Debra Webb - Colby Rebuilt

Elaine gestured to the younger woman beside her and said, “I believe Darla is ready to take over on Monday, if that’s agreeable.”

Today was Friday the tenth, and Darla had worked a full two months under Elaine’s tutelage to learn the ropes of being the receptionist for the Colby Agency, a job that entailed far more than merely answering the telephone and greeting visitors.

“You’re absolutely right,” Victoria concurred. “I’ve been very impressed with your progress, Darla.”

The agency’s newest employee blushed. Only twenty-two, this was Darla’s first job since graduating college. Her father was a longtime friend, who owned one of Victoria’s favorite restaurants. Victoria was more than glad to bring his lovely daughter on board. Darla, who wanted no part of the family business, made a fine addition to the agency’s staff. In the past seven months, since getting business back up to full steam, they had gone through three trainees. Two had realized, within a week of starting, that the job was more then they could handle. The third, very promising candidate had been forced to leave after her fiancé had been reassigned to his company’s Tokyo office.

Darla, however, had proven unshakable. She rolled with the punches and didn’t let anything undermine her confidence. Now that Victoria thought about it, the nice young lady would be the perfect match for Ben.

“I’ll be moving on to research…” Elaine went on, prodding Victoria back to the business at hand, “as soon as I’m back from my honeymoon.”

More romance in bloom. A definite cause for celebration. Elaine and Brad Gibson were getting married next week. She would be working alongside her new husband in the agency’s research group. This wasn’t the first married couple to be employed by the Colby Agency. Nicole Reed and Ian Michaels had been successfully working together for years. In actuality the entire agency was like one big family. A feat that was a matter of pride to Victoria.

“Excellent.” Victoria thought of her own husband, Lucas Camp, who was out of town yet again on business. She missed him when he was gone. Thankfully, he would be home this evening.

Mildred Ballard, Victoria’s personal assistant and dear friend, stuck her head through the open doorway. “Detective Brandon Bailen is here to see you, Victoria.”

“Thank you, Mildred. Tell Detective Bailen I’ll be right with him.” Victoria shifted her attention back to Elaine and Darla. “Why don’t you take the rest of the day off, Elaine? Darla can manage without you, and I’m certain you have a million and one things to do.”

Elaine’s face lit up. “Thank you, Victoria.”

The two hurried away and Victoria couldn’t help feeling a bit nostalgic. Where had the years gone? She was a grandmother. Her son was happy with his lovely wife and beautiful baby girl. Another grandchild was on the way. Victoria sighed. Everything was changing, maybe a little too fast, but all for the good.

She rose as her visitor from the Chicago Police Department reached her door.

“Detective Bailen, this is an unexpected pleasure.”

Bailen strode straight to Victoria’s desk and took the hand she offered. “It’s very good to see you, Victoria. The new place—” he glanced around her office “—is very elegant. It suits you.”

“Thank you. We’re still settling in.” But she sensed this was not a social call, so she got straight down to business. “How may I help you this afternoon?”

“I have some rather belated and unsettling details from the lab regarding your former business address.”

“Please—” Victoria gestured to a chair “—make yourself comfortable, Detective.”

When Victoria had taken her seat, Bailen settled into his. From his weary expression she surmised that whatever he had come to report was not something he looked forward to passing along.

“We’ve just learned that the human remains discovered in the rubble of the Colby Agency building belonged to two different people.”

His revelation sent a shock wave through Victoria. “Two? Was there another perpetrator involved that we didn’t know about?” Elaine and Brad had barely survived that final night in the Colby Agency’s former home. One of the perps who had tried to kill them had been murdered by his own people and left in the building. Additionally, the three musicians the agency had hired had been murdered in their van in the parking lot. But, so far as they knew, no one else had died inside the building except the one man. This revelation didn’t quite add up.

Bailen’s expression showed his own frustration. “According to the three convicted perps sitting in prison, there was only the four of them. The remains of their dead partner, as you know, were recovered a few weeks after the explosion.”

Victoria didn’t understand. “So, if there was no one else in the building, how could there be remains from two people?”

“I wish I knew. All I can tell you is that there were two distinct sets of remains. Unfortunately, the second set of remains was separated from the first due to a simple human error, which caused the lab initially to report on only the one. Apparently, a recent inventory uncovered the glitch, and additional testing was done to confirm the error.”

“You’re certain—” Victoria hated to broach the idea but there was certainly just cause to be skeptical “—that the lab didn’t make a mistake in where these particular remains came from?” After all, nearly a year had passed.

“We’re certain,” he assured her. “The trace evidence on the remains conclusively confirms where they were discovered.”

“Do we have any idea who this person was?” The idea that remains were discovered in the rubble didn’t guarantee that the individual had been in the building to visit the Colby Agency. A number of other businesses had been housed at that location, as well.

“Rebecca Brooks. Dental records confirmed her identity.” Bailen seemed to consider the name before he continued. “We have reason to believe she was in the building to see someone in the Colby Agency. Part of the basis for that conclusion is related to several calls to your agency that showed up on the cellular records of her boyfriend. The calls were made during times that FBI surveillance puts the two of them together. But the primary rationale is that she was about to go into the Witness Security Program related to the Horizon Software case. We feel she may have felt the need for the kind of support you provide your clients.”

Victoria was vaguely familiar with the Horizon Software case. Considering Ms. Brooks’s situation prior to her death, Victoria could see how the detective had come to the conclusion that she had contacted the Colby Agency. Someone about to go into Witness Security wouldn’t likely be making investments or purchasing insurance. None of the other businesses housed in the building that was the agency’s former home would offer much to anyone in that position…except for the Colby Agency. Using her boyfriend’s phone would certainly have provided some anonymity in her efforts to reach out under the circumstances.

Still, the conclusion was more hunch than fact. “I’d like the name of her boyfriend, if possible.”

“Jason Mackey.”

Recognition nudged Victoria. Jason Mackey was one of the musicians murdered in the parking lot only hours before the explosion. Victoria hadn’t known him personally as she had the other two members of the trio. Mackey had been a last-minute stand-in with the group Mildred had hired to provide entertainment for the annual Colby Agency Christmas party. The idea that Mackey wasn’t a regular member of the band and that his girlfriend had been about to testify in a federal court case hardly seemed a chance occurrence, but wasn’t totally outside the realm of possibility.