Читать книгу Leesa's Story: Book Three of the Lane Trilogy - Vicki Inc. Andree - Страница 11

Chuck O’Malley parked his Cadillac Escalade in underground parking at the Lane building. This time, I’m going to talk with the real Lyza Lane and not her sister pretending to be Lyza. I still need to thank her and tell her how she helped turn my life around.

Once in the main lobby of the Lane building, he made his way to the guards’ station. One of the men checked badges as people entered the secure area of the building. The other man scrutinized the computer screen in front of him.

Chuck approached the man behind the computer screen. “Excuse me, could you tell me what floor Lyza Lane’s office is?”

“Those offices are on the seventh floor. Take the elevators on your right. Sign in here.” Chuck showed his ID, signed in, and accepted the visitor’s badge. He hurried to make the elevator.

People squeezed together to make room for Chuck, and no one got off until the fourth floor. Three people got off, and those remaining spread out a bit. Everyone else exited. Chuck scrutinized the people getting off as they split up. None of them looked like Lyza. He went to the receptionist’s desk.

“I’m here to see Lyza Lane,” he announced.

The receptionist smiled. “Your name, sir?”

“Chuck, er… Charles O’Malley.”

The young woman looked at his badge, then down at a computer screen. “Do you have an appointment?”

Chuck glanced behind him at the leather sofas in the waiting area. “No. But I’m willing to wait.” He took a seat.

The receptionist typed on the keyboard.

Ten minutes later, Lyza entered the waiting area. She held out her hand. “Mr. O’Malley?”

Chuck stood and shook her hand. “Yes, do you have time to see me?”

She smiled. “This is a surprise. Come to my office.”

Neither one of them spoke as he followed her to her executive office. She motioned for him to sit in the informal area around the coffee table. He sat in the overstuffed chair.

She poured two glasses of water from the pitcher on the nearby bar. “You’re a long way from home, Mr. O’Malley.”

He took the glass she offered. “I think you know me well enough to call me Chuck.”

She smiled again, then sat in the chair next to him. “All right, and you can call me Lyza. Our last meeting was under very different circumstances. That was a different life.”

Chuck took a sip of water. “I believe that. The Lyza I met in the Brisbane office would not have returned my money, nor would she have seen me today.”

She smiled. “A lot has happened.”

He leaned back in the chair. “I wanted to thank you for your generosity in person. I was at the end of my rope when Clete Collins came to my door. I was at rock bottom, and that knock on the door was an answer to prayer.”

Lyza’s eyebrows shot up. “Answer to prayer?”

He nodded. “I’d fallen away from God a long time ago, and it took that whole incident to bring me back to Him. I’m ashamed of what I tried to do, drilling for oil on land that wasn’t mine, and then trying to buy it for a song after I found oil. That was despicable. I came to ask your forgiveness.”

She didn’t hesitate. “You are forgiven. Now, I need to ask you for forgiveness. I set out to hurt you back, and that was wrong of me. God showed me that.”

His voice softened. “I forgave you long ago. It was one of the twelve steps I worked in AA. When I heard you had taken the Christian faith, I wondered how real it was. I see now that it is genuine.”

She clasped her hands together. “Oh, it’s real. It’s caused a lot of hardship from time to time, but I’ve been blessed beyond what I could ever think or ask.”

He wanted to hear her story. “How did you find Him?”

Her eyes brightened. “He found me in the crash of Swiss Air Flight 688, where He saved me spiritually and physically. What a wonderful God we serve.”

Chuck felt an instant kinship with Lyza, the woman he had hated in Brisbane. Across the room from them, Chuck spotted the call light flashing on her desk phone. I should leave. She’s a busy woman.

He stood. “Well, that’s why I came; I wanted to thank you and to ask for your forgiveness. Oh, and I don’t live in Australia anymore. My life changed, and I returned to the States. I’m not asking for business, but here’s my card in case you should ever want to get in touch with me.”

She took the card and read it aloud. “Charles O’Malley, Administrator and Founder, Secure Systems, Inc. Sounds like you’ve chosen something in your field.”

“It’s served me well. We’re growing like crazy. We’ve got projects all over the world. Well, thanks again, Lyza; and thanks for seeing me.” He stepped toward the door.

She stood and walked with him. “It was good to see you. I’ll keep your card, but give me another one for Bill, our office manager. You never know. We may need you, one of these days.”

He stopped. “I’d love to work with you. Oh, and there’s something else you should know. When you were in Africa, I ran into Leesa, thinking she was you. Do you switch identities often?”

Lyza froze. “Never. We’ve always valued our individuality. I find it hard to believe she did that.”

Chuck smiled to defuse Lyza’s surprise. “She fooled me. I took her out to dinner and apologized and thanked her for what you did.”

Lyza’s eyes narrowed. “If she did that to you, I’m wondering who else she’s fooled.”

Chuck rubbed his chin. “Oh, we got into a fender bender in front of the Lane building. Well, I ran into her car with my SUV because I wasn’t watching when she came from underground parking. After the police left, we went to dinner again. That time I told her that I knew you were out of the country when we met before. I asked her which name she was using that day.”

Lyza scowled. “What did she say?”

“She said what you said, that the two of you didn’t switch identities. She admitted that she’d never done it before or since.” He laughed. “But now every time I see her, I’m going to ask what name she’s using.”

“Serves her right.”

***

Officer Blake hated the vice squad. He messed up two undercover assignments because the suspects spotted him right away as a cop. He wasn’t good at playing games. He could hardly stand being around the lowlifes.

Earlier in that week, his supervisor had called him into his office. “Blake, you’re ready for a bust, and we want you to do some of the up-front investigation.”

Blake repositioned his hat. “Sure, Captain. Tell me what you want.”

“We suspect a house in Burbank. I want you to do surveillance. Officer Candy Mills will work with you. She’s been on the vice squad for ten years, so you’ll have more than capable backup. It’s going to be the graveyard shift.”

Blake nodded. My wife is going to come unglued. I haven’t worked a night shift for a while, and last time, she hated it. Well, this is the job. She’s going to have to suck it up. I don’t like the night shift either. I especially don’t like it in druggerland, Burbank, California.

The captain pulled out a schedule. “Your shift starts tomorrow night, from eleven until six. You got that?”

“I got it.”

And for the past four nights, Blake and Candy had sat in a rusty old van catty-corner from the suspected house. All night, they watched people scamper in and out of the front door like it revolved. At one point, three men sat on the porch, red dots showing where they smoked cigarettes.

A beat-up Volkswagen bug started a U-turn towards them. Candy crouched down behind the driver’s seat as Blake hunched down in the passenger seat. Lights panned across the windshield.

“This is crazy. We have enough evidence to raid the place.”

Candy peeked over the seat in front of her. “I know I can’t wait to get this over with. My kids hate staying at Aunt Sophie’s.”

“Yeah, my wife’s been complaining since the first night. She doesn’t like being home alone with the kids at night.”

“She’s probably worried about you, too.”

He laughed. “I doubt it.”

Candy chuckled. “No, really. Danger always seems bigger at night. From the time we’re babies, we’re afraid of things that go bump in the night. I know some officers say it doesn’t bother them, but I don’t believe them. Darkness hides things. I like to work in the light.”

He agreed. “There’s never any competition for the night shift, that’s for sure. Except for the slight pay increase, I see absolutely no benefit.”

A black limo pulled up to the front of the house and stopped at the curb. Blake focused the night-sensitive camera as the driver got out. “What a jerk. He’s making his driver do the dirty work.”

Candy suggested, “Or there’s no one inside, and the driver’s the one needing the drugs.”

“Okay, I hadn’t thought about that possibility.”

Blake raised the infrared camera and snapped a shot of the man knocking at the door. Then he focused on the license plate of the limo. “Yeah, we have to look at every scenario.” He took that photo, then leaned back in his seat. “When are we going to bust this gang?”

Candy reached for a donut from the box on the dashboard. “Beats me. I still have coffee in my thermos. Want some?

He looked in his cup. “No, I’m good, but I will take one of those donuts.”

Candy pushed the box toward him. “It’s almost four o’clock. Do these people ever sleep?”

He yawned. “Is insomnia a side effect of the drugs?”

She joined him in yawning. “Sorry, it’s contagious; and I’m sure they have a drug for side effects, too. If you take enough of any of them, you’ll sleep for a long time.”

“I guess that’s why we’re out here.”

“Blake, did you ever do drugs?”

He put his cup back in the console. “Never did. My parents kept me busy with sports and church all the time growing up and showed me what drugs could do to ruin a person’s life. When I did leave home, I knew better than to try them. I still hate drugs and dealers. How about you?”

She stared at the front door of the house. “I did some experimenting, my senior year of high school. Something horrible happened prom night, and that was the end of it.”

Blake leaned back in the seat and pulled his cap over his eyes. “Want to talk about it?”

Candy picked up the night vision binoculars. “Not really, but since I brought it up, I guess I owe you an explanation.”

He closed his eyes for a second, then looked at her. If it will help keep me awake, talk. “Not if you don’t want to.”

A tear slipped down her cheek. “Maybe I need to talk about it. I smoked a little pot now and then. Funny how it’s always a little pot. Everyone says it’s harmless, but I know better. It disarmed me enough to let my guard down.” She wiped her face. “Prom night, we were all drinking and smoking, and we really thought we were smart. We thought we were invincible and that we knew everything.”

Blake nodded. Maybe I can catch a nap. “Uh-huh. Age has a sobering effect on us.”

Her voice softened. “That’s the truth. I don’t remember how it happened, but suddenly everyone disappeared except one guy. He was someone I admired from afar. Guess what I thought was so cool about him?”

Blake sighed. “What?”

She held the binoculars to her eyes. “He didn’t take any garbage off anyone. He dressed tough. He had tattoos up and down both arms and wore heavy metal earrings. I thought he was all-together—you know, someone who could do anything he wanted to anytime he wanted to, and no one could stop him? That night he wanted sex, and he raped me.”

Blake gasped. “Oh, Candy. I’m so sorry.” He sat up.

She shook her head. “My brother heard me screaming. When he found me with Mr. Tough Guy, my brother pulled his knife. Mr. Tough Guy was high and so strong. He snatched the knife from my brother and killed him.”

Blake let the last sentence sink in for a few seconds. “That’s terrible; I’m so sorry.”

Silence filled the old van as they stared at the front door of the house they watched.

Blake could think of nothing more to say. What can I say? How does she live with such a horrible memory?

Candy finally broke the silence. “There’s nothing like a stakeout to bring out what’s on someone’s mind. Truth be told, I’ve thought about it every day of my life.”

Blake rubbed his eyes. “You should go to the counselor. You could get some help.”

She kept peering through the binoculars. “Oh yeah, and lose my job. Do you think they’d keep me after all that?”

He took off his cap and wiped his brow. “Trust me, they already know about it. They checked you out when they hired you. They know. Now go get some help. It’s too much for you to carry around. Did they convict the guy?”

She lowered the binoculars. “Like so much unfinished business in our lives, he disappeared. They never found him. I’ve done searches and come up empty-handed. They say there’s no justice. There are times when I agree.”

Blake picked up the camera. “I’m so sorry that happened to you and your brother. I can’t imagine what’s it’s been like, reliving it every day. Really, Candy, promise me you’ll see the department shrink.”

“I’ll think about it.”

He snapped a photo of another buyer at the front door of the house.