Caliber Detective Agency Box Set 1

by Remington Kane

“That man and I work together, and he’s a good friend, but we’ve never slept together and there’s been no one else.”

  “Jesus, Velma, I wouldn’t have blamed you. For all intents and purposes, it sounds like I was dead.”

  Velma released his hand and touched his cheek.

  “I don’t want to talk about the past. I also don’t want to move to Albany. I’m looking for a new apartment, once I find it, it’ll be just the two of us again, and then we can reconnect.”

  Michael sighed.

  “I can’t reconnect with you, because I never connected. You have to remember, that to me you’re just a friend I knew in college, in fact, when I first woke up, I was thinking of Karen.”

  “Karen? Karen was your girlfriend before me; she cheated on you with Saul.”

  “Yeah, I still remember that. The damn explosion couldn’t have wiped that memory, could it?”

  Velma sat up straight on the bed as she realized something, something that had been nagging at her every time she looked closely at Maya.

  “Maya resembles Karen, doesn’t she?”

  “Yeah, I see it too, but she’s ten times nicer than Karen, plus, she’s got a great sense of humor.”

  Velma leaned over and kissed Michael.

  “Enough about Karen and Maya, I’m your wife and I want to stay in New York, so please tell your mother thanks, but no thanks.”

  “No Velma, I need to go home. I’m going home to Albany and get my life together.”

  “But you’re asking me to leave my life behind.”

  “I know that, and maybe it’s selfish of me, but I’ve lost six years, and so maybe I’m allowed to be a little selfish and... if you don’t want to come, I’ll understand.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m saying it’s your choice.”

  Dr. Rodgers entered before Velma could speak again.

  The doctor looked over Michael’s chart and spoke with him for a few minutes, but as he was leaving, Velma asked to speak with him alone. The doctor guided her to the solarium, and the two of them spoke quietly in a corner.

  “How is he doing, Doctor?”

  “Michael is remarkable. If not for the weakness in his legs I’d release him today, but as things stand, I think we’ll give it a little more time.”

  “The other night you recommended that I consider speaking to a psychologist, I think you were right.”

  “I understand; transitions can be difficult. I’ll text you her number as soon as I get back to my office, all right?”

  “Yes, and thank you.”

  When Velma returned to Michael’s room, she found Maya sitting on the side of the bed in the very spot she had sat in. And as she watched the two of them talk and laugh together, she began to wonder if she would ever have back the man she had married, or if time and lost memories had taken him away.

  CHAPTER 7

  Caliber Detective Agency - JUNE 2005

  Jake Caliber the fourth stared intently at the eye of the corpse as a coroner’s assistant shined a bright light upon it.

  He straightened up and spoke to Agent Brice.

  “Judging by that tip, I’d say it was one of our pens, I can just make out the top of the logo and my son always carried one.”

  “Huh, so you think he could have done this?”

  “To defend himself and his brother, hell yes.”

  Brice turned to the elder Caliber.

  “You said that he would leave us a clue, and this is a doozy. My people will get on this and in a few hours we’ll know everything there is to know about this man, including his known associates.”

  The younger Caliber ran a hand across the back of his neck.

  “This is going to freak my wife out, knowing that Jakey killed someone, even though it was self-defense.”

  “That boy’s the future of the agency, Son. The sooner Gail accepts that, the better. The kid’s a natural P.I., and hell, when I was younger than him I was killing men while at war.”

  “Still, Dad, you know she won’t like this one bit.”

  “What’s our next move, Brice?”

  Brice motioned towards the door, as the vacant shop was becoming crowded with coroner and crime scene technicians. Once outside, Brice spoke.

  “By the time we return to your office my men will have a preliminary analysis of that last phone call. Hopefully that will contain some information we can use to track them down.”

  “If that fails and we have to hand over the money, what then?”

  “We have several containers available that have tracking chips. We’ll also include a phony bill that we’ll be able to track as well. Collecting the ransom is the area where most kidnappings fall apart, but I’m hoping that this won’t get that far. With the discovery of that body in there, I’ve every reason to think it won’t.”

  “Money or no money, I just want my grandsons back.”

  “Mr. Caliber,” Brice said. “That is our only goal.”

  ***

  The following morning, Jake woke up to find Christopher crying.

  The two boys had their gags removed when they were given a meal of hamburgers, but afterwards, they were locked in a filthy bathroom and placed apart in different stalls, with their left hands cuffed to the toilet fixtures. They had passed the night in fitful sleep, as they sat up leaning against the wall.

  Jake called over to his brother.

  “Hang in there, buddy, Dad and Granddad will get us out of here soon.”

  “You really think so?”

  “You know Granddad; he can do anything.”

  Someone entered the bathroom, the stalls had their doors removed, and so in the mirror, Jake could see who had come in. It was the girl named Jenny.

  She was carrying take-out breakfast food, egg sandwiches on croissants.

  She stood outside Jake’s stall and sent him a weak smile.

  “I brought you some food.”

  “Thank you, Jenny, and is that your real name, Jenny?”

  “It’s real; Gabe said that it’s so common that it didn’t need to be changed.”

  Jake shook his head.

  “That’s not the reason it doesn’t matter if we know it or not, it doesn’t matter because they plan to kill us once they have the money.”

  “No, Gabe said that you and your brother wouldn’t be hurt.”

  “He also promised Marco that he could do what he wanted to us once they had the money, and what do you think Marco will do to us?”

  She didn’t answer, she just handed him his food and then walked to the opposite end of the room and passed the other sandwich to Christopher. As she started to walk out of the bathroom, Jake called her back over.

  She stood outside his stall and gazed in at him.

  “What do you want? I won’t help you escape.”

  “I want to kiss you. I’ve wanted to kiss you ever since I saw you in that red bikini.”

  Jenny laughed.

  “You’re thinking about that now?”

  “Just one kiss, hmm?”

  “No touching?”

  “No touching.”

  “And you promise you won’t tell Gabe?”

  “Why would I?”

  “Just one?”

  “Please?”

  Jenny moved closer, and then leaned over. As Jake leaned forward, she stood up quickly, as if she had expected him to grab her with his free right hand. When she saw that he was relaxed, she leaned forward again. The kiss lasted several seconds, and when it was over, Jenny giggled.

  “You’re a good kisser.”

  “And you’re very beautiful, thank you.”

  She kissed him again, but longer, and ran her hands through his hair, but then she stood straight, and panted slightly.

  “I have to go.”

  Jake smiled at her.

  Jenny smiled back, turned, took two steps, and rushed back into the stall. Jake’s food hit the floor as he took her in his arms and his sandwich was soon followed by his shirt.

>   Christopher listened to the sounds of unzipping, disrobing and embracing. Before long, he began to wonder if his brother still wanted to be rescued.

  ***

  At the Caliber building, Kelli Ross stared up at the pair of beefy FBI agents who were guarding the front door.

  “I’m a friend of Chris and Jake’s and I wanted to know if the kidnappers have released them yet.”

  The taller of the two agents glared down at her.

  “How do you know about the kidnappings?”

  Kelli shrugged.

  “I was interviewed by another agent yesterday, and it was just on TV.”

  The two agents looked at each other and said the same thing. “Oh no,” and as if on cue, two news vans from competing twenty-four-hour cable networks parked in front of the building.

  “Go home, little girl, there’s nothing for you to do here.”

  “Let her in,” a voice said.

  The agents turned to find Velma walking towards them.

  “You know this child, ma’am?”

  “Of course, she’s Christopher’s friend; her name is Kelli Ross.”

  “Fine, come on in.”

  Kelli entered just seconds before the cameras and reporters charged at the lobby doors.

  “How are you dear?” Velma said.

  “I’m fine, Mrs. Harper, but have they found Chris and Jake yet?”

  “Not yet, dear, but why don’t you come upstairs and keep me company, hmm?”

  They rode the elevator upstairs and Velma instructed Kelli to grab a spare office chair and sit down behind the desk. After putting on a fresh pot of coffee, she grabbed a carton of milk and two plastic cups and sat down beside Kelli.

  “How about some cookies too?”

  Kelli nodded, and Velma told her to open the bottom drawer on the desk.

  “Those are oatmeal-raisin, do you like those?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “Call me Velma, dear, okay?”

  “All right, Velma,” Kelli said, as she stared at the office door. “Is he in there, Mr. Caliber?”

  “He’s downstairs right now, but he should be up here soon, would you like to meet him?”

  Kelli’s eyes grew wide and she shook her head no.

  “I saw him shoot those bank robbers on TV the other day. He wasn’t scared at all.”

  “Mr. Caliber is a very brave man, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t feel fear, he did, he just handles it better than anyone else I’ve ever known.”

  “I would have fainted.”

  Velma laughed.

  “At my age, I think I would have too.”

  The elevator doors opened and the old man walked off.

  Velma looked over at him.

  “Anything?”

  “No. The man we found, they’re working that angle, but it’ll take time to track down and question his associates. All we know so far is that he’s done time and used to work for the sewer authority. Brice believes that may mean that they’re planning to escape underground, but so far it’s all guesswork.”

  “I made fresh coffee.”

  “Good, I could use it, but who’s that you got there, a new employee?”

  “This young lady is Kelli Ross; she’s Christopher’s friend.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, cutie. I see my grandson has good taste in friends.”

  At the mention of his captive grandson, Jake let out a sigh and plopped down on the sofa.

  Kelli got up from her seat and walked over to him.

  When he looked at her, she stared into his eyes, and her own eyes widened in shock at what they saw.

  “You’re scared?”

  “I’m worried about my grandsons, so yes, I’m scared.”

  Kelli sat down beside him on the sofa and laid her head against Jake’s shoulder.

  “We can worry together, okay?”

  “Okay kid, I’d like that.”

  Jake looked over at Velma.

  “At what age do we start hiring?”

  “They have to be eighteen.”

  “The second she’s eighteen, hire her.”

  Velma smiled.

  “I couldn’t agree more.”

  CHAPTER 8

  THE PRESENT

  “I’ve never talked to a therapist before,” Velma said.

  She was on the twenty-third floor of an office building on Eighth Street talking to a psychologist by the name of Sylvia Monroe. Monroe was black, fifty, with glasses and a sympathetic smile.

  The doctor’s office looked like many others, and while there was a couch, it sat against the left wall and appeared rarely used. Velma sat in a wingchair before the doctor’s wooden desk with her hands in her lap.

  “Who do you usually speak with when you have a problem?”

  Velma thought of Chris.

  “The person I normally talk to... is no longer available.”

  “Why do I think there’s a story behind that?”

  Velma grinned.

  “Because there is,”

  “Why don’t we do this, you tell me your story from beginning to end, and I’ll sit here and listen.”

  “That’s it?”

  “I think you’ll find that by speaking about it, by reciting it as if it were a story, I think you’ll find things will be clearer in your own mind when you finish.”

  “All right then, well, it all started nearly four years ago when...”

  ***

  Many minutes later, Velma finished speaking, and when she was done, Dr. Monroe made her first observation.

  “Michael is not the same man you married, more importantly, you’re not the same woman.”

  “I don’t understand what you mean?”

  “Four years ago you were a woman with a loving husband who you adored, today you’re a woman in love with another man and have feelings for a husband who, quite frankly, no longer exists. The Michael Channing you knew and loved is gone. Can you love this new Michael just as much? Perhaps, but love is a tricky thing.”

  Velma leaned forward.

  “No, of course I’ll love him. He’s changed, yes, but he’s still the same man.”

  “How long did you two know each other before you became a couple?”

  “We met as freshman in college so...maybe four years?”

  “So why did it take so long for you two to get together? Were you seeing other people during all that time?”

  “Much of it, yes, but not all of it,”

  “So there were times when you were both free, and yet you didn’t become a couple until later?”

  “Yes, and I see where you’re going with this, and I agree, conditions have to be right for a relationship to work.”

  “Or,” the doctor said, as she raised a finger in the air to emphasize. “Or, you have to be willing to change and put in the effort to make it work. What you need to decide is whether or not you want to do that. Your husband is asking a lot. He’s asking you to change your entire life, to move, to give up a job you love, and to stay with him during his time of recovery. It’s a lot to ask.”

  “Is it a lot to ask of a wife?”

  “Yes, because you’re a person first.”

  Velma sat back in her seat and thought for a moment, but her reverie was broken when the doctor asked a question.

  “This man, Christopher, can you just walk away from him?”

  “If I move to Albany, then, it won’t matter, because I’ll probably never see him again.”

  “And how does that make you feel?”

  Velma began to speak, but couldn’t, a moment more, and she was crying. When she got herself under control, she attempted to answer the question.

  “I love Christopher very much and losing him will hurt me deeply, but I don’t see that I have a choice.”

  The doctor looked at the clock on her desk.

  “Our time is almost over for now, but there’s something I want you to remember.”

  “And what is that?”

  The doctor smiled
.

  “You always have a choice.”

  ***

  Rayne Carver was watching the Roberts’ house again, but she was alone. Christopher had to be in court that morning to give testimony on a past case.

  They had gone to dinner once, and Chris had seemed to have a good time, but other than a goodnight kiss at her door, nothing had happened.

  Then, last night they’d met for drinks, but when she invited him back to her apartment, he’d declined.

  Rayne shook her head in an effort to clear her mind. She had obsessed over men in the past, with disastrous results, and had promised herself that it would never happen again.

  She raised the binoculars to her eyes after a door opened down the street, but then relaxed; the open door was on the right side of the building, the side belonging to the cranky neighbor, Herb Karlo.

  Karlo came out bundled up in a wool coat, despite the mild temperatures, and tufts of snow-white hair stuck out from beneath a tweed cap.

  He started down the block at a slow pace and Rayne figured he was headed for the convenience store on the corner. As Karlo walked by on the other side of the street, Rayne spotted something sticking to the cuffs of his black, corduroy slacks. When his back was to her, she grabbed the binoculars again and zoomed in on the old man’s pant legs.

  “Hmm,” Rayne said, and then grinned, as her mind began to consider the implications of what she’d just observed.

  ***

  As she left the doctor’s office, Velma felt her phone vibrating in her purse.

  She took it out as she was running for the elevator and answered without checking the caller ID.

  “Hello, this is Velma.”

  “And this is Chris, how are you?”

  “I’m... that’s a good question.”

  “Have you eaten lunch?”

  “No.”

  “I’d like to see you. I thought maybe we could have lunch together.”

  Velma said nothing, as several thoughts raced through her mind.

  “I see by your silence that this was a bad idea, just forget that I—”

  “No. Lunch sounds good... and I want to see you, I, I miss talking with you.”

  “Tell me when and where.”

  “Joe’s, you know, the deli near the office? But give me fifteen minutes to get there, okay?”

  “That sounds good, see ya soon.”

  “Goodbye Chris.”