What She Left (Martina Monroe Book 1) Read online

  His body relaxed. “All right. Ms. Gilmore has an appointment tomorrow morning at nine. You’ll be the lead investigator.”

  My insides jumped up and down. A real case. It was the reason I had become a private investigator. It was the reason why I got up every day to do this job. I needed to know I was doing something more than just taking care of myself and my daughter. I wanted to be a part of something bigger - bigger than me. I was practically vibrating in my seat.

  Stavros pushed off the chair and stood. “Don’t think I won’t be watching closely. I’m talking about daily check-in’s and weekly summary reports.”

  I grinned. “I look forward to it.”

  “Good.” He started to exit the room when I stopped him.

  I stood up and called out to him. “Stavros.”

  He turned around. “Yes.”

  I stared into his deep-brown eyes. “Thank you.”

  He nodded. “Have a good night, Martina.”

  I eked out a, “you too,” before he exited the conference room. In that moment, I felt I was getting my life back after I’d nearly lost it all. I was just given my second chance, and I wasn’t going to screw it up.

  3

  Martina

  My pink, sparkly girl fidgeted in front of the door, waiting rather impatiently for me to take her to school. To this day, I’ll never understand how I gave birth to a daughter who loved all things pastel and glittery. She was small, like a sprite, with bright-blue eyes from Jared and dark-brown hair from me, with a fierce focus and determination I had never seen in a child. It was one of the few ways I knew she was mine.

  Today was no exception. Her current outfit included bubblegum-pink jeans with a white sweatshirt adorned with a heart made of fuchsia sequins. With Valentine’s Day coming up, she’d insisted on wearing hearts every day until the holiday.

  Her pink backpack was slung over her arm, and her tiny fist rested on her hip. “Mom, I can’t be late today. You know today is the day the class is going to discuss our plans for Valentine’s Day. By the way, we still need to buy Valentines. Everybody in class has to have them and we give them out at the party. Kaylie’s older sister told her all about it. And I for one, can’t wait.”

  I’d completely forgotten that I needed to buy Valentine’s cards. If I hurried, I could pick up a pack before heading into the office. I felt like I was always coming up short in the mother department. I supposed it was the curse of a working, single mother.

  I studied Zoey and her obvious enthusiasm for the class Valentine’s Day party. What I would give to be excited about a Valentine’s Day party. Even before my heart had been ripped out by the loss of Jared, I wasn’t into celebrating Valentine’s Day. It was a sappy made-up holiday designed to sell candy and jewelry. Lame. Although I remembered one Valentine’s Day where Jared had surprised me with flowers and candy while dressed in the tuxedo he wore to our wedding. He had hit all the clichés. My belly ached from laughing so much at each goofy gesture.

  I sucked in my emotions and headed toward Zoey. “I’m ready.”

  “Thank goodness.” She said with a coy smile.

  The girl hated to be late - same here. I supposed she was like Jared and me, after all. She was a mini soldier ready to take on the world in battle, one Valentine’s Day party at a time. I reached for the doorknob when Zoey said, “You aren’t going out there without a coat, are you?”

  Did I mention that my almost 8-year-old acted more like an almost 18-year-old? Too often, she was trying to take care of me when it should be the other way around. “I was just about to grab it.” I hurried to the closet and pulled out my black down jacket, lifting it up for her to see. “Got it.” Boy, my head wasn’t on straight today. Maybe it was the strange butterflies in my stomach. I was nervous and excited about my first real case and client in nine months. The thought of an actual case made me feel alive. Working fraud and cheater cases these past six months had left me feeling partially dead inside. “Would you like to do the honors, my dear?”

  “Of course.” Zoey turned the knob and opened the door. She stood to the side and said, “Madam, after you.”

  I smiled at her. “Why thank you, kind girl.” I stepped outside, turned around, and locked the door before heading toward the car. The butterflies fluttered. I could feel it in my bones that today, everything would change.

  I rushed through the frigid air toward the front of the office building. Stopping to purchase the Valentine’s cards had taken longer than I’d expected, and now I only had three minutes to make it to my appointment on time. I entered through the automatic doors and raced toward the stairwell. There was no time for the elevator. I swung open the door and ran up three flights of stairs before reaching the floor of Drakos Security & Investigations. I slipped off my jacket and entered the office, hoping the sweat under my pits wasn’t noticeable. I approached Mrs. Pearson. “Good morning.”

  Mrs. Pearson tipped her head down. “Good morning, dear. I put your first appointment, Ms. Kennedy Gilmore, in conference room two. She has coffee and a bottle of water.”

  Wait? Kennedy Gilmore? I knew that name.

  “You’re the best,” I said, before subtly rushing to the conference room. I knocked on the open door and eyed the woman sitting and sipping coffee. I was about to introduce myself when it hit me. I stood stunned for a moment before gathering my composure. “Kennedy?”

  Kennedy’s bright-green eyes met mine. She cocked her head. “Martina Koltz?” She paused. “From Stone Island?”

  I nodded. I didn’t see that coming. “It’s Monroe now, but yes. What a surprise. It’s been years. How are you?” A flood of emotion shot through me. I hadn’t been prepared for this, not even a little. I draped my coat and bag on the back of the chair and sat across from her.

  Kennedy gave a friendly smile before speaking. She had matured into a stylish woman with red hair and freckles and reminded me of the girl next door meets supermodel, not the bookish girl I went to school with.

  “Before these past few months, great. Actually, I live in San Francisco and work in communications now. Wow, this is such a coincidence. How about you? Married now? Kids?”

  I hated this part. “I have a daughter, she’s almost eight. My husband passed almost two years ago.”

  Kennedy’s face fell. “I’m so sorry.”

  Where is your head, Martina? She had just lost her mother. “Thank you, and, my deepest condolences on the passing of your mother.”

  “Thank you.”

  A deep silence filled the room. I was usually better at this. The small talk before getting into the serious stuff. Kennedy’s presence threw me off my game. I needed to turn this around. “So you know Rose?” Better to stick with the here and now. I didn’t want to get into the past. Not now, not when I was unprepared.

  “Yes, we’re coworkers and friends. We have lunch together almost every day. She has glowing reviews of you and your work.”

  “That’s always nice to hear. How is Rose?” Rose was a fighter. She’d had an abusive ex-husband and a stalker, both of whom decided she belonged to them despite her feelings on the matter. Thankfully, the ex was in jail and the stalker was dead. Good riddance to both of them. I hadn’t spoken to Rose since her case ended. I had wondered about her from time to time and considered reaching out to her, but never had. I thought maybe she’d think it was weird if I, the private investigator she hired to figure out who was stalking her, wanted to have coffee after the case was finished.

  Kennedy nodded. “Oh, she’s great. She was promoted recently and she started up a self-defense class for everyone at the office. She is fierce up and down. I just adore her.”

  “That’s great to hear. Please tell her I said hello.”

  Rose had been nearly killed - twice. Now she was thriving. I made a mental note to get in touch with her, at the very least to thank her for referring Kennedy. It was because of Rose that I was getting out of my dreadful probation.

  “Will do.”

  Time to
get down to business. “I was briefed a little on your case, but why don’t you tell me about what brought you here today.”

  Kennedy bent over and reached into her purse and pulled out an item. She then slid an old photograph across the conference room table. I looked down at the young woman and infant in the picture and flipped it over. In cursive letters was the name Amelia, with a heart drawn next to it with a date. I glanced back up at Kennedy and in her emerald eyes she held a mix of sadness and excitement and frustration. “Tell me about the picture.”

  Kennedy looked down. “As you’ve heard, my mother passed away a few days ago. Pancreatic cancer, it was fast and sudden and terrible. She was my…”

  I slipped the box of tissues across the table to Kennedy. She plucked one from the box as she apologized and dabbed at her eyelids. “We were very close, closer than most mothers and daughters. We were best friends. I thought we didn’t have any secrets, but I had started going through her things, as suggested by the funeral home, and I found the picture. I’d never seen it before, and I didn’t think Mom had any living family. When I asked my father about it, he became angry and told me to never ask about it again, but something in my gut is telling me I need to know who she is.”

  I think that if I had been in Kennedy’s shoes, I would have wanted to know who the baby was too. I hadn’t been friends with Kennedy while growing up. She was more of an acquaintance because she lived next door to my best friend. We never hung out. I remembered her as a quiet girl who followed the rules, and well, Donna and I, not so much.

  She continued. “The picture is dated two years before I was born, so I don’t think I’ve ever met her. I have little family left, and if the baby is a relative, I’d like to find her. Do you think you can find her?”

  “I hope so. What can you tell me about your mother and her family?” I didn’t want to alarm Kennedy, but the baby bore a striking resemblance to both Kennedy and her mother. All three of them had a widow’s peak and a similarly pointed chin. My bet was that the baby was a relative. A close relative.

  “I can tell you everything I know - it’s not as much as you’d expect. She was always guarded about her childhood, but she said she grew up on the East Coast, in the state of Pennsylvania, before her parents and brother were killed in a house fire. She said she didn’t have any aunts or uncles still around, but she had a distant cousin who took her in for a little while after she finished high school. After a few months, she moved out to California where she met my father. They were married, moved into a house on Stone Island, and shortly after, they had me. They lived there ever since. She was a stay-at-home mother and volunteer. She was the best mother.”

  My gut clenched. I wondered if Zoey would say that about me after I was gone. “She sounds amazing.”

  “Do you think that’s enough information to identify the baby?”

  “You haven’t found anything else in her things that might give you more clues?”

  “I don’t think so, but to be honest, I’m not sure what I’d be looking for. Maybe you could come out to the house and look through her things. Is that something you do?”

  I was going to have to. It would be the first time I would visit Stone Island in thirteen years. “Of course.” I would do everything in my power to make sure I found this baby, even if it meant returning to my hometown, something I hadn’t ever planned to do.

  “So you can find her?”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  Kennedy frowned ever so slightly.

  I placed my hands on the table and leaned forward. “I promise you, I will do everything in my power to find baby Amelia’s identity.”

  Kennedy’s frown faded. “Thank you, Martina. Rose said you wouldn’t let me down.”

  I sure hoped not.

  4

  Alonso

  He arched his back and stared up toward the heavens. “I could get used to this California weather,” he mumbled to himself before straightening his posture and gazing out at the blue-gray waters of the San Francisco Bay. Perhaps I’ll need to extend my trip longer, he thought. His break on the beach was interrupted by the buzz of his cellphone in his inner jacket pocket. He dug inside the blazer and studied the screen. Figures. “What’s up Boss?”

  “What have you learned?”

  He’d only been in town for forty-eight hours. What was the rush? Charlotte was dead. If he took another day to poke around, it wasn’t likely to make much of a difference.

  “I’ve only had a chance to swing by her house.”

  “Did you get eyes on the husband or her daughter?”

  “Affirmative. The daughter was over at the house when I checked it out. She’s now a spitting image of Charlotte with her red hair and peaches-and-cream complexion. Her widow looks pretty distraught and from what I can tell, he just mopes around the house.” He wasn’t sure what the boss expected him to find. The obituary in the newspaper said as much as he’d found. Regardless, he would dig around and make sure there was nothing out of whack or anything that could lead to trouble for the boss.

  “Have you had a chance to take a look at the inside of the house to see if there’s anything I need to be worried about?”

  “Not yet.”

  “What are you waiting for?”

  He knew the boss was impatient, but this was a bit much, even for him. If he was expecting something, it would be nice to know what it was because it would make his job easier. As it was, he’d made the trek out to California every few months to keep an eye on Charlotte, but now that she was deceased he didn’t think it was necessary but at the same time he wasn’t about to turn down a free trip to the state known for sun and fun.

  “I was waiting until the house was empty. I didn’t think you’d want me making friends or anything. However, I tailed the daughter when she left the island.” He was distracted by a couple of fellow tourists running into the frigid surf with their pants rolled up and their shoes gripped in their hands. Good for them. Life was for moments like these. He realized he was in a desperate need of a vacation. Maybe after he was done looking into Charlotte’s estate he’d hang back in the Golden State for a week or two.

  “And?”

  His thoughts returned to the call at hand. “It may or may not be related to Charlotte, but I saw the girl visit a private investigations firm.”

  Charlotte had been a good girl, and he couldn’t imagine what the boss thought he would find. It didn’t matter. He was simply glad not to be on the frigid East Coast. It was February, and he was wearing a blazer, T-shirt and khakis, standing on the beach. Nobody else was wearing a similar outfit, likely because these Californians didn’t know what it meant to be cold. Shoot, it was 60°F. In his book, that was beach weather, yet he’d seen more than a dozen folks wearing down jackets. Wimps. After he was done updating the boss, he was heading over to the ice cream shop to get a cone. Mint chocolate chip was calling his name.

  The boss spoke. “Which firm? You ever heard of them?”

  “It’s called Drakos Security & Investigations. I did a quick search and called a few buddies out here. They’re the best in the Bay Area, probably best in the state and some say arguably one of the best in the country. The firm was founded by an ex-special forces guy who hired many of the same. Word on the street is, if someone needs protecting or someone needs to be found, Drakos and his team will deliver.”

  “It would be tricky to find out if Drakos and team knows anything, but you can, right?”

  He took the phone away from his ear and stared at it. He shook his head. Get inside of Drakos Security & Investigations? That would be a damn suicide mission. Lord only knows what kind of tech they had inside. It wouldn’t surprise him if they had poison darts shoot from the ceiling as he broke in. No thanks.

  Those ex-military types rarely left things up to chance. He had a better chance of surviving, or at least remaining a free man, by limiting his search to the Gilmore house and avoiding the investigations firm all together. “I’ll start at the house an
d see what I can find. If she left any mementos behind, I’ll find them.”

  “All right, I want a full report. Also, I want a full report on the husband and daughter.”

  “You got it, Boss.”

  He shoved the cellphone back into his pocket and slipped his sunglasses on his face. He’d check out the Gilmore house tomorrow, right now that mint chocolate chip was calling his name.

  5

  Martina

  I held my breath as I drove onto Stone Island. Glancing across the two-lane road, it was as if I had been transported back in time. Suddenly, I was eighteen with a chip on my shoulder and saving all my pennies for a one way ticket out of there.

  In my youth, I had vowed to leave that life behind me and never return. I had thought it would be too painful to return. I supposed it hadn’t occurred to me that one day my work would bring me back. It was only ninety minutes outside of San Francisco, but you’d think you were in a different world.

  I continued driving, quickly recognizing the town market and the small café where I had went on my first date with a boy who attended my high school. I didn’t needed directions. I remembered exactly where Kennedy Gilmore lived. Even if my memories were foggy, the island only had a few major roads. It would be trickier to get lost than to find the house.

  I continued down Main Street as a pang of guilt shot through my chest and sat there. My mother still lived in that same trailer in the middle of the island. My brothers were probably somewhere on the island as well. Over the years, communication with my mom had dwindled to Christmas cards and a phone call on Mother’s Day and her birthday. The conversations were brief and mostly about her cats. It surprised me she was able to keep those kittens fed and alive. She’d barely cared for her human children back in the day. I supposed I should have more empathy considering I knew first hand that alcoholism was a disease. But you can’t help someone who doesn’t want it or doesn’t think they need it.