Chapter 9

             Jana woke up bright-eyed and full of new determination.  She was determined that today she was going to gather the vital information required to find out how and why Victoria had been doing what she was doing.

            She went over to the desk and sat down.  Pulling out a piece of paper, she made a list of the things she needed to do that day:

            l.  Give Charles the information to get him out of town.

            2.  Talk to Jake about where he had taken her the night before.

            3.  Call lawyer and have him make a copy of her holdings.

            4.  See lawyer, seal the will, and pick up copy.

            5.  Call Suzanne and order breakfast.

            She had added that last item onto the list, having realized how hungry she was.  She hadn't really been eating very well since this whole mess had started and resolved she was going to make an effort, from that point on, to have at least one good meal a day.

            She had been thinking a lot about J.D. Kline that morning.  She had had a dream about him but couldn't remember any details.  The dream did make her realize that she needed to find out what kind of work he did, since the will indicated that they both were doing the same work.  She decided to ask Jake instead of Mr. Sweeny, since the lawyer would probably get suspicious if she asked him, because that's the kind of information Victoria would surely already know.

            First, she called the lawyers office and told the girl that she would be in and wanted to pick up a listing of her holdings.  Then she called Suzanne.

            "Yes, Mrs. Davenport?"  Suzanne's crisp voice came on the line.

            "Suzanne would you please get me some breakfast, same as last time would be fine.  You can serve it in the dining room."

            "Yes, Mrs. Davenport.  Is that all?"

            "No, would you please let Mr. Davenport know that I need to see him in the office in about half an hour."

            "I'm sorry, Mrs. Davenport, but Mr. Davenport doesn't usually get up until about noon."

            "Well, today he's going to get up now.  Tell him it's business and it can't wait."

            "Yes, Mrs. Davenport." Suzanne said, with what sounded like a slight touch of sarcasm in her voice.

            As they hung up the phone, Jana thought, How impertinent!  Imagine the maid telling me that she didn't want to bother Charles even after I asked her to.  It wouldn't surprise me if they had something going on between them.  Charles sure does have a roving eye.

            She quickly got dressed.  It was getting a lot easier dressing like Victoria, in fact, she was actually starting to feel a little comfortable being her.

            Jana went downstairs to the dining room and found her breakfast laid out on the dining room table but Suzanne was no where to be found.  She probably was avoiding her, after that embarrassing exchange earlier.

After leisurely eating her breakfast, she strolled into the office and found Charles sprawled in a chair with a robe on and a drink in his hand that suspiciously looked like a Bloody Mary.

Shaking her head, she sat down behind the desk and looked at Charles.  "Well, I didn't expect  you to come to our business meeting in a suit but you could at least look like your awake."  She said.

Charles replied, "Look, I'm here aren't I.  And I'm awake enough to handle any business you might give me."

"I guess we don't need to stretch this out any more than is necessary."  Jana said as she handed him the papers with the plots of land and businesses listed on them, having kept the papers with the listing of the bank accounts.  "I need you to get to Colorado, as soon as possible, and pick up these properties for me."

"What's the rush?"

"Really Charles, you must stop questioning me on my decisions.  If I say I need them right away then I need them right away.  Are you trying to back out on our little arrangement we have here?"

"No, No, not at all.  I'll get on it right away." Charles grumbled, he didn't like going out of town right then, at all.  He needed time to find another PI before he left.  He dragged himself out of the chair and left the room without another word to Victoria.

Jana sat at the desk for a little while, looking around the room.  As she sat there, she remembered her previous thoughts about the possibilities of there being a safe somewhere in the penthouse.  This was the ideal place, she thought, if there were a safe, but even if I did find it, how would I get it open.  What the heck, I can figure out how to get it open later, but first things first.  She got up and started looking for the safe.  In the middle of her search the phone rang.

It was Suzanne, "There's a Rose Davis on the line for you, Mrs. Davenport."

"Thank you, put her through."  Jana was happy to finally hear from her.  "Rose!  This is Victoria!"  Jana stated, overemphasizing the name Victoria.  She felt funny not calling her Aunt Rose.  Jana hoped that her Aunt would pick-up on what she was trying to convey, because she knew that Suzanne was probably listening in on their conversation.  She didn't have long to wait for her question to be answered, as she heard the voice at the other end.

"Victoria, d-a-r-l-i-n-g, I have some good news." Her Aunt Rose had always been a real ham and from the tone in her voice and her newly acquired overdone southern accent, Jana could tell that she was going to play this to the hilt.  "I'm so excited that my manners just escape me, but the party that we talked about has contacted me and they will be at the hotel tomorrow morning.  Isn't that just wonderful?"

"That's great, I'll make their reservations and make arrangements to go down there.  I'm so anxious to see them."

"I told them just what your little heart desired, you know, that someone that knew something about y'all would be there to meet them.  They were sure excited and said that this was the first positive information they had gotten and hoped that it would lead to something.  I told them that it really sounded genuine."

"Thank you Rose.  If you need anything at all you let me know, okay?"

"Sure, d-a-r-l-i-n-g, I'm just so happy to know that your okay"

"I'll be talking to you later and let you know how the meeting goes, bye for now."

"Ta-Ta, d-a-r-l-i-n-g"

Jana was so happy, she was going to see her parents. Even though for her it had only been about a week.  Because of all that had happened to her, it seemed like a lot longer.

She picked the phone back up and made the reservations for her parents and then the necessary arrangements for her trip to South Carolina.  Then she called Suzanne and told her to have Jake bring the car around in about half an hour.

After she put the phone back down, she thought about Suzanne and wondered if she had been listening in on her phone conversation.  She had not really given Jana any reason to think that she might be, but Jana had learned to not trust anybody since she had come to this penthouse.  And, the dossier did have detailed information about Victoria's calls.  Oh well, even if Suzanne or anyone else, for that matter, did listen in and tell Charles, the only thing he would know is that she was going to a hotel, somewhere, to meet with someone.

She started searching the office again for the safe and didn't have any luck.  But as she stood behind the desk again, surveying the room, she suddenly had the strange urge to walk over to one of the bookcases.  She moved a chair to the front of the bookcase.  Climbing up on the chair, she removed one of the books in the top row.  Peering into the vacant slot, she could tell there was a space behind the books.  It was too dark to see anything so she put her hand through the hole and felt a small lever.  As she pulled it, the entire bookcase, floor to ceiling, slid sideways almost pulling her off the chair.  Behind the bookcase was a safe encompassing almost the whole area.  Well, these memory recall's from Victoria seemed to be a real God sent, Jana thought.  She started twirling the mechanism of the safe thinking maybe she would have another recall, but the combination didn't come to her.  Boy, from it's size there must be a lot of information inside, she definitely was going to have to get it open somehow.  Maybe she had a safe deposit box somewhere containing the combination.

Knowing that Jake would probably be waiting for her, she used the lever to close the bookcase and carefully counted the books across the top row.  The lever was behind the thirteenth book.  She replaced the book, moved the chair back where it belonged, picked up her purse and left the penthouse.

Sitting back in the comfort and safety of the limousine, once more, Jana felt reassured by the friendly smile of Jake in the mirror.  At least this was one person that she hoped she could trust.  She thought about how to approach the subject of J.D. Kline and decided to just plunge in.

"Jake, how much do you know about this guy J.D. Kline?" Jana asked hoping she sounded nonchalant.

"Just that he has a lot of money, gives a lot to charities and does big business.  No one seems to know what kind of big business.  I can try and find out more about him if you want me to."

"I would really appreciate that.  But be sure to be extremely discrete.  I wouldn't want anybody to get the wrong idea." Jana replied.

"Don't worry I'll be careful.  Uh...Mrs.  Davenport, I think there's something you should know."

"What's that Jake?"

"I think you're being followed."

"Really?  What makes you think so?"

"Well...I keep seeing this same car around all the time when I'm driving you.  There's a rather ordinary guy driving it.  He's about 5'10" with sandy brown hair about average weight, like I said rather ordinary, kinda reminds me of a extra in a movie, you know, who's there but you never really see them."

 “Yeh…I know what you mean.”

“I thought you should know about him.  Do you have any idea who would be following you?”

“I sure do. Charles has put a private investigator on me.”

“Mr. Davenport.  Why would he have you followed?”

"I was hoping you would be able to tell me."

"Well...the only thing I have heard was from Suzanne. She said one time that Mr. Davenport sure wished he didn't have to travel around all the time to earn his keep.  I didn't think anything of it at the time but maybe he's wanting to do something to get some money of his own.  If I were you I would be careful of him."

"I can assure you I plan to be.  Tell me, do you know anything about this private eye he has on my tail?  His name is Ralph Walker."

"Ralph Walker?  I'll have to check with my cronies about him.  I'll let you know."

"Thanks, Jake, you really are a dear."

"Forget about it, after what you've done for me."

As they arrived at the lawyers and Jake pointed out Ralph's car to her before she got out of the limousine.  She took a good look at him through the darkened glass of the limousine.  Jake was right, he was a person that wouldn't stand out in a crowd.  But she did notice that he had a nice face, maybe this wasn't as sinister as it seemed.

"Oh, Jake there's one more thing," she said, before she got out of the limousine, "The night of the ball, I must have had too much to drink because it seems I told you to take me somewhere besides home, where did we go?"

"Mrs. Davenport, I didn't drive you home after the ball. You came to me and told me that you were catching a ride with someone else, I just assumed it was with Mrs. VanHollan."

"Maybe it was, I'll check with her."

*      *      *

Ralph was almost mesmerized by the delicate sway of Jana's hips as she glided past his car and disappeared into the lawyers office.  He knew that she had changed but this was the first time he had noticed that even her walk was different. Previously her walk had been strong and determined but now her stride was gracefully relaxed and full of leisure.  She seemed to almost float as she walked.  He had thought long and hard about Victoria Davenport and Jana Hardin.  They were definitely the same person.  He had sent one of his associates back to Spencer, Missouri to check out the story surrounding the disappearance of Jana Hardin and her husband.  Finally he had, more or less, come to the conclusion that she either had had amnesia or has a split personality.  But, he knew that there were still an awful lot of unanswered questions.

The car phone rang and Ralph answered it with a formal salutation, "Ralph Walker speaking, may I help you?" hoping that it might be some good news for a change or maybe even a new client.  He could sure use one.  A new client might even enable him to quit good ol' Charlie.  His hopes were dashed, as he heard the familiar voice of Charles at the other end.

"I want you to drop whatever your doing and get your ass over to the Marriot Lounge right away!  I'll meet you there."  Charles said and slammed down the phone before Ralph could even say a thing.

Well I like that, not so much as even a hello!  But, then again, Charles is nothing but a crude son-of-a---- anyway, Ralph thought as he started the car and headed for the Marriot, wondering what no good Charles was up to this time.

Charles was sitting at one of the tables, in the almost deserted lounge, talking to the bar maid as Ralph entered.  "I'll see you when you get off, Honey." Charles said, giving her her cue to leave as Ralph approached the table.

"It's about time you got here!" Charles exploded, "Sit down...I want some answers!  First, why was I not informed about Victoria's trip to Missouri?  Second, why haven't I gotten that written report I asked you for regarding her disappearance after the charity ball?  And, Who the hell is Michael?"

Ralph was caught a little off guard by this outburst from Charles.  "I thought….."

"I'm not paying those inflated bills you send me for you to think!"  Charles interrupted.  "If you can't do the job, just say so, and I'll find someone who can."

This was enough for Ralph.  "Oh I can do the job all right.  But my personal integrity is getting in the way of my doing your hatchet job on Victoria.  You just go ahead and find somebody else."  At that point, he got up and walked out, without even looking back.

He had mixed emotions about quitting his job with Charles.  He needed the money to help maintain his office and support himself in the style to which he was accustomed but he really disliked Charles and he didn't like being party to hurting Victoria in any way. Oh well, it didn't matter anymore, he'd quit!

Getting back to his office, after his meeting with Charles, he was sitting at his desk wondering what he was going to do about protecting Victoria.  He didn't have enough money to do it himself and he didn't have enough courage to approach Victoria.  Imagine, him a PI, having been in all kinds of dangerous situations and he didn't have enough nerve to approach Victoria.

About that time his phone rang.  Maybe that was Charles, he thought, calling to try to get him back.  But to his utter dismay, it was J.D. Kline's private secretary with a request that Ralph come over to discuss business with Mr. Kline at his office.

J.D. Kline's office was situated on one of the upper floors of the Century City Towers.  He had a section of the parking area that was cordoned off and he had given Ralph the number to punch in to open the electronic gate to this area.  When he arrived at the receptionist, she said that Mr. Kline was expecting him and when he stepped into J.D. Kline's office he found it was absolutely incredible.

Ralph had been in lots of important people's offices but this was different.  He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was about the office but the instant you stepped into it you felt completely comfortable.  It wasn't the decor because it seemed to be just like any other very richly decorated office but it just seemed like he had been coming to this office for years and just belonged there.

"Thank you for coming so quickly."  J.D. said politely to Ralph offering him his hand.

Shaking J.D.'s hand, Ralph replied, "It's my pleasure. You really have some layout here."

"I find it very comfortable."

"I understand you want to discuss some business with me." Ralph said coming right to the point.

"Have a seat."  J.D. said motioning Ralph to the chair across from the desk.  "I've been doing some checking on you and have found out that you're a pretty honest and straight-forward private investigator.  You do good work and a person can expect to get their money's worth out of you."

"I try to please my clients."

"I was somewhat surprised to find out that you were following Victoria Davenport for Charles. My reports on Charles Davenport show that he's...shall we say...not the most trustworthy person in the world."

"Now, you know that it would be unethical for me to disclose any of my clients or the nature of my cases."

"Yes, I know that.  So, I'll just tell you what I know and you don't need to confirm or deny anything.  I already have complete faith in the validity of my information anyway.  I know that you were working for Charles Davenport and that you just quit."

"How'd you know I just quit?  It only happened an hour ago."

"I have my sources.  I also know that you were following Victoria and that you left out a few facts about her when you turned in your reports to Charles.  Don't seem so surprised, since I know you quit; it stands to reason that I would know why you quit.

"Okay, so you know the whole story.  I just have one question.  After knowing that I didn't give Charles all the information. Why would you still want to do business with me?"

"Well Ralph, knowing your high ethical standards and Davenport's affinity for being untrustworthy, I found it admirable of you to hold out on him.  On the other hand, my proposition in itself is admirable and I'm sure that your the man for the job."

"Well, you just let me be the judge of how admirable your proposition is."  Ralph remarked with a sly, yet nervous, smile.

        Sensing the tension, J.D. instinctively knew how to get him to relax and he needed his trust for what he was about to propose.

"Of course." J.D. said, as he though to himself, what an ironic chain of events he was about to trigger.  

J.D. stood up as he picked up a box from his desk and walked around to Ralph.  He opened the box and extended it toward him saying, “Have one of these and take one for later.” As he put his hand on Ralph’s shoulder.  Ralph glanced down seeing the contents of the box to be rather expensive looking cigars.  He rather quickly took advantage of the invitation and put two in his jacket pocket. 

Ralph, unable to control his curiosity any longer, blurted, "Well, out with it!"

"Okay, here it is in a nutshell.  I think that Victoria still needs to be followed but not for the same reason that Charles had.  It seems that Charles has hired a new private investigator, his name is Duke Harrison."

Ralph let out a low whistle.  "That's really bad news."

"So you know about Duke, too."

"I know that in nearly every case with which he's involved, someone gets seriously hurt or even killed.  I don’t think Charles wants Victoria hurt.", Ralph stated, almost defending the man he detested.

J.D. retorted, "I don't think Charles did his homework this time and just grabbed the first guy in the yellow pages he could reach.  He's not too smart in some areas.  He's off to Colorado on some business and wanted to make sure Victoria was covered since he had lost you."

"How do I fit into all of this?"

"I want you to come to work for me and protect Victoria."

"But, why are you getting yourself involved in all this? I didn't think you knew Victoria very well."

"I don't...but I have my reasons for making sure she is taken care of.  What do you say?  Would you have any problems with working for me?  No conflict of interest or anything?"

"No, I can't see any reason why I can't continue on with the same job but with a different boss.  I just can't give you any information that I gathered for Mr. Davenport, that is unless he doesn't pay me my last bill, and I really don't think he will."

"Here is what I believe is your standard retainer fee and what should be about a weeks expenses."  J.D. stated as he handed Ralph a check.  "I expect daily reports from you, here is a phone number where you can reach me anytime.  I'm glad you have decided to work for me.  It's extremely important that nothing happen to Mrs. Davenport!  Remember, regardless of the expense, I want you to make sure she is safe and sound."

"I will do my best."  Ralph replied as he headed for the door.

I can believe that, J.D. thought to himself, I have a feeling that this is a man I can trust to do a good job.

Ralph just sat in his car staring at the check.  Boy, was this a strange course of events.  At least Victoria would have somebody looking out after her.  The check was a very generous amount, at least with the money that J.D. Kline was giving him he would be able to do a good job of protecting Victoria.  He also felt comfortable in the fact that he could have his associates work on the case too, and that J.D. Kline wouldn't mind paying.

What he would give to know why J.D. Kline was so concerned about Victoria.  As far as he knew they didn't even know each other except for their dance at the ball the other night.  Could J.D. Kline have been so taken by Victoria in that one evening, Ralph wondered, that he had checked up on her and found out about what was going on?

Ralph checked his watch.  It had been two and a half hours since he had left Victoria at the lawyers office, she probably had left there by now.  Starting his car he headed back to the penthouse hoping that she had returned there after visiting the lawyer.

*      *      *

Ralph was very disappointed when he reached the penthouse to find that Victoria wasn't back yet.

She was tucked safely away in a small cubicle with the door locked behind her.  She sat at a wooden shelf with the contents of a safety deposit box spread out in front of her.

Jana couldn't believe her luck in finding out about the safe deposit box.  She had gone to the lawyers for her appointment to pick-up the printout of her holdings and to seal the will.  After the will was sealed, Paul had given a copy to Jana and suggested that she keep it in her safe deposit box.  He had then handed her a key.  Jana looked at it, with sort of a blank look in her eyes, and Paul said, "You really are having problems with your memory.  This seems a lot worse than you have led me to believe."

"The memory loss seems to be just here and there.  Some things I remember just fine but then something will come along that just doesn't seem to be in my memory."  Jana had replied hoping that her story sounded convincing.  She hated lying to Paul, he seemed like a person that she could confide in, but she was afraid to take any chances because there was so much riding on her actions.  She just couldn't jeopardize her position and ruin any chance she might have to find Michael.

"Well, as I said I will help you out in any way that you need me.  You know I consider you a friend as much as I do a client.  Besides, you have much to much to do to worry about the little things.  The key fits a safe deposit box at the Security Bank in Westwood."

Riding back in the limousine, Jana had thought that everything so far had seemed too easy.  It seemed as if whenever she needed anything or needed to know some information that it just seemed to fall into her lap.  This really worried her because usually when everything is going so well, that is a sign that everything could fall apart and Jana still didn't have her most important information; what had happened to her Michael.  Oh well, she would just have to ride the crest of this wave as long as she could, and hope that Michael would be there at the top with her, before she slid down into the depths of the problems that might engulf her.

She had pulled out the bundles of money that were in the safety deposit box and found three envelopes at the bottom.  It was amazing how quickly the money had become just paper to her and how the paper had become more important than the money, she thought, as she pushed the money aside and dug into the envelopes.

The first envelope contained something hard and as she tore it open, a familiar small gold locket dropped into her hand.  Joy filled her at once, as she looked at the first thing that she had found that actually bound her to Victoria.  She quickly opened it up and there was her beloved Michael inside.  She remembered how Michael had wanted her to put her own picture opposite his but she had thought that was silly.  Why would she want her own picture next to her heart?  Now she wished she had.

It was wonderful to actually hold something that was Jana's and it was wonderful to finally look into the face of Michael.  Not that she would ever forget how he looked, since she used to stare at him all the time, not because he was overly handsome but because she loved him so much, she just couldn't get enough of him in any way, that included seeing his face.  She held the locket tightly knowing that this little piece of her previous life would help her tremendously in her quest in this one.  She felt the swelling of tears, as she connected the tiny latch and let the locket fall to it's familiar place.  She then took the amulet from her purse, putting it in the envelope that had contained the locket.

It was time to look at the other envelopes.  One held two pages from the book "Last Run" the same title as the book she had found in her desk drawer.  Jana sighed with relief when she realized that these pages might help her decode the book she had and she put them in her purse.  So far she had found a gold mine in this little box.  The last envelope had "For J.D. Kline's eyes only" printed on the front of it in bold letters.  So, finally she was going to find out about J.D. Kline.  Ignoring the instructions on the front, she ripped the envelope open.  The letter read:  

 J.D.,

 If you are reading this letter, something has gone wrong and I have departed this earth.  The business end of my work I am not worried about, since I'm sure they will help you much more than I can in any written letter.

 I know that I must have had a life before, but the only thing I had in my possession when I started all this was the locket included in this box.  Somehow I feel that I shouldn't worry about my past, but I do.  Whenever I hold the locket a great sadness and loneliness comes over me which is so unbearable that I had to put it away.

I know that the work we are doing is important but I have such a longing inside me and I don't know how long I can continue to hold on.  If you are reading this letter then I guess that I have finally given into that longing.  I tried to find the man in the locket but had no luck since I didn't know his name.

I am sorry to leave the burden of all the work on you but I'm sure they will help you as much as they have helped me.  I really wished I had met you but since they said for us not to meet, I bowed to their wishes.

Good Luck -- And may our mission be successful.

Wow!  Now not only did she not know any more about J.D. Kline but now she had some “They’s” to contend with.  Jana started to shake a little.  More questions floated into her head, like:   Was what J.D. Kline and she doing honest or was it some sinister plot?  Who are these people Victoria talked about in the letter?  Why was she not supposed to meet J.D. Kline?  The enormity of the whole thing was almost to much for her to bear.  She was a simple girl from the Midwest, without a lot of education.  All she wanted was a simple life with Michael.  But for some reason, she had been chosen to help with some mission and now the success of that mission, whether it was good or bad, and what she figured was Michael's life, rested on her simple shoulders.  How was she ever going to get the strength to see it through?

Jana placed the money, the letter to J.D., and the envelope now containing the amulet back in the box.  She finally felt as though she was making some headway, even though the situation was getting more complicated.  She was determined more than ever that somehow she was going to solve the mystery and find her sweetheart.

*      *      *

 *      *      *

Beginning     Chapter 10

Copyright 1990 by Anita and David Mathews