Rewritten (Unwritten Book 2) (26 page)

T
he last couple months have been crazy around the station. All kinds of fucked up shit has happen to really great people and my job has been more stressful than ever.

Seven months have passed since Jacquelyn Sanders was shot and since Jacquelyn is still alive it’s not officially a homicide case so it hasn’t been my top priority. I’ve tried to keep my tabs on it when I have time so things don’t slip through the cracks but I still can’t figure out who this girl is or why Jacquelyn kidnapped her.

I’ve gone back to the house to search the car more thoroughly for prints to find out who the girl is but found nothing. I even searched every chair in the dinning room for a piece of hair or something that could track me to her but I’ve got nothing.

I just left Life Fitness where everyone says they met and I see they were telling the truth, all of them have memberships there. But I still have no clue why Jacquelyn drove all the way from San Rafael to go there. It was nothing special from what I could see. Just a normal gym that I’m sure there are plenty of in San Rafael.

I head back to my office and when I arrive I see there’s a fax on my desk that I’ve been waiting for. Thankful it finally came through after all the red tape and months of waiting. I grab it, looking over the financial documents for Livingston, Inc., the company that Charlie works for. I couldn’t find much information online about it so I had to dig deeper into their records.

It says they’re a high-end firm offering consulting work for people who want to buy and sell real estate and that they’re a subsidiary company of Deeper Holdings, Inc. I pause.
I know I just saw that name
.

Quickly, I shuffle through the paperwork on my desk looking for the warrant I had to get to check on the gym memberships. Once I find it, I hold it up reading, Life Fitness is a subsidiary company of Deeper Holdings, Inc.
Hmmmm… Ok, odd that Charlie works for the same company that owns the gym.

Deeper Holdings, Inc. is a publicly traded company so digging into their records will be easier than it was for Livingston, Inc. I pull up the information online and there it is in front of me. The president and CEO of Deeper Holdings, Inc. is non-other than Kevin Hayes.
Diane’s husband… I find it hard to believe this is all a coincidence… Finally, I am getting somewhere, just where?

After doing more research but coming up with nothing I head home to have dinner with my wife.

“How was your day hun?” Sandy says as I walk through the door to a feast being prepared in my kitchen.

“Mmm, smells amazing in here. What are you cooking?”

“Leah’s favorite, Lasagna. Poor girl is so swollen from this pregnancy so I told her and Nick to come over for dinner with the kids. They should be here any minute.”

I hear the front door open and the sound of little feet hitting the floor as Andrew and Justin, my two grandsons, come running in the door screaming, “Grandma!”

They both run up to her leg, hugging her on either side, their faces light up from just seeing her.

She puts the spatula down and hugs them both at the same time. “There’s my boys! I’ve missed you guys.” She leans down to be closer to their size. “I got you guys something,” she says with a playful smile across her face before grabbing both of their hands and running to the back room.

I smile seeing how good she is with them, with all of our kids and grandkids.

The next day I drive to the City, planning to sit in front of Charlie Ashley’s place. My work load is finally lighter now so I’m try to look for things I might have missed in the Jacquelyn Sanders case.

I know something is up but I can’t figure it out so I’ve decided to fall back on the old detective standby, a stake out. I’m hoping to learn something about Charlie that will tip off the case. And really, after the hell I’ve been through on other horrible cases, I’m happy to sit and relax for a while with nothing to do but watch.

First though, I head to Union Square to grab lunch. After parking I walk to the corner deli where I see a Guess Seductive Homme cologne ad that features Charlie.

Ok, so he’s not lying about being a model. That’s good to know.

But something catches my eye even more than him, the girl with him…

I walk back to my car to grab my briefcase where I’ve printed stills from the video surveillance.

Holding it up, I walk back to the billboard comparing the two. And yup, I was right, that has to be her. The photo on the billboard is of the side of her face, just like my stills and I’d put money on this being the same person.

Ok, now I’m getting somewhere.

I knew Charlie knew her but by the look of that photo I think they know each other very intimately.
But who is she?

Then I wonder, if Jacquelyn is pregnant with his child, then obviously she wouldn’t be happy about seeing this. I bet she found out they were sleeping together. Is that why she kidnapped this girl? Was he sleeping with both of them? Why? This girl is smokin’. Why would he even bother with Jacquelyn? She’s nothing compared to her.

I walk away, confused still but feeling like I’m at least onto something now. After grabbing my lunch I drive to 1
st
Street, finding a place I can park and sit, watching Charlie’s place for any sign of him.

After hours of waiting I’m about to give up when I see Charlie’s Mustang pull out of the parking garage. He’s stuck in stop-and-go traffic, so I’m able to get a good look at him as he approaches and I love seeing the fact that the girl I’m looking for is sitting in the front seat.

I snap a picture of her when she briefly looks my way. Both of them are smiling as she leans over kissing him softly on the lips before they drive away.

Ok, that was her and I would say they’re definitely dating.

I check my camera; happy with the photo I got of her. It’s finally a good picture that I can run face recognition software on.

Satisfied with my stake out, I head back to my office.

Once there I quickly load the photo into the face recognition software and search the Internet for a match for this girl. It doesn’t take long for her Facebook page to pop up displaying pictures of her and Charlie.

I click on her page seeing her name for the first time, Allison Hayes.

Whoa, wait… She’s Diane’s daughter?

I look through all of her photos and there it is, one of her and Diane. Ok, this just got weirder.

I pick up the phone calling the gym to ask if Allison Hayes is a member. When I hear that’s she’s not I’m even more confused.

Did Diane introduce Charlie to her daughter? Why? She had to though, how else would Charlie have met Allison if it wasn’t through the gym? Is this really just a love triangle gone bad?

I don’t buy that Charlie would legitimately be into Jacquelyn. He’s a good-looking guy, a model for Christ sake. Is it the money? Are he and Allison in on this together? Did they plan this pregnancy for money and Jacquelyn caught on?

So many questions are running through my head and finally I think I have a motive.

I look at my watch and realize I have to go. Sandy has a doctor’s appointment that she asked me to attend with her. I’m not really sure why. She’s never asked me to go to this sort of thing but lately I’m trying to spend more time with her so I agreed. Even though I’m frustrated I have to leave when I’m finally getting somewhere, I grab my coat and head out the door.

Sandy and I walk into the doctor’s office hand-in-hand waiting for the doctor. When we hear Sandy’s name called she freezes, gripping my hand tighter before standing.

I get the feeling this is not a normal doctors visit and something is up. My stomach turns as we walk toward the doctor’s office.

I can tell by the look on the doctor’s face that it isn’t good news. I look at Sandy before looking at the doctor as a huge knot grows firmly in my stomach.

“Ok Doc, give us the news. I get the feeling I’m the last to know what’s going on here.” I say, trying to get to the point.

Sandy grabs my hand, “Honey, please, sit down. I had some tests run last week and we’re here for the results.”

“Tests? What kind of tests?”

“I told you, I haven’t been feeling good lately and I thought it was time I have it checked out.”

I look at the doctor, “Ok, give it to us straight. I take it you found something.”

“It’s not good. I wish I had better news but yes, we did find something in her labs.”

Sandy’s hand starts to tremble and for the first time in our life together I’m noticing her breaking down.

“Sandy, I’m very sorry to say that you have stage four Melanoma.”

My heart sinks to the ground. I have no air left in my body. I can feel Sandy’s other arm reach to me but I’m numb and can’t move.

The doctor continues, “I’m afraid Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer and your case is very advanced. That is why you are having these other symptoms. I’m so sorry to have to tell you this but your survival rate is not good.”

I hear Sandy start to cry and I reach to hold her. This can’t be happening. Not to my Sandy. I’m going to retire and we planned on traveling the world. And the kids, they need her. I need her.

The doctor breaks the silence that has filled the air, “I highly suggest moving forward with an experimental treatment out at Stanford. It’s expensive though and I’m not sure if your insurance will cover it.”

I stand up frustrated, “What do you mean not sure if our insurance will cover it? Isn’t that what insurance is for?”

“Well, yes and no. Unfortunately the survival rate with this is really not good and this treatment is showing hope for a few people but nothing is proven so insurance companies are denying it. They only look at the bottom dollar and in this case, it’s just not proven enough to them to put the money out there.”

“You have got to be kidding me? What other options do we have? How can they just let her die?”

“I know. It doesn’t make sense but unfortunately that is the life we live in today.”

“Ok, so let’s just say they deny it. I’ll pay for it. Take everything out of my retirement and savings. How much will it cost?”

The doctor shakes his head sadly, “In upwards of $825,000…”

“What? That’s insane!”

“I’m so sorry. I wish I had better news or a way to help you. It’s not looking good though. We can start a treatment here and start to work on your insurance but I’m sure they will just delay their decision giving you less treatment options just due to time remaining. I would suggest getting your affairs in order.”

“No Doc, I can’t lose her,” I sit back down, holding her close as I start to tremble.

“It’s ok, Sam.” Sandy holds me tightly. She’s stronger than me and seems to be accepting her diagnosis where I’m not, I will find a way to fix her. “I’m here now. Let’s enjoy our time together and hope for the best. How much time do you think I have left Doctor?”

The doctor sighs, “Without further treatment, I’d say a year, if you’re lucky. I’m sorry. I wish I had better news.”

Sandy looks at me smiling, “We’ll make it the best year yet. At least I’ll get to meet my new granddaughter.”

I wrap my arms around her as I start to sob on her shoulder. I’m officially broken. I can’t stand the thought of losing her.