Chapter Forty-seven

Based on the information she had obtained from the records and her talk with Martha German, Serena tracked down the office building on Parklane Road. The building wasn’t that far off the highway, but as she drove up, there didn’t appear to be too many businesses that occupied the building. It was curious to her that this building was built by Mayor Carrington’s real estate firm about a decade ago. She didn’t know what that meant, but Serena had a feeling this scenario included the mayor in some way.

She parked her car a few spaces away from the few cars in the parking lot and turned off the engine. Not sure of what her plan was once she entered the building, she sat for a while. Her intentions for coming here was to see if Lance Ryan was still in business. The man had to be making a living doing something. The clothes that he wore were expensive. She suspected he was probably still in the real estate consulting business in some form or fashion.

What she wasn’t sure about is what happens when she confronts him. He had made a point to be elusive about who he was and managed to control and manipulate the times they had met in person. How would he react to her just showing up and nailing his true identity?

She almost wished she had been more forthright with where her investigation had gone with Alan. He might have encouraged her to take Bud and the camera to get some more footage. Serena sensed now wasn’t the time to turn the information she had into a story. She clearly didn’t know what was going on and after talking to Lenora over the weekend, she knew she had stunned the woman.

It sounded to Serena like the brief relationship between Charmayne and Lance had gone badly and he may have an agenda against her.

But why wait five years? Serena scratched out notes after her visit with Lenora. Her one conclusion was that Bishop Hudson’s death served as a trigger.

She slapped the steering wheel, and then climbed out of the car. This was about to drive her crazy. There were so many bits and pieces not fitting together. At this point, she was going to see if she could find where all the confusion had started.

Serena noticed a side door and walked up to it. She pulled on the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Then she peered to the side and noticed there was an electronic card reader. The building seemed to be pretty secure, and this door must have been for employees to enter.

She walked around to the front of the building, noticing there must not have been many people who worked inside because the parking lot was sparse with cars. Why even keep a building open if you don’t have enough tenants paying lease or rent?

Serena reached the front which had a double glass door entrance. She pulled on one of the doors, and it swung open easily. Once inside, she felt the temperature drop. While spring had arrived, it was starting to feel closer to summer temperatures. The air condition felt good. She looked over her shoulder and saw a security guard sitting behind a large circular space.

He glanced at her, his eyes glassy. She waved to him, but he continued to look at her as if he didn’t care she had just walked in. Serena shrugged and kept walking over to the elevator area. The building was five stories, and there appeared to be offices on each of the floors despite the nearly empty parking lot.

She scanned the listing next to the elevator. There were various businesses, but nothing jumped out at her. Her eyes stopped on Bowman and Watson Law Firm. Didn’t Martha mention there was a lawyer in this building? The law firm was located on the fifth floor. There wasn’t any other business located on that floor. Did that mean Lance Ryan had moved his business or was he in business at all?

It didn’t hurt to check, so she pushed the elevator up button. Maybe the lawyer had information. Serena glanced over at the security guard. He was watching her. She turned around and rolled her eyes. Really, where did they get these folks from sometimes? She heard the hum of the elevator making its descent. The doors slid open, and she stepped in. She pressed the number five and waited for the elevator door to close.

The doors closed so slowly it made Serena nervous. Remembering the day Lance showed up at city hall, she almost expected his hands to appear stopping the doors from closing. She breathed a deep sigh of relief when the doors finally closed, only to have her stomach lurch when the elevator ascended. What would she find when the doors opened?

She watched the numbers light up at the top of the elevator until the number five was lit. Serena braced herself as the doors whirred open. She stepped out on the brightly patterned carpet and looked to her left. There was a window that showed the expansive skyline of Charlotte. She recognized some of the downtown buildings. Serena turned to her right and walked to the hallway. She looked down the hallway and noticed a few doors. The first door had Bowman and Watson Law Firm on the plaque outside the door.

She stepped up to the door and peered in through the glass beside the door. There was a receptionist area, but no one was sitting at the desk. Serena scanned what she could see and nothing looked out of the ordinary. Maybe she would stop back by after she explored a little more.

Serena continued down the hall. The next office space was dark. She grabbed the doorknob, but it was locked. Serena grimaced. This wasn’t going to be easy. She continued down the hall until she came to another door. There wasn’t anything on the plaque beside the door, but the office was lit. She looked behind her, and then walked up to the door. This time when she touched the knob it turned easily in her hand.

Should she do this? She could always say she was lost. With that little lie in place in her mind, Serena opened the door. As it opened, she glanced around. Like what she saw at the law firm, there was a receptionist area. Serena swung her eyes to the left to see a waiting room and a television set that wasn’t on.

Was this a real office? Maybe someone was setting up an office?

She walked all the way in and closed the door slowly behind her, willing it not to click or make any noise. Once the door was shut, she listened for any movement or signs that someone was in the back area. Serena tiptoed across the office, grateful for the plush carpeting. She moved past the receptionist area. One office was closed, but two other doors were open. She peered inside the first open door. It seemed to be an office supply closet, but there were no supplies. A lone filing cabinet stood off to the side.

Her body was tense with anxiety, but she kept walking until she reached the second open door. From the light that came from the window, she could see the room had the usual office furnishings: a large desk, swivel chair, armchairs, and filing cabinets. The walls were bare. She did a 360 turn and noted the walls didn’t have any artwork. Just plain white walls.

Then she heard a voice from outside the door. What should she do? Serena scrambled over to the utility closet and hid behind the door. Whoever was coming was either talking loud to someone or was on the phone. The door she had just entered swung open. Serena peeked through the crack in the door and saw the very man she was looking for stroll by her.

She pulled back as Lance turned around. His face was reddish under his tan, eyes flashing. “There’s no one to blame here but you. You let that righteous bishop get into your business. He would have never discovered what you were into if you left this project alone in the first place.”

Who was Lance talking to on the other end of that phone call? Serena tried to pull herself in the shadows as best she could and hoped Lance didn’t need anything in this empty closet. He had grown quiet, and then started sputtering out a string of expletives that even made Serena’s cheeks grow warm. The man was in a rage which put her in a real awkward, dangerous position, she thought.

Serena dared to glance through the door again and saw Lance had his back turned away from her. She listened as he continued. “You just make sure you have my money. You wanted the Hudson Development off the plate. It’s gone. No one is going to try to resurrect that project. Even if they do, any missing funds would probably fall back on Charmayne. She’s not exactly here to defend herself, is she?”

After a moment of silence, Lance threw his hand in the air. “What?

“I told you, I doubt the woman saw me at Charmayne’s house. If she did, you better believe I’m going to take care of that.”

“I know you’re not threatening me, Mayor. I mean, would you really want it to get out that you were the last person to see Charmayne alive?”

Serena shrank back in horror; her heart was beating so fast she held her hand to her chest. The mayor? Mayor Carrington?

I knew it! So the bishop had found out the mayor had been making some money on the side. That had to be some federal money too. Did Charmayne know?

But what woman was Lance talking about? Was he talking about Lenora Freeman?

Serena listened again, but only heard the one-sided conversation from a distance. She looked through the door and saw Lance had moved inside the office that had the closed door. Okay, now she had a decision to make. She could either try to get closer and hear more of the conversation or she could get her behind out of this office before Lance discovered her.

Her mind told her she needed to do the latter. Now that she knew the mayor had probably seen Charmayne before she died, she could just confront him. It was coming up on an election year, and she could probably catch Mayor Carrington off guard.

Serena moved slowly out of the closet, her eyes glued to the door where Lance was still talking loudly on the phone. She could hear tidbits of the conversation as she tried to move toward the door. Serena was almost halfway across the room when she heard Lance clearly say, “I even cleaned her fingernails so no one would suspect that she fought for her life and connected the DNA to you. By the way, thanks for saving me the dirty job and giving me the insurance to make sure I get paid. Maybe I should up the amount you owe me.”

Serena could have jumped out of her skin at that revelation. That made the mayor a murderer. Somehow, Lance came in as the one to make it all look like a suicide. Charmayne was going to marry this man? No matter indirectly, he had played a role in her death and in some crazy way had probably achieved revenge.

She had to get out of there.

As thoughts raced through her mind, Serena didn’t realize that Lance had stopped talking. She looked up at the office. Lance was walking back toward the door.

Serena turned and sprinted toward the door.

“Hey, what are you doing in here?”

She didn’t bother to turn around to know the man had a murderous look of rage on his face.

Serena ran out of the office, thinking there was no way she was going to make it to the elevator. She ran past the lawyer’s firm office, thinking, why didn’t she just go in there? Instead, she headed to the door marked stairs and proceeded down the flights of stairs as fast as she could. Maybe she could get to one of the other floors, where there had to be more people.

As she started down the stairs, Serena made an error that she would soon regret. She turned just long enough to see Lance burst open the door to the stairway, his face was exactly as she pictured it.

Ready to kill.

She was thinking this man was some athlete as he moved swiftly down the stairs toward her. In a split second, she knew without a doubt he was going to catch her.

Whether he shoved her or she tripped, Serena didn’t know, but for the first time in a very long time, she called out to God as she fell.