Chapter 24
“The tragedy of life is not so much what men suffer, but rather what they miss.”
Lionel
~~~
Another year flew by, making it three years since I last saw my fiancée. I assumed I would have found her by now and didn’t expect to be seated with my face in my hands yet again, on another grim anniversary. I wanted it to be different, to spend the day that left me bitter with her and change the augury surrounding it.
Losing Joanna hit me hard. She vanished off the face of the earth two days prior to our wedding and I couldn’t understand how a happy ever after could turn into such a mishap, a never-ending mystery. Everything was about to be picture perfect for me but for some vague reason, things went south, impelling me on a quest I never bargained for.
“I have a tip. It sounds promising but don’t get too excited, it may be another false lead.” Calvin dropped a file in my hands and took a seat facing me.
As I was examining the details in the folder, Luke walked in with two of my workers. Hugo and Pedro Hernandez were Mexican brothers who crossed borders for greener pastures. I bumped into them while interviewing potential bodyguards for Claire after Joanna’s sudden disappearance. Through the years, their loyalty was tested and proven; I trusted them with my life.
“Could you please brief me on this, I’m too tired to read,” I said, directing my gaze to where the brothers sat.
“Alright. This is David McCain, he’s the architect behind designing your former house. His family home was two houses away from yours. My sources tell me he may know something valuable because he was seen standing in front of your condo multiple times after the incident,” Pedro briefed me, flipping the file to a picture of the said man.
My breath caught in my throat, my fists tightening beside me. “He was standing there doing what?”
“Nothing, just staring.”
I shot up from my seat. “He better not have touched a hair on her head because so help me . . . We’re going to his house, I need to talk to him now!”
“Uhhh, that’s not going to be possible, at least not for now.” Hugo’s words halted my steps. “He bolted, his wife says he packed a duffle bag and fled the house. He thinks his life is in danger.”
I pinched my nose and took a deep breath as I eased back into my seat. “In danger? Why? Did she talk to anyone else about this?”
“He didn’t explain anything to her but she called the police, obviously,” Calvin answered.
“How come we’re finding out about this now? On her third anniversary. This would have been so much more helpful if we interrogated the guy years ago.” I smacked my fist on the table, biting my inner cheek and drawing blood from it, leaving a metallic taste in my mouth.
We stumbled into several leads over the years but all turned out to be dead ends. It was always exciting and promise-looking at first but emotionally draining afterward. I was enervated by the cycle, the second-guessing, the false hope. But somehow, I still couldn’t get myself to stop, to give up on her.
“Dude, relax.” Calvin squeezed my shoulder, his eyes boring into mine. “We can’t do anything to change how things happened but we can find answers. I know how we can find him.”
* * *
When Kayleigh offered to take me out for lunch in the company of Shannon and the boys, I didn’t think twice. I would have spent the day drinking and sulking about Joanna like every other first of September anyway.
Drumming my fingers on the table, I tried to wrap my mind around Shannon’s whereabouts. An hour passed without any sign of her and numerous unanswered calls had been placed before her cellphone went off. Her mother notified us that she left for work hours ago but her workmate Jennifer claimed she never set foot at work. I couldn’t help the sick feeling in my stomach, something was wrong.
“Can you call her father?” I asked Kayleigh who bobbed her head before hurriedly dialing his number and explaining our predicament.
“Matthew took her to who knows where and they can’t track him. He’s going to hurt her,” she cried out, shoving her face into her hands.
My heart stopped. I whipped my head around the full cafe, the room suddenly going quiet. Luke’s hand slapped my back to bring my attention back to them. His lips were moving but I could hear no words. All I could think of was how I was going to find her and keep her safe.
My eyes shut close, trying to shake off the negative ideas playing in my head. I shouldn’t have gotten close to her nor built little hopes and feelings for her. I knew I couldn’t take another misfortune because the thought of losing her brought tears to my eyes, it would shatter my world into unsalvageable pieces.
“Lionel!” Calvin yelled, snapping me out of my panic-stricken speculations. “You just went blank.”
“We have to find her.” I jumped to my feet and scurried out of the restaurant like a hunted man. Seconds later, they were all jumping into the car with me. I placed a call to the Hernandez brothers, asking them to dig up everything they could on Matthew Morgan and his family. Kayleigh made another call to Shannon’s father but there was still no news so we sped through traffic to drop her off.
When we arrived at my investigation office house, Hugo and Pedro already had the information I needed. I hurriedly dived into the record, analyzing it page to page. His family’s history was appalling because none of them ever set foot in a prison cell despite the feds having various undercover agents tailing them. One way or the other, they would vanish with everything they had, leaving no form of evidence behind. The cycle happened multiple times, especially when plans to bring them in were underway. It was bizarre.
“There’s a mole in the FBI,” I said, darting my eyes to the unfazed men in the room.
“That’s no shocker. The only shocker will be when we find out who he is.” I nodded in agreement to Pedro’s statement.
Luke leaned forward, his eyes full of uncertainty as he asked, “So, what do we do with this information? Are we going to collaborate with her father?”
“Of course not. That would be a bad move on our part. We’ll handle things our way. Find her our way.” I typed her number on my computer and turned on the phone locater. When the dots stopped jumping and her location displayed on the screen, my jaw dropped.
