Page 6 of Need

The rest of Monday night was uneventful. I joined Brianna in the kitchen to help her finish making dinner. She was still a little hesitant, but I could tell that she was trying not to be.

Tuesday morning, she joined me for a very quiet breakfast before I left for the office. I beat Jamie in and was already in the middle of a grant proposal by the time she knocked on my door. “Good morning, Mr. Coleman.”

“Morning, Jamie. Come in.”

She walked into my office and took a seat in front of my desk. “It’s good to have you back.”

“Thank you,” I smiled.

My assistant was very loyal, and one of the nicest people I had ever met. “I brought you some phone messages,” she said, handing them to me. I flipped through them quickly. There was nothing overly important there other than a call from my lawyer. “Oh, and Miss Adams called just before five yesterday as well, but she said she would just track you down today. Should I call her and set something up?”

“Yes. I do believe I have lunch available today. Why don’t you see if she is able to join me and order us something from the deli across the street?”

She nodded. “Is there anything else, sir?”

“I think that’s all for now, Jamie. Thanks.”

Less than five seconds passed after my door clicked shut before I picked up the phone and dialed my lawyer. “Davis and Associates. How may I help you?”

“Good morning. This is Stephan Coleman.”

“Oh yes, Mr. Coleman. Mr. Davis is expecting your call. One moment, please.”

The phone clicked and the line filled with hold music I’d heard more times than I could count. Luckily, I didn’t have to listen for long before Oscar picked up the line. We exchanged brief pleasantries before he cut to the chase.

“My office received another phone call asking about Brianna Reeves. It was the same guy, I think. Anyway, after last time I put a tracer on the receptionist’s phone and instructed her to use it if he called again.” He paused for what seemed like several minutes, but was in fact only a few seconds. “The phone call originated from the Lake County Minnesota Sheriff’s Office.”

Any doubt I had in my mind that Jonathan Reeves was looking for his daughter went out the window. I had known it in my gut, but now I had proof.

“Stephan, what’s going on? Is this girl running from the law or something?”

I debated for half a second whether to tell Oscar what was going on, but it was clearly information he should have. There was no way I could know what having someone in law enforcement actively coming after Brianna would do. “Oscar, there are some things you need to know.”

“Whatever it is, I’ll do my best.”

I decided to stick to the basics. “After a phone call from her father, a car picked Brianna up from her home in Two Harbors. She ended up being held by a man named Ian Pierce for ten months until I was able to get her out.” I conveniently left out the part of ‘how’ I got her away from him.

It didn’t take Oscar long to draw the same conclusions I had. “Do you really think a county sheriff would do that to his own daughter?” he asked.

“As much as I would like to think otherwise, yes.”

“I’ll see what I can find out about Sheriff Reeves without drawing too much attention. It might not be a bad idea to look at Mr. Pierce either. See if maybe we can find a link between the two.”

“Everything has to be below the radar. Nothing can tie this to me. Or you.”

The conversation ended shortly after that with a promise from Oscar to contact me as soon as he obtained any information.

The rest of the morning went quickly. It was amazing how much work could pile up after only a day’s absence this time of year.

At eleven thirty there was a knock on my door. Jamie peeked her head in. “Mr. Walker is here to see you,” she said, reluctantly.

I set the papers I had been looking at aside. “Show him in.”

Jamie took a step back and motioned for Karl Walker to enter my office. The man looked at her with annoyance. He never liked having to go through Jamie to see me.

“Good morning, Karl,” I said as Jamie closed the door behind her.

Karl just smiled at me and took a seat in front of my desk. His eyes scanned over the wood surface as if he was looking for something, but he didn’t speak. “Is there something I can help you with? I do have work to do,” I said, pointing out the obvious.

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