A.J. was working on his first cup of coffee around 7:30 the following morning. Rick was still asleep on the couch when the phone rang. Before A.J. could finish his greeting, a hysterical woman started screaming incoherently into his ear.
"Mrs. Hojnacki?" asked A.J. uncertainly.
"Rick?"
"No, this is A.J. What's wrong?"
"Someone broke into my apartment this morning while I was still in bed!"
"Oh, no! Are you hurt?"
"No, but I'm scared!"
"Did you call the police?"
"Not yet."
"In that case, I want you to hang up now and call the police right away. Rick and I will be there as soon as possible. Are you calling from home?"
"Yes. Please tell Rick to hurry!"
"If you feel unsafe staying in your apartment, go see Jennifer and ask her if you could stay with her until the police get there. Or, you can wait for them to arrive in a public place like the courtyard or the parking lot."
The phone call didn't rouse Rick at all. He was still sound asleep when A.J. gave him a few shakes. He groaned and turned his back to A.J., but as soon as Karyn's name was mentioned, he sat up straight on the couch. While A.J. was telling him the gist of the phone conversation with Karyn, Rick put on his boots and hat in silence. He was out the door without a shave, or a cup of coffee.
When Rick and A.J. arrived at Karyn's apartment, a couple of police officers were still there taking a statement from her.
"Rick!" Karyn cried out as the brothers enter the living room and ran into Rick's waiting arms.
One of the cops asked A.J., "Are you two related to…" His eyes briefly fell on his notebook. "Mrs. Hojnacki?"
"No, officer. We're private investigators. She hired us to look for her missing husband. Did she tell you that he's been missing for almost two weeks?"
The cop nodded. "Yeah. She didn't use the deadbolt latch just in case he'd come home. And that's why the burglar got in here so easily. He wasn't much of a burglar though."
A.J. looked around in the living room where personal items, small pieces of furniture were strewn all over in a haphazard way. "Did he take anything at all?"
"The lady says her purse that was on the kitchen counter is missing, but she can't be sure because she's quite upset at the moment."
Karyn was on the couch in Rick's arms completely ignoring the other police officer who was finishing a report. Rick was whispering comforting but meaningless words into her ear.
A.J. received a copy of the police report before the officers left the apartment. Rick and Karyn were still clinging to each other like a couple of hormone-driven teenagers. A.J. doubted they were aware of the fact that the cops had left.
"Rick?" A.J. touched his brother's shoulder. "How's she doing?"
Rick shot a glare at A.J. "How do you think she's doing?"
A.J. managed to control his urge to tell Rick to stop behaving like a jerk. "Maybe we ought to keep her at my place where we can keep an eye on her until she feels safe to come back here."
"I've already suggested that, but she wouldn't listen. One of us can stay with her here tonight though."
You mean you will stay with her. A.J. didn't like the idea but held his tongue.
"All right. But we still have work to do, Rick. I don't want her to stay here alone until we return."
"We can ask Mom to stay with her during the day."
"Rick. She's at Aunt Marion's. Don't you remember?"
"Oh, right."
"Can I ride along with you when you work outside your office?" Karyn asked Rick.
"No, you can't!" A.J.'s harsh tone earned another glare from his brother. "You know what happened to Rick yesterday. We don't hold a nine-to-five office job, Mrs. Hojnacki. We can always expect the unexpected. To be brutally honest, your presence will be a major distraction in our work because we'll have to divide our attention between the investigation and your safety."
"Rick." Karyn turned to Rick with a look of hurt. "Please?" She clung to him pleading with all her feminine wiles.
Rick rubbed her back to console her. "Sorry, Karyn, but my brother's right. Your safety is our priority." Seeing her face fall, he quickly came up with a compromise to appease her.
"But if you want, you can stay in our office while we're at work."
"Rick…"
A.J. started to argue, but Rick simply talked over him.
"It's not like she'll be in a private home. Our office's in a business building, so there's a lot of people coming and going. Jennifer will be at Terrible Twos if Karyn wants to pop in to visit her. She can either lock herself in till we get back, or she can go out, have lunch and stuff. She'll be safe 'cause there's always a fair amount of foot traffic outside the building."
Rick's voice softened as he spoke to Karyn. "How's that sound? Will you do that for me?"
Karyn wrinkled her nose. "I don't know, Rick…"
"Come on. I'll personally drive you back here in the evening."
Karyn sighed and said reluctantly, "Oh, all right."
Her girlish pout made him chuckle. "Okay. Go get ready then. Time's a-wastin'!"
With a content smile, Rick watched Karyn disappear into her bedroom.
A.J. just stood only a few feet from Rick wondering what had happened to the equal partnership in their investigative business and why he felt like an invisible man.
A.J. trailed behind Rick and Karyn as the trio made their way to the apartment parking lot. He saw them head for her Skylark. When he caught up with them, Rick was opening the door for Karyn.
"I'm gonna drive Karyn to our office 'cause I'll be bringing her back here this evening," said Rick to A.J. As he got into the driver seat, he added, "She kindly has invited us for breakfast, so we're stopping at a nearby diner on the way. Just follow me. Okay?"
Before A.J. could say anything, Rick turned on the engine leaving him no choice but to follow his brother's instruction.
The diner was a mom-and-pop eatery in a business district and doing a brisk business. They took a booth by the window. Rick sat across from Karyn; A.J. took a seat next to his brother. When a middle-aged waitress appeared to take their orders, Karyn suggested they all have the diner's special breakfast plate, but A.J. ordered much lighter fare to assert himself. Besides, he was too upset to be hungry.
"What's the matter, honey? Aren't you hungry?" asked the matronly waitress fretting.
Before A.J. could say anything, Rick spoke up, "He loses appetite whenever he's mooning over a special gal. And he has a thing for older women if you know what I mean." He winked at the waitress.
Everyone except A.J. burst into laughter, and the waitress left the table in much better spirits.
"Stop making up stories, Rick," said A.J. crossly.
"I am not. You do have a thing for older women." Rick insisted.
"All right. Name names then." A.J. challenged.
"Christina Dinsmore."
"Christ… Mrs. Dinsmore? My fifth-grade teacher? Oh, give me a break! She doesn't count!"
"She was pretty hot for a fifth-grade teacher though." Rick offered unsolicited commentary wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Anyway, you fared well with her being in her good graces and all—much better than Brandi Johnston, I'd say."
A.J.'s mouth opened, but no word came forth, and his cheeks began to burn.
"Ooh, who is this Brandi?" asked Karyn in a singsong voice. "A.J.'s first love?"
"Hardly. She didn't know he existed on the same planet."
"She didn't know he existed? That's hard to believe," said Karyn giving A.J. a sideway glance.
"Well, let's put it this way," Rick grinned. "She was a high school senior, the most popular cheerleader who dated a lot of varsity guys, and my brother was a lowly freshman, short," he paused deliberately to make eye contact with his brother, who was glaring at him, "Well, shorter." He raised his hand palm down as if to indicate someone's height then dropped it about a foot or so.
Karyn started giggling. A.J. was getting furious—he got irked every time Rick gave him some ribbing about his height.
"And he still sounded like Alvin the Chipmunk." Rick poured it on.
"I did not!" A.J. denied it emphatically.
"Oh, wait," Rick paused again, "He still does, doesn't he?"
"For Pete's s…" A.J. broke off realizing that he was only supporting Rick's claim. He took a deep breath and lowered his voice to the baritone range. "Stop spreading malicious lies, Rick."
The waitress returned with a coffee carafe, which gave A.J. a respite from Rick's merciless roasting. Their orders followed soon after the coffee had been served, and Rick and Karyn were once again lost in a world of their own.
By the time the trio finished their breakfast and drove back to the office of Simon & Simon, it was past 10:30. Rick dawdled for another twenty minutes or so at the office giving Karyn emergency contact numbers and safety instructions. Parting for them was such sweet sorrow ad nauseum, observed A.J.
As the brothers drove off to finally resume their investigation, A.J. said, "Rick, do you ever wonder why Mrs. Hojnacki hired us, or what we're trying to find?"
"Huh? What're ya talking about?"
"She's spending four hundred dollars plus per day to retain our service and then invites us for long, leisurely breakfast. We wasted half a day doing nothing. And why did Ben vanish though everyone says there was nothing out of the ordinary in his life? And if there was nothing wrong with him, why did he leave all those clues? What was he anticipating?"
"A.J., she just had her home broken into. She was upset and needed someone to lean on for emotional support. It's her money, she can spend it any way she pleases."
A.J.'s question seemed to have struck a raw nerve.
"And we just started working on this case. If you want some answers, keep digging."
A.J. kept his mouth shut. Karyn had become a touchy subject between him and Rick, and the last thing he wanted was a volatile partner and brother; however, he could not help liking the current assignment, and Karyn Hojnacki, less and less. The brothers exchanged very few words on their way to Fairlane Motel.
The motel manager saw two men walk into his office and had them pegged as either cops or private eyes. Fairlane was the kind of place where only one of a couple—or, trio, or whatever the combination—would show up in the office for a hasty registration and checkout. And an inordinate number of the patrons signed in as Smith, Jones, or Johnson, and most of them paid in cash.
The manager thought this pair was rather peculiar, cops or PIs, as one of them was dressed like a cowboy, and the other one looked like an accountant.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen. What can I do for you?" asked the manager out of habit.
The one with a cowboy hat took out a photograph and placed it on the counter, but it was his partner who spoke.
"Good afternoon, sir. I know that, as the manager of this establishment, you try to be discreet to protect the patrons' privacy, but we're looking for this man in this picture, who's been missing for some time. And there is a chance that he may have stayed here under a false name. All we ask of you is to take a good look at the picture and tell us if you remember ever seeing him here."
"Ah! You must be the gentleman who called here yesterday asking about a Mr. Ho…"
"Hojnacki, yes. You have excellent memory."
Flattered, the manager smiled. "Thank you, but I'm sorry to say I've never seen this man before."
He could tell the two men were clearly disappointed.
"Okay," said the Cowboy. "What about Room 6? Does it have any special features? Or, did you find anything strange, or out of place in the room recently?"
The manager pondered the questions for several moments cupping his chin in his hand.
"Now that you mentioned, I remember one of the housekeepers telling me about something strange the other day, but I can't remember what it was. It wasn't too big of a deal though."
"Is she here today? May we talk to her?"
"Yes, she started her shift only a short while ago. There are three housekeepers working right now. The one you want is Fariha."
Seeing the odd couple walking out of the office, the manager turned up the volume of his portable TV.
Rick and A.J. located the cleaning crew by spotting the housekeepers' carts parked outside the motel rooms. They found Fariha on the second try.
Rick and A.J. introduced themselves and told her they had the manager's permission to speak to her.
"According to the manager, you found something strange the other day. Was it in or near Room 6 perhaps?" asked A.J.
"Yes, it was in Room 6. It was Tuesday, I think. And I can tell you exactly what it was."
Rick and A.J. urged her with their silence.
"Fingerprint powder," said Fariha with unshakable conviction.
"Fingerprint powder? Are you sure?" Rick asked skeptically.
She nodded. "Of course I'm sure. We don't openly talk about it, but there have been several incidents involving some guests and the police here in the past. I personally cleaned the mess the forensic team had left twice. And one time, I saw them dust every inch of the interior and some furniture in one room."
"Do you know if the police had been summoned the night before you found the dust?" asked A.J.
"I asked David, my supervisor, about the police, and he said 'no,' but I really didn't have to ask him because I know who left the powder."
"Who?" The brothers asked in unison.
"I don't know her name, but the day I found Room 6 covered with the powder, I saw a woman come out of the room—very pretty, dark-haired."
Seeing that she had now a captive audience, Fariha smiled to herself.
"First I thought she was a guest leaving her room, but now when I think back on it, she probably wasn't."
"What makes you say that?" asked A.J.
"Most female guests who come here don't like to be seen or noticed. They stay in their rooms for the duration of their stay and leave quickly with their companions, or leave alone in their own cars. In either case, they always park their cars right here in the parking lot for a quick and easy exit. This lady I told you about walked across the parking lot to go back to her car parked on the street."
Rick and A.J. rewarded her with a nod of approval and an engaging smile.
"You have a keen eye for detail, Fariha. But do you think it's possible that the mystery woman stayed in Room 6 alone to get a little rest before hitting the road again?" A.J. probed further.
Fariha shook her head. "I cleaned the room right after she'd left, and there were…um…" She blushed under her glowing olive complexion. "…certain signs that a man and a woman had been there."
"Right. And women usually don't linger on in a motel room after a tryst dusting the room. Gotcha," jumped in Rick so as not to embarrass her too much. "Like my brother said, you're real observant and smart. Maybe you should consider going into a different line of work like law enforcement."
Fariha's face lit up. "I'm a part-time community college student, but I'm saving money to transfer to a four-year college. I want to major in Criminal Justice."
"Yeah, you do that." Rick smiled encouragingly. "I'm sure you'll do great like my brother did in college, maybe better."
When the brothers pulled out of the motel parking lot a short time later, Rick tipped his hat to Fariha as she waved. Getting back to work, she began humming her favorite tune pushing her cart towards Room 6.
Rick and A.J. drove to Mike's Car Wash next although they weren't expecting to find anything from this visit. The rest of the afternoon proved to be unproductive. They found absolutely nothing at the car wash. When A.J. called the police to check on the status of their investigation on yesterday's robbery at Todd's Tavern, he was told there was no new development or lead. After late lunch and a long wait at DMV to receive a duplicate of Rick's driver license, the brothers noticed the Friday exodus had already begun. With Rick's insistence, A.J. reluctantly turned his car around and started heading back to their office.
S&S S&S
Karyn seemed ecstatic to be reunited with Rick. A.J. found her reaction disquieting and inappropriate for a married woman. The same question he'd had since they'd first met crossed his mind yet again: What do you want from my brother?
Rick eventually got down on business and informed Karyn on the latest. When he told her about the lady X at Fairlane, she became visibly unnerved and agitated.
"Do you think Ben's having an affair?" asked Karyn with uncertainty evident in her shaky voice.
Rick gently squeezed her hand that he held in his. "No, we don't think so. The manager says he hasn't seen your husband at the motel."
"What was she doing there? What does she need fingerprints for?"
"We don't have the answer for that—yet. She seems to be operating independently, so we may be able to rule out the police force." Rick stared into space for a moment. "Do you know if Ben has an outstanding warrant?"
"No! I… I don't know…" She covered her face with both hands and started shaking her head. "I don't wanna talk about this anymore. Can you take me home now? Please?"
"Well…" Rick hesitated looking up at A.J.
"Can I speak with you, Rick?" A.J. spoke for the first time after returning to the office, his voice straining. "In private?"
Rick and A.J. filed out of their office and closed the door behind them.
"Rick, I don't think it's a good idea to leave you alone with Mrs. Hojnacki tonight," started A.J. in a hushed tone, mindful of the woman behind the closed door.
Rick knew where his brother was going and bristled. "Last I checked I'm still older than you. I don't need to be chaperoned by my baby brother," said he derisively.
"It's not you that I'm worried about," said A.J. patiently.
"You better watch it," growled Rick, his voice full of menace.
"I have a bad feeling about this case. Nothing's what it seems to be."
Rick remained silent to keep his temper in check. He knew he'd lose it once he started yelling at his brother.
"I keep coming back to the clues Ben left: a tavern, a motel, some unknown address. He didn't go to these places, but someone else did—that's what he's hinting at, right? But who? According to his wife, he has no kin, or friend, no one close." A.J. nervously licked his lips. "Except Karyn."
Rick could feel he was losing his grip as A.J. started his fingerpointing.
"Maybe we were asking about a wrong Hojnacki at Fair…"
Before A.J. could finish his sentence, Rick struck him. The force of the sucker punch in the face knocked A.J. off his feet literally and figuratively.
White-hot fury twisted Rick's face then it was gone in a fraction of a second, replaced by utter disbelief. Neither he nor his brother could bring himself to articulate what had just transpired between them. They stared at each other for several seconds not knowing what to do, or what to say.
It was Rick who first looked away. He spun around and went back inside the office as if to flee from his brother's silent accusation.
Moments later, Rick reemerged from the office with Karyn. Without making eye contact with A.J., who was still standing in the same spot in the hallway, he announced in a flat voice, "We'll be back tomorrow morning around nine or ten."
Rick strode off down the corridor and punched the down button of the elevator without another word. He never looked back while waiting for the elevator car to arrive.
When he and Karyn got into the elevator, Rick had to turn around. Before the door closed, the siblings' eyes met for a brief moment.
A.J. felt a flash of anger and blurted out, "You're hopeless, Rick."
He didn't mean to say those words, just like Rick hadn't meant to throw a punch.
A.J. helplessly watched the elevator close its door on its occupants, and it felt as though his brother were being spirited away from his life forever.