Mistaken Character

by R A Wallace

  “She made fun of him every chance she got. It was like a game for her. To see how often she could ridicule him.”

  Chapter Nine

  The colorful betta swam around the tank searching for more than its fair share of the food dumped by the automatic dispenser. Callie stood in front of the tank staring at her fish as she finished eating her yogurt. The yogurt somehow managed to make her feel less guilty for eating the last of the blueberry muffins before it. Once finished, she returned to her bedroom to finish dressing.

  It was a Saturday and not typically a day of work for her but, given her profession, those lines were a little blurry at times. Rather than office wear, she opted for something a little more common for most people in the south on a weekend. Her shorts, tee, and tennis shoes were joined with a baseball cap and sunglasses.

  She had no idea where she might end up during her surveillance. She wanted to make sure she blended in. Feeling that she was ready to face pretty much anything, she grabbed her purse and a bottle of water and went out to her car. The one thing she didn’t expect to see was Greyson Divine standing next to it.

  “Where are we going?” he asked as he walked around to the passenger side of her car.

  She ignored his question as she pushed the button on her key fob to unlock her car. She opened the back door and stowed her camera, then closed the door.

  He slid into the passenger seat and buckled in. She slid into the driver’s side and fastened her seatbelt before starting the car. He immediately began fiddling with the air settings. She pulled out of her drive and headed in the direction of Randy Albright’s house. Her insurance fraud investigation had yet to yield results. She hoped that changing up her schedule might make a difference.

  “Nice day for a drive,” he commented.

  “It is, isn’t it?” she said.

  “I understand the office renovation project is progressing nicely. Nate and Bree appear to have everything under control.”

  “You seem very chummy with them.” She slowed for a red light then accelerated again when it flipped before she reached it.

  He turned to look at her outfit. “Looks like you’re taking a day off.”

  “I’m allowed to do that. I own Indigo Investigations.”

  “Speaking of which, I have another case.”

  She wanted to ignore him but her curiosity wouldn’t let her.

  “Oh?”

  He smiled. “It’s a cold case, actually. A professor that went missing.”

  “How long ago?” She stopped at a stop sign then turned.

  “Ten years.”

  “From Florida?” she asked.

  “No. Colorado, actually.”

  “Is that where you were?” She nearly cringed. Why had she asked?

  “I was, yes. Among other places.”

  “Then why aren’t you still there?” She stopped to make another turn.

  “Looks like a person of interest may have found their way here.”

  “You’re hoping I can find them?” she guessed.

  “No. I’m planning to find them,” he said.

  “Ah. Once again, you’ve decided to play detective?”

  He turned to look at her. “It’s not technically playing. We’re partners, remember?”

  “No, we’re not.”

  “Anyway, the person I’m looking for is female. She’s probably somewhere around forty. Her name is Adelaide Carson.”

  Callie pulled over and parked the car on the side of the street then turned to look at him.

  “What does she have to do with your missing person?” she asked.

  “She used to be the teaching assistant,” he said.

  “Which means that she worked closely with the professor. Makes sense to look her up,” Callie said.

  “I thought so too. Except, so far, she’s making my task difficult.”

  “You’re having trouble finding her?” Callie asked, mostly because some small part of her enjoyed saying it.

  “I’ll find her. It will just take a little longer.” He looked around. “Why are we here?”

  Callie motioned toward the man exiting the front door of his house at the other end of the block.

  “We’re following him. It might be a long day.”

  “Good. We’ll have time to catch up on everything. What’s the story with this guy?”

  “He’s currently receiving workers’ compensation because of a back injury. I’ve been hired to find out if he really has one.” She started the engine and began following Randy in his truck.

  “What else are we working on?” he asked.

  Callie gave an overview of her current cases, mostly because she thought it would help her to organize the facts in her own head. By the time she was done, Randy Albright was turning his truck into a small farm. Callie pulled into the parking lot of a business that offered detailing and window tinting for cars.

  “Nice little farm,” Greyson said. “They only have a few acres, but it’s enough for a small barn and a couple of horses.”

  “The little pond is handy too,” she agreed as she reached in the back for her camera.

  “Do you have binoculars in here?” he asked.

  “Glove box.”

  He pulled them out. “Looks like he’s pretty friendly with the owner.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “He hasn’t come up for air yet.”

  Callie zoomed in with her camera. Greyson was right. Randy’s lips were still locked onto the red head in the tight jeans and cowgirl boots. She snapped a few pictures, just because she could.

  “The wife might want those,” he said.

  Callie made a noise of agreement as she watched Randy walk over to the barn. He reappeared a moment later carrying a large bag over one shoulder.

  Callie began snapping pictures. “Can you tell what that is?”

  Greyson adjusted the binoculars. “Looks like feed for the horses.”

  “Can you see any details? Brand name, weight, anything?” She continued snapping pictures as Randy easily tossed the bag into the back of the truck.

  Randy then hopped into the truck and pulled it over to the gate in the fence. The red head opened the gate and Randy drove in. He stopped the truck, lifted the bag out, and opened it.

  “Got it,” Greyson said as he pulled out his phone. He entered the name on the bag. “Looks like it’s sold in fifty-pound bags.”

  “He didn’t seem to have any problems lifting it, did he?” An image of Randy’s wife and son changing the flat tire in the rain flashed in her mind.

  “Nope. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?” he asked.

  It did, but she didn’t know Greyson well enough to know what he might be wondering about.

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “Why he would throw his family away.”

  It was the same thing she’d been wondering.

  ***

  Ariana took the pitcher of iced tea from the fridge and turned back to her friend.

  Taylor held out the glasses. “Why do you want to change your schedule now? We’re almost halfway through the last semester of high school.”

  “I was just thinking I should add a computer class.” Ariana filled the second glass and returned the pitcher to the fridge.

  “What makes you so interested in computers now?” Taylor walked over to the kitchen table and sat down.

  Ariana leaned against the counter. “I don’t know. It just looked really interesting.”

  “When your sister’s staff figured out Ms. Chen wasn’t guilty?”

  Ariana wasn’t sure that Sierra and Michael were actually staff but didn’t try to explain that to Taylor.

  “You should have seen what all they did. It was pretty amazing,” Ariana said.

  “I doubt you’ll learn all of that in a computer class at high school.”

  Ariana shrugged. “I have to start somewhere. Maybe it will help me be more ready to take some computer classes in college.”

  “Does tha
t mean you’ve actually decided to go to college?”

  This time Ariana didn’t hesitate when she nodded her head.

  “There’s no way I can ever be as good as Sierra and Michael without taking classes.”

  “I thought you wanted to work with your sister?” Taylor said.

  Ariana shrugged. “I would be working with my sister. I mean, I can’t be a real private investigator yet. But I think she might let me hang around the office and help out with other things. Being able to do things on the computer would definitely help.”

  ***

  Callie walked around the grocery store slowly. It wasn’t that she couldn’t make up her mind about what she wanted to buy. The problem was, her mind kept returning to Greyson’s sudden reappearance. After spending the morning together, she’d returned to her house where Greyson had left his car.

  He’d thanked her for the interesting morning and said that he would be in touch before he got into his car. She managed to stop herself from making any kind of response before he drove away. She figured that no matter what she said, it wouldn’t come out right.

  The problem was, she was too conflicted. Although everyone was under the impression that he was her partner, he wasn’t. They had no legal business affiliation whatsoever. She had no clue where he was or when she would see him next. On the other hand, they had no problems working together whenever he was around. She had to admit, life tended to get interesting whenever he was in it.

  Callie finally reached out and randomly grabbed something from the shelf in front of her. She pushed her cart up and down the remaining aisles in the store until she had enough food to make it through the next week. Then she went through the checkout line.

  She needed to get home. She’d wasted enough time in the store daydreaming. For all she knew, it would be weeks, or months, before she saw Greyson again. Worrying about their work relationship was futile. Even when she was with him, she couldn’t get a straight answer from him about anything. He would show up again whenever he wanted to. She had no control over it either way.

  She’d promised Ramona their weekly session of cards and she was now running late. She pulled into her driveway a short time later and made a couple of trips getting the groceries into her house. After putting the groceries away, she made a quick snack to take to Ramona’s. Before leaving the house, she grabbed a bottle of wine to go with it. When she reached Ramona’s, she heard laughter inside. She rang the bell with her elbow.

  Ramona was still laughing when she opened the door. “You made it. We were wondering where you were.”

  “We?” Callie’s eyes shot across the room to Greyson.

  He was sitting at the dining room table with cards in front of him. Callie crossed the room and set the wine on the counter and the snack on the table.

  “I see we’re playing cards?” Callie said.

  “He’s having trouble following our rules,” Ramona said as she sat back down.

  “Wine?” Callie asked. She pulled out three glasses when they both said yes.

  “You don’t like our rules?” Callie asked as she handed Greyson a glass.

  “They’re pretty convoluted.” His blue eyes were laughing at her again.

  “You try teaching cards to a kid,” Ramona said as she reached for her glass.

  “Don’t blame me for this,” Callie said as she took her seat. “You change the rules all the time to make sure you win.”

  Ramona laughed again. “You’re just saying that because you lose all the time.”

  Chapter Ten

  The waiting room at the doctor’s office was half full. Given it was Monday morning, she should have expected it. No doubt, it was typical following a weekend. Callie read through the emails on her phone and responded to several of them as she waited. When the nurse popped out to call her back for her turn, Callie followed the young woman to a room.

  “Is this your first visit?”

  “It is,” Callie said as she took a seat in a chair.

  “You can sit up on the exam table,” the nurse said as she logged into the computer.

  “That’s okay. I shouldn’t be long,” Callie said.

  “If it’s your first time, the doctor may want to examine you,” the nurse cautioned.

  Callie smiled.

  The nurse asked her several questions about her current health. Callie responded honestly, for the most part.

  “The doctor will be in to see you shortly,” the nurse said before leaving the room.

  Callie didn’t have to wait long. A man of medium height wearing a white lab coat over a blue shirt and gray dress pants walked in and nodded to her before turning to log into the computer.

  “What can we do for you today? Callie, is it?” he asked.

  “Yes, I’m Callie Indigo, with Indigo Investigations. I’d like to ask you a few questions about Crystal Delaney.”

  Chris Griffin sighed loudly and he pressed his fingers into his eyes.

  “Geoff warned me that someone might try to speak with me.” He turned to look at Callie. “What do you want?”

  “Just as I said. I have a few questions. You dated Crystal, right?”

  “If you could call it that,” Chris said.

  “What would you call it?’ she asked.

  He shrugged impatiently. “When I needed someone on my arm at a function, I gave her a call. So what?”

  “But you spent time with her, right?” she asked.

  “So? What about it?”

  “You’re a trained physician. Did you detect any depression?” she asked.

  “If you’re suggesting that I failed as a doctor…”

  Callie held up her hand. “No, I’m not. Listen, I’m just trying to find out what happened. I can’t do that if you won’t talk to me.”

  He logged out of the computer. “I don’t know anything. I’m telling you, we didn’t really date. It wasn’t like that. We just had a mutual understanding.”

  “Which was?”

  “If either of us had to go somewhere and bring a date, we’d call. If the other was free, fine. If not, no big deal,” he said.

  “No personal attachment,” Callie said.

  “Exactly. To be honest, I didn’t even particularly like her,” he muttered.

  “And why was that?”

  “Her work ethic. I didn’t care for how she got her interviews.” He glared at Callie when he said it.

  “Point taken. What else can you tell me?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “Nothing. If you aren’t here for a medical reason, I need to go.”

  Callie stood. “Wait. You spent time with her. There has to be something.”

  He reached for the door handle. “If you want to talk to someone, go find her camera man.”

  “Why?”

  “Crystal told me he was following her around after work hours.”

  Callie watched as he opened the door quickly and disappeared.

  ***

  Liz Torres stood at the end of the hall and watched as the students moved between classes. From where she was standing, she had a decent vantage point of the ordered pandemonium that took place regularly throughout each day. Voices could be heard carrying on dozens of different conversations and locker doors were slamming closed as students grabbed the books they would need next.

  She turned when someone approached her from the side. “Tonya, how is your day going?”

  The twenty-something math teacher made a face. She stepped closer to Liz.

  “Have you heard?” Tonya asked.

  “Heard what?” Liz glanced at the clock. The number of students in the hall was thinning. She knew the bell would ring again soon.

  “About the postings online.” Tonya took another step closer. “They’re about Inez.”

  “What about Inez?”

  Tonya looked reluctant to say. Liz put on her best principal’s face. Tonya’s shoulders dropped.

  “They’re about a letter. It says that the letter was on her computer.” />
  Liz waited until the halls were completely clear before she returned to her office. She went to the web site that Tonya told her about and pulled up the most recent postings. What she saw annoyed her. She immediately picked up her phone.

  ***

  Leslie finished slicing the cucumbers and slid them into the salad bowl. She lifted a tomato and began washing it. She heard her son come into the kitchen as she began dicing it.

  “Are you staying for dinner?” she asked.

  “Not tonight. I have plans,” Blake said.

  She turned around to look at him. His hair was still wet from the shower.

  “When do I get to meet her?” Leslie asked.

  “Meet who?” Ariana said as she walked into the kitchen.

  “Your brother’s girlfriend,” Leslie said as she turned back to her salad.

  Blake walked over and picked off a cucumber slice. “There’s no girlfriend. I’m meeting up with some of the guys.”

  Ariana took the pitcher of tea from the fridge as the doorbell rang.

  “I’ll get it.” After setting the tea down, she found Callie at the front door and pulled her into the house. “I was hoping to see you. Did you learn anything about the letter?”

  “What letter?” Callie asked as she followed her sister back to the kitchen. “Hey, Grant.”

  “Hey, Callie. See you all later,” Grant said as he walked out.

  “I want to meet her,” Leslie called after him.

  “There’s no her,” Grant yelled back.

  “What letter?” Callie asked Ariana again.

  “You haven’t seen the postings?” Ariana pulled out her phone. “Someone posted something on social media about Ms. Chen.”

  “What now?” Leslie carried the salad to the table. “That poor woman.”

  Ariana found the web site on her phone and passed it over to Callie.

  Callie scrolled through the messages. “Michael and Sierra went all through the hard drive. There was no letter like this on it.”

  “I know, right?” Ariana sank heavily onto a chair with her arms crossed.

  “What do the postings say?” Leslie asked.

  Callie summarized. “Basically, they’re talking about a supposed love letter between Ms. Chen and one or more of her students. The postings aren’t specific.”