Caliber Detective Agency Box Set 1

by Remington Kane

The elevator reached the lobby, and when Velma stepped off, she was smiling.

  ***

  Chris was seated at a table when Velma arrived, but rose up to greet her with an awkward kiss on the cheek.

  When they had ordered their food, Chris asked Velma about her husband.

  “Other than the memory loss, he seems fine mentally, and the physical weakness will pass with therapy.”

  “That’s great to hear, really.”

  “So, how have things been at the office?”

  “It’s been slow, and so I’m helping out one of the insurance investigators.”

  “Really, who?”

  “Rayne Carver, do you know her?”

  “Yes, she’s very beautiful, and just how have you been helping her?”

  “We’ve been staking out a subject.”

  “I see, so you’ve been spending a lot of time together?”

  “Yes.”

  “And was all of it business?”

  “I... we had dinner the other night, and drinks last night.”

  Velma leaned back in her seat.

  “Did you sleep with her? No. Don’t answer that, I’m sorry. I have no right to ask.”

  “The answer is no. I didn’t sleep with her. It was just dinner and drinks.”

  Velma sighed.

  “Rayne seems very nice, maybe, maybe you should pursue her.”

  Chris stared into her eyes.

  “I don’t want Rayne. I want you.”

  Their food arrived moments later and looked delicious, but they both picked at it.

  “Michael wants to move home to Albany. His mother has a large home there and she can provide for his care and therapy.”

  “You’re moving to Albany?”

  “If he goes, then I’ll have to.”

  “How much does he remember about you, about your marriage?”

  “He doesn’t remember our marriage at all, only that we dated.”

  “What will you do in Albany? Will you still work?”

  “In time, yes, but it won’t be the same as here. Most likely I’ll wind up investigating cheating husbands and such.”

  “But you hate that kind of work. You also hate snow and severe weather too, something they get a lot of up there in Albany,”

  “Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for those you love.”

  “Believe me, Velma, I know all about that.”

  Velma pushed her food away.

  “Nothing is set in concrete yet, and I’m still trying to get Michael to agree to stay here.”

  “When will you know if you’re leaving or not?”

  “Soon.”

  They said very little after that, and both of them left food behind on their plates. Velma had parked at a nearby underground garage and Chris walked her to her car, their footfalls echoing off the concrete walls of the quiet space.

  She opened her door, tossed her purse on the seat, and then turned back to speak to him.

  “I’ll come by the office in a few days and let everyone know what’s going on.”

  “Right,” Chris said, as he stared at her.

  “I should be getting back to the hospital.”

  Chris leaned forward and kissed her, and Velma returned it, but then broke contact.

  “Chris, please don’t.”

  “No, I want this and so do you.”

  He took her in his arms and kissed her hard. Velma returned the kiss and wrapped her arms around him.

  Things heated up as Chris slipped a hand under her jacket and beneath her blouse, to begin massaging her breasts. Velma moaned, while pressing her hips against him.

  He opened the back door.

  “Get in the car,” Chris whispered in her ear, and Velma breathlessly nodded consent.

  They climbed into the back seat and fumbled at each other’s clothing.

  As her hands kneaded the muscles of his chest, he slid her panties off, then, Chris unbuckled his belt, as Velma unzipped him.

  She nearly screamed when he entered her, and later muffled her moans by nibbling on his shoulder.

  It was over too quickly, as they simultaneously reached their apex, and afterwards, they lay in each other’s arms atop the rear seat, staring up at windows frosted by their lust.

  Velma was still panting as she spoke.

  “That was so wrong... and oh so goddamn right.”

  Chris laughed, and then he kissed her and caressed her face.

  “I love you, Velma, and if you ask me to, I will beg you to stay.”

  Velma let out an anguished sound.

  “Oh God, it’s all such a mess.”

  Chris put himself back together and then sat up, as Velma did the same.

  She stared at him as tears filled her eyes.

  “I don’t know what to do.”

  He caressed her face again.

  “Yes you do, you just dread the doing of it and the finality behind it, and don’t take that to mean that I know you’ve chosen me. I just know how difficult it will be for you in either event.”

  Velma caressed him back.

  “You’re such a good man, Chris.”

  “A good man wouldn’t have pulled you into this back seat.”

  CHAPTER 9

  JUNE 2005

  Jenny giggled as Jake kissed her goodbye. Before leaving the bathroom, she checked herself in the mirror and smoothed her hair back in place.

  After hearing the door open and close, Chris spoke.

  “Jake, are you in love with that girl?”

  “No.”

  “Oh... what you were doing, what’s that like?”

  “It’s the closest thing to heaven, buddy, but I thought that maybe you and Kelli had done that already?”

  “Kelli? Kelli’s just a friend, but Mindy and I came close once, until her mother came home early.”

  “Well, you’ve got plenty of time.”

  “How come you didn’t ask Jenny for the key to the handcuffs?”

  “I don’t have to. She’ll bring it to me.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because now she wants to please me more than she wants to please that guy, Gabe.”

  “You still could have asked.”

  “If I had asked, then she would have thought that I was just using her to get the key.”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “Maybe, but I really like her too, and it’s not her fault that her boyfriend’s a scumbag. When this is over, I’ll testify in her favor, and you should too. They’re just using her.”

  ***

  The phone rang at Caliber, and Jake answered it immediately from the phone on his desk. His son and daughter-in-law were with him, as well as Velma and John Brice, the FBI Agent.

  “Jake Caliber.”

  “Guess who.”

  “We have the money, now let’s make the trade.”

  “Eager? I like that, and you’re right, it’s time we did business, but as you know, I have to keep these calls brief so that I’m not traced.”

  “Just tell me when and where and I’ll be there.”

  “I will call again in exactly one hour with further instructions, until then, chill.”

  “Let me speak to my grandsons... Hello? Hello? Damn! He hung up.”

  Brice reached over, took the phone, and placed it back on the receiver.

  “It sounds like they’re going for the money today. I’ll have a quick meeting with my team before they call back. If you need me, I’ll be downstairs in the conference room.”

  After Brice left, Gail began pacing.

  “My boys will be home today. We’ll give them the money and my boys will be home today.”

  Jake caught his son’s eye, and the younger Caliber went to his wife and hugged her.

  “Just hang in there, honey, just hang in there,” he said.

  ***

  The bathroom door opened and the three men came in.

  Jake noticed that they had changed clothes and wondered if they had left the building or ju
st had everything that they would need on hand. The third man, the small silent one was still wearing shades, but today’s pair had a red tint to them that went well with the maroon suit he wore.

  “How’d you rich boys sleep in the shitter? It’s not as nice as mommy and daddy’s place, huh?”

  “Did you get your damn money yet?” Jake asked.

  “Funny you should ask that, because today is the day. Now stand up, and don’t give us any crap. We’re gonna cuff and gag you like yesterday and then we’re going for a little drive.”

  The boys soon found themselves gagged again as promised, and when they were guided out of the bathroom, they saw that the green van had been backed inside the warehouse.

  The silent man opened the rear doors as the other men lifted them up and tossed them in roughly. Chris landed hard on his left shoulder and grunted in pain against the gag.

  Jenny was already in the van’s front seat, and she reached down between the seats and took Chris’s hand.

  “Are you okay, honey?”

  “Leave the little bastard alone,” Marco said.

  “You don’t have to be so rough with him.”

  Marco let out a laugh.

  “Wait until you see how rough it gets once we have the money. I’m going to make these rich pricks suffer before I kill them.”

  Jenny bolted from the van and screamed in Gabe’s face.

  “You promised me that you wouldn’t hurt them!”

  Gabe looked over at Marco.

  “I don’t think we need her anymore, do you?”

  “Hell no. She became useless a second after she lured them into the store.”

  “Do you want to take her in the back for a while? She ain’t bad.”

  Marco looked Jenny over.

  “Nah, I like mine with a little more meat on them.”

  Gabe then spoke to the silent man.

  “What about you, Lee?”

  “No.”

  Gabe shrugged as he took out his gun.

  “Then I guess her time is up.”

  Gabe shot Jenny in the head. Jenny grunted once and fell to the warehouse floor, where she lay still, as a puddle began to form around her shattered skull.

  Inside the van, Jake was cursing wildly behind his gag as he kicked at the vehicle’s metal side.

  Marco smiled at him.

  “She went quick, but you aren’t going to be so lucky.”

  The doors slammed shut. As Jake seethed with tears in his eyes, he felt his brother nudge him.

  Chris had maneuvered himself around until his back was facing Jake, and when he opened his right hand beneath the cuffed wrist, Jake saw the key that Jenny had slipped him.

  ***

  Brice ran off the elevator and towards the old man’s office.

  “We have a lead on the dead man we found in the store. His name is Arnold Thayer. His landlord’s son works on the docks in Red Hook, Brooklyn and he says he saw Thayer coming out of an empty warehouse out there last week.”

  “You have the address?”

  “Yes, and we’re ready to roll on it, but if we go, that media circus outside will follow us. Is there a back way out of here?”

  “There is, but there are reporters back there too.”

  Velma spoke up.

  “Jake, what about the tunnel in the basement?”

  “Yes. I’d forgotten about that.”

  “There’s a tunnel?” Brice said.

  “Yeah, a man named Gant made it to frame me for murder, but it hasn’t been used in years.”

  Brice laid a hand on his shoulder.

  “Take me to it.”

  “But what about the kidnappers?” Gail said. “Shouldn’t he be here when they call back?”

  “It won’t matter, Mrs. Caliber, he can take the call remotely.”

  “Fine, but please be careful.”

  The younger Jake kissed his wife, rushed to the elevator, and said a silent prayer that this was the break they needed.

  ***

  Jake had managed to unlock first his brother’s, and then his own cuffs, he turned over, pulled out his gag, and whispered in his brother’s ear.

  “The second this van stops we go out the back door and you don’t stop running no matter what happens. No matter what, understand?”

  Chris whispered “Yes.” and a moment later, the van came to an abrupt stop as Gabe shouted.

  “What do you mean you forgot the damn phone?”

  “Relax, we just left, back this thing up and I’ll go in and—hey! They’re loose!”

  “Run Chris!” Jake shouted, as he stayed near the back doors of the van.

  Marco scrambled into the rear with his gun drawn, but as he raised his weapon to point it at Jake, the young Caliber leapt into the air and kicked the door. Marco screamed as the edge of the door slammed into his wrist, causing him to lose the grip on his gun.

  Jake bent down to pick up the weapon, but as his hand closed upon it, he looked up and saw the rear of the van rushing towards him.

  ***

  Gabe looked at Marco holding his broken wrist and cursed. Everything was coming apart.

  He had just jammed the van into reverse when he saw the older Caliber kid reach down for Marco’s weapon. He gunned the engine, causing the van to race backwards, and then he heard the satisfying THUMP! as it collided into the kid.

  Gabe moved the van back a little farther, then, he leaned forward and looked out the windshield. When he saw the smear of blood on the pavement, he smiled.

  CHAPTER 10

  THE PRESENT

  With her mind and emotions still reeling from her illicit meeting with Christopher, Velma entered her husband’s hospital room the following morning, and came upon a shocking scene.

  Her husband and his nurse, Maya, were locked in an embrace and kissing passionately.

  “Your therapy seems to be going well, Michael.”

  At the sound of her voice, Maya let out a shriek, lost her balance, and tumbled off the side of the bed to land on her ass.

  When Velma walked over, Maya ducked her head and raised her arms defensively, as if to ward off blows.

  “Maya?” Velma said.

  “Oh God, I’m so sorry Mrs. Channing, please don’t hurt me.”

  “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “But you carry a gun, don’t you?”

  “I do, but I’m not a madwoman. I also realize that you have feelings for my husband.”

  Maya peeked up at her.

  “I do. I know it’s wrong, but I do.”

  “That kiss was my fault, Velma,” Michael said.

  “Let me help you up, Maya.”

  Velma pulled her from the floor.

  “I’d like to speak to Michael alone.”

  “Yes ma’am... and I’m... goodbye Michael.”

  After Maya left, Velma sat on the side of the bed and took Michael’s hand.

  “Do you have feelings for her?”

  “Yes, I’m sorry, but yes.”

  Velma took a deep breath and released it slowly before asking her next question.

  “And what are your feelings for me?”

  Michael squeezed her hand.

  “Hey, I’ve always liked you, you know that.”

  “But do you love me?”

  “Velma...”

  “The truth.”

  “Honey, I don’t remember our marriage at all, or the feelings that must have accompanied it.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “I... I want a divorce, Velma. I’m hoping that you don’t fight me on it.”

  “You want a divorce?”

  “Are you really that surprised? Because, I thought that you might be relieved. Staying with me meant that you’d have to change your whole life.”

  “At one time, you were my life.”

  “That was a different man, Velma, a Michael that I don’t even know. I’ve lost six years of my life and I don’t want to waste anymore by lying to you or myself, so I’m asking y
ou to let me go.”

  Velma said nothing, as a sense of relief flowed over her, followed by a sense of loss, and a pang of guilt.

  “Velma?”

  “Yes, I’ll give you a divorce.”

  “Thank you, and I know that none of this, these last few years have been easy for you, and I’m so sorry that our lives went this way. Even though I can’t remember any of it, I know that you were a great wife.”

  Velma stood, and as she did, she wiped at her eyes.

  “I need to go and think things over, to come to terms with this, but first tell me, how are you doing?”

  Michael smiled.

  “I had a great day. I walked for four minutes today, and tomorrow I’ll only be stronger.”

  She kissed him.

  “I’m so happy to see you healthy again, and I love you very much.”

  “Well always be friends, Velma, this divorce doesn’t mean that I want you out of my life.”

  “I’ll always be there for you, Michael, and I hope it’s the real thing for you and Maya.”

  “This friend of yours, do you think you could be happy with him?”

  Velma thought of Christopher and her heart swelled.

  “I intend to find out.”

  ***

  Rayne smiled at the look on Christopher’s face as he read the report on Herb Karlo.

  “He’s only forty-five?”

  “That’s right.”

  “I would have guessed late-sixties, maybe even early-seventies.”

  “Me too, but that’s what he wants everyone to think. Herb Karlo moved here from Brooklyn less than a year ago. At the time, he worked for an ad agency in Manhattan; he’s now collecting unemployment insurance.”

  “Hell, I thought that he was on social security.”

  “So did I, but I think it’s all a ruse. I think that he and Glenda Roberts are lovers, and have been for a while.”

  Chris closed the skimpy file.

  “We need to know more about him before we make an accusation like that to the authorities.”

  “I agree, that’s why we’re having lunch with the receptionist from the ad agency Karlo used to work at.”

  “You were busy yesterday.”

  “I was, and what about you, did you get things done?”

  Chris smiled as he remembered making love to Velma in the back seat of her car.

  “Chris?”

  “Yes! Yes, I had a very productive day. But tell me, what put you on to the old—listen to me, I was about to call Karlo an old man, but forty-five is hardly old.”