Read In the Shadow of Love Online
Authors: Annie Bruce
In the Shadow of Love (4 page)
Donald gave her hand a final squeeze and headed back towards the kitchen. His days as a cook and Dining Facility Sergeant in the army taught him how to manage a kitchen and manage it well, but there was no comparison on the quality of food. After leaving the army Donald trained to be a chef, which is why Maggie was willing to invest. Besides, she enjoyed how excited he was about owning his own restaurant.
Her brother’s words haunted her as she wondered if she was in over her head. But if she didn’t stand up for Owen, who would!
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Donald had turned back just before entering the kitchen. “Fred called asking for you.”
“Fred?”
“Owen’s step-son.”
“Oh.” She struggled to remember his face having met him only a few times at large gatherings. She didn’t know if she’d even recognize him were she to see him again.
For a skilled linguist Maggie often drew blanks at names and faces. It was amazing how the brain retained only certain types of information. She knew he worked at Owen’s company and that he was not one of the individuals on whom Owen had cast suspicion. Still, he hadn’t given him a clean pass either.
Fred joined the family from Owen’s second marriage. His wife, and Fred’s mother, Helen, had passed away just this past year after a long illness. Owen was by her side night and day until the end. It was during this time that Owen suspected the illegal activities had started. Many expected him to die of a broken heart after Helen’s death but he surprised them all by returning to work shortly after she was laid to rest. It was his way of coping.
“What did he want?”
“He didn’t say. I told him I’d tell you that he called. Didn’t know if you wanted to talk to him or not.” Donald handed her a piece of paper with a number scribbled on it.
“Thanks.”
Pondering the significance of Fred’s sudden contact, she wondered if she should pass this information onto Detective Morris. She opened the half-folded piece of paper and recognized the prefix. It was a company number.
Suddenly, a chill went up her back as if she were being watched. Damn Donald for scaring her! Shaking off the feeling, she attributed it to too many late-night scary movies growing up the victim of her brother’s many pranks.
Fear fought against her desire to help clear Owen’s name. He may have been broken hearted but he never would have killed himself. It was now up to her, and hopefully Detective Morris, to prove that his death was not a suicide.
She slowly looked around the restaurant as the feeling that someone was watching her lingered. “Nope, nobody here,” laughing at herself.
“Did you say something, Miss Maggie?” Josie Morales seemed to come out of nowhere.
Maggie caught her breath. “Just talking to myself.” It was an excuse she was using a lot lately.
“Okay, Miss Maggie.” Josie eyed her skeptically.
Maggie smiled in return as the younger woman continued with her pre-opening tasks. The restaurant looked elegant but comfortable, neat but homey. Donald had done a great job in striking the right balance between comfort and style, and he had assembled a top rate staff to help him run it.
Forcing herself to relax she fought the lingering feeling that someone was still watching her. If she only knew how right she was it would have scared her to death.
Outside the restaurant window and across the street a surly looking Geridano watched Maggie squirm in her seat.
Chapter 4
Maggie’s momentary sense that everything would be okay vanished as soon as she left the restaurant. Something was terribly wrong and she knew it. At the moment, it was nothing more than a gut feeling as the devastatingly handsome detective had said, but her instincts so far had never been wrong. A gut feeling wasn’t evidence, at least not as far as the police were concerned, but she trusted hers just the same. She would find out what had happened to Owen. She owed him that much.
“Ouch!” She had bitten her lip – hard – and tasted blood.
At a red light she pulled her rear view mirror towards her to assess the damage.
“Not too bad.”
Returning the mirror to his proper angle she noticed another unmarked police car behind her, only this time Detective Morris wasn’t driving. The eerily familiar face of the man she noticed standing outside the restaurant when she left sent a streak of fear through her body.
She
was
being followed. Maybe Donald was right. Maybe the mystery of Owen’s death was more far reaching than even she could imagine.
“Okay, now you’re getting paranoid!” Maggie admonished herself. “It’s probably just a coincidence,” she said aloud trying to console herself. But why would a police officer follow her? Was Detective Morris having her followed? Surely, that only happened in the movies. Suddenly Maggie had images of a Goldie Hawn character comically trying to convince the police that there really were bad guys after her. As Maggie recalled nobody believed her either until it was almost too late. Fear wormed its way up her spine at the thought.
Shaking the unwanted thoughts from her head she began to laugh, harder and harder until tears welled in her eyes. Her hysterical attempt to cope with her fear was interrupted by a horn blaring from several cars back. The light had turned green and she quickly wiped the moisture from her eyes to clear her vision. Stepping on the accelerator a little too hard the car jerked forward. Easing into driving normally she noticed that the same unmarked police car was still behind her.
Sitting up straight she willed herself not to let her imagination run wild. If she wasn’t careful the officer
would
pull her over and give her a ticket. And what would she say? “Sorry officer, I thought you were following me like the bad guys in a movie.”
Her teeth tugged on her lower lip, her eyes darting back to the rear view mirror. The car was gone! She breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Maybe she had imagined it after all.
On a side street Geridano waited until his mark was far enough away to avoid detection. He could tell she was getting nervous. Running her plate number he waited for dispatch to come back with an address. Being a cop was great. So many ways to check up on anybody he wanted to. Armed with her address, Geridano returned to the station and saved visiting where Morris’ witness lived for another time - if that’s what she really was.
Fifteen minutes later Maggie pulled into her garage and felt a tremendous sense of relief, slipping back into her normal routine after a morning that was anything but normal.
“Mom, where did you go?” Jacob asked, coming through the front door moments later, his brother right behind him.
“Why do you think I went somewhere?”
“You still have your coat on, silly goose.” This time Joey piped in.
Maggie looked at her reflection in the framed mirror in the entryway and saw her coat still clinging to her body.
“Oh, I just went to visit Uncle Donald today. But I hurried to be back in time to make sure the two of you didn’t miss me.” She ruffled the hair on both their heads at once.
“Ah, Mom, stop that.” Jacob was always the first to protest.
“Okay, you two. Take off your coats and hang them up.” She quickly did the same.
It was a ritual they performed every day, and one Maggie looked forward to, now more than ever. It’s why she did the type of work that she did - allowing her to work from home and be here for her boys whenever they needed her. She knew just how lucky she was, especially after today.
While the boys were busy taking off coats and backpacks Maggie went into the kitchen to prepare their lunch. She looked around the lived-in but comfortably neat area that was the center of the house. Gathering the bread and other ingredients from the refrigerator she made her boys their favorite - PBJ’s. Spreading a generous amount of peanut butter on both pieces of bread, she put only a small amount of jelly in between to keep their sugar intake under control.
Plates on the table Maggie turned to get the two glasses of milk she had poured and caught a glimpse through her large kitchen window of a car parked further up the street, something that was unusual in her neighborhood. So were the tinted windows making it difficult to tell if someone were inside.
Mentally shaking herself for now being suspicious of everything that was happening, she put the glasses on the table, determined to resume her normal life and believe there was nothing sinister about the car parked up the street.
Glancing out the window once more despite her convictions not to, she noticed the car moving towards her house. Her determination to remain calm evaporated as the large, dark vehicle drove slowly by - too slowly, even for her neighborhood.
The tinted windows still prevented her from seeing the driver but as it turned to negotiate the bend in the road she glimpsed part of the license plate. It wasn’t much but it was a start. She wrote it down quickly before it slipped from her frantic mind.
“What are you looking at mom?” Jacob’s voice jolted her.
“Oh, nothing, honey. I just thought I saw something that was out of place.”
“Whadda you mean out of place?”
“I mean something that doesn’t belong.” Before he could ask more questions, she turned and directed him towards the kitchen table where the freshly-made sandwiches waited. Joey soon followed bounding towards his brother and his own place at the table.
Watching as they ate she steeled herself against the thought that something bad would ever happen to them or her. After she settled them into their homework routine she would call Detective Morris and ask him what to do.
What she really wanted to do was turn back the hands of time, take Owen away and not let any of this terribleness happen. She felt numb - completely numb. This shouldn’t be happening to her. She was a nobody -- an easy going person who just wanted to live her life. Suddenly, she had to contend with mysterious people and doubting, suspicious cops coming in and out of it.
The twins finished the last sip of their milk and Joey started to rub his eyes. They were too old for naps, or so they told her, but maybe one was called for today. Homework could wait.
“How would you two like to lie down for just a little while to recharge your batteries before doing your homework?”
“We don’t have batteries, mom!” That would be Jacob, first-to-respond Jacob.
“Well you do if you pretend to be robots.” That got their attention.
“Robots! Cool! I want to be the blue robot.”
“And I wanna be the yellow robot.” Joey grabbed at her hand, making sure she heard him. Playing robots was one of their favorite pastimes when they were younger and excitement was not the response she was after.
“Just a minute you two. You can only be robots if you lie down and recharge your batteries. Otherwise it’s homework time.” Maggie’s stern look and raised eyebrow were met with disappointment. She breathed a sigh of relief for her quick thinking. It was something she’d learned to do with twin boys, especially when they had started walking.
“Okay,” Jacob’s tone was less than enthusiastic.
“Alright then, off with the two of you to your robot chambers and recharge your batteries.” She was careful not to call them beds for fear of renewed resistance as she gently guided them both upstairs, hoping that as soon as their heads hit their pillows they’d be out like totally uncharged robots.
“How am I supposed to lie down, mommy.” Joey was the only one who still called her mommy and she knew eventually he’d follow his brother’s lead and start calling her mom.
“Well, lie down and keep your eyes open and look up at the stars.” Maggie pointed towards the ceiling above his head and the glowing stars left over from their interest in astronomy.
“That star?” Joey pointed to a different one.
“Yes, Joey, that one,” she agreed, eager to get them to sleep and call the good detective.
“What about me?” Even though he protested about joining in from the very beginning, it was worse for Jacob to be left out.
After Maggie showed him a star to look at she quietly left the room to retrieve Detective Morris’ business card. Both his desk and cell phone were listed. Placing the card on the kitchen counter she tidied up a bit then went upstairs to check on her boys. She needed them asleep before she called -- the less interference the better.
Both were sound asleep and looking like angels. It was the only time they did. Maggie missed the peaceful moments when they were babies and she could hold them in her arms and stare at them while they slept. Sighing she pulled herself away. Reluctant to leave their sides she crept from their room and turned towards the stairs holding her breath.
Back in the kitchen she grabbed the card from the counter and picked up the portable phone. As she took another deep breath and started to dial she looked out the full-length window and found a face staring back at her. The stranger’s eyes bore into her as if he could reach through the panes of glass and touch her. Her hand went limp with fear, the phone dropping to the floor making a deafening sound. Time lost all meaning as Maggie stood frozen in fear.
Morris returned to the station with more questions than answers after his visit with the one and only Maggie Faraday. He really didn’t have a case. Not yet. He just knew he wanted to explore the possibilities some more. Or was it Maggie Faraday he wanted to explore!
He couldn’t just walk into the Captain’s office and say, “
Look I want to impress this woman who insists that her friend didn’t really commit suicide but was murdered instead. There’s no real proof yet, just her gut feeling and her insistence that she knows he would never have killed himself. But she is very pretty and I’d really like to do this for her and get to know her better.
”
No, Morris couldn’t very well do that.
“Morris, if you want something, speak up. Nobody can understand your mumbling.”