FIRST ONE DOWN: A Paul Sutton Novel (12 page)

"Um, we, I mean, Laura and I worked the project for several months prior to her departure," Nate answered, visibly shaken.

Sutton continued on this line of questioning, moving farther away from the unanswered question of if Nate knew Olivia Foster. Once Sutton was sure that Nate thought the Olivia question was off the table, he circled back around

"So, you worked with Laura Carmichael and Olivia Foster on this classified project?"

"Um, I didn't say that. I don't know an Olivia Foster."

And, with that question answered, Sutton thanked Nate and ended the interview. He showed Nate back to the elevator bank and hit the call button.

"Thanks again, Mr. Warner. If any other questions come up, I will be in touch," Sutton said, then turned and walked back to the video room. He could feel Nate's eyes on him and he knew he was on to something. Now he just had to follow the inconsistencies and hopefully connect the dots.

Walking into the video room, Sutton found Ryan going back and forth over the last few minutes of the interview. He concentrated on the last questions.

"Look at his face right here, he knows he got caught in your web - right here," Ryan said, pointing at the monitor with Nate's face displayed and a priceless expression caught in freeze frame.

"He committed to not knowing Olivia. That's not what I expected, but it gives me a place to start. I'm going to track this woman down. I have a lead on her workplace, you want to tag along?" Sutton asked.

"Hell yes, you are making this case interesting now. I'm with you, this guy knows more than he's saying. You keep following that gut of yours, I'm trailing right behind."

With the interview saved and stored, Ryan turned off the equipment and followed Sutton out to the unit floor.

Sutton entered the address to San Diego Orthopaedic Specialists into the navigation system, and he and Ryan headed out to meet and talk with Olivia Foster. Ryan was looking out the side window, going over the Carmichael case in his mind and searching for possible connections between Olivia and Nate. They now knew for sure that Olivia didn't work with Nate, but both Ryan and Sutton believed that she was connected to him somehow.

They arrived at the facility's two-story parking structure, found a space and made their way into the massive brick building that housed the facility. Once they found reception, they identified themselves, and Sutton asked the young woman at the front desk if Olivia Foster was available. She blinked several times appearing caught off guard and confused, then informed Sutton that Olivia was no longer employed by the facility.

"Is there someone in human resources or a manager available that I can speak with?" Sutton asked, not willing to give up on the only real lead they had.

The young woman paused for a moment, and asked them to have a seat while she called Dr. Tessa Drake, the main surgeon and managing partner.

Ryan took a seat in a plush, contemporary chair facing the reception area, and Sutton began to pace back and forth on the bright white tile that ran from the entrance side of reception to the far side of the large front room. It was only a matter of minutes before an extremely elegant, tall woman with blonde hair pulled back tight walked out and introduced herself as Dr. Tessa Drake. She spoke with a slight British accent, had a disarming demeanor and a smile that could put even the most hardened of men at ease.

Tessa took the two men back to her office, waved them inside towards two black leather chairs facing a large slate blue desk, and pulled the heavy glass door closed behind them. She walked around to her side of the desk and sat down, sitting up straight with perfect posture. She clasped her hands in front of her and set them softly on the desk. With a hint of flirtation she asked, "How is it that a boring surgeon like myself has the privilege of getting a visit from two very handsome detectives?"

"We are looking for Olivia Foster, and I understand she used to work for you." Sutton said.

"Yes, Olivia worked for me for many years. She left...well, rather abruptly in the end of 2009. I believe it was immediately following the Christmas holiday."

"Abruptly?" Sutton asked.

"Yes, she sent me her resignation via email, without notice, she didn't come back to the facility to fetch her personal belongings, and I was notified about six months later that she failed to deposit her last paycheck. It struck me as curious. May I ask why you are looking for her?" Tessa asked.

Sutton looked over at Ryan and Ryan could tell his partner was pondering what his next move would be.

"Ma'am, do you know if Olivia was dating anyone at the time of her resignation?" Sutton asked, looking directly into Tessa's eyes.

Tessa looked at Sutton quizzically, "I don't think I am at liberty to go into any knowledge I might have regarding the personal life of a former employee," she said, her tone curt.

"Ma'am, Ms. Foster is not in any trouble. We are only looking to question her as a possible witness in an old case we are working on. A homicide case," Sutton said, speaking softly, as if divulging a secret.

Tessa's expression turned into one of disbelief. She stood up from her desk and walked towards the glass door, pulled it open and said, "I'm very sorry, but I don't know anything more than what I have already told you. If you give me your card, I can have human resources send you the last address we had on file for Olivia. Beyond that, I can't be of further assistance. If you will excuse me now, I need to return to my patients," Tessa said, ending the meeting hastily.

Sutton and Ryan stood and thanked Tessa Drake then, exited her office. Once they passed through reception and made their way out to the car, Ryan looked at Sutton and smiled as he got into the passenger seat.

"What the hell was that all about?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know, but it was weird. She knows more than she was willing to tell us, of that I'm sure," Sutton said, pondering the reason for the abrupt end to the meeting.

"This case get's stranger by the day. What's the next move, old man?"

"Find Olivia Foster, that's our only move right now."

Tessa went back to the empty exam room area and sat down on a cushioned bench in the starkly appointed waiting area. She sat there for several minutes trying to recall everything she could remember from the timeframe surrounding Olivia's resignation. She felt a pang of guilt and wished she had made more of an effort to locate Olivia back then. After receiving Olivia's resignation via email, Tessa had tried to reach her by phone multiple times, leaving voice mail messages as well as multiple email messages. After a week had passed, with no response from Olivia, she had made the drive out to her address on file. Olivia hadn't answered the door, and her car hadn't been in any of the parking spaces near the apartment unit. Tessa had left a note on her door and when two weeks had passed with no response, she finally chalked it up to some sort of personal emergency. She couldn't think of any other reason why Olivia would have just vanished without so much as a goodbye.

Olivia Foster started with the facility when it was just a one-woman show, back in the beginning when Tessa first opened the doors to her private practice. Olivia had worked her way from office assistant to rehabilitation specialist, going to school at night to earn her degree and learning the skills needed to excel in her position, working side by side with Tessa for years. Tessa never pried into Olivia's personal life, but she could tell that Olivia didn't seem to have much of one. Her life appeared to revolve around the facility. She was a sweet girl, very intelligent, and she was great with the patients, but she seemed lonely and never talked about family, a boyfriend, or even friends for that matter. She never complained, she never made a fuss over any of the inner workings of the office, staff or policy changes, as the facility grew. She just did what was asked of her. She had almost always been the first one in the office and one of the last to leave. Tessa couldn't imagine Olivia being mixed up with a homicide.

Stepping back into her office, Tessa closed the heavy glass door behind her. She picked up the phone and dialed the number for her human resources manager. "Hi Claire, it's Tessa. I need to ask a favor. Can you please send over the entire employee file for an Olivia Foster? She resigned back in late 2009."

"Sure Tessa, Is there something specific you're looking for? I may be able to look it up in our system."

"No, nothing specific, I just need the file please. I promise to get it right back to you," Tessa said, as she hung up and reclined in her leather office chair. She had no idea what, if anything, she would find in Olivia's file but she wanted to try to track her down and make sure she was okay. If for no other reason, she needed to ease her own guilt about not having tried harder to reach out to Olivia when she resigned.

Kali was starting to feel her nerves flare up as she pulled her overnight bag from under her desk and headed towards the ladies room to change for her date. Andrew would be by soon to pick her up for dinner, and she was excited to see him. She chose a violet, silk wrap around dress that clung to her body in all of the right places and simple black pumps, the highest ones she owned chosen specifically to compliment Andrew's substantial size. She smiled at the thought of him, his stature, his bright blue eyes and rugged good looks, his sincere smile, everything about him really. The feeling she got when in his presence was comforting and exhilarating. He made her feel safe, special and sexy with nothing more than the way he looked at her, how intently he studied her face; it brought a sort of foreign assurance to her wounded soul. The way she felt around him gave her hope that it might actually be possible to get over Nate Warner, to love again, to be loved by a man who knew what it meant to do so, a man who knew how to give and receive love.

Applying the finishing touches to her makeup with the blackest of black mascara, Kali pursed her lips together smoothing out her hint of pink lipstick, looked at her face in the square bathroom mirror, and blew a kiss at her reflection. She ran a brush through her thick dark mane of hair and pulled it up off of her neck, securing it at the back of her head with a black, shiny clip. She pulled a few tendrils of hair down to frame the side of her face and one curled piece of bang. Pleased with the look, she took one more glance in the mirror, flashed a huge smile at herself and headed back to her office. When she arrived at the glass door to her office, she saw his large frame sitting in one of the chairs facing her desk, and her heart did a little flutter. Andrew.

"You're right on time, Colonel."

Turning his head around to face her, their eyes met and Andrew stood up. "Kali, you look absolutely gorgeous. I'm a lucky man tonight; I have the prettiest girl in San Diego on my arm." His cheeks grew a slight pink and he looked down at the floor, feeling uncharacteristically shy.

"We'll aren't you just full of compliments tonight, Colonel." Kali said, flashing him that big, bright smile and feeling in control of the chemistry growing between them.

"Where shall I take the lady for dinner?" he asked.

"I would like to go to The Marina House and, if you play your cards right, after dinner I will take you to one of my favorite places in all of San Diego." Kali said, batting her long eyelashes in his direction.

Holding his arm out to her, "Shall we?" he asked.

They got so lost in random conversation during the drive to dinner, Kali forgot that Andrew was unfamiliar with San Diego and they ended up almost to the Mexico border. When Kali realized where they were, she began laughing hysterically and asked Andrew to exit the freeway. They exited the I5 at Palm Avenue and found the entrance to get back on the freeway, this time headed north. Kali had been unable to contain her laughter and when she was finally able to stop, it dawned on her that she hadn't laughed that hard or felt that free in a very long time. It felt good, really good, she thought to herself and, in that same moment, Andrew reached his hand over and brushed the top of hers. A bolt of electricity ran up her spine and goosebumps took over her arms. The two found the correct exit and got off of the freeway headed west, towards the Marina House.

Andrew came around to Kali's side of the rental car and opened her door, holding his hand out to help her to her feet. Walking up to the restaurant, his hand found hers and he led her without pulling her; it was a secure feeling without being overpowering. Being with Andrew was completely different from being with Nate. He made her feel like an equal and cared for. He made her feel worthy of his attention, without having to prove herself, and without having to give more than she wanted to give.

Once inside, they were seated at a table in the back corner of the dimly lit patio area on the water side, overlooking a clear night sky, full of stars and hope. The quiet sound of the ocean water lapping against the harbor shoreline made for beautiful, natural background music. In the center of the table a small, flickering candle added a romantic flare, and the nearby patio heater kept Kali from having to cover up her sexy dress with a jacket. The waiter took their drink order as they settled into seats across from each other. Andrew removed his tan jacket, and draped it over the back of his chair. Under his coat he wore a white dress shirt that stretched over his massive arms and chest. When he sat back down, he caught Kali's gaze fixed on his muscular body. It wasn't the first time he had caught the attention of a beautiful woman because of the hours he put in at the gym. It was, however, the first time in a long time that he entertained that type of attention, and it was the first time in forever that the woman behind the gaze made his heart flutter nervously. It was uncommon for him to feel nervous or shy and even more uncommon for him to let that show. The very nature of his work forced him to carry himself with confidence and never allow himself to display any sign of weakness. But, in almost every moment spent with Kali, he struggled to maintain his composure.

"I love the place you chose, Kali. It's an amazing view from where I'm sitting," he said, as his lips formed a half smile.