Cross-Over Murders by Frank F. Atanacio Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two

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Nick Barnum was seated behind his desk looking at old files. He didn’t hear O’Brien walking into his office and planting himself in one his client’s chairs.
“Nick?”
“Damn, make some noise.”
“Looking at nasty pictures?”
Nick smiled.
“Where’s Janet?”
“Out to Lunch.”
“This early?”
Nick shrugged his shoulders.
“That girl has it too easy.”
“I’m sure you didn’t come down here to tell me that Janet has it too easy, right?”
“But you have to agree, she does, right?”
“I let her think she has it too easy.”
“Yeah, Like I’m going to believe that crap.”
“I do make her think that,” Nick defended himself. “That’s how I keep control over this office. That gives me the alpha dog upper hand.”
“Yeah, I bet you wouldn’t say that in front of Janet.”
“You think I’m afraid of her?”
O’Brien nodded.
“Well I’m not! I run my office and she is just the help,” said the private eye. “Now you know it, and I know it!”
O’Brien smiled, but it quickly washed away.
“Is everything okay with you?”
“Well...”
“You came here to tell me something, right?”
O’Brien nodded.
“What is it?”
O’Brien looked up and briefly shut his eyes. “I was with him two nights ago. We had a meeting about being a proper decoy. It was a good meeting. He caught on very well. He knew what to look out for, he knew what to expect. I offered him my years of experience, and I warned him to be extra careful.”
“What, Pete?”
O’Brien looked disgusted.
“Just tell me.”
He hysterically went on, “I couldn’t have prepared a better decoy. I put my heart and soul into this. I never, for one moment, could have thought this would come out of it. I had no idea that it would back-fire! I was terrified, sick like I’d been poisoned. All of this because Robert White went missing.”
“What are you saying?”
“The murderer has one of our decoys.”

“What?”
O’Brien nodded.
“You guys didn’t follow the contractor?”
“I don’t believe we saw the pick up,” O’Brien replied.
What O’Brien was saying couldn’t really be true. How could professionals not see the pick up? It was just to difficult to believe. As hard as Captain Frank Roque planned this, how could they have not seen the pick up?
“The pick up was the most important part!” said the private eye.
“I agree.”
“So what went wrong with the pick up?”
“Captain Roque was assigned to the pick up that morning,” O’Brien said.
“The captain?”
“Yeah, but he was in training mode,” said O’Brien. “He was training, so he probably just forgot. Or he had a lot of shit on his mind.”
“This must be killing him,” said the private eye.
“It hasn’t yet,” O’Brien replied. “Maybe it didn’t sink in.”
“Oh damn, if it didn’t, it will.”
O’Brien nodded slowly.
“So what are you guys doing about it?”
“Work extra hard,” he replied. “We’re feverishly following all contractors, and we’re looking at all work being done.”
Nick nodded.
“We need you to stop what you’re doing and check out some work sites for us.”
Nick nodded again.
“We need to find Bobby before he is killed,” O’Brien stated. “We don’t want that on the captain’s head.”
“It shouldn’t be on the captain’s head,” said the private eye. Isn’t it all part of the job?”
“Try to explain that to the captain.”
Nick nodded.
“We got to believe he is alive,” said O’Brien. “He has to still be alive.”
“What makes you think he hasn’t been killed already?”
O’Brien grimaced.
“I’m sorry Pete.”
“Don’t be,” he said as he looked away from the private eye. “I’m hoping that the killer finds the badge and decides not to kill a cop.”
“Or maybe he has to kill him because he is a cop.”
“Nick, stop hitting me below the belt.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry,” said the private eye. “I’ll get out there right away. I’ll check on all the working spots, and check into the local areas. If he’s out there we’ll find him.”
O’Brien sunk his head.
“Pete, I said we’ll find him,” said the private eye. “Keep your chin up. Give me some mental support.”
O’Brien nodded.
“We will find him, Pete. We will find him.”
“You didn’t have to say it, to say it,” said O’Brien.
Nick looked confused.
“Dead or alive,” O’Brien said somberly. “Dead or alive.”