“Sleep tight, Maggie,” he said over his shoulder before disappearing out the door.
Chapter 9
Maggie pressed the security button at the inside gate to the Logistics Center at the Naval Shipyard. She heard a buzz and loud click, indicating she had access to the space. She pushed the heavy door and entered what looked like a typical office reception center, except it had more of an industrial vibe with large dark green metal desks and posters displayed on the wall advertising safety at the workplace. There was a hat rack in the corner with hard hats hanging on the pegs.
“Identification please.”
The young woman wearing a navy-blue camouflage uniform held out her hand. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun at the back of her head. She stared at Maggie over the readers that sat at the tip of her nose.
“Maggie McFarlin here to see Kat Crawford and Susan Brookland,” Maggie said, pulled out her wallet and handed the awaiting hand her Florida Driver’s License. The woman put her license into a scanner. She also typed on her keyboard before again looking at Maggie.
“Please stand on the red line.” The young woman pointed to a foot-long red tape line to her left where she stood, and he took her picture. Maggie frowned and thought he could have warned her so she could smile. The woman smiled as if she knew she got the best of her visitor as she got out of her seat and walked to some kind of printing machine that spit out what would be her credentials. Maggie couldn’t help thinking how similar the process was to when she was arrested.
The young woman handed Maggie the white plastic credit card-sized identification with CONTRACTOR printed across the top and her name in smaller letters across the bottom. Maggie’s disembodied head with her eyes half shut floated in the center. Maggie took a lanyard from a basket sitting on the desk, fastened it to the badge and pulled it over her head just as the door behind the young woman opened, exposing a large open space with her friend Sue standing at the door waving her in.
“You made it,” she said, smiling.
“Kat is in a meeting with the new Shipyard Commander and is running late. I told her I would entertain you.”
“Perfect,” Maggie said, following Sue through the room to a set of stairs.
“That is Chase’s office.” Sue pointed to a glass-enclosed office.
“I’m surprised it’s not taped off,” Maggie said.
“The naval investigators were here the day after he died but haven’t been back. They took a few files but left everything pretty much intact.”
Sue’s office was right next to Chase’s but a bit smaller. There were several other offices, but they all seemed vacant at the moment.
“There is a big command meeting out at Bangor, so we pretty much have the place to ourselves,” Sue said as she motioned Maggie into Chase’s office and pulled out one of the guest chairs.
“What’s your newest job title?” Maggie asked her friend as she sat in one of the heavy wooden chairs.
“It depends on the day,” Sue took the seat next to Maggie. “Sometimes, I am the Command’s Executive Assistant, Public Information Officer, or Logistics Specialist. We lost many people in the last government reorganization, so I pretty much do whatever is needed. That way, they can’t do without me. Lately, it’s been more Public Information’s Officer, especially with the death of our head logistics guy.” Sue’s phone buzzed and she looked at it. “Kat’s is on her way. Do you want some coffee?”
“Sure,” Maggie looked at her phone, but she had no bars, so she just tucked it into her back pocket.
Sue left the office but was back quickly, handing Maggie a paper cup full of hot black liquid. “Sorry, we don’t keep guest cups anymore. You still take it black?”
“Yes, thanks, Sue,” Maggie said, carefully sipping the coffee. “Not bad.”
“It’s one of those fancy machines. You can make lattes, cappuccinos, or just regular black coffee. That is all I do with it. I’m too old to figure out all the fancy stuff.”
“I know what you mean. I don’t know half of what my phone can do. All I know is that I can’t live without it. It’s my alarm clock, calendar, notebook, watch, book reader, social networking and of course, I occasionally use it to make phone calls. I don’t think I have logged on to a computer, other than my laptop since I stopped working.”
“You haven’t taken on any more consultant jobs?”
“Not really. I just don’t have it in me anymore. When I retired, I thought for sure I would write the great American novel, but I just stare at the blank screen and nothing happens. I can’t get a word out, and if I do, I go back later and delete it.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“I have taken some classes and got a certificate for Private Investigating. I also got my concealed weapons permit. I just have to find a Private Investigator in Florida to take me on for a two-year apprenticeship so that I can be official and work on my own.”
“I want to do that,” Sue said. “We could be a team, but you would have to move back here. I can’t leave my grandkids.”
“I’m not moving back here. It's 54 degrees outside. Do you know what it is in Florida? It's sunny and 79.”
“That would be nice,” Sue said.
“It is paradise,” Maggie said, wishing she was on the golf course or at the 19th hole instead of here in the cool, wet weather.
Just then, Kat walked in, Maggie stood, and the two women hugged for almost too long. Maggie took the comfort in Kat’s arms, almost making her tear up with the memories and all the two had been through in what seemed like a whole other life ago.
“How are you?” Kat stood back, looking directly into Maggie’s eyes.
“I am doing well considering,” Maggie smiled weakly.
“How is Liza? Is she holding up?” Kat asked as she put her briefcase on Chase’s desk, taking out her glasses.
“She is doing better than I expected, “Maggie said, sitting back in the wooden chair. Sue reached out and patted Maggie’s arm in support.
“I just don’t want to see you hurt again,” Kat said, now tapping keys on Chase’s computer.
“I know, Kat, but I have to face the past if I am going to move into the future.”
“Pretty mature, Maggie. Just know I’m here for you.” Kat said.
“We are both here for you,” Sue said. “Don’t forget that.”
“You know I love you ladies like sisters,” Maggie said, brushing a tear from her cheek.
“You can’t pick your family,” Kat said.
“You can say that again,” Maggie said, pushing her emotions down to focus on the task at hand.
“Okay, here it is.” Kat motioned to both women. They stood at the side of the desk. There wasn’t enough room behind her, so she tilted the screen toward them.
“These are records of some shipments we received almost six months ago. Chase was the only person allowed to process these types of receivables,” Kat explained.
“I remember this shipment. It was a big deal because all the authorizations for the purchase weren’t complete,” Sue said. “Chase was pretty upset.”
“What was it?” Maggie asked.
“It was a shipment of vaccines dedicated to all the Navy personnel and their families. It was supposed to be administered at the Naval Hospital, but because some Admiral in Washington rushed the order, it was delivered prematurely and was not yet FDA approved, so the navy took the loss and didn’t distribute it. Chase transferred the entire shipment to one of our external storage units until we had the release documentation for shipping it to the Navy hospital to be incinerated.”
“Here is what we wanted to show you,” Kat moved over so Maggie could see the computer screen.
“What am I looking at?”
“I loaded all these calls into a spreadsheet and sorted them by date. The only pattern that I saw was these two numbers started showing up about six months ago, on a pretty regular basis.”
Kat stood back and tilted the screen toward Mag
gie and Sue.
“That one is Chase’s mother’s cell phone number, and that other number is to Kevin Mullins, the Director’s office at Silver Hill’s, where Chase’s mother lives. It’s a senior living community in Silverdale.” Sue said, pointing to the screen. Maggie took her phone out and typed in both numbers into her contact list.
“I’m surprised,” Maggie said, tucking her phone back into her back pocket. “I didn’t know Chase was even speaking to his mother.”
“He wasn’t until this.” Sue pointed to the first call six months earlier. “I remember this because I was surprised she called, and he was visibly upset. He even closed the door so I couldn’t hear what he said to her.”
“Here is something else,” Kat said as she typed on the keyboard.
“How did even you get access to these phone records?” Maggie asked.
“All our phones are government property, so we have full access to any information on them. You would be shocked what some people put on their phones when they know we can monitor it.”
“Like what kind of things? Give me some dirt,” Sue said, sitting forward.
“I can’t tell you, but there have been a few people who almost lost their jobs over it,” Kat said as she tilted the screen back toward her and began typing on the keyboard, looking over her glasses.
“You seriously won’t give us even the smallest bit of dirt?” Sue asked with a smirk on her lips and raised an eyebrow.
Kat stopped typing and looked directly at Sue, “I can tell you this.” Sue sat up straight and leaned in. “There was a female employee -- she no longer works here -- who used her government-issued credit card to charge her breast augmentation.”
“She used her credit card for a boob job?” Sue smiled and looked directly at Kat, who simply nodded slightly.
“And she didn’t think she would get caught?” Maggie asked.
“I know who it is,” Sue whispering to Maggie with a wide smile.
“Okay, let’s focus,” Kat said, obviously sorry for sharing that tidbit of information. “Take a look at this.” She pointed to the screen again, tilting the screen toward Maggie. Sue came around the desk to also take a look.
“What is it?” Maggie said as she examined the screen.
“It’s another delivery of the same vaccine as the first one.”
Maggie shook her head, not understanding. It was delivered the Friday before Chase was killed.”
“Is that a problem?” Maggie asked.
“Look at the inspection signature made when it arrived.” Kat pointed to the bottom of the PDF, where it looked like Chase’s signature. “It wasn’t delivered to our main warehouse here on campus but was delivered directly to the off-site storage unit.”
“That is totally against protocol,” Sue said, leaning closer to the document displayed on the screen. She pointed to the authorization space. “These are Chase’s credentials, and this is a good attempt at his signature, but I’m 100 percent sure, it’s not his.”
“Could it be a mistake?” Maggie asked, turning to Sue.
“No way,” Sue said. “You need a password to log in to that system. Another reason I know this document has been tampered with or falsified is because Chase took that Friday off. So, he wasn’t even here.”
“If it was delivered off-site, couldn’t he have been in Silverdale?” Maggie asked.
“I guess that’s possible, but I am pretty sure he was in Olympia at some Bigfoot meeting.”
“A what?” Kat narrowed her eyes.
“You are not going to believe this,” Maggie smiled at her two friends. “I met a woman on the plane who said her mother knew Chase through some Bigfoot group.”
“He was really into it,” Sue said. “I mean, look around.” Sue pointed to the bookshelf on the wall behind the desk. Maggie hadn’t noticed the various tchotchkes related to Sasquatch. She walked over to the memorabilia and picked up a rather large plaster casting of a footprint.
“Is this supposed to be proof of Bigfoot?” Maggie held up the casting.
“That is a good one, right?” Sue said, coming over next to Maggie. She leaned over and took a box from the bottom shelf and set it on the desk.
“This is something special,” Sue said, waiting for the other two women to stand next to her before opening it. They all three kept their eyes focused on the box as Sue slowly lifted it. Maggie, expecting something significant, actually held her breath, but the box was empty.
“It’s empty,” Kat said.
“Maybe it is something invisible?” Maggie shook her head. “Kind of like Bigfoot himself.”
The three laughed.
“He must have taken it with him to that meeting,” Sue said.
“What was it?” Kat asked.
“Why wouldn’t he have taken to box?” Maggie asked
“It was a casting imprint of a baby Bigfoot,” Sue said. “Maybe he just put it in his backpack.”
“Okay, we need to focus,” Kat said, returning to the keyboard and, after a few strokes, pointed at the screen. The two other women leaned in.
“It’s the order to destroy the original shipment and the receipt that the vaccine was incinerated by the lab at the Naval Hospital.”
Sue pointed to the top of the form with Chase’s credentials.
“Look at the date,” Kat said, pointing to the bottom of the form.
“Two days after Chase was already dead,” said Maggie.
“Someone is falsifying documents. It could be the reason he was killed,” Sue said.
“Who would have access or know his passwords?” Maggie asked.
“There is no way someone could hack into the system. It is tight. Believe me, no one,” said Kat.
“Unless he writes them down.” Sue slipped her hand under the desk and produced a 3 X 5 card that had been taped to the bottom of the drawer. “He wrote down all his passwords. He couldn’t remember any of them, but I’m pretty sure I am the only one who knew where it they were hidden.”
“Did you use his credentials?” Maggie asked.
“Of course not,” Sue said.
“Then someone else knows Chase’s passwords.”
“What should we do?” Maggie looked between the two women. Both shrugged their shoulders.
“We should probably check out his attendance at the Bigfoot thing and talk to his mom.”
“Let’s start by going to the storage unit,” Sue suggested. “It’s only a few blocks from Silver Hills where she lives. You can go talk to her on your own.”
“That is actually a great idea, but I’m not facing that woman alone,” Maggie said, “I will get Mike to come with me. He seems to have a way with the ladies.”
“I think we should meet this guy,” Kat said. “I think you have a thing for him.”
“We are friends,” Maggie said, taking her phone out of her back pocket and started texting. But still no signal.
“Civilian phones don’t work here, that’s one reason we have these,” Kat held up her government issued cell phone.
“I have known you for many years, Miss Maggie,” Sue said, “and I know you can’t help yourself.”
“Seriously, we are just friends.”
“Don’t tell me that the Maggie magic hasn’t worked on this one,” Kat said, bumping shoulders with Sue.
“Let’s go to the storage unit,” Maggie said.
“I’ll ride with you,” Sue said, grabbing Maggie’s arm almost dragging her out the door.
“I guess I will follow you two.”
Kat tapped some keys on the computer, causing it to go black. She picked up her briefcase and stopped closing the door and locking it. She also affixed a large sticker across the door and jam that said Secure Area, DO NOT ENTER.
Chapter 10
“Take that exit,” Sue said, pointing to the sign that said Anderson Hill Road. “You are going to take a left as soon as you exit.”
Maggie turned off the exit and looked in her rear-view mirror and saw Kat was sti
ll right behind them.
“Here at the access road,” Sue said, pointing.
As soon as Maggie turned left, she could see a bright orange and blue sign in the distance. It just said, Storage, no other name attached. It wasn’t until they drove into the entrance, there was a professional metal sign on the gate, advertising Gillespie Storage with a phone number of an on-site manager John. Maggie took out her phone and took a picture of the number in case she needed it later.
Sue handed Maggie her government-issued key card. Maggie rolled down her window and held it to the Magnetic reader. The gate slowly rose, allowing them to pass through. Kat followed them in without using a card.
“That’s safe,” Maggie said, looking in her rear-view mirror.
“What?” Sue asked.
“Kat just piggybacked through. What if someone else did that?”
“There are cameras everywhere,” Sue pointed to the corner of each of the buildings where a small camera was aimed at the road. “They would have a record.”
“I wonder how long they keep the tapes?” Maggie asked.
“I’ll call John at the management company tomorrow and find out. We will see who the last few people were that accessed the unit.” Sue paused in thought and then pointed in the direction of the unit. “It’s in the fourth row, in the middle, unit 414.”
“Who all have access to these storage units?” Maggie asked Sue as they took a left between row four and five.
“Only people from our office at the Logistics center and of course security but a staff person has to be here to accept delivery.”
“Why use off-site storage anyway?” Maggie asked. “It seems like the Navy has plenty of space behind the gates.”
“We have units off-site in several strategic locations. For one, it’s a lot easier to accept delivery at a storage unit than processing a truck through security. It’s also more cost-effective to utilize off-site locations for non-critical supplies, crazy, right?”
“Vaccines don’t sound like non-critical items,” Maggie said.
“In this case, we were sending the shipment to the Naval Hospital and they didn’t have the space for such a big shipment, so we held it until they were ready to process it through the incinerator.”
Deception Trail: A Maggie McFarlin Mystery Page 7
