by Dale Mayer
She could go to a hotel for the night but for how long? That was an expense she couldn’t justify right now.
Not even after taking a week off from work as “vacation” time to look for Tammy.
Instead of finding her, Rebel had been caught up in the same chaos with no end in sight.
*
Back in the kitchen Saul motioned toward the bedroom and said, “She’s packing a bag.”
The others nodded.
“Does she have anywhere to go?” Stone asked. “And the cameras in the hallway are broken. She needs to make sure she has somewhere safe.”
Saul shrugged. “She says Tammy’s is where she would’ve gone for help, but, without her, Rebel doesn’t have anywhere else to turn.”
The men winced. “That’s got be hard,” Dakota said. “You know? Thinking about this from a different angle, these people all have one thing in common.”
“What people?” Merk asked. He leaned against the fridge, his arms crossed over his chest. “And how does it relate to this mess?”
“All of them work for the same company.”
The men stared at him in consideration.
Dakota continued. “Two were in IT. One was known to play games for whatever reason. We’re talking programmers here. We’re talking people who can cause serious damage or be coerced into causing serious damage. Also people who can steal information, money, damn near anything through their own computer skills.”
“You think Tammy and Daniel might’ve been involved in something like that?” Merk asked.
Dakota shrugged. “One of them, yes. Probably dragged the other one in, either deliberately or accidentally.”
“And Rebel?” Saul asked. “You’re thinking that, because people know she’s good friends with Tammy, they’d assume she might be holding something for her friend?”
“Or somebody in the company has been pulling strings,” Stone said, “or making it look like Daniel’s been pulling strings and has now decided that, if Rebel won’t let Tammy go, then Rebel’s become a liability.”
“But then why destroy her property? Why not just kill her?” Merk asked.
At the gasp in the hallway, the men turned to see Rebel standing there, her face pale, a large bag at her feet.
Dakota carried on, his gaze steady. “Because the bad guys could always use the two women’s close friendship against each other. Threaten to hurt Tammy if Rebel didn’t cooperate and vice versa. There’s always the chance that Tammy didn’t give Rebel anything. Or that Rebel knows more than she thinks she knows.”
“But I don’t know anything,” Rebel cried out.
“Tell us about the work environment at your job,” Stone said, directing her focus there.
“The telecommunication company is huge.” She named a couple bigwig corporate types at her location here in San Diego.
Saul nodded. “And you’re in marketing?”
“Yes. All I do is graphics and ad copy.”
“How much do you know about the IT work that Tammy and Daniel did?” Merk asked.
“Tammy rarely spoke about it. She said security was a big component in her job, both within the software itself and how few personnel were entrusted with any knowledge of it.”
“And Daniel?” Stone asked.
“He was a bit of a bragger, but he never really gave any details, just that what he was doing was superimportant and made him a big cheese. Honestly I hardly listened. The man was insufferable.”
“What’s the chance somebody else in the company pulled all those tricks and blamed Daniel?” Merk asked. “And when Daniel became a liability, they took care of him and possibly Tammy at the same time.”
She frowned. “You think somebody else in the company is doing this? Why? Who?”
“Can you think of anybody else who might have a connection to the three of you?” Stone asked, prodding her.
She stared at him and then slowly shook her head. “No one other than those we work with.”
“And Tammy was in a relationship with Daniel, and that makes you connected to him too,” Saul added.
“Of course but only because I was Tammy’s best friend. I was talking her out of resuming any relationship with Daniel. I even brought it up at work, but I was discreet about it. Still I imagine we could have easily been overheard within the marketing cubicles or in the breakroom or if I crossed paths with Tammy in the copier room or in the elevator. But I just can’t imagine what issue would necessitate killing people though.”
“That’s already been brought up,” Saul said. “Once you start talking about programming and telecommunications, we could be looking at espionage or even terrorism.”
“Good luck with getting information from the company.”
“Why is that?” Stone asked. “So far a lot of them have been forthcoming and cooperative. At least the half we spoke to. Our boss called the others and questioned them but I haven’t heard anyone being difficult.”
She shrugged. “Yet I’m sure they were very closed-mouthed and secretive when it comes to security details.”
“How many people are in the IT department?” Saul asked with a frown.
She focused on Saul and frowned, concentrating. “I think eight, including the supervisor.”
“You know who the supervisor is?” Merk asked.
“Samantha Clapton is the supervisor now. She replaced Gordon. He was a nice guy. He was there for twenty years. Then one day he just didn’t come to work. According to Daniel, he got in an argument with the upper-level guys, quit and walked out.”
The men stared at her, Merk already on his phone, texting someone.
She shrugged, didn’t understand their reaction. “I don’t know if it’s true or not. I only know what Tammy told me. She was concerned because Gordon was a good guy and had been a huge help to her when she first started at the company. She hated to think he’d been shafted in some way.”
The men nodded.
“Any idea what his last name is?” Merk asked.
She shook her head. “They took his name off the company’s website. I certainly don’t know what went on. Some employees made various comments, gossiping that he done something wrong, but Tammy was adamant he hadn’t done anything wrong. Gordon didn’t like Samantha. They’d been going toe to toe over some of the security measures in the company.”
“How long ago did he leave?” Dakota asked.
She pursed her lips. “A couple months ago. Daniel was promoted soon afterward. He retired. There wasn’t anything suspicious about his exit.”
“And when did all the problems with Daniel start?” Saul asked.
Her head bounced back and forth like a four-way tennis match, the guys peppering her with one question after another. “A long time ago. Then he appeared to clean up his act.”
“How long ago exactly?” Merk asked.
She shrugged. “Tammy would know. They should have promoted Tammy anyway. She was the kind not to take bullshit from staff or management. Daniel, on the other hand, could be easily manipulated by a great pair of legs and boobs.”
Chapter 9
At the odd silence, she glared at the men. “That was not Tammy. Even though Tammy is beautiful, slim, would easily have been the most popular girl at school. And she was the most popular girl at work. Still she didn’t have to pull any kind of stunts to get her promotions.”
“Maybe if she had, she would have gotten the promotion over Daniel,” Merk said.
She studied Merk’s face, seeing an understanding of how life worked and often didn’t work. “Yes, quite possibly. But she and Gordon got along very well without any of that.”
“And the new supervisor?” Stone asked.
“Well, Tammy just wasn’t into that kind of a thing.”
“What kind of thing?” Dakota asked.
“You know, when you’re at a job, and there’s a clique, a group of the in-crowd, where they all fawn over the one in power just like high school all over again? The department slowly d
iverged into that. Daniel was on the inside.”
“Tammy was on the outside, I presume.” At Rebel’s nod, Saul asked, “And who else was on the inside?”
“A couple others. Both men.”
“Of course, since the new supervisor is a woman, Samantha.”
She shot Saul a bright smile. “You got it.”
Saul exchanged glances with Dakota. “Sounds like we need to talk to Samantha.”
“Good luck with that,” Rebel said. “She’s perpetually unavailable. Unless you’re law enforcement, she won’t say anything to you.” She pulled out her phone and hit the proper contact name. “I’ll call her right now.”
They all waited as the phone rang and rang then went to voice mail.” She didn’t bother leaving a message. Pocketing her phone, Rebel said, “Like I said, she’s hard to talk to. She’d have seen my number and said, hell no!”
The men nodded. “We’ll get her to talk. But first things first. Where will you stay for the night? And you should call the insurance company in the morning to deal with this.”
She grimaced. “I’ll sleep in my car downstairs in the secured parking lot. Then start fresh in the morning.” She watched Saul’s mouth open and shook her head. “I’m fine in the car. It’ll be safe and secure down there. It will allow me to get a few hours of sleep and recover from the shock,” Rebel said, hopefully in a pragmatic, reasonable tone of voice. “In the morning, I’ll start cleaning up this mess.”
Saul shook his head. “Look around you, Rebel. You can’t stay here, and you can’t stay in your car anywhere.”
Rebel, not liking what he had to say, glared at him and snapped, “Why not?”
“Because whoever was here might still be keeping an eye on the place and will know you came back. They have already checked out your vehicle and will be watching it too.”
“That’s a big assumption,” she protested.
“We have to assume that,” Saul said, his tone steady. “And, if you weren’t dealing with so many hits one after another, you would see that. Right now you aren’t thinking straight. It’s up to us to make sure you don’t get hurt or any deeper into trouble.”
She narrowed her gaze at him. “Are you saying I got myself into trouble thus far?”
He glared at her. “Don’t twist my words around,” he snapped. “You’re not staying in your car overnight. That’s final.”
“Where do you suggest I stay? Should I go to Tammy’s place? But, if they trashed my place, then they should have trashed hers.”
“Tammy’s apartment is a possibility but not alone.” Saul frowned. “Actually that’s not a bad idea.” He glanced at the guys, all silently agreeing with him. “We never did get much time to search her place.”
“Search for what?”
He shrugged. “Who knows?”
“Well, I know her very well. There was nothing hidden about Tammy. She was very open. Very stable, nonconfrontational. She’d never do anything dangerous.”
“And yet she’s in trouble,” Merk said. “So you’re a little more confrontational, a little more living on the edge. What’s next for you?”
She glared at him.
“Note the evidence,” Merk said in exasperation. “Look around you. This is hardly something we’ve made up.”
She raised her hands in frustration. “What am I supposed to do then?”
Stone stepped forward. “Go to a hotel for the night. One you’ve never been to before. Give a fake name. Pay cash for the room, for anything related to your stay,” Stone said. “If you don’t have enough cash on you, do not go to an ATM. We’ll give you enough cash to cover tonight’s lodgings. From the safety of your hotel room, using the hotel phone, contact your insurance company. In the meantime, get ready to speak to the police once more. They should be here anytime now.”
“Like they’ll care.”
“Yes, they will,” Saul said. “It’s all related to Tammy’s disappearance, now Daniel’s, plus we have the murderer of the homeless man involved too. I believe this has all just escalated in the police’s eyes.”
“How wrong is it that Tammy’s disappearance alone didn’t take priority?”
Saul glared at her. “It’s not like Tammy is the only case the whole police department is working right now. Stop being difficult. Just because they couldn’t find her right away doesn’t mean they weren’t trying to all this time.”
She groaned. “I understand that in theory, but it’s so damn frustrating. I just want her home safe and sound.”
“And we don’t want you to come face-to-face with the men who did this to your apartment or who killed an unarmed homeless man,” Stone said, his voice solid, unmovable. “So, until we resolve this, you shouldn’t be alone.”
“Even if I go to a hotel, I’ll be alone.”
Just then a knock came at the door. Saul opened it to admit the police. The detective assigned to Tammy’s case stepped in. He looked at Rebel. “Glad to see you’re still okay.”
She nodded. She didn’t know what to say to him anymore. Still she couldn’t stop asking the same question, “Anything new on Tammy?”
He shook his head. “It was her locket that you found at the warehouse. It had smudges of fingerprints but none clear enough to get anything from, so we don’t have any further leads.”
“Is anybody tracking the homeless man’s area to see if maybe he happened upon Tammy’s body?” Rebel asked, choking up a bit on that last word.
“We have cops out canvassing the area. But it will be hard to see anything until daylight.”
“True enough.” Rebel shook her head. Time was against her and Tammy, who would go through another night in whatever situation she was in. It so wasn’t fair. “It should’ve been me,” she said suddenly.
“What should have been you?” the detective asked.
“I should’ve picked her up. I should’ve insisted. Then she wouldn’t have been traveling alone on the bus that night.”
“That doesn’t mean it should’ve been you,” Saul said quietly. “It means, maybe it would’ve warded this off temporarily, or maybe both of you would’ve been taken that night.”
She shot him a look. “I just can’t help wishing I’d done more.”
“And that’s a sentiment every family member and friend of a deceased or missing person feels,” the detective said. “We’re doing everything we can. This appears to be connected to Daniel’s disappearance and now to potentially our latest victim. But don’t think we’ve forgotten about Tammy’s disappearance, because we haven’t.”
She turned her gaze away. She wanted to believe him, but it was hard. She may appear selfish, like Tammy was the only one she cared about in this mess, but that wasn’t true. She didn’t like to think Daniel’s brother was going through the same turmoil over this as well. Or that the homeless man had a family, maybe searching for him for months, wishing to save him from a life on the streets and the increased risk it brought. She nodded. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be difficult, but I’m so damn tired and frustrated.”
The detective nodded. “With good reason. So tell us what happened here?”
“Not a lot to tell. Saul drove me home as I was still in shock after seeing the dead homeless man, realizing Tammy was connected, what with her locket in his possession. We got here and found the apartment like it is.”
“Did you touch anything?”
She nodded. “I went to my room and packed a bag. I moved that kitchen chair. Other than that I haven’t done a thing. The place is a mess.”
The two policemen he came with wandered through the apartment. The detective continued with his questions. “I’m sure you’ve already discussed this, but maybe you can fill me in on any ideas you have as to what they would be looking for?”
She shook her head, all the fight gone. “No,” she said softly. “I have no idea. Tammy didn’t give me anything for safekeeping. I didn’t think anything was wrong in her world, and I have no idea if she may or may not have left
something here on purpose and how the bad guys thought I would have it.”
“If somebody kidnapped her, looking for something she might’ve taken, it’s only natural they would look at her best friend to see if she had passed it on,” the detective said.
“No. That’s faulty reasoning. She wouldn’t put her best friend in danger.”
“Unless you didn’t know about it,” Merk said.
“In which case, you’d be in more danger,” the detective continued. “If she thought her place would be searched, she’d hide whatever it is somewhere else. Like here.”
“In that case it could be anywhere, and it could mean whatever was here has already been found,” Dakota suggested.
“As to what to look for—we are talking about a notebook, USB key, an SD card,” Merk said.
She shook her head. “The options are way too numerous to even consider.”
“We’ll look around and see if we find anything,” the detective told her.
She stood up and walked to the front door. “I’ll sleep in my vehicle downstairs.”
The detective turned to look at her. “Don’t do that please.”
She glared at him. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“Go to a hotel for the night,” the detective said, echoing Stone’s earlier words. “Everything will look very different tomorrow.”
Her gaze landed on the dill pickles and the top of the busted jar of mayonnaise. “It looks like shit no matter which way I see it.”
She turned and walked out of her apartment. In the hallway, she pushed the button for the elevator. She didn’t know why she was so resistant to a hotel. It was a reasonable answer. She could afford it. If it was just one night. Where else could she go? Nowhere. So why not do that? She figured it was one thing she could control amid a massive state of chaos she couldn’t control. She was too damn tired to explore her psyche further or to drive too far. Plus what if the bad guys were following her or her car? She knew of no hotels or motels or bed-and-breakfasts in walking distance. Plus it was still dark outside.
The very circumstances Tammy had disappeared in.
