PULL THE PIN

Chapter 8

In the end, it was closer to half an hour before they entered the parking garage of the Mary Ann building. Officer Spencer made sure to take a very circuitous route to ensure they weren't being followed. In other circumstances, Cordelia might have thought they were being overly cautious, but Gordon, Margaret, and Ebony were desperate.

The evening before, Cordelia had been reviewing the video footage taken that day from the Bedford house. She had never been so happy that she had also placed a recording device in the home office. The video feed from the common area hadn't shown anything unusual, but the feed from the office had been chillingly eye-opening.

She had emailed her grandfather and asked him to watch the footage. She was fairly certain that is what prompted him to take everything to the Chief of Police and set things in motion. Gordon, Margaret, and Ebony had no idea their time of freedom was now limited to weeks, perhaps even days. Cordelia just had to make sure she stayed safe from their clutches.

The SUV pulled up in front of the elevator doors in the parking garage. The whole building was secure, so even if they were followed, no one other than residents of the building would have access. Lori got out of the front passenger seat and opened the rear passenger door. Allistar sat up and then exited the vehicle, allowing Cordelia to straighten up from her crouched position on the floor between the front and back seats. She got out of the vehicle and stretched a bit to ease her cramped muscles.

"Well, that was an adventure," she chuckled. "Not one I want to do again, but very cloak and dagger."

The officers laughed along with Allistar in response to Cordelia's wry comment. Officer Spencer indicated he and Lori would escort them to their unit, and asked them to wait while he parked the vehicle. They were soon in the elevator, and Allistar used his key card to select their floor, and then again to access their unit. When the building was in the construction stages, the Cameron family had purchased three, two-bedroom units beside each other. This ensured that they would always have a place to stay while in the city.

The unit Allistar was staying in had two bedrooms as well as a den. This was his home base for the majority of the year, but the past couple of years he had spent in Scotland overseeing the expansion of a resort property. However, he was determined to remain in Halifax until well after the situation regarding Cordelia was put to rest.

Entering the suite, they were greeted by Anita, Silas and Logan, who jumped up to greet them. Cordelia noticed that Silas was staring at Lori. She smiled to herself and then made introductions.

"Hey, guys, this is Officer Richard Spencer," she said, pointing to the male officer. "And this is Officer Lori Stiles. Rick, Lori, these are my cousins, Anita Cameron and Silas Cameron. And this is our close family friend, Logan Murdoch. Why don't you all take a seat and I can get us something to drink? Is coffee good for everyone?"

While the others took a seat in the living room, Logan followed Cordelia to the kitchen. "Let me help you. You get the coffee going, and I will get the mugs and the tray ready. I think I saw some chocolate chip cookies in the pantry, so I will get a plate of them ready too."

Cordelia thanked him, grateful for the help. "I really appreciate the help. Thanks, Logan."

"My pleasure, beautiful. Do you think we could sit down and have a private chat sometime this week?" His eyes followed her every movement.

"Sure. I guess. Is everything okay? Do I need to be worried about anything?" Cordelia was a bit distracted by his question. And it didn't help that he was standing so close to her. Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would jump out of her chest. She was afraid he would be able to hear how his nearness affected her.

Logan gave her a slow, lazy smile. "Everything is fine. This is just something I have wanted to talk to you about for quite some time. Now the situation with the Andrews is finally being resolved, you are graduating and ready to embark on a career. I think now is a good time to have that chat."

"Oh, okay." Cordelia tried to hide her disappointment. He just wanted to talk to her about her career path. Maybe he was going to offer her a job at his company. And while that would be a great move career wise, she had kind of hoped he wanted to talk about something on a bit more of a personal level. She silently cursed her lack of experience regarding relationships with men. She had no idea how to read any of Logan's actions.

Noticing the coffee had finished dripping, she asked Logan to carry the tray to the living room, while she grabbed the plate of cookies and pot of coffee and followed him. He placed the tray on the coffee table, and Cordelia poured coffee into the mugs. She took the pot back to the kitchen while the others busied themselves with the cream and sugar.

When she returned to the living room she noted the only seat available was beside Logan on the brown leather loveseat. Blushing, she took her seat and picked up her mug of coffee. Taking a sip, she sighed in contentment. She loved her coffee, and savored the rich full flavor of the dark roast. As usual, she drank it black, no cream or sugar.

Her quiet moment was interrupted when Silas spoke up. "So Lori, how long have you been a police officer? I remember in high school you always said you wanted to get your degree in forensics. What changed your mind?"

"Nothing changed. I do have my degree in forensics. Forensic accounting!" Lori responded proudly. "You didn't really think I would specialize in the area that involved physical evidence, like pathology, did you? Surely you remember that I could barely stay in biology class when we did the dissection of frogs and things? Gross!"

Silas burst out laughing. "Oh, I remember. In the end, the teacher agreed that if you did the theoretical part of the assignments, she would excuse you from the lab. Guess she didn't like the idea of you throwing up on the specimens. But seriously, what made you take forensic accounting?"

"If you remember, my dad is an accountant for KPMG and his focus is forensic accounting. I was always fascinated by it, so I decided to follow in his footsteps. I graduated from Trent University last year with my Master's in Forensic Accounting. Like dad, I am affiliated with a large accounting firm as a forensic accountant, but am on temporary loan to the Halifax Police."

At this point, Allistar spoke up. "Everyone here is aware that Gordon Andrews has been committing fraud, first with the personal bank accounts that are in my daughter, Alexis' name. And second, with the accounts of her company, Global Property Management. Lori has been instrumental in tracing every dime that Gordon has stolen from those accounts. Thanks to her, and her father, the police have enough evidence to charge and convict Gordon of fraud, theft, and a plethora of other charges. They also have been able to uncover Ebony's active involvement in committing the fraud. That isn't even taking into account his actions towards my daughter, and Cordelia. And considering Gordon, Margaret, and Ebony are basically squatters in a house that doesn't belong to them!"

The more Allistar talked, the more upset he became. Cordelia reached over to take her grandfather's hand. "Granpa, this is almost over. Very soon they will pay for everything they have done. They will pay for the harm they have done to Mom, and to me. They will be made to face the consequences of their actions. We all know Gordon and Ebony will be facing jail time. As far as Margaret is concerned, we have enough to convict her of child neglect and abuse. And for theft of Mom's jewelry and personal items, as well as money from Mom's accounts. She should be facing some jail time too. Just be patient a little longer, Grandpa."

Cordelia watched as Allistar took several deep breaths in an effort to calm himself. She knew he was in emotional pain. He had very clear memories of the daughter he hadn't seen in over seventeen years. She knew he had never stopped looking for his daughter, and for Cordelia. She prayed the information revealed in yesterday's videos from the Bedford house office would finally provide the answer to the whereabouts of her mother, Alexis Cameron Davenport.