A Taste of Tragedy

by Kim McMahill

  Morgan handed Devyn the glass of water. Their eyes met, and Morgan forced a smile.

  “Thanks,” Devyn said as she took a sip and then set the glass on the coaster on the coffee table as she took a seat on the sofa. “Anyway, to make a long story short, they haven’t arrested Sacramento yet, but he’s under surveillance in hopes he’ll lead us to Coterie. The security cameras in the building were jammed during the time the janitor claimed to have seen Sacramento, which is unfortunate but not surprising. Even a bad agent would be smart enough not to get caught on camera. So until Sacramento slips up, which I have no doubt he will, all we have is his word against the janitor’s.”

  “That would explain why Coterie is always one step ahead of us,” Nick said.

  “Sure would. Now tell me what I don’t know,” Devyn replied.

  “Morgan spent the weekend here and left early this morning for work, Phoenix is about a two-hour drive south of here. When we got here this evening, we noticed her computer, which contained the e-mails you read, sitting in a puddle of water. Needless to say, it won’t power up. We’ll see if tech can pull anything off it, otherwise the electronic copies are lost. Morgan also believes her duplex was broken into. This person is good. The only clues left behind at her duplex were a crooked doormat and her computer was on when she got home even though she always turns it off at night.”

  “Actually, I backed up my files onto a flash drive this weekend and put it in my safe deposit box here in town,” Morgan interjected.

  “Wow, I can see what drew you two together,” Devyn said.

  Nick ignored her. “As I mentioned earlier, whoever is behind this is a professional, and we have no proof of any wrongdoing at the moment. The sample results probably won’t hold up in court, since there is no proof where it came from, only Morgan’s word that it was part of the supply used in the products. If anyone realizes she took the sample, and has any brains at all, the rest of the substitute product is gone by now. Same with the e-mails. Without the electronic trail, there is no proof they were written by Dexter and Stan. Really, the only reason we’re here is because of the ties between Frank, Dexter Fowler, and Stan Jacobson, Morgan’s dead predecessor.”

  “What do you mean, substitute?” Devyn asked.

  “I checked in with the lab while you were en route. What they’ve found so far is that the contents in the sample Morgan provided don’t match the composition filed on GCF’s GRAS form. The lab theorizes that the company may have tried to substitute cheaper synthetic ingredients for the much more expensive natural ingredients the company claims to use.”

  “How much could that possibly affect the bottom line?” Devyn stood and began to pace.

  Morgan had already thought of that and had done as much research as she could on the sweetener’s cost. “The only place hoodia gordonii grows naturally is South Africa's Kalahari Desert, so its price is staggering, and although monk fruit is starting to be grown commercially, it’s still expensive. The manufacturing process for the approved formula is complex and time consuming. For the quantities GCF uses over a year, and the estimated cost difference between using hoodia gordonii and monk fruit versus synthetics, we could be looking at four to five million a year, maybe more. I had a difficult time accessing data on the sweetener. And claiming the expense of producing MFHG3 rather than the actual expense of the synthetic probably saves GCF nearly as much in state and federal taxes.”

  “If Dexter’s claims in the e-mail are true about the sweetener stimulating the appetite and being addictive, maybe it isn’t just about the money savings. They could be trying to ensure their customers remain in a perpetual need of their product,” Nick added.

  Morgan thought about her conversation with the woman in the grocery store and realized Nick had a valid point. The woman seemed almost like an addict as she filled her cart with Healthy and Delicious Foods products and expounded on how much she craved them.

  “Research indicates that the active ingredient in Hoodia suppresses the appetite by acting on the nerve cells in the brain that sense glucose, by sending signals to make the brain think the body is full, even if it isn’t. These signals may even be much stronger than the signals sugar sends for the same reason,” Morgan stated.

  “Interesting. This situation is really starting to fit the Coterie profile,” Devyn said.

  As Morgan sat back and listened to Devyn and Nick discuss the financial implications, she suddenly realized how exhausted she was. Since starting her new job, she hadn’t gotten many decent nights of sleep. She looked at the clock and saw it was just after midnight, and she had gotten up at 4:00 a.m. the day before in order to make it back to Phoenix in time for work.

  “I’m sure we could all use some sleep. I know I’m beat. Devyn, there’s a guest room at the end of the hall on the left with an attached bathroom. Please make yourself at home. I guess that leaves you the couch, Nick. Blankets are in the same place they’ve always been. I’ll finish up on the list of Giant Cactus employees in the morning.”

  “I’ll lock up,” Nick said.

  Morgan looked up at him. The phrase was so familiar it felt like she had stepped back in time.

  “By the way, where’s the rod that used to be wedged in the runner of the sliding glass door?”

  Morgan thought for a moment before the memory returned. “Oh, I used it a year or so ago to knock down a couple vacant swallow’s nests under the eaves in hopes they wouldn’t come back. I must have set it down in the garage and forgot to put it back in the door. If you can’t find it out there, I saved the broken handle from an old broom you could probably saw off to fit.”

  Nick went out into the garage, leaving the two women sitting across from each other in the warmly decorated living room. Morgan didn’t know what to say, but had no doubt Devyn would soon break the awkward silence.

  “Nick has a Mariachi gnome sitting on his desk that no one is allowed to touch. I always wondered what was supposed to be in its hand and why he was so protective of it. Now I know. I want to ask you a million questions, but I’m not sure where to start.”

  “I wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about Nick. He’s very private.”

  Devyn threw her head back and laughed. “Now that’s an understatement. I didn’t even know he’d been married until I was driving him to the airport after he got your package.”

  Morgan wasn’t sure how she felt about the fact that, despite all the time these two must spend together, he had never mentioned her. Had he moved on so thoroughly that he never thought of her? Surely he still cared. She thought back to the kiss they shared in Phoenix earlier that night and Devyn’s mention of the gnome. She feared that maybe the true reason for his silence about her was that she had managed to hurt him that deeply.

  “We bought the gnomes on our honeymoon,” Morgan whispered.

  Devyn moved from her chair to sit next to Morgan on the couch and took her hand in both of hers. “I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable. Nick is special to me, and I’m just so curious about his life before me.” Morgan looked up with eyes filled with so much pain that it made Devyn flinch. “Not like you think—nothing romantic. Nick is my longest lasting partner. Apparently, people find me difficult to be around and impossible to work with. I was starting to feel like a major social loser until he came along, and now I’ve convinced myself it wasn’t just me, it was all those insecure men I used to work with.”

  This brought a weak smile to Morgan’s lips. “Yes, he is more secure than most men. I hope you don’t take him for granted the way I did. Even though he’s a good person, he can only be pushed so far before he pushes back.”

  “Thanks for the advice. Now let’s get some sleep, and we’ll figure all this out in the morning.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

  Aaron checked the load on his SIG Sauer P229 and stowed the gun in the waistband of his desert camo cargo pants before leaving his car at a secluded trailhead. He was getting tired of this hike. The emptiness of the desert held no appeal, bei
ng filled with so many unusual inhabitants and unpredictable hidden dangers. The hazards of the city were much more foreseeable.

  He hoped his luck would hold one more time and he could avoid meeting a rattlesnake in the dark. He would much rather encounter a thug twice his size in a shadowy alley than a reptile out for an evening hunt.

  With minimal light to give away his presence, he made his way cautiously toward Morgan’s adobe home. As he crept closer to the structure, the light from her windows provided ample illumination, allowing him to extinguish his tiny beam.

  Standing in the shadows to allow his eyes to adjust to the lighting, he focused on the house. He couldn’t see in the windows from this distance, but clearly, she was here as he’d suspected. This morning, the Jeep was in the garage, but other than that, everything looked the same.

  Inching further back into the shadows, he retrieved his cell phone. Sofia answered the call on the first ring.

  “Yes, she’s here. What do you want me to do?” He listened for a moment and wasn’t happy with his instructions. He acknowledged much of the blame for the current situation rested with him, so he didn’t have a lot of grounds to argue. “Why can’t I extract the information out of her here, and then take her for a fatal ride in her four-wheel drive? This place is rugged. I can easily make it look like she drove off a cliff at night.”

  “I need to look her in the eye when she eventually answers our questions about the dissemination of the e-mails to know if she’s lying,” Sofia said. “She could tell you anything and you’d probably believe it just to get the job done. Besides, men are so susceptible to being played by a beautiful woman in distress. I’m very good at detecting lies, which is what makes me such an effective lobbyist. So, subdue her, bring her back to Phoenix, and I’ll take over from there. We have to ensure all electronic and print copies of those messages are destroyed and find out if she’s talked to anyone.”

  Aaron didn’t like the plan one bit. The likelihood of getting caught always increased the longer the captor kept someone alive and the further he or she tried to move the person. It would be easy enough to subdue Morgan, but getting her back to Phoenix without being detected would be a challenge.

  He removed his shoes once again to eliminate as much noise as possible and to leave undistinguishable tracks in the dry dirt. He wished he could see into the garage, but it didn’t have any windows.

  Creeping quietly through the darkness, he made his way to the back deck and peeked in the kitchen window. He was disappointed to find Morgan sitting on the couch with a blonde woman who was clearly offering support. Though the additional person did explain why one vehicle sat outside the two-car garage.

  What if she’s telling the woman about the sweetener and the issues raised in the e-mails?

  There was no way he could subdue both women and transport them to Phoenix in such a short period of time. Morgan’s car was a small cross-over with no actual trunk and limited cargo space, and he had no idea what the blonde woman drove. He would need his rental for the job, and that would take time he didn’t have.

  With no way to know what Morgan was telling the woman, he saw no other option. He would have to kill the blonde and then take Morgan to Sofia. After the lights went out, he’d make his move.

  Slinking back into the scrub, he waited.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

  Nick smiled as he wandered around the garage. Nothing much had changed since the last time he’d been here. Everything was in its own special, well-organized place. Some of the labels he’d made for all the little bins of nails, screws, and other small hardware had faded, but otherwise it looked just as he’d left it years ago.

  When Morgan first contacted him, he wasn’t sure how he felt. He was still angry she had chosen her career over him, but he missed her so much it was worth the pain and anger just to hear her voice, and to see her again. He had never quit loving her, but his pride hadn’t allowed him to play second fiddle to her career.

  All he’d ever wanted was to be number one in her life, for her to choose him above all else. But then again, he could have given up his career for her, but he didn’t. They had reached a stalemate. Both wanted the other to give up something neither was willing to let go of, so they parted ways.

  For now, he had to put his personal feelings aside. The thread linking Dexter Fowler, Stan Jacobson, and Morgan together made him fear for her safety. At the moment, he couldn’t even bring himself to care about whom or what Coterie really was. His only concern was keeping Morgan safe and bringing the group down before any more people died. For that, he had to maintain his objectivity.

  Even after a thorough look around the interior of the garage, he didn’t see the wooden rod, but he did see the broken broom handle Morgan had mentioned. Retrieving a tape measure and handsaw, he cut the item into the correct length to jam into the door track.

  After putting everything back in its proper place and sweeping up the sawdust, he pulled out his cell phone and checked his messages. There was nothing from his home office, but one message from Bob Tanner.

  He accessed his voice mail and listened to Bob’s message. Apparently, Stan Jacobson’s building had security cameras in the lobby. The discs hadn’t been recorded over yet, which was a miracle after so much time had passed. Bob had looked through the footage from the hours around the estimated time of death. He recognized a man from staking out Giant Cactus Foods earlier in the day. He identified the man as Aaron Truscott. The footage didn’t verify if Aaron went to Stan’s apartment, nor could it prove he killed Stan, but it did throw a major shadow of doubt on the suicide determination. Bob stated he’d go visit with Mr. Truscott in the morning and get back to him.

  Nick glanced at his watch and realized morning wasn’t all that far away. He wasn’t sure if he could shut his mind down enough to sleep, but he had to try if he was going to be worth anything in the morning.

  He hadn’t slept well from the moment Morgan first contacted him. Despite the lack of details in their earlier conversations, he sensed she was in trouble and not telling him everything. Add a late-night stakeout and a major drug bust that ran into the early hours of the morning, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had gotten a decent night’s rest.

  Flipping off the lights, Nick went back inside the house. He wedged the rod in the sliding door track and then made his way to the guest bath off the hall. After a quick shower, he poured himself two-fingers of scotch and settled on the sofa in front of the television.

  The news from Phoenix was even more depressing than Salt Lake’s, so he flipped through the channels until he came across a travel show on Mexico. He glanced up at the mantle and smiled at the sight of the gnome. That figure represented some of the best days of his life. With the beaches of Mexico filling the screen, he sipped his scotch and let his mind wander back to happier times with Morgan.

  After a half hour, he felt the tension drain away. Reclining back on the couch, he turned off the television, pulled a blanket over his body, and sleep claimed him.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

  Sofia, in her Candace disguise, walked the four blocks from where she parked her stolen car to the GCF building. She entered the dark and empty building using the key card Preston had given her upon arrival. Taking the elevator to the tenth floor, she exited and could see that Preston’s office light was on.

  “Good evening, Preston, or should I say morning?”

  “Has Aaron taken care of the problem? Can I go home?”

  “Has all the surveillance equipment in the building been disabled?” she asked, not answering his question.

  “Yes, I did everything you asked. I got you a car, delivered it where directed, and parked my car several blocks from here. I turned off all video and audio feeds in the building, and have been waiting here for instructions for hours.”

  She took a seat across from his desk, not bothering to remove her long, light-weight trench coat and thin driving gloves. She studied his expression. He didn’t look as n
ervous as he should, which put her on alert. “I thought it would be prudent for us to wait for confirmation together in case we need to change the plan. I’ve located a place where we can talk privately to Ms. Hunter once Aaron brings her to me.”

  “Why don’t we go to her? Why wait here?”

  “First, you won’t be going anywhere with me. I doubt you have the fortitude to do what must be done in order to encourage her to tell us what we need to know. Besides, there is no point in risking you being seen with her.”

  Sofia feared he might vomit. His face paled as the comprehension of what Morgan’s last hours on earth would entail. He had to know that Morgan couldn’t be allowed to live. She knew too much.

  “Now, Preston, you aren’t getting cold feet, are you? You knew the plan.”

  “Yes, but I didn’t think you would actually torture her and that she was going to suffer.”

  “The degree of fear and pain will be totally up to her. If she cooperates, our time together will be short.”

  “This is all wrong. Stan had nothing going on in his life and I really don’t know what happened to him, anyway. Morgan is a beautiful woman with a promising career. She’s smart, kind, and everyone here except Aaron took an immediate liking to her, especially Wiley.”

  “Men,” Sofia huffed. “You would all be much further ahead if you thought with your brain rather than your libido.” Sofia stood and walked to the window. During the day, the view from Preston’s office was impressive. All the tall buildings had some degree of exterior nighttime lighting, but none appeared to be in use. In the distance, she saw numerous flashing lights, most likely from an accident. Some of the lights no doubt belonged to law enforcement, which she had so far been successful in avoiding.