Page 36 of Burned
It seemed like time was going by in slow motion as I waited for him to return. When he finally came back on the line, I said, “Please don’t put me on hold again. I’ll be quick.”
“What can I do for you?”
“Do you know why CMW Holding’s corporate documents and financial statements are blacked out? It’s as though they are hiding something.” I asked, concerned.
“Mr. Wilson, the president of CMW Holding, thought it was better to protect the names of the executives and the shareholders. They have no say in the case, nor any knowledge to bring to the case.” Mr. Marsh was stern, but I was still not satisfied.
“How can I get in touch with this Mr. Wilson?”
“His contact information should be in the file. You are more than welcome to call him.”
“I’ll do that. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. And Kenzi?”
“Yes.”
“Please call me Burt. Mr. Marsh is so formal.”
I ended the call with Burt and began searching the files for Mr. Wilson, President and CEO of CMW Holding, number. I wasn’t sure how I missed it and felt embarrassed that I didn’t see it before I called Burt.
~
The receptionist at CMW Holding was very nice. It would have been better if Mr. Wilson was available to talk instead of having to leave a message for a call back. The way things were going, with my luck he wouldn’t return my call until tomorrow, or worse, next week.
I couldn’t sit and wait for his call, so I dug into the information Axe gave me. I knew I couldn’t just call the US government and get the information I needed, so I began working on court orders to get information on Niles Harris. The information on Van Wilkerson would be a little harder to get since most government documents were protected, and waiting 62 years was impossible. Since Van was Axe’s recruiting officer. I might have a chance in getting what I needed with a court order. I had to at least try.
I was batting zero in finding the information I needed. The only thing I could do was wait until the orders were filed and I could get what I needed. Agitated and stressed, especially knowing that I only had thirty days to get the information I needed to clear Axe, I admitted there was nothing more I could do. All I had left were my notes..
As I looked through the notes I had taken during my conversation with Axe, I remembered him telling me about a woman by the name of Magdalena Harris. I had put an asterisk beside her name, thinking that it was weird that it was also Niles’s last name. She could be a sister or maybe an aunt or, better yet, his mom.
I typed in her name and waited for the links to come up. It wasn’t long before information pertaining to Magdalena Harris began popping up. I began my search by clicking on the first link. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Magdalena Harris was quite the woman. She donated over $200,000 for the renovation of the Art Institute. Inside the article was a picture of her handing the Art Institute’s executive chairman a large check. When I looked closer, she was a very attractive woman with dark brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes. Her eyes reminded me of River’s. Next to her was a man who appeared to be annoyed. He had a hard look and reminded me of a gangster with his double-breasted, pinstriped suit. There was nothing said in the article to note who he was. Maybe if I continued my search, his name would come up.
I was so caught up in my search for the man standing next to Magdalena Harris that I completely lost track of time. It was a few minutes after five and River would be waiting for me outside. I quickly shut down my computer, but before I did, I jotted down her name and stuffed the note in my briefcase. As soon as I got back to the penthouse, I wanted to get a jump on continuing my search.
Just as I thought, River’s black Audi was parked out front. A smile came to my face when he got out of the car. Even at the end of the day, he looked amazing. I, on the other hand, felt spent and wanted nothing more than to kick off my heels and relax with a glass of red wine.
Meeting each other halfway between his car and the building, he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. “God, I’ve missed you. As of now, you’re all mine.”
I wanted that too. The thing was, I had planned on working through the weekend. Those 30 days would go fast and I didn’t have any time to waste if I wanted to save Axe.
~
“You plan on doing what?” River’s voice echoed in the car above the music that was playing on the radio.
This wasn’t the way I wanted to tell him about the first case I would be trying. “I don’t like it either. But if I want to keep my job, I have to do this.”
“You can’t possibly believe that Axe is innocent. The authorities wouldn’t have arrested him if he was. I forbid you to do this. Tell Marsh that you can’t follow through with the case and to get someone else.” Anger poured out of River’s mouth.
“I can’t do that. For one, I don’t believe Axe had anything to do with the explosion. For another, you are not my father. This is my decision and you can’t stop me from doing this. Axe and I may not be together anymore, but he deserves to be cleared.”
“Then we have a problem.”
It didn’t matter how hard I tried to convince River that I had to do this. Not only to prove to myself that I could, but also to help Axe. In a way, I wanted to believe that he was innocent. The only way to do that was to find evidence to clear him and find the evidence to put Van, Niles, and Levi behind bars. If, by chance, I couldn’t find anything to prove Axe was innocent, then at least my conscience would be clear knowing that I tried.
~27~
River
