Mistaken Character

  Mistaken Character

  An Indigo Investigations Cozy Mystery

  R. A. Wallace

  2019

  Book Three

  Author’s Note

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, dialogue, places, technologies, references to code, and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual events, technologies, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Material in this book is not intended as a substitute for legal or medical advice from qualified professionals. The author has no connection to any software or website mentioned.

  © 2019 R. A. Wallace. All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Brandi McCann www.ebook-coverdesigns.com

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Books by R. A. Wallace

  Chapter One

  She knew from past experience that her opponent was ruthless. She had tried over the years to bribe her opponent into leniency. At first it was with flowers, usually stolen from a nearby flower garden. Later, she’d resorted to bottles of wine. Tonight, it had been a sampler platter from The Regal Pomelo that she had picked up on her way home from work.

  To date, none of her attempts had worked. True, Callie had first begun bribing Ramona when she was a young girl. The flowers she had stolen were from her stepmother’s flower garden. Leslie had known about it, of course, but had suffered the loss with a smile of understanding.

  As she’d gotten older, her bribes had become more adult though that was mostly because Callie had moved out of her father’s home and now lived in a mobile home next to her adversary. She had never planted a flower garden of her own afraid that her schedule wouldn’t allow the necessary time to keep the plants alive and healthy.

  “Rummy!”

  Callie groaned. She knew there were more variations of the game than most people could name. She doubted that the game they had tweaked over the years was played by anyone else on the planet using the very same rules. It had started because of Callie’s youth when Ramona first taught her to play. Unable to grasp some of the finer points of the game, Ramona had altered them to make it easier for Callie to play. The rules had then stuck.

  Callie leaned back in her chair. “I almost had you that time.”

  Ramona looked at the number of cards still in Callie’s hand. She raised her brows at the younger woman across the dining room table.

  “Okay, well maybe in a few more card plays.” Callie laid her cards down. “Still.”

  Ramona reached over to the sampler platter. “Ginny makes magic with food, doesn’t she?”

  Callie swept all of the cards on the table into a pile and began stacking them in her hands. She nodded her agreement. Her friend, Ginny, was the owner of The Regal Pomelo. Callie was making it a point to spend more time with her friends. She hadn’t done it in years as she’d struggled to establish herself in her chosen career.

  Now that she was enjoying a measure of success, she was attempting to develop new habits that allowed her to enjoy life a little. That included reaching out to her friends more and creating a life outside of work.

  “Hey, look at that. Your mom is on TV again.” Ramona picked up the remote and unmuted the television.

  Callie looked up to see her mother being interviewed by an attractive brunette. The interviewer was around seven or eight years younger than Callie’s thirty-five. She recognized her immediately.

  “Isn’t that the one that died?” Ramona asked with a shake of her head. “So sad.”

  Callie watched as her mother responded to the questions asked by the reporter.

  “Margaret handles herself so well in those situations,” Ramona said as she brushed crumbs from her hands. “Better her than me. I would have told that interviewer off.”

  Callie was impressed that her mother was able to hold her countenance, even when responding to the barbed comments sometimes made by the reporter.

  “I never understood why she made such snide comments sometimes,” Ramona said. “What was her name?”

  Callie read the scroll that immediately appeared below the video. “Crystal Delaney.”

  “Crystal, that’s it.” Ramona squinted at the scroll. “It says they still don’t know what happened.”

  “I thought the police just finalized that case?” Callie said as the scroll continued.

  “Looks like her family doesn’t agree.” Ramona stood. “Do you want another drink?”

  “No, I’m good, thanks. You go ahead.” Callie continued watching her mother on the television as she shuffled the deck.

  “I can’t believe Crystal thought she had the right to ask your mother about her relationship with Elliot like that.” Ramona sat back down at the dining room table with her drink.

  “She’s not the first to comment on it,” Callie pointed out.

  Callie was accustomed to hearing the queries. Most people didn’t understand why her mother continued to live in a modular home retirement community alone when she had the adoration of an extremely wealthy man who went out of his way to spoil her.

  Callie had wondered the same thing herself many times. However, she knew it was her mother’s decision and one she made without asking for anyone else’s opinion. Instead of questioning her mother’s judgement, Callie focused on supporting her.

  “That Crystal had a knack for back-handed compliments,” Ramona said. “She seemed nice to your face. Just don’t ever turn your back on her.”

  Callie nodded as she began to deal another hand. It was true. Crystal Delaney was known for being two-faced but her skills as an investigative reporter had always impressed Callie. Crystal often managed to find stories that no one else could.

  “I still can’t believe she decided to end it all at such a young age.” Ramona lifted her cards and began sorting them. “How long ago was her death? A month?”

  “Yeah, about that.” Callie tried to gauge the expression on the other woman’s face. Maybe this time, she would win the hand.

  Ramona set down three kings.

  “I swear I shuffled better than that,” Callie muttered.

  Ramona allowed herself a small smile. “Hey, next week will have to be Saturday. I have something else going on Friday night.”

  “Okay.” Callie frowned at the cards in her hand as she took another one from the pile on the table.

  “What do you have planned for tomorrow?” Ramona picked up the card Callie discarded and placed another run of three cards on the table.

  Callie made a noise of frustration. “I have to go somewhere for work.”

  “You need to play more, work less. Tomorrow should be your day off,” Ramona pointed out.

  “I know. I’m trying and I am doing better with that. But building up Indigo Investigations is important too.” Callie picked up another card. This time, it actually did her some good. She laid down a run of her own.

  “At least you have a partner now to help you.” Ramona picked up another card.

  “He�
�s not my partner.” Callie narrowed her eyes at Ramona expecting her to lay all of her cards down.

  Ramona discarded instead. “He says he is. Where is he, by the way? I haven’t seen him.”

  Neither had Callie. Not since the last high-profile case had been resolved. Stopping a potential sale of programming code that could have compromised the integrity of secure online communications of any kind including banking and purchases had resulted in even more media coverage. As a result, Indigo Investigations had been more in demand than ever.

  It was a great feeling. At least, it would be, if not for one small detail. Everyone who wanted to hire the famous private investigator expected Greyson Divine to be part of the package deal. Her excuses for why the elusive man was never around were wearing thin, even to her own ears. The fact was, she had no clue where the man was either. He appeared in her life when she least expected him then disappeared just as quickly before the dust even had a chance to settle.

  Before Callie could respond to Ramona’s question about Greyson, the other woman placed the rest of her cards on the table.

  “Rummy!”

  ***

  One outcome of the increased awareness of Indigo Investigations had been the increased interaction with other private investigators. Callie was now receiving calls from other private investigators across the country to help with their cases. One example was the case she was currently working.

  In this particular case, she’d received a call about a man named Trevon Maguire. A private investigator named Alma Pepper in Nebraska believed that Trevon was currently in Florida. Alma contracted with Callie for assistance in finding Trevon rather than making the trip to Florida herself. Callie was happy to oblige.

  Alma had explained that she’d already run the usual gamut of looking for Trevon. She’d spoken to all of Trevon’s relatives, his friends, and his co-workers. That leg work had led Alma to believe that Trevon was now in Callie’s area because of some connections that he had here.

  In turn, Callie had done her own research including a records search. She hadn’t gotten lucky. She was hoping that one of the factoids Alma had uncovered in her research was going to give them the break they needed.

  Which was why Callie found herself at a craft beer event on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. She wasn’t surprised to arrive and discover that the place was packed. It was an outdoor event that also included barbeque. She knew that finding Trevon in such a large crowd was going to be difficult. Based on Alma’s discovery, Trevon was a huge fan of craft beer. One thing she had found in her years of experience so far was that people rarely changed their habits.

  Trevon may have put over a thousand miles of distance between him and his troubles, but he’d brought his habits with him. Callie wandered around the rows of vendors who had gathered to sell their wares. There were dozens of smokers and grills going with a variety of meats for sale. There were even more options for craft beer samples.

  Callie eyed a few of them with interest as she walked past. She continued navigating the rows until she reached the end. She’d known it was a long shot. Just because Trevon had a fondness for the brew didn’t mean that he would be in attendance. The fact was, Alma wasn’t entirely positive that Trevon was even in the Pomelo Cove area.

  Still, Callie had nothing to lose but a few hours of her Saturday. She turned and began walking back toward the entrance, carefully monitoring the people she passed. If all else failed, she’d stop before leaving and get some of the barbeque for her dinner. She was nearing the point where she had initially entered when she finally spotted him.

  She immediately stopped. Lucky for her, the booth nearest to her had some great looking barbeque. She quickly placed an order knowing that the vendor had food ready to go. She kept her eye on Trevon the short time it took before her food was passed over to her. Trevon looked as though he had sampled all of the beers available at the event. His gait was unsteady and he was laughing loudly at something one of his friends said.

  Those same friends appeared to be coaxing Trevon to leave with them. He argued with them at first but when a pretty girl joined the coaxing, he gave in quickly. He slung his arm around the girl and followed the rest of the group away.

  Callie followed from a safe distance to the parking area. It was easy to keep track of the boisterous group as they found their car. Callie quickly got into her own and began following them. The smell of the meat drove her insane. Thankfully, it was a short trip before the group was stopping at a house to let Trevon out. With the help of the girl, he made his unsteady way into the house.

  Callie made note of the address, then called Alma before driving home. All in all, it had been a pretty pleasant afternoon. If the smell of the barbeque was any indication, dinner was going to be fabulous.

  Chapter Two

  The excitement as she drove into work on Monday morning was undeniable. Callie didn’t try to convince herself that she shouldn’t feel it. She’d been working toward an office renovation for Indigo Investigations for quite some time. She had studied several examples of office designs as she’d worked for various affluent clients. She had an idea in her mind of what she would like her revised space to convey to prospective clients.

  After briefly debating a move to another building, she had opted instead to focus on re-imagining the space she currently shared with Knox & Wolfe Software and Consulting. Their current location was extremely convenient to all three of them and was in a prime location within town.

  She had been sharing the space with Sierra and Michael since her partner, Corky Travis, had died. The three of them had agreed that they would continue to share the same space even though each business could now afford to have their own location. Sierra and Michael were insisting that they were already introverted enough. They enjoyed the occasional interruption of Callie’s clients. For Callie’s part, she enjoyed the technical expertise that the pair offered her various investigations.

  However, since her new-found fame, the interruptions were getting to be a bit too much, even for them. It was agreed that they would have a separate space for a new receptionist. The receptionist would act as a buffer. Callie thought it was an excellent idea but had concerns that carving out a separate space for a receptionist reduced the remaining space. The overall space they had already seemed small enough compared to the examples Callie had been studying.

  Nonetheless, she practically vaulted from her car and sprinted into her office knowing that representatives from the firm they’d hired would be there soon. Callie stood just inside the entrance of her office and looked around, trying to picture it through the eyes of a new client. She knew it didn’t match the image she wanted to project, but now she was in a position to do something about it.

  “She’s doing it again,” Michael said from his desk.

  He pulled the earbuds out and swiveled to look at Sierra. Sierra was watching Callie with an amused look.

  “I hope this company we hired knows what they’re doing or we’ll never hear the end of it,” Sierra predicted.

  Callie’s retort was lost by the arrival of the mail carrier. Callie quickly moved to the side so Rosemary could enter.

  “Sorry, Callie. I didn’t mean to mow you down.” Rosemary slipped her sunglasses up and flipped through the mail in her hand before passing much of it off to Callie.

  “Thanks, and no, you didn’t hit me. I was just standing where I shouldn’t have been.” Callie begun sorting the mail.

  “Is today the big day?” Rosemary asked. She reached into her bag and pulled out another handful of mail.

  “The big unveiling, yes. Hopefully, they’ll have a design we all like.” Callie moved further into the office space and handed half of the mail to Sierra.

  Rosemary slipped her sunglasses back down. “I’ll think good thoughts for you.”

  “Thanks!” Callie said as the older woman left.

  “How did the skip trace go on Saturday,” Sierra asked as she glanced at the return addresses on the mail
.

  “Great. I was able to get the location to the investigator from Nebraska.” Callie placed her mail on her desk and turned around in time to see the front door open again.

  A man and a woman entered. Both looked to be in their thirties. Both were professionally attired. One carried a sizable briefcase.

  “Can I help you?” Callie asked.

  The man held out his hand as he advanced into the room.

  “Nate Lazlo. We’re with Lazlo and Fornelli. This is my partner, Bree Fornelli.”

  Callie shook hands with both then stepped aside as Michael and Sierra stood to do the same. Once the introductions were complete, Callie waved to the front area of the office where there was a low table and some chairs. She was hoping the space would soon be occupied by a receptionist.

  Nate set his briefcase down on the coffee table and flipped it open.

  “After our first conversation, Bree and I worked together to come up with some designs that we want to show you. Please understand that we can take elements from one design and merge them into another. Everything we have is totally customizable and open for discussion. We want this project to be everything you hoped it would be.” Nate smiled confidently as he passed out binders to each of them.

  Callie saw Sierra and Michael sit back in their seats. They began to review the materials slowly. She couldn’t do it. She had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. She sat on the very edge of her seat and quickly flipped through the options. What she saw dismayed her. She looked up at Nate and Bree.

  “I don’t understand,” Callie said, her brows drawn together.

  Nate and Bree shared a look of concern.

  Bree leaned forward in her chair. “What don’t you like? We were careful to incorporate all of your requests.”

  “I thought you would be pleased with what we came up with,” Nate added.

  “I am. It isn’t that I don’t like it.” Callie looked back down at the binder in her hand. She opened to one page in particular. What they had drawn was beyond anything she had ever envisioned. She would love to have it.