“Aria! I thought you seemed familiar!” Kelly said.
Aria gave her a hug, but her smile flattered a little, “You are here. So, this means you never told your lawyer the truth, did you?”
Kelly kept a straight face, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Kelly!”
“Aria! All of that is behind me know. This is my life. Don’t you dare say another word about this, not to me, not to anyone else. Understood?”
Aria sighed and nodded.
“Soooooo, it’s true. Huh?”
“What?”
“I have been hearing a lot about some Aria chick who had beat up a toughie in here. They are saying it is best to be on her side.”
Aria smirked. Kelly gave her a huge proud smile, “I must admit, I never would have imagined you doing that. Well done, kid. I am glad you took my advice.”
Aria shook her head. “I don’t know what got to me. I just snapped one day. I had enough.”
“Yeah. I kinda know what you mean. But hey! This means I am set. I already know you. Like I said before, both of us can rule the prison.”
Aria chuckled. “Oh! I gotta run.” She had just realized she was supposed to meet with Karen’s dealer in a few minutes in the shower area. “I’ll catch up with you later.” She raced through the corridor and headed back towards her cell.
“There you are!”
Karen was waiting for her and led her to the showers. It looked empty at a first glance, but Aria heard someone tapping their foot in one of the stalls. Karen led the way and they found three women huddled in a stall, waiting for them.
“Yo! Carrie!” Karen called out.
One of the women stepped forward, “About time! I thought y’all bailing on me.”
“Nah! Just got held up at the job.”
“So,” The inmate looked at Aria, “I heard you need something, huh?”
Aria nodded, not sure how to proceed. She decided to stay silent for now.
“Well, we don’t just give something for nothing, ain’t that right Karen?” She gave Karen a once-over and smacked her face lightly, “Karen’s been keeping me plenty happy with her gifts.” She smirked at Aria as she got closer.
“We saw what you did to that Rachel chick. Never liked her. Refused to deal with her. Wasn’t happy, was she?” She looked around at her partners and chuckled. “But wouldn’t dare say anything to me. No one can. But that fight. I liked what I saw. You are a feisty little chick, aren’t you? I like feisty! Love me some feistiness.” She traced a filthy finger along Aria’s jawline. Aria gulped, but stood her ground.
Carrie gave her a once-over too and then walked around, clearly checking Aria out.
“But!” Carrie stopped once again in front of Aria, “I have something else for you to do. Something very important and you can have anything you want. I’ll throw in a few extra things too. How’s about it?”
Aria cleared her throat, “What is it that you want me to do? I have money. I can give you what you want.”
“Money!” Carrie started laughing, and so did her two partners.
“Carrie needs no money,” One of them said.
“See, girl? I take favors. Money, I have no shortage of. I usually decide the favors I want after people have told me what they want. But I got special offer for you. See? You do me one favor and you get whatever the hell you want.”
“All I need is a phone. Just that,” Aria declared.
“Didn’t you hear? I can get you anything you want. Phone is easy-peasy! What else you need?”
“Just that.” Aria repeated. She didn’t have a good feeling about this.
“Well, once you are done with the favor, you can ask for other things too of you want.” Carrie grinned.
“What exactly is the favor?”
“All ready to get started, huh? What do you need the cell phone for? You can call anyone once a week in here. Got a boyfriend? Want to make sure he doesn’t leave so you want to call him every day, make sure he is happy with you, huh?”
“That’s none of your business!”
Carrie chuckled, “See? Feisty, I like it!”
“Just tell me what do you want me to do.”
“Nothing big. I just want to get rid of someone. So, you get the honor to do that for me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want you to ‘accidently’ kill someone,” Carrie smiled.
Aria gaped at her, “What!”
“Just make it look like an accident and you’re done.”
“I am not doing that!!”
“Of course, you will. Don’t you want your life to be easy in here and don’t you want to keep your boyfriend?” she smirked.
“I am not killing anyone. What is wrong with you?”
“You won’t be killing anyone. It will be an accident.”
Aria looked at Carrie and then at Karen, whose eyes were wide and she just shrugged.
Carrie patted Aria’s cheek with her hand, “Think about it. You got a week.”
Carrie and her partners started to leave, but she turned around one last time, “Think really hard about this. You might be sorry if you miss this opportunity. Oh wait …, you WILL be sorry.”
With that, the three of them left, leaving both Aria and Karen gaping after them.
A food tray was tossed from the flap on the door. The light screech of metal scrapping against the floor startled Diaz awake. She was exhausted. She had given up trying to figure out how many days had passed by. She hadn’t heard or seen anyone while she was locked in this place. Someone had unchained one of her hands and her legs on the second day, so she could eat and relieve herself using the grimy bucket sitting a few feet next to her. She never saw anyone coming in and assumed they took away the empty food tray and cleaned out the bucket while she slept.
For days she had tried to scream and even tried to stay up to catch whoever comes in but to no avail. Her body was exhausted and all she did was sleep. She was getting weaker every day. They were feeding her just enough to keep her alive. Why? She had no idea. Why haven’t they just killed her? She thought for the hundredth time. She tried to stop eating and drinking, but she couldn’t. She could only last a few minutes after the tray was slid across the room. There were a few water bottles close by too that seemed to keep on refilling themselves.
She looked at the tray. There were some stale fries and a chicken & cheese sandwich this time. She grabbed a handful of fries and stuffed them hungrily in her mouth. She only got food twice a day … or maybe it was once a day or three times a day … she had no idea.
She wondered if anyone was looking for her. She was sure by now they must have realized she was missing. Aria’s hearing was getting closer. Her guys were out working for her. She was sure they would have asked where she was. She also was sure Aria would have alerted someone. She had tried going over and over different scenarios to figure out what has happened. As far as she could comprehend, Aria must have gotten the jail sentence. There was no strong evidence in her favor. She was supposed to bring the evidence. Ellen was gone. God knows if she was even alive. Maybe she was somewhere here with her. She had screamed her throat dry initially, calling out Ellen’s name, in hopes she might hear her.
By now, she had given up hope of ever getting out of this place. She just munched on the food, drank the water, and slept. This was her life now. She finished her food and slid it across the room. Soon, she drifted off to sleep, but was soon woken up again. What! She thought to herself. Is it dinner time again already? She had heard the scraping sound again. Even though she had lost track of time, she was sure this was way too early to get another meal.
Sure enough, the tray she had emptied a while ago was still lying near the door. But then, what was the sound she heard? She shrugged, probably my imagination. She heard it again. What was that? She looked around. The room was small, and it was dark in there all the time. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark a little, but she still couldn’t see anything until
she spotted a shadow moving from the light coming through the bottom of the door.
“Who is there?”
Silence. She was sure she heard the noise. She tried to get up using her free hand to pull on the chain that was attached to her other arm. She was too weak to hold on. “Who is there?” she called out again. She tried to get up once again.
“Easy!” she heard someone. It was a man’s voice.
Diaz suddenly stopped and looked around wildly. “Who is it? Where are you hiding!”
“Stay quiet,” she heard him again.
“What the hell! Show yourself!”
“I told you to stay quiet or this will end badly.”
“Oh! Threatening me? Really? I am already at the lowest of low. Give me your best!”
She heard a sigh. “I am not threatening you, Nicole. Stay quiet for a while. Consider me as a friend.”
Diaz snorted, “Ah! Friend!”
“Shussh!” she heard the urgency in his voice.
Confused, she decided to stay quiet to see what happens. She hadn’t seen or spoken to anyone for a long time now. Whoever this was, at least she might be able to get a few answers, so she decided to go along with it.
A few moments later, a man stepped out of the shadows. It was still too dark to see him clearly. “Listen to me carefully, Nicole.”
“Who are you?”
“Can you please just listen? We don’t have much time. Who I am, doesn’t matter! I am here to help.”
Diaz looked at him, and tried to get a closer look. “What do you mean?”
“These people are dangerous. They are talking about getting rid of you. We need to get you out of here soon.” The man stepped closer. Diaz could see that he was wearing thick gloves and a mask.
“Why are you helping me? And who are these people? Who are you??”
“I am a friend. That’s all you need to know for now. I have been trying to find a way to help you and Aria, but things aren’t easy. I almost got caught once. If they found out…” his voice trailed away.
“Who are ‘they’? What is going on?”
“There is no time for that. I want you to listen carefully. In the next few days, I am going to return and try to get you out of here. I have a plan; I just need to go over a few things. It is important that you get out. You are the only one who can help Aria.”
“What! How?”
“No time to explain. I will be back soon. Eat as much as you can to gain your strength. You will need it.” He threw some protein bars at her feet. Diaz looked up and frowned.
“Seriously?”
“Just do as I say.”
“And why on earth should I believe you? How do I know you are telling the truth? How do I know that you aren’t just messing with me and this is all some twisted part of your plan to get rid of me?”
“You don’t.”
“What?”
“Well, you don’t know that, do you. But do you have any other choice?”
With that, he checked his watch and quietly opened the door a little and slipped out. Diaz stared at the door in shock. What just happened? She thought to herself.
Diaz couldn’t help being suspicious, but he was right, he was her only hope right now.
Chapter 6: Crossroads
Clark woke up sweating in the middle of the night. He sat up and threw the bed covers off him. His heart was pounding, and his breathing was harsh. It was the fourth time this week he had the same nightmare. He had been having this nightmare for a year now. Clark could never remember the entire nightmare, but he had the image of looking at his hands that were dripping with blood and a flash of Aria’s face. He shuddered, got out of the bed and went into the kitchen to get some water. His throat was dry like he hadn’t had water for days!
Filling the glass with tap water, he quickly gulped down the water and started filling the glass again. Finishing the second glass, he splashed some water on his face and closed the tap. He took a few deep breaths and started to feel himself calm down.
He returned to his room and caught sight of the papers scattered on his desk. Immediately, he felt a pang of guilt. He gathered them together and shoved them in his drawer. He didn’t want to see them… didn’t want to make a decision. He didn’t know what to do. He had no idea that he would get sucked into this mess when he started. His job was suffering, the lawyer he hired for Aria was missing, he was being forced to be a part of the investigation… everything was getting to be too much. He wished he could just rewind back to last year and start all over. He had made mistakes, and now he had no idea what to do. He never thought he would get so deep into it. All he wanted to do was help Aria and get her out from that hellhole. She didn’t deserve to be there. She was innocent.
He longed to be with her, to touch her, and to hold her close in his arms and make sure no harm would ever befall her again. It was proving to be close to impossible. He wanted to help, but the warning was still ringing in his head. The instructions were clear.
Clark sat on the bed and buried his head in his hands. He only had two options, both risky and he would be losing no matter what he chose. He sighed. He lied down on his bed and grabbed his phone. He browsed his gallery and looked through Aria’s pictures. God! He missed her. She always knew how to calm him down. He should visit her again next week. Yeah. He decided. It would be good to see her beautiful face again. Ugh. It was one o’clock in the morning. His mind was racing as he imagined having Aria’s slender body lying next to him. Slowly, he drifted back to sleep.
Sanjay was frustrated. It felt like that was his constant mood. He threw the files sitting on his desk across the room and let out an exasperated sigh. He had been trying to get into the USB for hours now. Even though he wasn’t an expert in these things, he still knew a thing or two about getting around a locked USB. His knowledge apparently failed him. He knew plenty of useful people he could send the USB to and get the information, but he wasn’t sure who to trust at this point. From what he could gather from his investigation so far, those people had one or more informants in the police too. They have been watching everything, and they were always a step ahead of him. What if he sent the USB to someone, and it got stolen? This was his only chance. There was bound to be something in there. There had to be.
He decided to take a break from the drive for now and focus on the bank statements of Coons. He jotted down the account numbers of the transactions that had been circled. They seemed to be all new accounts, he realized when he was halfway done. Was he asked to send money to a different account each time? He kept on noting down all the numbers and then had a look. What is the point of this? He snapped at himself.
Nothing makes sense! Nothing at all! He was about to crumple up the paper when something caught his eyes. Wait a minute! The numbers were repeating. The transactions were made twice a month throughout the year. There were new accounts for every four months, and the same order was repeated for the next four months, and then again in the last four months!
There was a total of eight accounts!
Sanjay sat up straighter. Each account was only repeated three times as to not raise a concern. Plus, there were other transactions too in the bank statement, so these accounts would never have looked out of place.
He checked the papers. The statements were only for one year. Maybe he should get his hands on the earlier statements. There could be a pattern. He already knew there was one guy he could trust in the precinct. His old partner, James, had been transferred to another precinct. He was a sergeant now, and Sanjay knew he was clean. They had been partners for around 15 years before he got the promotion and was transferred, He knew he could count on him.
He gave him a call, and after sharing pleasantries, he asked for a favor.
“Just say the word, Sanjay,” said James.
“I need to check out some bank statements of a guy who was murdered recently,” Sanjay quickly filled him on a few of the details.
“Ah! There is always at least one case a year tha
t we just can’t let go of,” James chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll see what I can do. You’re being careful, right? These private investigations often get messy and get the detective in trouble in the end.”
“Yeah. I’m being careful. I just want to get to the bottom of this.”
“I will send the bank statements over as soon as I can get them. So, you want the last five years, right? Anything else?”
“The last five years would be good. Thanks! Well, no, nothing more… umm… actually… there is one thing more. I need a background check on two people. They don’t have a police record, I have checked. But I need some more information on them to see if they really are who they say.”
“Hmm… okay. Send me their full names and any other details you can give me, and I will see what I can do.”
“Thanks, James. I owe you big!”
“Nah, you don’t. You have helped me plenty, man. This is nothing. Just do me a favor and be careful. Don’t get yourself into trouble just over a case.”
Sanjay felt suddenly guilty and wondered how James would react if he found out he had broken into a missing person’s house. “Yeah. I won’t! Thanks. I am sending you the details right now. I will catch up with you soon, okay?”
He texted the names of Tanya and Clark, with the companies they are working with. He didn’t know anything more about them. He did feel slightly guilty, trying to find out information about them this way, but he had no other choice. He had to make sure. He was sure they would understand if they ever found out. They most likely never would, unless there was something big that they were hiding about Aria’s case.
“Then, I will deal with them my own way.” He said out loud.
Tanya texted Sanjay as soon as she hung up the phone after talking to Aria, telling him about Diaz’s guy who was trying to crack Coons’ emails. She also informed him about how Diaz’s guy was also trying to figure out who Aria’s stalker was.
If they could find Diaz’s guy, then they might be able to get their hands on some useful information. She breathed a silent prayer that somehow Diaz and Ellen show up, and things get straightened out. She looked up to find Whitney Fox standing by her office door, watching her.
Capital Crime (An Aria Raymond Thriller Book 2) Page 6
