Chapter One
The Manuscript
Saturday, October 25th, 2014 9:15 PM
Eve Dent placed the receiver back on the cradle and sat back in her chair. Rain pelted her office window and flashes of lightening illuminated her dark office. The rumble of thunder could be heard off into the distant night. Her desk light flickered. It would be her luck that she would be stuck in her office on the tenth floor in complete darkness if the power went out. She was always meaning to buy a flashlight in case of this very situation. Like everything she did thinking and doing were two separate issues. Her mother always said she procrastinated. Call it optimism, why worry about tomorrow if nothing ever bad happens. Taking a bottle of Jack Daniels from her bottom desk drawer she smiled. Mother was right. Bad things do happen and she was not prepared to face it. Unscrewing the top from the bottle she took a sip. The burning amber liquid slid down her parched throat.
Folders filled the corner of her desk. Manuscripts that needed her attention. She wanted to pick them up and throw them into the wastebasket. The urge for a cigarette was maddening. Five months, three days and 16 hours since her last smoke. Tonight might end her winning streak. What was the point? Death is inevitable. She watched as Alzheimer's stole her father away from her and shortly after her mom died of cancer. The proverbial clock kept ticking by and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Time ran out for her father and her mother. Now it came calling once again like a forgotten friend from her past.
The desk phone rang. Her eyes began to blur from hours and hours of underlining passages and scribbling notes in the margins. Her publisher, Dana Bowright sent an email earlier that day stressing the importance to both her job and the fate of the publishing house if she did not finish the manuscripts on her desk. Eve had fallen behind on several projects and Dana wanted to give her a gentle reminder that Hayden and Ross is a publishing house and they had to have manuscripts to publish in order to make money. The message was clear.
“Hello.” Rubbing her eyes she cradled the phone
The man’s voice on the phone was one she did not recognize. It had a deep smooth tone and its cadence was of authority. The voice of a cop. Horrific scenarios filled her with anxiety as she waited for the reason he would be calling so late.
“ Is this Ms. Eve Dent?” pause.
“Yes.” The rain seemed to become louder as it hit her office window. Tap, Tap, Tap.
“Ms. Dent I am Detective Ross Fletcher with the Caruther’s Mills Police Department.” Pause.
“Is it my brother?” She heard the brief edge of hysteria in her voice.
Tommy had been in trouble with the law for as long back as Eve could remember. The first time he was arrested was in the sixth grade for vandalism, then he was picked up for stealing a pack of gum from the neighborhood 7 Eleven. This was the beginning of endless phone calls in the middle of the night requesting one of my parents to come down to the station to pick him up. Eve loved her younger brother but she never felt as though he cared about anything or anyone besides himself. Her parents took him to several psychologists hoping that they could figure out why he had such a destructive streak running through him. Sessions were very expensive and his behavior did not improve so they eventually stopped taking him.
Eve had not seen Tommy for several months. Then one night he came to her house asking if he could borrow money. She invited him, made him coffee and demanded to know what the money was for. He claimed to have borrowed $800 from some guy his friend introduced him to. When she asked what the money was for he simply said he needed it. Now the guy was coming to collect and Tommy did not have it to pay back. . Eve did not have the full amount but gave him what she could. That was the last she saw of him.
During the final weeks her mother was alive she would ask Eve about her brother. Eve would hold her hand and tell her that he was fine. When Eve was growing up her mother could always tell when Eve was not being truthful. Eve saw that look in her mother’s eye as she held her small cold hand. The last day that her mother was coherent enough to sit up and speak she told Eve that when she was gone she would have to look out for Tommy. Eve said she would and then watched as the hours slipped past and her mother slipped away. Tommy never once visited their mother and for that she could not forgive him for.
“Ms. Dent, how well did you know Wade Osborne?” Right to the point.
The email popped into her mind.
“Wade? He was one of my clients. What happened? Is he alright?” Eve was sickened by the overwhelming feel of relief.
“I am sorry to inform you that Mr. Osborne was found dead in his apartment earlier this evening.”
Eve had watched enough crime shows on television to know. She was a suspect.
“Do you know how he died?” Forcing concern back into her voice.
“Not yet. Won’t know until after the autopsy.One of your business cards was found in his pants pocket.”
Cradling the receiver she bent down and retrieved her Iphone from her purse on the floor. Entering her passcode she opened her home screen and tapped on the email icon.
“I need to ask for you to come down to the station in the morning to answer a few questions.”
“Of course whatever I can do to help”. Eve said.
“If you could be there at 9 a.m.?”
Scrolling through numerous emails she located what she was looking for. It had been sent the day before. In the subject line was typed “Manuscript Draft One”.
“Ms. Dent. Are you alright?” The voice on the phone brought Eve back to the present.
“Yes. Sorry. I will see you tomorrow. Thank you detective”. She ended the call.
Opening the email she read.
Eve,
The manuscript is almost finished. I have some loose ends to wrap up. The first draft should be on your desk in the next couple of days. I told you there was nothing to worry about. I found a connection. You won’t believe what I found out.
Wade
The prompt came on her screen asking if she wanted to delete the message. She selected NO and closed her email. Booting up her MAC she opened the folder labeled “Open Projects”. Scrolling through the sub folders she found the one with Wade’s name on it. Clicking on the folder icon the screen filled with the proposal that was sent to Eve three months back. Briefly skimming over the text her eyes fell to a passage that sent chills up her spine. It was a copy of a police report about the disappearance of a 21 year old male who disappeared from a local country bar. In the margin Wade typed “see below”. Reading further she came to four separate articles about similar disappearances of teenagers within the last six years. Each disappeared from a bar or party and was never seen again. Wade’s proposal was to find out if each case was a separate crime or if there might be a common thread that connects all of them. What loose ends did he have to wrap up? What connection did he find out? Then she startled herself when the silence in the office was interrupted by her own laughter. It was almost 10 p.m., she was tired and jumping to wild conclusions and conspiracy theories. She logged off her computer and put it into her carrying case. The cause of death hadn’t been discovered and wouldn’t be until the autopsy was completed. She would know more after speaking to the Detective in the morning. Picking up her purse, throwing the strap of her computer carrying case over her shoulder she turned off the desk lamp and left her office.
The drive home was robotic. How she got from her office to her driveway was like waking from a dream. She remembered getting into the car and inserting the key into the ignition but everything in between was unclear. Her last conversation with Wade kept running through her mind. The Detective stated that the cause of death was still under investigation. Eve had read many manuscripts from crime writers and the authorities did not investigate a death unless there was a reason . She replayed the email message over and over as she approached her front door.
Eve had moved into the 2300 square foot, three bedroom Dutch Colonial, after joining Hayden and Ross. The house was in foreclosure and was taken over by the bank six months prior to Eve discovering it on Hubzu.com. Moving from job to job and apartment to apartment she decided after taking the copywriter position that it was time to settle down. She registered on Hubzu to tour the home. Two days later she was contacted by the agent and toured the home. The floor plan was more space than Eve needed but the openness of each room and the beautiful hand scraped dark mahogany hardwood floors in the living room and dining area was what sold her. The house sat on 2.5 acres of land, mostly woods, which could be enjoyed by the large wooden deck located off of the kitchen. Stainless steel appliances and black granite counter tops finished off the large kitchen. Eve felt at home for the first time since she left the house she grew up in, and decided to bid on the house. The agent told her the asking price was $198,000 and that she could draw up the paperwork that afternoon at her office. Eve knew that she could not afford it on her $34,000 salary and thanked the agent for her time and that she needed to think it over. She was too proud and a little embarrassed to tell the Realtor that she could not afford it. The agent gave her a business card and told her that with the price on the house being so low that it would not be on the market for long. Six months ago it was originally listed, Eve thought to herself, what is one more night?
Taking off her black licorice Kate Spade shoes and leaving them at the door she walked into the kitchen and opened the wine fridge she had installed as a gift to herself once she received the Literary Agent position. Removing a bottle of Penfold Carbernet-Shiraz Bin 389 she placed it on the counter, removed the cork, and poured a glass. Taking the half glass of wine she opened the door to the back deck and walked out into the muggy fall night. Crickets and firefly's filled the night with their light show and music as she sat down in the Saltram Lounge chair. Motion sensors triggered the lights that she had installed around the perimeter of her yard. The woods were so dark and dense that she always felt like something was watching her from the dark. Paranoia was not something she suffered from but ever since she first looked out the kitchen window to the woods the day she first toured the home the feeling remained. Until she purchased the outside lighting and had it installed she would not sit on the deck after dark. Though the added expense was beyond her budget she had to make the sacrifice.
Listening to the night around her she felt the stress of the day subside. She had no idea what to expect the next morning being interviewed by the detective. Or was it being interrogated? Anxiety refused to enter her body as the smooth dry wine filled her with warmth and calmed her.
Ever since she received the call from the Detective she thought only how the death of one of her clients affected her. Wade was a good writer, new to the trade, but showed great promise. It was a tragedy that a young man’s life would be taken from him. The detective would ask her all kinds of questions about their relationship both professionally and non professionally. Truth be told she knew very little about Wade. He was single, wrote early in his career for a small newspaper, but that was the extent of her knowledge about the dead writer.
Taking her phone from her skirt pocket she scrolled through her contacts. Selecting Jason’s number from the list she placed the call.
The phone rang three times before a male voice answered. Loud music and female voices could be heard laughing and singing in the background.
“VanHorn.” Flat slightly annoyed.
“Jason it is Eve. Hope I am not interrupting anything.” The accusatory sound in her voice made her shudder.
“Hey boss, just a couple of drinks with friends. What’s up?” She could hear him telling someone to be quiet that his boss was on the phone. The female voice replied to tell the caller to fuck off.
“Sounds like fun. I didn’t know if you heard but Wade Osborne was found dead in his apartment tonight.”
“Shit. Was he murdered?” The background sound started to lessen as she assumed he walked out of the bar or away from the crowd he was with.
“Not sure until the autopsy is performed. I have to go speak to Detective Fletcher in the morning.” She sipped her wine.
“How did they make the connection between Osborne and you?” car horns in the background placed Jason in the parking lot.
“One of my business cards were found on the body.” She paused letting that sink in. “I need for to you find out more about the manuscript he was working on. I have no idea what this Detective Fletcher is going to ask but he will try to connect anything in Wade’s life to a possible motive for his death.” Eve emptied the glass of the rest of the red wine.
“I will get started in the morning. Call me when you get done with the Detective. Get some rest tomorrow is going to be a stressful day.” Jason said with concern in his voice.
“Thank you. I will call you tomorrow. Jason, I need for you to dig deep. He emailed me a couple of days ago stating he was almost finished with the manuscript and that he had to tie of some loose ends. Find out what those loose ends were and if there is a finished manuscript the police will have it on his laptop. I won’t have access to that laptop since it is evidence of a crime.” Her pulse began to quicken and she had to fight the urge to go back into the kitchen and refill her glass.
“I will let you know what I find. If there is any connection between the two you will be the first to know. I also will do a background check on Detective Fletcher.”
“Thank you Jason. Keep this between us. Talk to you tomorrow. Please be careful.” He agreed and ended the call.
She washed out the glass and placed in the sink. Turning off the lights in the kitchen she walked upstairs to her bedroom. The scent of vanilla and lavender filled the room as she entered the master bathroom suite and started to get ready for bed. She removed the diamond earrings, silver necklace and rings and placed them in the jewelry box sitting on the makeup counter. Turning on the shower she disrobed and walked in under the warm water letting it travel over her body rinsing away all the tension of the day. Toweling off she wrapped herself in a light blue Olivia Kimono bathrobe and walked into her bedroom.
Sitting on the edge of her bed she took the tube of Oil of Olay lotion from the night stand and place a dab in her palm and worked it into her dry hands. Thinking back to the last time she met with Wade in her office, trying to uncover anything that would have led to his death. The project was investigating the disappearance of six college students in Georgia and North Carolina all with similar details on when and where they were abducted. She shook her head, placed the tube of cream back in her nightstand and laid down.
Turning off the light she laid awake for it seemed hours until finally exhaustion overcome her and she finally fell asleep. The dreams started as soon as REM sleep took over.
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