Pieces of the Puzzle by Robert Stanek Read Free Book Online

Sunrise, there’s lots of Wellmen but no Jessica
     Wellmen. Do you know the street address?”
    “Is there a way you could check outside the 305 area code?”
    “I’ve already cross-referenced. No listing for a Jessica Wellmen, or even J. Wellmen, but I do have a J. Wellmen and Associates
     in Boca Raton.”
    He grinned. “What’s the number?”
    He hung up, then dialed the number.
    A friendly-sounding woman answered the phone, “J.
    Wellmen and Associates. Can I help you?”
    “Is Ms. Wellmen in?” Scott asked, switching on video receive. The woman also had a pleasant face. More importantly, with a
     red sweater draped over her shoulders and clad in a light pink blouse, she looked like a secretary.
    “Gone for the day, down at the Symphonic. Her sister’s the conductor you know.”
    “I was looking for Jessica, I believe. Well, actually, I’m not quite sure who I was looking for.”
    “We have three departments and fifteen consulting engineers.”
    “I think it was Jessica. Tall brunette, wears wire-rimmed glasses.”
    “I think you’re mistaken. Jessica’s been strawberry blonde long as I’ve known her.”
    “What was I thinking, long hair though and glasses, right?”
    “No, no glasses. Doesn’t even like to wear sunglasses. Why don’t you just come down to the office, I’ll find out which associate
     you spoke with and we can—” “No, I’m sure it was Jessica. Will she be in tomorrow?”
    “She’ll be in Miami on business, but she’ll be back Monday.”
    “Is she staying in Miami tonight?”
    “Yes. Do you want to leave a message?”
    “No, I’ll call back on Monday.” Scott hung up the phone and leaned back against the pillow. He could afford to sleep now that
     he didn’t have to spend hours chasing around the Southeast Financial Center trying to find someone who wasn’t even in Miami—yet.
     Some things were just too easy.
    He was almost asleep when someone knocked on the door and yelled, “Sid’s Pizza. Hurry, your pizza’s burning my hand.”
    The instant his head left the pillow, Scott came fully alert. He took the gun from the holster and stuck it into the back
     of his pants. He opened the door with the chain in place—not that the chain would really stop anyone but because it would
     give him an extra instant of reaction time. “How much do I owe you?”
    “Twenty-two fifty, plus tip.”
    Scott took twenty-five dollars out of his wallet, and then unchained the door. He glanced at the deliveryman’s ball cap as
     he took the pizza. “Rainbows, local team?”
    The guy looked at him strangely. “You could say that. Enjoy, mahalo .”
    He closed the door, set the pizza on the bed. He stared blankly at the wall while he tried to remember something, then it
     clicked. Rainbows—Hawaii. The last time he’d seen a Rainbows game it’d been… He tried to think—must’ve been…
    He ate a slice, then pushed the pizza aside and lay down on the bed. He stared up at the ceiling. He remembered now and knew
     why he blocked the memory. His father had taken him to the games at Aloha Stadium during the year he’d been stationed in Hawaii
     and Scott had visited. Had it really been that long ago?
    He pushed memories of the past out of his mind as he ate another slice of pizza. The past was a painful place. He drove out
     to the Southeast Financial Center around 10 a.m. on Friday morning. Not because it was a long drive from the motel or a hard
     place to find. He wanted to check the place out. He knew who to look for—a woman with long, strawberry blonde hair, no glasses
     and probably wearing slacks, somehow he couldn’t picture Ms. Jessica Wellmen wearing a dress—and when to look for her, around
     two. But he didn’t know who she was going to meet—would it be Whuthers, Wolcott or Williams, all three, or someone else entirely—or
     where they would meet.
    He knew Jessica had come from Boca Raton the night before, but why? It was a mere forty-five minute drive to