Colby Rebuilt

Chapter Two

Shane Allen stared at the blinking light on the telephone for five seconds, which lapsed into ten, then twenty before he decided to pick up the receiver. He didn’t want to take this call, now or ever, but he had little choice in the matter.

He pressed the blinking button and said, “Shane Allen.”

“Mr. Allen, this is Harry Rosen, attorney for—”

“I know who you are,” Shane interrupted. He didn’t want to hear the man explain how he represented Shane’s ex-wife. He also didn’t want to hear how his petition for visitation rights was totally unfounded. It seemed impossible that the woman he had once loved could do this, but she had. Matt wasn’t his son, but Shane had loved him for three years as if he were. It just wasn’t fair that because the marriage had ended he was now supposed to stop loving the little boy and never see him again.

Nor was it fair that his former partner was the reason his life had gone to hell in such a hurry.

“Your attachment to Matthew is understandable,” Rosen began. “But you have no legal recourse when it comes to Sharon’s son. You surely know this.”

Yeah, Shane knew. But that didn’t mean he had to like it. He leaned back in his chair and forced himself to take a breath before he said something he would be sorry for later. “I suppose I was hoping Sharon would do the right thing since her son is the one who’s going to be hurt by this battle.” The kid’s own father had already abandoned him without a backward glance. How was a five-year-old supposed to cope with losing the second person he’d trusted with his little heart?

The question infuriated Shane all the more.

“Mr. Allen, it would be in your best interest, as well as the boy’s, if we moved past this issue. Sharon is relocating to Denver with her new husband, and there won’t be any easy way for you to have access to Matt. Quite honestly, children of this age are rather resilient. Matt will forget all about you in a far shorter time than you realize…if you allow him to. I’m certain you have his best interests at heart. Do you really want him to feel unsettled any longer than necessary?”

Fury unfurled in Shane’s gut. He wanted to reach through the phone and strangle this guy. Shane’s relationship with Matt wasn’t like last season’s baseball statistics or an old toy to be set aside and forgotten. Didn’t anyone see this besides him?

“I’ll see you in court, Rosen,” Shane warned. “Have a nice day.” He hung up the phone and pushed to his feet. How the hell could the law allow this kind of thing to happen?

He paced the narrow expanse of floor space in front of his desk in an attempt to wear off some of the adrenaline. It didn’t help. He stopped at the window and stared out at the November afternoon. Life went on even when things were damned wrong. Not that Shane still had any feelings for his ex—he didn’t. Not in the least. But the kid… well that was a different story. He couldn’t just pretend he didn’t love the boy. Shane couldn’t imagine never seeing Matt again.

A quick, short burst of sound echoed from the phone on his desk, alerting him to an internal call. Until the official hearing, there was nothing he could do. He might as well focus on work. He crossed to his desk and picked up the receiver. “Allen.”

“Mr. Allen, this is Darla.”

The new receptionist. She still addressed everyone at the Colby Agency as mister or missus. He’d done that, too, for the first couple of months.

“Have I missed an appointment?” He didn’t remember anything on his calendar this afternoon. Still, he double-checked even as he asked the question.

“No, sir. There’s a visitor in with Mrs. Colby-Camp, and she would like you to join them in her office if you’re available.”

Sounded like he had a new assignment. Whenever he was called to Victoria’s office, it usually involved an incoming case. He could definitely use the distraction. Working a case would keep his mind off Matt…and the hearing…and his ex.

“I’m on my way.” He thanked Darla and settled the receiver back into its cradle. Taking a moment, he cleared his head of personal issues, then grabbed his notebook and headed for the boss’s office.

The long stretch of corridor outside Shane’s office went in both directions and was flanked by doors on both sides. At the end, near the stairwell, was Victoria’s office. The layout was similar to the one in the old building, according to his colleagues. The décor was cutting-edge contemporary with a definite elegant flair. Very different from the monochromatic beige of his last workspace as a U.S. Marshal.

Shane had hired on with the Colby Agency right after New Year’s. His former career had ended as abruptly as his marriage eventually had. A gunshot wound had shattered his hip, catapulting him into multiple surgeries and months of physical therapy. Despite his insistence that he could handle the physical requirements of his job, he’d been forced into retirement. Sharon had dumped him once he was out of the woods physically, and he’d spent several weeks feeling sorry for himself.

All that had changed come New Year’s. He’d made one of those resolutions people never kept—only he had been determined to keep his. He was looking forward, not looking back. No wallowing in what might have been.

He gifted Mildred, Victoria’s assistant, with a smile and entered the private domain of the woman who had turned the Colby Agency into one of the nation’s most prestigious private investigation agencies. A woman who accepted him as he was, denim and leather included. That was another New Year’s resolution he’d made: to be himself—not some spit-polished stuffed shirt like he’d pretended to be for six years. Nope. Just himself.

This was what he did now. This was his future. This was who he was.

“Shane,” Victoria said as he strode across her office, “thank you for joining us.”

As the boss made the formal introductions, he shifted his attention to the woman seated in front of Victoria’s desk.

“This is Mary Jane Brooks.” Victoria gestured to her guest. “Ms. Brooks, this is Shane Allen, the investigator I was telling you about.”

Medium height, too thin. Mary Jane Brooks looked to be mid- to late-twenties with long red hair that spilled down her shoulders in sassy curls. Her pale, pale skin offered a stark contrast to her vibrant blue eyes.

“Mr. Allen.” Mary Jane thrust out her hand as he approached the chair next to hers.

“Ms. Brooks.” He closed his hand around hers, didn’t miss her tremble as their palms made contact. That she drew her hand away quickly signaled that he, or men in general, made her nervous. He felt certain he wasn’t what she had expected.

“Ms. Brooks has come to us regarding her sister’s death,” Victoria said as Shane took his seat. “Her sister’s remains were among the ones found in the rubble after the explosion at our former building.”

Now there was some interesting and unexpected news. From the corner of his eyes, Shane considered the woman next to him. He’d noticed the detective from Chicago PD in the lobby earlier today, but hadn’t heard any news regarding the visit. If Ms. Brooks had been made aware of the news around the same time Victoria had been, she had certainly wasted no time in looking into the matter.

“Really?” He allowed the word to reflect his surprise. “Was she a client?” he asked Victoria.

“There’s reason to believe she may have attempted to contact this agency,” Victoria explained, “but we have no record indicating she ever followed through. I’ve spoken with the entire staff employed at the time, and no one remembers the name or the face.” To Mary Jane Brooks she added, “Detective Bailen of Chicago PD’s homicide division was here earlier today, and he provided photo ID for that purpose.”

“Rebecca was going into Witness Security,” Ms. Brooks put in, her tone stilted. “She was supposed to testify against her former boss, but she disappeared right before the trial was set to begin.”

Interesting. Shane still had contacts in his former career. He would see what he could find out about the case. “Can you give us a few more details about your sister’s employer?”

“She was the administrative assistant to the CEO of Horizon Software.” Ms. Brooks cleared her throat. “She discovered he had been selling the same software his company designed for the Pentagon to one of the country’s enemies. She reported him to the FBI in late October of last year. The day before Christmas Eve she disappeared. I never heard from her again.”

Shane recalled hearing something about Horizon Software and suspected charges of treason. The whole ordeal had been kept hush-hush until the key witness had disappeared and the case eventually had to be dropped. By then, he had already been employed by the Colby Agency and had only gotten the scoop provided to the media.

“I don’t know any specifics about the case,” he said to Ms. Brooks before turning his attention to Victoria. “But I can try and reach out to some of my former colleagues. Depending on whether there is any hope of reopening the investigation, I may or may not be able to negotiate any useful information.”

To Shane, Victoria showed her approval of his proposed strategy with a nod, while to the woman seated next to him she said, “Detective Bailen offered a possible connection between Rebecca and our agency. Evidently the cell phone of one of her close personal associates had been used to call our agency a couple of times. His name was Jason Mackey. Mackey was scheduled to perform at our annual Christmas party last year. But then he was one of three men who lost their lives to the perpetrators involved in the bombing of the building. Does his name sound familiar to you?”

“Jason Mackey was Rebecca’s boyfriend,” Ms. Brooks said without hesitation. “They’d been seeing each other for a couple of months when she went missing.”

“So they became an item,” Shane suggested, “after she turned Horizon Software in to the federal government for possible treason?”

Ms. Brooks shook her head. “Right before. I’d guess they had been dating maybe a couple of weeks when Rebecca decided to go forward with her plan.”

Shane recognized the potential for a possible set up, but things weren’t always what they seemed. It was possible that Mackey had nothing to do with what had happened to Rebecca, but that was definitely the first place, right after Rebecca herself and her former employer, that Shane would start looking if assigned to the case. That it appeared to Mary Jane that the couple had started seeing each other prior to Rebecca’s decision to thwart her boss might only be because Mary Jane hadn’t known her sister’s intent until well after the decision had been reached. “Was the relationship serious?”

“I think so,” Ms. Brooks said hesitantly. “Rebecca was stressed about the trial. She didn’t talk to me very much those last few weeks.” She clasped her hands in her lap. “And I was a little busy, so I didn’t push it.”

If she planned to leave that statement hanging she should think again. “Busy in what way?”

Mary Jane Brooks looked from Shane to Victoria and back. “Our parents were ill. I was their full-time caregiver.”

Was. “Who takes care of them now?” Shane needed specifics. Anything that related to Mary Jane’s life might have impacted her sister’s.

“They passed away.”

The undeniable shine of emotions in her eyes made him wish he hadn’t needed to ask the question.

“I’m very sorry for your loss,” he offered. That was a real shame. The woman had lost both her parents and now her sister. Talk about a triple whammy.

“What kind of relationship did you and your sister maintain?” Victoria asked. “Specifically, those final months before her disappearance. You indicated that you didn’t talk very often.”

Shane was glad Victoria had asked the question. He didn’t want to sound insensitive, and, coupled with the question he’d just asked, that one likely would have come across as unfeeling or accusatory.

“We were close on some levels,” Ms. Brooks said. More of that hesitation. “Not so much on others.”

“Can you elaborate?” Shane prompted. This was territory the lady clearly didn’t want to go into, which told him in no uncertain terms that all was not as it should have been between the sisters.

“Rebecca loved our parents a great deal, but she didn’t have the patience for taking care of their needs. Her financial resources allowed me to take an extended leave of absence from work and do what needed to be done. That arrangement put a bit of a strain on our relationship,” she confessed. “But we got past it, and I believe we were as close as most sisters. Still—” she shrugged “—I recognized that there was an aspect of her life that Rebecca never allowed me into.”

“Did you perceive that the things she kept from you were work related?”

Ms. Brooks considered Victoria’s question for a moment. “That, and, during those final weeks, her social life. We’d always discussed boyfriends and such in the past but with Jason that changed.”

More of those telltale signs of a possible setup: estrange the victim from those closest to her. “So, you didn’t know Jason Mackey at all?” Shane suggested.

Mary Jane shook her head. “I only met him once. But I knew that Rebecca was a little afraid of him.”

“Did your sister say she was afraid of him?” Shane pushed. “Or is that your perception of how she felt about him?”

“A couple weeks before she disappeared,” Ms. Brooks replied slowly as if she were taking pains to answer accurately, “she told me that he had been tense. That he made her nervous when he got that way.” Mary Jane turned to face Shane more fully. “You had to know my sister, Mr. Allen. She wasn’t afraid of anyone. This was not like her at all. I asked her why she didn’t break it off, and she refused to talk about it.”

“Anything else you might think of would be very useful,” Shane assured her. “Make notes whenever anything at all comes to mind. Frankly, my initial assessment would be that her former employer is responsible for her death, but your feelings regarding the boyfriend muddy the waters to some degree. I would suggest moving forward under the assumption that either one could be responsible.”

“The truth is all I want,” Ms. Brooks insisted. “She would do the same for me.” She looked to Victoria. “After Detective Bailen gave me the news about the possible connection between my sister and your agency, I did a little research. The Colby Agency is the best. I want you to find out what happened to her. So, how do we do this? I’m sure there’s a retainer fee.”

“Under normal circumstances,” Victoria agreed, “there would be a retainer fee. But this case is different. I had already decided that we would launch our own investigation after Detective Bailen’s visit today. There won’t be any fees involved with our taking this case, Ms. Brooks. We need the truth, as well.”

The lady’s relief was undeniable. “I appreciate that, Mrs. Colby-Camp.”

Shane’s senses went on alert. Something in her voice had changed. The change in inflection was so subtle that he might have missed it had he not noted the shift in her posture. She sat up a little straighter, poised for battle.

“But,” she continued, “you see, I need to be involved in this investigation. Fully involved. That may change the way you see things.”

Shane and Victoria exchanged a look.

Since Victoria was the boss, Shane let her take the lead. She asked, “Involved in what way, Ms. Brooks?”

Shane watched her chin tilt slightly as she braced to argue her position.

“My sister was murdered,” she said, “possibly for nothing more than her desire to do the right thing. As far as I can tell from the past eleven months, the only thing the authorities are worried about is finding a way to reopen their case. They don’t care about my sister. And I doubt that Chicago’s finest will get very far with the FBI and the U.S. Marshals running things to facilitate their own interests. I don’t want Rebecca forgotten, and that’s exactly what I believe will happen unless someone goes into this investigation with her interests as their primary goal.”

“Solving your sister’s murder would likely prove helpful to the Bureau’s case,” Shane countered. “Certainly, bringing down Horizon Software will be their goal, but don’t believe for one second that Rebecca will be forgotten.” He had to give credit where credit was due. Federal law enforcement took a bum rap for a lot of things. He couldn’t in good conscience fail to speak up when he was all too well aware of protocol.

Mary Jane Brooks shifted her attention to him. The doubt was crystal-clear in her eyes. “That may be, Mr. Allen. But I need to be sure. I’m not taking any chances where my sister is concerned. I want the truth. The whole truth. Not some version that serves the best interests of anyone else involved.”

“Rest assured, Ms. Brooks,” Victoria cut in, “we will find the truth, and it will not be diluted by anyone’s influence. You have my word on that.”

Shane couldn’t say whether or not Ms. Brooks understood what she was getting when she got Victoria Colby-Camp’s word, but he hoped she understood exactly how significant the offer was.

“Then you won’t mind if I follow this case with your investigator,” Ms. Brooks countered, a hint of defensiveness in her tone. “Generally when there’s nothing to hide, full disclosure isn’t a problem.”

“Full disclosure and shadowing an investigator,” Victoria reminded her, “are two very different things. Ms. Brooks, there are safety issues that cannot be ignored. We have to assume whoever murdered your sister doesn’t want to be revealed. Any attempt to do so will likely have dangerous repercussions.”

“I’m aware of that,” Mary Jane returned crisply.

“You need to consider carefully what you’re asking,” Shane said, jumping in and reiterating Victoria’s words. If this was going to be his case, and it seemed it would be, he had no desire to be saddled with a civilian. Especially not one emotionally connected to the victim.

The would-be client didn’t so much as spare him a glance. “I have to do this,” she announced, undeterred. “If you can’t allow me to participate, I’ll be forced to go to another agency.”

That could present a whole other set of problems. Not the least of which was the source of personal information the woman could provide.

“Ms. Brooks,” Shane spoke up again, “we completely understand your concerns.”

“You can’t possibly.” All signs of hesitancy or uncertainty were gone now. She looked at Shane with something bordering on contempt. “My sister was murdered. To the police this is just another case in a city where there’s likely to be another murder later today. And another one tonight and maybe tomorrow.” Her hand rested against her chest, over her heart. “She was my sister. I need this done right. For her.”

Shane looked to Victoria for confirmation before making a move he would likely regret. Victoria gave him a single, slight dip of her head as authorization to proceed as he saw fit.

“All right, Ms. Brooks,” he relented with a heavy dose of lingering doubt as to the intelligence of the move. “You’ve made your wishes perfectly clear. I’ll do what I can to facilitate your request. But—” he fixed her with a gaze that said his terms were non-negotiable “—you will be required to operate under my rules. No exceptions. What I say goes one hundred percent of the time. I make the decisions and set the pace.”

Surprisingly, she thought about his offer for a time before responding. He had expected her to jump at the chance.

“As long as your rules don’t prevent me from knowing and comprehending each step taken. I won’t be left in the dark, Mr. Allen.”

She’d definitely thrown down the gauntlet. The depth of her strength startled him just a little. She looked so delicate and fragile on the outside.

He might be about to make the first major mistake of his new career, but this woman had pretty much left him without any alternatives.

“Then we understand each other, Ms. Brooks,” he confirmed. “We’ll start today. If—” he directed his attention back to Victoria “—that’s what you had in mind, Victoria.”

She gave him another succinct nod of endorsement. “The sooner the better.” Her gaze moved between them. “For all involved.”

Mary Jane Brooks stood and turned to Shane. “I’d like to start with Jason Mackey. I’m certain he’s the key to what happened.”

Oh, yeah, he’d definitely made a mistake. Sixty seconds into the agreement, and she had already broken his first rule.

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