The Relic: A Savvy Macavoy Story Read online

  The Relic:

  A Savvy Macavoy Story

  By

  Amy Shannon

  Copyright © 2018 by Amy C Shannon

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permissions of the author, except by a review who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper, magazine, or journal.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Credits:

  Cover Illustration Copyright © 2018

  Cover design by Amy Shannon

  Sequel to “Smashed: A Savvy Macavoy Story”

  Introduction

  Savvy Macavoy isn’t a typical private investigator, but she’s one of the best. Known for solving unique cases, she works alongside her partner and lover, Deklin Strickland “Strick” and her best friend, Leonard. Savvy is well-known, maybe too well-known to the NYPD, especially since she has what they refer to as an attitude, where she thinks it’s protecting her client’s privacy.

  With her red hair with purple streaks and pig-tail braids, she tries to stay true to her hippie roots and herself. Savvy and Strick get closer as they try to help Leonard, all while dealing with Savvy’s large band of brothers. And that’s just the beginning, especially when Mr. Stein hires Savvy to find something of great value to him and so begins The Case of the Missing Dictator.

  The Case of The Missing Dictator

  1

  “FOWL!” Savvy Macavoy wearily walked into the kitchen that was just off her bedroom and stared up at the clock. “Fowl. It’s only one a.m.,” she muttered, turning on the coffee pot. Fowl was Savvy’s “F-word,” as she was taught when she was little if she had to swear, she needed to use a word that wasn’t vulgar. Savvy and her brothers all had their own swear word, which wasn’t really a swear word.

  Savvy sat at the table and stared down the hallway that led to the upstairs apartment; the apartment that she usually shared with Strick, her lover and business partner. She didn’t stay there when he was gone and this time, he was gone for longer than expected. Savvy trusted Strick and loved him. She loved him from the moment she caught him rummaging through her dumpster. Strick used to be a homeless veteran, now he was a veteran getting his Army benefits and was her partner in her Private Investigation Agency. Macavoy Investigations. Strick is her partner is more ways than one. Equal partners.

  Savvy was born Sunshine Rainbow Savvy Macavoy but preferred to not be called by her “free love name.”

  Strick’s birth name is Deklin Strickland, but he prefers Strick. She found him and connected with him when he was homeless and looking for food. Something drew her to him, something she couldn’t even explain. She gave him food, clothes, a shower, a home and a job. All at the same time. Strick was an Army veteran as he served as a company clerk slash MP in a small unit in Afghanistan. He is proud of his service, but Savvy is prouder.

  Strick was supposed to be home two nights ago and there wasn’t any contact with him for four days. They had a plan and the partner had to be out of contact for three days before sending up the red flags, especially on sensitive or covert investigations. Now it was day four.

  Savvy stood up and poured herself a cup of coffee, eyeing the bottle of whiskey on the shelf above her head. “No, can’t do that,” she whispered. She used to drink, heavily and whiskey is her poison. Savvy promised Strick that she would never drink alone and never without him. She prayed he walked through that door, not for the drink, but for the comfort of his arms. She sat down at the table, sipping her coffee. Savvy diverted her eyes between the back door of the building and the double red doors that separated her home from the PI business. She wanted to add Strick’s name to the title of Macavoy Investigations, since he was her partner, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He even fought her when she had his name painted in small print under investigators on the window.

  Savvy jumped slightly, almost dropping her navy blue anti-NYPD coffee mug. Her coffee mugs were a gift from her father’s husband, Tim Lawrence. Harry was her father, who donated his sperm, so her mothers could have children. They had seven children. Six boys and Savvy. Cloud Dancer died last year, and her other brothers almost made up with her. They didn’t always agree since Savvy has always been known to speak her mind or call out her brothers when they needed it.

  Savvy stood up instantly when the keys jingled from outside the door. “Strick?”

  He opened the door and wearily dropped his bag on the floor. His white teeth shined through the dirt streaked all over his face. “Savvy,” he gulped. “God, I missed you.”

  She hurried over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You kinda smell.”

  He held her in his arms, kicking the door closed with his foot. “I smell worse than I ever did living on the streets.”

  “I don’t think it’s that bad,” she smiled. “I smelled you when I met you,” She laughed lightly.

  “Well, I definitely need a shower and some food. Can I get a cup of that coffee?” he kissed her cheek.

  “Take your shower and I’ll get you some food,” she kissed his cheek and then wiped her mouth off with her hand. “Uh, yeah, dirt and something I’m not sure of,” she walked over to the coffee pot and poured him a mug of coffee. “Drink this and shower. Then, I want to hear all about your adventure.”

  “More like misadventure,” he sighed, taking the mug from her hand. “I’ll tell you all about it,” He headed toward the stairs passed her room that led to his apartment. His apartment was upstairs, and she spent most of her time up there, except when he wasn’t around. If he was working or for whatever reason wasn’t there, she didn’t go up there. She liked the small confines of her part of the building. Her room and her kitchen. Savvy owned the entire building and gave the two-room apartment that had an open floor plan to Strick.

  She inspected his green dufflebag and noticed grease, some unidentifiable stains and smells and what looked like tire tracks. “Hmm, misadventure, huh?” she walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out containers of soup and deli meat. She heated up the soup on the stove and made them both a roast beef with cheese and mayo sandwich on a hard roll. She placed two hard boiled eggs on his plate. She set the plates on the table as Strick came down the stairs, dressed in his olive-green t-shirt with the words ARMY printed across the chest and black shorts. “Soup and sandwiches. If I knew you’d be home tonight, I would’ve ordered something else from the grocer or food from the bar.”

  Strick put his arms around her waist, pulling her toward his hard but comforting body. “I’m just glad I’m home,” he kissed her mouth softly. “I hope you know how much I love you.”

  “I do,” she sighed. “I do. I was worried. I know, I’m not supposed to worry but you were supposed to be home three uh, four days ago. What the heck happened?”

  The two sat down at the table and he stared at his plate. “My car is in the bottom of the Hudson River. I didn’t want to blow this case, so I spent the last three days walking here.”

  “Uh,” she sighed. “Why don’t you start at the beginning?”

  “OK, you know, I had to go to Jersey because I got a lead on that theft from the pawn shop. I was watching these guys. They were unloading stolen goods on the pier, but on the Jersey side of the pier. Anyway, I got a lot of photos and recordings and I’m glad I sent them to Leonard. Well, on my last night of surveillance, I was parked in the shadows of the pier. I was going through my stuff and pack
ing up my bag. I didn’t see it coming.”

  “See what coming?”

  “A crane was lifting one of those containers, you know those large containers hauled by the 18-wheelers. Well the chain broke, and the container dropped right in front of my car. It didn’t hit it, but the impact threw my car backward, running over my bag and almost me. The car and I went into the river. I got out, my car didn’t. I got to my bag when I finally made it back to the docks,” He glanced toward his bag. “I don’t know what I can and can’t salvage. My phone was in my pocket and it’s now a paperweight. The water did too much damage. And in this day and age, there are no payphones, so I made my way home. Sleeping wherever I could. Good thing I have experience being homeless,” he snickered. “Now, I’m tired, hungry and finally I don’t smell like the Hudson River meets a trash dump. I’m just glad to be home and be with you.”

  “I’m glad you’re home, too. We need to come up with a backup plan in case that happens again. And you need a new car.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t know if there is a backup plan to what happened to me.”

  “Well, can you at least close your case?”

  “I’m not sure. I think it’s bigger than just someone stealing their goods back from the pawn shop. The items were strange to begin with. Uh, can we just talk about that later?”

  “Of course,” she smiled. “Like I said, I’m just glad you’re home. I love you, Strick.”

  “I love you, too,” he kissed her cheek and picked up his sandwich.

  “Just eat slow,” she focused on her bowl of soup.

  “I will,” he smiled. “And then, will you do me the honor of sleeping upstairs with me?”

  “Definitely,” she patted his hand. “Eat your soup before it gets cold.”

  “Yes, boss,” he grinned.

  2

  Savvy opened her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Strick, who was lying next to her, sound asleep. She kissed his cheek and then his mouth softly. He opened one eye. “Morning,” she smiled.

  “Morning,” he lightly touched her cheek. “You OK?”

  “Yeah, I like watching you sleep,” she smiled. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

  Strick slowly sat up and ran his hand down her arm. “Me, too,” he smiled. “There is something I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “What is it?”

  “Well, it’s a couple of things. The first thing,” he said as they got out of bed.

  Savvy pulled the comforter over the bed and straightened the pillows. “What is it?”

  “Well, before I headed to Jersey, I stopped by Central Park,” he sighed as he walked over to the kitchen area and turned on the coffee pot.

  “Did you find him?”

  “No and no one’s seen him at all. Not since he cleaned up and hooked up with Leonard.”

  Savvy sat at the kitchen island as Strick poured them both a cup of coffee. “So, what does that mean? Ryan left Leonard, no note, no nothing. He hasn’t even gotten his stuff out of the motel he was staying at.”

  “You want me to continue to investigate this for him?”

  “Leonard doesn’t know,” she sighed. “He thinks that Ryan turned back into Sarge and went back to the streets. I’d do it, but maybe you should. You know the streets better, that life better.”

  “And this case, too?”

  “If you don’t want to,” she sighed. “I can do it.”

  “No, I do want to do it. Savvy, I don’t know if he left willingly or not, but I think we should at least find out.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know if Friend is involved, but my brother still has his eyes set on Leonard, but he’s still holding out hope that Ryan will return.”

  Strick sipped his coffee. “Then, I’ll do it. I’ll get answers one way or another.”

  “Thanks,” she smiled. “You said a couple of things.”

  “Well,” he smiled. “I just wondered when you would move in up here.”

  “Move in? I live here.”

  “No, you live downstairs and when I’m not home, you sleep downstairs and when I’m here if I don’t ask the question, you sleep downstairs.”

  “What question?”

  “I have to ask you to sleep with me or you don’t do it. I want us to share up here. I can see if you want to sleep downstairs if I’m not here, but I want you up here with me. I want this apartment to be both of ours.”

  “Oh, I never really thought about that,” she sighed.

  “Never?”

  “Well, I always figured I gave you this space, so it was yours. I didn’t want to invade this… your space. Maybe I assumed too much,” she unraveled her messy pigtail braids and then smoothed out her hair. She rebraided her hair, making sure the purple streaks in her vibrant red hair stood out in each braid.

  “It’s because I lived on the streets?”

  “I thought you needed something of your own.”

  “Well, maybe I did, but what I learned most of all was the importance of family. You and Leonard, you’re my family.”

  “Don’t you ever think of your own family?”

  “I still miss my mother, my step-father, yes. I loved them and by the time I came home from my tour, they were gone. I still go and visit their sites.”

  “Step-father? You always called him your father.”

  “Oh, well, my biological father left before I turned a year old. My mother, the hopeless romantic, fell in love with her best friend. He was always there for her and for me,” he smiled. “Mom said that my father died soon after he left. That’s all I know and that’s all she said about it. She married John Strickland and he adopted me. That’s why I have his name. He helped me become the man I am today. Anyway, I haven’t felt at home in a long time and then, here you and Leonard are. I even think of Harry and Tim as family. Your brothers, uh, well, not-so-much.”

  “Yeah, well they still give the look to you when they come. Friend thinks we’re the ones controlling Leonard and that means he doesn’t know Leonard well at all. Even Midnight, Rain, Breeze and Romeo try to give you a hard time, but that’s just because of me. They look at me like the baby of the family and that I should be a certain way just because I’m the youngest. It’s like they gave me that family rank on purpose.”

  “Family rank?”

  “Yes, if someone else, one of my brothers, screwed up so bad in our family, their rank would be under me until they fixed it or got forgiveness. I’m sorry, I guess I secretly wonder what it would be like if the family rank ever changed,” she smirked. “I am kinda unique and maybe they don’t like that, or I remind them too much of where we grew up. Who knows.”

  “Savvy, where you embrace your hippie-ness, they try to steer away from it.”

  “My hippie-ness?” she grinned.

  “Yes, Sunshine,” he smiled.

  She drank down her coffee. “I’m going to go shower and change. Meet you in the kitchen downstairs for our bagels?”

  “When are you going to give me an answer?” he smiled, watching her walk toward the door.

  “Yes,” she smiled. “I’ll share this with you.”

  “Good, then this weekend, we make it ours,” he smiled.

  “I’d like that,” she kissed her hand and blew the kiss to him.

  He caught it in his hand and touched it to his face. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

  She walked out the door and Strick headed to his closet to gather his clothes for the day. He always wore the same kind of clothes. Black jeans and a tee shirt. Either black or olive green. He wore black sneakers and black socks. He admired his girlfriend, who was much more than that. She was the love of his life, that he never knew he wanted, much less needed. Sunshine Rainbow Savvy Macavoy. Something about her being herself and true to herself, with her confidence, drew him to her. It wasn’t even the fact that she immediately offered him food, a job, a shower and a home the minute they met. She seemed to trust something inside him before he even had the chance to prove his loyalty. Something he believed in
… immensely.

  Her braids, her corduroys and sandals were just part of her persona, but it was part of her true being. He never knew what to expect from her, but he always knew he could trust her, even if he didn’t always understand her actions or motives. He trusted her, and he loved her.

  He just prayed he could find out the truth about Ryan Baldwin or as he was known on the streets “Sarge,” Last year, Ryan and Leonard got real close, real fast and Ryan was clean and had a job and lived in an efficiency motel close to the diner where he worked as a cook. Then, a few weeks ago, Ryan didn’t show up for work. He didn’t show up for a lunch date with Leonard and wasn’t in his room. Strick took it upon himself to pay for Ryan’s empty room until he gets answers. Ryan has a habit of turning into Sarge when he starts drinking and it’s possible he’s done it again and is hiding from Strick or Savvy and especially Leonard. Strick wants answers, so Leonard’s sadness will dissipate.

  Leonard is more than their office assistant and tech guy. He’s Savvy’s best friend and now, he’s also Strick’s best friend. He runs the office and if he wanted to, he could take the bar exam and be a lawyer.

  3

  Leonard Davis looked up and down the street, sighing heavily as he hoped for some sign from Ryan, but Ryan was gone. He didn’t say anything, not even goodbye. The police were of no help since Ryan used to be homeless. The words Leonard kept thinking of were used to be, but the cops, even the ones that were friends of the Agency, thought of the words homeless and alcoholic. Yes, Ryan was gone. Leonard wasn’t even his usual happy and joyous self. He grew up with Savvy on the commune and when they met back up in the city, they instantly reconnected, making a new life for them both. Now, something inside him made him feel sadder and broken-hearted, even if he tried to hide it from Savvy and Strick. He didn’t even know if it was just because Ryan left. He knew Ryan was gone, he just wished he knew why. It was more of not knowing why than him being gone. Leonard knew Strick and Savvy were worried about him and were always there, supporting him. Leonard put his key in the door of the Agency, when he heard footsteps behind him. He recognized the heavy boots and didn’t turn around. “Friend, just go away.”