Hometown Heroes, page 50
Kyle nodded slowly. “If Greg Connor knew any of this, DiMarco has motive for wanting him to disappear. Sarah, write that info down for me, and I’ll look into it. Might have to pay a visit to Mr. DiMarco.”
Joe looked at Kyle while Sarah copied the information from the screen. “Is this Tony DiMarco? He paid us a visit at the fire station to thank us for saving his home in the fire.”
“Could be. Or maybe it’s a family business. Either way, it’s something to go on.” Sarah handed Kyle a piece of paper. “Did you talk to Grayson yet? He could tell you.”
“He had meetings all day today, but we’ve got an appointment for tomorrow.”
Joe crossed his arms. “Maybe I’m missing something here, but none of that tells us why he’s after Sarah.”
Kyle gave him a steady gaze tinged with steel. “I know.”
Tony’s cell rang, and he picked it up. “DiMarco."
“Good call on having me bug her house.” Nick’s voice came over the line. “It’s paying off. Our friend thinks she’s figured something out. And it sounded like she was pretty chummy with the cops. That detective was already at her house. And your name came up.”
Tony slammed his fist on the desk and swore, causing his crystal bowl of Jelly Belly jelly beans to jump. His contact at the city had just called to tell him someone had been asking around about his land. And now this. He’d hoped they could still get the map from her. Now it was too late. And if someone was poking around . . . He had to hope that the innocuous looking paper would stay that way, that no one would figure out what it really meant. This was going to cost him. But it was still cheaper than the alternative.
He tossed a handful of jelly beans in his mouth. They’d helped him break his two-pack a day habit but hadn’t helped his waistline. Though he could blame that on his love of good food.
“Tony? What do you want me to do?” Nick still needed an answer.
Tony munched on the candy, not sure he had one. He started to run a hand through his hair then stopped. He didn’t want to mess it up. He clenched and released his fist then let out a breath. “Keep an eye on both of them. Then move to the next step tonight. She has to be convinced to stay out of this.”
He hung up and rooted around in his candy dish. The cappuccino ones were his favorite.
Chapter 13
Sarah tapped her pen against the pad of paper, ignoring her computer. After finding herself staring blankly at the screen for the third time that morning, she switched gears. Kyle had just left. She’d printed out the topos for him. He had brought the cut/fill sheet, and that seemed to explain the contour change, though it still looked like they were moving a lot of dirt. Elevated pads, basements? Not typical. Kyle said the building department hadn’t issued any permits for the site. He’d also talked to Grayson, who had had some dealings with DiMarco, who confirmed that the guy would do anything to get his way, even though nothing was out-and-out illegal.
They had a lot of hunches and guesses, but nothing solid. And still no idea why they were after her.
She had to do some shopping, and Heather would probably enjoy that. She really didn’t want to be alone, which proved just how much this whole thing had shaken her up.
She was going in circles here. Standing, she stretched her back. She couldn’t wait to get off Heather’s couch. The goal was to be back in her own, new bed tonight. And there was a lot to do to make that happen.
The cleaning crew was due at her place in thirty minutes.She shut down her computer, slipped it into its sleeve and then her bag. Heather had offered to meet her there.
Fifteen minutes later, Sarah drove up to her condo to find Heather sitting with the top down on her Miata, seat tilted back, face to the sun, CD playing in the background. Sarah would feel worse about interrupting Heather’s day if she didn’t seem to be enjoying it so much. Heather turned her head to look as Sarah pulled into the adjacent spot with her rental car.
Heather waved, and the seat moved back into the upright position.
Sarah got out of the car. “Thanks for coming.”
“Any excuse to get out of work. Actually, I’m ahead of schedule, so it’s fine.”
Sarah glanced at her watch. They still had ten minutes before the cleaning crew was supposed to be here. She really didn’t want to wait inside. She unlocked the door and opened it, the dark coolness spilling out into the warming day. She flipped on the light by the door then headed toward the French doors that opened to the back patio. “If we leave the front door open with just the screen latched, we’ll hear them if we sit on the patio.”
“Let’s do that then.”
She loved this patio. A sense of peace enveloped her every time she stepped outside and the scent of warmed lavender and rosemary greeted her. Aromatherapy at its best. She was incredibly grateful the intruder hadn’t bothered anything out here.
The calmness washing over her gave her the burst of energy she needed. She started a list. “I’m sure the cleaning crew will be here at least two hours. We can replace the bare necessities during that time.”
Heather reached out and touched her hand. “You know, when I was under police protection, I had to keep reminding myself that God hasn’t given me a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a strong mind. You in particular have a strong mind.”
Sarah’s eyes got hot as she blinked back tears.
Someone knocked on the screen. She jumped, her heart pounding. Shoving back her chair, she saw the cleaning crew. She took a deep breath. Everything was fine.
As she crossed through the house to let the crew in, her shakiness subsided. The crew came in, and she explained what needed to be done. The normalcy of assigning tasks and going down a list calmed her heart. But as she and Heather were driving off, she couldn’t help but wonder. When dark fell and everything got quiet and there was nothing left to do, would she be able to spend the night here?
Heather rubbed Sarah’s arm. “There’s no rush to leave my place.”
“I know. You’re a great friend.” Sarah gave Heather a tight smile. “But I have to do this.” I can do this.
She hoped. Maybe she and Heather would come up with a solution to her other pressing problem: Ryan. They had choir practice tonight. And she had to talk to him. She only hoped that didn’t blow up in her face as well.
“Mr. DiMarco, Detective Kyle Taylor and Detective Steve Collins are here to see you.” His secretary’s voice came over the intercom. Tony popped a cappuccino Jelly Belly in his mouth and thought for a moment. Pressing the intercom button, he said, “Send them back, please.”
The door opened to his office a minute later, and two men, obviously cops by their upright, confident bearing, strode in.
“Mr. DiMarco? I’m Detective Kyle Taylor; this is my partner, Detective Steve Collins.” He flashed his ID. “We’d like to ask you a few questions.”
Tony motioned to the chairs in front of his desk. “Please, have a seat. Can my secretary bring you anything?”
“No, thank you.” The taller one, Taylor, waited until Tony was situated behind his desk.
“How can I help you?” Tony folded his hands on top of his desk. He knew how he appeared to these men. The well-appointed office with dark woods, rich upholstery and carpet, the view out his window all gave the message that Tony DiMarco was a successful, well-respected businessman. And that was what they needed to believe.
“Do you know Greg Connor?”
“Yes. We worked together on a few projects. I was absolutely stunned to hear about his disappearance. If you think a reward would help generate information, I’d be happy to put one up.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
Tony thought for a moment. “Let me check.” He pulled out his phone and hit the screen a few times. Only his public dealings with Greg were on his phone. “We had lunch on the fifteenth. But I talked to him on the phone, oh, what day was it? It was during the fires. I was staying at a hotel since we’d been evacuated, and he called to see how my house was.”
“How well did you know him? Did he have any enemies, anyone who might want to harm him?”
“We’ve done several projects together, like I said. We’re friends, we’d do lunch, dinner, stuff like that. If I had my choice, I’d pick Greg to GC all my projects. But so would a lot of guys. Greg keeps busy. I can’t imagine him having a problem with a developer. He’s good at what he does. Maybe a sub might have a problem with him, because Greg could push pretty hard.” Tony smiled. “That’s why developers like him. I’m sure his secretary would have a list of the guys he’s worked with.”
“What’s GC and a sub?” Collins asked.
“Oh. GC is general contractor, the guy on-site in charge of the project. He hires all the subs or subcontractors, the different trades needed to do a job.”
Detective Taylor made notes. “Tell me about your project in the Foothill Corridor.”
He’d expected this. “Not much to tell. We’re in the process of putting together proposals for some parties interested in the area if it gets selected as the route of the future toll road.”
“Are you grading without a permit?”
This would take a bit of finesse. He chuckled. “You caught me. I don’t know how familiar you are with the building process. The city can take a really long time approving grading plans. And in my business, time is money. If an investor can’t get a project done within a certain time frame, he’s going to move on to something else. I can’t have the city costing me money because their workers take every other Friday off. So we get a little grading in ahead of time. No big deal. If the city fines us, we pay it. They’re happy, my investor’s happy, and I’m happy.”
The other one, Collins, leaned forward. “So you’re comfortable operating outside the law.”
“I don’t think of it that way. I don’t know any developer who does. It’s simply how a businessman has to deal with the bureaucracy of government. I’m sure you guys have your share of paperwork and politics that you don’t like. Besides, the city seems to forget that it’s my land, and I have a constitutional right to use it.”
Taylor stood. “Thank you for your time.” He handed Tony his card. “Call us if you can think of anything related to Greg Connor’s disappearance.”
Tony stood as well and walked them to the office door. “I will. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
At the door, Taylor turned. “I used to ride my bike up in the area of your project when I was a kid. Have you owned the land long?”
“Been in the family for years.”
“I remember finding some arrowheads and stuff like that up there. Does that kind of thing turn up anymore?”
Cold seeped into Tony’s bones. This guy was just fishing. “No, just a lot of garbage. We had to clean a ton of it out of there. Everybody and their brother used to dump their old couches and stuff out there. What a mess. I wish we’d found something as interesting as arrowheads.”
The detective nodded and left. Tony closed the door behind them. There was something behind that detective’s question. Sounded like Miss Sarah Brockman had been talking to the cops. Well, she was about to get another message tonight. Maybe it would teach her to keep her nose out of other people’s business.
“When are you going to talk to him?” Heather whispered to Sarah at the back of the choir practice room, waiting for Ryan to arrive and start rehearsal.
Sarah leaned her head against the wall. “I don’t know. But soon.” She had to end this torture in at least one area of her life.
Ryan strode into the choir practice room, Christian recording artist Ethan Tate next to him. Ethan was touring in the area, doing a gig at the Honda Center arena, and had stopped in to sing with them this weekend as part of the patriotic concert they did each year the weekend before the Fourth. Everyone was looking forward to it.
“Running late as usual,” Heather whispered to Sarah as they hurried to their sections.
As everyone turned around and noticed who walked in, the room started buzzing. Ryan and Ethan headed to the front of the room. Ryan motioned for everyone to quiet down. “Hey, everyone. Guess you know who this is.”
A round of applause and hollering began. Ethan waved and smiled then stuck his hands in his pockets and looked to Ryan.
“We’re doing two of his songs, and we’ve got a lot of work to do with all the extra songs we’re doing this weekend, so let’s get to it. Sarah, Heather, come on up.” He turned to Ethan. “These two and I will sing backup for you.”
“Great.” He shook hands with them. “Hi, Heather. Hi, Sarah. Thanks for singing with me.”
“It’s going to be fun.” Heather unclipped her mic from the stand.
“Our pleasure.” Sarah smiled and grabbed her mic. Ethan seemed like a nice guy. She willed the nerves away. She did not want to mess this up.
After everyone had mics, Ryan signaled to the sound guy to start the track. They would rehearse with the band later tonight after they’d all done it separately.
The first time through the song went pretty well. Sarah shot Heather a nervous smile. At least they hadn’t screwed up.
Ryan pulled Lou out of the choir to direct them so Ryan wouldn’t have to juggle that with singing his own part. Then someone raised a hand with a question.
Ethan moved next to Sarah. “Great job. I hope I can keep up. I see you’ve got the home-court advantage here.”
She laughed. She always admired people who knew how to put others at ease. “We’ve been looking forward to singing with you ever since Ryan announced it.”
Ryan turned back to them. “Next song.”
Maybe Ethan’s kind words jinxed it because the whole thing fell apart. The choir’s timing was off, and the altos didn’t know their part even though last week they’d nailed it.
Ryan ran his hand through his hair and gave Ethan a small smile. “Let’s try it again.”
It wasn’t much better. But Ethan didn’t seem too concerned. “What’s good to eat around here? Any favorite hole-in-the-wall places?”
She opened her mouth to respond when Ryan shot her a look with narrowed eyes and a furrowed brow.
“I’ll get back to you. Ryan, why don’t I go help the altos?”
“Thanks.” He glanced at his watch. She knew what he was thinking. They needed to be up in the worship center soon to rehearse with the band. And they weren’t ready.
She moved in front of the alto section and started them on their part a cappella. They got it.
Ryan cued the music, and they started again. It was still rough, but the altos came in stronger this time. Still not good enough for the weekend. He stepped back toward Ethan. “Sorry about this, man. They had it last week.”
“I’m not worried. Sarah’s doing a great job with them. They follow her lead real well.”
Her cheeks heated.
Ryan nodded and moved back to the front.
They ran through the song one last time. It was better, but she knew it still was not where Ryan wanted it.
“Okay, everyone. Head up to the worship center.” He started to join Sarah, but Lou grabbed his arm. Still, he kept his gaze on her.
She looked away. Tonight would not be a good night to end things with him. Already things were not going his way. He was being embarrassed in front of someone he wanted to impress.
Ethan stepped up next to her and grabbed the door. “Lead the way. Especially since I have no idea where we’re going.”
She laughed. It was almost as if Ethan knew she’d had a bad day and he was trying to make her feel better. He didn’t, of course, but it was still helping.
Forty-five minutes later in the worship center, rehearsal was over. It had finally come together at the end. Sarah walked over to where Heather sat on the risers and joined her. Choir and band members were talking in small groups, some were filing out. Ethan and Ryan were talking. Both men glanced their way.
“I think they’re talking about us.” Heather nudged Sarah. “Ryan doesn’t look happy.”
“We sang great. Ethan said so.”
“Yeah, I think that’s the part Ryan doesn’t like. Ethan. Talking to you.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Whatever. He was just being nice.”
“All right, well I’m in the mood for something sweet.” Heather hoisted her purse on her shoulder. “Let’s grab some coffee and dessert.”
Ethan clapped Ryan on the shoulder and hopped off the stage. A couple of people stopped, wanting to talk to Ethan.
Ryan headed over to Sarah and Heather as they stood.
“Ryan can walk us out.” Maybe that would mollify him. She smiled at him.
“Maybe Ethan can.” Ryan shoved his hands in his pockets.
Sarah took a step, closing the space between them. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She kept her tone even, but his remark was uncalled for.
“Just that your phone calls were pretty short today with me, but you’re all smiles with Ethan tonight. You two seemed to hit it off well.”
“Today was rough. I had to replace everything in my house from the vandalism. It was a little stressful.”
Ryan frowned. “But you got through it okay, right? And now you have a fresh start.”
“Yes.” She suppressed a sigh; he didn’t get it.
Heather moved over to the edge of the stage and started talking to someone else, obviously not wanting to be part of this—what? It wasn’t a fight, but it confirmed Sarah’s feeling that she needed to end this. Any other night and she’d use the frustration she was feeling to bolster her courage and say so. Instead, she shook her head. “As for Ethan, I was being nice. He’s a nice guy, and I like his music. Big deal.”
“Well, he certainly seems to like you. Asked about you, in fact. Until I told him you were my girlfriend. Or did I get that wrong?”
