Chapter Twenty-One
About three-fifteen that afternoon, Mike checked with Rachel for an employee absentee count for the shipping department. Two workers had called in saying they had the flu. Another said he had a flat tire and might be late.
“Everyone reported for work this morning. Seems yesterday’s troubles are forgotten, Mike. Good work. You nipped something bad in the bud, to use a cliché.”
“What’s your read on these call-ins? Legit or not?”
“Gut reaction? Most are legit. One’s the guy who got cut so badly. Don’t know why he didn’t just use that reason. We’d certainly not question it.” She peered up at him over her flat screen monitor.
“I’m not inclined to question any of the three—at least not today.”
“Good tactic. None of them have ever missed much work. Maybe they decided they needed one more day to think things through. Cool off some. Those shipping guys are valued for their brawn, not their brain power.” She hit a key to print the document she’d just finished.
Rachel not only looked efficient, but was—always. He envied Caitlin for such a loyal and energetic person at her back. “It’s better they cool off at home than at the scene.”
He lounged against the doorframe of Rachel’s office. “Does Caitlin realize how lucky she is to have you?”
“She does, yeah. We go back a ways. Why do you ask?”
“I’m wondering how hard I’d have to work to steal you away for myself.”
“Sorry. That won’t happen.”
“Got a twin? Or a clone in your closet?”
Rachel laughed at the last. “You sound desperate.”
“I am. I need someone like you for my office.”
Rachel leaned back in her ergonomic chair and eyed him. “Tell you what, Mike. When I get home again, I’ll check my closets, see if I can find a clone. How’s that?”
Mike smiled, an easy-going, charming grin. “Okay, I guess, since you don’t have a better option.”
“Caitlin get back yet?” she asked.
He accepted her admiring his stance. Having Rachel in his corner was a plus. “Not yet. She called at noon. Said things were going well.”
“Another piece of good news.” She slid her chair over to the printer tray and retrieved her document pages. “You’re good for her, Mike. Don’t give up.”
“Don’t intend to, but I’ll accept any help from you I can get.”
“You got it.” She waved as he headed out.
Once in the corridor, he spotted Tom Jaspers, heading toward the small on-site union office. “Hey Tom! When did you finish up?” They met near the main corridor.
“Oh, maybe forty minutes to an hour ago. I came back to post a notice for the union reps to meet about some of the proposed lunch schedule language.”
“Then Caitlin should be arriving soon.”
“I’d think so. She said she had a few errands. We left before she did. Gotta go, Mike. Things went okay here today?”
“No problems. Shipping’s back—full swing. I’ve made some supervisory changes. Have a good night.” He headed off toward his office with a nagging thought bothering him. If he read Tom right, Caitlin had been left alone at the hotel. That wasn’t the plan.
While he waited for her, he checked with Bob Krok to see how things were going in shipping. Looking out over the factory floor, they could see operations flowing smoothly in the shipping department.
“The guy who stayed last night really saved our butts, Mike,” Krok told him.
“Great. What’s your read on the three who didn’t report for work today?”
“I’m not wasting any sleep over that. They’re steady,” Krok replied.
Mike lifted a finger to interrupt Krok. “Just a sec. I’ve got to answer this page.”
Mike hit the button on his cell and saw the page was from Rachel. “Rafferty.”
“Vince is here and wants to talk with you. Can you come down to Caitlin’s office?”
“On my way.” Mike wrote his cell phone number down for Krok. “In case you need me tonight. Don’t hesitate to call if anything comes up.” Then he took off at a fast lope.
Three minutes later, the two men sat facing each other in Caitlin’s still disorganized office. Mike didn’t like the look in the detective’s eyes as he closed and locked the office door. When he buzzed Rachel and told her not to disturb them—for any reason, Mike’s concern ramped up to full red alert.
“We’ve had some breaks, Mike. Several prints in Kirby’s office belonged to an Ivan Schwartz. We ran him through the computer. He has a record, a nasty one I don’t like.”
“I don’t think we have an Ivan Schwartz here, especially in shipping. I’ve become familiar with their names lately.”
“You do have an Ivan Black. He’s the same guy on the video tape yesterday and a police photo in the FBI data bank.”
“Schwartz is German for black.” Mike rubbed his chin showing a five o’clock shadow he worried with his fingers. One terrifying scenario slid after another in his too active imagination.
“Right, but even more interesting. Schwartz or Black has a truck, what’s called a monster truck. The tire print at the Country Club came from such a truck tire.”
“I don’t like where you’re heading with this.” Fear frissons slicked down Mike’s spine.
“Sorry, but it gets worse. This Schwartz-Black character closed out his savings account yesterday morning. That was the reason for his visit to the credit union.”
“Damn. I think he’s one of the guys who called in sick today. I didn’t think much of it. He’s the same guy who stayed last night after the walk-out. Worked alone and cleared stock that was left out on the dock. I okayed it because the stuff needed to be brought in. At the time, all I could think of was someone down in that cave had brains and sense enough to see that things needed to get done.” Mike clenched and unclenched his fists.
“Don’t blame yourself for that. I’d do the same. Keeping him busy here likely kept him from harassing Caitlin.”
“She did get a peaceful night for a change.” Mike rubbed his chin. Why didn’t he sense this character’s shady leanings?
“What we need now is a motive for his actions.” Vince flipped through his notebook, not looking at Mike.
“And his potential connection with Kirby Metz.”
“You still on that track? We have nothing other than Schwartz’s prints in Metz’s office. He could have had a legit reason for being in there.”
“I know Caitlin sees Metz as nothing but a spineless wuss, but my gut says that jerk is mixed up in this somehow. And he has more motive than Ivan. After all, Caitlin is a tough boss and got the position instead of him.” While he talked, Mike rummaged in the employee files Caitlin had left in her briefcase and found Ivan’s. He skimmed it quickly while Vince read over his shoulder. “I remember seeing something in the files.”
“Ah ha. Looks like Kirby interviewed and hired Schwartz, Vince. That’s one connection.” Mike pointed at his application blank. “He listed some references. See this? Buddy Stein was one.”
“Also previous employment is a shipping and packaging outfit in Chicago. Another in Atlanta,” Vince added as his finger slipped down the filled-in blanks on the application form.
“I recognize those companies. We do business with them; they provide some of our special order containers and shipping materials.”
“I recognize the Atlanta one for different reasons. It was implicated in a big drug bust last year. The whole thing went away for lack of evidence.” Vince paced the cluttered office space while he talked.
“What are you thinking? Where’re you going with this?” Mike didn’t like the look on Vince’s face.
“This thing could be much bigger than we thought. Caitlin could be targeted only because she was innocently messing up something huge. Without even knowing it, she might be messing with the big boys. Mike, can you page that detective Caitlin hired? I know he works second shift.”
Mike stiffened, hearing this piece of information she’d kept from him. He resented being left out of the information loop. “Don’t know his name. The first I heard was last night when she talked to you about a consultant. Not a detective.” He glanced at his watch: four-fifteen. Where the hell was she? Getting more concerned by the moment, his stomach knotted into tighter knots, his gastric juices bubbling like the witch’s cauldron in scary fairy tales. But, this was no fairy tale.
“Damn. What’s keeping her? She should be back here by now.”
Vince stopped his pacing. “What do you mean?”
“Caitlin. She worked the negotiations today. Drove my car there and planned to meet me back here. I’d think the latest by four. I saw Tom Jaspers half hour ago and he said they broke up about two-forty-five. All of them left before Caitlin.”
Rising panic battered Mike. He saw the same in Vince.
Ivan—out sick.
Caitlin—not accounted for.
“Damn!” exploded from them both as Vince grabbed the phone and Mike hastily unlocked the door. Kirby better be in his office.
****
“Damn!” Mike kicked the inside wall of Kirby’s darkened empty office. That ended his quest before it began and impotent rage flamed higher as seconds and minutes ticked down. Still no Caitlin. Back in her office, he found Vince, finishing up a phone call. He shouldered the receiver; his other shoulder slumped. Whatever the detective said, Mike wasn’t going to like it.
“The inn’s manager says the group left about three. Caitlin met briefly with the manager just after that. She mentioned to him she was leaving after seeing him.”
“Is my car gone from the parking lot?”
“Their security is checking the lots. I could give them a description, color and make, but not the license.” Mike spit out the numbers which Vince repeated into the phone. Then he hung up.
“They’ll call back in a few minutes.”
“So we wait.” He paced the floor. He should head down to the infirmary, get some antacids from Debbie. Damn. Where the hell was Caitlin?
“Waiting’s never easy. I take it Kirby’s not in his office?”
“No,” Mike snarled his answer and increased his stride.
“I’ll radio the squad tailing him to haul his ass in for questioning.”
Mike rubbed his hands through his hair. “I have to do something, Vince. I can’t sit here. Waiting. I’m no good at waiting. I’ll go nuts.”
“Most police work requires patience.” Vince eyed Mike. “Walk faster or go outside for a run.”
“I’m on you like glue till Caitlin’s found.”
“Something’ll break soon. This Ivan might call again.”
“Something tells me he won’t. Not anymore. What if I call his home as if I’m checking from work? Wondering why he’s not here.”
“You can try that, but you better sound convincing if he answers. I doubt he will. If he has Caitlin, she won’t be there either.”
“Hell, you’re full of good news,” Mike grumbled.
They waited in tense silence for the phone to ring. Ten minutes later it did. The inn’s security had located Mike’s car in the lot. They’d searched the building, all the empty rooms, public areas, and not so public areas. They even checked the dumpsters. No Caitlin.
“Right now, one of my deputies is questioning the hotel personnel,” Vince told him. “Nothing else to report from there. Oh, we’re impounding your car.”
“I’m going with you.”
They left the office, locking the door behind them. That precaution seemed ridiculous at this point. Like locking the barn door after the thoroughbred was stolen.
****
Twenty minutes later, they pulled into the hotel parking lot. Mike remembered it well. It had been home only a few weeks ago. So much had changed since then. He saw his car inside a circle of yellow crime scene tape. She had parked some distance from others, much like she had at the Country Club. Would she ever learn that a few calories of walking didn’t always add up to good sense, personal safety, and healthy living? Would she survive to listen to his lecture? Frustration warred within him and juiced up his stomach acid even more.
“Can I go in with you to see what the deputy has discovered?”
“Sure, but keep a low profile and don’t open your mouth.” They entered the building, identified themselves, and were led into the manager’s conference room. He spotted his keys on the long, polished table.
“Vince, those are my keys. On the table, there.”
The security guard spoke up. “Detective Bertoli, we found those in the parking lot. Not far from the exit Ms. Donnelly would have taken to get to her car.”
Mike looked at Vince. “Caitlin always holds her keys ready in her hand when she heads out to a parking lot. I’ve seen her do that every time she’s goes to her car.”
The deputy stepped forward. “I just talked to one of the maids. She remembers seeing a woman, dressed in a business suit. Gray, she thought the color was. Sort of red-haired. She was maybe scuffling with a big man—in that section of the parking lot. Let’s see, time was about three, give or take a few minutes”
“Schwartz is big,” Mike snarled, forgetting to keep his mouth shut. He slapped one hand into his other one. He wanted to lash out somehow, at someone. No target popped into sight.
“The maid said she thought maybe they were lovers who were having a fight because the guy kind of bent over her at the end. The woman slumped into him, like she was forgiving him or something.”
Vince interrupted the deputy’s stream of consciousness report. “To backtrack. First the maid thought the couple was fighting?”
The deputy nodded. “Then he sort of carried her in his arms to a black, monster truck. He lifted her into the front seat. Tucked her in, kinda lovin-like, the maid said.”
“He probably surprised her. Overpowered her. That’s when she dropped the keys. I’m surprised he didn’t pick them up,” Vince surmised and shot a “shut-up” look at Mike.
“Probably he couldn’t risk that, sir. The maid said the parking lot was empty. At first. But several cars were headed in their direction by the time the incident ended.”
“Maybe in the confusion he didn’t think about it or even hear the keys dropping,” Vince thought out loud and jotted something in his notebook.
Mike blurted out, “Why the hell didn’t the damn maid tell someone? Check it out?” Vince could remain calm. After all, Rachel wasn’t missing. Only Caitlin.
“Mike, this is a hotel. Unusual occurrences are the norm. Employees are trained to be discreet. If you can’t keep your emotions under control, I’ll send you packing. No more outbursts.” Vince turned to the deputy to clarify a few more matters.
While the two officers consulted, Mike noticed Vince still had his notebook out. The damn thing must be getting full. He paced the floor, a caged lion waiting to pounce—preferably on a guy named Ivan Schwartz. Or Kirby Metz. Or even the poor unsuspecting maid.
Sensing a volcano near eruption, Vince redirected Mike’s energy. “You head over to Caitlin’s and touch base with Rachel. I’ll have a deputy take you there now. You should also contact Caitlin’s brother and his wife. Suggest to Rachel she can go home if she wants. Staying away from Caitlin’s now might be best.”
“And me?”
“Go home. Your home, and stay there. I’ll check with you in about an hour or so. Maybe this Ivan guy will do something stupid. Or maybe Kirby will have something useful to say.”
“I can’t stand just sitting at home, Vince.”
“Those are your marching orders. Now get out of here. Besides, I think Rachel might need you. This situation will upset her.”
Mike knew a dismissal when he heard one, even if he didn’t like it. Dejection beat him down as he left the room. He’d give Vince a few hours, see what happened, or what he found. If nothing happened, well, he guessed he’d give the detective more hours. That admission didn’t sit well either.
****
At Caitlin’s, Rachel had dinner prepared when the deputy dropped Mike off. After making half-hearted attempts to eat, Rachel fed the dinner to the garbage disposal.
“Vince thinks we should leave here. Go to our respective homes.”
“Not a chance. I couldn’t be alone tonight. I don’t care what Vince suggests, or in his case, most likely, ordered.”
“I feel the same way. Want to come to my place? I do think he’s right about not staying here. Bob Krok might call me tonight, but he’s got my cell number.”
“That sounds more sensible, except we should go to my place. I’ve heard about your bare minimum home decorating. I do have standards, you know.” Her teasing didn’t ease his concern, but he appreciated her attempt.
“I won’t argue with that. Thanks for trying to lighten things up.”
“No problem. You want me to call Pat and Jan?”
“Can you handle that? I’m not sure I can defuse Pat’s anger. Since I feel the same way.”
“Consider it done. I’ll make the call while you pack.”
Before they left Caitlin’s condo, Mike called Ivan Schwartz’s home phone. As earlier, he got no answer. His frustration, mounting anger and fear sizzled near a charring point. If only he could jam the damn phone into the guy’s smelly face.
****
An hour later, they sat in Rachel’s cozy living room at opposite ends of a sofa. A howling east wind and heavy rain battered against the windows.
“The weather’s perfect for a suspense movie,” Rachel said.
“Don’t put any more ideas in my head,” Mike answered and glanced at Caitlin’s brother Pat who had joined them in their vigil. He sat across from him. Jan had stayed with Caitlin’s parents.
“We’re just waiting for the storm to level us,” Pat added, his words not easing Mike’s fears.
“Damn it, Pat. We can’t think that way, or talk that way,” Mike sputtered. “I’m superstitious enough. Don’t tempt fate.”
“That’s not what I meant. It’s just…” Looking flustered, Pat rose from the sofa and tramped from one side of the room to the other. Mike joined him, but chose the opposite side of the room.
Still on the sofa, Rachel watched the two frustrated men, their testosterone thick in the room. When the phone rang, all three of them jumped.
Mike clicked on his cell. “Hello…” He nodded, mouthed, “Vince”.
“We checked out Schwartz’s house. Lucky for us we got there before the rain started.”
“You found Caitlin?” Mike rasped, his voice so tight his throat hurt.
“No such luck, but we lifted a tire print. Looks like a match to the other one. From the Country Club.”
“But no Caitlin?”
“Nope. And Mike, from the looks of the place, Schwartz doesn’t intend to come back. No clothes or personal items anywhere in the place. Not a thing there to suggest the guy sees the place as home. We saw no indication that Caitlin was ever there at all.”
“Damn.” Mike paced again, unable to remain still. He couldn’t look at either Rachel or Pat.
“Something worse, Mike. We found a roll of black ribbon. It’s the same as the ribbons Cait has received.”
“Then he is the one.” It made sense. But why did Schwartz choose Caitlin?
“At this point, we have solid reasons to think so. We also pulled in and questioned Kirby. Unfortunately, we had to let him go. He was very cagey, showing up with a high-powered lawyer which surprised us. He refused to answer everything we asked other than his name and where he worked. We ran a check on his phones, both at home and at work. No calls were made to the Schwartz number.”
“Guess that eliminates him then.” Mike didn’t bother to hide his disappointment.
“Not a chance. After talking, or actually not talking, with the guy, I have this hunch. What’s he hiding that he needs a high-powered lawyer. A criminal lawyer with an impressive record of wins. Bit of overkill I’m thinking considering how he wants us to view him. I’m checking out a couple of other ideas, too. Kirby’s not heard the last of us.”
“Rachel doesn’t think Kirby had any idea of Caitlin’s schedule today or that he knew she had my car. However, someone tipped this Schwartz off. Since Kirby seems unlikely, we’re trying to figure out who.”
“Good. You put your heads together and work on that. That’ll keep you guys busy and out of trouble. Let me know what you come up with. Also, Mike, I’d like your permission to bring narc dogs into the plant tomorrow.”
“You onto something?”
“Maybe, we’ll see. Right now finding Caitlin is my priority.”
“Before it’s too late, Vince. I can’t get that doll she got out of my mind.” Mike’s voice cracked, fighting a losing battle to remain steady.
“Me either,” Vince answered. “But dwelling on that won’t help at all.”
“Yeah...”
“I’ll call again when I know more.”