by Mimi Barbour
Thinking about Jeff started the tingles that revisited every time she allowed herself to evoke those magical few hours. The soft strokes when his hands had travelled over her body, finding her most intimate places and touching her in the way that made her feel totally alive. That night had been the only time in her life when she’d exalted in the fact that she’d been born a woman. She felt joy, felt blessed that in this whole crazy, big world, he’d found her.
Karma? Maybe. Then again maybe just coincidence. Whatever had brought them together, she owed the man the courtesy of making sure he wasn’t in any real danger. Plus, her heart craved answers. The cracks that were forming had to be filled in with the knowledge that he was safe.
Pulling up to the entrance to Cascades, Lisa left the car with the valet and made her way to the main office where she hoped to find the manager, Jonathan Wimbly. She remembered her unfavorable impression from the last time she and Aurora had come to the hotel. Her partner’s disdain had been palpable and trusting Aurora’s judge of character skills, she’d been in full agreement.
Another person, heading the same way, cut her off near the gorgeous water-designed rococo reception counter. The elderly man, tall, athletic and other than the full head of pure white hair, looked very much like his son, Jeff. Clearly, a gentleman, he stopped and waved her in front and then seemed to hesitate when he realized she proceeded to the same office as he himself.
Lisa stopped before the closed door and smiled. “You must be Jeff’s father. Aurora told me you arrived.”
“Oh yes, Jeff’s friend Aurora Morelli.” The older man looked Lisa up and down. “And who might you be?”
“I’m a friend of your son’s also, Lisa Jordan.”
“He’s never mentioned you. I’m Jim Waters, his father.” Abrupt to the point of rudeness, Mr. Waters blocked her way into the office and crossed his arms. It was a barrier both physical and mental that Lisa knew meant ‘back off.’
Learning to read ‘tells’ as a part of her training, Lisa added, “I’m Aurora’s partner, Detective Jordan. She’s worried about Jeff’s disappearance and wanted me to look into the predicament as a favor. As you might know, Aurora and her new husband are off on their honeymoon and their plans are fixed, otherwise she’d be here herself.”
“Come with me, Lisa.” The man’s demeanour changed instantly and he gently held her arm to guide her forward. He opened the door and waited for her to step into the large opulent office before he followed.
A small man dressed in a flamboyant greyish silk suit, wearing an expression of anger appeared from behind a screened wall. Seeing Lisa, he stated firmly, “I’m sorry Miss but this area is out of bounds.” As soon as Jeff’s father turned from closing the door to face him, he apologized. “Excuse me, Jim. I didn’t realize she was with you.”
“Jonathon Wimbly, this is Lisa Jordan, she’s Aurora Morelli’s partner.”
“Oh God! Are you sure about this? The message said absolutely no police were to be involved or there’d be dire consequences.” Pale already, the little man’s skin faded even more until the rectangle-shaped designer glasses seemed more prominent against the colorless background. His small hands began squeezing together like a comic character in an old movie. “We can’t take any chances with Jeff’s safety.”
Lisa recognized real emotion when it stared her in the face and this man gave all the signs of being affected. If his worried expression and sleep-deprived eyes were anything to go by, Mr. Wimbly cared a great deal for his boss. She might have to rethink her earlier supposition on this man’s character.
Then the words he’d spoken filtered through, drilled into her initial worry and ramped it up into pure dread. “Aurora said there was a message?”
Seeing Wimbly hesitate, Jim Waters answered. “Yes! It came last night. Someone shoved it into my room.”
“Here at the hotel.”
“Yes, at first I never thought much of it because it didn’t make any sense. Then I found out that Jeff was missing.”
“Can I see it?”
“Sure, I have it here. I’m afraid we’ve been handling it too much and so I’m not sure if there would be any fingerprints for you to find.”
Lisa already had out a plastic bag to put the evidence into. “I’ll take it to my office just in case.”
Typed on ordinary loose-leaf paper that any schoolchild might use were the words… The time has come! No cops or else!
She read it quickly and looked up at the other two who waited for her reaction. “This means nothing to either of you?”
Wimbly stumbled over to his desk and perched on the edge of a piece of furniture built specially to suit his short stature. “The message is pure nonsense to me. I’ve spent most of the night trying to understand, but it makes no sense.” His hands took more self-punishment. “Jeff never leaves the hotel for any left length of time without telling me where he’s going. I trust him more than anyone I’ve ever known, and that includes my family.”
“I have to ask.” Lisa hated saying the words but she had no choice. “Do you know of any illegitimate activities he might be involved in?”
Wimbly flew to his feet. “Not Jeff. He’s straight up and doesn’t allow any kind of funny business in the casino. Look, he’s my best friend as well as my boss. He saved my life. I’m so worried.”
Running out of words, the manager sagged like a man in total despair.
Jim Waters moved close and gripped Wimbly’s arm, giving it a little squeeze. “Jonathon, Jeff trusted and admired you. He told me he’d never had an employee who worked harder or took as much personal care with his business.”
Hiding his emotion while concentrating on twirling his diamond ring, Wimbly eventually got his wobbling chin under control. Then he loosened his silk tie as if he had trouble breathing. Finally, he considered Jim and then Lisa. “Jeff gave me a chance, ignored my looks and instead recognized my genius with numbers and management. My being gay didn’t affect him, whereas others had made it almost a personal vendetta to keep me from doing what I do very well. When he offered me the best job in the world, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. I’d do anything for the man.”
“He feels the same way, Jonathon.”
All the time Wimbly talked, Lisa listened with one ear and played the words of the message around in her mind over and over. The time has come! What time? Waving the note, she broke into the men’s discussion. “To me, these words mean there has to have been history involved. It’s as if someone out there has been waiting to settle a past injustice of some kind. Does this make any sense to either of you?”
Wimbly shook his head sadly. “None of this makes sense to me.”
On the other hand, Jim Waters seemed to be in a trance. Lisa knew something in her supposition of the note had jostled a memory. When she and Aurora had discussed the situation, her partner had said that Jim used the word ‘revealing’ and she didn’t choose words randomly. Lisa strolled over to a chair, removed the light jacket that matched her dressy black pantsuit and placed it on top of her purse. Then she turned to the men.
“Let’s brainstorm. There has to be something in Jeff’s past that has sparked this situation. In the meantime, I’ll call Detective John Hampton and have him search Jeff’s apartment and organize an investigator to work upstairs undercover on a bogus complaint about drugs been sold on the premises. Of course, he’ll actually be checking the recent comings and goings from Jeff’s penthouse. You’ll also need to give permission for the videos taken around the hotel over the relevant period to be released to him.”
“Of course, but do you realize how many tapes we’re talking about?”
“To tell the truth, I don’t even want to think about it.”
Chapter Eight
Hours passed while Jeff floated in and out of consciousness. He vaguely remembered being half-carried to the bathroom, ordered to perform and returned to his chair. His last recollection had been a male injecting him with a sharp needle and not having the ability
to stop the inevitable.
The clouds were parting slowly and his brain began to function again. His neck muscles were sore from having the weight of his head hanging on his chest. He tried rotation. Pain made him do it slowly. He noticed the curtains had been left open and the darkness of the sky let him know that night had descended and he’d lost, at the very least, one whole day.
Thoughts bounced around with no rhyme or reason until with superhuman effort, he concentrated. Last night, or was it the night before, whoever had taken him must have broken into his apartment and drugged him while he slept. Otherwise, how did he come to be here? He remembered nothing. Plans he’d had for that day seemed obscure and whirred around like pesky mosquitos in his fuzzy brain.
Wait, Aurora had said she’d be stopping by before she left on her honeymoon. Why that thought popped in, he didn’t know. Yes, he did. He’d canceled a meeting just so they could spend an hour together before she left. He’d meant to tell Jonathon and hadn’t, putting it off for the morning. Jonathon hated when plans changed without his being notified. Because of Wimbly’s obsessiveness, Jeff never went anywhere or set anything up without informing him. So, he would guess something was wrong.
And, having a predictable personality, he’d tell Aurora that he was worried. That Jeff had disappeared. Then Aurora would do something. Tell Lisa. Shit! She would tell Lisa to take care of it. He knew it like he knew the danger was real.
This time his struggles flipped the chair over and the lamp on the table next to him crashed to the floor. Through the pounding of his heartbeats, he heard a male voice full of evil laughter. Before he ever got sight of the face, he hated the prick with a ferociousness that sent shock waves through his body. Never one to let himself be at a disadvantage, as a young man Jeff had learned his smarts from the streets. He’d always prided himself that he could hold his own in a fair fight. Great! So where was the fairness here with him tied to a chair, lying on the floor?
At first, only the shiny loafers were in his sight but soon the laughing asshole came close and squatted down. His blonde-streaked hair was thick, styled and matched his eyebrows. The smiling mouth, one Jeff wanted to smash his fist into, held a set of pearly-white teeth. He stunk with cologne that should never have made it to the market. Jeff registered all those things before he saw the man’s face. The soulless-grey eyes told the truth, expressed the warning. This man could kill and maybe he would.
“My goodness, Mr. Waters. It looks like you’ve fallen. Shall I help you back up? Or let you rot in your own wastes.” His chuckle held no mirth.
Up until this moment, if Jeff hadn’t feared for his life, he did now. This dude hated him. Why? He’d never seen him before in his life.
Chapter Nine
Lisa calmed Wimbly down and asked if he could organize some coffee and snacks as it looked to be a long night. Her eyes clearly sent a message for him to leave the room while he did her bidding. After he left, she pointedly turned her gaze on the older man who strode robotically from one end of the room to the other. His posture rigid and his face clouded with memories.
“We’re alone now. Tell me what you know.”
“The message could be a voice from my past, except it doesn’t really make sense.”
“Let me be the judge of that. Tell me what’s on your mind and I’ll let you know if I think it’s realistic.” With her foot, she pushed out a chair next to hers and waited. Jim looked as if he’d ignore her and so she added, “Sit!”
His fleeting grin at her command made him look younger until the worry settled back into place. “It’s been going around and around in my head but I can’t grasp anything specific. I mean the man disappeared years ago and I have no idea where his family is.”
“See, none of that makes sense to me. Start at the beginning. Trust me. While you explain, it’ll clarify things in your head.” She saw disbelief in his features and stopped herself from reaching over and smacking him in the jaw that looked so much like his sons. “Let me decide what’s important and what isn’t. I’m trained for it and no matter how rich you are, you’re not—”
“Hey, I’m not so rich. It’s my boy who has the big money.”
“Talk!”
“He should get to know you. I like a girl who has spirit.”
Lisa flushed and reverted to Aurora’s style. “If you don’t get on with it, this spirit you like will proceed to beat the living bejesus outta you.” She knew her voice had risen slightly past the teasing note she meant to use. As the night passed, a feeling of dread was creeping over her and she had a hard time staying detached. Training flew out the window when it became personal.
Jim grinned and pulled out the other chair. Lifting the knees of his pants in an old-fashioned gesture, he sat. Then he drummed his fingers on the wooden top of the huge oak desk. “Twenty years ago, I had a partner in a mining venture that started out slow but after years of hard work, at least on my part, it began to inch upward. Both Ben, that was his name, Ben Stokes, and I started living fairly well. Our families were friends. Jeffy used to play with his boys Troy and Sammy. Our wives were close. Life was ideal. Until a damaging investment put us on the brink of losing everything, and our good times came to an abrupt end. That’s when Ben took funds from our account to gamble with and win back the money. The company’s accountant found proof of his tampering and showed it to the board. Even though most of the money had been replaced, they didn’t care. They made me fire him. Whenever I remember those days I think, how sad.”
“You had no idea?”
“I couldn’t do anything.” Jim wiped his mouth with fingers from his right hand. “He was like a brother to me. Matter of fact, Jeff used to call him Uncle Benny. However, the damn board wanted restitution and they wanted Ben gone.”
“You didn’t press charges.” It wasn’t a question because Lisa knew the answer.
“How could I? I loved his sons and his wife, Carol. At the time, Carol and Jeff’s mom, Gloria were like sisters. She was a sweet woman and didn’t deserve to have her life turned upside down. I didn’t deserve to lose my business and put a lot of people out of work either. Sometimes life is ugly and things don’t turn out the way we’d like.”
“Yep, I see a lot of that in my line of work. So what happened?”
“Ben flipped out, promised retribution but I had hundreds of employees that relied on their paychecks and on me to produce that money. I had to do as the board directed. I paid him a pittance to what the company was worth but at the time, it was all we could afford. Once we were on our feet, I promised to give him a payout but he told me to stick it up my backside. I never saw him again. Nor did I have a forwarding address. He just disappeared.”
“I’m sure it was one of the hardest things you ever had to face but you had no choice. At least that’s something you can take solace from.”
Awe and surprise fought a battle on his face and awe won. “You’re a gal after my own heart. When Jeff gets back to us, I think I’ll have a little talk with my son. You two would make a perfect couple.”
“Hey, don’t do me any favors.” Lisa smiled to show she teased but the smile was unsteady and she knew it. Heartbreak, only a few breaths away, lay waiting to take over. Focusing on the gist of his story kept her sane. She cleared her throat and reached over to pat his hands as her way of accepting his lovely compliment. “So Ben left?”
“Sure, he had no choice. The board had enough documentation to put him away for twenty years. And they threatened they’d lay charges if they ever got wind of him straddling the fence into any kind of criminal activity or gambling again.”
“Where did he move?”
“Well… well that’s the crux of the matter. I have no idea. One day he stormed out of my office screaming that my time would come and the next day they disappeared from Denver. Being a cautious man, I had a private investigator on the case, but they vanished from Colorado and he lost them. Neither my wife Gloria nor I ever heard from any of the family again. Near broke her hea
rt, she missed the boys and Carol so much.”
“He screamed the words, your time would come?”
“Now you see why that message is so unnerving. The man I know might have lost his temper when cornered and he was a gambler but I’d bet my last buck that he wouldn’t physically harm someone. That’s just not Ben.”
“Sure, but would you be willing to bet that same dollar knowing Jeff could be that someone?”
“That’s crazy. Jeff used to call him Uncle Benny.”
“So?”
Chapter Ten
“You don’t remember me Jeffy, do you? We used to play together when we were knee high to a grasshopper as your old man used to say.”
The crazy son-of-a-bitch ripped the tape from Jeff’s mouth while still leaning over him. Taking a deep breath took precedence over telling the grinning bastard to go fuck himself. Jeff licked his dry lips and just managed to stop from saying his thoughts aloud. Oh, what the hell… “Go fuck yourself.”
“Now that’s not a nice way to greet an old friend, is it?” The perverted asshole righted Jeff’s chair and then sat on the edge of the table facing him. “Do you know how long my family has planned to get back at your dad? It’s what’s kept us going through all the bad times after your father kicked us out of our home. After he blackmailed my father, Ben Stokes, and took our money.”
