CHAPTER 13

The ceiling fan was turning slowly above Ralph, as he sat surveying the stacks of paperwork piled on his desk.  He wasn't worried about Victoria; he had his best associate, Pedro, watching her.  Pedro had proven to be extremely efficient in some of his previous cases.  He was top notch, always keeping a sharp eye peeled for anything out of the ordinary; not at all like some of the sloppy work he had gotten out of the others.  So he usually used them only as backup.

When he had called Victoria to let her know that Pedro was working for him, he had noticed that the relationship had changed between Victoria and him.  It was surprising that one short sentence could have had such a profound effect on Victoria's attitude.  She was now distant and didn't seem to know what to say.  Like she was almost afraid to talk to him, but, yet, wanting to let everything out.  He wasn't sure it was such a good idea to tell her about Charles knowing about the existence of Michael, since it had confirmed for her that he also knew.  Oh well, that was water under the old proverbial bridge, despairingly he sighed out loud and returned to the intriguing business before him.

Opening up a large manila envelope, he laid it's contents out in front of him.  This case had become so strange that he had decided he had better check on the backgrounds of everyone who surrounded Victoria.  The generous payments from J.D. Kline had made this luxury possible.

There were eight files.  He hadn't wanted to miss anyone.

Opening up the first file, a picture of Jake stared back at him.  Upon closer examination he found two pictures.  The first was that of Carl Jacobovsky, the big burly tender hearted guy in his fifties, the one that had chauffeured the Davenports for about four years. He had come to work for Victoria shortly after she had moved into the penthouse; prior to her having met Charles.  Ralph was surprised to find that Jake had an ex-wife, three grown children, and two grandchildren.  The second picture, was a publicity photo of "Bone Crusher Jacobovsky" World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion for two and a half years running.  From the photo, he appeared to be in his late twenties.  Jake's past didn't really surprise Ralph too much.  In his experience, Ralph was used to diverse backgrounds, and besides, Jake looked like he was one you wouldn't want to mess with.  According to the file, recently one of his children had gotten himself into trouble and Jake had gone to a loan shark to try to help.  It seemed, that just as he was starting to be hassled by the guy's henchmen, a "Frank Geovonni" and a "Don Furrelli", Jake made a killing in the stock market, which bailed him out.  Ralph thought it was strangely coincidental, that Jake, out of the clear blue, made twenty-five thousand dollars from the stock market, just in the nick of time, when that just happened to be the exact amount he needed.

Other than that strange occurrence, Jake's file was pretty clean.  He hadn't gotten much when he and his wife divorced, and he had come to live at the penthouse as Victoria's chauffeur.

Closing Jake's file, he went on to Suzanne's.  As he opened the cover, he was taken aback by the stunning picture of Suzanne.  She was lying on a rug, on her stomach, without a stitch of clothing on.  He had always thought she was attractive, but now he knew that she really was drop dead gorgeous.  This was definitely not how she presented herself today.

Continuing on to the file, Ralph was shocked by what he read.  Suzanne was no maid.  She had graduated from UCLA with a bachelors degree in the Arts.  She had then studied in Paris.  It seemed that she also attended art and cuisine schools in France.  Ralph wondered what the heck Suzanne was doing working for Victoria.  She had been working for her for only about six months.  She had been hired just before he had started watching Victoria.  The former maid, Bertha, had been fired by Charles while Victoria was away on business and he had hired Suzanne.  He could now see why Charles had told him that he could use Suzanne as an informant. He knew that she was working for Charles but now he realized that she could be a lot more dangerous than met the eye.  He was definitely going to have to watch her a lot more closely.

He opened up the file on Martha VanHollan next, but found that there were no surprises here.  She had come from a good family, had married well, and after not having any children, had devoted her life to charities.  She had hooked up with Victoria about three years before, and they had raised a great deal of money together.  Martha and Victoria had never seemed to be very close, never seeing each other socially except for the charity work.  Ralph knew that this had changed, and that they now seemed more buddy-buddy than was indicated in this file.

The next file was on Charles.  He quickly turned over the picture not wanting to look at his devious face.  As he started reading, he realized that this was going to be an interesting report.

It seemed that his name wasn't Davenport.  That had been Victoria's name, and he had taken it when he had married her.  Ralph started laughing, when he saw that his name had been Charles Dean Smith.  No wonder he had changed it to Charles Randolph Davenport.   Coming from a comfortable background, he had gone to college and gotten a bachelor's degree in Marketing.  But, after that, had tried some get rich quick schemes, but never really did any good until he had hooked up with Victoria.  He had been married to a girl he met in College, but that had only lasted for a few months, when Charles took off for France.  Maybe that was where he met Suzanne.  Since Charles had been married to Victoria, he had numerous affairs, the longest lasting a year.  Generally he would use an apartment he had on the other side of Westwood, so he could see his honeys whenever he felt the urge.  He also had another apartment close by, he went there with other women or just alone.  Ralph thought that he would like to take a look at that apartment, that might prove to be interesting.  Other than that, Charles just traveled around doing business dealings for Victoria.

He had his investigators do up a complete file on Duke.  He wanted to know exactly with whom he was dealing.  The picture wasn't pretty.  It looked as if Duke was paying someone off in order to keep his license, because with his track record, there was no way he could have kept it legally.  Even Ralph was shocked by the outcome of Duke's cases.  In the twenty years that Ralph had been doing PI work, only once had he needed to use his gun.  But here was Duke involved in fifteen shootings.  Ralph read case after case, and found that in the majority of the cases, it was the person he was hired to follow that had ended up being shot.  As he continued to read, the more worried he became about Victoria.  Becoming disgusted by the sadistic way in which Duke did his work, Ralph decided to continue on with the remaining files. 

He had saved the best three till last.  Jana Hardin, Michael Hardin and J.D. Kline.

Born in Springfield, Missouri, Jana spent practically her whole life in Spencer.  She was a well liked person, and through her school years belonged to many clubs like:  the Pep Club, 4-H club, and the Glee Club.  After graduating from high school, she spent a couple of years working in a bank and then decided to attend college.  During her second year of college, she met and married Michael Hardin.  And so she didn't graduate.

She was known as a sweet and loving person, always helping her neighbors out.  She was always volunteering for any type of group that was helping someone in town.  She was friendly and very outgoing.

Everyone knew that Michael and she had a wonderful marriage.  In fact, most of the people in town were envious of the love that the two shared.  The most common comment was that they were "made for each other".  The whole town had mourned, when the two of them had disappeared.

As Ralph read this report he thought how much this sounded like Victoria.  The only thing that seemed to be missing was the poise and sophistication that Victoria had developed.  Included were the newspapers articles about Jana and Michael's disappearance from Spencer.  He was surprised to find that when they had both disappeared, their truck, clothes, and other belongings had been found still at the campsite.

Continuing on to Michael Hardin's file, Ralph found a picture of a friendly looking guy.  He had a nice face and seemed unobtrusive.  He had been born and raised in Colorado.  After graduating from high school, he served in the Air Force for four years.  His parents were both dead, and so he had traveled, somewhat extensively, before ending up in Spencer, Missouri.  Michael hadn't gone to college, and didn't seem to have any real skills, so that was why he had been working at the lumber mill in Spencer.  That seemed to be about it.  He seemed to be just an ordinary guy, just like Jana Hardin seemed to be just an ordinary woman.  But Ralph knew Victoria wasn't just ordinary, so maybe Jana and Michael weren't quite as ordinary as they seemed.

Ralph felt a little guilty about checking up on J.D. Kline because he seemed like such an all right guy‚ but he knew he had to understand why J.D. felt it was so important to protect Victoria.  When he opened up the file, he thought that the investigator had made a mistake.  There were two pictures in the file.  One was the unmistakable suave, sophisticated J.D. Kline but the other was of Michael Hardin.  He started to read through the file and then sat back in his chair and mumbled, "No wonder."  Going back to the file, he learned the things that Jake had told Victoria, but he also found out that J.D. Kline and Michael Hardin were one and the same person.

Ralph's private detective's mind started racing.  Jana and Michael Hardin had disappeared at the same time, and then showed up about six months later, living separately, both with a great deal of money.  This seemed to be the plot of something sinister, but yet, they both gave generously to charities.

 Pulling out Victoria's file, Ralph saw that she was mostly amassing property and businesses.  Checking J.D.'s file, he saw that he was dealing mostly in the stock market and securities.

Ralph leaned back in his chair again and sat thinking, with the tips of his fingers coming together into the shape of a tent and then apart very slowly.  With his many years of being a private detective, he had always thought he was a good judge of character, and he had judged that Victoria and J.D. were good people.  Could he be wrong?  He didn't want to be.  He really liked J.D., and had really strong feelings for Victoria.

As he sat there thinking about them, he saw that what the report on Jana Hardin had said was true even in this life; they were made for each other.  He realized it now, as he remembered seeing them together in Charleston.

The one question that was burning in Ralph that he felt he had to know was:  How much did they know?  If Victoria had been aware of the fact that she was Jana Hardin, all along, why had she waited five years and then suddenly gone back to Missouri and had to look up everything in the newspaper? Unless it was just out of curiosity.

He knew from the reunion in Charleston, of Victoria (or should he say Jana) with her parents that they hadn't seen each other since Jana had mysteriously disappeared back in 1994.  If Victoria had known that she was Jana, why wouldn't she have seen her parents sooner, or even have let them know that she was alive.

Ralph came to the conclusion that up until just a little while ago, Victoria didn't know anything about Jana Hardin.  The next question was:  Did J.D. know that he was Michael? Maybe he did, since he was so concerned about protecting Victoria, but yet, how could someone like Michael Hardin become a businessman like J.D.?  And, could it be possible that one little dance J.D. and Victoria had at the ball could have rekindled the love that they had as Jana and Michael?

Thinking about the possibilities, Ralph came to the conclusion that they may have been brainwashed and retrained in their respective positions.  What else could explain this whole thing.

Closing the files, and locking them up in his safe, Ralph decided he needed first to find out if J.D. knew he was Michael.  Now he was glad that he had mentioned Michael to Victoria, that may give him an in to find out if she knew whether J.D. knew or not.  That was if he couldn't trick J.D. into giving himself away.

He was really excited about this whole case.  This was a genuine puzzle that would warm the heart of any private investigator.  Above everything he knew that he had to keep Victoria safe, mostly for Jana and Michael's sake.  He also realized that the nature of his feelings for her had changed.  The excitement of the job far outweighed his feelings for Victoria (or maybe it was just the realization of J.D. being her husband Michael).  Whatever the case, he now knew why he had never married, the excitement of the job had always come before everything else.

*      *      *

Jana hadn't slept well at all the night before.  Even now as she tried to work on the code and the solution to the mystery, her mind was in a turmoil.  Compared to now, everything had seemed so simple before.  She knew she was getting close to finding the answer to this whole puzzle, but too many people knew too much. She was afraid that the whole thing was going to blow up in her face.

Finally giving up trying to work, she called Jake and told him to meet her down stairs with the limousine.  She was going to the library to find out, once and for all, if J.D. was Michael, surly there must be pictures of the great J.D. Kline, as he was before the accident.

Having gotten instructions on how to use the microfiche machine to view the back issues of the newspaper, Jana started with 1994.  That was the year that J.D. Kline was supposed to have arrived on the scene.  Going through day after day of the newspaper, and not finding anything, Jana was getting discouraged, when she found a small article about J.D. Kline.  It was about something having to do with securities, she really didn't understand anything about it.

She continued on and found a few articles about him, but no pictures.  Then, finally, there he was; Michael!  Jana got a numb feeling all over her body, as she stared at the picture of the face she loved so dearly.  She knew now that she would never see that face again, except in a picture.

She felt a joy and a sadness all at once.  She had found Michael but not her Michael, and she knew that things would never be the same.  Never again would they have the simple life that they had loved.  How she hoped that even if she couldn't have back the old Michael, maybe at least she would be able to be with the new Michael.  But, she also knew that wouldn't be possible until she figured out what was going on.  Only then could she tell J.D. the whole story.

Through this whole ordeal, Jana had felt that the drive to find Michael was what had kept her going, but she knew now that to have him so close and yet unable to be with him, was going to be the impetus to push her even harder.

She missed him so much it physically hurt.  It was like a hollow pain in her heart.  She guessed that was what writers meant when they said “they had a ache in their hearts”, because she certainly did.  At least now she felt free to give in to the feelings she had for J.D.  It was no good to dream about Michael anymore, he didn't exist. She easily slipped into thoughts about J.D., after all, it was still loving Michael.

Getting back to the penthouse she locked herself in the library again and started work on the code.  She had tried everything.  She had been afraid this was going to happen.  Everything had been going much to easily up till now so she had been expecting a snag.  She had held the key again hoping that one of Victoria's memory recalls would help her out but nothing came.  She had opened up the shelves covering the safe again but the combination remained a mystery to her.

Going back over the map showing her holdings and businesses, Jana felt that something about it looked familiar.  The outline of the dots, that she had put on the map, seemed to be in a rather strange configuration.  Then it hit her, it was the same markings that was on the amulet. She pulled out the amulet, that she kept on herself at all times now, and sure enough the markings matched almost perfectly.  There were some markings that were on the amulet that weren't on the map.  Maybe they just hadn't been bought yet.  She knew one thing for sure, They obviously had planned this out very carefully, if They knew ahead of time all the land and businesses that she was supposed to purchase.  What she still couldn't figure out was why everything was only in her name.

She jumped as the phone rang.

"Yes?"  Jana answered.

"Martha VanHollan on the line for you."  Suzanne's voice stated sweetly.

"Thank you, put her through please."  Jana answered just as sweetly.  Since she had found out for sure that Suzanne was working for Charles, that girl had been driving her crazy with her phony act.

"Martha!"  Jana said as she heard the click indicating that she was on the line.

"Victoria, do you think we could get together for a little bit.  I wanted to find out how things went and I have something to tell you."

"Sure.  When?"

"How about now?  I'm at the restaurant LaParge, just down the street from you.  Do you think you can get away?"

"Absolutely.  I'll see you in a few moments."

Hanging up the phone Jana went upstairs and changed.  She then called Suzanne and told her she would be out for a while and for Jake to meet her downstairs. She wasn't going to take any chances by walking.

Martha seemed excited when Jana slid into the chair across from her.

"I want to hear the story about what happened last night, but first I want to know what is going on between you and J.D. Kline?"  Martha asked in an almost conspiratorial voice.

"What do you mean?"  Jana asked, hedging.

"What I mean is the call I got from him this morning.  He wanted to know if everything had gone well last night, as if he knew everything that was going on.  I tried to play dumb, like I didn't know what he was talking about, but he just brushed that aside and told me what had happened.  He wanted to make sure that I felt comfortable that I was the one that was followed and that you weren't.  So, darling, what is going on?"

Jana could see no way out of it so she told Martha about J.D. having Ralph look after her.

"Well,"  Martha said after Jana finished. "You certainly made an impression on him at the ball.  After hearing about your stomping on his foot, I thought that we had lost him for sure, but this sounds like he has taken a liking to you."

"Oh, Martha,"  Jana with almost a tear in her eye.  "You have been such a good friend and I wish I could tell you everything, but I can't.  Maybe someday...."

"I'd be happy to do anything I can to help," Martha said seeing the distress Victoria was going through,  "all you have to do is ask."

"Thank you, you've done so much already."

"Well, I'm always here if you need me."  Martha said then continued brightly.  "Now to the real reason I needed to talk to you."

She leaned forward and whispered.  "Do you think it's safe to talk here?"

Jana said.  "Maybe you should write it down.  No telling where or how someone may be listening."

Martha pulled some paper and a pen from her purse and scribbled something down.

Taking the paper Jana read:  J.D. wants to meet with you, but he wants to make sure that your not followed.  He asked me to play you again.  Is this why Charles is having you followed?

Jana wrote:  No!  J.D. and I have become "friends" only recently.  Charles has had me followed for at least six months.

She had underlined the "friends" twice.

"I just thought I would throw that in."  Martha smiled as she commented out loud, relishing the chance to tease Jana.

Jana then wrote:  When and where does he want to meet me?

Martha then slipped her a note with an address, telephone number and time on it.  It was for tonight.

Jana got excited.  This was the first time she was going to see J.D., knowing he was Michael.  Then a little fear crept in, as she wondered how he was going to act.  How was she ever going to keep her hands off of him?  She dreaded the fact that he might act cool towards her, since that was the way They wanted it.

Martha and Jana talked for a while longer.  Jana promised that she would pay more attention to their work and try to open her mail and return phone calls, although she knew secretly that she wouldn't because the other work she was doing was much more important to her right now.

It was almost impossible to find the hole with the stud of the pierced earring because Jana's hands shook so much, but finally it slid into place.  Putting the backing on the earring, she stood back from the full length mirror and surveyed herself.  Victoria's dress was classy and business like, but with a touch of allure.  Jana had looked for hours trying to find the perfect outfit to wear to the meeting with J.D. Kline and had finally decided on this dress.

How am I ever going to get through this evening? She wondered.  She wavered back and forth between ecstasy and sadness, as she first thought about how wonderful it was going to be, being with Michael, and then realized that he wouldn't know that he was Michael and her husband.

She wondered if it was a meeting just to admonish her again for not doing her work or if he just wanted to see her as desperately as she wanted to see him?  Would they be able to keep the meeting on business or would the desire overwhelm them?  The thought that he might be cool towards her just tore her apart, but then, she was probably suffering needlessly because she had no idea how this meeting would go.

Getting into the car with Ralph, she handed him the slip with the address on it.  He had sounded strangely superficial when she had called him and let him know that there would be a repeat of the previous night.  Now he looked at her with an unusual expression after he saw the address.

"You really should let me know who you are going to meet."  He said with a worried look on his face.

"J.D. didn't tell you about this meeting."  Jana said with surprise.

"No, he didn't.  Is that who you're meeting?"

"Yes."

His face relaxed, as he put the car into gear and eased out of the driveway.  A slight smile had come to Ralph's lips, Jana thought, but no, she must have been mistaken.  She hadn't looked at him while they were talking, not wanting the conversation to head into areas she wasn't prepared to talk about now.

They drove on in silence.

"Victoria...?"  Ralph finally said, not being able to stand it anymore.

"Not now Ralph."  Jana said softly, while still looking down at her hands.  She could only deal with one dilemma at a time.  How this meeting with J.D. went was extremely important to her, and she didn't want anything to distract from it.

They arrived at a small house on an ordinary street, ordinary for Los Angeles that is.  Ralph insisted that he get out and escort her to the door, making sure nothing happened to her, but the instant they reached the door, it opened and J.D. was standing there.

"Thank you, Ralph.  Park out on the street and keep an eye out.  Okay?"  J.D. said, as he quickly escorted Jana inside.

Ralph said, "Sure," as the door closed in his face.

When J.D. escorted her into the living room, she was glad for the chance to sit down.  She was so weak and shaking so hard that she was afraid she would give herself away.  Sitting down without a word, she waited for the cue from J.D. to let her know what kind of meeting this would be.  She closed her eyes and said a little prayer, but that prayer would not be answered because J.D. gave no indication to her if he knew that he was Michael.

"Can I get you something to drink?"  He asked, too politely.

"No, thank you."  Jana said, not looking at him.  She just couldn't look at him, not yet.

He sat down in the chair opposite her, studying her delicate form.  This was not the strong and secure woman he had always imagined Victoria would be.  She seemed almost meek.  He decided at that moment not to tare into her like he had planned.  But now what was he going to do?  Watching her, he noticed that she was shaking and his heart went out to her.

"I'm not a ogre."  He said.  "You don't need to be nervous."

Quickly replying, "Oh, I don't think your an ogre." She glanced up at him and then as quickly looked down again.  This was not going right for Jana, she was going to have to compose herself somehow.  She decided that the only way was to look at him and face him and try to be strong.

"Well, I guess you're wondering why I had you come here tonight."

As she looked up into his eyes with a questioning look, all the reasons he had rationalize for meeting with her melted away, and he knew it was because he just had to see her again.  He missed her so terribly.  This was so hard for him to understand since she was the first woman to have this effect on him since his life began five years before.

“J.D….”  She started then said.  “Do I have to call you J.D. or can I call you by your name?”

“J.D. stands for Jason Dunkirk.”

“Jason…That’s a nice name and it fits you.  I’ll call you Jason."  She said quickly adding, "If you don't mind." Jana mentally felt a door closing.  She knew she would never see Michael's face again but it was beginning to look as though she was going to lose the comfort of being able to whisper his name.  She then resolved that she would start practicing his new name in her head so she would not slip up and call him Michael.

"No, that's fine."  He replied.

"Jason, I know that I haven't been taking care of business like I should.  It's just that ever since I hit my head, I don't seem to remember a lot of details.  I've asked Paul Sweeney to help me out, but I guess there are a lot of things he doesn't know."

"What do you mean, hit your head?"  He questioned with a worried look on his face.  "Are you all right?"

"Yes,"  Jana replied, "The doctor said it was nothing serious, it would just pass."  Jana hated lying to him, but she didn't know what else to do.

"Why didn't you tell me about this in Charleston?  This could be a serious hindrance to our work."  He admonished her.

"It wasn't serious....and the way you jumped on me, about my not handling work; you just made me mad."  She said almost pouting.

"I guess I was kind of rough."  He said with a smile on his face and she could see that he became noticeably more relaxed in his chair.  "It's just that they were so adamant about our not meeting, that when they did tell me to check up on you, I knew that something serious had to be wrong.  They wouldn't tell me what it was, just that you weren't taking care of business.  If it was just a temporary loss of memory, I wonder why they didn't tell me about it."

"Maybe they didn't know."

He gave her a strange look and replied, "Of course, they would know.  Really, Victoria, you know that they monitor us constantly and know everything we do.  You haven't forgotten that also, have you?  From the look on your face, you have.  I'm beginning to think that this little bump on your head, that you claim isn't serious, is a lot worse than your telling me.  Something is going to have to be done.  I can help you if you will start utilizing your e-mail, like I asked you to."

Jana wanted to run from the place, screaming.  All he seemed to care about was the work and Them.  Couldn't he see the state she was in?  Couldn't he see the effect all this was having on her?  No.  Everything was business.  She wanted to go over to him, hold him in her arms, and feel his warm affection close to her.  She wanted to hear all the little statements of love that he use to lavish on her.  As much as she tried to fight it, tears gathered in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

She jumped up and headed for the door, but before she could reach it, he had her in his arms.  She tried to struggle free, but he held her too securely.  When she stopped fighting, he held her back and took her face in his hands.

"I'm sorry I was so terrible, pretty one."  He said as he kissed the tears from her cheeks.  He kissed her then, on the lips.  At first tenderly and then holding her tightly, with a hunger that had built up for five years.

As they stood there, they held each other close, not wanting the moment to pass.  Afraid that, if they let go, they would lose the moment.  But, finally, J.D. loosened his hold and still in an almost full embrace they moved to the couch.  He held her face in his hands once again, looking deep into her eyes and whispered, "Victoria....Victoria."

Jana could see the love in his eyes, just as she knew that he could see the love in hers.  How desperately she wanted to give into this love.  How desperately she wanted to get lost in his arms, and share the beautiful lovemaking they had enjoyed as Jana and Michael.  But at that moment he dropped his arms and got up and walked over to the fireplace with his back to her.

"Victoria, I love you."  He said with all the emotion that she had remembered had come from Michael, but then he continued.  "I just wanted you to know that even though I realize that this isn't the right time.  There's our work that must be done and there's Charles...."

"I love you too, Jason."  She said quietly.

He turned and looked at her, wanting to gather her up in his arms again, but with all the strength he had inside him, he said.  "I think you're going to have to go."

"Maybe we could work together."  She said hopefully, as she got up and went over to him, putting her hand on his shoulder.  "And you know what Charles has been doing to me, besides he never has been a husband to me, if you know what I mean."

"You know we can't do anything like that.  There is too much at stake.  If we gave into our feelings now, we could ruin everything, all the work we have done up till now.  No, the work is much more important than our feelings for each other.  Maybe someday if Charles is out of the picture and They say it would work out all right, but not now.  For now, just knowing that we love each other will have to be enough."

He took her in his arms again and they kissed with all the urgency and love of two people who knew they would have to be apart.  Then he said, "I think you had better go before I lose my resolve."

He walked her to the door and signaled Ralph to pick her up.  He missed her already.  As he watched them drive away; only then, did he allowed a tear to slide down his cheek.

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Beginning     Chapter 14

Copyright 1990 by Anita and David Mathews