Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
E lliot walked over to the bar cart and glanced at its contents. He opened the doors on the bottom of the cart and withdrew a new bottle of brandy. After examining the seal for any indication of tampering, he opened it.
“Why are you opening a new bottle? There’s plenty left in the decanter,” Maya asked from the couch.
He turned around to drop the bomb he’d found out about while he was at Guardian headquarters. “We got the lab results back for the bottled water in your office. The ones that were opened. There was enough GHB in each bottle to knock out an elephant. An amount that could have killed you.”
“Killed me?” Maya’s hand flew to her chest, and she closed her eyes. Elliot made his way over to her and kneeled in front of her. When his hands touched hers, Maya’s eyes popped open. “Why?”
“I wish I knew. There were no prints on the bottles other than mine. I picked up each one to examine the seal.”
“GHB is a date rape drug, right?” Maya asked, and he nodded. She shivered a bit, and her eyes misted, but she lifted her chin. She drew a sharp breath and stated, “Well, screw whoever is doing this. They won’t stop me from living my life and doing what I need to do.”
Elliot felt a small burst of pride at her bravado. “There you go. Don’t let this get you down. Just to be safe, we’ll empty anything that’s been opened, including food. We don’t know what the person who was here did or why, so we won’t take any chances.”
She nodded. “What can I do to help?”
“First, you can wash your brandy snifter, then take a good stiff drink. After that, you can help me pour all that alcohol down the drain.” He nodded toward the liquor cart. “Then we’ll clean out the kitchen and order dinner. By then, the investigators should have your room processed.”
“That’s good. A plan. I like that.” She nodded and stared at him. “I won’t let whoever is doing this to me win.”
“Nor will I. Together, we’ll get through this, and at some point, it’ll make sense.” He squeezed her hand and stood up.
She stood with him and walked over to the bar cart to retrieve a brandy snifter. She looked from the glass to him. “I’m going to hold you to that.” She went into the kitchen, and he loaded his arms with bottles, following her. He set the first load down and took the snifter from her after she’d washed it. He poured her a drink and waited for her to take a long sip. She coughed and tapped her chest near her throat. “Oh, smooth.”
Elliot laughed and grabbed all but two open bottles. “Get those, will you?”
“Sure,” she said and coughed again.
They poured all the liquor down the drain and then washed out the decanters with plenty of soap and hot water. He laughed at her when she played in the water, holding the decanters underwater as the bubbles gurgled to the surface. They moved from that project to cleaning out all the opened food in the fridge and cupboards. He doubted anyone had taken the time to tamper with the food because all the rage seemed to be targeted at the bedroom. Silas and his partner, who she’d found out was named Rob, had thoroughly inspected all the other rooms, including his, and noticed nothing out of the ordinary.
Elliot kept Maya occupied while the investigators searched for the less noticeable trace evidence. Some rage incidents targeted at personal items such as clothing and a bed had a sexual element. They were using UV lighting in her room to determine whether there were any … samples left.
Silas stayed with Maya while Rob went down to retrieve their dinner when it arrived. Elliot made his way into the bedroom. “About done?” he asked as he entered.
“We are. Just making sure our evidence is initialed and logged. Ms. Callahan has brown hair, right?”
Elliot nodded. “She does. What did you find?”
The man held up a small bag. “Blonde or maybe white hairs. Three of them. Two from the bed and one from the destroyed clothing. Plus, we have a couple of smudged prints. I think maybe the perp damaged their gloves with all the cutting going on. We found a small drop of blood near the door. I cut out the fibers of the carpet with the blood and collected them, and we’ll send that to the lab. There wasn’t any semen, so sexual gratification wasn’t the goal here.” He looked around at the mess. “Besides that, whoever did this was pretty clean.”
“Silas said he sent in the video he got from the lobby,” Elliot told them.
“Good. I’m going to look at their logbook, too. If the person signed in, we might get something from their handwriting. It's a long shot, but Ross said we’re balls to the wall on this one.”
“Thank him for me, will you?”
“Honestly, everyone in the section would go over the edge for you, sir.” The guy put his evidence in his kit and looked up at Elliot. “You’ve made a name for yourself.” He chuckled. “And everyone has your last KO in the ring on their phones.”
Elliot barked out a laugh. “Dude had a freaking glass jaw. How could he not know that?”
“Well, he does now.” The investigator laughed as he stood up. “Ready to go, Mark?”
“Yep,” the other man stood up. “But if you ever want to get back in the ring, I’m ready for a go.”
Elliot shook his head. “Not sure I’ll ever step back into the ring.”
“Well, then, I could use a coach,” Mark said. “And being coached by the best would be quite the coup.”
“Thanks, but I work out of Colorado. Unless you move base camp …” Elliot left the statement hanging as he thought about moving to New York. He could see himself moving. That thought struck hard.
“Nope. Don’t figure I’ll ever leave this city. It’s in my blood.” Mark extended his hand. “Would love to spar with you if you have the time, though.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Elliot shook the man’s hand and escorted them to the elevator. Maya was in the kitchen, so Silas and Rob headed down with the investigators, who were leaving for the night. Elliot waited until the elevator hit the ground floor, then walked into the kitchen.
Maya was sitting on the counter, swirling the small amount of brandy left in her snifter. Their dinner was on the table, waiting for them. She slid off the counter. “Has everyone left?”
“They have.” Elliot took off his jacket, draping it over a chair at the table. He loosened his tie and rolled up his sleeves.
“Silas told me you were a fighter. MMA?”
Elliot chuckled. “Not really. Guardian trains all their operatives in multiple disciplines, so mixed martial arts was a natural outcome. One of the lead people in Domestic Operations started a tournament. She established brackets for each of the sections and then a championship for the winners of each division. It was pretty tame. Points for touches, kicks, no choke holds or debilitating aggressiveness. We pulled our punches for the most part. Love taps. Sometimes, it got heated, but for the most part, no one was injured too badly. Well, not on purpose, anyway.”
He pulled the chair out for her, and she sat down. “Did you enjoy fighting?”
“Enjoy it?” Elliot considered that for a moment as he took a seat. “I enjoy the physicality of the disciplines. Actually being in a ring against an opponent? The adrenaline spike is real, and finding out how good you are is validating, but do I enjoy fighting? No.” She nodded and stabbed half-heartedly at her salad. “After dinner, I’ll go clean up your room.”
Her head jerked up. “No, I can do that. I need to see what clothes I have left.” She chuckled sadly. “Olivia is always telling me I need to step up my fashion. Maybe I’ll do that now.”
Elliot smiled at her. “No, you won’t.”
She smiled. “You’re right. I just can’t imagine spending that much money on clothes when I can find nice things off the rack. I mean, sure, designer clothes make a statement, but I could spend that money investing in my company, my people, or other ventures.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you have a soft heart?” Elliot asked as he cut the steak he’d ordered.
Maya snorted. “Tell that to the person who painted my walls.” She pointed toward the bedroom with her fork.
Elliot rolled his eyes. “That person has some extreme mental issues. I’ve seen it several times. You removed an executive and gave him double compensation. You were talking to Jessica and told her about the bonus you gave to your logistics personnel. You’ve got people who would go to the wall for you, and you treat them well. That says a lot about you as a person.”
She shrugged. “I told you my dad worked two jobs, right?”
“You did.”
“Well, he told me about the times he was treated well. I asked him why that was important to him. He said he left me alone to work, which was hard for him. That was a sacrifice he made, and when his employers noticed when he did well and rewarded him—with money, a letter, or even a pat on the back—it made the sacrifice a little less painful. I remembered that.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And yet you said money makes you happy.”
She lifted her head. “It does.”
Realization dawned on him. “Because you can afford to do things for the people who work for you.”
She smiled at him. “I’m not a saint. I use my money for myself, too—this apartment, for example.”
“Which you bought from a foreclosure and saved a million dollars on,” he reminded her.
She made a face at him. “Well, really, who can resist a bargain?”
He laughed at her, and she broke out in a grin. He realized that not only was he attracted to the beautiful woman sexually, but he liked her. Straight-out enjoyed spending time with her. Who she was and what she did mattered. That was a revelation.
They visited over dinner, and when they were done, she drew a deep breath. “Okay, so I need to find out if I have clothes to wear tomorrow.”
“Then let’s do it.” Elliot walked with her to her bedroom and opened the door. She moved through the room.
“Did you notice …” She turned and looked around her room.
“What?” Concern punched him in the gut. What had they missed?
“All these clothes are my work clothes … business suits, skirts, shirts, my shoes.” She picked up a pair that had one heel snapped off. She walked to the closet and opened the door wider. Her gowns were untouched. She made her way over to her dresser set and opened the bottom drawers. “None of the clothes I wear for special events or here at home were touched.” She frowned and looked at him. “That’s weird, isn’t it?”
He nodded and pulled his phone out, texting Ross about her observation: “It’s something that can be added to the evidence they found.”
“What was that? The evidence?” she asked as she rummaged around in her dresser.
“A couple hairs, a small drop of blood, and a couple of smeared prints. Not much,” Elliot admitted.
“Hmm …” Maya made a noise of acknowledgment as she started to stack clothes on top of the dresser. “I can wear casual clothes tomorrow. The office isn’t open for business, but I hate to set that example.” She lifted two pairs of jeans from the dresser. “Casual Saturdays. Is that a thing?”
He chuckled. “It is now. I’ll go to the kitchen and get some garbage bags.” She nodded and kept going through her things. He grabbed the entire box of bags and headed back to the room, where he found Maya kneeling on the floor.
“No, no, no … where is it?”
“What are you looking for?” Elliot was beside her in a second.
“My jewelry box. I kept it here.” The drawer she pointed to was empty, and she leaned forward on her hands and knees, looking through the shreds of clothing. “Oh, thank God.” She grabbed a small white box and opened it.
Elliot looked over her shoulder at the small trinkets inside. He kneeled on the floor with her. “What’s that?”
“A medal I received for a perfect 4.0 year my junior year in high school. My dad was so proud of me.” She put the medal on the top of the box. “This is my mom and dad.” She opened a small gold locket, and Elliot saw pictures of smiling twenty-somethings.
“They look happy.” He sat down beside her.
“They were. So happy. Love like they had was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.” She turned to look at him. “Mom told me she fell in love with Dad within a week of meeting him.” Maya smiled down at the locket. “Daddy said he did the same, but he didn’t want to scare Momma away, so they took the meandering road to marriage. It took them six months.” She laughed and closed the locket. “This is Mom’s wedding ring. Dad refused to pawn it when things got tough. This is the pearl bracelet her mother gave her on the day she was married.” Maya smiled at the small strand of pearls and the small, ruby-studded band.
“What’s that?” He motioned to a yellowing envelope at the bottom of the box.
Maya sighed. “This is a letter I wrote myself right after my dad died. The counselor I saw after he passed suggested it.” Taking it out of the box, she opened it and read it aloud to him.
Dear Maya,
You can and will get through this horrible period in your life. When you look back, someday you will only remember the good that came to you through your parents. Life is hard for everyone, but the people dedicated to making the world a better place and achieving their full potential are the ones who will succeed. I’m not going to lie to you, life will knock you down, but if you don’t get back up, you will never find the success you so desperately want. Don’t back down, but never lose your humanity. The world needs people who respect other people, and those people will need true leaders. Make Mom and Dad proud. I know you can do it.
The future you.
She folded the paper carefully and put it back in the box. “Young, idealistic, and all alone in the world.” She glanced over at him. “I met Olivia at an event the college put on. They invited some of their most successful alumni back for several seminars. She was encouraging but realistic. She gave this assignment. I’ll never forget it. It was, tell me exactly what steps you’re going to take when you graduate to further your dream for your reality.” Maya chuckled. “I worked on that assignment nonstop. It was as if someone had put her directly in my path for this one reason. I brainstormed, edited, refined, re-refined, and polished that presentation.” She moved to get more comfortable on the floor. “I gave it to her, and she looked at it for a long time, and without any emotion at all, she looked at me and said, ‘My dear, your dreams are too big.’ I was obliterated in that second. Then she put her hand on my arm and continued, ‘Too big to achieve by yourself. This is excellent work. You’ll need introductions and someone to open doors for you.’ She pulled out her card, wrote her cell phone number on the back, and gave it to me. She whispered, ‘Call me when you graduate. I’ll introduce you and open those doors, but the work is on you, and it won’t be easy. Be prepared to fight for what you want.’”
“So, you fought.” Elliot gently bumped her shoulder with his.
“I did.” She nodded. “I dedicated my life to my businesses.” She looked up and around her bedroom. “And then this happened.”
“This will pass.” He glanced up at the spray paint on the walls. “Shall we start cleaning up this mess?”
“Goodness, yes,” she said. Elliot stood up and offered her a hand. She looked up at him. “Thank you. You don’t have to do this. I’m sure cleaning up after maniacs isn’t in your job description.”
He reached out and ran his finger along her jaw. “I think you know you’re not the job anymore. This has become personal for me.”
She smiled at him. “It's personal for me, too, but it’s nice to hear you say it.”
He leaned down and kissed her. “I’ll say it as many ways as you want when we go to bed, but first …” He looked around the room.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Maya said, grabbing the cardboard box holding garbage bags. “You hold, I’ll stuff.”
He popped out a bag and opened the thing. “Ready when you are.”