Jane smiled sheepishly as the call ended. She was falling deeply for Jeff and she knew it.
“l should speak to dad too, it’s been a while,” she said to herself and dialed her father’s number.
Clinton Cole picked up immediately. “Ann! It’s butter bread!”
Jane heard her father calling out to her mother from the other end and chuckled. “Hello dad!” she giggled.
“My butter bread! It’s been a while. The whole mansion misses their queen. How have you been?” Cole asked.
“Up and well dad, how is mother? Is she still not going to talk to me? It’s almost a decade already!” Jane said.
“She missed you dearly, she wants you to come home.”
“I am actually thinking of coming over soon…”
“Are you really coming over this time around?” Her father cut in.
“Yes father… I need to talk to investigator Patrick. I have a case I want him to dig into,” Jane responded.
“Investigator Patrick? Why? Did you get into trouble? Are you hurt ? You should come home if things are difficult,” Cole advised worriedly.
“Not I, father, I want him to help a friend.” “Oh, I am relieved then. Let’s talk about it when you come.”
“Alright. I will keep you posted. Greet mum,” Jane said and hung up with a wide smile plastered on her face.
“I am really grateful for this. You are going all the way home because of me,” Lisa said as soon as Jane hung up.
“Oh Lisa, when did you return? How are the kids?”Jane questioned.
“They are fine. I just dropped them at school.” “Good. Do not put it in mind. It’s a good thing that I will be going home. It’s high time I did. Hope you slept well yesterday.”
“Yes I did, thanks for helping out with the kids yesterday. I spent some time with them this morning. l just realized it’s been a while since we did as a family.”
“Wow, good, I like that.”
“Let’s get something into our stomachs, I am damn hungry,” Lisa said and dragged her friend to the dinning. Margaret served breakfast and they ate.
“I think it would be preferable to involve a private investigator to investigate the arson case. I will get across to one of my childhood friends who is a private investigator. I can work alongside him. I don’t want to take up the case alone… It won’t do us any good if the whole story leaked out. The fire outbreak involved a newly designed machine that exploded. If rumors get out, it could affect the company adversely.” Jane suggested.
“You are right. We should look into it privately. I will go see my husband’s PA and the company’s lawyer today. I need to know what is at stake and the way forward. Just like you said, I should stand in gap till Alex recovers… I know you three are hiding Alex’s condition from me. I can feel it,” Lisa said.
“Oh, while you are at it, I should get going. I also need to visit a place downtown, I will be traveling home soon, I want all loose ends fixed.” Jane responded and intentionally skipped commenting on Lisa’s last statement.
Jane drove downtown. She alighted at Randy Bar and made her way in. “Welcome ma’am,”one of the waitresses greeted her and walked her in. She took her seat and ordered a soft drink. She was half way through when she beckoned the waitress.
“Please, I need your help.” She brought out Lisa’s picture and showed it to the waitress. “She was here some weeks back, did you see her?”
“Oh, sorry ma’am let me get my colleague, I just resumed here a few days ago,” the waitress said.
The waitress beckoned another waiter. Fortunately, the waiter was the one that served Lisa that night. He recognized Lisa instantly from the picture.
“Oh! Yes! I saw her that night. She was outstandingly gorgeous. Almost every man in the bar wanted her but they were disappointed when she displayed her ring,” Shaggy said.
“Cool. What happened afterwards?” Jane asked.
“She ordered two different strong drinks and got drunk. One of the men took her away in his car,” Shaggy said.
“Oh, do you recognize the man?” Jane asked.
“I think I should recognize him if I see him,” Shaggy replied.
“Good! When was the last time he visited?”
“He is not one of our regulars here, I haven’t seen him since then.”
“Aren’t there cameras in here?” Jane asked and looked around.
“We have uninstalled them, it records shameful acts of our patrons when they are drunk,” the waiter said and Jane banged at the table. “Are you kidding me?! Isn’t that what the cameras are meant for?”
“I am sorry ma’am… we had to act accordingly… we were losing our customers,” Saggy said.
“I saw a camera outside. Is it functional?” Jane asked. “Yes.”
“Fine, let’s check.. he must have parked his vehicle around here, all I need is his plate number,” Jane said.
“He did not park his car close enough since we don’t have a proper parking lot but he must have been caught on the camera outside when he took her away.” “Alright, let’s go view that. I need his identity,” Jane said and rose to her feet.
“I am sorry ma’am, we have procedures. Who are you? Are you from the police? You can’t just check our CCTV recordings without being…” Jane walked up to him and yelled into his face. “Now listen, this customer of yours abducted a woman from your bar and raped her all through the night! If you disallowed me, I will count it that you were an accomplice and you will be sued!”
“Ma’am, I am really sorry but we have rules you can’t just…” “Enough! I am an investigative journalist, isn’t that enough to let me in?” Jane scoffed and checked out for her identity card but she realized she had dropped it behind in the rush to get down to Lisa’s. “Fuck! I left my card behind. Next time when I come around, you will have it hot!” Jane yelled and stepped out with shoulders high.
“Ma’am! Ma’am!..” Shaggy called but Jane did not give a damn.
“How did I drop my card, fuck! I have few facts now, that crazy bastard will be caught. Investigator Patrick will kick up from here.. I should travel down home as soon as possible, Jane muttered and drove away.
*****
The main entrance into Evans Mechanics was locked. It was a crime scene. Moreover, the extent of damage done to the building is yet to be ascertained. Alex’s PA was out to pick Lisa as they had discussed on the phone. He took her through a secret path which led to a small office inside the company.
“Are you sure it’s safe here?” Lisa asked. “Yes, it’s not part of the main building. We will get a report on the condition of the building tomorrow. The contractors are already on it,” The PA said.
“That is good to know.”
“We need to get back to work in time. Our competitors are closing in on us. They are using the arson as leverage. We have many pending contracts and we also have to redesign some of the projects that were destroyed in the fire,” Benny said.
“Please let’s be on our toes and avoid more damage in any form. We must maintain the name and standard of the company. l also did not want the police involved in investigating the arson. I would like to involve a private investigator. This will reduce rumors about the new machine that exploded” Lisa said.
“Wow! Great idea. I never gave it a thought. I will speak to our lawyer to work on it. Actually, I thought it should wait until boss regained consciousness but since you are…” Benny said but Lisa banged hard at the table and sprang up immediately.
“What?! Who is unconscious?!” She yelled out loud.