Almost an hour later, he spotted Miss Pearson exiting the elevator. She climbed into her car and headed for the exit. Ryan followed.
She pulled into the garage of a modest suburban home. Ryan parked nearby and settled down to wait. He didn’t know exactly what he was waiting for, but Miss Pearson was the first solid lead he’d gotten, and he felt in his bones that she would eventually lead him to answers.
Sometime later, the whir of a garage door and an engine revving startled Ryan awake. Night had settled over the suburbs, and most houses lining the street were dark. It seemed like everyone was asleep except Miss Pearson.
Ryan ducked down in his seat and watched her reverse out of the garage. She turned in the street and headed in the direction of the city. Ryan started his car to follow her, but a better idea came to mind as he glanced at her garage.
He cut the engine and leaped from his car. The garage door was still closing. His eyes never left it as he raced across the lawn and onto the smooth driveway.
He dived for the narrowing gap between the bottom of the garage door and the cement. Ryan rolled through the small opening just in time. The garage door shut behind him, leaving him in total darkness.
He leaned his forehead against the cold cement and breathed a sigh of relief. A moment later, the smell of old car oil drove him to his feet. He felt his way along the wall until he found the doorway leading into the house.
Ryan tiptoed into Miss Pearson’s home. He found the kitchen first and searched the drawers until he found a flashlight. He didn’t want to turn on any lights in case she came home suddenly.
He then headed down the hall. A spark of anger ignited in Ryan’s chest as he panned his flashlight over Miss Pearson’s bedroom. There was a framed photo on the nightstand of Dad with his arms wrapped around Miss Pearson’s waist as they smiled at the camera.
Another showed them dancing together at a party. The worst picture of all showed Dad and Miss Pearson kissing on the beach in front of the family’s timeshare in Barbados. Ryan’s heart sank like a lump of lead.
There was no doubt that Dad and Miss Pearson had been having an affair. All Ryan could think of was the sadness on Mom’s face at the funeral. How could Dad have betrayed her with another woman?
And as for Miss Pearson…Ryan snatched the photo from the nightstand and drew back his arm to throw it against the wall. But this was not the time or place to vent his anger. He set the photo down and opened the nightstand drawer.
There was nothing useful there, so he continued his search. As time ticked on, Ryan’s nerves started to get the best of him. Each creak and groan of the house settling startled him, and his heart kicked into overdrive every time he heard a car passing by on the street.
Every time a curtain flapped in the breeze, it was transformed into a shadowy figure. Ryan searched the entire house and found nothing. He was about ready to give up and get out of there before Miss Pearson returned when he noticed a slightly recessed drawer in the coffee table.
He pulled it open. A grin spread over his face as he realized the drawer was filled with documents. Ryan found exactly what he needed in a manila envelope.
He sat on the sofa and read through the life insurance documents in the envelope with a frown. It was a policy for Dad! He’d insured his life for $7 million, and the sole beneficiary was…Miss Pearson!
Ryan jumped to his feet, folded the A4 envelope, and tucked it into his pocket. It was time to get out of here. He returned the flashlight to the kitchen drawer and then ducked into the garage.
He fled the house and drove to the police station. An hour later, Ryan strode into Detective Bradshaw’s office and set the insurance documents down on her desk. “My father was having an affair with his secretary,” he said.
“And he took out a life insurance policy for a sizeable sum and named her the sole beneficiary.”
Detective Bradshaw scanned the documents and nodded. “This is quite compelling…let me see what else I can find out about this Pearson woman.”
Ryan haunted the police station while he waited for Detective Bradshaw to discover something useful about Miss Pearson. The detective tried to get him to go home, but Ryan couldn’t escape the feeling that something big was about to happen.
And he was right. He was seated near the front desk watching an officer deal with a minor complaint when he noticed Detective Bradshaw stride into the room with several other cops in her wake. “Did you find something?” Ryan stood and joined the detective.
“Miss Pearson is booked on a flight to Morocco that leaves in an hour and a half,” Detective Bradshaw replied as she continued walking. “Since the US has no extradition treaty with the Moroccan government, it’s vital we bring her in for questioning before she boards that plane. We’re headed to the airport now to stop her.”
The group burst out into the lot, and cops started heading to their cars.
“I’m coming with you,” Ryan said. Detective Bradshaw glanced at him over her shoulder as she tugged open the driver’s door of her dark, unmarked sedan. “I understand your concern, but you’re a civilian and I simply can’t allow that.”
But there was too much at stake for Ryan to blindly obey the detective.
He hurried to his car and followed the cops to the airport. Ryan brought up the rear as the small group of cops ran through the airport, leaving startled travelers in their wake. “Police!” Detective Bradshaw yelled as they approached a boarding gate.
“Let us through!”
Ryan slipped past the airport security officers by blending with the group, and they proceeded to the boarding area. The cops immediately spread out and started checking the passengers. “You there!
The dark-haired woman in the white shirt! Step out of the line and raise your hands in the air,” Detective Bradshaw yelled. The rest of the cops turned as one and trained their firearms on the woman just about to enter the passenger boarding bridge.
The other passengers in the queue shied away, leaving her standing alone. Her long brown hair slid across her back as she turned to glance behind her. Ryan was so relieved they’d caught Miss Pearson in time that he started laughing.
He watched in delight as she dropped her carry-on case and raised her hands. Detective Bradshaw rushed forward to handcuff her. But the smile fell from Ryan’s face when the cops turned the woman to lead her away.
“That’s not her!” Ryan pushed through the police officers and approached the detective. “This isn’t Miss Pearson.”
“Didn’t I tell you to stay out of this?” Detective Bradshaw snapped. She then turned to one of the other officers.
“Check the plane, the other passengers, and the passenger manifesto! The real Miss Pearson might still be here.”
But a few hours later, it became clear that the plane ticket was just an elaborate ruse. Ryan sank into a chair in the airport lounge and put his head in his hands.
His only link to his father’s disappearance had just gone up in smoke. He was back to square one. No…he had significantly more information to work with than he’d had when he started.
There was the life insurance policy and the affair in addition to the missing body, coroner, and coroner’s report. And although he had no way to prove it, Ryan felt certain Dad was still alive. He’d searched through Mom’s house again, and the two colorful figurines of dancers were definitely not there.
Nothing else was missing. Wherever Dad was now, he must’ve taken the figurines with him. Ryan leaned back and glared at the display in the duty-free gift shop nearby.
It was deeply insulting to know that the only thing Dad had considered valuable enough to take with him was a couple of sculptures. An idea sparked in Ryan’s thoughts. He removed his phone and frantically searched the internet as he hurried from the airport.
Ryan stared at the 8-inch-tall sculpture locked behind the glass of an antique display cabinet. Like the other figures in the set, the artist had crafted her from different colored plastics melted together and shaped into an elegantly flowing, multicolored figurine of a
