Flutter (25 page)

Read Flutter Online

Authors: L. E. Green

Tags: #Fiction, #Mystery, #Retail, #Science Fiction, #Suspense, #Thriller

BOOK: Flutter
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The interviewer ended the interview with a shaky, “Thank you,” and wrapped up the segment with an outro and uneasy smile. Finch was sure Diana must have stormed out of the room as soon as the director said, 
Cut!

Finch wondered if Diana knew anything about Robert’s disappearance and concluded that she wouldn’t care but made a side note to find out one way or another.

As Meghan searched on, she realized there was one sad story after another. Benson’s parents had died in a helicopter accident when he was 29. He had just been accepted into the MBA program, but wasn’t able to share the news with them. The fact that he was missing had never made the news. Anything that was mentioned was mostly speculation but no one could say exactly why he hadn’t been seen in business meetings. There were a few proposals he had missed and people started to talk, but no one had filed an official missing persons report. Brown and Finch wanted to keep as much out of the media as they could. One brave reporter speculated that he had gone to visit Diana in Kenya to rekindle their dying love for one another. 

Robert began working at Chapel and Case four years earlier. Meghan looked to see what type of business deals Chapel and Case had been involved in during his employment, but nothing out of the ordinary surfaced. She created a new document named and placed it on her laptop. She took a sip of whiskey. It was strong. It reminded her of Anthony and Sydney at the same time. Strong and relaxing. She stretched her body and rubbed her eyes. It was getting late, but she was wrapped up in figuring out what was going on. She knew there was a connection between the recent occurrences. 

Meghan spent the next few hours working diligently into the wee hours of the morning, researching, copying, pasting and printing information on Indigo Inc. By the time she was satisfied with her progress, the sun was peeking over the treetops. She knew she needed rest but was also elated about her thorough acquisition of information through research.
Thank you, Google.
She packed her files away, shut down the computer and climbed into bed. She put on three alarms to be sure she would get up on time for work. She opened her phone and took another look at the blurry picture of the alley murder suspect and thought,
Why does this face look familiar?
It bothered her the same way trying to remember a word that was on the tip of her tongue. She put the phone away and rested her head on the pillow with only a few hours remaining before she had to get up. A few hours of sleep were fine. She would be okay with that. Her mind raced for a few minutes, but she was sleep within five. She slept well.

MORNING

Erin Moore ran six mornings a week. Today was no different. She spent the morning finishing up her daily run at the local health spa about two blocks from her apartment in downtown Boston. She usually ran for an hour a day and occasionally engaged in light weight lifting but wasn’t interested in bulking up in any way. She already had a natural strength. Her muscles were naturally formed without much effort. She liked her slender, feminine physique and thought herself to be envied by the women from the various aspects of her life: colleagues, coworkers, family. She refused to be overweight by any standard. 

Moore worked hard to maintain her lean body and grunted as she watched people in the office pile the sugar and cream into their coffee. She rolled her eyes every time she saw workers return from lunch with a McDonald’s bag and a shake. She considered bad eating habits to be a lack of self control and poor judgment, which in her mind was a statement of weakness. She was even more repulsed by people who were naturally smaller than others yet ate like pigs. She knew that being thin was not an excuse to overindulge. She saw them as an implosion waiting to happen: indigestion, bad cholesterol, heart disease...
Disgusting!

As she ran on the treadmill, her mind slipped back to her more pudgy years of life, the things she ate, and her refusal to be in that shape ever again.
How could others not care?
She didn’t mean to judge others, but in her own way she used her judgments of them to stay motivated and work out in the gym. 

Erin was from Ontario, California. She had two sisters. Geraldine and Sandy. Her older sister, Geraldine, had moved to New York, and she sought an excuse to get to the east coast as well. Sandy was also back east attending George Washington University in DC, so Erin was highly motivated to get a new position on the east coast as well. That opportunity came when an executive suddenly quit. He had walked right out of the office, taking only one box with him. He lit a cigarette before reaching the elevator, smoked his way down to the ground level, and walked out. He never returned. 

At the time, she was working as COO of a company in Utah. She received a call from Jusford Chillings, the head of the board of directors. He told her that she was recommended by a former board member who had worked a few projects with her in the past. The next day she flew in for an interview and was hired on the spot. She was very sharp and witty. She answered questions thoroughly and without hesitation. She had poise and would be a great image for the company. She worked as Robert Benson’s assistant COO. It was a slight pay cut, but she was closer to her sisters and happy to move on with her life.

After the murder of Jiang and the disappearance of Benson, without hesitation the board voted unanimously to move her up to CEO. 

Erin ended her workout and walked out of the spa. She noticed a text message from Darren Hall, her lover and coworker, “CALL ME AFTER YOUR RUN.” She dialed his number. It rang and he answered.

“Yes love?” Darren said sarcastically.

“Oh so you love me now,” she joked though she was still a little winded from the workout. Hall could hear it in her voice.

“Of course I do. How could I not love you?” He said. 

She asked, “Did you workout today?”

“Yes. I exercised a little earlier so I could do some work before getting in. I wanted to run some things by you. Some of the numbers in the deal are not where they need to be. I can show you what I mean in person. What time are you coming in?”

“I can get there by 7:30 if you need me to,” she said as she looked at her watch.

“Perfect. I will be in by 7:15. We have a few meetings today, so I wanted to get some time with you before that started.”

“Thanks,” Erin said as she wiped sweat off her forehead.

“How about dinner tonight? My place. I’m cooking,” Darren said. 

“I wouldn’t miss it. Salmon?”

“Your favorite. I can do that!”

“And a massage?” She asked as she approached her apartment building.

“You’re pushing it, boss lady.”

She laughed, “It was worth a shot. Well, I’m home; I will see you in about an hour then.” She hung up the phone, cracked a quick half smile and went in to her apartment. She had a protein shake, showered, dressed and headed out to work.

CHAPEL AND CASE INVESTMENT COMPANY

Erin Moore’s office was on the top level of Chapel and Case, directly across from the elevator. It was the only office on that level with two high–tech conference rooms on either side. In front of the office was a waiting area with couches, chairs, a small refrigerator, a bathroom and wet bar. Cameron Myles was Erin’s executive assistant. She used to work for Jiang and now happily assisted Moore. Inside the office, the back wall was constructed completely of glass. The side walls were constructed of a dark gray, smooth concrete with cherry wood shelves. The wall to the left held track and field awards from college, her degrees and a few family photographs. The wall to the right had a wet bar and a door that lead to a private bathroom equipped with a shower, mini steam room and a bidet. 

In the office, Moore and Darren Hall sat at a small table by the window looking over figures that he had promised to show her. He had a laptop open and a stack of papers with Excel spreadsheets and charts. She wasn’t very surprised by the findings but she knew that Darren didn’t pull any punches when it came to his calculations. He was very thorough. It was one of the reasons she was attracted to him. If things were not in the company’s favor, he would be the first to prove it numerically. This was not the news that Erin wanted to hear; but the numbers didn’t lie, and Erin trusted Darren’s work without question. They reviewed the findings for about 30 minutes before Darren left for a meeting. Erin had a string of meetings and conference calls that morning. Just as Hall exited the room, he saw Cameron escorting a group of executives from other companies into conference room 19A. He smiled at Cameron, walked in and took a seat, waiting for Erin to enter.

 

A couple hours later at the front of the building, a black limo followed by two black Escalade trucks pulled up to the firm. The men in the Escalades exited the trucks, walking rigidly and uniformly. There were a total of six men, three in each vehicle. They were wearing all black European cut suits and black sun glasses. They were clean cut and moved mechanically over to the limo. One turned around and a tattoo on the back of his neck became visible. It was small and circular. The tattoo was similar to Abigail’s. One of the men opened the limo door. An older man, Jason Dewey, exited the limo. He looked around before he too placed sun glasses on his face. Dewey led the way to the lobby. Two of the men in the suits walked with Dewey into the building. The others stayed behind, keeping watch.

ERIN MOORE’S OFFICE

The two mysterious men and the older gentleman barged into Erin Moore’s office. She was on a video conference call. Cameron Myles tried to block the door but they easily brushed her aside. Their strength was too powerful for her. She said to Moore, “I’m sorry they...”

“Let them in,” Moore said. She was very upset but refused to show her emotions.

Mr. Dewey shut the door in Ms. Myles' face and said, “Excuse me Ms. Moore. It’s always a pleasure to see my old friend.”

“Likewise,” she replied sarcastically. “What brings you here this morning, Dewey?”

“We have a few things to talk about, Moore. You haven’t been returning my calls, so I thought it was best to pay you a visit and don’t give me shit about being busy. I know your schedule.”

“Then you would know that you picked a terrible time to interrupt.” She said to the executives on the video conference, “Excuse me.” She muted the conversation and said, “Mr. Dewey. I’m in an important meeting right now and…”

He interrupted, “They can wait.” He sat down in a chair and removed his sun glasses. He took out his glasses and placed them on his face. “We have serious business to discuss. Now, you can unmute the call and let them know what we’ve been up to, or you can reschedule. Sit your ass down and listen.”

“How did you get past security in the lobby?”

Dewey smiled, “My men can be very persuasive.” The two men stepped forward in a threatening manner. Moore could see their guns bulging in the side holsters behind their jackets. 

She knew what they were capable of. She was frustrated that she hadn’t been watching the live lobby footage. She looked at the monitor. She saw the guards at the front desk sitting at the desk with two of Dewey’s men standing behind them holding weapons to their backs. Moore was shaken up. She unmuted the call and said, “Sorry folks. Let’s pick this up in about an hour.”

Mr. Dewey said, “Make it two.”

“Two hours. Let’s make that two hours. Grab a lunch. We’ll reconvene at noon.” She hung up on the call.

Mr. Dewey slammed his briefcase on the desk. Erin Moore completely shut down her computer and drew the shades on her windows. Dewey opened the case, and Erin slammed her palm on it and shut it back. She was still afraid but wasn’t keen on being embarrassed in front of her colleagues.

With a stern voice Erin said, “In order for me to run this company and be taken seriously by clients, you need to show me some respect. You do not own this company. You do not
run
this company. It is my ass on the line. Not yours. If I decide not to drop another penny into your fledgling account then that is my decision. Do not come in here shoving your way through my firm, roughing up my secretary, threatening my...”

Mr. Dewey snatched his case from under her hand, “I am not asking you for more money. You are so uninformed. You have no idea what mess I have been trying to clean up. I came here to talk about one of our joint investments which we seemed to have 'misplaced' and the fact that my company is being heavily researched by a two bit cop who has a… hunch. Believe me, if they can connect you back to the company in Salt Lake City, your ass will be sitting in cell block eight receiving the Martha Stewart special. I came here to warn you.”

“What do you mean by lost?”

“She escaped?” he uttered sarcastically. 

“She?” Erin had only seen Dewey with male guards but never heard of females.

“Oh yes. A she. She is a trained killer on the loose. She’s a special one unlike the others. We tracked her here. In your backyard. Would you believe it?” Dewey took out a cigar but decided to just chew on it.

Moore was nervous, “Why would she come here?”

“We don’t know and don’t care. Some idiot posted her picture as a missing person. We will need to pay him a visit if we cannot locate her exact whereabouts. We need her back ASAP. I need to run tests and she needs to finish her training.”

Erin picked up her cell phone, “Get me a name and picture. I’ll put my contact on it. They’ll find her.”

Mr. Dewey smiled, “Good. I’m also going to send my boys out to retrieve that investment and take care of that nosey cop. An old buddy of mine, Jackson Pearson... Do you know the name?” Moore nodded her head. “Seems he has a bone to pick with this same cop or detective or whatever she is.”

Jackson Pearson had offered Detective Finch a half a million dollars to foil the evidence against his son Sean Pearson and she had refused. His son was convicted and was sent to prison for a year on bribery charges. Dewey and Pearson had made a few shady business deals. Dewey knew that Pearson had contacts within the police force so he made the call. It just so happened that Dewey was looking for information on the same detective who had helped Pearson lose millions. Pearson wanted to help, but he was still on probation and knew he was being monitored. 

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