Deep in Death: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (7 page)

He stood to greet me as I came in. “Hi Mr. Baxter, I’m Shelby Nichols. Thanks for seeing me on such short notice.”

“That’s quite all right,” he said. He was thinking it was kind of strange that the police were looking into Darcy’s disappearance after all these years, but maybe they had a lead. He sure hoped so. “What would you like to know?”

I had a sinking feeling that this was a dead-end. “I’d like to know why Darcy was coming back to the office that night. What was so important that it couldn’t wait until the next day?”

“That’s a good question. As I recall, I think she had a report for someone in the office.”

“Was it Kent?” I asked.

His brows raised in surprise. “Yes that’s right, it was for him. I can’t remember what she was working on, but you’re welcome to ask him yourself. He still works here.”

“That would be great,” I said. “Do you think her disappearance had anything to do with her job?”

“Absolutely not,” he said. “I asked myself that question several times back then, but I never could come up with any reason for it. You always wonder if she ran off with someone…but if she did, it wasn’t anyone from this office.”

“Then what do you think happened?”

He shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. It could have been anything. All I know is that when she didn’t come home after an hour or so, her husband came to the office looking for her. He found her car in the parking structure with the keys and all her personal stuff in it, and hurried inside to our offices. The building was still open because Kent was here, but Kent hadn’t seen her, so they called the police, and then they called me.” He swallowed, remembering that night and how bizarre it was that she’d just disappeared like that. He’d never forget the way Scott fell apart, little by little as the night wore on, and how he stayed there all night waiting for her to show up.

They’d scoured the grounds and even brought in a dog to pick up her scent, but it lead nowhere. It still creeped him out just a little to walk into that parking structure late at night, knowing that was the last place she’d been seen alive.

“Is there anything else you need?” he asked.

“Um…so you think she’s dead?”

He glanced at me quickly before looking away. “I think if she were alive, she would have come back. She had a great family, two kids, a good husband. From what I knew of her, she wouldn’t have left them willingly. So…yes, I think she’s dead.”

I nodded, grateful for his honesty. “Thanks, that’s all I have for now…could you introduce me to Kent?”

“Sure,” he nodded. “But why are the police looking into this? Do you have a new lead?” His hope that I did took some of the heaviness of her disappearance away.

I hated to disappoint him, especially when he felt so bad. “We might have something, but it’s a long shot, so please don’t say anything. I’m not sure it will pan out, but I’ve decided to look into it anyway.”

“Oh…that’s good. Will you let me know if you find anything? I’d sure like to know what happened to her.” That night had haunted him for a long time. Even talking about it now unsettled him.

“You bet…I’d be happy to.”

He smiled with relief and stood. “Kent’s office is this way.”

I followed him out the door and down the hall. Luckily, Kent’s door was open, so we just walked in. He glanced up with surprise to see me with Todd, and hoped I was a new client with lots of money to invest. However, as Todd explained my reason for being there, his lips thinned with distaste. He wasn’t happy that I wanted to question him about that night, mostly because it was something he’d worked hard to forget.

“Thanks for talking with me,” I said with a gracious smile. “I promise I’ll only take a minute of your time.” I knew it didn’t matter how long I actually took, but telling people it would only take a minute made them a lot more likely to cooperate.

“Sure. Have a seat.” He gestured to the chair in front of his desk and sat down. “It’s been a long time since Darcy disappeared. Have you found something new?”

“Yes,” I lied, but only because he had surprised me with his directness. “But it’s not a lot to go on, so I need you to tell me what you remember from that night. Darcy was supposed to meet with you, right?”

“Um…no. That’s the weird thing. Everyone thinks that because I was working late that night. They think it was me she was coming to see. But I never told her she had to bring me anything. I know she’d been working on a report for me, but unless she took it home by accident, there was no rush to get it to me that night.”

“Hmm…that is strange,” I agreed, noting that he was certainly doing a lot of explaining for someone who wasn’t involved.

“Yeah. I never understood what she was doing here at all.” He was thinking he knew exactly what she was doing here and it was most likely his fault. The familiar pang of guilt flooded him with anger. He never should have given her that ultimatum about needing that report on his desk first thing in the morning, but it still didn’t make him responsible for her disappearance. It wasn’t his fault.

“Okay…let’s assume for a minute that she was bringing that report for you. Can you think of anyone else in the office who would know she was coming back that night? Was there someone she may have told, or who may have overheard you telling her you needed that report on your desk by morning?”

His breath caught and his gaze snapped to mine. How did I know that? The flash of anger in his eyes changed to disbelief, before he dismissed it as a fluke. “I suppose she could have confided in someone who worked here, but I don’t know who.”

“Whatever happened to that report? Did you ever find it?”

“No. It never showed up here, so if she had it, she must have taken it with her or something, because it wasn’t in the car either.”

“Wow, that’s nuts,” I said. “What was in the report? Was it something worth kidnapping her for?”

He shook his head. “No. It wasn’t that important. It was just a calculation of projected taxes based on growth for a portfolio I was working on for a client.”

“Did your client ever get the report?”

“Sure. I re-worked it for him myself.”

“Okay,” I nodded. “So she wasn’t taken because of your report.”

“No,” he said firmly. He was starting to lose his patience with me, so I knew I’d better hurry before he shut up entirely.

“Your company takes up the entire fourth floor, is that right?” At his nod, I continued. “From your experience, do any other tenants in the building work late, or are they pretty much out of here by five o’clock?”

“I think most of them are gone by six, but sometimes people stay late.”

“Do you remember if her car was the only one in the parking structure that night?”

He heaved a sigh. “That was a long time ago, but I’m pretty sure there were a few other cars there, probably between four to eight. I think the police questioned everyone who was still here in the building, just to see if anyone had seen her. They didn’t find anything. Now…if you’re done, I have work to do.” He was thinking for a police detective, I hadn’t done my homework or I’d know the answers to all these stupid questions, and wouldn’t be wasting his time.

Wow, the secretary was right, he was a jerk. “Well, thanks for your time.” He grunted, and I quickly walked out the door. As I left, the secretary made me promise to let her know if I found anything new. After confirming that I would, I took the elevator to the first floor. With time before my next appointment, I stopped to scan the register on the wall near the elevators to see who the other tenants were.

The realization that her abductor could have been anyone in this building hit me hard, and I knew Kent was right that I should have talked to the detective before I came here. If he or the private investigator Scott hired had done their work right, it made sense that they would have checked out the people in the rest of the building. If there was a connection, they would have found it.

At this hour it was quiet in the corridor with most everyone hard at work in their offices. I read the names of the tenants out loud, noting there were five altogether. I got to the last one and a sudden chill swept over me, making my arms break out in goose bumps. My breath hitched, and I rubbed my arms, while turning in a slow circle. The outside doors were closed with no one else in sight. On a whim, I read the last name aloud once more, and again felt a cold touch like a soft breath against my cheek, only this time it carried the smell of gardenias.

Chapter 4

I gasped and, with a surge of adrenaline, raced out the door and into the fresh air. After a few deep breaths, my heart slowed, but my legs still shook. What was going on? Had I really smelled gardenias again? Needing to put some distance between me and that building, I headed toward the courtyard that was at the middle of the building complex.

The center of the courtyard held a large fountain surrounded with trees, shrubbery and flowers. Hearing the pleasant gurgle of water soothed me, and I questioned my sanity. Was my mind playing tricks on me? I sat on a bench to collect myself and tried to reason it through. There had to be a logical explanation for all of it.

Feeling the chill in the air and smelling those flowers was all in my head. For some reason, I’d personalized Darcy’s death, probably because we had so much in common. So it was only natural that I’d feel a connection to her and my imagination was just overdoing it.

That’s all…no way was she haunting me. Only…now I had a clue I couldn’t ignore. I definitely needed to check out tenant number five in that building, Marketing Solutions, LLC. But how could I go back there? Just thinking about it brought goose bumps to my arms again.

I glanced at the other office buildings in the plaza and turned toward building three. Darcy’s husband, Scott, worked in number three so I headed in that direction. Hesitating in front of the doors, I took a deep breath and hurried into the lobby.

After punching the sixth floor, I kept my gaze away from the listing of tenants. Whatever was going on, I wasn’t quite ready for another freaky incident. I got on the elevator and tried to relax. When the elevator doors opened on the sixth floor, my composure had returned, and I found Scott’s architecture firm located in the suite to the right. A friendly receptionist led me to the office where Scott sat at his desk with a large computer monitor. It was in the center of a spacious room with lots of light and large windows.

He quickly stood to greet me, and I entered with my mind wide open so I’d know what I was up against. In his mind, he was prepared to treat me with polite indifference, but that changed when he saw me. For a split second, he thought I was Darcy, but the similarities ended after a second look. Still, the fact that I looked like her surprised him. Some of his outward distrust disappeared, but he still kept his guard up. He wouldn’t be completely sold on my merits until we had a nice little chat.

He was thinking that after looking at my website and reading about me in the newspaper, he felt better about his daughter hiring me. He’d found out I occasionally worked for the police, and that went a long way to dispel his distrust, especially with the rumors that I had ‘premonitions.’

At first he’d been concerned that I was out to take advantage of his daughter, but now it looked like I was legitimate, and that made him more open to my investigation. Even if he didn’t want to admit it, a small part of him hoped that maybe I could succeed where the others had failed.

That didn’t sound like a man who had murdered his wife.

We exchanged greetings, and Scott pointed to a medium-sized box on the side of his desk. “I put the documents from the private investigator in this box for you. Everything he found out is in there. You’re welcome to keep it for as long as you like.” He was thinking it wouldn’t matter if I give it back. He’d kept it too long as it was.

“Thank you, I really appreciate it.”

“I hope it helps.” He caught my gaze, wanting to emphasize his point. “I didn’t realize Tiffany was going to hire someone or I would have shared this with her a long time ago.”

I smiled and nodded. “I understand, but just so you know, she told me this was something she needed to do. I think she needs some kind of closure so she can move on with her life.”

“And you think you can give it to her?” He’d heard of psychics feeding on the vulnerabilities of others with false promises, and wasn’t about to let me try anything like that on his daughter.

“I don’t know, but I’d like to try.”

He liked that I hadn’t agreed to something I couldn’t know, and his mouth creased into a curt smile.

“Can we get started?” I asked. “I’d like to hear in your own words what happened that night.”

“Sure,” he agreed, and we both sat down. I sensed immediately how emotionally draining this was for him to relive the worst day of his life. His story matched up with everything I already knew. He told the events clearly and concisely, only leaving out the pain and fear he’d felt, and I knew it was the truth.

“How long did you wait after the police investigation to hire the P.I.?” I asked.

“About two weeks,” he said. “At first, I knew they were taking it seriously and doing everything they could. There were even some leads they followed up on, but nothing came of them. That’s when I got frustrated with the way they handled it. It was like they kept putting me off, but now I know it was because they had nothing to tell me. That’s when I hired the P.I.”

“Did you ever receive any strange phone calls?”

“No. I kept waiting for something. Hoping actually, but there was never anything like that. I’ve never told anyone this, but somewhere along the way it just hit me that she was gone.” He couldn’t say dead even now. “It was the weirdest thing, but as I stepped back from the situation, I realized the feeling had been there for a while, and I just knew it here.” He placed his hand over his heart.

I nodded and sent a sympathetic smile his way. “One more thing. Do you know anyone who works for Marketing Solutions on the first floor of her building?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Do you think Darcy might have had contact with anyone who worked there?”

“No,” he said, his brows drawn together. “Why?”

I shrugged. “Let’s just say I have a feeling that someone in the company is connected to her in some way. I don’t know how, or why, but I’d like to find out.”

He raised his brows. To his knowledge, no one had done more than the cursory Q and A with the tenants in Darcy’s building. If I had a ‘feeling’ about it, he was more than interested in what I could find out. “You can check the files from the police and my P.I. to see if they interviewed anyone from there. But I never heard of a connection.”

“All right, I will. Hey…did Darcy like gardenias?” I asked on a whim.

His face paled. “Yes. She did. In fact, she loved the way they smelled. How did you know?”

I didn’t know quite what to say, so I went with the truth. “As I’ve worked on this case, I’ve smelled them a few times…weird huh?”

“Yeah,” he agreed, thinking it would probably freak him out if he were in my place. But hearing that also had a soothing effect on him. He hoped I’d finally find out what had happened to her. He hated to think that she had died painfully, but it was worse thinking her killer was still out there. It also made him a believer that I really was psychic. How else could I have known that?

“Well…thanks for your time, and for this.” I picked up the box. “I’d better get going.”

“Wait,” he said. “How much is Tiffany paying you?”

“Um…one-fifty an hour, but she gave me five hundred and I’m going to see how far I can stretch it.”

His smile widened. “That’s nice of you, but how about I give you another five hundred to stay in the loop. That way I don’t have to go through my daughter to find out what you know.” He pulled out his wallet and took out five hundred dollars along with his business card.

I shrugged. “Sure, but wouldn’t talking about my investigation give you an excuse to talk to her more often, especially with the wedding coming up?”

“You don’t know how much I would like that, but she doesn’t always tell me things. I have to admit, I wasn’t real happy that she hired you, so I doubt she’ll want to tell me much about your investigation. Paying you will guarantee that I’ll know what she knows. Oh…and Tiffany doesn’t need to know about this. Okay? We’ll keep it our secret.”

“Fine,” I agreed, taking the money. He made a good argument, and if I were in his place, I’d probably do the same.

He showed me out and even offered to carry the box for me, but it wasn’t heavy, so I declined and got on the elevator with a promise to keep in touch. It wasn’t long before I was back in the parking structure and unlocking my car. I slid into the front seat and maneuvered the box onto the passenger seat. In the process, my bag fell off my shoulder spilling the contents of the police file onto the floor.

After getting settled, I picked up the papers and noticed several photos of her car. They showed the car door open with the keys in the ignition and her purse on the passenger seat. I studied them for a moment and glanced up, realizing why it looked so familiar. I was in the same parking structure. This was where she’d been abducted. For some reason, I hadn’t put it together.

I glanced back at the photos and noticed the number four on the wall above her car. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I glanced up and right in front of me was the number four. My heart started to race and my mouth went dry. What were the chances of that happening? Of course, the space was empty or I wouldn’t have parked here. Still, it seemed like more than a coincidence, and a jolt of panic spiked through me.

Hardly daring to breathe, I grabbed the keys from my purse and, with shaking hands, got the car started. I backed out a little too fast, but managed not to hit anything, and got the hell out of there. This case was freaking me out. What had happened in the dead file room I could almost believe was a figment of my imagination. It was creepy down there anyway. But that didn’t explain what had happened in the lobby today, or the few times I’d smelled gardenias. The fact that I’d parked in the exact same spot where they’d found her car nearly put me over the edge.

I turned on the radio to get my mind off the creep factor and concentrated on driving responsibly. A gas station on my right caught my attention and I pulled into a parking place. Inside, I filled the largest cup I could find with Diet Coke and added both vanilla and cherry flavorings. It was good, but didn’t quite do the trick, so I found my favorite candy bar and got that too.

Back in my car, I took a big bite of chocolate paired with caramel and nuts. I didn’t know what was going on, but chocolate always made it better. I enjoyed each bite and sighed when it was gone, but at least now I felt fortified and ready to get back to work.

Meeting with the retired detective was next on my list, but since I was meeting at his house, I figured I didn’t have to worry about anything weird happening there. On a whim, I rolled down my windows to enjoy the breeze and sang along with the radio. By the time I arrived at Geoff Parkers’ house, I was pretty much back to normal.

The man who answered the door had a gruff look about him. He was medium height and barrel-chested with a square jaw and unshaven face. His thick gray hair stuck up in a few places, and splotches of red stained his worn flannel shirt. He noticed my gaze on his shirt, and a smile broke over his face, making him seem less formidable. “You must be Shelby.” He opened the screen door. “Come on in. The wife and I are putting up tomatoes, but we just finished a batch so this is perfect timing.”

That explained the red stains. “Thanks so much for meeting with me.”

“No problem. Let’s go into my workshop. That’s where I keep everything.”

I followed him into a room where clocks of all kinds hung from the walls. A work bench with desk lamps and magnifying glasses took up most of the space, and tools I’d never seen before rested in a meticulously organized chest. “Wow. Do you work on these?”

“Yeah, it’s a hobby of mine. Only now, instead of clocks, I’ve switched to watches. Take a look at this beauty.”

He turned on the desk lamp and held a watch under a magnifying glass. He gently popped open the back, showing me the intricate gears inside his newest creation.

“So…you made that?” I asked.

“Yeah. I like putting all the pieces together…kind of like a puzzle.” He was thinking it was also like doing detective work, but without all the blood and death. He liked this better. “Anyway, have a seat. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Soda?”

“Oh no, I’m good thanks.” I sat down on a chair beside his work bench, and he pulled a box from a corner.

“This is everything I kept, so let’s get down to business.” He was thinking that after all these years, he could finally pass on what he’d found and be done with it. “After you called yesterday, it reminded me of all the extra research I’d done and kept these last few years. That case was one of the hardest I’d ever come across, and I always felt bad that it went unsolved.

“You have to remember, when the leads dry up, and more homicides are committed every day, it’s easy for unsolved cases to get pushed to the side. Right before I retired last spring, I went back over the unsolved cases and picked that one to look at one more time. I hoped with fresh eyes maybe I’d see something that I’d missed before.

“That case was hard on me, and I felt like I hadn’t done my job right, or maybe I would have found something. Anyway…I took another look, but nothing had changed, so I changed my perspective. That’s when I found something.”

He took out four folders and laid them side by side on the table. “These are copies. The originals with all the rest of the information are still in the dead file room.” He opened the first file, showing the photocopy of Darcy’s picture. “This is your case, but these…” he gestured to the others and opened them one by one, “are three other missing person reports. They all occurred after Darcy’s disappearance.”