Page 41 of Special Agent Isabella

“It’s fine. Don’t worry.” Still floating, she pushed it over her shoulder and resumed clinging again to his arm as he steered them both to the waiting vehicle. Just as they reached their destination, his phone dinged. He breathed a sigh of relief until he read the message.

Serious now, his voice that of a man at work, he spoke with a directness she couldn’t miss. “Sorry, Leslie. I’ve gotta go. FBI emergency.” He pulled a wad of cash from his pocket to hand to her. “Can you get a taxi? I won’t have time to drive you home.”

Stunned but obviously not wanting to appear uncooperative, Leslie took the money and nodded. “Yes, thanks. I’ll see you later?” She questioned him with her last statement, so sure was she that he was as attracted as she seemed to be.

“Righto,” he said sarcastically, but she laughed as if he’d made the funniest of jokes.

“Later then.” She stepped back, and he saw her uneasiness for what it really was. Guess he wasn’t the first bloke to dump her even if he hadn’t intended to be that rude in the way of doing so. But when duty called, he’d have left no matter who his partner was. The difference being… he’d have felt miserable if it had been Bella.

ChapterThirty-Four

Bella showed up at the office before Tanner, gathered the last people who’d seen Stacy, and steered them to the conference room. “Bruce, thanks for calling me and Tanner right away. I know you figure she might have just gone for a walk to get some solitude, but she knows better than to go off alone.”

Stacy’s guard, Peter Knuble, rushed into the room, his face ashen. “I’ve had our people inspect every area throughout the complex. There’ve been no signs of any trouble. The only thing out of place is a missing plant that used to sit near the window by the elevator. It’s like Stacy disappeared into thin air.”

Bella, expecting more info, wasn’t disappointed when Peter continued. “The Governor came out of the conference room and told me to stand down as she intended to go to the bathroom. She said she’d be right back so we could go outside for some fresh air. Because she always uses the door closest to where I was, I waited as she instructed.”

Just then the door opened, and Tanner stepped inside. He caught Bella’s look and took it to mean not to interrupt, and so he gestured for the conversation to continue.

Bruce spoke up then. “That’s exactly what happened… what Peter said. We were going to go for a stroll together when she finished her… ahh, bathroom visit. I stayed in here and called my wife, sent a few other messages to our staff, and then I came out to join Peter to wait for Stacy. After a while, maybe ten minutes, he decided she’d been gone too long, and we both approached the ladies’ room as Edith, a secretary from the office, was leaving. She swore only Pam, one of the other girls had been in there when she arrived and Pam left before her. No one else was in the room.”

Tanner turned to Peter. “That’s when you became concerned.”

“Yes, sir. I began the procedure set in place in case something like this would happen.”

“Yeah, I got the alert.” He looked at Bella, and she added, “Me too. Thanks.”

“Your men have gone through the building and the grounds, right?” Tanner directed his question to Peter.

“Yes, sir. I set that in motion as soon as I suspected a problem. All the exit guards have reported back. No one saw her leave.”

“Okay. I’ll organize an APB for the Governor and get the local cops and other organizations involved. Bella, can you contact the Sheriff’s office?”

“On it.” Bella worked her phone, getting through instantly to the man in charge. In a very short time, between her, Tanner, and Peter they had the Governor’s photo placed in every strategic place imaginable.

Finally, Tanner turned to Peter and asked, “Can you set up a video feed from this floor, especially the ladies’ room where she last visited?”

“Yes, come this way.”

They followed him to the room where a uniformed man sat in front of a number of screens, all showing different aspects of the building.

Tanner with Bella, Bruce, and Peter close behind, approached and shook hands, then he took over directing the operator. “First, let’s view the feed approaching the ladies’ bathroom on the Governor’s floor.”

“Yes sir, it’s here. I watched it from the start of the day. Only the women from our own building used the facility. Closer to the times Peter gave me, the cleaning woman arrived and entered.”

Bella pointed at the screen. “Play that again but slow it down.” They all watched as the cleaning lady backed in, pulling a big, wheeled laundry cart like one sees in a hotel service. On each side of the large bin stood brooms, and mops and other cleaning apparatus with a shelf filled with clean towels, toilet paper and other articles on the bottom.

From her build, the worker looked rather stout, but her short hair had curls that covered her neck and cheeks, making it difficult to get any kind of close image.

Tanner spoke quickly, “Can you go to the other hallway feed and show the maid from that angle?”

“Sure. Not that you’ll see much. All the cleaners have the same kind of pushcarts.” As he talked, he brought up the picture Tanner requested and again they all watched as the full-chested woman came into sight, most of her hidden behind the mop heads and other equipment used in their cleaning. They did get another view from the side as she turned, but again, her curls hid her face.

Scrolling forward about an hour, they watched Stacy rush toward the same door, and from her serious expression, she had a purpose for her speed.

The officer streamed forward about five minutes and again they watched the pushcart come into view, the same female steering it as seamlessly as if it weighed no more than earlier.

Tanner questioned, “How long does it take to clean a bathroom?”

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