Gemini Rising (Mischievous Malamute Mystery Series, Book 1) Read online

  “So much for pursuing those other opportunities,” I commented. “Speaking of the Baumgardners, the other thing that bothers me is their claim Martin and Alison requested separate adoptions, yet there’s nothing in the documentation substantiating it.”

  “It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the Baumgardners made it up,” Elijah responded. “Not to be insensitive, but maybe it was more profitable for them to secure adoptions for two different parties, rather than being saddled with a two-for-one deal?”

  “Perhaps,” I replied, but something told me whatever the Baumgardner’s reasoning, it hadn’t been isolated to greed.

  “Changing the subject to another, slightly less-illuminating topic,” Anna piped up, “we are still working our way through the Christmas party photos from the dealership, trying to identify who or what caused Victoria to bolt.

  “After you suggested it, I asked Switzer if the missing assistant manager, Dolby, had worked at the dealership at the time the photos were taken. Switzer confirmed he had and agreed to have Bonnie run through the images on her computer to see if anyone had captured Dolby in any of the holiday shots.

  “So far, we haven’t found anything useful yet—it’s taking a while to get through all 13,000 pictures—but I appreciate your insight.”

  “Hey, no problem,” I replied, “I appreciate you letting me know. I can’t imagine having to look through that many photos. Even my own.” They all laughed.

  “Speaking of photos, you reminded me of one that was delivered to my neighbor by accident. Well, actually, I think it was delivered to me by accident.” I proceeded to tell them how Suzy had received an envelope addressed to my name but to her street number.

  “When I opened, I found a single photo of a bunch of people I don’t know at what looks like a holiday party. There was no return address on the envelope and no notation on the back of the picture other than the proprietary information from the photo lab. Anyway, I think it was actually meant for Suzy.” I laughed, noticing the lack of response from the other end of the line.

  Anna broke the silence, “AJ, is there a photo number or a jpeg reference next to that proprietary information?”

  I knew what she was talking about, but hadn’t looked that closely at it the first time. I went to the counter, pulled the photo from the envelope and flipped it over. “Yeah, there’s a jpeg reference, it’s labeled as IMG 011120.jpg. Does that mean something to you?”

  “Maybe,” I heard fingers clicking on a keyboard, “describe what you see.” I did as she asked, describing everything down to the silly lighted bow ties several of the guys were sporting. Now that I look more closely, I realized the photo was unmistakably of an office party, not a family gathering.

  Suddenly, the sound of clicking fingers was replaced by a collective gasp.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “What is it?” I asked as my heart thudded against my chest.

  “We recognize one of the people in this photo,” Abe replied, a tremor in his usually-steady voice.

  “It can’t be. It makes no sense. Why would he…” Elijah’s voice trailed off.

  “What? What can’t be?” I asked nervously.

  Ignoring my queries, Abe spoke to either Elijah or Anna, “Let’s get Bonnie on the line and have her pull up that photo. Get Switzer involved if you have to.”

  “What’s going on?” I asked again, a little more loudly and forcefully than I had intended. Blame it on the nerves.

  “Hang on, AJ, Anna’s calling the dealership,” Abe replied.

  I sat tight and strained to hear Anna as she spoke to Bonnie, but I all I could hear was mumbling. Minutes passed, and I started squirming like a kindergartener anxious for recess.

  Finally, the mumbles faded, and Anna’s voice came in crystal clear, though there was a hint of shakiness to it, “Both Bonnie and Switzer confirmed it. The person in the photo is Tanner Dolby.”

  “Unbelievable!” Elijah’s voice raged with fury.

  Abe’s voice matched his brother’s, “Bloody hell, there’s no way—no possible way!” I was sure I heard something break on the other end of the connection.

  “I…I don’t understand,” I stuttered, struggling to keep from sounding whiney.

  A moment passed before Anna spoke, her voice calmer than either Abe’s or Elijah’s, but still troubled, “After she saw it, Bonnie was almost positive it was the same photo that had been on the employee bulletin board—the one that went missing after Victoria was there.” Tightness began to fill my chest as I waited for her to continue, though I knew where this conversation was heading. “It’s the same picture you are holding right now.”

  “So you think Victoria took the photo from the dealership and then sent it to me after she got to Phoenix?” I thought of the postmark from a few weeks earlier. The timeframe did fit with her arrival from L.A., but why send it to me? Something else was troubling me.

  “This makes no sense. I thought you had never met Tanner Dolby?”

  “We hadn’t…met him as Dolby,” Abe replied, his voice tense. “When we the met the man in the photo, he introduced himself to us a Winslow Clark.” The name sounded familiar, but I had read so many documents the past several days that when my mind panned through its index, it came back with a big fat goose egg.

  “Clark handled the investigation of your parent’s plane crash,” Elijah reminded me after my extended silence.

  I quietly considered what he was saying: the crash investigator and the missing dealership manager were the same person. The other shoe had dropped.

  “Tanner Dolby was Winslow Clark.” Though my voice was barely a whisper, I was sure they heard me, loud and clear.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “It appears that way, otherwise Dolby was Clark’s twin. And frankly, that would be too much of a coincidence,” Abe replied. I winced at the thought. Way too much of a coincidence.

  I looked at the photo in my hands, at the faces smiling back at me. “Which one is he?” I asked.

  “Third from the right,” Elijah offered tersely.

  Winslow Clark/Tanner Dolby was surprisingly attractive—a pretty-boy type you’d expect to see in a Calvin Klein ad—with artfully-tousled surfer hair and deep-blue eyes that crinkled ever-so-slightly at the corners when he smiled. His teeth were brilliantly white—of the toothpaste commercial variety—which annoyingly, only enhanced his chiseled good looks. I pegged him for my age, but he could have easily gone five years either way. The only flaw in his appearance was the noticeably burnt-out lights on that ridiculous bow tie, and even they curiously added to his magnetism. For as attractive as he might have been, however, Clark/Dolby—or whatever his name currently was—gave me the willies.

  “You all knew Victoria, do you find it interesting she would have inadvertently gotten my address wrong on something she believed to be so important?” I asked, after shaking off the unsettling, icky vibe I got from looking at the photo.

  Anna replied without hesitation, “Knowing Victoria, she probably intentionally sent the photo to your neighbor, to make sure you got it.”

  “Especially if she felt she was being followed, or was in danger,” Abe added.

  “Or was concerned that AJ might be,” Elijah thought aloud.

  “But why,” I asked, “why this picture?”

  “It’s the one thing that links Clark…Dolby to both the Winestones and your parents,” Abe explained. “It’s too much of a coincidence that the same person—posing in two entirely different roles—could have been associated with the Winestone’s car crash and your parent’s plane crash. This was Victoria’s proof he was not only tied to both, but was involved as well.”

  I thought for a moment. “Ok, I see where you are going with this, but the Winestones knew Dolby from the dealership, whereas Clark was an investigator on my parent’s plane crash after-the-fact. He never actually met my parents,” I pointed out.

  “True. But who else could do a better job of covering up their handiwork than th
e person investigating the scene?” Elijah countered. “If he’s even a real investigator.”

  “You’re thinking what? That he was in the perfect position to monkey with my parent’s plane and the Winestone’s car? Without leaving a trace of evidence?” I asked incredulously, though the longer it rattled around in my brain, the more it made sense.

  “At this point, anything is possible,” Elijah replied. I heard a muffled agreement from Abe, but nothing from Anna.

  Something occurred to me. “Wait—didn’t you guys talk to Clark? To see if Victoria had followed up with him.”

  “Yeah, he said he hadn’t heard from her since the three of us had met with him,” Elijah said.

  Abruptly, Anna came on the line. “Well, that confirms it. While you three were talking, I popped into the other office and tried Clark’s number. It’s been disconnected.”

  I froze, “What would you have done if he had answered?”

  “Don’t worry, I was fully prepared to play the bar floozy and give him a sad little but-I-don’t-understand-he-gave-me-this-number song and dance,” she chuckled lightly. “Plus, the phone I used is blocked.”

  “Our girl Anna, both brains and beauty,” Abe teased.

  “Obviously,” she replied sarcastically.

  Though I typically would have appreciated their repartee, my head was swimming. Whoever had killed Victoria had done so viciously, publicly and without a hint of remorse. Had Clark/Dolby left a trail of bodies—masked as accidents, deaths by natural cause or suicide, or as people who had appeared to have fallen off the grid? Considering that, I made a mental inventory of possible victims—no matter how far-fetched—that included my parents, the pilot of my parent’s plane, Victoria’s parents, Jonathan Silverton and of course, Victoria.

  If Clark/Dolby was a cold-blooded killer, one thing became apparent as I contemplated my list. If you followed his sick progression, a name was conspicuously missing. Mine. I may not have figured out his end game, but I had a bad feeling about his next move.

  Once again, I stared at the photo. Could that enigmatic smile belong to a sadistic killer? I blanched—people had asked the same thing about Ted Bundy.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Abe, Anna, Elijah and I decided to take a breather and regroup in the morning. In the meantime, I needed to get some fresh air. Perhaps I was naive. I’d seen his handiwork firsthand when I’d found Victoria and should have been scared out of my gourd. Clark/Dolby—if he truly was the killer—wouldn’t have hesitated to kill me on the spot. Instead, I was fuming and felt an overwhelming need to vent. So after coaxing Leah into taking a dinner break, I packed a sleepy Nicoh into the Mini and headed to her office.

  Silly me, with all my bravado, I failed to check my surroundings as I pulled onto Camelback Road. Had I elected to do so, I would have noticed the white Toyota Camry matching me, turn for turn. We all know what they say about hindsight.

  Twenty minutes later, I secured a spot in the parking structure next to the building where Leah’s newspaper office was located. As I got out, I was careful to note the level number and section color of the spot I had selected—can you say directionally-challenged? Since we were only three levels up, I opted for the stairs, which didn’t win me any points with Nicoh. Finally, we emerged onto the street.

  I couldn’t take Nicoh into the building, so we waited for Leah in the building’s outdoor courtyard and marveled at the skyscraper of glass before us. It should have been peaceful—with the manicured landscaping, beautiful sculptures and luxurious seating—but I was so antsy I could barely sit still. Uncharacteristically, I snapped at Nicoh when he started to sniff some nearby bougainvilleas that bordered the courtyard. His feelings were hurt, so he sat with his back to me, refusing to acknowledge my presence. Great—nothing like a passive-aggressive canine—he’d make me pay for it later.

  Leah had warned me she wouldn’t be down for a bit, so I took the opportunity to contact Jim Pearce, my parent’s former lawyer and friend. I knew he worked late and though I didn’t anticipate obtaining anything substantial from him, I needed to keep busy. As expected, he was still in the office and answered on the first ring.

  “Hi Jim, it’s AJ.”

  “AJ, how are you doing? It’s been awhile—is everything ok? Is there an issue with the house?” Fatherly concern filled his voice.

  “No, no, nothing like that. Everything is fine with the house. However, there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about. Do you have a minute?”

  “Of course, honey, what’s going on?”

  “Well, this is probably a conversation that is better suited in person, but I’m meeting Leah in a few minutes and well, time is of the essence.”

  “I understand. Just tell me, what is it?”

  “Well, um, there’s no easy way to say this, but I recently found out I was adopted,” I said bluntly.

  “I see,” his tone indicated he had known, but I needed further confirmation.

  “Did you know?” I asked gently. “I’m not trying to put you on the spot here, Jim. I’m looking for some specifics about the adoption and hope you can help.

  I heard a deep sigh on the other end before he responded, “I did, but after-the-fact.” He then told me a story that sounded eerily similar to the one Sir Harry had told about a busy, working couple who found out too late in life they couldn’t have children, so they decided to adopt. And, like the Winestones, my parents were very private about the details, but one day, there I was. He hadn’t been involved in the adoption, nor did my parents speak of it until several years later.

  “Your father only briefly mentioned the adoption once, and at the time, he was strangely agitated. The lawyer he and your mother had used for the adoption—someone the agency had highly recommended—had sent him some documents related to the adoption he found troubling. Just sent them out-of-the-blue. Nearly thirty years later. He hadn’t told your mother about the documents, for fear they would upset her, but realized he would need to come clean with both of you at some point. I never got the opportunity to bring it up again. They died in the plane crash a week later.”

  He paused briefly, but I remained silent, allowing his words to register. “After they were gone, I wasn’t sure it was my place to tell you. I didn’t want to cast a shadow over your memories of them. I’m so, so sorry, AJ.”

  “Jim, I understand. And I don’t blame you. My parents had their reasons. I…I’m sure they were doing what they thought was best at the time. I loved…love…them unconditionally. Nothing will ever change that.” I fought back a sob as a single tear escaped down my cheek.

  “Thank you for understanding, AJ,” Jim sighed.

  “Thank you, Jim, for your honesty,” I replied sincerely. “Out of curiosity, did my father happen to mention the name of the adoption lawyer?”

  “Hmm, if memory serves, it was Silver-something,” Jim recalled.

  “Silverton?” I asked hopefully.

  “Yes, that’s it. Silverton,” he confirmed.

  Bingo. Another piece of the puzzle slid into place.

  I saw Leah coming out of the front entrance, so I thanked Jim, told him we would meet for lunch soon and said my goodbyes.

  “Hey, what’s up?” Leah plopped down on the chair next to mine and scruffed Nicoh’s ears before slipping him a cookie.

  “Besides the fact you are turning my dog into a chunky monkey?” I sniped as I gave her the evil eye, which as usual, she waved off. I decided to tell her about my call to Jim before proceeding on to the details of my conversation with Abe, Elijah and Anna. The way she had scrunched up her face and plucked at the spiky wisps jutting from her head told me she was miffed about not receiving an invite to the latter.

  “I know that look Leah. You’ve already helped me immensely. Plus, you can’t keep ducking out on work.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it under control. My work is getting done, despite my extracurricular activities. Next time, I want in. Or else.” Based upon previous exp
erience, such veiled threats usually resulted in adding an extra five pounds to my dog’s already enormous physique.

  Adequately chastised, I told her about GenTech’s ownership of the Sterling Joy Agency, which garnered me an intrigued “oooooh,” how Silverton was servicing both sides of the adoption—as Jim had confirmed was the case in my adoption—and finally, of the Clark/Dolby connection. Leah was as floored as the rest of us had been, then horrified when I added in my theory about his list of victims.

  “Oh my, AJ, if you are right, do you think that sicko left Victoria’s mutilated body for you to find on purpose? You know, a way of putting you on notice?”

  I shuddered. “I have no idea. I mean, maybe I’m getting us both worked up by drawing conclusions where there are none. What if Victoria’s murder was an isolated incident?”

  “Come on, AJ,” Leah threw her hands up as she launched off her seat, “do you really believe that?”

  I didn’t, but the alternative was terrifying. “No. I don’t. However, whether Clark/Dolby is our guy, we’re missing a key piece of the puzzle.”

  “Explain.” She had calmed down significantly but still stood rigidly, hands-on hips, facing me.

  “If you look at all the breadcrumbs we’ve collected so far, from the accidents, to the people that have gone MIA, to Victoria’s murder,” I paused to look at her earnestly, “all roads eventually lead us back to Alcore and GenTech.”

  “Six-degrees of separation,” she murmured.

  I absently nodded. “We’ve got to go back to the beginning. Find people who either knew about or were involved in the feud between Alcore and GenTech. People who worked with either Martin or Alison.”

  “Easier said than done,” Leah said as she began tormenting her hair again.

  “Even for a hotshot reporter like yourself?” I teased.

  “As if.” She pretended to pout. “I’ve got connections.”

  “Top-secret you’d-have-to-kill-me-if-you-told-me-type connections?

  “You know it. Give me until morning?” I stood as she turned to head back up to her office.