“I bet aliens abducted him as a baby,” Dorchester gave as the reason for Silver’s lack of documented existence. “Only Nate was left behind.”
“We may need a judge to unseal the adoption paperwork,” I said suddenly. “If we know the birth mom’s identity then maybe we can locate her or people she knew well who can tell us why the babies went to different homes.”
“Fine, be practical,” Dorchester groused from the passenger seat.
The task force had already gathered by the time we arrived. I passed out a copy of Jonathon Silver’s driver license to everyone in the room. Their surprise was clearly etched on their faces and in the way they all started asking questions at once. I held up my hand to silence them.
“Here’s what happened and here’s what I know right now.” Then I told them about my dinner and what my research turned up. “You can’t tell me that Turner’s attorney didn’t know about Silver’s existence, especially if he inherited Nate’s fortune. He was either protecting the guy or is afraid of him. Today we’re going to learn which one it is.”
“Have you been able to connect him to Owen Smithson?” Detective Weston Jade asked, referring to the guy who had sent the threatening emails and photos to Nate. The CPD had traced the IP address used in the emails, and it led them to Owen, who unfortunately was found dead.
“I have not attempted that yet this morning. I’ll assign that task to you, Detective,” I told him. I looked around the room and asked, “Are there any more questions before we start our interviews?” No one had any, so I assigned interviews, times, and locations. I looked at Dorchester and said, “We’re going to take a little field trip before our interviews this afternoon.”
“Oh goody,” he said, skipping beside me. “Can I buy a souvenir?”
“Depends on how well you play good cop,” I replied.
It was nothing more than a hunch that had me driving to Vibe at such an early hour. The club closed at two in the morning so finding anyone there at nine was a stretch. I knew my gut had been right when I saw the sleek, black sedan parked around the back of the club near the employee entrance.
“That car is nearly identical to Nate’s,” Dorchester observed out loud. I suspected that black was probably the most common color on all luxury sedans, but that car appeared to be the exact year, make, and model as the one Nate was driving when he died. “I mean, Nate’s car is still in the impound lot, so this clearly isn’t it, but…” Dorchester let his words trail off.
“It looks like someone is trying to step into his brother’s shoes,” I said.
“Yeah, it certainly looks that way,” Dorchester agreed. “Wonder if he’s wearing his clothes and sleeping in his bed too?”
The thought creeped me out, but I wouldn’t classify anything out of the realm of possibilities in the case—well, except the alien abduction angle. “Let’s go find out, Mulder,” I said to Dorchester.
“Smartass,” he mumbled under his breath as he exited the car. “I guess that makes you Scully.” He laughed much harder at his joke than I did.
I knocked loudly on the metal door marked as Employee’s Only several times and grew frustrated when they went unanswered. I had been in Nate’s office twice and knew damn well how close it was to the door I was banging on. Silver either wasn’t in the office and didn’t hear me or heard me and ignored me. It also could’ve meant that he met with foul play like his brother. I tested the handle and was surprised to find the door unlocked. I looked over at Dorchester and saw that he was just as surprised.
“That’s probably not a good sign,” he said, stating the obvious. Dorchester and I automatically reached for our guns. I moved to the left side of the door and gave him a nod when I was ready, and he pulled open the door with his free hand.
“Police,” I yelled loudly down the long hallway that led to Nate’s office and the rear of the bar. In the hallway, there were two glossy black doors directly across from one another. I knew one was Nate’s office but had no clue what was behind the other one. “Mr. Silver,” I yelled as we approached the two doors. “Are you in there, sir?” There was no response.
I kept my gun aimed in front of me in my right hand and grabbed the door handle for Nate’s office with my left. I looked over my shoulder and saw that Dorchester had done the same. “One, two, three…” We pushed the doors open and entered the rooms at the same time.
The lights were on inside the office, but no one was there. I was about to see if Dorchester had found Silver when a secret panel behind Nate’s desk opened, and Jonathon Silver walked out buck naked, toweling his hair as if he’d just come out of the shower and completely unaware that I was in the room.
“Mr. Silver,” I said firmly.
He jerked to a stop and yanked his towel off his head, but made no move to cover his dick from my view. “Well, this is a surprise, Detective Wyatt.”
“You know who I am?” I asked.
“Of course, I know who you are. You’re the man who rejected my brother when he turned to you for help,” he said bitterly. “Do you mind putting your gun away?”
“Do you mind puttingyoursaway?” Dorchester asked as he entered the room.
Jonathon Silver chuckled as he wrapped the towel around his waist and knotted it. “Does my nudity offend your sensibilities, Detective Dorchester?” Silver asked him.
“How do you know my name?” Dorchester asked him. “Better yet, why don’t you explain to us how we don’t know about you? I find it odd that you’ve made no attempt to get involved and assist us with the investigation to find your brother’s killer. Does that sound odd to you, Gabe?” Dorchester asked me.
“I’d move heaven and earth if it were my brother,” I replied, which was the truth. I still reviewed Dylan’s case file and checked if any new leads popped up twenty years later.
“And you think that makes me look guilty?” Silver asked. “Put yourself in my shoes and see how you’d feel. My brother—identical twin to be exact—is killed after reaching out to the good detective here twice and the Cincinnati Police Department once. Can you maybe see how I don’t have any faith in you to catch whoever was harassing Nate?”
I could see how he felt that way, but that would only motivate me to get in their faces more, not less. “Put yourself in our shoes, Mr. Silver,” I said, mimicking the words he’d used. “We had a man who claimed he was threatened but wouldn’t cooperate when we tried to help him through legal channels. What exactly could we have done differently?”
