Picture at the Park

I'm hoping this is in the right category, my thanks as always go to my editor Hale1. His been brilliant as always, I tried something a little different with this one. I hope you enjoy your read and as always, any faults in the story are mine.

*******

I had a pounding headache when I woke and it still hung around an hour later. So going to the park wasn't on my list of things to do, but fresh air sometimes helped, taking my sketch pad and pencils with me happened only because I hadn't bothered taking them out of the car from the last time I was at the park.

The day was beautiful and it did seem to ease the throbbing behind my eyes, I wouldn't go so far as to say I had a particular spot, although I would say that the park bench I had just sat on was the closest too it. The tree behind it added to the shade when the afternoon sun was at its fiercest, but was far enough away from the bench so as not to get a surprise drop on me from the birds that inhabited it.

About forty feet from the bench, the path was used by idle walkers and joggers alike, it was good material for my sketching and most of the time I was far enough away from the path that the sources of my inspiration wouldn't bother to walk over and see what I was doing. I did get a visit from Thomas once though. Or Officer Connor to give him his official title, he was one of the Parks Police force.

A bulk of a man, in the two hundred pound area and yet his smile always belayed any thought you were in trouble when he approached you. The hint of an Irish accent seemed to add to his character. Only his eyes gave away that 'seen it all' look that let you know he was a street cop long before he settled into being a Park officer.

He sat and we chatted, he even asked to see my sketch pad and I handed it over. He looked at every drawing and commented on a few but mostly he just thumbed through them.

"Stick to adults, no children unless one or both parents ask you too ok?"

I nodded and that began the odd relationship I had with Thomas. It even came in handy once when I quickly sketched the face of a man running towards the footbridge over the river. Never seen a guy running with a handbag before and figured it may come in handy. Thomas came by a half hour later and sat next to me again; I flipped back a couple of pages and pulled a sheet out of my pad. He smiled and thanked me before heading back to his cruiser.

The paper the next morning had a picture of Officer Conner and the story of how good detective work had helped in the arrest of a bag snatcher in the park. From then on the other Park Police Officer's would nod or nod and wave but left me alone when they saw me.

Spring was always my favorite time. Young love and the gateway to summer. Although I had developed a sixth sense about certain people, helped by my friend Officer Conner of course. These people screamed put your pencil down when they passed by. I'd seen her from time to time but never put pencil to paper, she was always a solo jogger and I simply respected her privacy.

*******

So the calming tranquility of the park did a lot to help my headache; I did a few quick sketches but nothing groundbreaking. She snuck up on me, it wasn't until I noticed the shadow behind me and my watch started to vibrate that I felt her presents.

"Officer Conner says you're harmless. He says your happy to give any picture you do to the person on the paper, is that true?"

I closed my pad and placed it next to me. She came around the bench and sat, her hand went to my pad and pulled it onto her lap. She went through it twice before she put it back more firmly onto her lap again.

"You date every picture and this pad has two months worth of drawings. I've jogged past you twelve times in those two months and yet you have no pictures of me, why?"

It was difficult to remain neutral when my watch kept vibrating on my wrist.

"You give off a 'don't come near me' vibe. So I leave you alone."

She laughed and then her hand moved, forcing me to accept my pad again.

"Doesn't everyone who jogs in a park give off that sort of vibe?"

This woman wasn't impressed when I shook my head, I sensed anger but she hid it real well.

"So draw me now."

I have to admit that for the briefest of moments I was real tempted, but my damn watch just wouldn't stop vibrating. When it dawned, even on her that I wasn't going to comply she stood and started jogging towards the footbridge over the river. The vibrations my watch was giving off subsided as the distance increased between us.

The birds started there song and I was left once again with the peace of the park. A peace that couldn't ease my now troubled mind, I did a slow and calculated scan of the park and other than a dark sedan that moved away from the curbside of the road some four hundred yards away, nothing moved. Easing my pad once again onto my lap I drew her face from memory.

*******

I made it to work around mid-day, good thing I owned the company when things like that happened. Even Toni raised an eyebrow as I passed her desk, I called her in a few minutes later and unfolded the drawing in front of her.

"Run a facial recognition on her. I want her name and whatever you can find in an hour, I'll read what else you can find tomorrow."

Toni held the drawing but didn't look at it until she held the office door open, then she stopped, turned and looked at me.

"Amanda Browning, age thirty-six. The youngest ever editor of Fashionet Magazine. Born in California but moved here to go to college and never left. Did a few years with the local papers before Fashionet found her."

I guess it was my turn to raise an eyebrow.

"What? You may have dragged me out of the Corp screaming and kicking but even Corp girls read fashion magazines."

"Yeah right. You married my corporal and raped the poor boy every chance you could get."

Toni got that dreamy eyed look and smiled.

"Yep." She sighed "That hunk of a man never stood a chance did he."

I undid my watch and handed it over to Toni.

"Give that to your husband and no stopping for a quickie."

Toni had the decency to blush before she left. I Google searched for twenty minutes and got more and more uncomfortable as I did. My mind was still wondering what the hell was going on when Toni came back.

"Mac says he needs to speak to you."

That didn't surprise me as much as I thought it would. I made my way down to the lab, Mac had a coffee waiting for me.

He looked up from the monitor that was occupying his attention and waved me to sit down. Troy Macdonald or Mac to all that knew him was an enigma. Harvard schooled and a small waiting list of fortune 100 companies just hovering in the wings for his signature when he graduated, and then 9/11 tore the heart and soul out of him. He walked out of his folk's house the very next day and straight into the army, Mac came to my unit as a signaler. When I left I took Mac and a few others with me, Toni was a bonus since she was married now and wouldn't let her husband out into the world all on his own, her words I assure you.

"I'm not sure what you trod in but someone has been busy." He leaned over and picked up a notepad. "Your watch scanned a T2756 and an F4196."

I nodded and just had to wonder if Amanda Browning knew she was wired for sound.

*******

By the end of the day I had a loose idea of what to do but it all hinged on if she knew or not. The next morning I sat on my bench and sketched, Toni jogged past a few minutes later and every seven minutes or so after that. It took Officer Conner another ten minutes to stop and sit for a chat, I waited for my watch to vibrate, when it didn't I knew it was time to talk to him.

"I have a problem I need to pass by you before I even touch this problem."

Officer Thomas Connor was smart enough not to look at me, instead he picked up my sketch pad and slowly thumbed through it.

"I'm listening."

"First off, I'm not stupid. I know that within a week of me first coming to sit here you had me checked out. You know who I am and what my company does."

I heard an mmhhmm from him as he still looked intently at my drawings. I told Thomas about Amanda Browning coming to the bench yesterday and sitting down to talk to me. Also about the experimental piece of surveillance kit I was wearing at the time.

"She's wired Thomas and I have a real bad feeling that she doesn't even know she's wired."

Almost as an afterthought I told him about the dark colored sedan that left the edge of the park at the same time Amanda Browning did. Thomas stopped looking at the pad and placed it back on the bench.

"You've never met the boyfriend have you?" It was a question he didn't give me a chance to answer. "A real piece of work and I sure get the impression that love is blind around him. Rumor is that Fashionet Magazine is having a hard time of late. Coincidence is such a strange thing don't you think?"

Officer Connor stood up, wished me a good morning and wandered off towards his cruiser, I didn't get to answer those questions either. When Toni passed for what I thought would be her last time she had Amanda Browning as a jogging partner, which was a bonus.

*******

Toni got back to the office an hour later, I sent her to get a shower and change before we talked, she found me with her husband and as usual I couldn't get a thing out of her until they kissed. I would say it was young love but they had been married for three years now and still walked down the street hand in hand.

"She alternates the park on sunny days or if she doesn't have a lot of time and Bronte's Gym down on fourth. I picked up membership on the way back, my watch screamed all the time I was with her so whatever it is has to be on her. The sedan you mentioned didn't move in all the time she was at the park. I'm going to give the license plate a go over when I leave here."

Mac took Toni's watch and ran it through one of his machines and he nodded at me, it was the same two devices my watch picked up yesterday. I sat and read the rest of Amanda Browning's life history while I waited for Toni. The sedan was a rental so that was a bust, out of frustration I picked up the phone and pulled in a favor. Later that afternoon I was on a flight to Chicago.

Mr. Otis Winters was a shrewd man, shrewder still when he came to the conference table with one of his company lawyers in tow, his company also owned Fashionet Magazine.

"I need you to hand me a dollar Mr. Winters."

"And why would I do that Mr. Slater?"

This time I looked directly at his lawyer and told him that the dollar would mean I was employed by him for the duration of this meeting and as such subject to client confidentiality. It turned into a staring contest for all of a minute before Otis Wilson pulled a hundred dollar bill out of his pocket, it sat in the middle of the table between us.

For the next ten minutes I told him everything I knew and part of what I expected was happening. I even mentioned my temptation to confirm my theories by going through Fashionet Magazine's office with the equipment Mac could bring to the party.

When I was finished Otis Wilson just stared at me, he eventually looked at the lawyer who nodded and then back at me.

"I haven't been idle since you're first phone call to my office Mr. Slater."

The lawyer guy slid a file across at me, my military rank and full name adorned the cover, I just sat and watched it for a moment before looking at Otis Winters once again. Even I knew when I was wasting my time, so I stood and walked out of the conference room.

The girl at the Marriott's reception said I had a handful of messages, since none came through my cell I knew they weren't from my office.

"Just bin them please."

Judging by the look on the poor girl's face that wasn't a request she got all that often. I packed and left within the hour. I was just so tired of the games people play.

*******

Dodging calls from Otis Winters office was easy since I still had Toni out in the field. From the information I was getting from Toni our best approach would be Bronte's Gym, from what she told me, Amanda Browning always took a shower there after her workout.

It also seems that Mr. Otis Winters has a tipping point and my not taking any of his calls pushed him there very quickly. Mr. Winters came to my office three days after our meeting and judging by the look he gave me, he was not pleased about being here. Of course the other miscalculation on his part was expecting me to let him get it all off his chest first.

"Your research into my company would have shown you I only do military contracts or companies in the employ of the military. I came to you because I suspect this woman is in way over her head and she doesn't even know it, yet all I got from you was a case of my dicks bigger than your dick."

It sure surprised me he was still sitting in my office, let alone keeping his mouth shut.

"We didn't even have to go any further than our first meeting, there are plenty of agencies out there that can sort this out for you and if you can't find any I'm more than happy to find one for you."

Otis Winters sure looked uncomfortable, so I eased off and eventually stopped talking, rested back into my seat and waited for him to say something.

"Your research came up short in only one respect Mr. Slater, Amanda Browning is my niece." He held up his hand to stop me saying anything, it was a wasted effort on his part I was still playing catch-up on that piece of information.

"Her father is my half-brother, she didn't get the editors job through nepotism Mr. Slater, she served her time with those local papers and when she came to the magazine she turned it around. It's only recently that its all been going wrong and that girl has been spending twelve and fourteen hour days trying to put it right."

The sadness in his voice was real, he had to watch from the sidelines while his own niece tried to fix something she was doomed to fail at. Finally the real Otis Winters came back and looked long and hard at me.

"I'm a civilian Mr. Slater but that doesn't mean I don't know people. General Foster talks fondly of both you and your band of misfits. I want to hire you to fix this Mr. Slater." His voice held an edge to it, his eyes also gave away the anger he felt over his niece being used as a pawn in all this.

"My lawyers will give you access to the whole office and anything else you need. I have amassed a fortune I could never spend in this lifetime Mr. Slater and it's at your disposal."

We shook on it and I walked him out of the office, neither of us said a word. We both knew it was going to get dirty and that was my department, people like Otis Winters took a step back to keep their hands clean. Although I doubt they would stay clean for long, he wanted names; the people who orchestrated this would be ruined by him. To Otis, this was no longer business, when they involved his niece, they made it personal.

*******

Mr. Otis Winters was a man of his word, within an hour of leaving my office the company account was boosted by a very hefty retainer. I left Toni doing the rounds at the park, so far she had jogged with Amanda Browning three times over the last two weeks and one of my surveillance teams followed the sedan when it left. I now had the face of the driver and his buddy.

I still had one more call to make before I proceeded. The morning was just as beautiful as late spring could yield, Thomas stopped by like I hoped he would.

"Thank you for coming. I need your advice since my company deals with military and not civilian cases, I'm reluctant to apply the same policy I would do if this was military. I've been given the green light by the owners of Fashionet Magazine to go after those involved. To do that means taking Amanda Browning out of the picture entirely."

Officer Conner dug into his pocket and then placed his hand, palm down on the bench, scanned the area like he always seem to do and then spoke.

"As long as she goes with you freely then that's not kidnapping. I've read the record on her boyfriend. Let's just say he wouldn't be missed, even by his momma."

He stood up and looked once more around the area. Wished me luck and walked back to his cruiser. My last thought as I pulled my cell from my pocket was that I just wished this wasn't a civilian job. Mac answered on the second ring, he had converted his lab into the communications room for this job.

"Tell Toni to let us know when Bronte's Gym is getting a visit, we make all our moves starting from there."

Mac acknowledged first before the line went dead, it was also then I noticed the card sitting on the bench, right were Thomas's hand once was. I read it and laughed as I placed the home phone number of Officer Thomas Conner into my pocket.

*******

From the conversation I had with Otis Winters, Fashionet Magazine had been leaking profits for the last eight months. It was only operating now because those that worked there busted their asses to bring out the best magazine possible, the problem was that three of the other magazine's in the country always beat them to worthwhile stories and exclusives.

Even some of the advertisers had started to let their contracts with the magazine run down, with so far, no talk of signing on again. Otis knew throwing another editor in chief into this wouldn't turn anything around, those already there where doing everything they could think of.

I got back to the office and had updates from Mac as soon as I stuck my head into his lab. As compensation he poured us both coffees as he did. The call I wanted came an hour later. Amanda was on assignment for a week and Toni had maneuvered Amanda into a trip to the gym the Friday evening of her return, since today was already Thursday I had a little over a week to go over everything once again and as always with any plan, worry about what part goes wrong later.

Bronte's Gym was owned by Martin Casson, a staunch Catholic who ran the gym with cast iron rules. It was a place that woman felt safe and were not viewed as meat. It also had women instructors outnumbering the men. I had asked Officer Conner for a favor I had little doubt he would own for a later time, Thomas and Martin both attended the same church. They went for a walk around the church grounds the Sunday and by the end of that conversation I had access to one of the offices on the ground floor any time I needed it.

At five on the Friday evening Amanda Browning and Toni entered Bronte's Gym and at six Amanda's boyfriend was pulled over with a faulty tail light by the local police. They found a gun in the trunk of the car that had the serial number filed off, the ammunition in the magazine didn't look too legal either so he was arrested. The boyfriend's two buddies were more difficult to find, but when Andy phoned me and told me he had spotted them I let him run with it.

Sergeant Andrew Hogarth (retired) was the newest of my people. I went looking for him when I heard he retired, I'd met him twice overseas, the first time he was trying to explain to a very green lieutenant how things got done over here and the same lieutenant trying hard to drill him a new one for even daring. The second time was three months later, when my team went looking for the new lieutenant and his people.

They were being cut to pieces on a stretch of mountain range that they had no business to be in, we broke through the cordon supposed to keep us out and the Apache's broke up the fight ten minutes later. I found Sergeant Hogarth holding onto the dead lieutenant, I guess he still refused to listen to his sergeant. My report later that day exonerated the Sergeant.

Andy Hogarth was driving a forklift on the docks when I met him again. It took me all of ten minutes to get him out from under and a week later he moved his whole family half way across the country to start a new life for themselves. Andy followed both of the boyfriend's buddies to a dive of a hotel on the outskirts of town. Mac sent a team over and they crashed the party two hours later. It took Mac and his team half a day to go through every recording they had stashed there as back-up's if anything went wrong. Seems the boyfriend had that bit right.