Ruth and the King of the Giants

Prologue

Prologue

Six months before:

JFK Airport, New York City

“Damn it, sis! Don’t you ever answer your phone? This is Mike. I wanted to let you know that I’m okay. Listen, something incredible has happened, but I wanted to let you know that I’m safe – and happy. Oh, Charlie is with me, so don’t worry about the damn dog. I’ve met the most incredible woman. She’s from another world, honest to god, she is. I know how that sounds, but I…”

Ruth Hallbrook muttered under her breath in frustration as her brother’s message got crazier and crazier. He spun an incredibly detailed fairy tale that he seemed to whole-heartedly believe, and then the message abruptly ended mid-sentence.

Weaving in and out of the crowded airport terminal, she pressed the play button on her phone again and held her cell phone to her ear. Her purse strap started to slip and she had to lift her shoulder to keep it and her briefcase strap from falling off her shoulder – not an easy feat while she was pulling her carry-on behind her. She gritted her teeth when two young girls suddenly stopped in front of her and she almost ran into them.

“Watch out!” she barked out in a sharp voice.

The girls rolled their eyes at her as she passed them. Tension built in her when she realized she still had four more gates to go before she reached her destination. Fear, adrenaline, anger, and caffeine had been her constant companions for the past twelve hours.

She had been working overseas as a consultant for the last three and a half weeks and hadn’t bothered with her personal cell phone once the battery died on it. She’d thought she had forgotten her charger, and since she and Mike only chatted once a month, she hadn’t worried about her dead phone as she knew she would be back home before their next scheduled call. If something really important happened, Mike knew he could contact her on her work phone.

When she discovered that she had put it in a different zippered pocket of her suitcase, she had charged her phone this morning while frantically getting ready for the airport.

His message had been the last one in her voicemail. All the other messages had been spam except for the reminder that she had a dentist appointment coming up and the message from a man named Asahi Tanaka who claimed to be a CIA agent – a claim that a friend of a friend had verified for her. Unfortunately, the long line of messages had filled up her voicemail box, and the most important message of all was cut short.

“I swear if I get one more call about a new Visa, the IRS coming to lock me up, or my car warranty expiring, I’m going to reach through the phone, throttle the assholes on the other end, and tell them to get a real job!” she growled as she briskly walked through the JFK airport in New York.

She must have spoken a bit louder than she’d realized because several people turned to stare at her. They quickly turned their focus elsewhere when she shot them a heated glare. She glanced at the ticket in her hand. She had changed her New York to California connecting flight to Portland, Oregon instead so she could find out what in the hell was going on herself.

“This is so coming out of his Christmas present,” she muttered as she pressed redial.

“Come on, Mike, pick up! You complain about me not answering the damn phone when you call,” she muttered.

Ruth grimaced when she heard the last boarding call for her flight, followed by an announcement to her, Ruth Hallbrook, to please check in with an airline representative at the gate.

“What the f**k do you think I’m trying to do?” she crossly snapped.

She made it to the gate before they finished saying the message a second time. Gripping her phone in a white-knuckled grasp, she thrust her boarding pass at the gate attendant. The woman looked at her, opened her mouth, then closed it. Ruth knew exactly why – she looked like something the dog had not only dragged in, but had buried for a few days before digging it up.

That’s what happens when you complete a month of long meetings, find out your frigging brother has disappeared not once, but twice, and discover that he left a cryptic message about an incredible woman from another world on the cell phone you had to turn off during takeoff. Then add in a flight halfway across the world. Mike’s probably off to visit ET at Area 51, by now. He’ll just traipse over to the bottom of Meteor Crater, except, oh wait, that’s been moved to the Devil’s Tower made out of mashed potatoes! she tiredly thought, realizing in that moment just how many weird movies she had watched.

An inelegant snort of laughter escaped her at the thought. The unexpected laughter caused the flight attendant standing in the door of the jet to give her a questioning look as she entered the plane. Shaking her head, Ruth passed the attendant and moved down the aisle to her seat. She stored her carry-on in the overhead compartment, tucked her briefcase under the seat in front of her, and sighed as she sank down into her seat in the First Class section.

She toed off her high heels, wiggled her toes, and fastened her seat belt. The man sitting in the window seat next to her looked vaguely familiar, but he just glanced at her and smiled before he went back to reading his newspaper. That suited Ruth just fine. She was in no mood to endure polite social interactions at the moment. She was too busy plotting where she was going to bury her brother’s body.

Another tired sigh left her as the flight attendant began the safety presentation. She glanced at the headline of the newspaper the man was holding – ‘Independent Audit Exposes Major Embezzlement in Largest On-line Retail Corporation’. Her lips curled into a menacing smile that made the flight attendant stammer over what to do if they had to make an emergency water landing before Ruth took pity on the woman, leaned her head back, and closed her eyes.

And people think the police have all the fun, she wearily thought.

She had been the lead forensic auditor on the case presented by the government, and the discrepancies she discovered had opened a can of worms that would keep fishermen supplied for centuries. That case had closed right before she left for Europe, but the trial hadn’t started until yesterday. The case was a big reason why her most recent client had hired her. She was a brilliant detective when it came to numbers.

Her brother, on the other hand, was a great detective for the Yachats, Oregon Police department, which was why it was so strange for him to leave everything so abruptly to run off with some woman. He loved his job. He was good at it. That town needed him, and he knew it.

Still unable to sleep thirty minutes later, Ruth opened her eyes, turned on her phone, and scrolled through the automated text record of the message Mike had left her. I’ve met the most incredible woman….

When his department had informed her of his disappearance late last night, Ruth had demanded they send their entire case findings to her and keep her updated. One advantage to having friends in high places who hoped she would never thoroughly audit their finances was that when she asked for help, she was never denied.

Three hours in the Business Lounge at Heathrow had given her a chance to print out and read through the documents. She’d spent the flight to New York messaging back and forth with the Police Department, the FBI, and Agent Asahi Tanaka who had also emailed her.

Pursing her lips, she dragged her briefcase out from under the seat and removed the manila folder and a pen from inside the case. She pulled down the tray from the back of the seat in front of her, and opened the folder. Inside was her brother’s banking and credit card information, and the reports and photos from the investigation to date. The most recent documents were the letters Mike had faxed right before her transatlantic flight had departed.

His office had sent her copies of his letter of resignation and a report indicating that the missing persons’ cases he had been working on had a happy ending. Jenny Ackerly and Carly Tate, the two missing women, were fine. They had just decided to leave as suddenly and inexplicably as he had, and had decided to stay off the grid while their loved ones worried – for years in Carly Tate’s case. There was a smiling picture of them to prove it.

The most recent photos taken at Mike’s home made it seem as if he’d left voluntarily. The lock wasn’t picked, as far as the investigators could tell, and there were now pictures and clothes missing. Was she supposed to believe Mike thought he didn’t need clothes when he first went missing, but now he did?

Something had happened in the brief time since she’d last talked to him. Mike’s message would have her believe that he’d met a woman and just disappeared from the face of the Earth, leaving everything behind except his wallet, keys, phone, and his dog. Was Ruth the only one that thought something pretty damn, f*****g weird was going on?

“Nothing – absolutely frigging nothing,” she muttered under her breath as she stared at the statements. “No purchases, no withdrawals, no credit card usage,” she fumed, doodling on the paper as she thought.

“Ma’am, your drink order?” the flight attendant asked.

Ruth glanced up at the woman looking expectantly at her, and Ruth realized that this must be the second time the flight attendant had asked the question.

“Bourbon on the rocks,” she requested.

“Yes, ma’am. Would you like the chicken or salmon dinner?” the flight attendant continued.

“Chicken,” Ruth distractedly replied, tapping the tip of the pen on the paper in front of her.

She returned her attention to the financial records in front of her. The flight attendant brought the drink that she had requested and Ruth gave a brief murmur of thanks. She sat back as the woman handed the man beside her his drink.

“A Bourbon Woman. I haven’t met one of those in a while,” the man sitting next to her commented with a flirty tone.

Either the guy is hard up or I don’t look as bad as I thought I did – which is a shame because it would save him from being eaten alive – especially since I remember why he looks familiar now, she thought in resignation.

“I’m not surprised,” she replied, her tone dismissive as she returned her attention to the folder.

“Are you having a little trouble balancing your bank account? My ex-wife thought if there are checks in the checkbook, there must be money in the bank. Women! I swear if you don’t put them on an allowance, they wouldn’t know what to do,” the man chuckled.

Ruth stared at the back of the seat in front of her, her fingers curling around her pen with more force than necessary. She looked down at the paper and smiled when she saw that her doodling had produced a coffin with a stick figure of her brother trying to climb out of it.

Do not engage, Ruth, she told herself. You have a long flight ahead. DO NOT ENGAGE.

She knew that was a futile admonition, though. She relaxed her fingers on the pen, picked up her drink, and took a sip, her decision made. She already knew his name and more about his business than he’d like her to know, but more information was always a good thing.

Ruth studied him more closely. The suit and Italian shoes that he was wearing were expensive, but the Rolex watch on his wrist was a fake. He would have realized it if he had read the misspelling on the brand name inside the crystal – Rolex should have one ‘L’ not two. He also had the smell of alcohol on his breath before he ever took a sip of the drink that was delivered to him, which told her that he had been enjoying the First Class Lounge pre-flight.

“Why, bless your little heart, Mr.…,” Ruth began with a saccharine smile.

“James Hornet, but you can call me Jim, sweetheart,” Jim replied with a self-assured smile.

“James Hornet….” Ruth tilted her head and looked at him with a feigned thoughtful expression. “You wouldn’t happen to be the James Hornet of Hornet Communications? Didn’t your company neglect to report a billion-dollar deal with a Taiwanese company with ties to China? That was quite an accounting error! It garnered you a ten million dollar fine and an investigation from the Department of Justice. I believe I read in the Financial Times that the deal in question ultimately fell through, but gosh, Hornet Communications would have been stuck with owing a total of, let me guess…” She tapped her pen for a second. “Twenty-five million, four hundred thirty-two dollars, and sixty-four cents? It would be rounded to the nearest dollar, of course. Fines, penalties, and legal fees really do add up, don’t they? You aren’t that James Hornet, are you?” she asked with an innocent smile.

The man paled and shook his head. “No… I… How could you…?” he sputtered, looking down at the file in front of her.

Ruth gave her best impression of the shark from Jaws about to devour the poor unsuspecting swimmer in the opening scene.

Never go swimming at night in shark infested waters and never piss off an accountant, she thought.

“I’m Ruth Hallbrook. I was the forensic auditor on your case last year for the Department of Justice – so thank you kindly for your concern, but I can balance a checking account just fine, Mr. Hornet. In fact, you could say ‘right down to the last penny’,” Ruth replied, watching the man grow even paler.

“My apologies, ma’am,” he said stiffly.

God, I hope he doesn’t have a heart attack. I do not want to have to sit next to a dead guy for the next seven hours, she thought.

“Excuse me. I need to go to the bathroom,” he angrily muttered, his face flushed with color.

Ruth stood up and stepped to the side as Jim clumsily exited his seat. She sat down and picked up her folder. It wasn’t long until she noticed Jim emphatically speaking to another flight attendant. Amusement and relief swept through her when they both glanced at her before the woman motioned toward the back of the plane. Jim nodded and hurried to the curtained area.

“Your dinner,” the flight attendant proffered.

“Thank you,” Ruth politely responded, ignoring the flight attendant when she tried to inconspicuously sniff Ruth as she leaned in and deposited the dinner on the tray.

“I’m a forensic accountant. I conducted the audit on his company. You can probably guess it didn’t go very well for him,” she murmured with a tired smile.

“Ah,” the flight attendant responded with an apologetic look.

“Works every time,” Ruth murmured.

“I hope you enjoy the rest of your flight, ma’am,” the flight attendant replied with a grin.

“I’m sure I will – now,” she answered.

Her stomach growled as the scent of the chicken and vegetables hit her. She placed the file on the seat next to her, and slowly enjoyed her meal, her mind going back over everything she knew.

Everything will be alright, Ruth. You won’t lose the only family you have left in the world, the only person who can put up with your sarcastic mouth. He’s just…having a midlife crisis, that’s all. Mike will open the door and have a container of his special spaghetti sauce and homemade ranch dressing waiting for you.

Seven hours later, she looked through the window as the plane landed at Portland International Airport in Oregon. The knot in her stomach had grown the closer she got to the west coast.

The moment the captain announced that cell phones could be used, she turned off airplane mode on her phone and impatiently waited for it to connect to the nearest cell tower. Her fingers trembled as she dialed her brother’s number.

“This is Detective Mike Hallbrook. I’m either on another call or unable to take your call at the moment. Please leave a message and I’ll get back with you.”

“I’m sorry, the mailbox you are trying to reach is full,” the automated voice replied after the beep.

Ruth took in a deep breath and looked out the window. Well, Mike always said that she had been born with a triple-dose of tenaciousness. He was about to find out she’d been born with a hell of a lot more than that!

“You, baby brother, have just been put on your big sister’s s**t list,” she muttered under her breath, sliding her heels back on and gathering her personal belongings. “Ready or not, here I come!”