” Amanda then pointed a warning finger at her. “And I want my jacket back when you come home on the weekend. Don’t lose it. You know that’s my favorite jacket.”

  “I know. It was the first gift Uncle Rafael bought you when you were dating. I promise I won’t lose it,” she announced then happily hugged her aunt while grinning. “Thanks, Aunt Amanda.”

  Amanda returned the hug a little longer than necessary. She pulled away and somehow felt oddly uncomfortable while looking at the teenager.

  “I love you,” Amanda announced.

  Jade smiled at her aunt while slipping into the jacket. “I love you too, Aunt Amanda.”

  She watched the girl slip from her office then sat on the edge of the desk, deep in thought.

  Chapter Five

  Six o’clock finally arrived, and Amanda was happy to get out of the building. Mandy and Josh were chattering endlessly about the incident with Russ that afternoon. They didn’t stop from the time they left the building until they were driving in the car. Amanda remained silent and pre-occupied the entire time. She needed to find a safe location to call the FBI and have them secretly meet her somewhere to hand them the flash drive once she retrieved her jacket from Jade. Although their drive was only twenty minutes from the office to their homes on the outskirts of the small city, it felt like a lifetime in the car. Mandy glanced into the back seat and looked at her sister.

  “Didn’t you hear me?” Mandy asked.

  Amanda looked at Mandy with a clueless expression. “No, I’m sorry,” she replied, unable to shake her fears. “I must have been daydreaming.”

  Amanda glanced through the back window and noticed a black car the same color as theirs behind them. As they made a turn, she saw the car make the same turn. She knew she was being ridiculous. No one knew Russ sent her that text. No one could possibly know she found the flash drive. As they approached the winding road heading uphill, Amanda kept an eye on the car behind them. It seemed to be getting a little closer. Josh looked in his rearview mirror and must have been thinking the same thing. Amanda tensed in the seat. It was just a coincidence. They took the final curve and headed back down the hillside on a similar, winding road. The black car suddenly raced up behind them, causing Josh to shout out with frustration.

  “Idiot!”

  The car attempted to pass them on the winding back road, startling all three.

  “What the hell is he doing?” Mandy cried out. “He’s going to get someone killed!”

  The black car drove alongside their car and suddenly veered into their lane, ramming their car’s front end. The car swerved off the road and struck the guardrail. Josh attempted to brake while cursing out the driver. Mandy screamed while clinging to the door handle as she watched sparks fly from the metal guardrail scraping her side of the car.

  “Don’t stop!” Amanda cried out from the back seat. “He’s trying to force you off the road. It’s not an accident!”

  Whether Josh believed her or not, he took his foot off the brake and gave the car more gas. The aggressive car raced alongside them, attempting to get in front of them, while Josh tried to keep ahead of the evil driver. The car got alongside them and just a little past their front end before ramming into them with added vigor. Their car plowed through the metal guardrail and flew down the embankment several yards before crashing to the bottom. Despite their seatbelts and airbags, all three were jolted harshly within the car. Once the car came to a stop, Amanda opened her eyes and looked around with disorientation. The car was turned partially onto its side, although she was sure they had flipped several times. She could see Josh and Mandy in the front seat. Neither were moving, but she couldn’t tell if they were still breathing. Amanda frantically attempted to remove her seatbelt to check on her sister and brother-in-law, but it wouldn’t budge. To her surprise, the rear door was pulled open with a hideous creak of metal grinding metal. She looked at the man by the open car door and held back her startled gasp.

  Cody stood over her a moment then saw her purse on the floor by her feet. He grabbed her discarded bag, routed through it, and removed a flash drive. Amanda remained silent while staring at him. He offered a chilling grin then shut the car door. Amanda groaned softly and shut her eyes. She then heard a strange sound. As her eyes opened, she saw flames racing along the line of gas toward the car. Cody stood near the start of the flames, maintained his chilling grin, and then gave her a friendly sort of wave before heading back up the embankment. The car burst into flames. Amanda could be heard screaming from the backseat as the car was engulfed in fire. The car suddenly exploded.

  Chapter Six

  Rain poured down over the large group of mourners within the cemetery. There was a sea of black umbrellas surrounding Amanda’s shiny casket covered in a blanket of fresh flowers. The words of the reverend were barely heard above the pouring rain. A short, mousy looking man in his mid-thirties, wearing a new, black suit now soaked by the rain, stood before the grave without an umbrella. He stared at the flower-covered casket with a fixated, glossed over look in his eyes. Despite the attempts of others to help shield him with their umbrellas, Rafael Quinn was drenched. Jade stood on the other side of her aunt’s casket and stared at Rafael. It was hard to tell if she felt sorrow or pity for him. She found it difficult to take her eyes off him throughout the inaudible ceremony. His wife, Jade’s beloved Aunt Amanda, was dead. She knew little about her uncle, despite his being married to her aunt for over ten years. He was a private person, preferring to suffer today in silence. Perhaps, they were more alike than she thought.

  §

  It was one week after the funeral and things were far from getting back to normal, particularly for fifteen-year-old Jade. A moderately worn car pulled up to the once charming, little home located in the small development. The lawn and landscaping, which was once immaculate now showed signs from nearly two weeks of neglect. Jade got out of the car wearing the black leather jacket her aunt had loaned her that day. She inhaled deeply and then released a groan while staring at the little house. Jade didn’t want to be there, but no amount of whining or protesting was going to change her fate. The female social worker soon joined her and handed her the worn duffel bag. The tired, overworked social worker managed a tiny smile but obviously felt sorry for the teenager as she escorted her to the house.

  “The rest of your personal belongings will be shipped here later this week,” the woman informed her. “I assume your family attorney told you about the house, the business, and the rest of your p
arents’ assets.”

  “Yeah,” Jade replied with a bored sigh. “Once sale on the house and office is final, the proceeds will go into escrow along with the insurance money until I turn eighteen. It’s not fair. I already have a house, and the insurance money is more than enough to support me for a few years. I shouldn’t have to live with someone else.”

  “You’re fifteen,” the social worker firmly reminded her then muttered, “Going on twenty-five. You can’t live on your own at fifteen. Someone has to take responsibility for you.”

  Jade hated being told that over and over. The legal system sucked. They walked onto the porch and paused before the door. Before the social worker had a chance to knock, Jade turned toward her and made another plea for mercy.

  “Couldn’t I just stay with my friend?” Jade asked in a somewhat whining tone. She hated being reduced to whining. She promised herself she wouldn’t go that route. It just wasn’t fair. “Her mother really likes me.”

  “We’ve been over this before, Jade,” the social worker announced sympathetically. “She’s a single mother living in a cramped apartment with three children. Even though she’s willing to take you in, we just can’t approve her.” She hesitated then indicated the door before them. “He’s your uncle, and he agreed to take you in.”

  “He’s not my uncle,” Jade pouted, turning her head away from the woman alongside her. “He’s just the odd, little man my aunt married.” She groaned and allowed her shoulders to sag with defeat. “He’s a reclusive workaholic. In the ten years he was married to my aunt, I’d only met him a dozen times.” She then made a face and reflected back on their few interactions over the last decade. “He’s creepy.”