Chapter 8
She stared at her destroyed belongings, rubbing her temple out of habit. Nothing made sense in her world anymore. Only a single kitchen chair still sat upright on four legs. She picked it up from the pile of garbage underneath it and repositioned it to a more stable spot and collapsed on it. “I slept here last night.”
Saul didn’t even want to acknowledge his thoughts that immediately followed that statement.
“Why? Why do this?” It was a stupid question because she knew the answer, but she couldn’t stop herself from asking the obvious. “None of this makes any sense.”
“It made sense to the person who did it,” Saul said. “We may not know the logic behind this yet, but there will be some. It may not even make sense to us when we do know. But the person who did this had a reason, and they took a lot of time trashing your apartment. So who would know you weren’t here today?”
She stared at him. “I have no idea. Anybody could have seen me leave, but how would they know how long I would be gone?”
“Unless they saw you at Daniel’s apartment building. And maybe had seen you at Daniel’s building a lot this last week.”
“But then they would’ve seen me with you guys.”
Saul’s voice, low and hard, said, “And maybe they didn’t care if you did come back. Maybe they were hoping you were here so they could ask you themselves about what they were looking for.” He didn’t want to scare her needlessly, but she could no longer ignore the fact that she was a target now. By the expression of horror on her face, she understood fully.
The other men contemplated that concept in silence. One by one they nodded.
“Given the fact we have two people missing and one dead body, chances are very good that’s exactly what would’ve happened here,” Stone said. “In which case, it’s a damn good thing you weren’t present.”
Her heart beat wildly, and her accelerated pulse rate throbbed in her head. She took one long slow inhale, then another, all while staring at the floor. Focus on that, she told herself. I have some control over this mess before me, if only to clean it up. All her kitchen cupboards had been busted and their contents dumped on the ground. The drawers had been opened and dropped. Even the contents of her fridge were shattered on the floor. Broken glass and ruined food was everywhere.
“You have insurance?” Merk asked.
“I have renter’s insurance but have no idea if it covers this type of an issue.”
Saul’s phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket. “Hello, Detective Wilson. What did you find?” He listened for a long moment and then said, “Okay, we’ve had a development here. Rebel’s apartment has been vandalized. A thorough job, not just some punk kids. The contents of the fridge dumped, couch cushions sliced open, things like that.”
She watched as he nodded at something the detective said, then turned to look to the front door.
“No, it doesn’t appear to be a forced entry.”
Her mind blanked at that. How could they not have forced their way in? If they hadn’t, that would mean they had a way in of their own, and her heart sank.
Because Tammy had a spare key to her apartment.
Jesus, when would this nightmare end? It would take days to clean up this mess. She couldn’t imagine the cost of everything she’d just lost in terms of monetary value. Sure, she had insurance, but would it cover this? She had no idea as she’d never made a claim. What she did know was she had no wish to even begin to sort through what was usable and what wasn’t. Broken dishes were mixed with food among the other debris. Was anything here worth keeping? Did she care?
Hysterical laughter rose at the back of her throat. With her gut clenched, she clamped down on it hard. She wanted to be any place but here right now. And yet she had no place else to go.
Saul stepped forward, sliding his phone back into his pocket. “They found no sign of Tammy in the building where we found the homeless man.”
She blinked up at him. Relief washed through her. “So she still could be alive?”
“It’s possible. It’s not very likely, but we can’t give up hope.”
She nodded and looked around. “There has to be a reason why they came here, and the only connection is Tammy.”
“And,” Dakota said quietly, “if Tammy was caught up in something unintentionally, you’re getting dragged into it yourself. Their trail has now led to you. If they were looking for something and didn’t find it this time, I can guarantee you that, if they think you have anything to do with that, you could be snatched next.”
She pulled her legs up, her heels on the edge of the chair and her knees tight to her chest as she rewrapped her arms around them. “How do I find Tammy if these guys are after me?”
“You keep yourself safe while you let a lot of other people look for Tammy.”
She shook her head. “That’s not good enough. A lot of people were supposedly looking for her last week, and nobody gave a damn.”
“And maybe this is all happening because somebody realized you wouldn’t let this go,” Merk said. “Maybe they are scaring you off. Maybe they are chasing you away, leaving them free and clear. What I do know is, if you cross the line any further and really piss them off, you won’t survive either.”
She stared at him dully. “How am I supposed to walk away from a friend who’s in need?”
Her words seemed to have struck a chord. All the men fell silent.
Merk shook his head. “We can’t tell you to do that because we’re the same. Friendships and loyalty, they matter in our world.”
“And Tammy matters in my world.” She stared at the remnants of her apartment. She waved her hand around at the destruction and said, “That means I’m not safe here anymore either.”
“Time to pack a bag,” Saul said.
“First,” Stone said, “can you tell us how somebody might’ve gotten into your apartment?”
“That’s easy. Tammy had a key.”
She walked into her bedroom, and, even though she was prepared for what she’d find, the destruction still brought tears to her eyes. She slapped a hand over her mouth to hold back her instinctual cry. Her beautiful duvets and pillows were slashed and pulled apart. Feathers were everywhere. The place had been annihilated—her night table, her dresser drawers, everything tossed.
She turned back to the men, tears in her eyes. “Are you sure they were looking for something? Because this looks like wanton destruction. Not a methodical search.”
“They’d have searched first and then left it like this, destroyed, for the police to find.”
She nodded. “Bastards.”
Stepping into a clear spot in the bedroom, she faced her tossed closet. She pulled out her large travel bag, set it on the bed and sorted through the piles of clothing on the floor but was hard-pressed to find anything usable. Everything she picked up had been sliced. Multiple times. She didn’t need to be a shrink to note this was done in extreme anger.
In the back of her bag, she found her waterproof see-through ziplock folder where she kept her passport and important personal papers. It was intact. She grabbed it and stuffed it in her purse and walked into the bathroom to get a few toiletries. She wasn’t much of a shopper, so she didn’t buy a whole lot in terms of material things. She didn’t like knickknacks. She preferred good paintings and lots of white space on her walls …
The trouble was, she needed enough possessions to survive. And she barely had that right now. Back in the closet she dug through the piles and pulled out a heavy sweater, her coat and several pairs of shoes. She didn’t need them now but if they’d survived she could use them in a few months. Oddly enough they hadn’t destroyed all the things in her closet, although all of it had been thrown to the floor. She guessed that the slashing of the topmost layer of her clothes was for added emphasis.
Saul stood in the doorway. “Can you see if they’ve added anything to this room?”
She spun, startled. “What you mean by added?”
“Planted evidence that would indicate you had something to do with Tammy’s disappearance.”
“How could you even contemplate that?” she cried out in horror.
He shrugged. “We’ve encountered a lot of assholes in this world. The things they do don’t always make sense to us, but it can cause a lot of pain for others. We also need to know when you were here last. What was their window of opportunity?”
“I slept here last night,” she said, pointing and staring forlornly at her destroyed bed. “I got up around 8:00 a.m., and I think I was out the door by ten.”
“You don’t have any security cameras here, do you?”
She shook her head. “But lots of security cameras are up and down the hallway.”
“We will check those.”
“They will be busted. This wasn’t vandalism. This was rage acted out, and they had fun doing this.” She held up a bra that had been cut in two. “This is not normal behavior.”
“There’s nothing normal about any of this,” he assured her. “I’m glad you’re able to pack something in your bag. When you’re done, bring it to the front hall.” And he disappeared from the doorway.
She stared at the spot and cried out, “Why? I don’t have any place to go.”
“Well,” Saul said, appearing once more, “you aren’t staying here tonight.” Once again he disappeared around the corner.
She could go to a hotel for the night but for how long? That was an expense she couldn’t justify right now.
Not even after taking a week off from work as “vacation” time to look for Tammy.
Instead of finding her, Rebel had been caught up in the same chaos with no end in sight.
*
Back in the kitchen Saul motioned toward the bedroom and said, “She’s packing a bag.”
The others nodded.
“Does she have anywhere to go?” Stone asked. “And the cameras in the hallway are broken. She needs to make sure she has somewhere safe.”
Saul shrugged. “She says Tammy’s is where she would’ve gone for help, but, without her, Rebel doesn’t have anywhere else to turn.”
The men winced. “That’s got be hard,” Dakota said. “You know? Thinking about this from a different angle, these people all have one thing in common.”
“What people?” Merk asked. He leaned against the fridge, his arms crossed over his chest. “And how does it relate to this mess?”
“All of them work for the same company.”
The men stared at him in consideration.
Dakota continued. “Two were in IT. One was known to play games for whatever reason. We’re talking programmers here. We’re talking people who can cause serious damage or be coerced into causing serious damage. Also people who can steal information, money, damn near anything through their own computer skills.”
“You think Tammy and Daniel might’ve been involved in something like that?” Merk asked.
Dakota shrugged. “One of them, yes. Probably dragged the other one in, either deliberately or accidentally.”
“And Rebel?” Saul asked. “You’re thinking that, because people know she’s good friends with Tammy, they’d assume she might be holding something for her friend?”
“Or somebody in the company has been pulling strings,” Stone said, “or making it look like Daniel’s been pulling strings and has now decided that, if Rebel won’t let Tammy go, then Rebel’s become a liability.”
“But then why destroy her property? Why not just kill her?” Merk asked.
At the gasp in the hallway, the men turned to see Rebel standing there, her face pale, a large bag at her feet.
Dakota carried on, his gaze steady. “Because the bad guys could always use the two women’s close friendship against each other. Threaten to hurt Tammy if Rebel didn’t cooperate and vice versa. There’s always the chance that Tammy didn’t give Rebel anything. Or that Rebel knows more than she thinks she knows.”
“But I don’t know anything,” Rebel cried out.
“Tell us about the work environment at your job,” Stone said, directing her focus there.
“The telecommunication company is huge.” She named a couple bigwig corporate types at her location here in San Diego.
Saul nodded. “And you’re in marketing?”
“Yes. All I do is graphics and ad copy.”
“How much do you know about the IT work that Tammy and Daniel did?” Merk asked.
“Tammy rarely spoke about it. She said security was a big component in her job, both within the software itself and how few personnel were entrusted with any knowledge of it.”
“And Daniel?” Stone asked.
“He was a bit of a bragger, but he never really gave any details, just that what he was doing was superimportant and made him a big cheese. Honestly I hardly listened. The man was insufferable.”
“What’s the chance somebody else in the company pulled all those tricks and blamed Daniel?” Merk asked. “And when Daniel became a liability, they took care of him and possibly Tammy at the same time.”
She frowned. “You think somebody else in the company is doing this? Why? Who?”
“Can you think of anybody else who might have a connection to the three of you?” Stone asked, prodding her.
She stared at him and then slowly shook her head. “No one other than those we work with.”
“And Tammy was in a relationship with Daniel, and that makes you connected to him too,” Saul added.
“Of course but only because I was Tammy’s best friend. I was talking her out of resuming any relationship with Daniel. I even brought it up at work, but I was discreet about it. Still I imagine we could have easily been overheard within the marketing cubicles or in the breakroom or if I crossed paths with Tammy in the copier room or in the elevator. But I just can’t imagine what issue would necessitate killing people though.”
“That’s already been brought up,” Saul said. “Once you start talking about programming and telecommunications, we could be looking at espionage or even terrorism.”
“Good luck with getting information from the company.”
“Why is that?” Stone asked. “So far a lot of them have been forthcoming and cooperative. At least the half we spoke to. Our boss called the others and questioned them but I haven’t heard anyone being difficult.”
She shrugged. “Yet I’m sure they were very closed-mouthed and secretive when it comes to security details.”
“How many people are in the IT department?” Saul asked with a frown.
She focused on Saul and frowned, concentrating. “I think eight, including the supervisor.”
“You know who the supervisor is?” Merk asked.
“Samantha Clapton is the supervisor now. She replaced Gordon. He was a nice guy. He was there for twenty years. Then one day he just didn’t come to work. According to Daniel, he got in an argument with the upper-level guys, quit and walked out.”
The men stared at her, Merk already on his phone, texting someone.
She shrugged, didn’t understand their reaction. “I don’t know if it’s true or not. I only know what Tammy told me. She was concerned because Gordon was a good guy and had been a huge help to her when she first started at the company. She hated to think he’d been shafted in some way.”
The men nodded.
“Any idea what his last name is?” Merk asked.
She shook her head. “They took his name off the company’s website. I certainly don’t know what went on. Some employees made various comments, gossiping that he done something wrong, but Tammy was adamant he hadn’t done anything wrong. Gordon didn’t like Samantha. They’d been going toe to toe over some of the security measures in the company.”
“How long ago did he leave?” Dakota asked.
She pursed her lips. “A couple months ago. Daniel was promoted soon afterward. He retired. There wasn’t anything suspicious about his exit.”
“And when did all the problems with Daniel start?” Saul asked.
Her head bounced back and forth like a four-way tennis match, the guys peppering her with one question after another. “A long time ago. Then he appeared to clean up his act.”
“How long ago exactly?” Merk asked.
She shrugged. “Tammy would know. They should have promoted Tammy anyway. She was the kind not to take bullshit from staff or management. Daniel, on the other hand, could be easily manipulated by a great pair of legs and boobs.”