Passionate Investigations (7 page)

“Always, sunshine. I’ll be right back.”

With only a small spurt of worry Zahra waited where she
stood, watching the retreating form of Rob as he crouched and then carefully
pushed open the ruined front door to Tanya’s unit.

Zahra shifted restlessly from foot to foot as she wondered
how long she should wait before going inside and making certain Rob hadn’t
stumbled into any trouble. Before she could convince herself to disobey his
clear instructions, he opened the door fully and jerked his chin to indicate
she could come in. The coast clear, she hurried back up to the door and
followed him inside.

Books and magazines were strewn all around the main living
area, photos had been thrown onto the floor, knickknacks Zahra knew Tanya had
cherished were knocked over or broken in their fall to the hard wood
floorboards.

“Oh no,” she muttered, dismayed by this further upheaval.
The unit had not been trashed, but plenty of devastating and irreversible
damage had occurred.

“Whoever searched this place is long gone,” Rob spoke as he
looked around the room. “No other doors or windows are broken so they evidently
left the way they came.”

Zahra carefully walked around. She picked up a framed photo
of their family before her mother had died. Next to it was a small pot Tanya
had made for their mother as a child. The two keepsakes were miraculously
undamaged and she held them both close, determined to take them with her.
Drawing in a shaky but deep breath, Zahra cleared the anger and pain out of her
mind and tried to focus on what they needed to do instead.

“What are we looking for?” she asked firmly. Rob stared at
her a minute before slowly speaking.

“We need to look at her paperwork, any files that seem to be
recent. I’m hoping she has something with my name on it, maybe an envelope or
manila folder. Clearly Tanya had been researching into the information leaks
that caused all this trouble earlier in the year. She had to have uncovered
something that not only changed her mind about my guilt, but that also gave her
a new direction to search. Whatever that information is, that’s what we need.”

“I’m going to duck back to the bike and place these in the
satchel for safekeeping,” Zahra said as she indicated the photo and small pot
by lifting them. “The second bedroom was a small sitting area and work area
Tanya used frequently. She never admitted such to me, but the window looks out
on the small communal garden. I think it helped her relax and think. Any work
she did recently probably occurred in there.”

“Did she keep files out here?”

“Not many. Often she only brought whatever she was in the
middle of or something too personal or sensitive that she didn’t trust to leave
at work. There should be a filing cabinet.”

Understanding Rob’s interest, Zahra led him down a short
hall and into the second of two rooms. Large windows took up much of one wall.
They looked out onto a small-sized but beautifully tended garden. The units had
been positioned so each backed onto the small section of land. They shared the
same view, vines creeping over trellis for a semblance of privacy.

A large, heavily overstuffed chair sat next to the window, a
small round table by one armrest. The fiction novel, a notebook and a few pens
had been scattered from the top of the table and onto the floor. A short
bookshelf had numerous books crammed into it, showcasing Tanya’s eclectic
tastes. Books ranging from herbal remedies to arcane texts to chick lit to
cheesy paranormal and tasteful erotica graced the shelves.

A few photo albums Zahra recognized also sat in one corner
of the shelves. She made a mental note to take those before Tanya’s stuff was
removed. A small filing cabinet sat against the opposite wall next to a small
desk with a lamp and ink blotter.

The filing cabinet had received much the same treatment as
the front door. A crowbar had evidently been used to pry open the drawers, the
vandals uncaring of the damage they had caused. Zahra sighed and shook her
head. The desk had already been clear and orderly—Zahra knew that’s how Tanya
liked her work areas—but she still held a nugget of hope, a secret hiding place
only a sister could know of.

Kneeling onto the floor, Zahra removed the bottom drawer of
the desk. Between the floor and the runners where the underside of the drawer
sat, there was a gap. Almost four inches high and running the depth of the desk
was a small cavity.

As children they had needed to become creative with their
secret hiding places. This one Tanya had used for years before Zahra had
finally discovered it. Impressed, she had used the crevice in her own desk for
many years to hide away small or thin items.

Zahra was almost positive that had Tanya wanted a place to
hide her journal, this would be it. Feeling Rob’s gaze on her, Zahra glanced
into the spot and pulled out the few items secreted there, having escaped the
vandals’ attention. A velvet box Zahra recognized as having been their mother’s
and containing a pair of favorite earrings, the title and deed to Tanya’s house
and car and a few sheets of paper including her will were all the hidey-hole
contained.

Sighing, she handed the items to Rob to glance at.

“I thought maybe her journal would be here,” she said with
disappointment. “I’ll still put all this away into the satchels. While you sort
through the filing cabinet, I’ll search her bedroom.”

“I have a feeling unless something is well hidden the goons
who arrived before we did will have taken anything that might be useful,” Rob
replied pessimistically. After glancing quickly at the items, he handed them
back to her along with his keys. Zahra took the lot.

“How do you know the people who did this were after the same
thing we are?” she asked, curious. Rob turned back to her, their gazes clashed.
Zahra once again felt her heart pick up speed, the depths of his green eyes
mesmerizing to her.

“Can you honestly think of anything else Tanya might have
been caught up in that would deserve such blatant theft? I know she had all
sorts of sensitive, political knowledge, but most of her connections, secrets
and information were in her head. Killing her was more than enough damage. They
wouldn’t need to ransack her place as well.”

“Maybe they were just being thorough, or overeager?” she
guessed. Rob shrugged a shoulder.

“It’s possible, but not likely, I don’t think. Still, we’d
be fools not to search everything ourselves just to make sure. Who knows,
sunshine, maybe you’re right and I’m simply far too jaded.”

Zahra blew him a kiss and left the unit to secure away the
few items she’d managed to salvage.

* * * * *

It took Zahra over an hour to return a semblance of order to
Tanya’s bedroom. The bed had been stripped, large sections of her closet had
been thrown to the floor so the back panels could presumably be tapped in
search of a secret hiding place. While nothing had been destroyed in
anger—nowhere in the unit did it feel as if the destruction had been fueled by
rage—the mess still agitated Zahra.

Tanya had always been a neat witch, enjoying a certain level
of order in her environment. Zahra had used the opportunity of looking through
her sister’s belongings to return most of her possessions into, if not their
original places, a level of tidiness she suspected Tanya would have
appreciated.

She didn’t, however, discover anything of note. Having done
what she could, Zahra left the bedroom to lean in the doorframe of the spare
room.

“Any luck?” she asked Rob without much hope. There had been
a noticeable silence from him since she’d come back into the unit. Only the
sound of drawers opening and snapping shut on the filing cabinet and desk had
punctuated the quiet.

Desk had gathered and Zahra switched on an overhead light.
They both blinked at the change until their eyes adjusted.

“Not a damn thing. You?”

“No. Obviously the bastards that got here before we did
managed to find whatever they searched for. I’m worried they might have Tanya’s
journal now. She’d be so upset to know it had fallen into others’ hands.”

Rob closed the desk drawer he’d been carefully searching and
crossed over to her. As if they’d been together forever, she instinctively fell
into his arms, resting her head against his chest. The steady beat of his heart
helped soothe the agitation which had been slowly rising within her. Zahra knew
how violated and frustrated Tanya would have felt. A small part of her was
grateful her sister had passed and didn’t have any knowledge of what had
occurred.

“There is one more place we can search,” Rob suggested. His
tone clearly held wariness. Zahra received the distinct impression he hesitated
to even mention it. “She might have left it at the office.”

Zahra had wondered the same thing while going through Tanya’s
room.

“I thought of that, too. I just can’t see her leaving
something so private and personal in her desk. I know most of the consultants,
Investigators and everyone are honest, but anyone could take it from her desk
and pry. It wouldn’t have been like her to do that.”

“It’s still worth a shot,” Rob insisted. “I hate giving up
without trying everything possible. Don’t worry though, I’ve been thinking
about calling in a buddy of mine. There’s no way I’d get past the security—not
after my fall from grace. I think he’ll be helpful with this.”

“You don’t need to do that,” Zahra replied with a frown. “I
can get in. It’s certainly not like I’m a regular down there, but I’ve been to
Tanya’s cubicle a few times. I can easily just say I’m there to clean out some
of her personal possessions and—”

“Someone there is a traitor, Zahra,” Rob cut in quietly. His
tone brooked no argument, though he kept his voice soft. “I don’t know who it
is, but we haven’t been imagining this. There is at least one person, possibly
more, who have been slowly and steadily leaking critical data and ruining
various operations. A large part of being an Investigator is trust. The people
who talk to me need to know they can trust me with the information they give
me. The heads of the various divisions of the Consultancy, the Enforcers and
the other organizations we work with need to know not just that I’m an
honorable man, but also that I can work independent of any supervision.”

Zahra fell silent. For the first time she truly began to
imagine what it must have felt like for everything Rob stood for and held dear
to be called into doubt, questioned and finally taken away from him. The weight
of what ramifications he had needed to deal with took away her breath.

“You and I both know I didn’t betray anyone’s trust. There
are a few others, solid friends, who also believe that. But for most people out
there I’m a repugnant traitor, the lowest of the low. It’s why I’m willing to
push so far to get my name cleared. For many it won’t make a difference, but it
will to
me
. And at no point can either of us forget that someone in my
old employer’s office
is
that traitor. Someone is causing deaths,
letting rogue agents and criminals run free and tipping off the enemy before a
bust goes down.”

“I could be in and out of there in ten minutes,” she
insisted. Zahra felt even more strongly now she needed to uncover not only what
had really happened to Tanya, but also to bring those responsible for
attempting to destroy Rob’s life by framing him to justice.

“Not by yourself,” Rob remained firm. “I saw a phone in the
kitchen when we passed it. Let’s go call Ben and get you some backup. There are
precious few people I trust right now. I’m not about to let you go into that
den of iniquity without someone I have faith in guarding your back.”

Realizing she’d be wasting her breath to argue further,
Zahra followed Rob into Tanya’s kitchen. He picked up the receiver from its
cradle on the wall and punched in a number from memory. Zahra rummaged in the
cupboard to get herself a glass of water while the phone rang. Silently raising
the full glass, she indicated to Rob whether he’d like one too. Shaking his
head, he spoke as his friend evidently answered.

“Ben? Yeah, buddy, it’s Rob. You up for something?”

“Of course. Look, I’ll catch you up when we both have a moment,
but the short version is I need to have someone eye Tanya Gower’s desk. As you
can understand I’m
persona non grata
over there so I can’t do this
myself. I’ve joined forces with Zahra, but I’m not keen for her to go in that
place alone. Can you spare some time to go with her?”

Zahra stood beside Rob as she sipped the water. Tilting her
head, she tried to catch the other end of the conversation, only managing to
catch bits and pieces.

“…friends for, Robbie? Course you realize…you always did
have a brassy set of balls. How about…okay?”

“That sounds perfect,” Rob replied. “I’m on the bike. How
about I park us outside the garage entrance around the side of the building?
Security won’t bother us if we wait there for a few minutes. Can you swing by
now? It will only take us twenty minutes to get down there.”

“Sure thing, buddy. See you then.”

Rob hung up the phone and turned to her.

Pleased to finally be doing something—anything—useful and
have a purpose in mind, Zahra found herself feeling good.

“You do realize I could just call up my father, or even
Eric, and have the contents of Tanya’s desk brought to us. Do we really need to
keep this so secret?”

“Right now, sunshine, there aren’t many people I trust. I
don’t for a moment believe your father had anything to do with Tanya’s death.
His grief is real, deeply heartfelt. That doesn’t mean I’m willing to trust in
his absolute innocence either. As far as I’m concerned anyone over there, hell,
anyone who is a lower member of Council could be involved in this.”

“I understand your paranoia, I don’t even think it’s wrong,
but do you really think there are just a few people whom you can trust to help
you?”

“I can’t shake the feeling there is more to this than just a
bit of leaked information,” Rob insisted as he paced the kitchen. “People talk,
it’s in our nature. A slip of the tongue is not uncommon. You’ll think me
deluded with conspiracy theories, but I can’t help but feel this is the tip of
the iceberg here. Right now my focus is on clearing my name, but it has the
hallmarks of being a small section of a far larger issue. I just don’t want to
open that can of worms until the main issue—the dropped charges against me and
my reputation—have been restored.”