Earthbound Angels Part 1

by Sweet

  Simon smiled directly into the camera before he replied.

  “Well, Amber, I make it a rule not to ever take on any clients that are not innocent.”

  “So you’re saying that not one of your clients has ever been guilty?”

  “Yes, Amber, that’s exactly what I am saying.”

  “Are you saying that guilty people don’t deserve a good defense, Mr. Draco?”

  “Certainly not. I believe that all suspects deserve a good defense. It’s just that I prefer to only represent innocent clients because I must believe in them if I’m to offer my very best defense.”

  “How did you know that Andrew Martin wasn’t guilty?”

  “Now, Amber, I can’t give away all of my secrets. Just suffice it to say that I knew from the moment I shook his hand.”

  Amber then turned to Andrew Martin and asked him how he felt about being found not guilty.

  “I can’t describe how it feels to know that the justice system worked and that my attorney was able to prove that I didn’t hurt Pam.”

  “What are your plans now that you’re free?”

  “I’m going to have a nice dinner and then I’m going to see about getting on with my life.”

  “Will you be going to visit Pamela in the hospital?”

  Simon suddenly stepped in and took control of the media once more.

  “Mr. Martin has had a long day and is anxious to get home now. Thank you.”

  With that, Simon used his body to shield Andrew from the ravenous press members and got into a waiting car.

  Turning down the volume with the remote, Graeme smiled and shook his head. Yes, Simon had pulled another one out of his hat, it seemed. But he was right. Andrew Martin had been the scapegoat for this crime all along. Happily, now it was over and he could try to get on with his life. Graeme was glad that he could help Simon with what he needed even if was just through Erick.

  Just then his phone rang. Well, speak of the devil and all that.

  “Hello, Erick,” Graeme said as he clicked the phone on.

  “Did you see our boy on television just now?” Erick Angell asked.

  “I was just watching it. Glad I could be of some assistance on this. I would hate to see that guy get away with what he did to Pamela Stevens. Now that the focus is off of Andrew Martin, they can reel in the actual attacker.”

  “Very true,” Erick agreed. “Simon wanted me to thank you again for your help.”

  “Tell him he’s welcome, and anytime,” Graeme said. “I’d love for us to get out and have fun again. Maybe a dinner will not be bad sometime next week?”

  “We’ll arrange it then. Holli had been telling me we guys should go out more often than we do.”

  “Your wife is a very wise woman, Erick. She’s very special,” Graeme said.

  “Oh, that she is,” Erick agreed on the other end of the line with a tone in his voice that said more than the words ever could.

  A noise was heard in the house and Graeme looked in the direction of the front door before going back to the conversation. “I hate to cut you short, Erick, but I’ve got an appointment and I think he’s just arrived. We’ll speak later.”

  “Of course,” Erick replied.

  After disconnecting the phone call, Graeme pushed the zoom button on his security camera at the gate entrance to his home which also served as his office. Graeme specialized in finding missing people but, since he had everything he needed here at his house, he saw no reason to pay rent on an office. His home wasn’t that far out of Moon Bay and it wasn’t that hard to find once you had the directions to it. However, since he did have his office in his home, he felt the need for a bit of extra security. He had installed several top of the line security cameras throughout his property as well as a very sophisticated alarm system. In addition to that, he employed four guards as well as kept four Dobermans to patrol the grounds.

  His guards were ex-government employees and he didn’t care which branch they came from. They had clean backgrounds and were highly effective at what they did. That’s all Graeme needed to know. His Dobermans were true teddy bears—until they were given certain commands. They were perfect as well in sensing enemies on their own. On top of all that, Graeme was very self-sufficient when it came to taking care of himself.

  Just now, he was observing the man at his gate who looked a bit as if he were somewhere between intimidated and annoyed. Graeme smiled slightly as he watched the man searching for the right button to push on the intercom system. For fun, Graeme allowed the alert on his end to sound a couple of times before answering.

  Sometimes, he amused himself with pettiness like this—very human. But that’s it. In the years since he had become an Earthbound, he had learned how to be human, and these simple acts of being human could sometimes be refreshing.

  Finally, he pushed the button on his end.

  “May I help you?” Graeme said.

  “Um yes, I’ve got an appointment with Graeme St. Paul. My name is Jefferson Graves.”

  Without saying another word, Graeme pushed the button that opened the wrought iron gates that would allow Mr. Graves to enter his property and drive up to his house. He used this as a sort of test to see how “quick” someone was.

  This man appeared to be quicker than most as he didn’t pause to try to ask more questions. He simply watched the gates open and drove through them. Graeme waited for the man to drive in sufficiently far enough before closing them again.

  His cameras tracked the car as it traveled down the mile long drive to Graeme’s house as he watched. Jefferson Graves was certainly confident enough as he maneuvered his car, a black Lexus, down the road toward the house. Graeme was pretty sure that this man probably had a driver most of the time but he had given clear instructions that only Mr. Graves was to come to this appointment. His instructions had been followed.

  When Mr. Graves had finally arrived in front of the house, he exited his car and stood taking in the vastness of Graeme’s home. This was something that typically surprised people seeing the property for the first time. Everyone nearly always expected to see some little building or something and they were nearly always amazed to see what could only mean some serious money. He waited until Mr. Graves had walked up the steps to the large wrap around porch and hit the doorbell.

  Getting up from his chair, he wandered down the long wide hallway toward the door. When he opened the door, he found Mr. Graves in the act of getting ready to ring the doorbell again. He looked mildly surprised at being caught.

  “Hello, Mr. Graves. I’m Graeme St. Paul. Won’t you come in?”

  “Oh, hello, Mr. St. Paul! It’s so nice to meet you!”

  The two men shook hands in a professional manner and Graeme stepped back to allow his potentially new client to enter his home.

  Having come through the door, Jefferson Graves stood in the large foyer and took in his surroundings.

  Graeme took his jacket and hung it from the coat rack by the door. He was just turning around to shake hands with Graeme while trying to arrange his face in a semblance of nonchalance.

  Graeme had to hide a grin. Clearly, this man was used to being surrounded by money, yet here he was seemingly stunned at the opulence that belonged to a lowly private investigator. He almost wished that Simon could be here to shake hands with this man. In that way, he would know without a shadow of a doubt whether Jefferson Graves was someone he wanted to work with or not.

  “Come on back to my office,” Graeme said as he led the way.

  Jefferson Graves followed.

  Chapter Two

  WHEN THEY REACHED the open double doors, Graeme stood aside and allowed his guest to enter first. Again, it seemed difficult for the other man to hide his amazement.

  This was one of Graeme’s favorite rooms in the house and was the reason he chose it to be his office. Behind his massive antique desk was a wall of floor to ceiling windows that looked out over a very carefully cultivated and manicured garden. The various flowers
and greenery were lush and in full bloom even during this time of the year. The wall at the far end of the room contained a large stone fireplace.

  Facing it was a loveseat, which was flanked by a matching easy chair on either side. A coffee table sat in the middle. The other walls were made up of floor to ceiling bookcases that were filled with books. Sliding ladders were attached to all of the bookcases so the top shelves could be reached with ease.

  Graeme indicated the two leather high-backed chairs that sat facing his desk and invited Jefferson Graves to have a seat. Then he sat down himself.

  “Now, Mr. Graves, what can I do for you?” Graeme asked.

  “This is rather complicated, but I’ll try to simplify it a bit in the interest of time. You may be familiar with Graves Enterprises. My two brothers and I have running the company along with our father, who died recently as a result of a terrible accident. Fortunately, he had left a will so we all know what his wishes were. There’s quite a bit of money involved in his estate as well as the business itself. Most of the money as well as an interest in the business have been left to my brothers and me. The remainder of the estate has been left to a younger sister that we had no idea even existed. The problem is that since we never knew of her, obviously we don’t have a recent address for her. We did try to do a little searching on our own but, so far, we haven’t had any success in locating her. That’s when my brothers and I decided we should involve a professional. And here I am.”

  “I see,” Graeme said, nodding. “So you want to hire me to find this sister of yours. If I’m going to find her, I’ll need a bit of information in order to get started on a basic search and then go from there if needed. Whatever details you’ve managed to unearth will be helpful in getting started. Here’s a list of my fees and what they cover.”

  Sliding a sheet of paper across the table, he watched Graves merely glance at it and nod.

  “Your fees aren’t a problem, Mr. St. Paul. Our only interest is in finding our long lost sister. If you agree to help locate her, I’m prepared to write you a check today.”

  “Very well, Mr. Graves,” Graeme said. “I’ll get started on this immediately and keep you updated as I find out anything.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Graeme was seeing Jefferson Graves to the door. He went back to his office, check in hand, and watched his security cameras so that he would know when to open the gates for Graves to depart. Once that was done, he sat back and reflected on what little bit of information Graves had been able to supply about his long lost, unknown sister.

  Her name was Kiara Shannon and she was approximately 26 years old. Graves hadn’t known her exact birthdate. He and his brothers had managed to unearth the fact that she had been born in Moon Bay in one of the main hospitals there. That was as good a place as any for him to start.

  He turned to face his computer and used his special search software to try to locate Kiara’s birth certificate. It took a few minutes to find what he was looking for, but eventually, he had the one he needed. The fact that she had a rather odd name helped as well as knowing what hospital she was born in. He did have to run the entire year because Graves didn’t have a birth month for her, but he finally hit pay dirt.

  The birth certificate for Kiara Shannon showed her birth date as June 25th and her mother’s name was Renee Shannon. Renee had been 22 when Kiara was born. Father was Unknown.

  Well, that’s not a huge surprise, being as her father was a very well-known businessman in town, and a married one at that. A little more research turned up that Renee Shannon was deceased and had been since Kiara was little more than 18 years old.

  At least she wasn’t dumped into the system, thought Graeme. He had to assume that Kiara never knew the elder Mr. Graves or that he was her father. After her mother’s death, it seemed that Kiara had simply gone off the grid. Graeme didn’t doubt that he would be able to find her, though.

  After all, finding missing people was what he did best. It was his special calling and he never failed to find the missing person he’s meant to locate. He was ready to find Ms. Kiara Shannon no matter how much work it would take to do so.

  * * *

  THE NEXT MORNING, Graeme got up, made coffee and planned out his day.

  He had given his housekeeper Stella the week off so that she and her husband could go on a proper vacation, which he also paid for.

  Graeme was generous if he wasn’t anything else. Besides, Stella and Jerry were the closest things he had to a family her on Earth. He was glad that she seemed to be having a good time, but he couldn’t deny that he was going to be relieved to see her return. It was hard to understand how she managed to keep his house running so smoothly. That was a feat that he certainly couldn’t do.

  On the other hand, making coffee was easy enough and he could have breakfast once he got to Moon Bay.

  Graeme checked his appearance in the mirror before leaving the house and studied what he saw there. His height was sometimes a deterrent when he was shadowing someone because he was 6’ 5” and had a rather fit body for his height, but it was all solid muscle. His hair wasn’t grey but it was a very unique silver color that he wore in a full style. His eyes were also a silver grey in color and he always looked as if he was wearing black eyeliner. His lashes were also long and dark, making him the envy of any woman that saw them. With his lush mouth, women tended to try to get him to kiss them all the time. They kept telling him that his mouth was “kissable.” Today, however, he was dressed casually in a navy blue pullover shirt and a pair of faded jeans. This outfit would help him blend in somewhat at least where he was headed.

  Another thing he was doing for this outing was driving one of his older, less conspicuous vehicles. This one could be parked anywhere and no one would pay much attention to it. As a last thought, he added a baseball cap and sunglasses to his ensemble.

  Now, he might still be noticeable a bit, but he would most likely be seen just as another of Moon Bay’s unique population.

  The drive only took a few minutes and, happily, it wasn’t as hard to find a parking place as he would have thought. Easing into an empty spot that was on the street, Graeme adjusted his hat and sunglasses.

  Then he went in search of Kiara Shannon.

  He played it cool as he talked to various shop owners, retail workers, food service workers and even some street people. Of course, he didn’t really have a lot to offer them in the way of a description.

  He was about to give up for the day when he decided that he would make one last stop in a convenience store that seemed to be pretty busy and popular. And, well, he had a “feeling” about it.

  The scene he walked in on was nothing like he expected, though.

  Chapter Three

  STANDING BETWEEN THE counter and an aisle stood a disheveled-looking woman shielding a teenage boy from the shop owner and a couple of other customers.

  “Please, don’t hurt him!” she was pleading. “We’ll just put this back and leave quietly. He was just hungry and didn’t have enough money to pay. Please, let us go! I promise you’ll never see us again.”

  “Excuse me,” Graeme said as he stepped forward. “What seems to be the problem?”

  The shop owner started explaining angrily that the boy had grabbed a box of crackers and a can of deviled ham and was racing toward the door without paying for it. Other customers also seemed to be pretty irate about the situation as they were being made to wait while the shop owner sorted it out. Graeme looked at the young woman and the boy.

  Instantly, he knew he had found Kiara.

  Taking his wallet from his jeans, he handed the shop owner a $20 bill.

  “There, that should take care of what the boy owes you,” he said. “There’s no need to take this any further. He was only hungry. Now you’ve been paid and then some for your trouble. I’ll get them out of your shop.”

  Turning to the young woman, he found her to be rather unkempt, wearing an oversized man’s shirt and what looked to be sweat pants of some so
rt. Her uncombed hair was shoved under a baseball hat and sticking out in tufts. Her dirty sneakers looked too big for her feet. He would never have realized that he was looking at an heiress if he hadn’t already known who she was.

  She was looking at him with huge violet eyes. When she realized that he was actually going to pay for the food, she started to ease her way around him, still shielding the boy, and made her way toward the door. Graeme knew that if she made it outside, he would have one hell of a time catching her again, so as she tried to pass him, he gripped her arm and escorted her and the boy out of the shop.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded as she tried to pull away from him. “Oh wait, I suppose you want some sort of repayment for bailing us out in there. Fine. Follow me.”

  Looking at him with an expression that mixed disgust and defeat, she seemed resigned to the fact that he most likely wanted some sort of sexual favors from her.

  He wanted to correct her immediately, but figured he would do better if he just followed her. Once they were at the destination she was leading them to, he could talk to her. So he let her lead the way.

  She held onto the boy’s hand the entire way. Graeme thought it was odd that the boy hadn’t yet said a single word. But he didn’t find it odd that the girl kept looking at him in a way that said that any moment he looked elsewhere, brother and sister would be gone.

  He hid a grin. Well, she would be very disappointed. He was a hundred percent sure he would find them, wherever they hide.

  Finally, she stopped at the back of an old building.

  It looked a lot like an abandoned warehouse. Graeme couldn’t figure out what she was doing until she pulled out a loose board revealing an opening that proved to be a way into the building.

  She and the boy slipped inside and then she turned around and looked at him.

  “Come on, then,” she said abruptly.

  “What is this place?” Graeme asked as he squeezed himself in the opening.