Mitchell Parker Crime Thrillers Collection

Chapter 13

“Clearly the game is afoot,” John said. “Johan says ‘I want to win’ but what?” he read from the printed transcript in front of him. “The ‘cleanness of the swap’,” he looked up at Mitch. “A swap in Eureka County; the Nevada desert to be exact.”

“Low traffic area,” Mitch agreed, “but what’s being swapped and what are they using the investors’ money for? Johan’s meeting with Daniel may help us to turn up some answers.”

“Good. What else, Mitch?” John asked.

“I’m sending J.J. and Sam to Nevada to follow Maria. According to the tape, she’s leaving for Eureka County on Tuesday. Ellen and I will keep up the research and shifts in the lab, monitoring Johan, Nick and this Daniel meeting. Plus, I’m planning another lab raid to see if we can turn up anything on ‘M.M.’ God knows what that is.”

“Do you need help with the raid?”

“No, thanks. Some nights they’re only in for a few hours. I’ll wait and slip in once they’ve left. Ellie can watch my back.”

“OK,” John studied Mitch’s face. “Get some sleep. You’re supposed to be on night shift, not night and morning shift. Don’t come in until after ten. You look wasted.”

“The trouble with you two is there’s an underlying, seething passion, but you are both too scared to be the first one to admit it,” Sally spooned the cappuccino froth from her cup.

“No,” Charlotte disagreed, “definitely not.”

“Come on,” Sally argued. “Otherwise, why would you care if Mitch was mad at you and why do you think he would be bothered being mad?”

“I care because I hate having tension around the house. I have enough tension at work without adding to it.”

“Charlie, I think you need to be careful with Mitch. There, I’ve said it, so you can tell me to shut up.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve got a craving for lasagna,” Sally eyed the blackboard menu.

“Don’t change the subject Sal, what do you mean?”

“He’s mad about you. Can’t you tell?”

Charlotte snorted with laughter.

“Mitch’s got a date this weekend with records department girl. So, I don’t think he’s too caught up on me.”

“Don’t be fooled. Records girl is a distraction. He’s not going to make a move on you when you are going through the Lachlan rebound phase. But if you gave him any encouragement, he would drop records girl before you could say ‘filed material’, guarantee it.”

“I want to be ready to move by early next week, Nicholas, no later.” Johan hung up and turned to Maria.

“Don’t be too hard on Nick, he’s been through a lot,” she said, “and we need him.”

“You’re too soft on him. Besides, he’s not going to pull out, he’s doing this for you,” Johan touched her cheek. “Do you like the timeline? I’m moving it forward.”

“I love the new timeline. What girl wouldn’t be happy at the prospect of escaping with the man of her dreams and riches beyond her wildest imagination sooner rather than later?”

Johan pulled his chair closer to Maria and kissed her.

Mitchell Parker watched their reflection in the window. He took his coffee order, thanked the waitress and hurried to Lab G.

“Well, it’s confirmed, Johan and Maria are definitely a couple … I just saw them locking lips in the university coffee shop,” Mitch said entering the lab and placing a coffee in front of Ellen.

“Mm, I’d be a bit worried if I was Nicholas Everett,” Ellen said.

“I suspect he knows all about it.”

“What now?” Ellen asked.

“We wait and hope they’re coming here to the lab after they finish kissing. Tell me what you’ve found out in your research, Ellie,” Mitch sat down and pried the lid off his coffee.

“OK,” Ellen grabbed her note pad. “We can’t find any reference to M.M. It’s eluding us. As for Nevada, we may be on a winner there. We found two sites in Eureka County leased in the last two months. The first one was formerly a gold mine. The name of the lessor is an alias and untraceable. They’ve paid cash for six months in advance, and have only a paging service contact number.”

“It’s unbelievable,” Mitch muttered, “doesn’t anyone do security checks anymore?”

“I imagine the parent company is ecstatic to lease it and don’t care to whom.”

“What’s the name of the site they’ve leased?”

“Broad Arrow. It’s about thirty-five miles north of Eureka; four hundred miles from Las Vegas.”

“And the second one?”

“Yep,” Ellen shuffled more papers. “The only other recently leased site is a warehouse in Crescent Valley, in the northern part of Eureka County. It’s small, not really in a deserted area and attracts a bit of tourism. The name on the contract is for a local company, they check out.”

“OK, so assuming it is Broad Arrow, what’s there?” Mitch looked up as the door opened and Samantha came in with takeaway, filling the room with the scent of Indian spices. Mitch cleared the lab bench making way for her.

“Great, I’m starving,” he took the offered Naan bread.

“Broad Arrow’s a ghost town,” Ellen mumbled with a mouth full of bread. “It used to be a successful gold mine with a little satellite city around it, now it’s on the Abandoned Mine Lands list waiting to be secured. When it was thriving,” she referred to her notes, “it had two hotels, a hospital and, believe it or not, its own stock exchange.”

“So, when did it all dissolve?” Samantha asked handing Ellen and Mitch their curries.

“The gold dried up about the mid-1990s and everyone moved on. Most of the buildings were relocated,” Ellen inhaled the aroma of her Beef Vindaloo and tried a mouthful. “Mm, this is great, try some.”

“No, thanks, it’s making my eyes water from over here,” Mitch said.

“I was weaned on the hot stuff,” Ellen boasted. “Anyway, the underground mine’s still intact, there are a few houses, an office block and miles of nothing.”

“What on earth would Johan, Maria and Nick be doing there?” Mitch frowned.

Ellen continued. “Now, for backgrounds for Johan, Maria and Nick.”

Mitch motioned for her to stop. “Someone’s coming.” He sidled up to the rectangular window in the lab door and saw Johan and Maria walking into the main lab. He looked at his watch; it was eight-thirty.

“Took their time,” he whispered and sat back down, putting one of the earphones in and continuing to eat.

“Only the two?” Samantha asked.

Mitch nodded. “So far.”

He listened in via the microphone in their ceiling.

“He’s flirting with her,” Mitch whispered.

“Men, they’re all the same!” Samantha helped herself to a fork-full of his Lamb Korma.

They looked up as a shadow passed their lab window.

“Nick!” Samantha whispered.

Mitch nodded as he heard the door open in the main lab; the conversation stopped. “They clammed up when he walked in. OK, talking again … Maria is going to Nevada tomorrow afternoon to meet a distributor the next day, whatever that means. Sam, you and J.J. are going to be on that flight. Call our travel department, find out what flight she’s on and get on it, I want you on the ground following her.”

Mitch continued to listen, relaying the conversation.

“Nick and Johan are staying to meet with Daniel.”

“Any insight into the Nevada connection?” Samantha asked.

“Not yet,” Mitch answered. “That’s it … they’re leaving.”

Samantha moved to the door.

“Two gone,” she reported.

“Nick’s making a call,” Mitch told them, still listening in. “It’s a personal call.” He listened as Nick greeted his father. “OK, he’s hung up and is calling someone else. Here we go,” he sat up. “He’s talking about counties in Nevada … and a timeframe … between nine and midday. Damn! He’s hung up. What the hell are they doing in there? Another night shift over and we’re no further ahead.”

Mitch reached over and turned off the alarm clock. He rose, showered and an hour later, he lowered himself behind his desk at work and logged on to his computer.

Sitting back, he threaded his fingers and looked at the ceiling.

“What are you thinking about?” John asked from the doorway making Mitch jump.

“s**t, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

John entered and sat down.

“I was thinking about Daniel Reid,” Mitch showed John the profile on screen. “The report’s back and it lists forty-five males by the name of Daniel in Washington D.C. who fit our profile. Three of them have British links but only one recently entered the country. He works for the media company Globalnet and is here for a conference; it’s probably not the Daniel we’re looking for. I’m going to try for a photo on Wednesday night when he meets with Johan, might help to pull an I.D.”

“OK. Aren’t you sleeping?”

“Yes,” Mitch answered not looking at him, “sleeping fine.”

“I’ve received the weekly security sheets; you’ve done four night shifts and come into the office after them, a weekend shift, plus beaten me in here every morning. It’s eight a.m.! What’s bothering you?”

“Nothing,” Mitch shrugged. “Fired up; a head full of this project.”

“Is that all?”

“That’s it.”

“Well, you’re no use to me if you’re not sharp. Go home, get some sleep and come back late this afternoon.”

“I’ve got to …”

“It can wait,” John ordered

“John, if I need sleep I’ll …”

“It’s not up for discussion,” John cut him off and rose to leave.

Mitch gritted his teeth. “OK, give me an hour.”

“Thirty minutes.”

Mitch opened his mouth to say something.

“We’ll talk this afternoon,” John cut him off.

He swore under his breath.

Mitch’s eyes widened as he opened the front door and found Charlotte sitting on the sofa covered in paperwork.

“Hi, what are you doing here?”

“I live here. My name’s Charlotte, my friends call me Charlie.”

“You’re a bit messy Charlotte, or can I call you Charlie?”

“After that comment, you can call me Dr. Curtis.”

He ducked as she threw a balled sheet of paper at him.

“So, you’ve decided to catch some sleep? You look wiped out.”

“Yeah, I’ve been told. I’ve been on the night shift.”

“Night or morning?”

“Both, maybe,” Mitch diverted his eyes and lowered himself into a chair opposite her. “How’s your young lad? The straight-A student up for assault?”

“OK. He’s out of detention and back at home,” she sighed. “He’s been having these shocking nightmares before and since leaving detention. Bit like you of late,” Charlotte said.

Mitch looked up surprised.

“His parents split up and they’re fighting for custody. Both trying to win him over with bribery or guilt,” she continued.

“Poor kid,” Mitch sympathized. “Don’t they get it?”

“They’re too full of their own pain to see it. It manifests itself in his dreams and in outbreaks of anger – hence, his assault charges. He’s a bit of a closed book though; doesn’t give much away. I’m working on him.”

“I’ll bet you are,” Mitch closed his eyes.

Thank God she can’t see the dreams I’ve had lately; going over stuff I haven’t thought about in years; seeing people from way back. It’s just sleep deprivation, change of routine. Or … maybe seeing Nick again.

He opened his eyes and saw Charlotte watching him.

“The whole nightmare scenario,” she said, “could also be a reaction to a fear, or a sighting, maybe a memory from the past?”

“Are you telling me about the kid or asking about me?” he said irritated.

“Calm down, Mitch. I’m not analyzing you.”

“Are you sure?”

Charlotte shrugged. “I’d like to. Who’s Henry?”

Mitch paused.

“Henry?” she repeated. “Do you know a Henry?”

“Henri Spalter. He heads our science division at work,” Mitch drew a deep breath. “He went out with my mother for five or six years when I was a teenager. He’s a good guy.”

“That’s a coincidence … that you’d end up working together.”

Mitch shrugged. “He’s a professor of science … different trades, same organization. Why? Did he call? I didn’t give out this number.”

“You can, you know,” Charlotte said. “No, he didn’t call. You yelled out his name last night.”

Mitch shuffled.

“Closed subject, hey? OK. So what’s with all the night shifts? You haven’t volunteered for it to get out of the house?”

“I’m on surveillance.”

“Listen, Mitch, I know you were angry with me for not telling you Lachlan was sleeping over the other night,” she started.

“Forget it, it’s not a problem. I nearly choked him in the kitchen, but he seemed OK about that.”

“You don’t have to sneak in and bolt out first thing. Lachlan’s …”

“Charlie, it’s work, no other agenda,” he interrupted her. “Whatever you guys are doing is fine by me. I mean, you’re OK aren’t you?”

“Sure, fine.”

“Good, as long as you’re happy,” he rose departing for his room.

Mitch felt himself drifting to sleep as soon as he lay down. He could hear a South African voice and a female speaking with a Spanish accent, and then Ellen was calling his name. He saw Sally talking to J.J.

Do they know each other?

Do they know each other?Lachlan appeared with his arm around Charlotte. He turned and found himself in the lab with Henri. Then Mitch saw his father, drunk again. Suddenly Henri was gone. Mitch called out to him.

“Henri! No, wait!”

He felt his skin prickle with fear; his heart was thumping. He tried to get away, but his father held his wrist. He looked down, it was a small wrist; his father’s hand was much bigger and tightly gripped around him. He called to his brother.

“Get Mom, go. Now! Go!”

What’s ringing. Stop ringing!

His father raised a leather strap and he felt the sting. He gasped in pain. Again, the strap struck him and again; his skin reddened and throbbed; blood came to the surface of the welts. He saw the red glow of the cigarette coming towards him.

“Dad, stop!”

The ringing noise cut into his dream. He yelled, feeling the burn – he couldn’t see through his tears.

Mitch bolted upright, hearing his phone ringing. He fumbled for it.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mitch, we’ve stopped over in Salt Lake City and got a few hours to kill. All’s OK though.”

“What?” Mitch rubbed his eyes.

“We’re in Salt Lake City, having an hour-and-a-half stopover,” J.J. explained. “Oh s**t, did I wake you? Sorry, Mitch, I forgot you were on night shift. I’ll call back …”

“No, that’s fine,” Mitch glanced at the clock. It was eleven o’clock. He looked down; no welts. His shirt was saturated with sweat.

“Mitch?”

“J.J., sorry. I’m glad you called,” he leaned back. “So what’s up, what time is it there?”

“It’s just on eight, we’re waiting for the connecting flight to Elko. Sam’s gone to check our seating and I’ve got my eye on Maria … me and a million other guys, she’s some looker.”

“What’s she doing?”

“Waiting in the airport departure lounge.”

“OK, thanks J.J.; stay in touch. Don’t go storming the joint, play it cool. We don’t know what we’re in for or if Broad Arrow is manned.”

“Maybe those two security guys are located there, the one’s we found profiles for,” J.J. said.

“Yeah, maybe. The security guards might exist, but I’m pretty sure the scientists don’t. I’ll have a better idea after their meeting with Daniel, hopefully.”

“Cool. We’ll call you when we get there,” J.J. assured him.

“Thanks and be careful, I don’t want to come to Nevada if I can avoid it. Talk to you later.”

Mitch hung up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

I hope Charlie didn’t hear me call out again. Anyway, that’ll do you John. Two hours sleep … mission accomplished. Back to work.

I hope Charlie didn’t hear me call out again. Anyway, that’ll do you John. Two hours sleep … mission accomplished. Back to work.