Promised Box Set

by James Kipling

  Locking the door behind them, he showed them into the living room. Gesturing for them to sit down, they did so. He watched as David moved awkwardly, as if he was not used to this sort of situation.

  David finally looked him in the eye and spoke, “Mr. Malone we have been reviewing a few things and are more than prepared to assist you in getting your daughter back.”

  “I would have hoped for that, regardless,” he said, somewhat harshly. “I mean, that is what I’m paying you to do after all.”

  David shook his head. “I understand where your venom is coming from, but fighting with me or playing on defense is not going to get us anywhere. Now I have a few questions; what can you tell us about your daughter?”

  “Well, she is a brilliant girl,” he began. “She got into the State University on a scholarship and she was working part time at a café place. Meghan didn’t want to live on campus, and even though I told her I would pay for her place, she refused. She was determined to make her own money and support herself.”

  “What was she studying?”

  “I don’t see how these questions are going to get us anywhere!”

  “Mr. Malone, we are just doing our job. Please understand that I have a reason for asking you these questions.”

  Letting out a sigh he shook his head. “She was majoring in physical therapy. When she was younger, she broke her ankle, and she had to go to therapy. It really made an impression on her, and thought she could do it too. Help fix people. Why are you asking questions about her? Obviously this is about me, not her.”

  “We haven’t yet determined that this is all about you,” the woman named Emily said, acridly. “We do know you certainly have a list of your own enemies, but we also need to determine whether or not Meghan had her own. At this point it would be foolish to speculate that someone you prosecuted would be behind this. Maybe someone she knew had an agenda against her, and knowing you have a good wad of cash, they just want to cash out.”

  “My daughter has no enemies! She mostly kept to herself. I mean the only people she would really associate with were her teammates.”

  “And what team did she play on?”

  “PSU’s soccer team. Her coach is Renee Suarez.”

  “Do you know if there was anyone she was intimate with?”

  “No,” he said firmly. “There were no boys in her life. My daughter is traditional, and she would not have done anything until she was married.”

  “That is good to know. Then we should start with the list of people you felt could be capable of this. Do you access to your old case files?”

  “All of my past case files have been put onto a computer. I could send them over to you this afternoon.”

  “Great,” Emily said. “All of the case files would have some importance, and just flag the ones that you feel could be most important.”

  “Yes, yes of course,” he said, taking another sip of water. “Is there anything else that you want to know?”

  “Yes,” David said. “Where is Meghan’s bedroom?”

  He had an incredulous look upon his face, but it quickly faded away. “Of course. Please follow me.”

  Mr. Malone took the lead and they followed him down the hallway. Their home was relatively small, considering what they could actually afford. They made it to the first door on the right and he opened it up.

  Stepping inside the room, Mr. Malone remained in the doorway. “Is there a reason you want to look in here?”

  “We just want to see if there is anything we could find that might indicate something to us. Not saying that she does or doesn’t have enemies, we just want to know more about your daughter.”

  “Yes,” Emily agreed. “And, if you don’t mind, where is the restroom?”

  “It’s the door down on your left.”

  Emily brushed past him and David remained in her room. “When was the last time she was here to visit you?”

  “Nine months ago. I’ve been busy and we haven’t really had time to get back together. I now realize that I should have made more of a commitment to seeing her.”

  “It surely wasn’t your fault? You couldn’t have possibly known that something like this would happen.”

  Mr. Malone was silent for a moment, his hands in his pocket. David continued to look around the sterile room. There were no pictures, the walls were white and the bedding was a solid tan. It looked as if her room had been a prison cell. She had a single nightstand, but no desk.

  “After she moved out did you convert this into a guest room?”

  “No, this room has stayed the same since she was about eleven. That is when we moved into this home. Why?”

  “Well, her room just doesn’t read like the room of a teenage girl, is all.”

  He watched how defensive Mr. Malone got. “What, are you saying? That there was something wrong with my kid?”

  “No, I am not saying that at all, Mr. Malone. I was just curious as to why her room looked like this. I didn’t want to assume anything.”

  “Fine, but next time—don’t make it seem as if there is something wrong with my kid!”

  “I never insinuated that, Mr. Malone.”

  “I know, I know. I’m just on edge. There is so much running through my mind.”

  “I absolutely understand. You know what? I think we have all the information I’ll need for now. If there is anything else you need, please just call us, or e-mail. We can come back out here if need be.”

  “Thank you.”

  David took one last glance around the room and he saw Emily standing there in the hallway. Following behind Mr. Malone and Emily, he could not help but feel as if there was something wrong here.

  ###

  Sitting in the van, she was watching Derek’s house intently. She wondered who the two others were, but felt certain they weren’t cops. Derek didn’t like cops as it was, and he would not go against her instructions. She turned to look over at Dominic. He seemed a tad anxious, but she knew he was not a criminal.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said, as she looked back to the house. “I’m going to drop it on his stoop.”

  Dominic didn’t seem to feel as if they could do it without being caught, but she was certain they would not be detected. Taking a deep breath, she reached into the backseat and picked up the envelope with her gloved hands. She could never be too careful. Especially since she didn’t know who the mystery guests were.

  Opening the door, she stepped onto the pavement and she looked to the desolate street. He didn’t have too many neighbors and she made it to the stoop. Kneeling by the door she set it down.

  Turning to walk away she let out a breath of relief. Sliding back in her seat she turned the key in the ignition and slowly pulled away. She turned to look at Dominic, and he seemed impressed that she wasn’t detected. However, she only wished that she could linger to see the expression on Derek’s face when he saw she had been there and he didn’t know. Smiling to herself, she could only imagine his reaction and it gave her pleasure.

  “What now,” Dominic finally asked, when they were safety back out on the main road.

  “We wait to see what happens.”

  “You don’t think he’ll figure it out?”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  “Why?” he asked incredulously. “I thought the point of this was for you to get revenge on him for what he did, but to remain transparent in the process.”

  She smiled wryly. “I am completely transparent, and you will surely see. Just give it time.”

  Dominic glanced at her a final time, and he was not too sure about what she was planning. That was something that frightened him about her. She was dangerous, mostly to herself, but knowing why she was this way made him want to help her get what she wanted.

  ###

  Opening the front door, Emily paused as she saw a yellow envelope. Before she could pick it up, Derek Malone had beat her to it. He looked to them and said, “This
is just something that I ordered and have been waiting on.”

  Emily turned to David, and he too seemed not to believe Derek. However, they knew an accusation of lying wouldn’t go well. “Well,” David said, “if there is anything you need, feel free to give us a phone call.”

  “Yes, and please send over those files as soon as possible.”

  He nodded and quickly walked back into the house. Emily turned to David and she knew something was not right. Taking in a deep breath they knew that this was going to be a difficult case.

  Chapter 27

  Meghan was sitting in the corner of the cell looking at the food they brought her. She now knew there were two people, but they wore ski masks and she was unable to see them. She wondered what they wanted.

  She had already attempted to see if there was a way out of here, but there was not. Meghan had never felt so exhausted before, and was not too sure why. She heard someone moving outside and couldn’t help but hold her breath. A light inside her cell flicked on and she watched as something was pushed through the slot.

  “This will better explain what is going on,” she heard a woman say.

  Hesitating for a moment, she was not sure she even wanted to know what was on those papers, and finally got to her feet. Her knees seemed weak and it took everything she had not to topple over. She wondered if they were putting sedatives in her food.

  Making it to the door, she took the papers in her hand and saw that a good portion of them were photographs. It was a brunette woman standing alongside her father. She had a very pregnant belly and it was dated three weeks before she was born.

  Flipping the picture over, she saw there was writing on the back. Quinn Saunders and Derek Malone. She shook as she looked through the rest of the photos. One of them was from the day she was born; in it, she was being held apparently in her mother’s arms.

  “Wha…who are you?”

  There was no response, so she went on, putting the photos aside and seeing court transcripts. Her mother had been convicted of murder in the first degree. The victim was Lawrence Saunders, her brother.

  “Why are you showing this to me?” she asked, not sure there would be a response.

  “You need to know your mother was innocent. She was framed for that crime because your father didn’t want her around any longer. On top of which, the real killer paid him handsomely and he was able to tamper with the evidence and make her seem guilty. See, he knew that she and her brother had a falling out.”

  “He said she died at birth.”

  “He lied. You should know better than anyone that he is very manipulative. On the outside he seems to be a good guy, but behind closed doors is when he shows his true colors.”

  Meghan was silent and not too sure how they knew so much. “How would you know that?”

  It was silent, and after a few seconds passed, she heard the door to her cell open. Standing there was the woman from the pictures. She was older of course, but Meghan knew it was her. Gasping for air, she was not too sure how to react.

  “It is natural for you to be angry,” Quinn said. “And that is perfectly fine, I would be too. I just didn’t know how to go about this.”

  Tears were filling her eyes and she felt anger. “A mother would never kidnap their own child. You could have been normal about this. You know… stopped by and introduced yourself.”

  “You’re right, but I haven’t the faintest idea about being a mother. That chance was taken from me by your father. The same man who let the killer get away with his crime. I want him to suffer, unless you have a loyalty to him, because he is not a saint.”

  “He would never kidnap me in the middle of the night and put me in a cell!”

  “No. But I needed to make this look realistic. Meghan, you may not understand this, but there are ways to get what you want from someone. Right now, you are my leverage. It is unethical I know, but this is what I want.”

  “Isn’t having a relationship with me good enough for you?”

  Quinn paused for a moment. She realized now that Dominic was probably right. She should not have told her, but she nodded. “I had no idea what he had said to you. My decision was not thought through, but you should understand that it was never my intention to hurt you.”

  Meghan looked her in the eye and shook her head. “Well you did. I’ve been terrified all this time. Just what is it you have in mind for my father?”

  She chuckled and shook her head. “I’m not going to tell you until I know I can trust you.”

  “My loyalties remain with my father,” Meghan finally said. “You can attempt to convince me otherwise, but he raised me, you didn’t. You abducted me, you couldn’t just be normal and find me.”

  “I cannot argue with you, on that point” she said softly. “Just read over the case files.”

  Walking out of the room, Meghan got to her feet. “You don’t have to lock me in here.”

  “Actually I do. Your loyalties are to your father and I’m not going to babysit you all day. There is somewhere else I need to be.”

  Meghan listened as she walked away and was filled with rage. This couldn’t be real! She was being drugged and was hallucinating. Her mother was dead, like her father said. She looked at the papers, and knew the truth was in there. Either the woman stating she was her mother was delusional about her father framing her, or her father was dirty. Meghan did not know which one she would prefer.

  ###

  They were on the highway and David noticed that Emily was oddly quiet. He looked at her, and she was too deep in thought to even notice he was watching. Letting out a deep breath, he finally spoke. “Okay, what is on your mind?”

  “There is something wrong here, and I am determined to figure it out. Would you be able to drop me off at her apartment?”

  Glancing over at her again, her eyes were still elsewhere. “What are you hoping to find?”

  “David, there is something going on here and you know it, too. That room—her room, it was sterile. Even her bathroom had only a brush. The walls were monotone and there was nothing personal there. Nothing. It seemed as if she was in a prison.”

  “Yeah, well not all kids are creative. Maybe she just enjoys being simplistic.”

  “I doubt it. I remember being a teenager. If my father disallowed me from doing something, like painting my room—I retaliated. I think she was a bird trapped in a cage, who was anxious to leave. But I will know more when you drop me off at her apartment.”

  He grabbed her hand with his free one, and he squeezed it. “There is something else on your mind. Come on, out with it.”

  “That yellow package on the porch. I know it could easily be something he ordered, but I don’t think it was. If it was the delivery guy, would he have rang the doorbell? Or is that just something they do in Primer?”

  “We need to go with the flow on this. It’s not ideal, I know, but that is what needs to happen. We can get ahead of this.”

  Emily looked up to him and nodded. “I trust that, but part of it is figuring out what he is hiding.”

  “Yeah, so um, where in Primer does she live? I don’t have an address.”

  “Well drop me off at the office then,” she began, “There are a few things I need to do and then I will just hail a cab. Not what I was initially planning, but it might just be better this way.”

  “Uh, alright. I will stay with you and we can drive over together.”

  “I would rather do this alone, but thank you for the offer.”

  David felt as if she had slapped him in the face, but he nodded. He could help her, but she was pushing him away from it. There must be a good reason, so he was going to let it go. Taking in calming breath, he continued driving and within a few minutes they were entering city limits.

  ###

  Emily was in the office alone after David had left her here. There seemed to be something on his mind, and she was hoping that he was dealing with everything alright. She knew he s
till had nightmares, but not about the same things she did, obviously. There was something else that had happened, and it made her wonder what it was. However, she was certain it would take a while before he broke down that wall with her.

  On the desktop, her eyes were scanning the monitor. Derek had yet to send over the case files, but she didn’t really need him to send it. He had already sent her an e-mail and she was able to get into the computer he sent it from. It seemed to be his personal laptop and he had several different files in here that were encrypted, so it would take her a few hours to get them.

  She took her eyes off the monitor and heard the door open. Standing there was a woman Emily hadn’t seen since high school. She had changed drastically, but Emily was able to sense that there was something wrong with her.

  “Macey, what’s wrong?”

  “I—I heard you worked for an investigator and well—I sort of need help.”

  Emily was on her feet instantly and she embraced her old friend. “What do you need?”

  “My son Blake. He—he was in the front yard playing with all the kids one minute, and then the next he is gone. We called the cops the moment we couldn’t find him and they have no leads. Everyone says how the first forty-eight are critical and we are in the first twenty. I—I don’t know what to do.”

  She felt as if her heart had dropped. “And his dad didn’t take him? It couldn’t be him?”

  “He is in Europe right now. Look, I didn’t know who to turn to. Would you be able to help me? Please?”

  “Of course, alright. So tell me everything that has happened in the past week.”

  “Why the week?”

  “Macey, please just tell me. Has anything odd been happening? Something you couldn’t explain?”

  “No. At the beginning of last week Oliver left on business, and he took that skank of a wife with him. I had Blake with me and my mother had just left town after a visit.”