Deception (7 page)

Anna shook her head. “Oh, wait. Mr. Marcus call sometimes to see if Miss Jamie was back, or I heard from her.”

“Is that a first or a last name?

“His name is Marcus Hanks. He and Miss Jamie good friends.”

“What kind of friends?” Patti asked.

Could he be the rich boyfriend who’d provided all this luxury for Jamie?

Anna shook her head. “No, no. Not like that. Miss Jamie is friends with whole family.”

“That’s interesting.” Carter said, his expression turning thoughtful. “Can you watch Sabrina for awhile?”

Anna nodded. “Of course, it is my job.”

Patti looked at Carter, wondering if he knew this Marcus Hanks. The name had certainly piqued his curiosity.

“Where are you going?” She asked.

“On a fact-finding mission.” He had turned into Sgt. Caldwell again, slightly aloof, his mind obviously working out some problem.

“I’m going with you.”

“Yes, you most certainly are.”

Patti rubbed her arms, goosebumps and all.

What was Jamie doing now? Fake ID’s, second apartments, secret travel plans? Her sister had to be involved in a real mess this time. And now, the cops knew.

The money isn’t worth it, Sis.

11

“Where are we going?” Patti asked.

“To unravel another clue.” After hitting some keys on the portable computer in his car, Carter mumbled something Patti couldn’t hear.

He pulled into a neighborhood more modest than Dolphin Cove. The brick house was beautiful, but not a mansion, like Jamie’s.

“I want you to ring the bell and wait for someone to answer. Ask for Marcus Hanks. I’m going to stand behind you just out of sight. If he sees me first, it will ruin the element of surprise.”

“Why do we need an element of surprise?” She asked, a little nervous.

“Trust me, we do.” He hid to one side.

The door opened. An African-American man, tall, with broad shoulders and a gold loop earring, stood in the doorway. He stared at her for a few seconds.

“What are you doing here, Jamie?” The man snarled through clenched teeth. “I’ve been looking for you for the past three days. Where have you been?”

“Are you Marcus?” Patti asked.

“Stop playing games, Jamie. You know who I…”

Carter stepped forward and Marcus’s voice trailed off.

“Hey, Marcus, let me introduce you to a friend of mine. This is Patti.”

“Patti?” The man inspected her. Understanding dawned in his eyes. “My mistake. I thought you were someone else.”

Someone else? How did this man know Jamie? And how did Carter know this man?

“Caldwell, is there a reason you stopped by unannounced? And how did you find out where I lived, anyway? I don’t remember ever inviting you here.”

“Are you done with your questions, Marcus? Because I have a few of my own.”

“This is a bad time, Carter. I’ll call you tomorrow when it’s a work day.” Marcus moved to close the door.

Carter put out a hand to stop the door from closing. “Not tomorrow, Marcus. Now.”

“Let’s talk outside.” He turned. “Honey, I’ve got some business to take care of.”

“Is everything OK, Marcus?” A woman’s voice floated out.

“Yes, it’s fine. I’m going to be outside talking a little business with an old friend.”

Patti sneaked a glance at Carter.

He didn’t look worried.

Marcus led them to some benches on one side of the house.

Patti sat down, very aware of Carter’s thigh touching hers when he sat, too.

Marcus tapped his foot against another bench. Built like a football lineman, with his bald head and shiny gold earring, he looked intimidating.

“OK, Marcus. Tell me what’s going on.”

“I don’t know what you mean. You‘re the one who brought your date to my house. Uninvited, I might add.”

“Let’s start with why you called Patti, Jamie?” Carter’s voice took on an edge. “How do you know Jamie?”

”I’m the one asking the questions.”

“Patti is Jamie’s sister,” Carter told Marcus.

“Yep. I see that.”

“Well, you FBI types are a little slow, sometimes.”

FBI?

Patti stared.

What did Jamie have to do with the FBI?

“Patti flew from Ohio to file a missing person report on her sister.”

Blood drained from Marcus’s face. “Are you sure?”

“We’re sure. What’s going on?”

“What makes you think she’s missing?”

Carter glanced at Patti, then explained Sabrina’s phone call, Anna’s misgivings, Patti’s arrival, and the suitcase full of IDs.

“With all the security in that development, how could this happen? We picked the place because of its elaborate security system.”

“I might have a theory, Marcus,” Carter said. “The beach.”

“The beach? It’s locked and gated even on the beach side.”

“Last night we…took a walk…and found the gate wide open. Anyone could have walked in. The security camera was probably broken the night she disappeared. And there’s a marina not even half a mile from the beach entrance. They could have taken her to a waiting boat in a matter of minutes.”

“It’s possible, but they would still need to get her to the beach without being seen.”

“It wouldn’t have been all that difficult depending on the time. A lot of the residents drive golf carts. There’d been a report about a repairman in the area, but that checked out to be legit.”

“I suppose it’s possible. I need to make some calls, and then we can talk. I’ll be back in a few.” Marcus strode off towards his front door.

“We’ll be waiting,” Carter said.

“So, you do think Jamie was abducted,” Patti said.

“I didn’t want to alarm you, but the purse thing bothered me, too. I did a little investigating.”

“Thank you, Carter. I don’t know…”

He tipped an imaginary cowboy hat and tried to do a John Wayne imitation. “Just doing my job, Ma’am.”

“Who is Marcus?” Patti asked quickly, touched by his attempt to put her at ease, but still wary of this too handsome man.

“He’s an FBI agent and the liaison with our police department. When Anna said he was a friend of Jamie’s, I knew more was going on than a runaway mom.”

“Why would an FBI agent know Jamie?” Patti knew nothing about Jamie anymore.

Somewhere along the way, they’d become two strangers who shared the same DNA.

Guilt knocked at her heart’s door.

“Do you think Jamie works for the FBI, or what?”

“It’s a possibility. Or Marcus might be investigating Jamie...”

Investigating Jamie?

“You’re probably right.”

The door opened again, and Marcus walk down the steps towards them, his mouth set in a grim line.

“What’s going on?” Carter asked.

Patti waited to hear the words to make everything all right.

Jamie was fine and would be home soon.

There’d just been a mix-up and it was all a silly mistake—a canceled flight, a sudden illness, a last minute delay.

She willed him to say the words.

“Let’s take a walk around back.” Marcus motioned with his head.

Patti’s hope flickered out.

He led them to a garden lush with roses, begonias, ferns and other exotic plants. He motioned to a cast iron bistro set nestled in the garden.

Once they were situated, Marcus’s fingers drummed on the table top. “Let me assure you we already have people searching for Jamie. When she didn’t check in with me yesterday as scheduled, I assumed she was just busy. It happens, sometimes. We’ll do everything we can to find her.”

Patti’s heart sank.

Jamie was in serious trouble.

Patti couldn’t deny the truth any longer.

“I don’t understand. Does she work for you or what?”

Marcus’s gold earring glittered in the bright Florida sun. “Not exactly,” he said, but the hesitation in his voice told her there was more.

“What does ‘not exactly’ mean, Marcus?”Carter asked. “How do you not exactly work for the FBI?”

Marcus ran his fingers along the black laced ironwork of the table. “She’s an informant.” Marcus finally answered. “A really good informant. You won’t find her name on any official FBI employee list but, yes, she definitely works for us.”

“An informant?”

“I can’t go into all the details, but I’ll tell you what I can. Several years ago, I met Jamie during the course of an investigation. When I confronted her about the illegal activities of her then-current boyfriend, she was so disturbed, I believed her when she said she didn’t know anything.

“Instead of arresting her, I asked if she’d help and she did. Within a few weeks, Jamie provided us with the proof we needed to arrest and convict the man.”

He paused and stared hard at Patti and Carter. “This next part is privileged information. If you tell anyone, I’ll deny it. Understand?”

They both nodded.

“Because she was so helpful, I forgot to name her as a party to the investigation, and so the government didn’t confiscate the property, or money her friend gave her as gifts.”

No one said anything for a few moments.

Patti turned towards Carter and found him staring at her.

He had come to the same conclusion.

“Is that how she got the money for her house, for the way she lives?” Patti demanded, her voice getting louder with each word. “Being a paid—”

Marcus cut her off. His eyes flashed with anger. “She is no such thing. She’s a patriot helping her country, but, yes that is partly how she got some of her money”

“Partly? What do you mean partly?”

“Your sister is a whiz at investing. It’s become quite the lucrative hobby for her.” He pointed at his house, which Patti now realized was more than most government workers could afford. “And for me. She took the paltry sum I gave her and turned it into some very serious money,” Marcus told Patti. “She also knew when to liquidate her funds.”

“Are you trying to tell me she got rich from investing, and not from…from…” Patti searched for the right words. “Not from doing favors for the FBI?”

“It was mostly from investing, but she helped us out a few more times over the years.” He paused, frowning. “It’s unorthodox, but she’s a born actress.”

So, Jamie had fulfilled her dream to be an actress, just not the way she’d planned. And she’d become wealthy in the process.

“Jamie’s helped us put away some nasty people.”

Time slowed as the meaning of his words hit her. Aware of the fragrance of the roses, of the glaring sunlight, of the slight breeze blowing her hair, she played the words over in her mind.

Her sister was in more danger than Patti ever imagined.

“Any of them could have wanted revenge. Any of them could have kidnapped her or…or…worse.”

Carter reached out and touched Patti’s arm.

She gave him a grateful look.

Marcus stood and paced around the garden, picking off a dead flower here and there. “They had no idea Jamie was involved with us.”

“One of them found out.” Carter said in a quiet tone. “It would explain her disappearance.”

“There’s a small possibility, but other than the original incident, we provided her with new identities.” He plucked off a dead flower from the hydrangea, and then walked back to his chair.

“We found the stash of ID’s at her house,” Patti said.

Marcus’s gaze met Patti’s.

More bad news.

Marcus ran his hand over his bald head. “She never used her own identity except for the first time, and the case she’s working on, this time.”

“What’s she working on?” Carter asked.

“I’m not at liberty to discuss that,” Marcus said.

“Not at liberty,” Patti jumped up and yelled.

Both men wore shocked expressions as her chair fell over.

“My sister is missing, and you aren’t at liberty to discuss it with me? I don’t think so. This...this...isn’t right. I have a right to know. You can’t just say you’re hunting for her and expect me to not ask any questions.”

“I’m sorry, but it has to be this way. I’ll keep you informed, but I can’t give you any details.”

“Not good enough,” Carter said.

“It has to be, Carter. I can’t tell you anymore. We are doing all that can be done.”

“That’s it. I’m supposed to sit here while you claim you’re looking for my sister.” She moved back to the table, but didn’t sit down.

“I’m not claiming anything,” Frustration edged his voice. “We are looking for your sister. Jamie and I are friends, close friends, in fact. She and Sabrina are a part of my family.”

“Really. That’s why you set her up with drug lords and who-knows-what other criminals because you are such close friends.”

“Your sister is a courageous woman who believes in doing the right thing. And, in fact, I tried to get her to give up this job, but she refused because she understood the importance of what she was doing.” Marcus said, and then paused. “Where’s Sabrina now?”

“She’s at the house with Anna.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for Sabrina and Anna to stay there. It might not be safe.”

12

Patti heard the words “might not be safe.” Her mind couldn’t grasp the enormity of their meaning. As the words soaked into her consciousness, her legs wouldn’t hold her up any longer and she sank back down in the chair. Her stomach churned. “You mean Sabrina and Anna could be in danger at this moment?”

“It’s possible. We have to assume Jamie didn’t leave of her own free will.”

Panic threatened to overwhelm her. Breathing went shallow and rapid. “I can’t believe this.” Her head was spinning.

“Patti, put your head down. Take a deep breath.” Carter rubbed her back.

Thoughts swirled around, threatening to drown her.
Stop it. You aren’t the important one at the moment. Sabrina and Anna aren’t safe. Have to go help them
. Keeping her eyes closed, she ran through the words of her favorite praise song. Her breathing slowed and she opened her eyes.

“Thanks, Carter. I’m OK. We have to go get them. Right now.”

“Carter and I will go.” Marcus stood. “You better stay here with my wife.”