Read In the Shadow of Love Online
Authors: Annie Bruce
“The middle of where?” His voice became even surlier, if that was possible.
“That’s not what I meant.” Pausing to catch her breath, Maggie was flustered and knew she must have sounded horribly scatter-brained to the homicide detective on the other end. “I meant half way between my home and the station. That way neither of us is tied up in traffic.”
Back at his desk, Morris let out a sigh of exasperation, unconcerned if the woman became offended. The CPD was constantly criticized in the media for its lack of public relations but Morris was finding it a challenge to support the mandate recently set by the Chief, whose words echoed in his brain as a warning. “Treat all complaints with the utmost sincerity and priority.” Too bad the Chief didn’t understand how unrealistic that was and right now, just how frustrating.
Not knowing where the crazy woman on the phone lived he decided to offer up a random location to see how she responded. “I’ll meet you at Dave’s place on Fourth and Main.”
“That’s still too far downtown.”
“Look lady, I don’t have time to play games here.”
“I’m not playing games, Detective—er—Morris – is it? It’s just that I don’t usually go downtown, especially this time of day given all the traffic. Certainly, you know what Chicago traffic is like.”
“Okay, Ma’am, where do you suggest?” He thought it best to try a different approach.
He heard her take a deep breath.
“How about meeting at Florina’s?”
Fancy! “Look, Miss–” He paused to see if she’d give up her name. “I need to know more information before I go anywhere. Do you know the name of the person who was allegedly killed?”
“Owen Cassidy.”
“That’s been ruled a suicide, ma’am.” He kept his tone even, cautious.
“Oh, but it isn’t. I know it isn’t.”
Intriguing! Maybe he did need to meet this woman in person. He recalled the case from the morning report indicating that it was ready to be closed as soon as the county coroner completed the autopsy – standard procedure. It wasn’t his case. Still, he could follow up and hand over the report to the primary.
“Okay, Florina’s it is.” He was willing to agree to almost anything to move the conversation along. “How about an hour from now?” He needed time to dig up as much background information as he could before he walked into anything that had Geridano’s fingerprints all over it.
“Okay, in an hour.” Her sigh of relief echoed across the phone wires leaving him with a tingling sensation. This strange and out-of-the-blue call was having an effect on him. For a moment, he felt more energized about his job, something that had been lost to him lately.
Back in the safety of her home, Maggie began to relax as she sat on her padded kitchen chair and felt the tension in her shoulders ease now that the meeting place had been arranged. Her brother would be at Florina’s today and she didn’t want to be alone in case something went wrong. “But what could go wrong?”
“Excuse me?” His tone told her she was babbling again.
“Oh, nothing,” She needed to learn to keep her thoughts to herself. Normally surrounded by nothing more than a sea of boxes containing documents as she worked alone, there wasn’t anybody around to notice if she talked to herself.
“I’ll see you in an hour. That gives me time to get ready.”
Back at the station, Morris sat up straight in his chair pressing one hand down on his desk. What was this - a date? “Ma’am, can I at least have your name?” When she didn’t respond he added, “How else will I know who to ask for?”
“Oh, of course,” Maggie fumbled with the phone and felt her face burn, this time from embarrassment, glad she was on the phone and not video conferencing as she often did with clients.
“My name is Maggie Faraday. Oh, and I’ll be wearing a blue pants suit, no make it a green one. Dark green!
“Tell you what, ma’am, just wait for me inside, I’ll be the one with the badge!” He hung up before she changed her mind yet again.
Leaning back in his chair, Morris replayed the conversation in his mind. With only ten minutes to gather information he pulled up the morning report and printed out the reference to Owen Cassidy.
Cause of death was listed as a gunshot wound to the head. A suicide note was found. He needed to see the note and the autopsy report but right now the only thing he could do was respond to the call.
And it was the most unusual call he’d taken since becoming a detective. He was afraid he was on his way to meet a certified nut. Although, for a possible nut case she had a very sexy voice, and
that
made him very curious – almost too curious.
“Don’t even go there old boy.” He chastised himself. It had been a long time since his divorce and since he’d had a date but he wasn’t about to start using witness call-ins as a dating service.
Maggie Faraday, indeed!
Chapter 2
Following up Morris made a note to ask the desk sergeant why the call was transferred to him. For a matter that was considered resolved it was turning out to be anything but. Alarm bells went off that this could be a ruse, but he knew that if he didn’t show up to meet a potential witness and it turned out to be a real lead, heads would roll. Primarily his! Not following up on a lead would have been out of character for Morris, but taking precautions wasn’t.
“Better check this one out.” His voice broke into the silence around him.
Pushing a button on his telephone he searched for the number of the slightly crazy woman with the sexy voice. It proved to be a dead end since the call had been transferred. He couldn’t get her number without alerting the desk sergeant, something he wasn’t ready to do just yet.
Turning to his computer he used a special law enforcement database to look up her name. Her phone number soon followed with other statistical data about Maggie Faraday, but the only thing he proved to himself was that a person named Maggie Faraday did exist. For all he knew, she could be a criminal using stolen identification.
“Well, let’s just hope she didn’t lie about her name,” he muttered looking at the address–Canyon View Lane. “Hmm. Nice neighborhood too.”
“You talking to yourself again Morris or do you want to have a meaningful conversation?” A derisive tone punctuated Geridano’s words as he walked towards his own desk.
Biting his lip, Morris chastised himself for becoming too lax around Geridano, who had only been in the unit for less than a year. He could tell early on that the older detective, who had unexpectedly been reassigned to the district, was someone he never wanted to trust completely.
Refocusing his attention he quickly scanned the search results finding out what he could about the intriguing Maggie Faraday without anyone – especially Geridano – interfering.
“Focus, Morris, focus.” He really did talk to himself too much but he’d rather talk to himself than anyone else.
Resuming his computer search he explored the territory known as cyberspace. If people only knew how much digital information was out there about them they’d be shocked. And the information wasn’t restricted to law enforcement. Anyone with a little knowledge and initiative – and sometimes money – could get just about anything on just about anyone.
One of the few officers Morris respected worked in the Internet Sex Crimes Division (ISCD). Detective Samantha Johnson. He didn’t know how she could stomach it. Of course, she didn’t know how he could tolerate so much death working in homicide.
Too often she had to deal with lax parents who let their children wander the streets and corridors of cyberspace unattended, getting in over their heads. The most recent case involved a thirteen-year-old girl who ended up a thousand miles away in a hotel room with a convicted sex offender and much older man who rapped her. The parents hadn’t a clue until Detective Johnson showed them the electronic trail of love letters between the two. Of course, the girl thought she was talking to an eighteen-year-old boy, not a man of forty-six.
Starting with his favorite search engine he typed in Maggie Faraday – too many hits. Next, he refined his search to Maggie Faraday and Chicago.
“Well, well, well. Looks like Maggie Faraday
is
legit.”
“Like I said Morris, you need to get out more often. Seems the only person you can talk to is yourself.” Unexpectedly, Geridano’s voice broke his concentration.
But he was right. Morris didn’t trust anyone. Not anymore.
He continued to read about Maggie Faraday. Her picture was displayed prominently on the first page of her web site. “Not bad looking, either.”
“Did you say something, Detective?”
Carlton Davis stood before him, a wishful look on his face, the younger man eager to partner with him. Only thing was Morris didn’t want a partner. He didn’t want any partner. He worked alone – at least from now on.
He didn’t trust anyone enough to have them as a partner. Not since his was killed during a robbery gone bad and because his fellow officers were slow to back him up, and the fact that Smith was rumored to be on the take had a lot to do with it. He couldn’t prove it but in his gut he knew it was true. He could never forgive those officers for letting his partner and the force down and everyone in the district knew it.
Morris was in court that day testifying on another case and by the end of the day his partner was dead. Internal investigations proved inconclusive and the matter was relegated to the ‘in limbo’ status, meaning the investigation was effectively moth-balled.
“No, Davis, just talking to myself again.”
Disappointment spread across the younger man’s face as he walked away.
“Hey, Davis.”
The younger man turned back.
“Yes, Detective,” his tone eager but tense.
“Look, just call me Morris, okay?”
“Okay.” Davis relaxed a little, but only a little.
“What do you know about the,” Morris paused, pretending to look over his notes, “–the Cassidy case?”
“That’s the rich old guy up in Brentwood Heights who committed suicide.”
“When?” He asked the question even though he knew the answer.
“Yesterday.” Davis paused, waiting for more questions. When none were forthcoming he turned to leave. Stopping in his tracks just a few feet away he turned back.
“Only thing is, Fredericks who caught the initial call isn’t ready to rule it a suicide.”
That got Morris’ attention.
“Really. So, Fredericks has the case.”
Arnie Fredericks was okay. Morris didn’t know him well but knew he wasn’t involved in his partner’s death and that was a good start.
“Yeah, Fredericks and Jennings.”
Now Jennings was another matter. Jennings wouldn’t know a piece of evidence if it were in plain view. The only reason he was a detective was because his daddy was a local Alderman and everybody knew it – including Jennings. Morris just bet that Fredericks could use some help on this case, and this was just the opening he needed.
The call from Maggie Faraday was proving to be interesting after all and Morris could use an interesting case right now. Lately, nothing but drug-related deaths and gang homicides were coming across his desk and he was becoming weary of the daily frustrations associated with trying to investigate cases where despite numerous witnesses, nobody saw anything.
“Thank you Maggie Faraday.”
“Sorry, sir.”
Morris hadn’t realized Davis was still in hearing range. He was quiet – too quiet. And
that
made Morris suspicious. He didn’t know much about the younger detective who was still too new to the district to be a topic of the rumor mill.
“Nothing, Davis.”
He looked confused but Morris couldn’t deal with that right now. He had to leave if he wanted to make his meeting with the one and only Maggie Faraday. The day suddenly looked more promising.
On his way out he paused, “–and, Davis, if anyone asks, I’m out on a call.”
“Yes, sir!” He knew Davis also spent time in the army during the first gulf war and the discipline typical of military personnel still hadn’t worn off. It wasn’t unusual for law enforcement to attract military veterans given the similarities in training and missions. His military experience was one of the few things he knew about the younger detective, and one of the few things they had in common.
Morris rarely shared where he was going with anyone, except the desk sergeant. Perhaps Davis would prove useful. The younger detective seemed to know what was going on around the station and was eager to help – another reason Morris was suspicious. But he just might be a good source of intelligence from time to time, especially when it came to keeping an eye on Geridano.
Preoccupied with his thoughts Morris didn’t notice the older detective around the corner of the building watching him as he left the station.
A cloud of smoke spiraled up above Geridano’s head as he stood out of Morris’ view and watched him pull away in his unmarked vehicle. Tossing his unfinished cigarette carelessly to the ground, he decided to follow the arrogant detective and see what he was up to.
He didn’t like Morris and he knew the feeling was mutual. Morris was too by-the-book, made the rest of them look bad, didn’t know how to relax. Took the surprise birthday party with the call girl all wrong. Even complained to the boss. Said Geridano better stay out of his personal business or else. Well, nobody threatened Geridano. Nobody!
Less than a mile away, Morris maneuvered his vehicle through the inner city and towards the near north suburbs, a place rarely visited. Even though the area was still under the jurisdiction of the CPD, the crime rate was fairly low and needed minimal police support.
Over the past ten years a number of young entrepreneurs started a revival in the area that kept growing and it was now one of the more desired places to live. The plan was for this area to have its own police force, but politics and budget cuts had gotten in the way and halted any progress.
Leaving the inner city behind was a welcoming break from his usual routine. Catching the call that day was proving to be beneficial but he needed to wait until after he met with the reluctant-to-talk-on-the-phone Maggie Faraday to see if it really was a lucky break.