Chapter 1
"A.J., I swear, I didn't know Linda was going to be there, how was I to know she put Rudy up to putting her in the cake!" Rick pleaded with his brother through the bathroom door.
"How did she know about your top secret party then, huh?" A.J.'s upset voice came through loud and clear. Rick winced. "I don't know, she was pretty funny tho', don't you think?
Suddenly laughter came from behind the older Simon, and Laurie popped her head around the door. "A.J., why don't you ask me?" she teased, as Rick's jaw dropped.
"Uh, honey, you knew about the party?", he stammered. "Sure, I only had to put two brothers and one bunch of San Diego goofballs together to know something was up. A.J., don't you think Linda deserved a little fun too, huh?" she asked, coyly.
The bathroom door opened on one sheepish brother, who saw his sister-in- law's smiling face, then reluctantly grinned. "Yeah, she did, but "Helga", sheesh, it was almost as bad as your "Margaret"!
Rick broke down laughing, and after a moment, A.J. and Laurie joined in. When they finally simmered down, A.J. took Laurie by the arm. "Come on, Laurie, I'll buy my favorite blonde some breakfast, since "Helga" took the car, your husband can drive!"
After breakfast, Rick and A.J. stopped by the tux shop so he could pick up his suit, then drove over to the hotel Linda was staying at to pick up A.J.'s car and drop off Laurie for a last minute fitting and lunch with the bride-to-be and Cecilia.
"I should be done at the travel agent's in about half an hour, want to meet me back at the house?" A.J. leaned out of his sports car.
"Yeah, I'm just going to run by the office to check our messages and pick up the mail, see you back there for lunch", Rick replied, mussing his brother's hair. "There, now you look like a nervous groom," he teased, ducking A.J.'s attempt at knocking off his hat. "Just for that, you make lunch!" A.J. laughed, driving away.
Rick watched him go, then sighed, times were changing, tomorrow afternoon his brother would be a married man. Climbing into Laurie's jeep, he pulled out of the hotel parking lot and was almost clipped by a late model mini-van. "Watch where you're going, lady!", he yelled at the driver, a dark haired woman with cat glasses. She gave him the universal up-yours and screeched off, leaving a fuming Simon in her wake. Heading to the office, Rick was still steaming when he unlocked the door and turned on the lights. Seeing the answering machine blinking, he heaved a sigh and hit "Play".
30 minutes later, he tossed the last of the junk mail into the trash and picked up the message pad to take to A.J., 2 canceled appointments and a confirmation for surveillance. He was almost out the door when the phone rang. Debating whether or not to pick it up, he caught it on the third ring. "Simon and Simon Investigations".
"Rick, this is Captain Ron, is your brother there?" "Hi, Captain, no, A.J.'s not here today. Can I help you with something?" Rick tried to remember if the policeman had said he was coming to the wedding or not.
There was a pause, then the Captain said, "I was afraid of that, was A.J. driving his sports car today?" "Yeah, I drove him home last night as he, well, his bachelor party was last night and his fiancée took the car to her hotel. He picked it up this morning, why? Has something happened to his car?" Rick felt something cold inside.
"No, something may have happened to your brother, can you meet me at the travel agency on 3rd and Tucson?" the policeman replied.
"I'll be there in three minutes," he answered, hanging up the phone. He ran out of the office, stopping only to lock the door.
Running only 3 red lights, Rick braked to a halt in the parking lot behind the mini-mall where he and his brother bought all their plane tickets. He saw a small crowd gathered around A.J.'s sports car, and dashed over to where Captain Ron and another policeman were interviewing witnesses.
"Captain, what's going on, where's A.J.?" he demanded, peering past the police and seeing the open door of his brother's car, lights still on.
The officer grabbed his arm and propelled him over to the car. "Take it easy, Rick, it looks like somebody, a woman, pulled a gun on your brother and forced him into a van. A couple of people, one of them your travel agent, got a partial on the license plate, but by the time anyone had time to react, the vehicle was gone. " Rick slumped into the driver's seat, dazed. "I know this is hard, but is there anyone who might have a grudge or made a threat against A.J. recently?" The older Simon shook his head. "No, Captain, we had that incident with Caparelli a couple of months ago, but nothing. He's supposed to be married tomorrow, this can't be happening." Rick felt the policeman's hand on his shoulder. "I know, I know, at least we have a partial on the mini-van's license plate. and"
Something clicked in Rick's mind. "Wait a minute, you said mini-van? I nearly got sideswiped by a mini-van this morning, just after I dropped A.J. off to get his car!" "Rick, are you sure? Did you get a look at the driver, what color was it?" Captain Ron pulled out his notepad.
"She had dark hair, those funny cat glasses, not much else to notice other than she gave me the finger. It was a silver mini-van. I don't remember much else, I was too steamed.", Rick got up as the officer ran to his squad car and radioed in the descriptions and the information just provided.
When he was done, Captain Ron turned to Rick, saying, "I need you to call A.J.'s fiancée, see if by some chance she's heard something, anything. Also, can you double check your files, phone calls, anything weird or offbeat. I'll follow up on your information and call you with whatever I find, ok? We'll find him, Rick," The older Simon nodded, "Thanks, Captain, I appreciate your help. I'll call you after I talk to Linda." He turned to Mike, the travel agent who had provided the partial plate and after thanking him for his help, asked to use his phone. "Sure, Rick, I feel horrible. A.J. was so happy, I walked him out and I had just turned around when I heard him yell, then saw the woman with the gun push him into the van. By the time I ran to call the police and report the license plate, she was gone."
Rick thanked him again then went to call Linda. Relieved when Laurie answered the phone, he said, "Honey, something bad has happened. I need you to get Linda." "Rick, what's going on? Is it A.J.?" she asked. "Yeah, somebody grabbed him at gunpoint and forced him into a van about 20 or 30 minutes ago. The police got a partial license plate from Mike and some witnesses, they're starting to track it now." "Oh, no, I don't believe it, Rick, this is crazy! Why would anyone want to kidnap A.J.?" "I don't know, darlin', but I want you and Linda to meet me at the office, I'm going to go through our most recent files and see if I can find any leads, can you do that?" "Sure, now here's Linda, I'll get our things together while you tell her.", Laurie replied, handing the phone to her friend.
The older Simon broke the news to Linda, and after the initial shock she agreed to go with Laurie to the Simon brothers office. Cecelia was in the background, and upon hearing one half of the conversation, asked to speak to Rick. "Honey, what's happened, did Laurie say A.J. has been kidnapped?" Her son had a lump in his throat as he answered, "Yes, Mom, we don't know who or why, but I'll find him, I promise. Laurie can drive you and Linda to the office; I'll fill you in on as much as I know when I get there." "Of course you'll find him, Rick, I'll see you at the office in a few minutes. Be careful, son." She added, "I love you." Eyes smarting, Rick mumbled, "I love you, too, Mom." Hanging up the phone, he wiped his eyes, then looked up to see Captain Ron in the doorway of the office.
"What is it, did you find anything?" Rick frantically asked. The captain shook his head, "I'm afraid we found the mini-van a few blocks away, it was empty, no fingerprints, a few blond hairs, nothing, except,.." He held up the plane tickets A.J. had just picked up, and a red carnation. Rick stared at the flower, then seeing the expression on Captain Ron's face, said, "This means something, doesn't it?" He nodded, "I made a few calls, three men in Northern California were recently found dead. Each of them was to be married when they disappeared, only to be found shot, with a red carnation next to their bodies. All three cases were linked to a mentally ill woman, Catherine Palmer, who was in a lockdown facility until last week, when she apparently escaped. I have a picture of her and a name, but unfortunately she has a history as a disguise artist, she could look like or be anyone right now." Rick gripped the policeman's arm. "That's a start, maybe this time we'll beat her to her usual methods. Can you bring whatever you get to our office; I've got Laurie bringing Linda and our mom there in a few minutes." "Sure, Rick, I'll be there as soon as I can."
Within minutes, the older Simon was comforting both Linda and his Mom, as Laurie quietly made some coffee then started pulling files. After a few initial tears, Linda calmed down and started going through phone records with Cecilia. After gathering their most recent cases, Laurie turned and told Rick, "Steve is flying in this afternoon, darling, he said Oscar can't be here until the morning, but Jaime is coming with him. The chief will drive Rob and Robin straight to the hotel, then meet us here." Looking on the reception desk, she pointed to the message pad and asked, "Rick, did you or A.J. take any messages this morning?" "Yeah, we had a couple of cancellations and one confirmation of appointments, I've got them in my pocket as I was going to show them to A.J., why?"
"Just in case, if someone wanted to disguise their intentions, they wouldn't want to meet with their victim's brother just when they've committed the crime. Plus maybe, if Captain Ron is right, this woman had to have found out about A.J.'s upcoming wedding from somewhere, and we sure didn't send an announcement to the newspapers! Rick, I'm afraid the TV stations have already had a story about A.J.'s', kidnapping. I hope it doesn't bring any other creeps out of the woodwork, " she added. Looking at the messages Rick handed over, she matched the names, two woman and one man, to the appointment book.
After an hour of searching, Rick was forced to admit they were at a dead- end, as they had no outstanding cases involving women. Suddenly Laurie said, "What did that woman who almost hit you look like?" "Dark hair, cat glasses, didn't notice anything else except she flipped me off", he replied. "What if she was wearing a wig, you had a client with blond hair in here last week, didn't you?" Laurie asked. "That's right, on Friday last, we did have a blond lady in here last week. She didn't have much of a case against her Grandfather and Mother for stealing her trust fund." Curious, his wife looked at the notes Rick pulled for a Catherine Yates. Rick studied her file, remembering her as a mousy sort. Just then Captain Ron knocked on the door, and upon coming in, greeted Linda and Cecilia.
Turning to Rick and Laurie, he said," I have a picture of the suspect here, does her face ring a bell?"
Rick stared at the face of the woman who had almost hit his car.
"That's her, that's the woman who almost hit me. Damn, she must have been following us." he swore, turning away. The captain dropped the photo on the desk, then looked at Laurie as she tapped the Yates file. "Rick, this Catherine Yates, could she be the same woman you saw?" He shook his head, "No, I don't think so, except," he stared, "the cat glasses, she had them in her hand when I saw her, she must have been wearing a wig." She pulled out the information slip in the file and said, "Well, here's an address, this gives us a start."
Rick took it, seeing it was in a residential area of Phoenix, then kissed his wife. "Good work, hon, you stay here with Mom and Linda, we'll check this out." Grabbing his jacket, he went out the door, leaving Captain Ron surprised for a moment, then yelling, "Rick, wait a minute!", followed him out.
"A.J., I swear, I didn't know Linda was going to be there, how was I to know she put Rudy up to putting her in the cake!" Rick pleaded with his brother through the bathroom door.
"How did she know about your top secret party then, huh?" A.J.'s upset voice came through loud and clear. Rick winced. "I don't know, she was pretty funny tho', don't you think?
Suddenly laughter came from behind the older Simon, and Laurie popped her head around the door. "A.J., why don't you ask me?" she teased, as Rick's jaw dropped.
"Uh, honey, you knew about the party?", he stammered. "Sure, I only had to put two brothers and one bunch of San Diego goofballs together to know something was up. A.J., don't you think Linda deserved a little fun too, huh?" she asked, coyly.
The bathroom door opened on one sheepish brother, who saw his sister-in- law's smiling face, then reluctantly grinned. "Yeah, she did, but "Helga", sheesh, it was almost as bad as your "Margaret"!
Rick broke down laughing, and after a moment, A.J. and Laurie joined in. When they finally simmered down, A.J. took Laurie by the arm. "Come on, Laurie, I'll buy my favorite blonde some breakfast, since "Helga" took the car, your husband can drive!"
After breakfast, Rick and A.J. stopped by the tux shop so he could pick up his suit, then drove over to the hotel Linda was staying at to pick up A.J.'s car and drop off Laurie for a last minute fitting and lunch with the bride-to-be and Cecilia.
"I should be done at the travel agent's in about half an hour, want to meet me back at the house?" A.J. leaned out of his sports car.
"Yeah, I'm just going to run by the office to check our messages and pick up the mail, see you back there for lunch", Rick replied, mussing his brother's hair. "There, now you look like a nervous groom," he teased, ducking A.J.'s attempt at knocking off his hat. "Just for that, you make lunch!" A.J. laughed, driving away.
Rick watched him go, then sighed, times were changing, tomorrow afternoon his brother would be a married man. Climbing into Laurie's jeep, he pulled out of the hotel parking lot and was almost clipped by a late model mini-van. "Watch where you're going, lady!", he yelled at the driver, a dark haired woman with cat glasses. She gave him the universal up-yours and screeched off, leaving a fuming Simon in her wake. Heading to the office, Rick was still steaming when he unlocked the door and turned on the lights. Seeing the answering machine blinking, he heaved a sigh and hit "Play".
30 minutes later, he tossed the last of the junk mail into the trash and picked up the message pad to take to A.J., 2 canceled appointments and a confirmation for surveillance. He was almost out the door when the phone rang. Debating whether or not to pick it up, he caught it on the third ring. "Simon and Simon Investigations".
"Rick, this is Captain Ron, is your brother there?" "Hi, Captain, no, A.J.'s not here today. Can I help you with something?" Rick tried to remember if the policeman had said he was coming to the wedding or not.
There was a pause, then the Captain said, "I was afraid of that, was A.J. driving his sports car today?" "Yeah, I drove him home last night as he, well, his bachelor party was last night and his fiancée took the car to her hotel. He picked it up this morning, why? Has something happened to his car?" Rick felt something cold inside.
"No, something may have happened to your brother, can you meet me at the travel agency on 3rd and Tucson?" the policeman replied.
"I'll be there in three minutes," he answered, hanging up the phone. He ran out of the office, stopping only to lock the door.
Running only 3 red lights, Rick braked to a halt in the parking lot behind the mini-mall where he and his brother bought all their plane tickets. He saw a small crowd gathered around A.J.'s sports car, and dashed over to where Captain Ron and another policeman were interviewing witnesses.
"Captain, what's going on, where's A.J.?" he demanded, peering past the police and seeing the open door of his brother's car, lights still on.
The officer grabbed his arm and propelled him over to the car. "Take it easy, Rick, it looks like somebody, a woman, pulled a gun on your brother and forced him into a van. A couple of people, one of them your travel agent, got a partial on the license plate, but by the time anyone had time to react, the vehicle was gone. " Rick slumped into the driver's seat, dazed. "I know this is hard, but is there anyone who might have a grudge or made a threat against A.J. recently?" The older Simon shook his head. "No, Captain, we had that incident with Caparelli a couple of months ago, but nothing. He's supposed to be married tomorrow, this can't be happening." Rick felt the policeman's hand on his shoulder. "I know, I know, at least we have a partial on the mini-van's license plate. and"
Something clicked in Rick's mind. "Wait a minute, you said mini-van? I nearly got sideswiped by a mini-van this morning, just after I dropped A.J. off to get his car!" "Rick, are you sure? Did you get a look at the driver, what color was it?" Captain Ron pulled out his notepad.
"She had dark hair, those funny cat glasses, not much else to notice other than she gave me the finger. It was a silver mini-van. I don't remember much else, I was too steamed.", Rick got up as the officer ran to his squad car and radioed in the descriptions and the information just provided.
When he was done, Captain Ron turned to Rick, saying, "I need you to call A.J.'s fiancée, see if by some chance she's heard something, anything. Also, can you double check your files, phone calls, anything weird or offbeat. I'll follow up on your information and call you with whatever I find, ok? We'll find him, Rick," The older Simon nodded, "Thanks, Captain, I appreciate your help. I'll call you after I talk to Linda." He turned to Mike, the travel agent who had provided the partial plate and after thanking him for his help, asked to use his phone. "Sure, Rick, I feel horrible. A.J. was so happy, I walked him out and I had just turned around when I heard him yell, then saw the woman with the gun push him into the van. By the time I ran to call the police and report the license plate, she was gone."
Rick thanked him again then went to call Linda. Relieved when Laurie answered the phone, he said, "Honey, something bad has happened. I need you to get Linda." "Rick, what's going on? Is it A.J.?" she asked. "Yeah, somebody grabbed him at gunpoint and forced him into a van about 20 or 30 minutes ago. The police got a partial license plate from Mike and some witnesses, they're starting to track it now." "Oh, no, I don't believe it, Rick, this is crazy! Why would anyone want to kidnap A.J.?" "I don't know, darlin', but I want you and Linda to meet me at the office, I'm going to go through our most recent files and see if I can find any leads, can you do that?" "Sure, now here's Linda, I'll get our things together while you tell her.", Laurie replied, handing the phone to her friend.
The older Simon broke the news to Linda, and after the initial shock she agreed to go with Laurie to the Simon brothers office. Cecelia was in the background, and upon hearing one half of the conversation, asked to speak to Rick. "Honey, what's happened, did Laurie say A.J. has been kidnapped?" Her son had a lump in his throat as he answered, "Yes, Mom, we don't know who or why, but I'll find him, I promise. Laurie can drive you and Linda to the office; I'll fill you in on as much as I know when I get there." "Of course you'll find him, Rick, I'll see you at the office in a few minutes. Be careful, son." She added, "I love you." Eyes smarting, Rick mumbled, "I love you, too, Mom." Hanging up the phone, he wiped his eyes, then looked up to see Captain Ron in the doorway of the office.
"What is it, did you find anything?" Rick frantically asked. The captain shook his head, "I'm afraid we found the mini-van a few blocks away, it was empty, no fingerprints, a few blond hairs, nothing, except,.." He held up the plane tickets A.J. had just picked up, and a red carnation. Rick stared at the flower, then seeing the expression on Captain Ron's face, said, "This means something, doesn't it?" He nodded, "I made a few calls, three men in Northern California were recently found dead. Each of them was to be married when they disappeared, only to be found shot, with a red carnation next to their bodies. All three cases were linked to a mentally ill woman, Catherine Palmer, who was in a lockdown facility until last week, when she apparently escaped. I have a picture of her and a name, but unfortunately she has a history as a disguise artist, she could look like or be anyone right now." Rick gripped the policeman's arm. "That's a start, maybe this time we'll beat her to her usual methods. Can you bring whatever you get to our office; I've got Laurie bringing Linda and our mom there in a few minutes." "Sure, Rick, I'll be there as soon as I can."
Within minutes, the older Simon was comforting both Linda and his Mom, as Laurie quietly made some coffee then started pulling files. After a few initial tears, Linda calmed down and started going through phone records with Cecilia. After gathering their most recent cases, Laurie turned and told Rick, "Steve is flying in this afternoon, darling, he said Oscar can't be here until the morning, but Jaime is coming with him. The chief will drive Rob and Robin straight to the hotel, then meet us here." Looking on the reception desk, she pointed to the message pad and asked, "Rick, did you or A.J. take any messages this morning?" "Yeah, we had a couple of cancellations and one confirmation of appointments, I've got them in my pocket as I was going to show them to A.J., why?"
"Just in case, if someone wanted to disguise their intentions, they wouldn't want to meet with their victim's brother just when they've committed the crime. Plus maybe, if Captain Ron is right, this woman had to have found out about A.J.'s upcoming wedding from somewhere, and we sure didn't send an announcement to the newspapers! Rick, I'm afraid the TV stations have already had a story about A.J.'s', kidnapping. I hope it doesn't bring any other creeps out of the woodwork, " she added. Looking at the messages Rick handed over, she matched the names, two woman and one man, to the appointment book.
After an hour of searching, Rick was forced to admit they were at a dead- end, as they had no outstanding cases involving women. Suddenly Laurie said, "What did that woman who almost hit you look like?" "Dark hair, cat glasses, didn't notice anything else except she flipped me off", he replied. "What if she was wearing a wig, you had a client with blond hair in here last week, didn't you?" Laurie asked. "That's right, on Friday last, we did have a blond lady in here last week. She didn't have much of a case against her Grandfather and Mother for stealing her trust fund." Curious, his wife looked at the notes Rick pulled for a Catherine Yates. Rick studied her file, remembering her as a mousy sort. Just then Captain Ron knocked on the door, and upon coming in, greeted Linda and Cecilia.
Turning to Rick and Laurie, he said," I have a picture of the suspect here, does her face ring a bell?"
Rick stared at the face of the woman who had almost hit his car.
"That's her, that's the woman who almost hit me. Damn, she must have been following us." he swore, turning away. The captain dropped the photo on the desk, then looked at Laurie as she tapped the Yates file. "Rick, this Catherine Yates, could she be the same woman you saw?" He shook his head, "No, I don't think so, except," he stared, "the cat glasses, she had them in her hand when I saw her, she must have been wearing a wig." She pulled out the information slip in the file and said, "Well, here's an address, this gives us a start."
Rick took it, seeing it was in a residential area of Phoenix, then kissed his wife. "Good work, hon, you stay here with Mom and Linda, we'll check this out." Grabbing his jacket, he went out the door, leaving Captain Ron surprised for a moment, then yelling, "Rick, wait a minute!", followed him out.