Going Under_ A Bill Roberts Thriller - Silas Payton Page 0,17

summary of the search so far and mentioned one of the searchers may have spotted a body in shallow water, down river from the bridge. "We've sent out a couple Zodiacs so we can get in closer," he said. They're twenty minutes away. I'll keep you posted on what we find."

"Since you haven't found him yet, we'll do a debriefing on what we know and email you a summary. Good luck with the search."

"Thanks, Inspector."

Bill turned to Cliff and asked for a brief summary of what he'd found.

"His wife had been expecting him home around five, but hadn't heard from him all day. Apparently, this is quite unusual for him," Cliff said as he pulled out his notebook. Cliff was pushing fifty-one and Bill knew he had to rely more on writing things down these past few years. Bill could sympathize. He remembered being Evans' age and being able to keep everything in his head. Although, in police investigation you're supposed to write everything down anyway, when he was younger the recall was at the tip of his tongue. Memory's not what it used to be, he thought to himself as Cliff consulted his notebook.

"Evans, can you write these points down so I don't forget?" Bill asked.

Cliff read from his notes. "He's an accountant at Lewis, Miller, and Marlin, does work for big corporations and government mainly, doesn't have any real hobbies and doesn't have many friends he hangs out with. No reported conflicts and not reported as depressed at all.

"His wife did report a conflict at work a few months ago, when there was something upsetting him. She said he had gotten all paranoid for a while and even thought he was being followed. He complained at work, there were some changes made but he never seemed really happy after that."

After reviewing a few more details, he said, "There's one more thing I noticed. They live in a pretty nice place. I don't know what accountants make but I got the impression he's still fairly low on the totem pole. His wife works part-time in retail and they have a couple of young kids, but the place is large and furnished like some high-priced showroom -- struck me as a bit strange."

Bill turned to Cliff. "Any idea what, in particular, got him so upset a few months ago?"

"His wife didn't say. But she told me, he doesn't discuss work much."

"I think we have enough to send Wilcock for now. Cliff, can you throw together an email and fire it off. I don't want to spend anymore time on this right now. We have to get back to the Elliott case. There's something not sitting right with me about Sarah Elliot. I have a nagging feeling we're missing something, but we'll think better with food. Let's eat first."

Chapter 17

Niccolo Coppola

Niccolo Coppola sat in his living room with the TV on in the background. The Yankees were in town playing the Blue Jays, but his mind wasn't on the game. Although he kept watching, he wasn't even sure which inning the game was in. He had been pacing around like a caged animal. In fact, for the past few months there had been a lot of tension in his life, and he always felt restless. His wife had asked numerous times if everything was all right and tonight she asked again. He told her to go ahead to bed -- he'd join her once the game was over. Once again, he assured her everything was fine.

But things were not fine. It was not supposed to work this way. Three years ago, he was told to just apply for the position and the rest would be taken care of. The board of directors of the Toronto Port Authority would vote him in as C.E.O. and he would have a cushy job and get paid a lot. He'd only have to do a few favours when asked. Not long after he got the job he was told to hire James Elliott as Ports Manager. Since then, he did as he was asked, and got paid quite well in return.

He wasn't, however, expecting a murder of someone working at the docks, and the police investigation following it. He wasn't expecting the recent turn of events with James Elliott getting friendly with the bikers. And, he sure wasn't expecting the same Mr. Elliott to now get shot, and to have the police calling again -- this is not what he signed up for at all.