Page 56 of Flesh and Fury
“Will do,” she said before hanging up.
“Mr. Burns?” Ari asked.
Eoghan nodded. “She’ll get it.” He hugged Ari before kissing him on the lips. “Anyway, I’ll be back. Just update her if she calls back while I’m gone. Did you check on your plumbing?”
“I’ll do that now. I really wanted to get the wash on.” Ari patted him on the ass and then stepped back. “Love you.”
“Love you too. See you in a little bit.” Eoghan grabbed the keys to his Prius, making a mental list in his head one last time, determined to remember everything he needed for the dish he’d planned for dinner as well as other items to fill their empty coffers.
When Priest hadn’t returned the multiple calls and messages they’d left by the following morning, they were both on edge. And to add to their worry, they’d called and left messages on every answering machine at the many numbers they had for Townsend the night before. Several of the burners the king had collected over the months no longer worked. To add to their unease as they drove into the office, Townsendalsohadn’t called them back by morning.
On the off chance something had happened to the chief, Eoghan decided to swing by her apartment building on the way into the office. He and Ari parked a block away, taking precautions not to be seen as they approached the back alley of her building.
“I don’t like this, Eoghan. What do you think happened to her?” Ari asked as Eoghan flattened himself against the worn stucco walls, tucked between two hedges as they waited for a car to drive past. The driver went right on by without stopping or even glancing in their direction.
“I don’t know. Call it a gut feeling, Ari. She would’ve been expecting us to call as soon as we got back to town yesterday, so for her not to be available when we called on both herburner as well as the office phones, makes me worry. I sure as hell hope she’s all right.”
When the alley was clear, he slipped out and walked as nonchalantly as was possible to the back entrance of the apartment building. It was one of the older buildings in a rougher part of town, but Priest had told him that she stayed because she liked the nearby businesses, restaurants, and neighbors, having lived here for almost twenty years.
They walked through a tunnel-like back entrance which opened onto a well-groomed central courtyard. The two-story building was square with apartment doors facing inward on both levels. The second level had a walkway going all the way around. They walked silently past a rather loud shared laundry room where several coin-operated machines toiled away. Eoghan hesitated only a minute before stepping into the courtyard which was devoid of life…other than a few trees. He rounded the base of the cement stairs and climbed to the second level.
Eoghan had only been to the chief’s apartment on a few occasions when she needed rides for whatever reason. He’d only been inside once about three years ago when she’d wanted to show him and Gladys an intricate series of maps tacked to a stationary board. They’d been tracking an alien fugitive who’d arrived from Vegas and failed to check in with the Agency. Priest had been working on theories late into the night at home, trying to predict where he’d go next. Her due diligence had paid off because they’d captured the fugitive rather quickly, thanks in large part to her after hours work.
He felt Ari at his back as they approached her door, sensing him stop at the same time he did. Deputy Chief Priest’s front door was open just a crack. He was about six feet from the door when he flattened himself against the wall and using hand gestures, indicated he wanted Ari on the other side of thedoor. Ari quickly moved into place, easing his Glock from his holster as Eoghan did the same.
At Eoghan’s nod, Ari called out.
“Priest?” They listened for a few seconds and hearing nothing, Ari tried again. “Arizona? Arizona Priest, are you home?”
Eoghan was startled when an apartment door opened a few doors down. He hefted his weapon, making sure the nosy, older woman saw it, and then gestured for her to return to her apartment and shut the door. The wide-eyed woman instantly complied, closing the door with a bang as Eoghan turned back to Priest’s front door. He reached out and knocked several times, calling out her name and then shook his head before canting it toward the door.
“On three,” he said quietly. “One…two…three!” He pushed open the door and flattened back against the wall. A quick look, then they both moved at once, charging into the apartment, sweeping the front room, weapons at the ready. The apartment had been tossed. Eoghan exchanged a frown with Ari and indicated the hallway. They fell into place, moving down the narrow corridor one at a time, clearing the large full bathroom and both closets on either side of the hallway as they headed to the back of the apartment. Once they’d cleared every room, noting the same mess but no chief, they stopped and looked around.
“You were right, Eoghan,” Ari said, sliding his Glock back into its holster. “You knew something was wrong.”
“Yeah, as soon as I couldn’t reach her at the office or on her cell…dammit!” Eoghan cursed, tucking his own gun away. He followed Ari out to the front room, remembering that the apartment had been bugged and trying to recall whether the chief was going to leave them in place and then deciding that indeed, they were probably being spied on rightnow. He lifted a finger to his lips when Ari turned to him and mouthed “bugs,” waiting for his acknowledgment before glancing around.
He pulled his work cell out of his pocket and quickly called in the suspicious situation they’d found, after he’d checked she hadn’t turned up at work, and the off chance she was simply one hell of a messy housekeeper who didn’t care about locking her front door. Then he got forensic units rolling out to the scene. After he’d hung up, he turned to Ari.
“What the hell do you think happened here?”
“I have no idea,” he said. “I can’t imagine the chief was a target of any sort. Maybe someone followed her home and robbed her.”
“And took her?” Eoghan said, well aware that someone was probably listening in.
“You think she was kidnapped?” Ari asked. “Why would anyone kidnap the chief?”
Eoghan was busy looking around the apartment, trying to figure out what the intruders had been looking for. But truthfully, Ari was a much better detective than he was. He’d been the one to find Riversong Wilkins’ diary hidden in a crude cubby cut into her bedroom wall. “I have no idea,” Eoghan said for the bugs’ sake as he pulled out gloves, handing a pair to Ari. He began looking through drawers as Ari leafed through a pile of mail on the kitchen island.
Eoghan discovered nothing of note except for the fact that his boss was an avid reader and also liked reading National Geographic magazines and Reader’s Digest. There were two nearly empty bookshelves since most of her impressive collection of books were in haphazard piles on the floor. Some had torn and missing pages and looked like they’d been trampled over. He got extremely angry when he saw the way they’d been abused and vowed to make whoever mistreatedthe books pay for the deed. Books held a special place in Eoghan’s life, though, no one would know it the past few months.
“I don’t see anything here,” Ari said.
Eoghan looked up, and Ari pointed at the front door. He nodded. “We should go to the office as soon as the forensic team gets here. Maybe we can find a clue as to what happened to her when we get there.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Ari replied.
Eoghan had a terrible feeling, knowing it must have gone down while they were out of town. Maybe they’d been betrayed, or something had given away the fact that the chief was gathering other clans, bands, and tribes in order to help John Townsend. Had someone at the Agency found out what their plans were? What in the hell were they going to do now? As far as he knew, the chief had been the only person in the know about all the moving parts of the counterattack which was being planned to rescue the king’s Flagstaff clan. Why didn’t Townsend return any of their calls either? Had he somehow been betrayed as well? The very idea of it made him sick to his stomach.