Flutter (19 page)

Ms. Atkins grabbed a bottle of gin from the refrigerator and mixed it with orange juice. She took two sips before she continued talking. “About five years later, I was called into a meeting where they decided to revive the project. My unit was totally against it, but we wanted to hear what they planned to do, so we pretended to be interested in its revival.”

Roger already knew the suit story and asked, “Can you explain what this has to do with Elvis?” That was the part of the story he
didn’t
know.

Ms. Atkins continued, “The plan was not to change the suit, but to change the human. They wanted to make a human that could respond to the demands of the suit. The project was secretly moved to Plum Island, off the coast of Connecticut. They tried everything– steroid injections, cross breeding, but the humans created were irregular looking or so dumb that they couldn’t follow basic directions. They had to put many of them down, which I was totally against. Our job was to continue working on the suit. We worked on the project for three more years. The suits we made were getting more advanced and we still couldn’t produce a human fast enough and smart enough to handle it. The project was a disaster.”

Abigail asked, “What does all this have to do with me?”

Terry answered, “After constant disappointment, one of the members on our team, Travis Smart, did some research of his own and stumbled across some vital information. He made a few phone calls and set up a meeting with the same CEOs, the company president and military personnel that were overseeing the project. The next day a man was flown in from Boston. We sat in the conference room anxiously waiting to hear what his solution would be. After about 30 minutes of waiting, in walked a tall handsome Native American man– a neuroscientist from Harvard. His name was Dr. Colin Paltee. He explained that the suit would never work on humans because human reflexes cannot adapt to the neurological demands of the suit– kind of like putting a Chevy Cobalt engine into a Porsche shell expecting the same results. He said that even the most trained highly trained human had insufficient ability for optimal performance of the suit, and it would only work if we were to decrease the ability of the armor which was not even discussed as an option.”

She continued, “I left the project a month later when my foot was crushed. Last I heard… the project was shut down. You must have been in the facility when I was there. I remember seeing some children but I figured after they shut down the project, they would ship you guys out, but I guess they didn’t. I’ll be damned.”

Abigail asked, “Me? I was at Global Tech–Gin? For what?”

“That’s for Paltee to explain to you. I can’t even go there.” Ms. Atkins wiped sweat from her brow, using her sleeve.

Abigail asked, “So this Dr. Paltee. Where is he? How do I find him?

Ms. Atkins answered, “Oh. I can get you Paltee, but I wanna show you something first.” The three stood up and left the kitchen.

Frankie spent the morning shuffling around the kitchen, cleaning and prepping food for lunch and dinner service. He chopped onions, cleaned and seasoned meat, and started peeling and boiling potatoes.

After he was done, he grabbed the broom to clean the onion skins and pepper seeds off the floor. He pulled the broom with wood bristles towards him, sweeping the debris in his direction. As he pulled it, he saw a red streak, run across the floor. “What the…” He knew right away that it was blood. His mind ran around the possibilities and knew right away who the culprits were. He took a few paper towels and Fantastic with bleach, sprayed down the floor and broom bristles. He wiped the blood away and tossed the towels into the sink. He then took the head of the broom and lit the paper towels and broom on fire until most of the broom was burnt to ashes. He washed the ashes down the sink and tossed the rest of the broom into the trash just as Larry arrived.

Larry walked into the kitchen door startling Frankie. Frankie hadn’t heard the door open. “Hey, Larry.”

“Damn it’s smoky in here!” Larry waved the air in front of his face and coughed.

Frankie was a good liar and said, “My clumsy ass dropped a rag on the stove and it hit the pilot light. It caught fire before I could pick it up, but it wasn’t anything serious. What’s going on?”

“I came by to see if you needed any help prepping food for the day.” Larry said.

“No actually. Thanks. I got up early and took care of it. I’ll need your help later on though when we open. I don’t know when Roger is coming back and I can’t say if I know whether or not Abigail is coming back,” Frankie said.

Larry was taken aback by Frankie’s comment. “What do you mean? Is Abigail leaving?”

“I don’t know! She has a lot going on right now and she isn’t sure if this is the place for her.” Frankie was sad. “She’s been dealing with some things from her past that are popping up suddenly.”

“Really? Like what?” Larry was all ears.

Frankie wasn’t sure what to say but responded, “I think if Abigail wants to share this with you, that’s her call. I respect her privacy. You and I haven’t talked much about her because I know you aren’t very fond of her. I personally don’t think you ever gave her a chance. She clearly has issues. One minute she’s giving evil stares, the next minute she’s joking at the bar. She’s an awkward person for sure. I get that, but that’s not enough reason for you to hate her.”

“I don’t hate Abigail, Frankie. I just don’t get her. You just opened up to her and you immediately trusted her. Why?”

“I didn’t immediately trust her, but I gave her a chance. She’s like a daughter to me.”

Larry shook his head and said, “Frankie, but she is not your daughter.”

Frankie gave Larry a sincere look and said, “But I wish she was. All this time I avoided having kids. Now I realize having one, or even something close to it, makes me feel more complete. I’m getting old, Larry. Who am I going to leave this place to if something happens to me?” Frankie paused for a moment before he finally said, “I’m closing the fight club this week.” 

Larry knew the day was coming, “So have you figured out how you’re going to make a decent profit?”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“You kind of sprung this on me. You should have told me sooner.”

“I made the decision just now. Why prolong the inevitable? Let everyone know. It’s over. Friday will be the last day.” Frankie walked out onto the main floor leaving Larry in the kitchen. Frankie felt bad saying it, but telling Larry the fight club was closing for good was a huge burden lifted off his back.

Larry shook his head again in disbelief. He was steaming with frustration.
This is how he tells me this shit?
Larry was so disappointed in Frankie that he couldn’t stand it. He wasn’t sure if Abigail was coming back nor did he care, but he knew Frankie was becoming preoccupied with Abigail’s happiness and safety over his own financial security. He attributed the soon to be closing of the fight club to Frankie’s desire to protect her.
Maybe if she doesn’t come back, we can keep it open.
But the thought was futile. Frankie was tired of the club with or without Abigail’s influence. There wasn’t a thing in this world to make Frankie change his mind.
Now Frankie is thinking of leaving the bar to her?
Though Frankie didn’t exactly say that, Larry was sure it’s what he meant.
I’m gonna expose that bitch!

Larry’s obsession with getting Abigail out of the picture was only fueled by the newly found information that the
bitch
was possibly leaving.
Frankie wants her to return.
Larry’s goal was to make sure this didn’t happen. He also remembered Frankie’s comment about certain aspects of her past resurfacing and he couldn’t wait to learn what that meant. Larry couldn’t imagine how messed up she truly was and figured she had made up some excuse to break the news to Frankie that it was time to move on. Larry took her for a user with a seductive smile that drew men in for a greater ulterior motive. 

Secretly Larry had been doing his own private investigation of Abigail, which had turned up one dead end after another. In frustration, Larry took a photo of Abigail and made a missing woman advertisement and placed it into a missing person’s database which focused on upstate New York and metropolitan areas within a 300 mile radius. The missing person file had the picture he scanned from her license. The headline read, “Missing Mental Patient.” He felt it was a more than suitable title for the young woman he believed to be a nut case.

Jennifer Kalis Martin arrived at the Starbucks around noon, just in time to get in line before the lunchtime rush. Seconds after she got to the counter, the line filled up and went out the door by about 10 patrons. She ordered a Mocha Coconut Frappuccino and a blueberry scone with a side of butter. After she received her order, she sat at a table in the corner where she could have a full view of the front door and her car, which she had parked in metered space. She didn’t know she would need more than three chairs because she was unaware of who was coming with Duffy. As she waited, she checked her phone, sent out a few text messages and looked at her eReader. 

When Brown, Finch and Duffy walked into the store, Jennifer knew immediately who they were. They stuck out like sore thumbs with their ties, blazers and side arms sticking out. She had hoped they would have been a little more discreet. She knew Duffy was coming, but she didn’t know about the other man and woman who showed up with him. She figured they thought a woman’s touch was needed and must have brought her as a tag along. She couldn’t be that important. They noticed Jennifer and walked over. Brown realized they needed an additional chair, so he grabbed one from another table and slid it over. They sat down.

Jennifer, Allen Jiang’s mistress, sat at the table with Brown, Finch and Duffy. She had a big tan Michael Kors bag with a silver buckle on the strap. Sticking out of the opening were a few file folders, some paperwork, and a rolled up magazine. She wore heels, jeans, a tan leather jacket and a floral patterned scarf. Her eyes are covered with big black sun glasses. She crossed her arms and leaned on the table. She had an attitude to go with her Frappuccino. 

Duffy decided to start the conversation and said, “So… Miss Martin.”

She interrupted, speaking with a funny upstate New York accent. “Just call me Jen. Jen is fine. I didn’t expect you would bring company.”

Duffy responded, “This is Detective Meghan Finch and Detective Sydney Brown. It’s protocol that we bring another detective, just in case things get complicated. I need to be sure that we properly document this and I don’t miss any important parts.”

She nodded, but wasn’t exactly thrilled. She looked at her car and watched the door. It was obvious that she was anxious about the meeting and wanted to leave as soon as she could.

Duffy said, “Ok, Jen. You said you wanted to talk. We’re here to listen. What would you like to share with us?”

Jennifer was upset with Duffy’s last minute request to change locations. She kept her voice low as she complained, “I wanted to talk at a police station, not a damn Starbucks in front of all these people. I don’t like this.”

Finch interrupted, “I’m sorry, Jen. I have to be honest with you. Coming here was my idea. I often meet people here so there is nothing to hide and you can feel empowered to just walk out the door if you need to. We apologize for the late notice, but we wanted to keep you out of the station. Someone may have gotten wind that you were coming and sent the media over. We saw them around the station and they would have swarmed you.”

Jen looked at Duffy and said, “You could have just said that on the phone.” She fiddled with her sun glasses and played with the end of her scarf. “Next time, let me know, ok? This has been a stressful time for me. I don’t like this.”

Duffy apologized, “I’m sorry about that and didn’t mean to inconvenience you. Sometimes explaining things over the phone can be just as risky. I didn’t want to chance that your phone would be bugged and they would know we were on to them. I can check that for you later, but let’s get down to business and get you out of here.”

Jen understood. She said, “Anyway, I just wanted to explain some things that may help a little, you know.”

Finch said, “We really appreciate that and I’m sure the loss has been difficult, so take your time. Just start wherever you think you need to start. If we need clarification, we will ask. Is that ok?”

Jen nodded and adjusted her sun glasses. She had tears in her eyes as she explained. “I know I sound like a silly girl, but he promised me he would break it off with his wife and marry me. He said it a few times before but I never took it seriously. I figured it was just his way to keep me interested. After a while, I wanted it all to be true. He told me that after he returned from this particular business trip at his cabin, he would break things off with his wife and marry me.”

Brown asked, “So this was a business trip? I thought it was a fishing trip.”

She explained, “Alan was always working. He would take me to the Bahamas and meet with clients in the mornings or they would meet us for dinner. Knowing him, he didn’t tell the kid he took with him that it was a business trip.”

Brown asked, “Why wouldn’t he tell the kid it was a business trip? What was that kid’s name again?”

Duffy answered, “Dennis Matthews.”

Jen answered, “Alan was very private and didn’t trust his own left foot to follow him forever. He didn’t want the people around him talking about what he is doing. I’m sure he wanted to go fishing, which he loved to do, but I’m sure he told the kid that’s all it was yet planned a meeting anyway.”

Finch opened up her cloud based files and began typing in notes.

 Jen continued, “I didn’t know Alan was taking Dennis up there or else I… I’ve been to the cabin a few times and I had the key so, I went up there early to surprise him. I couldn’t wait for him to come home. I was desperate to see him. He didn’t know I was coming. He went fishing before I got there, I saw the boat was out and waited.”