All the Dirty Secrets, page 19
Charity work and volunteering hadn’t made a life she loved or friends she’d cherished since she lost Margaret to cancer several years ago. Loneliness slammed into her. She and Margaret had been friends from childhood, her confidant, her rock.
Everyone she’d met wanted a piece of her, or at least her money. Edy roamed from room to room before settling in the library with a book, but her mind grasped nothing she’d read and her eyes started to droop.
A loud, crashing metallic sound filled the halls. She woke with a start, her heart racing. Cripes, she’d fallen asleep. It took her a second to clear her foggy mind and get her bearings. She overreached for the lamp switch and almost knocked it off the table, but caught it before it crashed to the floor. She felt around for the drawer in the table and grabbed for the flashlight. She located her cell phone and pressed in the lieutenant’s number but held off hitting the send button. Instead, she made her way to the kitchen window to survey the area out back. She’d look ridiculous if it had been a raccoon instead of a burglar.
All the garbage cans had been upended, their contents spread around the backyard. Edy went to the door, her finger on the lock as movement caught her eye. She switched off the flashlight and listened. She squinted out into the darkness. Nothing moved. Why hadn’t the light sensor switched on?
She thumbed the send button.
“Lieutenant Carrington.”
“Lieutenant, it’s Edy Dunstan. I don’t want to appear skittish but someone just turned over all the garbage cans and it’s not animals, I’m sure of it,” she whispered into the phone.
“I’m at the station. I can be there in less than ten minutes. Don’t answer your door until I get there.”
Edy left the lights off as she waited in the dark living room by the window. A streetlight reflected off an inky-colored, slow-moving vehicle as it drove down the street with its lights off. Red brake lights lit up the end of the street for a second before it disappeared.
Edy dialed her security team to find out why they hadn’t heard the commotion. She started right in before the person on duty could say a word. “Are you on the street in a dark car?”
“Mrs. Dunstan, we’re a street over. I heard the noise, we’re investigating. There’s been no action on your block.”
“No action? This afternoon, there was a black car I didn’t recognize on the other side of the street directly across from my house. Now another dark car drove down the street with their lights off. And you’re telling me your team observed nothing either time? What good are you?”
“There has been no report file for such,” the man said stiffly. “Their job is to patrol your block, not sit in one spot all night. The black car might’ve entered while the team was on their rounds.”
“Excuses. You have Jimmy Nelson call me right away, and I mean within two minutes.”
Headlights caught her eye. “I have to go, the police are here. I called them.”
She hung up and waited before heading to the door to make sure it was Carrington and another man.
She answered the door when he knocked. “Lieutenant, come in.”
“This is Sergeant Romanelli. If I’m ever not available, call him and he’ll come right away.”
“Sergeant, Lieutenant, can I get either one of you a drink?”
“No, thank you, Mrs. Dunstan, just tell us what happened,” Jake said.
She relayed the facts and stuck in the tidbit about running into Cedric and his mistress at the movies. She wasn’t taking any chances, in case the bastard had started to play games.
“I can’t believe security didn’t pick up on anything.” She paced the living room. “I have the guard putting in a call to Jimmy Nelson to explain it. A black car in the middle of the day parked on the road should be a flag. I also thought I saw one in West Hartford when I was lunching there, but I’m not sure.”
“Let’s see what Jimmy has to say when he calls you back,” Jake said. “In the meantime, we’ll look out back, and check all the windows and doors before we leave. Where’s Benita?”
“She spends Sundays at her sister’s.”
“She won’t be home until tomorrow? Is that her routine?” Louie asked.
“Yes, she’s had Sundays off for as long as she’s worked for me.”
* * * *
Jake and Louie went outside and walked the back perimeter. The garbage cans had been knocked down. They’d been upended, not by animals but a human. All the contents were spread over the backyard.
“Petty divorce bullshit?” Louie asked, picking up the garbage and placing it back in the cans.
“Might be, might not,” Jake said, checking the back gate. It swung open as he touched it. “The lock’s broken. I’m going back in to talk to her. Leave the trash, Louie.”
“I can’t. The place is too nice, and she’ll get a bunch of critters if it’s left as is,” Louie said.
Louie, the Good Samaritan. Jake helped him clean up the garbage before going in to question Edy some more. Sometimes Louie put him to shame.
Inside, he settled into the chair to Edy’s left, Louie took the other to her right. “Mrs. Dunstan, it was a person you heard. I’m glad you didn’t go out. Now about the black car you saw today, you didn’t recognize it or the driver?”
“I noticed it in passing before I went out, and figured they were visiting someone on the street.”
“Next time, snap a picture with your cell and zoom in on the license plate if possible. Can your phone record the date and time on a picture?” Jake said.
“You’re scaring me, Lieutenant. You don’t think kids did this?”
“No, I don’t. If you get a feeling you’re being followed or watched, call it in. After receiving the blackmail letter, you don’t want to take chances.” Jake stood. Louie followed.
“I’ll see you out,” Edy said, rising also.
“There’s one more thing. Do you always keep the gate locked out back?” Jake asked.
“Yes.”
“Is there anyone you can call to spend the night with you?” Louie asked.
“No, Sergeant, there isn’t. I might call my father and go over there.”
“Why don’t you pack a bag and give him a call. We’ll follow you over there,” Jake said.
She stared first at Louie then Jake, picked up her cell phone and pressed in a number as she climbed the stairs.
“Overkill?” Louie asked.
“No, someone is trying hard to scare her, or give her a warning. It could be the blackmailer trying to get their money faster, or the ex, but let’s be prudent either way.”
* * * *
Edy roamed her father’s living room for a couple of hours after she’d been spooked. “Will you please sit down? Pacing never solved anything,” Ed Rockford said. “Jimmy Nelson will be here shortly, and we’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“Why didn’t his men see anything?”
“I’m going to find out,” Ed said.
As if on cue, the front doorbell chimed. Mildred, the Dunstans’ maid, answered it and escorted a contrite Jimmy Nelson into the room.
“Mr. Rockford, Mrs. Dunstan, I checked the neighborhood myself, and questioned your neighbors. No one had a visitor who drove a black car. And they thought it was animals knocking over the trash cans. It’s the reason no one bothered to come out and help,” Jimmy said as he waited for an invitation to sit.
“How could your men not see the car?” Edy asked before her father had a chance.
“I’m looking into the whereabouts of the two who were on duty at the time. I’ll get to the bottom of it,” Jimmy said.
“Sit,” Rockford barked. “It’s not acceptable. We’re talking about my daughter’s safety. I want whoever was on duty today and tonight fired. I’m not risking Edy’s life.”
“I understand. I’ll reassign them, but they’ve been with me for a long time and are good people.”
“Well I sure haven’t witnessed that. Your men never see a thing. Where are they when my daughter needs them?” Ed Rockford went to the bar. From a crystal decanter he filled a tall glass with ice and poured scotch into it.
“I have two men assigned to patrol the neighborhood. Do you want me to do something different?” Nelson asked, his jaw tight.
“Yes, I want one in the house with her…”
“Dad, I’m not having anyone live with me. I want my privacy. They should be able to handle it from the outside,” Edy said.
“Are you staying here tonight, Mrs. Dunstan?”
“I was, but I’ve decided to go home. No one is going to force me from my home.”
“Edy, darling, it’s not smart to leave now, it’s after eight. Let Nelson set up his new team first, and then tomorrow you can go home. Please stay,” Ed said.
Whoever had done this had to be laughing, forcing her from her home. All the nerves in her body grated against each other. “Jimmy, your team is still watching the house, correct?” she asked.
“Yes. Why?”
“I’m wondering if forcing me out was a ploy to break in and take what they wanted, which leads me back to Cedric.”
“I’ll inform the team. Can I put someone on the inside tonight?”
“Not unless I’m there,” Edy said.
“You’re not being reasonable, Edy,” Rockford said.
She lifted a blonde eyebrow at her father. He, of all people? Mr. I-don’t-negotiate, it’s-my-way-or-no-way should understand. Her lips slanted down into a pout, something she’d done to annoy him since childhood. There was nothing he hated more than when she wrapped herself in misery. Named for him, though she’d never liked her name, she secretly thanked him for all the life lessons he’d taught her. He’d have to trust her judgment. Cedric had disrupted her life enough.
“Dad, I’m going back. Do you want Cedric to drive me from my home?”
“No, I can stay the night,” he conceded.
“If you’d like. I’d enjoy having you,” Edy said.
Her bags were parked by the door. She hadn’t let Mildred, her father’s housekeeper, bring them upstairs. She exhaled and walked to her luggage. Her short-lived freedom hadn’t had time to settle in. Her father placed his drink on the bar before he rang for Mildred.
Mildred glided into the room as if a ghost. In the best of times it unnerved Edy, but tonight it spooked her.
“Please pack an overnight bag for me,” he said.
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m leaving now. I’ll fix up the guest room before you get there,” Edy said as she opened the front door.
“I’ll carry out your bags, Mrs. Dunstan,” Jimmy Nelson said. “And I’ll follow you home.”
“Thanks. How long will I have to put up with this nonsense?”
No one had an answer for her. She’d be a prisoner in her own home. The lieutenant or Nelson better find the blackmailer fast or she’d go stark raving nuts.
My sanity’s on a short tether as it is.
* * * *
Somehow, his couple of hours turned into many. He’d have to make it up to Mia. Jake put his personal life aside and started the murder book on Sal Gallucci. He filled in all the information they had. A blank page stared back at him. He organized the facts on the case and the cause of death as he understood them. He compared Callie’s case to Gallucci’s for similarities and differences pertaining to both.
Two things bothered him. First, the letter about Eva which caused busywork, then Gallucci’s death. It seemed like overkill. If Sal hadn’t killed Callie why not leave him alive to take the blame? As far as he could see Sal, Callie, Edy, and Darcy—they all had only one thing in common—Melinda. Damn, he might as well add himself to the list. No matter how he lined it up, he kept circling back to Melinda as the killer. How had she lifted Gallucci into the car? Gallucci had been killed elsewhere. Had it been his blood in Melinda’s kitchen? Was there another person backing up Melinda, and if yes, then who? He’d found no other person with close ties to her except her mother. And Jake didn’t consider Mrs. Blair a suspect.
Round and round he went, but no matter how he looked at it, the page remained blank. Jake picked up Callie’s crime scene photos and placed them beside Gallucci’s. The lab hadn’t sent over their results. With a skeleton crew on Sundays, the lab probably hadn’t had time to process the crime scene. Jake drummed his fingers on his desk. Ready to put the pictures back in their case folders, something in Gallucci’s death pictures caught his eye. He took a magnifying glass from his middle desk drawer. A small metallic object, partially hidden by Gallucci’s right foot, caught his eye. What was it? He hit the intercom.
“Louie, come in here,” Jake said.
“What?” Louie rushed into his office.
“Look at the object in the lower right-hand section of this photo. Can you make out what it is?”
“No, give me the glass.”
Louie studied it as Jake looked over his shoulder. “First thing tomorrow, I’ll check in with Willie Phelps and find out what items he recovered from Gallucci’s car. Can you make anything out?”
“It’s a chain of some kind, but I’m not sure,” Louie said.
Interesting. It couldn’t be, could it? He’d have to wait until tomorrow.
Jake checked his watch. “We’ve done all we can today, let’s go home. It’s after seven.” He dropped the pictures in the proper files, his magnifier into his middle drawer, and the murder book in his bottom right-hand one. He slid some documents into his briefcase, then shut down his computer, his mind, and his body for today.
In the past, he would have stayed well into the night, but now he had to consider Mia, and the life they were making together.
It’s not all about the job anymore.
Chapter 21
Edy took off without waiting for Jimmy Nelson to get into his car. The drive was her last fling with freedom for a while. God, she needed the time to think. She hit the dark stretch of road she used as a shortcut from her father’s to her house. Tonight, it gave her the willies. She checked her rearview mirror. No lights. What was taking Jimmy so long to catch up? Did he take a different route? This was the quickest way to her house. Hadn’t he known that?
Bright lights flooded her rearview mirror, blinding her. She adjusted the mirror, switching it to the nighttime setting to cut down on the glare. Her mind and eyes on the mirror, she hadn’t seen the car pull out of the side street until it was too late. Edy swerved to avoid it, but the car never slowed down and sideswiped her. Her neck snapped back, her breath whooshed out of her as the airbag exploded and slammed into her chest. Everything happened in slow motion. Something smashed in her window, then someone opened her door. Hands tugged on her.
“I didn’t see you, I’m so sorry…What the…” Something stung her arm—a needle?
Dizzy, her mind cloudy, she shut her eyes to clear her vision, then opened them. Everything blurred around the edges. She couldn’t make out the person’s features, her stomach heaved in her throat, and her world spun away from her. She tried to lean out the door as her lunch exploded from her mouth.
“Shit, you bitch, you’ll pay for that,” a woman said.
The voice sounded far away, but familiar. Edy couldn’t place it and continued to throw up. The dry heaves came next. After a few minutes it slowed and she tried to clear her head. Edy swallowed the next burst when a cloth bag dropped over her head. She reached out, clawing at anything in front of her and hit her mark. At least she’d gotten a piece of them.
“The bitch scratched me. I’m telling you, I’m gonna kill her myself.”
She screamed at the top of her lungs while hands jerked her from the car.
Calm down, remember everything, it’s important, Edy. They tossed her into a car. A waft of perfume hit her. Edy inhaled to identify the brand. Cheap, it was cheap perfume or cologne. Her kidnappers pushed her down to the floor behind the front seats. Roses, musk, and wood filled her nostrils, mixed in with the scent of new car while the hump in the floor wedged into her back.
Who had gotten a new car recently? Damn it, Edy, think, she chided, her thoughts tumbling one after another. Short, uneven breaths had her fighting for air under the hood. A rank smell caused her to gag. She realized it was the stench of her own fear. A woman, it was a woman who spoke, but who else was with her? Cedric? The blackmailer? Who? Oh, God, please get me out of this. And where the hell is Jimmy Nelson? Is he part of this?
She gathered her strength and fought to keep the panic at bay and tried to stay conscious. It was hard to think with her head pounding like a bass drum.
The car pulled out, tires squealed. Edy struggled, turning every which way. She felt every bump and pothole the car hit. It tossed her up against the driver’s seat, then the back seat. A deep soul digging eeriness encompassed her, pricking every nerve in her body, while her abductors remained silent. With each mile her fear increased until she couldn’t grasp a single molecule of air. Why? Did she know at least one of them? The moving car made it hard for her to keep track of time. No sounds of passing traffic, ambulances screeching or dogs barking reached her in the darkness.
Where the hell is Jimmy? Does he think I pulled a hissy fit? Why didn’t I stay at my father’s?
Tears dripped from her eyes, mucus from her nose. Each musty breath jabbed her chest. She sank into the floor of the car, making herself as small as possible.
It can’t be Cedric. He’d never treat me this way. Who then? Come on, Edy, think. She tried to wipe her eyes, realized her hands were tied. She must’ve passed out. She’d no recollection of being tied up. She inched over the hump in the middle of the car, her back aching as she worked her way across the floor. Even with her hands tied, Edy hoped she’d have enough strength to get the jump on her abductors if she got the chance.
