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Chapter 1

Crime is nothing new in this world. There are daily disturbances, robberies, assaults, and crimes of passion that happen every day. These crimes are pretty straight forward. An addict needs money to fund a fix; they steal. A person feels threatened or scorned; they lash out. There is no great secret motivation in the primal needs that govern the everyday crime. As a beat cop I handled every-day deviants. Well enough to move up the ranks and for me to be transferred here, to Alexandria.

The heat and humidity beats down on the pavement. The dark paved expanse that has replaced the natural red clay has in turn intensified the heat and turned the city itself into an oven. The heat seems to lend itself to the mood of foreboding in the otherwise picturesque city scape. My suit seemed oppressive as I moved at a brisk pace from the car to the station. I brushed a bead of sweat off of my brow as I bundled my chestnut hair into a tight bun. I did not break my stride as I adjusted my tresses.

My phone buzzed angrily in my pocket. It seemed suddenly alive. I shifted my weight to remove it. “Hello?”” I answered in one breath. I did not have time to entertain any interruptions. I was being called to the station in order to be briefed on a case.

“Detective Avery Rich?” a man’s voice demanded.

“This is she.” I answered.

“This is Commander Calbert. I need you to report directly to my office as soon as you arrive.” his voice sounded off. I had not recognized it before he gave a name.

“Err, yes sir. I will miss the briefing?” I rushed here from across town to hear about a series of home invasions. Could he need to talk to me about that? I hadn’t been in town long enough to be second-guessed over a judgment call.

“Never mind that, I am putting you on something else. I already let dispatch know not to reroute you until they hear from me. I’ll see you in my office.” His gruff voice ended abruptly as the call ended in a parting click.

I rushed down the corridor that led from the parking garage into the station. I could not help wondering what the commander had in mind. I had not heard of anything on the dispatch or picked up by the paparazzo that was dramatic enough to have him quite so edgy.

By the time I had reached the commander’s office, I was regretting wearing heels. The idea that appearing a bit taller would garner respect really did nothing but slow me down. There were not enough shoes in Virginia to make my five foot one-inch frame seem more formidable. As I opened the door, the commander stood up. His face seemed flushed. There was a look in his eyes that I had not seen before. The man who had hired me had been calm and composed. This man was more akin to a caged beast.

“We have a situation,” He began “Before I get into details I need to make one thing abundantly clear to you; this is not a case like anything you have experienced before. What I tell you in this room cannot be repeated without my express permission. To do so would jeopardize the entire premise. Until we know the breadth of this, it cannot be shared.”

“Yes sir, I understand.” I lied. I could not imagine anything that could not be shared among colleagues. That was the strength within the police system; collaboration.

“You know that I hired you because you came highly recommended. That is only half of the truth. I also wanted you because you have a reputation for working independently. You are tough. You have a sense of integrity that has not been corrupted by years of work in the streets. And you are not from this area. I needed you here for just this type of situation.”

“Situation Sir?” I was beginning to wonder if Calbert was having a breakdown.

“I need you to go off of the grid for a while. There is a situation here that I cannot open a formal investigation on. It cuts too deep. There are officers here who would be a detriment, and it would take a long time to sort them all out.”

“I understand sir.” Who was I kidding? I was worried about this guy. The stress of the job was clearly getting to him. However, being the newbie, I was not going to be outright disobedient to my CO. No, but I would be cautious. Warned or not, I was not going to step on any toes until I knew what was going on.

Calbert scribbled a name on a piece of paper. “Destroy this when you have found him.” He nodded towards the name he had written. “I think you will find him at the shelter over on Huntington Avenue.”

“He is homeless sir?” I wondered why I would need the help of a vagrant.

“He is unconventionally situated; you will understand why when you meet him.” Calbert’s frazzled appearance did not improve. “You are investigating the disappearance of a bank president, Lawrence Shultz. He was recently named the head of First National Bank. He is the third bank president to disappear in the last month.”

“Has he been entered into the missing person’s database?” I wondered if this was on or off the record.

“He has never actually been reported missing, neither have the others. The first one who disappeared was a good friend of mine, Alan Morris. I noticed he was no longer at his office, ever. I asked at the bank; he was always in a meeting. I called his wife at home. He was always unavailable to come to the phone. However, there was something out of place. His wife’s voice shook when she lied. The teller could not look me in the eye when she reported him as busy. It never let up. “

“You haven’t been able to track him down?” I tried to imagine why the people around this man would be hiding him.

“It is as though he was sucked into a void. There is no sign of him anywhere. I think the word got out that I was asking around. A couple of weeks after I was sure he was not around I got an anonymous call. A female voice called me here at the station from a disposable cell phone and gave a tip that a second banker; Jim Maple was missing. The call came directly to me. The caller was very brief. She sounded terrified. I traced the call and found the phone in a trash can near Fort Ward Park. It was covered in blood.”

“And Shultz, how did you notice he was gone?”

“After the second disappearance that was never reported I started doing some digging. I found out that Mr. Shultz was similarly unaccounted for.” He paused. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there were not more that I haven’t discovered. It is strange. Usually when someone disappears, they are missed. Someone reports them as missing. These are business men, not transients. They have families, careers, or roots here. It is not as though they just wandered to a new town.”

“I’ll get right on it sir.” I could not help thinking that these men may not want to be found. “Oh and sir, this Ryan Kain person at the shelter, how does he tie into this?” Clearly, I was missing something.

“Kain was a good cop. He was one of the best here in Alexandria. Somewhere along the line, the way he saw the world became different from the way the department could work. Some people said he had lost his mind. He seemed to believe that there were forces around him that could not be measured by the casual observer. I suppose some call his kind “conspiracy theorists”.” Calbert betrayed no emotion of judgment.

“Do you think he can help, or do you think he is a suspect?” I was confused. Was I supposed to interview the nutcase or enlist him? “Kain cannot work within the system anymore that much has been proven, but he sees patterns in things that others do not.” Calbert glanced towards the clock nervously.

“Do you mean patterns like missing bankers who are not considered missing?” I ventured.

“Exactly.” he returned.

“I’ll be on my way sir.” I was ready to leave the office before Calbert had a stroke or a heart attack. His face was becoming increasingly red. Sweat broke out around his temples. I wondered what he knew that was upsetting him so much. It crossed my mind that I should be concerned that he did not disclose whatever it was.

As I opened the door to leave, Calbert grunted one last warning; “Keep your head low and be careful.” I would do that much.

As I drove to the shelter, I went over the conversation with Calbert very carefully; three missing bankers who weren’t missing, a homeless crazy man who would be my partner if he would have me, and a mission that I could not call in. The whole situation was a trifecta of odd if you ask me. And to think that the day began with normal, solvable crimes and had already transitioned to an open ended quandary.

I pulled up at the shelter and shuffled through the parking lot to the front door. As I entered the building and approached the front desk I sized up the business. The building was obviously a Christian based establishment. There were posters depicting other projects championed by the nonprofit. It seemed legitimate. The older lady at the front desk greeted me politely; she looked at me and sized me up as police and not homeless right away.

“Can I help you officer?” She asked as she pushed her glasses into place on her nose.

“Detective actually,” I paused. I didn’t need to tell her that, it was pride. I quietly chastised myself as I continued. “I’m looking for someone, a Mr. Ryan Kain.”

“You will find Mr. Kain in the kitchen; he is preparing dinner.” She gestured toward the back of the building.

I made my way down the corridor. As I proceeded, I caught glimpses into the various rooms and pieces of life of that day’s residents. There were all walks of people in the shelter, the young, the old, persons of all races and backgrounds. All of them were here because their lives had taken them in a direction that they did not or could not manage. It was a sad situation. I entered the kitchen. It was full of people all cooking together to make a daily meal for those who would otherwise have none. I had to speak loudly to be heard over the din of clanking dishes, a dishwasher running and the many cooks discussing the menu and how to stretch it a little further.

“Ryan Kain?” I asked.

“That’s me.” The man stepped forward. He was probably in his late thirties; not as old as I had imagined him. He had dark hair cropped short. He wore a button-down shirt and a pair of jeans. I noted that he was an employee, not a resident. His blue eyes twinkled as he stepped forward, but his brow creased in concern.

“I’m Avery Rich, a detective for the Alexandria Metro police. My commander, Calbert, sent me here to ask your help. He said you may see the situation in a way we missed.”

His mouth twisted slightly. “I’m off the force Hun. I have been for quite a while. I can’t help you solve a case.”

“It’s not exactly a case, more of a concern. Is there somewhere we can talk?”

Kain’s eyes widened slightly. He eyed me, as though I had told his deepest secret. “I suppose I could listen to your situation.” I wondered if I should be afraid. He seemed harmless enough.

Kain led me to an office not far from the kitchen. As we entered he glanced nervously out of the blinds.

“Are you alone?” he demanded.

“Yes.” I answered.

“You said Calbert sent you? Who else knows you are here?” he asked.

“No one.” I looked at him squarely in the eye, and he seemed to relax marginally.

“I don’t recognize you, are you new to the force?” He continued.

“No, I’m just new in the area.” I answered.

“Calbert hired you?”

“Yes, he recruited me.”

I was beginning to think this was going nowhere fast. This guy was grilling me like I had committed a crime. “Look, I’m not here to cause you any trouble. I just need to tell you about a situation and see if you have any input. This is all off the books, not even an active case, okay?”

Kain sat down with resolve, “Say whatever it is you came to say.” His voice was cool. His blue eyes no longer sparkled for me.

I recounted the details of the missing bankers, who were not officially missing. I told him about the anonymous call and the bloody cell phone. As I recounted the details, he listened as though he was completely absorbed. As I finished relaying the few details, I had learned Kain stood up and began rummaging in a cabinet. He fished out a map of the city and plopped it unceremoniously onto the desk.

“Show me where, which banks?” he ordered. He held out a pencil. I marked the locations on the map as requested. Kain snatched the map towards him and righted it on his desk. He pulled a ruler from the desk and began an analysis if the document. He drew lines with the pencil. “You do have a problem Ms. Rich.” He began. “Your bankers are most likely dead or being kept alive to elicit information.”

I glanced at the triangle shape he had drawn interposed with another angle and wondered about the other locations he had marked. “You can tell that from the map?” This guy was all kinds of nuts. Why did Calbert send me here?

“Some patterns are evident to those who choose to look.” He quipped.

“Would you like to elaborate?” I ventured.

“Perhaps I will at a later time. For now, we must move along. I suspect the man who has been waiting outside has followed you. You are in danger Ms. Rich. If you will humor me, we need to leave through the back exit immediately.”

“What man?” Was he seeing things now? I stepped over to the window. As I peeked through the slit in the blinds I could see a bald man standing next to my unmarked car. He held a phone to his ear and seemed to be having an intense conversation. As he gestured from my car, then towards the building; he was speaking in the direction of another someone who I could not see. I caught a small glint off of the gun hidden on his belt. Whoever he was he was armed. My hand went instinctively towards my own gun. I ensured that it was ready for action.

“It is best that we leave now Ms. Rich.” Kain prompted. “I must confess that I am not glad that you brought this to my door. Observing these evil movements from a distance is different than involving myself directly, but it seems that I am now involved. I sincerely hope we will both survive the experience.” As Kain spoke he packed. He put some food items and some money into a bag. He pulled out some papers and a disposable cell phone. He took a pack already made up from another cabinet. Last he opened a small hand held safe and reclaimed a hand gun which he attached to his belt.

I followed Kain to the back door. “My car is the black Mazda 6. Go, I’ll cover you!” He tossed me the key and drew his weapon. I drew mine as well. Was his brand of crazy contagious? I opened the door, quickly scanned, and then made a beeline for the car. I threw open the driver’s door and took a protective stance. I looked back at Kain. Was he coming with me or donating his car? Then I remembered the pack of materials he still had slung across his back. His long strides brought him to the car almost effortlessly. For the third time, that day, I regretted my choice of shoes. On the run in heels; this is just great. I slid into the driver’s side and scooted across, handing him the keys as he swung into the seat behind me. The car started quietly and soon we moved smoothly out of the back parking lot and were headed for the freeway. I looked anxiously in the side mirrors to see if we were being followed. Kain tucked and turned as he maneuvered the car in a generally Northern direction. Were we headed to D.C.?

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what all of this is about?” I broke the silence.

“It is a rather old story I suppose.” He mused.

“Please fill me in, I feel like I’m missing the big picture. If I am being hunted, I would like to know why.”

“I suppose that would be fair, since you seemed to have been involved in this as unwillingly as I have.” He conceded. As he spoke he turned rather suddenly into the parking lot of a church. We moved towards the back door, and he produced a key from his pocket. He opened the door and held it for me. “After you; Miss Rich.”

“Avery, please call me Avery.” He nodded his acceptance but did not match my attempt at familiarity.