In the Shadow of Love (11 page)

 “And now you can’t find it.”

“That’s right.”

Davis paused.  “Smith didn’t have time to make a copy without being detected.  He was almost discovered the day before he was killed.

“What do you mean?”  Morris tensed, expecting the worst. 

“He was in the file room when someone else walked in.  He left me a message arranging a meet and said he’d give me all the details at that time.”  Davis took a deep breath.  “He never made it to the meeting.  The next day,” his voice lowered, “I found out why.”

Reliving the loss of his partner, Morris’s anger fueled his determination to find the dirty cop in the department.  The realization that his partner was murdered weighed heavily on him.

“That still doesn’t explain what any of this has to do with Maggie and why you’re here snooping around her house.”

“Patience, detective, patience,” he said pulling out a familiar notebook – standard carry for detectives.  He flipped through the pages stopping a quarter of the way in.

“There were three members of the Strong family killed in Maryville during the crime that everyone thought was a robbery gone bad.”

“Yeah, that’s right – two adults and one small child.”  Morris remembered the grizzly pictures in the files when he first arrived on the police force.  He had taken it upon himself to study every case in his district in the past decade.  The Maryville case had been the most gruesome he’d ever seen.  Anyone who could kill a child, especially the way this one was killed, didn’t deserve any mercy.  “What do you mean thought was a robbery gone bad?”

“I mean it was staged to look like a robbery after the fact.”

“You have my full attention.”

 “Are you sure that you want to do this here?”

“Yes,” reluctant to leave Maggie and her sons alone.

Davis glanced towards the stairs with concern.

“Don’t worry, Maggie isn’t a threat.”

“Very well.  Several agencies became involved with this case and as you know back then procedures on how to handle crime scenes were not well established.  Evidence was lost and tampered with.  At first we thought on accident, then, we realized that it was intentional.”

“So, tell me, Davis, who would want Mr. Strong dead?  And why?”

“I’m not sure yet but I can tell you that it has something to do with Owen Cassidy.”

“What?”  Maggie’s voice boomed from the hallway, startling both men.

“Mr. Strong worked for Owen Cassidy’s company which at the time was facing federal charges for accounting fraud.”

The room went silent, Maggie froze on the threshold.

“Oh, Owen, what have you done!”

Both men exchanged glances.

“Maggie, come here and sit down.”  Morris’ tone was firm. 

She looked too numb to resist and did as he said.

He could see that her face was tired and drawn.  The day had taken its toll on her.  “Maggie, tell me what you meant.”

“I’m not sure.”  It was almost a whisper and he strained to hear her words.

“Is there something you remembered from the documents?”

“Yes,”

“Are they here?”

“Yes.”

“Can you get them for me?”  Morris talked to her almost as he would a child – gentle and non-threatening.

Nodding she went into the kitchen.

At first the silence worried Morris but soon the sound of papers and boxes being shuffled and moved reassured him.

“So, what’s your theory?”  He took advantage of Maggie’s absence to make more progress on Davis’ account of events.

“Our theory is that Strong stumbled on incriminating evidence that would have convicted members of Cassidy’s company and maybe even Cassidy himself.  We found out later that the feds were in conversations with Strong, but the feds won’t tell us what was discussed.”

“So, what’s new!”  Working with any outside authority on cases was always tricky.   When it worked well it was great.  When it didn’t it was horrible.  Too often it was horrible.

“My guess is Strong was killed before the feds could get anything substantial from him.”

Morris looked at Davis for clarification.  “They lost interest?”

Davis nodded.  “The charges were dropped shortly after his death.”

“So, where does that leave us now?”

“Good question.”  Davis rose from the sofa and paced the floor then paused before a still seated Morris, “I’d like to get a look at the documents Ms. Faraday has in her possession.”

Morris rubbed his chin, still leery of trusting the younger man but if they were working side by side at least he could keep an eye on him.  “Are we looking for anything in particular?”

“Financial records, invoices, correspondence with foreign governments–.”

“And just what are you expecting to find in all of this?”

“That Titanium Enterprises was selling materials illegally to foreign governments on the federal watch list and laundering the money through the legitimate part of the business.”  Davis paused for just a moment, “—which led to the Strong family being murdered and to the death of your partner.”

Maggie shuffled through the boxes, willing herself not to cry.  Her eyes watered up anyway.  She needed time to think before facing the ugly truth that knowingly or not, Owen’s company led to the death of three innocent people including a child.

When he first came to her about his suspicions he only focused on the industrial espionage and illegal sales.  He never said anything about innocent people being killed.  As Maggie overheard the two Detectives discussing the Strong case she flashed back to documents with the dead man’s signature.  Those documents didn’t mean much at the time but now they did.

“Maggie?”  The sound of Morris’ voice startled her.

Papers scattered to the floor, dancing their way down through the air.  Both reacted, nearly colliding with one another in the process.  Knees, arms and hands touched as the papers were quickly retrieved.  As she reached for the last one so did he, their hands touching, neither pulling away this time.

He pulled her upright and the moments passed in slow motion.  She didn’t want him to let go – ever.  She needed his strength, his warmth, especially now.

She felt alive and wanted again, feelings she had ignored for too long, causing an undeniable yearning deep inside her heart.

“I won’t let anything happen to you or your boys.”  He touched her chin with his finger and pulled her face up to his.  “I promise.”

His last words were almost a whisper but it resonated throughout her body and soul.

“I know.”  And she did.

“Ahem.”  Davis’ voice shattered the intimacy of the moment.

“I just wanted to see if you needed any help with those boxes.”

“Thanks, but no.”  She regained her composure, pointing towards a pile of papers now isolated on the kitchen table.

“I believe that you’ll find some of these interesting.”  She handed a stack to each man.

The two men sat at the kitchen table and settled in for a long night of document review, another pot of coffee brewing in the background.

To an outsider it looked like three business associates preparing for an important meeting, but to Geridano, now looking at the trio of silhouettes from across the street, it looked like something more dangerous and suspicious.  After letting Morris know he was there, Geridano had decided to leave and return unnoticed. 

“Would you like some more coffee, detective?”

Mrs. Rivers’ age-worn voice broke into his concentration.

“That would be very nice, Mrs. Rivers.”  Geridano knew she’d be more accommodating of his presence if she could feel important.

“Anything to help our boys in blue.”

“I wish more citizens were as loyal as you are Mrs. Rivers.”

Mrs. Rivers stood just a little taller as she walked out of the living room to refill his cup.

“And as gullible.”

Hours later, Maggie stood up to stretch, her shoulders aching, pain shooting up and through the back of her neck ending in one of the worst headaches she could remember.

“Why don’t you get some sleep.”

She looked over at Morris and saw the worry in his eyes.

“I’m okay, really.”

“You look tired.”

“So do you.”

“Bingo!”  Davis’ voice startled them both, echoing off the kitchen walls in the middle of the night.

“What is it?”  Morris stood up and walked around the circular table to have a look.

Maggie did the same.

“A transaction buried very deep.”  An excited Davis handed the document to Morris.  “I must of looked at this three times already.

Morris turned to Maggie “Do you have any idea who this is?”

She took the document and studied it closely.

The reference seemed familiar.  “Wait a minute.”  She went to another box and pulled it onto the table.  Shuffling through pages of documents with precision, she didn’t stop until she found what she was after.

“Here it is.”  She pulled a stapled clump from its assigned place and handed it over.

“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a lead.”  Morris handed the document to his now reluctantly accepted partner as they exchanged a knowing look.

Davis made some notes and handed the papers back to Maggie.  “I think I’m gonna call it a night,” yawning as he stretched his arms above his head.  “I’ll start checking out the background of this company in the morning.”  He donned his coat, rifling through pockets for his keys.

“Wait.”  Maggie’s voice startled them both.  “Don’t you want to take any of these with you?”  She waved a hand over the papers spread out on her kitchen table.”

Davis shook his head and shoved his hands into his pockets.  “I’d rather keep them here.  I don’t want anyone at the station to know what we’re up to.”

Maggie was too tired to argue or clean up the mess that now dominated her kitchen and her life.

“Need a ride?”  Morris looked at Davis with a questioning glance.  “I saw you pull up in a cab.”

“I think I’ll help Maggie cleanup and secure the place before I leave.”

“Hard to get a cab this time of night.”

“Not to worry.  I have connections.”

“Okay then.  I’m out of here.”

Morris followed Davis to the front door.

“See you in the morning.”  Davis shot over his shoulder.

Closing the front door Morris looked at his watch.  It
was
morning.  Maggie was still gathering up papers when he returned to the kitchen.

“Go sit down.  I’ll take care of this.”

Too tired to argue, she dragged her feet and weary body into the living room and collapsed on the sofa.  The sound of moving boxes and papers was almost rhythmic as she lay her head down for just a moment.

It was the last thing she remembered until the phone rang the next morning.

Chapter 10

The realization that she wasn’t in her bed swept over Maggie as the rays from the morning sun pierced through the tall windows in the living room.  Somebody had thrown a blanket over her.  That somebody must have been Morris.

Propping herself up on one elbow, she squinted to see the clock across the room just as the phone rang.

“Seven!”  The cover fell around her feet as she struggled to stand.  The phone rang again.  She raced for the kitchen, almost tripping on the blanket she was trying clumsily to discard.

“Maggie?”

“Yes?”  Her voice still had that sleepy quality to it.

“What do you know about the Anderson Corporation?”

Her mind still hazy from a deep sleep she rubbed her eyes willing herself to concentrate.

“Are you at work already?”  Her mouth felt dry.

“Just trying to get a jump on tracing that lead we found last night.”

“How much sleep did you get?”  She asked as the events of the last night replayed in her mind.

On the other end of the line, Morris sat at his desk, picturing Maggie in a just-awakened state, her checks pink from sleep and hair mussed.  Sleep was the last thing on his mind last night as he watched
her
sleep, taking in her quiet beauty.  He didn’t know what he would have said if she had woken up.  By the first rays of daylight he tucked the cover around her and left.

“All that I needed,” It wasn’t a lie - not really.  He slept during the cab ride back to the office.

“What was that name again?”

“Anderson Corporation.”

“Just a minute, I’ll get the file.”

The familiar sound of papers being shuffled and boxes moved played almost like music in the background.

“I have it.”  She sounded triumphant.  “Is it important?”

“I’ll explain later.”  He was overly cautious.  “I need you to pull all the documents you have on the company.  I have a few more things to check out and then I’ll be over this afternoon.”  He paused.  “If that’s okay.”

“That’s fine.”

“See you then.”

Maggie put the receiver in its cradle and let the excitement of initial attraction spread through her.  It had been a very long time since she felt the tingling sensation of falling for someone, and it spread through her like lightening from the sky.  Wrapping her arms around herself she savored the magical feeling.

“Mom?”  Reality showed up in the form of two boys standing before her in the kitchen.  She shook herself, a blush surging across her entire body.

“What’s for breakfast?”

Maggie glanced frantically at the clock on the kitchen wall.  “Oh, no!”  It was much later than she thought it had a right to be.         “Your dad will be here soon!”

It was their father’s turn to have them for spring break.  It had been a particularly cold winter in Chicago and Max was taking them camping further south.  She was glad her sons were getting away from the tension of the situation with Owen, and one she hoped would be resolved before they returned from their trip.

Less than an hour later she had both boys dressed and fed.  She was still in her crumpled slept-in clothes when she answered the front door.