Page 37 of Detective Daddy Next Door

"I don't know, but they'd like us to resend them in a week."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do."

"Alright. I’ll be over to see the kid tonight. I’m praying for her."

"Thank you, Jon. Thank you."

The line goes dead, and I hit my palm on the surface of the phone. I haven't talked to Bria in a while. Now, I have to tell her that she has to go copy the documents again. She'd told me about how nerve-wracking it was for her the first time. But she has no choice but to do it again.

I raise my phone up and dial her number. It's better to tell her than to shoot her a lousy text. I notice my heart is beating faster. I can't tell if the anxiety about Ellie being in surgery is responsible or if the prospect of talking to Bria after a while is what’s sending my heartbeat into overdrive. After three rings she doesn't answer, which isn't surprising.

I guess a lousy text will get the message across. I'll try to make it as comprehensive as possible. I type out the text, read the message more than once, and then hit send.

Chapter 15

Bria

WhenIarrivehomefrom work in the evening, I see that I have a text from Myles. He's been sending me texts and I've been reading them, but I've not been replying. But this text isn't personal. It has to do with work. And I promised myself I'd see our agreement through. He needs help. The files I'd painstakingly copied from Micha's computer onto the flash drive he'd given me have somehow been corrupted, and he wants me to copy the files again.

Thankfully, I had put them on my laptop just in case. I bought a new flash drive on my way to work this morning for something else. All I have to do is copy them from my laptop. There's no need to try to get them from Micha's computer again. After dinner, I go to get my laptop from my bag and find it empty. How fatigued am I that I came home with an empty laptop bag? I shake my head and text Myles back to tell him I’ll get the files to him tomorrow.

The next morning the first thing I do when I get to work is settle in my chair and boot up my laptop that I "conveniently" forgot on my desk. I’d not been worried about forgetting it yesterday because I knew it’d be safe. The office is a safe place; I've forgotten a lot of things and come back to find them just where I left them. When it turns on, I stick the new flash drive in the port and scroll down to the file. I saved it in a folder under the name "barbecue." I wanted it to be something obscure to disguise the content. Not like anyone is going to go through my laptop.

But the folder is nowhere to be found. It’s gone.

I click and click and open more folders. I do a search. The word barbecue is evidently missing. No one would go through my laptop. When I left the office yesterday, Daisy had already gone home. Did I really save the files, or was I thinking of doing it and never got to it? But I know I saved it.

I lean back, trying to think. Did I delete it? I lean forward again and do a search of the recycle bin. But it's not there. Then my mind goes back to the threatening note I'd found in my drawer the other day. Does this have anything to do with the folder going missing from my computer? Is the same person responsible? I stretch and pull the drawer open. The envelope is gone, too. I stare in disbelief at the empty drawer. I left the envelope in here. What the heck? This is getting scary now.

"What happened? Why do you have a frown on your face?" Daisy asks as she comes in.

I didn’t hear her enter. I had not told her about the envelope. I decide to tell her so I can ask if she knows anything, if she saw anyone come to my drawer.

"Someone took something from my drawer."

She pulls out her chair. "No one comes in here but us. And I didn't take anything from your drawer. What’s missing?

"An envelope."

"What was in it? Money?"

"No. A threatening note."

She stops smiling. "A threatening note? From who?"

"I don't know, Daisy. I really don't know."

"What did it say?"

"It told me to back off."

"From what?"

"I don't know."

"Could it be the case you're handling for Costa? You know how Tom and Jerry are."

I lean forward and cross my hands in front of me. "You know, I never thought about that. But how did they gain entrance to the office? And why would they delete a file from my laptop?"

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