Page 44 of When I'm Gone
Luke cringed. Why did he have to call now? He still hadn’t decided what he was going to say to whoever called about Brian. Time had run out.
“This is pretty bad timing. I’m out to dinner right now. Is there a way we could discuss this at another time?”
“Yes, sir, I understand; your time is valuable to us. This will only take a few minutes. I can come by tomorrow to meet with you if that’s a better time?”
Tomorrow. No, Terry would be there tomorrow. He didn’t want her nose in this business.
“Well, if it will only take a few minutes, I can do it now,” Luke answered, resigned. He’d much rather answer questions about Brian over the phone. Less likely this Dennis guy would pick up on the disdain Luke tried to keep hidden if he couldn’t see his body language.
“All right. First, this background check is for security clearance within Tanglewood Securities. If approved, Officer Gurrella will be privy to classified information. We are interested in anything that could be used against him in the case of ransom or blackmail. So, some of these questions will seem odd or personal, but Officer Gurrella is aware of the intensity of this investigation. He wants you to be honest. If it’s all right, I’ll jump right in.” Papers rustled in the background, and Luke thought he could hear the faint clacking of keys on a keyboard. “How long have you known Brian Gurrella?”
Luke counted back to the first time Brian and Annie came over for dinner. Will had been five, Natalie pregnant with May. Brian and Annie’s son, Matt, was nine or ten. He’d spent the whole night curled up next to his mother, picking at his food, saying less than three words. It took another three or four visits for the boy to warm up, but Natalie was always good with pulling kids out of their shells.
“Around ten years, I think. They’ve lived in Farmington Hills for longer, but that’s when I met Brian.” There was silence and clicking on the other end. The silence made him uncomfortable, like he was supposed to say something else. Maybe that was the intention.
“How well would you say you know the Gurrellas? What is your relationship with them?”
“I know them fairly well, Annie better than Brian though. Annie was my wife’s best friend and now is a caregiver in my home. Brian I see less, but I guess you could say we are friends.” The answer sounded a little like a question when it came out, but at least it was honest.
“Does he gamble or have any debts you are aware of?”
“Uh, besides the normal things like a car and his house, no, I’m not aware of any debts.” This was very different than Luke had expected. He’d thought there would be two or three general questions; maybe he’d have to make a statement about Brian as a friend or vouch for him. This was far more intensive.
“Have you or your wife spent any time in the Gurrella home? Would you say there is any evidence of drug or alcohol abuse? Any relationship problems that could be used against Officer Gurrella in any way to gain leverage?”
Luke swallowed and turned toward the wall. “My wife passed away a few months ago.” He took a breath and let the words settle in before continuing. “She spent a lot of time at Annie’s in the past. I’ve only been there recently. She used to care for my son in her home so I was there nearly every workday. Brian was usually there too. He works the night shift, so he’d sleep during the day.” Luke was aware he was babbling, but was too nervous to slow down. The investigator sat silent on the other end again, and Luke’s mind raced for more information. “Uh, in the past few weeks she’s been watching the kids at my house so Brian can get more sleep.” He lied for the first time in the interview.
“And the other part, about the drug and alcohol abuse and Mr. and Mrs. Gurrella’s relationship?”
This was the moment he’d been dreading. Should he tell the truth, explain that it was possible Brian abused both his wife and alcohol? Or should he do what Annie had asked, tell Dennis everything was sunny at the Gurrellas’ house and Brian was Ward freaking Cleaver?
“Brian drinks socially, but I’m unaware of any problem. As for Brian and Annie ...” Luke picked at the seam in the wallpaper in the corner where he stood, trying to walk the line between a lie and the difficult reality. “They seem like a normal couple.”
Behind him, Felicity cleared her throat. He spun around, the phone still pressed against his ear. With her purse slung over her shoulder and doggie bag in her hand, she looked ready to leave. Dennis was droning on with his next question. This one inquiring if he’d ever witnessed any suspicious activity or visitors at the Gurrellas’ house. Luke held up a finger to Felicity, asking for one minute. If the conversation went on any longer, he felt like he was going to throw up.
“Mr. Bormet, I haven’t seen anything suspicious about Brian or his family. I wish I had more information for you, but I don’t. I’m sorry; like I said, I’m out to dinner right now, and I really need to go. Do you have any more questions?”
Dennis Bormet went silent on the other end of the phone. Luke didn’t know if it was a good sign or not. He shrugged at Felicity.
“Take your time,” she mouthed. But he didn’t want to take his time. He wanted to be done.
“I understand. Your time is valuable to us.” Dennis Bormet repeated the same line he’d used at the beginning of the interview, which made Luke wonder if he was following some sort of script. “I have one last question.”
“Almost done,” Luke whispered to Felicity and rolled his eyes. She smiled at him, that stunning, broad smile, and pointed through the glass door at the dark street, lit only by tall, black streetlights crowned with glowing golden lamps. “I’ll wait outside.”
He nodded at her and answered the investigator, “I can take one more question.” Luke watched Felicity push open the tinted glass door and pull her shawl a little tighter over her shoulders, even though there was no way it could be cooler than seventy out there.
“Mr. Richardson, as a personal reference, would you recommend Officer Brian Gurrella for high-level security clearance with access to sensitive information?”
The question caught him off guard, and he flinched away from the front window, suddenly finding it impossible to think about frivolous things like dating or jazz or wine. It was a question that brought Annie’s face into focus as clearly as if it was reflected in the glass he’d been staring through. Now that he thought about it, she’d been there all night in the back of his mind, his most recent memory of her tainted with a look of betrayal. Luke was friendly with Brian but didn’t know him, not really. Second only to the letters, Annie was the reason he was still able to stand and breathe and get out of bed in the morning. He’d do almost anything to help her, including lying to Dennis Bormet.
“Yes,” he answered into the phone firmly, “I would.”
CHAPTER 17
Luke stumbled down the stairs behind Clayton’s bobbing bed-head hair. How did he have the uncanny ability to wake up an extra hour early on weekends? Did he have a printed schedule? A hidden calendar or alarm set on Natalie’s phone? Whatever quirk was responsible for the early waking, Luke planned on blaming Natalie’s genes because, let’s be honest, she couldn’t exactly fight him on this one.
The sun was already beaming in from the half circle of windows on the front door and the tall, thin windows flanking each side of it. Summer’s sun made up for the seemingly eternal darkness of the Michigan winter, but today he had a slight headache. Not a great day to have a headache, not when Terry was coming over. If ever there was a headache producer, Terry was one.
