Chapter 04: Cleaning House

Alexa motioned for Kasper to remain put and she silently snuck over to the porch doors. Peeking out through the curtain, she saw a couple of kids playing in a field behind the house and sighed. “It’s just some kids,” she announced, watching as they chased after a stray dog, moving farther and farther away from the house. “They’re gone.”

“Maybe we should be gone too.”

“In a sec. I have to make sure no one can hear our little friend downstairs if they get too close to the house.” Kasper waited in the kitchen as Alexa went back into the basement to remove Adam’s tongue. When she emerged, her shirt had a bright red stain across the top and her hands were dripping in blood.

“Wow. That’s way more than I expected.”

“Yeah, I decided to up the process a bit. Gave him a couple more cuts that’ll make him bleed out faster. I wouldn’t want someone to stumble on him before he’s dead,” she said, placing the knife in the plastic bag on the counter. “Plus, I um, removed a few other parts.”

“Do I want to know?”

“It’s nothing he’ll miss but something we might need to access his safe.”

“Are you telling me you have his hands in that bag?”

“Actually, you said it, not me. By the way, he had a lot of nice things to say about you. He was very impressed by how you’ve kept me hidden so well. Ready to go?”

“Go? Uh, A, you’re covered in blood. We can’t…”

“Don’t worry. I have a change of clothes in the trunk,” she said, grinning at the scared expression on Kasper’s face. “Come on, let’s get moving. We have some shopping to do.”

“Shopping? For what?”

“Shopping for you. This time, I’m not the one going undercover.”

“Alexa…”

“What? It’ll be fun. Besides, I have some new prosthetics I’ve been DYING to test.” They headed out, leaving Adam to rot in the basement. Alexa took Kasper to a local Armani retailer and had him fitted for a suit. And while the tailor made the necessary adjustments, she went to work creating a new image of the future CEO using software to digitally enhance some of his features.

“This nose is ridiculous,” he groaned as she applied the rubbery material to his face.

“Yeah well be grateful you weren’t born with it,” she said, holding it in place while the glue set. It took a little over two hours to get everything done. By the time they were finished, Kasper was ready to infiltrate their next target.

“How do I look?”

“Strangely, not like yourself. I think you missed your calling, Kas. Now let’s get going. The building is busiest around this time. It’ll be easier for you to get lost in a crowd,” she said and started out the door.

“I don’t know about this, Alexa. They’re gonna see right through me.”

“Not if you act confidently, K. You’re a CEO of a major telecommunications company with over a thousand contracts, including military. You buy and sell in the global market. You trade high value stocks and own several pieces of the industry’s top Fortune 500 companies. You are a force to be reckoned with now own it! If you believe it, so will they.”

Kasper blew out a breath, adjusted the mic in his ear, and started into the First National Bank on Columbus Avenue. “Mr. McCain, so good to see you again.” A stocky gentleman in a silk suit that Kasper quickly identified as the Branch Manager greeted him with a handshake. “We weren’t expecting you until next week.”

“Change of plans. Something came up and I needed to reschedule a few meetings. Figured while I was here I’d get a little business out of the way.”

“Perfectly understandable, Sir. I’ll get your room ready for…”

“Actually, I’d like to access my vault.”

“Of course. I’ll fetch your keys.”

“Thank you.” Kasper straightened his tie, re-situating the camera in his clip as he waited for the manager to return.

“Here we are, Sir. I trust you have your key as well?”

“I…”

“Left breast pocket,” Alexa said in his ear.

“Of course I do,” Kasper replied, brandishing the tiny silver key. “Now if you don’t mind. I have a very busy day ahead of me.”

“Perfect.”

“Right this way, Mr. McCain.”

The Manager led him into the vault with the safe deposit boxes. After unlocking them both, he escorted Kasper to a secured, private room. “Can I have Veronica bring you anything? Tea? Coffee?”

“No, this will be all, thank you.”

“If you need anything else I’ll be right outside.”

Kasper waited until the door closed before pulling back the lids on both boxes. Just as Adam said, both contained external devices which he assumed comprised a comprehensive list of all of the men and women he’d worked with including those at WET. With any luck, they would find everything they needed to get to its CEO.

“Find anything?”

“Yeah, the drives are here like he said and that’s not all. A, there’s like a couple hundred thousand in cash in this second box.” 

“We don’t need it, K.”

“Actually we could use some liquid currency after the shit that happened to your cabin. Think of it as payment for the recent job,” he replied, transferring the hard drives into his briefcase. “I’ll only take a few stacks, not like he’s going to miss it. The rest we can donate to charity.”

“Fine. Just get it and let’s get moving. You never want to stay for longer than necessary on a job, K.”

“Right. I’ll finish up here. See you in a bit.”

“Hi, excuse me,” Gavin said, clearing his throat as he waited for the woman to acknowledge him.

Mother Mary Francis turned with a smile that widened when she noticed the rosary around his neck. “Good afternoon. I’m Mother Mary. How may I help you?”

“My name’s Gavin Stark and I am—I um…ok,” he sighed, digging into his pocket for the picture he carried with him. “This is gonna seem strange but I was wondering if you knew this woman?” He showed her the photocopied image of Alexa, the only picture of her he had, and concentrated on the woman’s face as she examined it.

“Is she a friend of yours?” Mary Francis asked, maintaining the poker face she’d practiced for years as she recognized Alexa.

“My fiancée, actually,” Gavin corrected, smiling when the nun glanced up at him. “She’s been missing for a little over a month and I’m…I’m desperate. The police thinks she’s…” Gavin sighed and dropped onto the pew beside him. “I’ve combed through every conversation we’ve ever had, looking for clues as to where she could have gone. I’ve tried searching for pictures of her. I had a few on my phone, some selfies, some just of her but, they’re gone. I think she may have deleted them but, that doesn’t make sense to me because, I mean—who does that?”  

“A friend of mine has been helping me piece together her disappearance and I’d remembered her telling me she lived here in South Carolina with her parents and two brothers. She never seemed wholly devout but, I remembered how interested she was in my rosary so he suggested I try the church. And since he had the law side covered, here I am.” Mary Francis had taken a seat beside him and he laughed before gazing over at her. “I’m sorry. You didn’t ask for my whole life’s story. I’m just—losing hope I guess. It’s been six weeks since I’ve heard from her and I really try to not think the worst but…I just…I don’t know.”

“You have to keep your faith,” Mary smiled, patting Gavin’s hands as she slid the image back to him. “Your fiancée loves you more than you may know. And if she is able, she will come back to you, I know she will. You just have to keep believing that. Through Christ, all things are possible and it’s when we’re at our lowest He shines His light the brightest.”

“Thank you,” Gavin smiled and touched his thumb to his eye. “You have no idea how hard it is being the only one who believes she’s still out there; still alive. But no one knows her like I do. She’s…tough. I’ve seen her do things that no normal person would be capable of. She’s out there. And I’m going to find her.”

“Tell me a little about her,” Mary said, leaning back as Gavin started to relax a little in her presence.

“Hannah?”

“Yes,” Mary replied. “What is she like?”

“Hannah’s uh…” A tiny smile curled his lip before growing into a full blown grin as he thought about the traits that made him fall in love. “Hannah’s funny; kind of dorky funny and I mean that in a good way. Her humor is a little on the cheesy side but, the great thing about her is she doesn’t care. She’ll tell a joke and even laugh at herself. And her laugh, oh man,” he sighed, “She has one of the most infectious laughs I’ve ever heard in my life. She’s…well smart doesn’t really describe her. She’s the kind of intelligent that’s slightly mind blowing yet at the same time she’s pretty humble about it. She has a way about her, you know? She can put anyone at ease; adapt to any environment.” 

“My friends love her. My dad, my kid brother. I’m pretty sure before—all of this—my little sister was coming around but, my Mom; she’s a hard one to win over. She’s kind and thoughtful. Hannah’s fearless and she loves a good fight. I think it was why she wanted to become a lawyer; to defend the little guy, you know? Speak for those whose voices go unheard. Hannah she’s uh…she’s amazing.”

“You really miss her.”

“I do. Very much.”

“Hmm.” Mary beamed, listening to Gavin describe the child she once knew. It was interesting seeing her from someone else’s eyes though it didn’t sound as if Alexa had changed much. “She sounds like a little girl I once had in my care. Smart, observant; stubborn to a fault. Never took no for an answer. She kept us on our toes.”

“What happened to her?”

“She ran away. Afraid that her past would catch up to her and get someone else hurt.” 

“Yeah,” Gavin laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “That sounds just like Hannah.” He stood and paused to fold the picture back into his pocket. “I don’t suppose you would have any pictures of that young girl still lying around?”

Mary grew silent as she thought for a moment. Having heard Alexa’s feelings about the man standing in front of her and seeing how deeply he cared firsthand an idea began to form. Her gentle blue eyes sparkled and she nodded her head. “As a matter of fact I do although, I’m not quite sure why you’d be interested. The chances of them being the same person are slim.”

“Morbid curiosity I suppose,” Gavin smiled, turning on his charm.

Mary Francis stood and led him towards her office in back. Taking a seat, he waited for her to retrieve a box labeled ‘Lost Treasures’ from the closet behind him. Setting the box on her desk, Mary wasted no time sorting through the items left behind by her many charges. Most had been adopted but quite a few others simply aged out of the system. “Ah,” she said, pulling a large manila folder from the bottom of the pile. “Here we are.”

Gavin stood and moved closer as a few stray items dropped back inside the box, most of it paperwork concerning the little orphan who had been brought to Saint Peter’s Catholic Church by police. His heart sank and with it his last shred of hope. His Hannah was not an orphan. She had fond memories of traveling with her hippie parents and older brothers which meant the little girl this stuff belonged to was not who he was looking for.

“I’d often wondered how little Lyric’s life turned out,” she said, looking through the paperwork.

“Lyric?” Gavin repeated with interest. “That’s an unusual name.”

“Mmm. Her parents were free spirits. All of their children had natural names.” Mary nodded as she continued shuffling the items in her hand. “My one hope for her was that she found what her broken little heart longed for the most.”

“What’s that?” Gavin asked, looking over Mary’s shoulder at the picture in her hand.

“Family.” Mary smiled at the picture before handing it to Gavin with a sigh.

“No way.” Gavin whispered beneath his breath as he analyzed the photo, not believing what his eyes were seeing. There in the photograph was a little girl with jet black hair, eyes as bright as emeralds and a distinct birthmark on the right side of her face. But that wasn’t the only thing that made Gavin take notice. Also in the picture were two boys, both older than the young girl and two very hippie parents staring back at him.

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