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Morgan Benson 13

“Sorry to wake you up, Georgie.” Mouse’s serious face is up on the big screen.

“It’s daylight. I don’t mind getting up early.” Georgie answers with a yawn rubbing her hand through her hair to try to put it in some semblance of order. She’d been out with the guys until 2am which is about 4 hours sleep. “I’m more surprised about you being up. Shouldn’t you have crashed about two hours ago?”

“Yeah, and I would have if this hadn’t come up.” Mouse flashes to a vid from a news break up in Gainesville.

Georgie sees the station logo in the lower right hand corner. “Is that a storage place?”

“Yep. Same one Lisa has been writing checks to for the last two months. Since she moved to Miami from Gainesville.”

“What are the odds.” Georgie says grimly.

“No bet.” Mouse shakes his head. “He took out the whole thing not just Lisa’s unit. The cops aren’t going to be looking at it with Macon in mind.”

“The office?”

“Too soon to tell specifically but it looks as if it’s intact. No sign of burglary but they are still putting the fire out. Arson to cover burglary would be right up this guy’s alley.”

Georgie’s eyes at narrow at that. “What emergency information does Lisa have on file up there?”

“Her cell phone number and an email address. No physical address. What are you thinking?” Mouse can tell that Georgie is sorting through the information and shaking her head in disgust.

“Baby might as well leave Gainesville. This was Macon sending the message he knows Lisa isn’t there.”

“Might be an effort to draw her back.”

“Gawd, I hope so. That means he doesn’t know where she is right now. So how do we make sure she doesn’t go back?”

“Mona will cover the insurance angle. Lisa had professional movers in to do the move so there is a list of everything in the storage unit.”

Georgie winces. “Those things are less than useless. One box books living room. It could be paperbacks; it could be autographed first editions. And I have no idea what was in her apartment but after living with her for two weeks– she’s going to go nuts about the books. I bet she didn’t have just one box.” Georgie can see Mouse make a few keystrokes on his keyboard.

He whistles. “Yeah, that’s going to hurt. I have no idea how many books but there are six, six foot book cases listed on the inventory– oh ****-- that is for living room there are two more in the bedroom. That would have made a hell of a bonfire. Hasn’t she ever heard of a Kindle?”

“I know.” Georgie shakes her head. “But some people just like books.”

“I’ll pull some things together for Mona but she’ll be handling it for the next 6. If Lisa has any questions about her stuff have her call One phone call.”

“Tarpon Springs?”

“Yeah. Already called them as well as CSMC- Miami. This arson could have been just the guy being a prick.”

“Or it could have been the first step.”

“Oh it’s definitely the first step. He may hang around Gainesville for a while to see if there is any action on the arson or he may already be moving on to the next thing.”

“Who is going to tell the cops?”

Mouse grins at her and then winks. “Talk to you later, Georgie.” Mouse disconnects the call.

“Thank you so very much.” Georgie sighs. She looks at the clock. Make a pot of coffee and then call Uncle Mac. He’s been covering the day shift for her at Scorpio Investigations. It’s already too late to call Lucky. He’d have already headed home to crash.

Morgan is up and dressed for work when he walks into the kitchen. He knows that Aunt Georgie has a good poker face, he’d received calls the night before from both Pete and Jack on how she was cleaning up at the charity casino. But Georgie isn’t making any effort to keep her concerns off her face. “What’s happened?”

“Lisa’s storage unit along with the rest of the business was torched last night. Mouse has already checked and it looks like Lisa put down her cell phone number and her email address down as contact information rather than a physical address. I’ll be calling the cops up in Gainesville this morning to let them know that unless they have a better suspect that they should be looking at Macon. Especially if they end up being able to prove that he was trying to get into the office.”

Morgan loosens his tie. He is not going to work today.

“Don’t. Go to work, Morgan. At least a half day then get a migraine or whatever tell them you’re working from home or go in and request some vacation or something. This is going to be a long haul. I’m trying to think of this as good news. That he doesn’t know where she is now and is trying to lure her out. But it’s going to seriously piss off your sister. She was waiting for him in Gainesville. I’m sure she’s got a few more traps laid for Macon but this would have been the easiest, the quickest. If he would have just tried going after the apartment.”

“But he went after the unit which means he knows that Lisa is not in Gainesville anymore and she’s only been here for a couple of months.”

“Yeah. If he got any information out of the storage unit then maybe he’s heading here. And if he didn’t then he’s probably heading to Tarpon Springs. Lisa’s mom and her business are fixtures down there. Mouse has already upped the threat assessment there. He’s also put Mona on the job as far as figuring out the insurance issues for the storage unit.”

“Oh hell. Lisa’s books.” Morgan mutters.

“Mouse has no idea how many books she lost, just the number of boxes. He did say eight book cases.”

“Eight full book cases alphabetical by author and then chronological by release date. It took her about an hour to pick out the ten books she brought with her.”

Georgie winces. “I had a feeling that it was going to be a big deal.” She sighs. “That’s why it’s so important for you to keep, keeping it normal. Nobody can know that your girlfriend is living with you, or that she’s got a nutcase targeting her.”

“One thing that Macon isn’t is a nutcase. And calling him one is disrespectful to nutjobs all over the country.” Lisa comes into the kitchen. She heard the last that Georgie said and knows something happened overnight but not what. “Sociopathic and nuts are two different things. I can have sympathy for the nutcases.”

“Yeah, I’m familiar with that distinction.” Georgie nods her agreement. She looks at Morgan. Does he want to be the one that tells her?

“Lisa, Macon made his next move last night. He’s definitely in Florida.”

“My mom?”

“No. She’s fine.” Morgan says reassuringly but then looks over at Georgie to make sure it’s true.

“She’s fine. I’m sure Anders got the same phone call from Mouse that I received this morning.”

“If Anders got the same call that means whatever Baby had planned for him up in Gainesville didn’t work.”

“It’s really scary how well you know how this works.” Morgan shakes his head. “Macon didn’t go after your old apartment. He went after your storage unit. It means he knows you aren’t there anymore. But it’s probably a lure to draw you back.”

“My stuff?”

“He burned down the whole business. If there is anything left of the units, it’s probably been wrecked by water damage.”

Lisa sits down at the kitchen table. More collapsing in the chair behind her. “My stuff.” She repeats.

Morgan comes over and sits down by her. He takes her hand in a tight almost painful hold. “Stuff can be replaced. You can’t. The bun can’t. Your mother can’t.”

“I know. I know.”

“Morgan, go to work. Lisa and I will handle this with Mona.” Georgie strongly suggests.

“Bull. I’ll call in.”

“No. You have to go. This is all my fault. You had no idea who Constantine Macon was until I told you. This is my problem.” Lisa says flatly.

Morgan’s eyes narrow and he gets a suspicion of something he really doesn’t like. “Forget it.”

“What?”

“Forget about it. I don’t care if you’re thinking of going up to Gainesville as bait or just making a run for it and disappearing all over again. Forget it. The son of a bitch is going to be caught and it’s not going be anywhere around you or our baby and you are sure as hell not going to be trying to handle this all alone! And if I can’t trust that you’re going to be here when I get home then I’m not leaving.”

“Well then both of us are going to be out of a job.” Lisa mutters but she doesn’t meet Morgan’s eyes.

“Swear to me. Swear you’re going to stay here, in this house. Here where you are protected from that nu... sociopath.”

“Fine.” Lisa can tell it’s not enough. He wants all of it. “Fine! I swear. I’ll be here when you get home.”

Morgan slowly lets go of her and stands up taking a half step back. Then he takes a half step forward and leaning over, presses a hard kiss to her lips. “You are going to make me nuts.”

“I know.”

He starts backing away. “Be here when I get home.”

“I said I would. You need to leave before you start to really annoy me and I kick your ass. Call before you leave the office in case I’m having a craving.”

Morgan grins at that. That is actually a sign of normal. All the guys had started calling before coming home, even Jack because of Lisa’s cravings. All of them had come home to be sent right back out for something. “Yeah, I can do that.” Morgan looks over at Georgie pleadingly.

Georgie gives him a wave which is more of a move along hand motion. “Have a normal day.”

“You too– or as close to normal...” Morgan grabs his keys and briefcase and finally goes out to where the Porsche is garaged.

“I thought he’d never leave.” Georgie shakes her head. “Okay so breakfast and then call Mona? I figure use her as a conduit. She’s out in LA and safe enough to handle all the details.”

It makes sense to Lisa so she nods. “The cops aren’t going to go for that.”

“I’ll call the cops. You call your brother.”

Once at the office, Morgan’s secretary comes in with coffee for both of them. Venezuelan this week. Morgan ended up with a lot of meetings in his office because he always had the best coffee. His uncle put a standing order of a few pounds of something different every week shipped to the office. It’s like coffee of the week and it repeats sometimes but not often. “Are you okay?” She asks suspiciously with her head tilted to the side.

“Lisa received a phone call this morning that her storage unit up in Gainesville had burned down. She’s insured but it’s still...” Morgan had tried to keep secrets from his secretary but it never really seemed to work out. Maybe he had one or two left but he really doesn’t think so.

“That’s awful. Is there anything I can do to help?”

It could be a rhetorical question like How are you when the person asking really doesn’t want the answer but Morgan takes her up on it. He grabs a sheet of paper and writes down five names. It’s all he can remember right now. Then grabbing a credit card from his wallet. “I need you to buy every book from these authors and have them sent to my house.”

“Oooh. Amazon here I come. If I find some authors I like can I send those too?” The secretary is practically salivating as she reaches for the credit card.

“You bet but only one from each additional author. If I find out she liked the author then we’ll get the rest. Lisa has maybe twenty books right now because she did buy some since moving to Miami but most of the new books have been baby books not fiction. She had full bookcases worth in that storage unit.”

The secretary recognizes the names of the authors on the list. “You’re going to need an extra book case yourself if you’re planning on getting all these books. The delivery will be the day after tomorrow for most of this.” She waves the list.

“Thanks for the reminder. I’ll take care of that.” Right now Morgan is missing Barry’s pick up. Pete’s got a big car. He had to have one to fit him. He picks up the phone and calls Pete at his office over at the Heat.

“Thank you for taking my conference.”

“It was an interesting email. And I don’t remember putting my personal email address out there.” The arson investigator says to the webcam.

“Have you made a determination of arson in the storage facility?”

“Who is asking and why?”

“My name is Georgie Jones. I’m a private investigator based out of Port Charles New York. I’ve got a client who is trying to duck an escaped felon.” Georgie sends a copy of Macon’s mugshot and rap sheet along with the current warrant as well as her credentials from New York. “Unless this is somebody trying to collect on insurance– or if it actually was an accident or natural causes-- it could be about my client.”

“It wasn’t an accident or natural causes.” The inspector declares after reviewing the information Georgie had sent. “There was no effort to hide the accelerant. Who is your client?”

“Lisa Pappas.” Georgie calls out the storage unit number. “Unfortunately, she and her mother never went to the police when the initial threats were being made right after Lisa’s brother testified against Macon and set him up for 8-15.”

“There is no arson on his rap sheet.” The inspector flips the down the rap sheet.

“He’s not your typical torch. As far as I could d poke around his juvie history wasn’t sexually abused as a child. He’s just a what’s mine is mine and what is yours is mine as soon as I can figure out how to get it kind of guy.”

“Juvie record?”

“Yeah, the benefit of not being a cop. I can go digging where official records are sealed. Talk to a few people. I’m sure that Macon could come up with a dozen excuses why none of this is any of his fault...” Georgie shrugs. “...but I don’t really care. He’s made threats against Lisa and her mother. I’ve already made sure that the cops in Tarpon Springs are aware of the problem but if he went after the storage unit it means that a) he is definitely still after my clients and b) he was planning this before he broke out of custody. Because Lisa had already moved and if it was him– he knew not to go to the apartment she’d had since she was a sophomore in college but to the storage unit.”

“I’m going to need to talk to Ms Pappas. She may not have reported it before but she’s officially a victim now. And she’s going to need to file a police report with her insurance.”

Georgie shakes her head. “If you want I can set up a web conference. Send in copies of what was in the storage unit. But she’s not going back to Gainesville if she follows my advice. There is too much of a chance that this was a lure to bait her there. I work with a company called One Phone Call. They will do the liaison work. I’ll make sure that a notarized statement is sent to you. Did you want my notes on Macon as well?”

“Send them. I’m not saying that this Constantine Macon is the suspect but he is definitely a suspect. I’ll make sure that major crime is aware he may be in the area.”

“Thanks.” Georgie closes the conversation and hopes that Lisa’s is going as well.

It’s a prepaid disposable phone. Lisa knows that her mother will be expecting the call after what happened the day before. “Hey Mom.”

“Are you okay?!” Doreen demands.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Really glad I’m not up in Gainesville. How are things going there.”

“Your brother is being a pain in my butt with his demands about me going up to Boston. Unless it’s Hurricane Macon forget it.”

Lisa nods but then comments. “I figured you’d feel that way. Look if you wanted to get the heck out of Dodge and head up to Boston or even go stay with Baby out on that island of hers everyone would probably breath a little easier.”

“And leave you down here alone, pregnant! I don’t think so.”

“Mom, I am so spoiled. Morgan’s aunt put in this elaborate security system. All of his roommates are checking up on me. Hell Morgan must have said something to Pete because I was getting phone calls from the Heat guys checking up on me!”

“You’re keeping it low profile through right?”

“Oh yeah. We’ll probably end up driving each other nuts with me underfoot but the only connection between me and Morgan– hard copy connection is that he is listed with my OB as the father of the bun. We did that after the last ultrasound. Things go to hell and he’s listed as medical power of attorney too along with you. I just figured he’s going to be about 20 minutes away or less and you’re about 4 hours.

Doreen sniffs, not quite agreeing that is the way it should be. She reluctantly goes along. “I suppose that could work until I get down there. You’re not due for another 4 months anyway. Plenty of time to get Macon locked back up so I can just relax and enjoy my grandbaby. And I’ve already told Anders if he plucks my last nerve, I’m going to call Skye and Cole Radcliffe for reinforcement. How that man ever got the idea he could boss me around I have no idea but he doesn’t try it with the Chandy’s parents.”

Lisa laughs at that. “I’ve never met Skye Radcliffe in person but yeah, wouldn’t cross Mr Radcliffe. He’s a good one to have in your corner. I’m surprised he hasn’t already showed up.”

Doreen gets serious. “As far as we know, Macon has only made threats against us. But I think that Paul fellow, the one that works for CSMC talent is going back through all of Mayday’s mail to see if any of it came from Macon. He might be targeting Chandy too. You know this fixation is payback on Anders.”

“Where is Mayday?”

“West coast. But they aren’t hard to find... all you have to do is go to the ticket master website.”

Changing the subject, “Same deal okay, Mom. If I have to bug out, I’ll call you and if you have to bug out you’ll do the same.”

“Deal. Don’t worry about me, hon.”

“Yeah, right. And don’t be surprised if Baby shows up since Macon didn’t go to my apartment.”

“I’ve already dusted and taken out the good china.”

Lisa rolls her eyes at that.

The voice of the security system interrupts what she is going to say. “There is a woman cleared by security at the front door.”

“I’ve got to go, Mom. I’ll call you if there are any changes.”

“I’ll do the same. Take care of both my babies– you and the bun.”

Lisa laughs at that and says her good byes. She is just flipping the phone shut when she reaches the front door. She checks the peep hole. “No way.” Taking a deep breath she opens the door.

“Hello Lisa.”

“Hello Baby.”