I.C. Mombosa, Private Investigator: A Suspense Story

By P.A. Melchor

The main character is a high profile private investigator who has learned some important lessons along the way. But now, she must confront those "skeletons" family secrets in her own closet.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667859415

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I.C. Mombosa, Private Investigator

© 2022 P.A. Melchor

All rights reserved. This book or any portion there of may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-66785-940-8

eBook ISBN: 978-1-66785-941-5

To My Family, thank you for your love and support.

To Ace, this is our second time around.

I am looking forward to the third book!

Gratefully yours,

PAM

To My Readers

This novel was in the making for several years. It is a fictional suspense story depicting the characters complicated lives. However, its main characters learn some valuable life lessons along the way.

Disclaimer

This book is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 1

It was a hot summer night in Catawba County, North Carolina, so hot you had to go out on the porch for air. Momma Jane sat rocking in her chair and reading her Bible. Turning to look at me, she said, Child, this reminds me of the night you were born. Your granddaddy and I sat up half the night waiting for you to get here. It was about two o’clock, when your momma let out a scream, and then, we knew that you were on your way. I can still see you now, all red and wrinkled and crying yourself to sleep. I was so happy that God had given me my first grandchild.

Then she added, Honey, your granddaddy was not so happy. Does he love me, Momma Jane? I asked. Silly child, of course, he loves you, she answered.Then, Momma Jane, I asked, why was he so unhappy? I continued to question my grandmother. She just turned her head and started to hum, while reading her Bible again.

This was what she did when she didn’t want to answer questions or continue talking. It wasn’t until several years later that one of the boys in my junior high class asked me who my father was. I had lived with Momma Jane and Granddaddy for as long as I could remember, so I just accepted the fact they were my parents. I answered, Granddaddy is my father. The boy started laughing and teasing me and said to the other kids, My momma and daddy called her a little bastard. Never having heard that word before, I ran home after school and asked Momma Jane, Am I a bastard? She answered, You ain’t no bastard! Mean folks will say a lot of things to hurt you. But don’t you pay them any mind.

Momma Jane continued, I guess it’s time to tell you something I’ve been putting off. I just didn’t know what to say. Child, your momma got knocked up by some man in town. And she wouldn’t tell us his name or who he was. Your granddaddy was so mad and disappointed in her. He told her since she felt he shouldn’t know who went and knocked her up, bringing shame on her family, then, as soon as you were old enough to eat regular food, we would raise you. But she would have to leave. She had made her own bed."

What kind of shame? I asked Momma Jane. Momma Jane replied, Well, child, it’s like it says in the Bible: you are supposed to be married before you do that stuff. From the expression on her face, I knew she would answer no more of my questions. So I went to my room and started to do my homework.

I kept thinking about what Momma Jane had said and decided to ask Granddaddy why he was unhappy the night I was born. Granddaddy looked up from the kitchen chair that he was painting and answered, Honey, I was the happiest man in the world that night. I was angry at your mother. See, she was our only daughter, and I guess I just wanted the world for her. She got pregnant by some bum in town, and she refused to tell me his name. I just wanted him to pay for what he had done. It was his responsibility to pay for your support. I just told your momma that we would raise you. She would have to find herself somewhere else to live.

Granddaddy continued, Your mother left when you were about a year old, and she has not written or called since the day she walked out the door.Granddaddy, what is a bastard? I asked him. He answered, Mean people call a child born to an unwed mother that. Am I a bastard, Granddaddy?

No, my child, you are your grandmother’s and my darling little girl. We love you. Don’t listen to mean, envious people. Some of them are unhappy, and they try to make others feel the same way. That subject was never discussed in our house again.

Chapter 2

When I was twelve years old, Granddaddy got pneumonia. Both his lungs were congested. The doctor said, It was caused by a virus. Granddaddy died before Thanksgiving, just after the first snowstorm.

Momma Jane took over the farming and tending the chickens, pigs and cows. My chores were tending the fires and keeping wood in the kitchen and by the fireplace. The one thing Momma Jane was strict about was my homework. She always said, To make it in this world, a person needs an education. So, you do that homework before you go outside to play!

Momma Jane stayed on working the farm for another four years while I graduated from the local high school with honors. I was the valedictorian of my class. Since there was little money, Momma Jane decided to sell the farm. We moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta is a very large city. We were able to purchase a small house. And from the money that we received from selling the farm, Momma Jane was able to pay down on an office cleaning franchise. I was able to take college courses three nights a week.

We started with five large office buildings to clean, and our cleaning business prospered and we were able to hire a man to work on the nights I had school. We had been in Atlanta about four years when Momma Jane got sick at the job, and she had to be rushed to the hospital. The doctor said that Momma had a bad heart. He said, We’ve done all that we can. Momma Jane died a year later from congestive heart failure. I was left with no immediate family and a cleaning business to run alone. So I decided to sell the house and business and move.

Chapter 3

My cousin was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. So why not, I thought. This is as good as anywhere. I packed my clothes and bought a ticket to Las Vegas. I was able to get a nonstop flight. So after boarding the plane, I decided to sleep. I hated flying.

The plane landed on time. I went straight to the baggage room and looked for a pay phone to call my cousin. I was surprised to hear that he had been reassigned to an Air Force base somewhere in Europe.

I checked into a motel near the airport overnight and decided to go find a room or a one room apartment the next day. I had a couple bags of chips in my overnight bag. I ate them and read until I dropped off to sleep.

The next morning, I found a beautiful one room apartment. I checked out of the motel and called a taxi cab. We drove through the gambling area, and it made me feel excited. I couldn’t wait to go into the building.

I checked into my new apartment and unpacked everything. I was tired and sleepy, but also hungry. So off I went to one of those fast-food places near my apartment.

I was on a mission! While I waiting for my food order, I bought a local newspaper and started checking off some of the job advertisements. I was hired at the Sands Casino Hotel as a housekeeper with hours from 8:30a.m.to 4:30p.m.

My evenings were free to explore the local scenes, the strip and all the casinos. Most casinos have buffet dinners, All you can eat for about $20 dollars. It was at one of those buffets that I met a woman who told me her name was Allison. It seemed we were becoming friends but a bit fast, I thought. However, with me being a stranger in town, it was great to have someone to just talk to. Plus, she appeared very knowledgeable about what was going on, and she knew several of the entertainers performing at the casino.

Allison was in her mid-thirties, very sophisticated. Every time I saw her, she was dressed in expensive designer clothes and shoes. Momma Jane would have called her a socialite. She always had hundreds of dollars in her purse.

What do you see in me? I asked her once. She just smiled and asked me back, Are you looking for another job? Where are you working now? One could always live better if they had a good paying job. You must have one, I said. How else would you be able to dress the way you do? Allison ignored my catty remark and said, If you are looking for a job, maybe I can help.

She has never mentioned, not once, what she does. But it must pay well! Why not give it a try? I thought. After dinner, Allison said that she had to leave. She had a business appointment. If I gave her my phone number, she would call around. I said, Thanks, and wrote my phone number on a napkin and gave it to her.

Allison called me a week later and said she had contacted several employers and one of them, a person by the name of Mr. Joel, asked that I call him.He may be able to hire you, Allison said. She gave me his address.

I called Mr. Joel on Friday morning. He asked me to come to his office the following evening for an interview at 6:00p.m. I was excited and cautious and nervous. It seemed I was going to meet someone that could possibly change my life. Little could I have imagined how much my life would change.

Saturday evening, I dressed early and headed for town. I arrived at his office a few minutes early. I gave the secretary my name, and I was told to have a seat. Mr. Joel was on the phone and he would see me as soon as he was finished, she said. I sat down on one of the chairs