Mission

by Camilla Chafer

  "No, I..."

  He slammed the door. Lily and I exchanged a puzzled glance before I knocked again.

  "Pizza?" yelled a man's voice.

  "I'm trying to find Sophie Gallo," I yelled back, pausing as a train passed, cutting off all possibility of hearing his response.

  When it passed, the man yelled, "She don't live here."

  "I know. I'm trying to find her. Did you know her?"

  "No."

  I glanced at Lily. "Apartment D?" I suggested.

  "Works for me," agreed Lily. "Maybe we can get pizza after this? We didn't go to the museum café and I'm getting hungry."

  "I like that idea."

  "We can collect Poppy from day care too and eat pizza in the park before we feed the ducks."

  "How life has changed," I said as I smiled. "Remember when we used to eat pizza at three in the morning after hitting the clubs? And the only time ducks featured was when autocorrect changed our text messages?"

  "I still eat pizza at three in the morning, only now it involves finishing the night shift and taking inventory at the bar. Man, I earn that pizza."

  "Got pizza?" yelled the man inside apartment C.

  "No," we yelled back.

  I rapped my knuckles against D's door and the D on the door swung around so that it hung upside down. "Would you look at that," said Lily. "It's still a D."

  "No, it's not."

  "Almost."

  "It's backwards." I was saved from further explanation by a young woman with short spiked hair with cute blue tips opening the door, a games controller in her hand.

  "Hi," she said, looking from me to Lily quizzically.

  "Hi. We're looking for Sophie Gallo. I think she used to live here."

  "Not here, but once a Sophie used to live down the hall," she said, pointing the controller towards Zach's apartment. "She left a few months ago but the dude she lived with is still there."

  "We're a little worried about her," I said.

  "Oh? Is she dead?"

  The question surprised me. "No!"

  The young woman relaxed and blew out a breath. "I thought you were going to tell me he killed her," she said, not overly concerned.

  "He?"

  "Zach. The guy down the hall. Always yelling at her and telling her what to do. I could hear it through the wall. If my guy treated me like that, I'd drop his ass in a heartbeat."

  "Me too," said Lily. "No one should tolerate being treated like shit."

  "I hear you," said the woman. "I have to get back to my game. There's a bunch of guys who need their asses handed to them. Anything else?"

  "Did anyone strange ever come around looking for them?" I asked.

  Spiky hair frowned. "Strange? Like what?" she asked.

  "People that appeared to be in trouble. I think Sophie might have had some money problems. Or Zach did."

  "I don't think so but I'm not here a lot. As a mobile hairdresser, I work all over the city and some of my clients like to get their hair done after work when most people are at home. I don't always get back until late." She paused as a train rumbled past. "I'm saving up to move out of this dump."

  "You said you could hear them through the wall. Could you hear what they were arguing about?" I asked.

  The young woman nodded. "The last few weeks Sophie was here, they kept arguing about Texas. Maybe they were planning to move there."

  "Texas?"

  "Sure. Austin, specifically. I guess if you're looking for her, you could try there? I hope she doesn't ever come back to that jerk."

  I thanked the woman and she asked me to tell Sophie “congratulations” for leaving Zach if we ever caught up with her before shutting the door.

  "I don't think they were arguing about that Austin," said Lily. "Although it's a nice city. My parents took me there once."

  "Was that the time they flew back without you?" I asked.

  "Yeah. Mom forget to tell her secretary to collect me and my dad thought I'd flown ahead. I saw two films and ate dinner in the mall's food court before they found me. That was the first time I tried Vietnamese food! So delicious!"

  "Vietnamese food is really nice," I agreed. What I fought the urge to say was Lily's parents were selfish jerks who should have paid far more attention to their kind and lovely daughter. But their loss was my family's gain. We enjoyed having Lily around. We always did. And now she was officially family.

  We stopped outside apartment A. The door was directly opposite Zach's apartment and I hoped that meant the resident ran into Zach and Sophie on numerous occasions, or at least often enough to have formed an opinion of them. The woman in apartment D certainly did and it wasn't good. I lifted my hand, rapped my knuckles against the wood, and waited. A couple of minutes later, I rapped again. "I don't think anyone is home," I said after checking my watch.

  "Zach's door is open," said Lily, giving it a light push so it opened a couple of inches.

  I frowned. "I could have sworn it was shut."

  Lily put her hands behind her back. "And yet, it is open."

  I narrowed my eyes at her. "Did you pick the lock?"

  "Did you see me picking the lock?" she shot back.

  "No."

  "Then... no." Lily smiled. "We should go inside and take a look."

  "That's B and E."

  "Is it? But the door's open? Someone might be in trouble!" Before I could protest, Lily darted inside. Sighing, I followed her.

  "We have to be fast," I warned her. "Without someone watching the front door, we have no way of knowing if Zach makes a surprise return. I don't even know his schedule for today!"

  "He'll never know we were here," she said.

  We stood in a tiny entryway that was little more than a square yard corridor that led into the main living area. A bunch of shoes were kicked against the scratched baseboard and two men's jackets hung on a hook on the wall. One was a gorgeous, supple leather with beautiful detailing on the arms. The other, a thin windbreaker. A door led off to a tiny shower room without any cabinetry. I cast a cursory glance over the few men's products cluttering the sink and backed out, following Lily further into the apartment.

  The living area was sparse. An old couch, an armchair with a hooded sweater tossed over the back, a huge TV with a sound system and a gaming console, and a coffee table on which were several used mugs and plates, stacked as if someone planned to clear them soon but never got around to it. A desk was shoved against the window with a chair, and a new-looking laptop was closed on top. Noticeably absent were any soft furnishings or plants. There was nothing homey about the place except one sole photo next to the TV. I leaned in, recognizing Zach in the middle, his arms around two women. One was Sophie, but who was the other? A friend or a relative? Could it be the woman he married? I pulled out my phone and took a snap.

  "What should we look for?" asked Lily.

  "I'm not sure. Paperwork, I guess," I replied, looking around.

  "I'll check the kitchen," said Lily.

  "Put gloves on if you intend to touch anything."

  "I don't think this apartment has been cleaned in months."

  "All the same," I said. "If you don't have gloves, pull your sleeves over your hands." I pulled on a thin pair of gloves as I moved over to the desk and pushed the chair to one side. I opened the laptop and it powered up immediately but it was password-protected so I closed it again. I pulled open the drawer and found a stack of papers. Lifting them out, I shuffled through them, finding the paperwork for a brand-new truck, a passport with Zach's name and photo, a receipt for a storage locker, and several credit card statements, all maxed out. I scanned through the statements, noting what Zach bought: clothing, groceries, bar bills, gambling, and numerous cash withdrawals among the more obvious charges. Then I looked again. Some of the statements were in Sophie's name. In total, I counted eleven credit cards, three belonging to Sophie, and they were all past due. I took photos of everything and slipped them back into the drawer.

  As I moved the chair to
its original position, I noticed the wastepaper basket, stuffed with trash. Chip packets and chocolate wrappers were tossed on the floor next to it.

  "The fridge is full of beer and hot sauce," said Lily. "Why do some single men fail to eat properly?"

  "What did Jord have in the fridge when you started dating him?" I asked.

  "Cheese, mostly. What did Solomon have?"

  "The entire contents of the organic produce section and some excellent wine." I stooped and flicked my fingers through the wastepaper basket, hoping to avoid anything sticky or gross. Thankfully, all it contained were dozens of lottery scratch-offs and betting slips, an old pamphlet for the museum, now scrunched into a ball, a newspaper folded open to an article about an award someone received for services to the community, and below that, another article on rare coins.

  "Did you find anything?" asked Lily, approaching me.

  I glanced over my shoulder. "Zach has a whole lot of bad luck in gambling," I told her, turning back to look through the cluster of other trash. There was a price list for one of the local shooting ranges, some takeout menus, and a letter from the landlord reminding Zach that he was past due on rent. The letter was two months old so I figured he either sorted out the problem or was expecting an eviction notice.

  I pushed the chair into its original position and rose. "Anything in the kitchen?"

  "Just some pots, pans and glassware. Nothing suspicious. I checked on top of the cabinets and felt under the drawers too. He's not hiding anything."

  "Good thinking." I looked at the door in the far wall. "We only have the bedroom left," I said, leaning forward to tweak open the blinds. The window overlooked a small resident parking lot and there was no sign of the truck that belonged to Zach. "Let's blitz it and get out of here," I added.

  The bedroom was as easy to search as the rest of the apartment. One king-sized bed, covers rumpled but otherwise covering all four corners and a couple of flattened pillows. I ran my hands along the rim of the mattress but didn't find anything and there was nothing under the bed except a fluffle of dust bunnies. The one nightstand was glass and brass, nowhere to hide anything. The closet was small and reasonably neat with shirts hung on cheap, bendable hangers and a crumpled stack of t-shirts and jeans. An expensive looking winter jacket also hung on a hook and some professional-looking climbing equipment was stacked beneath. A leather and fabric catchall next to them was empty. The chest of drawers had some gym clothing, along with underwear and socks. The clothes were good quality and reasonably new but I couldn't imagine they added up to the thousands of dollars spent on his cards.

  "Let's go," I said as we made for the door, careful not to disturb anything on the way out. Lily pulled the door closed behind us and wiped the handle with her sleeve. When she let go, the door popped open again. She pulled it shut only for it to happen again.

  "Huh," she said. "It won't lock."

  "We can't leave it open. Zach will notice."

  "I don't know how to lock it."

  "Is there a catch on the back of the lock?"

  Lily fumbled around. "Not that I can feel. What’ll we do?"

  "If I turn around and pretend not to notice, can you fiddle with it and make it lock? You locked the mailbox!"

  Lily shook her head. "Jord didn't teach me how to do that. There didn't seem any point. The mailbox was a lucky attempt."

  "Try again," I said as I turned around.

  "I don't know why you're turning around when you know what I'm doing."

  I ignored the small scraping sounds, and said, "Plausible deniability. If anyone asks, I didn't witness anything."

  "Huh. Would you look at that! It locked."

  "Great," I said. "Let's go!" We took off along the hallway, my nerves a mess that Zach might turn up at any moment, trapping us on the stairwell. Fortunately, we were out onto the street, heading for Lily's car without passing anyone.

  "What did you find?" she asked when we were a block away and my heart finally stopped thumping so hard. I told her about all the credit card bills and lottery scratch-offs. Then I stopped, something so glaringly obvious hit me that I wondered why it didn't occur to me inside the apartment. "What I didn't find was just as important," I said.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Sophie used to live in that apartment with her brother."

  "Yeah. So? She probably took all the pillows with her."

  "Maybe. But where did they both sleep? There's only one bed."

  "Maybe they took turns? I've heard of that. It's one way of reducing the rent."

  I gave her a skeptical look. "Really?"

  Lily shrugged. "Probably not. I can't see either of them taking a night shift with their jobs. The couch must be a pull out. Zach wouldn't need to use that once Sophie moved out."

  "I guess," I agreed. "Yeah, that's probably it. They made the living area into another bedroom. I saw on Sophie's financials that she didn't make much money prior to her marriage so it probably made sense. Do you still have some free time?"

  "Sure. Where do you want to go?"

  "Sky Outdoors. I'd like to talk to Zach again."

  On the way there, my mind was filled with thoughts about the things I saw in Zach's apartment. It was regular stuff, even though Zach was clearly crappy with money. Remembering that Laeticia said she overheard him and Sophie arguing about money was logical; he had big bills and wasn't paying any of them. Perhaps it was the same months ago when Sophie worked at the museum. He may well have been just as desperate for money then as he appeared to be now. It surprised me that Sophie also failed to pay her bills. She had plenty of money to settle them. I voiced that thought to Lily.

  "Are you sure they're hers?" asked Lily.

  "They were in her name."

  "But registered to his apartment."

  "That she used to live in."

  "Months ago. Lexi, he might have taken the cards out in her name, especially if his credit tanked. He would know all the information about her required to pass any security checks."

  "That's a shitty thing to do!" I thought about it. Lily was right. What if Zach maxed out his credit line and turned to the one person who could get him more? Only he didn't need to ask her for it. "It might explain why he kept badgering Sophie for money. He could have been scared she would find out."

  We pulled into the parking lot and I spotted the big truck that Zach owned. "That's a fancy vehicle," I remarked. "I saw on his paperwork that he bought it brand new and had it all tricked out."

  "He could sell it and pay off a chunk of his cards," said Lily as we hopped out.

  "Except it's heavily financed. I saw the bill. He can't afford to sell it."

  "Kinda stupid to buy a vehicle like that if you don't have the money to pay for it. It'll only get repossessed the moment a cash flow issue arises."

  "Maybe he thought Sophie would give him the money since she hit the big time with Austen. This way," I said, leading us to the reception chalet. We stepped inside and I asked the man at the counter for Zach.

  "He's just putting away the equipment now that his shift is over," he told us, glancing up from the helmets he sprayed. Muscles bulged under his Sky Outdoors t-shirt. "If you want to book a private climbing lesson, I can take down your details," he added with a cheeky wink.

  "No, that's okay, thanks. Where can I find him?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't ask why.

  "Over by the bungee-jumping platform. Turn right outside these doors and follow the signs. It's only a few minutes’ walk."

  We thanked him and he nodded with a slight raise of his head as we walked over. A small number of people waited at the base of the platform while the woman I spoke to before handed out clipboards with sheets of paper on them. She was instructing them to fill in the survey and promised everyone hot cups of chocolate at the chalet after they finished up class.

  "Hi. Vanessa?" I said, recognizing her. "I'm looking for Zach."

  "He's up there," she said, pointing. She clicked her walkie-talkie. "Zach, someone wants t
o speak with you."

  Zach leaned over the edge of the platform and looked directly at us. "I'm busy," he replied into the receiver. "I'm not coming down."

  Vanessa shrugged. "You can wait," she said. "Or you can go up."

  I craned my head. It looked like a long way, but I really didn't want to wait. I had a feeling Zach didn't want to talk to me and would delay as long as possible on top of the platform. I could, of course, wait for him to come down. He had to eventually but how long would that take? I already missed lunch and the thought of pizza made my stomach growl.

  "Let's go up," I said to Lily. Lily raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "No way," she said. "That's a long way down and since I became a mom, I am hyper aware of my mortality."

  I grabbed the first rung and began to climb. "Wait," called Vanessa. "You need to wear a harness. It's only a mini bungee platform but you still wouldn't want to fall off it. Besides, I can't let you go up without the safety harness or I'll get written up."

  Dropping to the ground, I stepped into the harness she held out and she secured it to my body and then to a rope mechanism at the side of the ladder. "If you slip, you won't fall," she told me.

  I climbed. Halfway up, I looked down and immediately regretted my choice. I should have waited for Zach to get bored or hungry and descend, but now I was halfway up, I had to keep going. When I got to the top of the platform, Zach hoisted me the rest of the way with a hand under my arm. Then he detached the security rope and added a new one.

  "You again," he said, doing a double take. "What do you want? Did you arrest Austen yet?"

  "No. I can't arrest Austen since I'm a PI, not the police."

  "Right. Something to do with the insurance."

  "Plus, I haven't found evidence of any wrongdoing on Austen's part."

  "Course not. He's too smart for that. Not smart enough to stop doing his secretary on the side," he added.

  I blinked. "Excuse me?"

  Zach shrugged as he turned away, adjusting a length of rope that he coiled on the platform surface. "I don't even know when their affair started."

  "Are you sure?" I glanced over the side of the railings and gulped. Lily waved but I didn't dare lift my hand. I turned back and took a deep breath. I would be on the ground soon enough.