by KJ Kalis
6
By the time Emily’s alarm went off the next morning, the sun had just started to push up over the horizon. It wasn’t sunshine, not really. It was just a gentle glow of light through her windows that the cloudy day would bring. The leaves outside had started to change colors, Emily noticed as she rolled out of bed. She pulled on the clothes for her workout and let Miner out the back door. After putting Miner out, she walked over to the burner phone to check it, almost forgetting she had sent Marlowe Burgess a text the night before. For a second, she considered not even checking the burner phone she had used. Curious, she checked it, swiping her finger across the screen, waking up the text app.
Marlowe had responded.
It wasn’t a long text, and it certainly wasn’t descriptive. The only thing Marlowe said was, “Okay.” Emily squinted at the screen and realized that Marlowe had responded at about one in the morning. She certainly hadn’t responded with any urgency. Maybe Angelica was wrong? Emily realized it couldn’t hurt to meet Marlowe. At least it would get Angelica off her back. Miner needed to get some exercise anyway and he liked going to the park. Might as well kill two birds with one stone, she thought, walking to the back door where Miner had tapped on it with his nails, letting her know he wanted to come back in. “Well, boy, it looks like we're going to go walking at Miles Road after our workout this morning.”
A minute later, Emily walked out the back door of her house, turning on the security system, a leash looped around her neck, her gym bag slung over her shoulder. Miner stopped by the side of her truck, happily leaping inside as soon as she opened the door, taking his position on the passenger side seat as Emily put her gym bag in the back.
By the time Emily got done with her workout, she was drenched. Pretty much her entire ponytail was wet. She checked the time on her cell phone. There wasn’t enough of a gap for her to drive home, get a shower and then go meet Marlowe. Hopefully, this wasn’t a long meeting, she thought, pulling into the parking lot of the Miles Road Park.
Miles Road Park was about twenty minutes from the gym where Emily liked to go boxing. It wasn’t a place she went to normally. That was a good thing. The last thing she needed was to run into potential clients on her own time. Emily had learned that the hard way, one time when she met a woman with a cold case at a coffee shop Emily liked. When she didn’t respond to the person’s request for help, she found them there the following week waiting for her, the woman crying and creating such a fuss that Emily left. She’d never been back. In her mind, she imagined the woman sitting there day after day, week after week, waiting for Emily to show up again. Emily didn’t have that luxury. Without a badge, Emily had to be careful about which cases she took. It was her life on the line if something went wrong or if she was caught. Sure, she’d have the reassurance of knowing what she did was just, even if it wasn’t legal, but few prosecutors or juries might see it the same way. It was better not to put herself in that position.
Before getting out of the truck, Emily slipped a second collar over Miner’s head, clipping the leash to it. When she had first gotten Miner, he had quickly learned how to slip his head out of his regular collar, the one that had his tags on it. Ted, the dog trainer she used, had suggested a martingale collar. “It’ll tighten up all on its own. That way you won’t be able to get his head out, but it’s not as severe as a choke chain.”
As soon as Emily opened the door and swung her legs to the side, Miner scrambled under the steering column and jumped down onto the ground. Even if the case was a bust, Emily knew Miner loved going to the park. The people, the new smells, the other dogs. That was the one good thing about owning a dog with her solitary lifestyle — he forced her to get out of the house.
The day had warmed up already, dark clouds off to the west. Emily hadn’t checked the weather, but she guessed rain would be coming within the next few hours. Emily adjusted the baseball hat on her head, tucking her damp ponytail behind her neck, zipping up her jacket. She shoved a bottle of water and one of her back pockets and pushed her cell phone into the front pocket of her jacket. She hadn’t bothered to grab her pistol. These types of meetings in public places were more likely than not to be pretty standard.
Emily urged Miner forward, the two of them taking a lap on the outside of the park, skirting the edges so Emily had a chance to get a good look at who was already in the park and what was going on. Situational awareness was something she learned at the police academy and it was something she relied on more than ever. Miner was helpful with that, his ears twitching and turning whenever he heard something he wasn’t sure about. Emily tightened the leash in her hand as they passed some kids playing on the swings. The motion could make Miner a little nervous, which might cause him to bark. “Come on,” she said, just loud enough for him to hear. He looked up at her, his big brown eyes catching her own for a moment. As they rounded the back of the park, the burner phone in her pocket vibrated, “I’m here,” the text read. It was from Marlowe. Surprised, Emily stopped for a second and typed, “Go to the benches in the center of the park.”
Emily took her time making another lap around the park. She could see Marlowe standing near the benches, turning this way and that, probably trying to figure out if Emily was in the park yet or not. With her baseball hat pulled down over her face, her blue jacket, and Miner with her, it would be hard for Marlowe to figure out who she was looking for. That was the point. There was value in being the “gray man.” That was a term Mike taught Emily, she remembered as she tugged Miner toward the park benches. The idea was that there was nothing very notable about you, nothing that anyone would remember in a time of crisis. That was the definition of going gray. It was a distinct advantage, one that Emily liked to use. Being nondescript gave her the opportunity to see what was going on around her, rather than worrying that someone would see her first.
The benches in the center of the Miles Road Park were arranged in a square. They faced each other, the metal seating giving people a chance to sit close together while enjoying every view of the park. As Emily approached, she got her first look at Marlowe — blonde curly hair, the same texture as Angelica’s. She wore jeans and a sweatshirt. “Marlowe?”
The young woman came a little closer to Emily, “Yes. Are you Emily?”
Emily nodded, “Why don’t we sit down?”
As they did, Emily got a better look at Angelica’s friend. The difference between the images she’d seen on her computer the night before and how Marlowe looked that morning was staggering. Emily knew just by looking at her something was going on, something that was eating away at the inside of her. Her eyes were puffy with red rims, black circles hanging underneath them. Marlowe’s skin looked dull, her lips dry. Her index finger kept picking at the corner of her thumbnail. A nervous tick, Emily thought.
“Angelica said you might be able to help me.”
Emily raised her eyebrows, “That depends. What’s the problem?” There was no reason to waste time with the normal pleasantries of conversation, Emily thought. Emily wanted to know what the problem was so she could decide whether to help. That was it.
“My business partner is trying to destroy me.”
“That’s a pretty strong assertion. What do you mean?” Emily said, scratching Miner’s head. To anyone watching the two of them, it’d seem like two friends had met to talk for a few minutes. That was fine with Emily. The fewer people watching them, the better.
“We’re supposed to be working together on rehabbing a big office building. The Lakeview office complex. You know it?”
Emily nodded, “It’s downtown, right?”
Marlowe nodded, using the cuff of her sleeve to wipe the underside of her nose. “Yeah. That’s the one. We started the project about fourteen months ago. It was going to make both of our careers, but somehow all the money's gone.”
Emily frowned, “The money’s gone?” A wave of uncertainty washed over Emily. If this was just a case of a bad business deal, then she wasn’t sure it was for her. B
ad deals happened in business all the time. They rarely rose to the level where Emily would be interested in intervening.
“Yeah.” Marlowe seemed to shrink on the bench, the weight of the trouble she was in pressing down on her. “Twenty million dollars disappeared. I don’t know where it’s gone. It’s just not there anymore,” she stammered.
Emily was having a hard time understanding why Angelica had bugged her about this case. “Did the bank rescind your funding or something?”
“No, it’s nothing like that. I think my business partner stole it.”
“Do you have proof?”
“Sort of,” Marlowe said, still picking at the corner of her thumbnail. It had started to bleed a little. “The account where the loan money was kept is empty. I just lost my condo. I’m sleeping on my girlfriend’s couch. My accountant, he’s been trying to help me, but he can’t find the money either. Vince, that’s my business partner, he paid out the funds to a bunch of subcontractors, but there’s been no work done on the building, not in months. There’s still real estate tax to pay and interest on the loan, not to mention insurance.” Marlowe stared down at her feet, “My career is over.”
Emily stared at Marlowe for a moment. Sure, it was sad that Marlowe had gotten caught up in a bad business deal, but did it rise to the level of the type of case Emily would risk her own freedom for? “Listen, I’m sorry this happened to you, but this isn’t the kind of case that I usually help with. I’d suggest you get a good attorney…”
“I have!” Marlowe yelled, and then quickly glanced around as if embarrassed at her outburst. “I have. They said there’s nothing I can do. You don’t understand — in construction, if you go bankrupt, you’re done. This is the only thing I ever wanted to do with my life, and Vince stole it from me.”
“It can be hard to work in a man’s world. I get that,” Emily said. “But that doesn’t mean there’s anything I can do to help you. As I said, I think you’re better off with a good accountant and even better lawyers.” Emily stood up. There was nothing else to say. This wasn’t the kind of case she was interested in taking.
“But Angelica said you could help. She said you could fix this!” Marlowe was yelling again.
“I love my sister, but she doesn’t know much about what I do. I’m sorry,” Emily said, turning to walk away.
“But you have to help me!”
Marlowe lunged forward and grabbed Emily’s sleeve. Miner's nose twitched as he started to growl. “Let go. Right now.” Emily’s tone matched Miner’s growl, “I don’t have to do anything. As I said, I’m sorry for your troubles, I can’t help you.”
As Emily walked away, Marlowe shrieked behind her, “What am I supposed to do? If I end up killing myself over this, it’s going to be your fault! Angelica said you were amazing and that you could help. It was a lie!”
The insults kept coming until Emily was out of earshot. Marlowe had the same temper as Angelica. Emily preferred to work with people who were a bit more circumspect, a bit more in control. Why would Angelica suggest Emily work with someone who was borderline crazy? To top it off, what was the real loss? So, Marlowe had worked with a bad business partner and might lose her reputation. Emily rubbed her wrist, the memory of handcuffs being put on her own wrists floating up in her thoughts. She knew how it was to lose your reputation. A new reputation could be forged. It wasn’t easy, but it could be done.
At the edge of the park, Emily turned behind her to make sure Marlowe wasn’t following. Miner’s ears twitched forward and back, as if he was listening, looking for Marlowe, too. Emily looked down. She could tell by the way he was carrying himself that Marlowe’s emotional outburst had caused Miner some concern. His tail wasn’t as relaxed as she would have expected in the park. The top of it was rounded and slightly pinned. “It’s okay, boy,” she said, as they reached the truck. She unlocked the doors and the dog hopped in. Giving one last glance behind her, Emily slid into the driver’s seat. She turned the key in the ignition, feeling the engine rumble to life. Before leaving the park, she made a full loop around, checking for tails. She wasn’t sure what kind of car Marlowe had, but her gut told her that the woman was persistent enough that she might try to tail Emily and catch her at home. That wasn’t an acceptable outcome.
After a few minutes of circling, Emily pulled away, passing the sign for the Miles Road Park as she turned out onto the road. Emily glanced down at her phone, thinking for a moment she should reach out to Angelica and let her know how the meeting went. Something held her back. What it was, she wasn’t sure. Instead, she sent a quick text at the next stoplight, asking Mike to meet her at the house. Things weren’t adding up. She wasn’t sure why.
7
Emily sat in the kitchen, working on her laptop when she heard the scrape of keys in the lock. Miner scampered to the back door, barking three or four times, until the door cracked open, his tail immediately wagging. It was Mike.
Other than Emily, Mike was the only one that had keys to her house. He usually stayed with Miner while she was out of town on a case. In a perfect world, Emily would have preferred that no one had access to her house except for her. That was fine before she had a dog, but once she got Miner, she needed help.
“You got a new case?” Mike said, shrugging his backpack and a duffle bag to the floor and immediately heading for the refrigerator. “Haven’t you had enough cases recently?”
“Yeah, I thought so,” Emily sighed, rubbing the pads of her thumb and forefinger together in little circles. It was something she did when she was nervous or thinking. “It’s just that Angelica called me with the case. I met the woman this morning, but she came completely unhinged in the middle of the Miles Road Park.”
Mike slumped down in the chair next to Emily. He smelled like laundry detergent, as if he’d just pulled his clothes out of the dryer, “What kind of unhinged?” His brows were knitted together under a flop of dark brown hair. A shadow of stubble covered his chin. He folded his arms across the table. “Are we talking the crying type of unhinged or shrieking?”
“Shrieking.” Emily leaned back in the kitchen chair, looking up at the ceiling for a moment and then looking back at Mike, “You smell like detergent. Did you just do laundry? I see you brought clothes with you.”
“Yeah,” Mike said, looking down at his shirt. It was wrinkled. “I even took a shower before I came over.” He brushed at the wrinkles, “I guess I should have warmed up my shirt in the dryer before I put it on. Brought a couple of changes of clothes just in case.”
Emily grinned, “Wrinkles suit you.”
“Thanks. Back to the shrieking woman?”
Emily stood up, tugging at her ponytail. Her hair was wet, this time from a shower she managed to squeeze in between the time she got home from the park and when Mike arrived. She had pulled on an old flannel shirt she was fairly sure was Luca’s, over a white tank top and a pair of black leggings. “Yeah, so Angelica called with a case for me, someone she knew when she was in college. How I’m not sure. Marlowe Burgess is the woman’s name.” Before Emily could say anything else, Mike stood up and pulled his laptop out from his backpack, setting it down on the table with a low thunk, the cooling fan inside whirring to life as it lit up.
“Marlowe Burgess, huh?” Mike mumbled as he hunched over the machine. “Where did Angelica go to college?”
“Illinois State. I did a little of my own research and found out she was a construction management major.”
Mike raised his eyebrows, “You did your own research?”
Emily elbowed him. Though she could do basic searches, Mike somehow had access to information and databases that Emily had no idea even existed. Even if she had the opportunity to know how he got the information, she wasn’t sure she’d want to, “Yes, well I didn’t want to interrupt your video game playing late last night.”
Mike’s eyes glazed over for a minute as if he were thinking about the night before. “Oh yeah, I was busy last night. Writing a new program. Inspiration hits
at the strangest times, you know?”
“Anyway,” Emily said, sitting back down at the table next to Mike, folding one of her legs underneath her. “The stuff I read was pretty standard background information. Marlowe got her degree, she worked for a couple of other construction companies, and started on her own. Apparently, she got involved with a guy named Vince who has left her high and dry on a big project.”
“Which project?”
Mike’s fingers kept tapping on the keyboard. What he was looking for, Emily wasn’t sure. “The Lakeview office complex. You know it?”
Mike shook his head no.
“It’s like thirty stories, downtown. Office space. Anyway, I told Angelica I wasn’t interested in taking another case. Told her I was going to take a rest. She freaked out and told me I needed to meet with Marlowe.”
“And your sisterly loyalty got the better of you?”
Emily nodded and chewed her lip. “You could say that. I told Angelica I was going to come and visit her. She told me not to come.”
Mike raised his eyebrows, “That bad?”
Emily nodded. Mike had met Angelica on her single trip back to Chicago a few years before. “You know how she is.”
“All bark followed by a really bad bite?”
“Come on,” Emily said, “she’s not that bad.”
“Yeah. Okay, get back to the shrieking woman.”
“So, I sent this Marlowe a text last night, told her I’d meet her at the Miles Road Park. I took Miner with me because we went right after boxing.”
“Clarence fill him up with treats again?”
Emily nodded. “We got to the park, I circled a couple of times, got a look at her, and then went up to meet her. When she told me the story, it didn’t sound like much. Exactly what I told you. Bad business partner, bad business deal. She’s probably going to have to file bankruptcy. Might not work in construction again, blah, blah, blah. I told her I was sorry about her situation, but hers wasn’t the type of case for me. Then she freaked out.”
