Double Trouble Read online

  “He must have come back earlier and changed, then.”

  “Or maybe he didn’t go fishing at all.”

  She nodded and sighed. “I guess we’ll have to wait until he remembers for the answers.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  Rosie hesitated, then asked, “Could we swing by his apartment and see if his Caddy’s there? I should pick up a change of clothes for him anyway. And I’ll need his ID and insurance info for the hospital. His apartment’s on Maple Street, right on our way to my house from here.”

  “Sure. I suppose we should check it out. But I don’t have a warrant, you know.”

  “That’s okay. I have a key and he’s given me permission to stop there to get things when I need to.”

  Her brother raised an eyebrow at that, and Rosie felt herself blush. Her family was so old fashioned!”It’s not like that. There’s nothing going on between us. I meant get business papers for him and stuff like that.”

  “Okay, if you say so, Sis. Hey, you were engaged, after all. Ready to go?”

  Ken lived in an almost new area of apartment buildings and single family houses. His apartment was on the second floor in a long, white frame two-story complex with a dozen apartments side by side in the same building. There was a separate entrance for each group of four apartments.

  Several cars sat in the paved parking lot in front of the building, but Ken’s white Cadillac wasn’t in its usual spot.

  “It might be in his garage. Or I suppose he could have had car trouble and left it somewhere,” Rosie speculated. “That would explain his using a taxi. But I still don’t understand why he would have changed back into business clothes after going fishing.”

  “Maybe he’ll remember soon.”

  “Maybe. But why would he change clothes twice? And why did he go back to the office when we were supposed to be at the Country Club dinner? There was nothing rushing on his schedule and he’s usually happy to let someone else fill in for him. Usually he’d have just gone home to his apartment from the cabin and dressed for dinner before coming to pick me up.”

  “You’re right, Rosie. None of this makes sense.”

  They walked up a flight of carpeted stairs to Ken’s apartment. Rosie was about to unlock the door when she realized the lock was broken and the door already open.

  “Someone’s been here,” she said, about to step inside.

  “Stay back!” Lee said.

  He shoved her behind him and drew his gun.

  Chapter 3

  “What…?” Rosie exclaimed, shocked. She’d almost forgotten Lee was still in full police uniform and thus was carrying his weapon. She’d gotten so used to it, she hardly noticed any more.

  She flattened herself against the wall as he did and watched him speak into the two-way radio clipped to his shoulder, calling for back-up.

  There was no sound from the apartment. Giving a quick glance inside, he said, “Someone has searched the place. Wait out here. I’ll see if anyone’s still inside.”

  “Shouldn’t you wait for help?”

  “They’ll be here in few minutes. I’m almost sure whoever did it left.”

  “Be careful, Lee!” Anxiously she held her breath as he went inside, his gun drawn. She could hear him moving around.

  Finally he came back to the door and waved her inside. She was relieved to see he’d holstered his gun.

  “Don’t touch anything until the lab guys get through. This isn’t in my precinct, so I’ll let the other guys handle this when they get here. Do you know the place well enough to tell if anything is missing?” he asked, looking around the plain but expensively furnished room.

  “Not really,” she said, scanning the usually-neat room. It certainly didn’t look the same as it had the last time she’d been here. Usually everything here was so perfect and untouched. She’d always had the feeling it was a showplace, not a home.

  Now it was a mess. Drawers hung open with the contents spilling out. Books lay on the floor in front of the bookcase. The sofa cushions were cut open and lay on the floor. Bits of stuffing covered everything. Disks and papers were strewn on the desk by the computer and the floor around it.

  “Wow, it looks like a bomb went off in here! At least they didn’t take his computer or television. But it sure looks different from the last time I was here.”

  “He’s usually a neat guy, then?”

  She laughed, a bit uneasily. “Yes, he’s a very tidy person. And he has maid service, too, to keep everything looking perfect. She’ll have a job cleaning up this.” Cautiously, she stepped through the debris, glancing into the bedroom and kitchen. Everything seemed to have been dumped out of drawers in those rooms as well.

  “I wonder what they were looking for--and if they found it.” Lee said, checking the bathroom and closets, then returned to stand beside her in the living room.

  “If it was a robbery, wouldn’t they have taken his computer and television? Don’t burglars usually take electronics?”

  “If it was a robbery, yes. I don’t think this was one. They were looking for something they thought Ken had in here.”

  Rosie looked at him. “You mean, like papers, or cash? Do you think this is connected to the mugging?”

  Lee shrugged. “Probably. Wouldn’t it be a pretty big coincidence if it weren’t? The same person being a victim twice in the same day?”

  “I suppose. But it could happen, couldn’t it? Maybe it was just a random mugging and a random burglary,” she said hopefully. She chewed her lip. She didn’t want to think about what it might mean if there was a connection. Had he been involved with something illegal like drugs? Or had he begun gambling again? She tried to imagine “Mr. Perfect” dealing with a criminal, but it just didn’t fit her image of Ken. But did she really know Ken at all?

  “Maybe,” Lee agreed with her hopeful comment, though he didn’t sound convinced.

  The other officers arrived. Lee and Rosie answered seemingly endless questions, with Lee telling them about the earlier mugging as well. They questioned the building supervisor and other occupants, but no one had seen anything out of the ordinary. So they had no more answers than before.

  Finally, Rosie and Lee left the officers and walked back downstairs to talk to the building supervisor about repairing the broken door lock. The Super agreed to replace the lock immediately so his apartment would be secure after the police left.

  “Will they allow Ken back into his apartment tomorrow?” Rosie asked as she and Lee left the building.

  “Sure. They won’t take long to finish up there. These things are all too commonplace, unfortunately.”

  “What are the chances they’ll catch whoever did it?”

  Lee shrugged. “Not good, I’m afraid. Try not to let it upset you. Chances are the perps found whatever they were looking for and won’t be back.”

  She shivered, and it wasn’t only because they’d stepped out into the cool spring evening air. The scent of freshly mown grass filled the air. “I hope you’re right.”

  “Where else does Ken park his car besides right here in front?”

  “In those garages,” she said, pointing to the buildings off to one side. “Ken’s stall is the first one on this end.”

  “Let’s take a look.”

  They walked over to the building and peered into the garage through the small window in the garage door.

  “Empty,” Rosie said. “Then where is his car?”

  Lee shrugged, and then suggested, “If he had car trouble somewhere, he might have had it towed to a repair shop. Or even left it parked somewhere alongside a road.”

  She frowned at him. “Ken’s car is new.”

  “Even new cars can have problems.”

  “I suppose,” she agreed doubtfully.

  “Come on,” Lee said, putting an arm around her. “You look exhausted. I’ll take you home. We’ll put out an APB on it. It’ll turn up.”

  “Okay.”

  ~ * ~

  After a restless nig
ht, Rosie drove to Latham’s building and walked up to her office.

  She unlocked the door and stepped inside, half expecting to find that had been searched as well. But everything was the same as she’d left it the day before.

  Karen, their receptionist arrived shortly afterward and Rosie explained the situation to her. The news would spread around the building fast, she knew, but it couldn’t be helped. Chances were, many had heard the news from the night employee who’d witnessed the attack anyway. And it was best if everyone knew that they had to cope without Ken for a while.

  Harry Nelson was their floor manager and next in line for Ken’s job. He was also not one of her favorite people. Rosie stopped at Harry’s office and took a few minutes to explain to him as well.

  Harry was a big, burly man with a graying ring of hair around a shiny bald head. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if he could have been involved in the attack on Ken. After all, he would benefit from a promotion if Ken were done away with.

  But Harry seemed shocked and upset, as much at the idea of being temporarily in charge as at Ken’s injuries, she thought, and dismissed her idea of his involvement as absurd.

  Then she called Latham’s CEO in Chicago. She explained to Lester about the mugging and Ken’s amnesia.

  “In the hospital with amnesia?” Lester repeated incredulously. “Are you serious?”

  Rosie almost choked at his tone. “Mr. Latham, I would hardly joke about your nephew being hospitalized.”

  “Hmmph,” he snorted. “Are you sure he’s not faking this?”

  “Really, Mr. Latham!” She bit her tongue to keep back a further sarcastic retort. She was so angry she almost missed his next question.

  “Has Kirk arrived yet?”

  “Who?”

  “The man from headquarters that I sent you to help Ken straighten out his computer problems. You know, so he could do those late reports.”

  She swallowed. “No, no one has arrived from headquarters.”

  “Oh. Well, keep me informed. And tell Kirk to call as soon as he arrives.”

  “All right, Sir.”

  Lester sounded more annoyed than worried about his nephew’s injuries, she thought with disgust after she’d hung up. She’d yet to meet their CEO. She’d only occasionally dealt with him over the phone because Ken usually talked to his uncle himself.

  She shrugged and told Karen if this Kirk arrived, to tell him Lester wanted him to call in immediately.

  Who could understand families, anyway? Some were close, some not. Obviously, Ken’s was not. It wasn’t her problem anymore. She wasn’t going to be a part of that family now that her wedding was off, she thought with a new sigh of relief.

  Rosie got Ken’s insurance and ID information from his file and drove to the hospital to pick him up. She spent a half hour at the admitting desk, repeating info as the bored office worker typed it into her computer. At last, she was told he could be discharged.

  ~ * ~

  Kirk impatiently shifted in his chair as he sat, dressed and waiting for Rosie in his disinfectant-scented hospital room. She’d sent up a change of clothes for him with the nurse a half hour ago. What was taking her so long?

  His stomach felt tied in knots and the back of his head still throbbed. It sported a lump the size of a goose egg. His memory was still blank and the idea of heading out into a strange world scared him spit-less. Had the mugging been only a random attack for cash? Or was there a guy still waiting for him? Would he attack again to finish him off?

  Rosie appeared in the doorway, looking as fresh as her namesake. She was wearing a slim-cut dress of a rich shade of brown that contrasted with her long blonde hair and added sparkle to her green eyes. She was smiling, so she hadn’t given up on him yet, in spite of returning his ring last night. Well, he’d asked for that, hadn’t he?

  Nerves tightened his throat and made his voice hoarse. His words came out harsher than he intended. “There you are. What took you so long?”

  “Good morning to you, too. I was doing paperwork downstairs. They don’t take anything for granted, you know. They want it all in black and white.”

  He lifted an eyebrow and rang for the nurse. “I thought I was some big-shot store manager. Don’t I have good insurance?”

  “Yes, you do. But they don’t just accept it. This was apparently your first visit to this hospital. So I had to answer all kinds of questions about you for their computer.”

  He’d never felt so helpless and incompetent. She knew more about him than he knew about himself. “And you knew the answers?”

  She grinned, evidently enjoying his discomfort. “Yes. I’ve known you quite a while, as well as being your assistant at Latham.”

  He swallowed and admitted angrily, “Humph. Well, I wish I knew some of those answers.”

  “I’ll fill you in as much as I can, later. But, now we need to get you home.”

  The nurse walked in pushing a wheelchair.

  “What the hell is that for? I’m not an invalid. I lost my memory, not my legs.”

  “No need to be a grouch, Mr. Latham. Hospital regulations.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” he said. But he knew he was being a jerk because he was nervous as a cat who was used to being kicked. He bit his lip and tried to get a handle on his temper and his nerves.

  Rosie frowned. “Ken, please. This isn’t like you at all. Just do it, okay?”

  “In you go,” the nurse said. “You can do as you please as soon as I get you out the main door.”

  Ken sat down in the chair. Rosie walked beside him as the nurse pushed him to the elevator. Silently, they rode down to street level, and she rolled him over to the front entrance.

  “Thanks,” Rosie said to the nurse.

  “Goodbye, Mr. Latham. Keep putting an ice pack on that eye to keep the swelling down. And remember to keep your appointment with Dr. Takell next week.”

  “Sure.” Ken grunted obedience and immediately got up to walk to the car, then realized he didn’t know where he was going. “Where are you parked? Which car is yours?”

  “I was hoping you’d remember,” she said with a sigh. “It’s that blue Buick Skylark.”

  She’d parked close to the hospital door and he eyed her vehicle. “It’s not very new, but it looks reliable enough.”

  “My car runs fine,” she sputtered. “What kind of insult is that? What’s gotten into you, Ken?”

  “Sorry,” he said, feeling sheepish and sending her a guilty grin. “Guess I’m a little upset” He waited on the passenger side as she unlocked the driver’s door and pressed the button to unlock his door.

  Rosie sighed again and got behind the wheel. He’d apparently forgotten his gentlemanly manners along with his memory. He’d always unlocked her door and helped her inside before. She’d better get used to the new, grouchy Ken.

  He glanced about him as she drove north, trying to find anything familiar in the streets and highways. He recognized some of the buildings, and highway numbers and he knew without asking which direction was which, so he didn’t feel disoriented in that regard. But everything else seemed strange.

  Odd how some things were a total blank, and other things seemed to come naturally to him, as though part of his brain remembered how things worked and another part didn’t recall things. Weird. He’d have to ask the doctor about that, to see if other people like him had similar experiences. But maybe it didn’t matter. The doctor had said each case was different, so he couldn’t reliably predict his recovery.

  She glanced both ways as she approached a corner, slowed for the stop sign and drove on through.

  “Hey,” he exclaimed. “It doesn’t say, ‘pretend to stop.’ It says, ‘stop.’”

  “Oh, really?” She glanced at Ken and smothered a relieved laugh. At least that aspect of his personality was back to normal. He’d always criticized her driving, which was why she rarely drove when they went anywhere together.

  “Really.” He sounded irritated, but looked away as t
hough unsure of how he was supposed to treat her.

  Rosie sighed. She shouldn’t laugh at him. He was bound to be feeling upset and nervous when he couldn’t remember anything. She needed to cut him some slack, here. And he was going to be more upset when he saw what some creep had done to his home.

  As they neared his apartment, she glanced at him and said, “I didn’t want to say anything at the hospital, but...”

  Curious at her hesitant tone, he turned to look at her. “But what?”

  She drew a deep breath and turned back to watch the traffic. “Your apartment was broken into and ransacked. Lee, the policeman at the hospital last night, and I stopped to check it on the way home and discovered the break-in. Your apartment is a mess.”

  He eyed her, trying to imagine the scene. “This policeman wanted to check it because I was mugged, right?”

  “Yes. I told you Lee is my brother. He came with me when I went to get clothes for you. I knew you wouldn’t mind.”

  He frowned. “I wouldn’t?”

  She laughed nervously. “Well, you wouldn’t have if you still had your memory, Ken. Lee’s been there with us before. You used to trust me.”

  “I see,” he said. But he didn’t see at all. Why would he trust a woman who would allow a stranger into his private space? No, not a stranger. If she had been his fiancée, then Lee would have been his future brother-in-law, practically family. “So, you went to my apartment and found what? Did they steal all my furniture or what?”

  Rosie shook her head. “No, as far as I could see, everything you always had is still there, Ken. Of course, I can’t be sure, because I don’t know everything you had.”

  He chuckled, his situation suddenly striking him as funny. Somebody could steal everything he’d had and he wouldn’t know the difference. “Neither do I, Rosie. So, I guess whatever he took will be the burglar’s little secret unless I get my memory back, right?”

  “Until you get your memory back, Ken. Think positive.” She sent him a grin and turned back to watch the traffic. She took the exit for Blaine.

  He looked about curiously, but saw nothing familiar as she slowed down. The quiet street was lined with a few apartment buildings and neat, single family homes with well-kept lawns.