Covert Exposure, a Nick Spinelli Mystery

by Valerie J. Clarizio

  As he took a swig of his beer, he pondered the events of the past week. His mind drifted to the Santa and elf murder case. No breaks yet. His mind wandered to thoughts of Shannon and he drew another swig of beer. No breaks there either. She’d been avoiding him since their date the other night. He’d left her three messages in the past day and a half, all unreturned. Damn it. Spinelli lifted his beer bottle to his lips again. Why can’t I break through her force field? What is it? Burned? Lesbian? No, can’t be, I know she wants me, I can see it in her eyes and I can feel it when I touch her. And that kiss the other night, that mind-boggling kiss. There’s no way she faked that kind of passion. Damn it.

  Spinelli drained the bottle and then rested his head against the back of the chair and closed his eyes. He fantasized about Shannon in her little red velvet Santa helper dress. In his daydream, he kissed her in a deep possessive manner, his tongue dancing with hers. Her sweet flavor matched that of her sweet scent. He pulled his lips from hers and skimmed them over her chin, down her neck, and onto her chest. His intensified breathing caused the furry white trim of her dress to flutter about on the small portion of her exposed breasts. He continued to shower her neck and chest with kisses. He used his fingers to trace along the edge of the soft white trim of her dress. He began lowering his hand with every intention of plunging it between her dress and skin to cup her breast but before he was able to do so a loud rapid knock on his front door interrupted his fantasy.

  Under protest, Spinelli shook the fantasy from his head and glanced at his watch, 10:00 p.m. “Who in the hell is knocking on my door this late,” he said out loud.

  He lifted himself from his chair, walked over to the front door, and opened it. The second he opened the door Shannon sprang through the doorway as quick as a jack-in-the-box. She threw her arms around his waist, pulled herself tightly to his body, and sobbed into his chest.

  Instinctively Spinelli wrapped his arms around her and visually scanned the immediate neighborhood. Seeing no unusual activity, he pushed the door shut and locked it.

  With one arm wrapped tightly around her waist, Spinelli lifted his other arm and softly rubbed her back. He rested his chin lightly against the side of her head, her soft hair brushing against his cheek. He breathed in her scent. She always wore the same sexy scent. It reminded him of a fresh spring morning.

  Shannon continued to cry and breathe erratically.

  He brushed his lips lightly on the top of her head. “Shh, Sweetheart, it’s okay.”

  God how he wanted her to stop crying. He couldn’t take her being upset. He still didn’t know what upset her but whatever the reason he felt a compelling need to fix it.

  Her sobs began to subside and her breathing became more controlled.

  Spinelli loosened his hold and inched back a bit. He looked down at her. She lifted her head and looked up at him with her big emerald green eyes. He could see the fear in them. He cupped her head in his hands and ran his thumbs across her cheeks to swipe the moisture away.

  “Do you want to tell me what happened, Sweetheart?”

  * * * *

  Shannon nodded and inhaled deeply, “I parked my car on the second floor of the parking ramp at the mall. I needed to pick up the donated toys from the drop box by the Santa display, for the church. Anyhow, I got out of my car and headed toward the elevator. The elevator doors opened so I looked in and saw one of the guys that work at the Greek restaurant, you know, one of the guys always standing by the entryway to the restaurant at closing time.”

  Shannon paused. She chewed on her lips for a moment. Tears flooded her eyes. Spinelli reached forward and took her hands in his. “What happened, Sweetheart? What was he doing?”

  Shannon released her lips. “He had...” Her voice cracked and she paused again. She closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts. She opened her eyes to find Spinelli’s gaze still fixed on her. His warm caring eyes eased her and she continued, “He had a body slung over his shoulder and he threw it out of the elevator. It startled me. I jumped back and dropped my keys on the cement floor. The noise drew his attention and he looked at me. Judging from the look on his face, he seemed surprised to see me but then the look turned stone cold. I felt frozen. I couldn’t move. He lunged toward me but the elevator doors shut him inside. I glanced down at the body and realized it was Jarrod, you know, one of the elves. He was moaning. I didn’t know what to do. I was afraid the guy in the elevator was going to come back so I got back into my car and took off. When I got out of the parking ramp I called 911 for Jarrod and then I drove here.”

  * * * *

  Spinelli ran to his front window and peeked through the blinds. He turned back toward Shannon. “Did you notice if anyone followed you here?”

  Shannon used the back of her hand to swipe the tears from her cheek. “I don’t think so. It all happened so fast. I didn’t know what to do.” She burst into tears again.

  He reached for her and pulled her tightly to him. His mind raced. He wondered if Loukas the Greek’s muscleman recognized her. He feared for her safety.

  Shannon stopped crying and Spinelli separated himself from her. He motioned for her to take a seat on his couch. He punched Walker’s number on his cell phone and when he answered, Spinelli gave him an overview of the events of Shannon’s evening.

  Spinelli snapped his phone shut and took a seat next to Shannon on the couch. He reached over, took her small trembling hands into his, and looked into her frightened eyes. “Are you okay? Can I get you anything?”

  “I’m fine. I’m just worried about Jarrod.”

  “Walker’s going to check on Jarrod. But for now, I need you to tell me every detail again. What exactly did you see and hear and more importantly do you think the guy in the elevator knows who you are?”

  Shannon sniffled again and then she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  Spinelli listened as she repeated the story reiterating and adding every detail she could remember.

  “Do you think he recognized you?” Spinelli asked again.

  Shannon blinked away the tears in her eyes. “I don’t know. It all happened so fast.”

  “Are you positive it was one of Loukas’ guys in the elevator?”

  Shannon hesitated and thought for a moment. “I’m pretty sure it was but it was dark.”

  “Would you recognize him if you saw him again?”

  “I think so.”

  Spinelli nodded. He wished she wasn’t quite so indecisive about whether or not the man in the elevator was one of Loukas’ men.

  Just as Shannon finished her rendition Spinelli’s cell phone rang. Walker reported that he located Jarrod, alive, at County Hospital, but he didn’t have any other details yet.

  Spinelli rose from the couch pulling Shannon up with him. “I need to go to the hospital and talk with Jarrod, see if he can tell me what happened and why.”

  Shannon watched him as he flung his black leather jacket over his shoulders. “Oh...I guess I’ll go home then. Please let me know how Jarrod is doing when you find out.”

  Spinelli zipped his jacket and narrowed the gap between them. He couldn’t believe what she just said. She couldn’t possibly be that naive?

  She obviously didn’t comprehend the degree of danger surrounding her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and caught her gaze. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be alone right now. If Loukas the Greek’s sidekick recognized you...you know what, until I figure out what’s going on here I think maybe it would be a good idea if you just hung with me. Okay?”

  Shannon blew out a sigh and nodded. Spinelli grabbed her hand and led her through the house to the door to the garage. He helped her into the truck, then hurried around to the driver’s side.

  Spinelli drove to the hospital and listened to Shannon as she repeated the details of the incident over and over. When they got to the hospital, she repeated her story to both Walker and Marsh as they waited for word from the ER doctor about Jarrod.

  Finally, the
short portly ER doctor came into the small waiting room to give an update on Jarrod’s status. He looked at Walker and Marsh. “The young man’s been roughed up pretty good.” Then the doctor looked at Spinelli. “He’s got a few cracked ribs, a gash on his forehead which required nine stitches, and a great deal of bruising on his face and abdomen.” The doctor held up his pudgy hand for everyone to see and he pointed at a couple of areas on the base of his hand as he spoke. “The boy also has several broken bones in his left hand. Here, here and right here.” The doctor lowered his hand and glanced in the direction of Jarrod’s room.

  “Can we talk to him now?” Spinelli asked the ER doctor.

  The doctor held up his hand and raised two fingers. “Yes. You can talk to him. Two minutes, that’s it. The boy needs his rest.”

  They entered Jarrod’s room and Spinelli went to one side of the bed, and Marsh and Walker lined up on the other side. Shannon stood just inside the doorway watching from a distance.

  Spinelli leaned slightly over Jarrod’s bed. “Jarrod, can you hear me?”

  Jarrod’s eyes popped open, the swollen eye not quite as open as the other eye. He shifted his eyes around taking in the sight of the three men staring down at him. When his eyes made the full circle and returned to Spinelli he took a double-take and pulled his eyebrows together. “Santa.”

  “Well, actually, Detective Spinelli.”

  “That explains a few things,” Jarrod muttered as he winced.

  “What do you mean?” Spinelli asked thinking the response must pertain to something to do with Jarrod’s assault.

  “You suck as Santa,” Jarrod flippantly replied.

  Walker and Marsh chuckled. Spinelli cut them a sharp look. He didn’t like being poked fun at and he didn’t like not being good at something. He’d grown accustomed to being good at whatever he did.

  Spinelli loosened his hard-eyed scowl. “Can we just stick to the issue at hand here?”

  Spinelli turned his attention back to Jarrod who drifted in and out of sleep as they questioned him. Jarrod offered nothing. He claimed he couldn’t remember anything between the time he left the locker room and the time he woke up in the hospital.

  A short time later, a nurse came into Jarrod’s room and shooed them out. As they walked down the hall and toward the parking lot Shannon listened attentively as the detectives talked about their next step and the fact that Jarrod just lied to them. They knew Jarrod held his tongue solely out of fear.

  A plain-clothes officer was posted outside Jarrod’s room for protection. Spinelli, Walker, and Marsh decided not to pick up Loukas the Greek’s muscleman just yet. They decided to tail him instead, along with Tyler Simmons, the other elf.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Spinelli turned out of the hospital parking lot and headed in the direction of Shannon’s apartment. She sat quietly in the passenger seat. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her tilt her head to the side. A puzzled look consumed her face and she opened her mouth, “Ah, I need my car. It’s at your house.”

  Spinelli cringed inside. He hoped she wouldn’t give him any flack about staying at his place. Thoughts of Loukas the Greek’s muscleman paying her a visit scared the hell out of him. For her own safety, he didn’t want her to stay at her apartment.

  He cleared his throat. “I thought we agreed that you’d just hang with me for a while so I thought we’d stop by your place so you could get some things and then we’d go back to my place.”

  Spinelli paused, took a half breath, and continued talking about the incident at the mall so that Shannon could not get a protesting word in edgewise. He saw her open her mouth a couple of times but he just kept talking and before he knew it, he’d parked his truck in her apartment complex’s parking lot.

  “Well, we’re here,” Spinelli said as he sprang out of the truck and hurried to the passenger side of the vehicle to open the door for her.

  Shannon slid out of the truck and slung her handbag over her shoulder. Spinelli walked beside her as she headed toward the front door of her apartment building. He combed the area looking for anything unusual. The apartment complex appeared dark and quiet.

  Shannon punched the passcode into the numeric keypad, the door buzzed and Spinelli pushed it open. He held the door open for her to pass through then he followed her down the long narrow hallway. She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Do you really think this is necessary?”

  Spinelli cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

  “That I can’t stay here, that I need to stay at your place.”

  Spinelli opened his mouth, ready to go into detail about his concern for her well-being but before any sound could escape Mrs. Finch’s apartment door opened and she popped her head into the hallway. “Is that you, dear?”

  “Yes. Wow, you’re up kind of late tonight.”

  Mrs. Finch let out a frail chuckle. “It is kind of late but Sister and I got caught up in the Golden Girls marathon on TV. That Estelle Getty, she’s a firecracker that one, I just love to listen to her.”

  Spinelli couldn’t help but smile and tease Mrs. Finch. “Estelle kind of reminds me of you. I think you’re a little firecracker yourself.”

  His assessment brought a wide smile to Mrs. Finch’s face. She stepped toward him and reached up with her cold frail boney hand and placed it on his cheek and gave it a little pat. “Oh, you’re a charmer.”

  Mrs. Finch lowered her hand, looked in Shannon’s direction, and flashed a little wink. “I think he’s a keeper, dear, much more personable than the caller that came by for you earlier tonight.”

  A blanket of jealousy fell over Spinelli. “She had a caller, did she? Is this someone I need to worry about Mrs. Finch?”

  Before the words even finished coming out of his mouth, he could feel Shannon’s glare on him.

  Mrs. Finch leaned toward Spinelli and whispered, “I wouldn’t worry about it. This fella didn’t seem very nice. Shannon here, she likes the nice ones.” Mrs. Finch let out a chuckle and continued in her loud whisper. “You smell better too.”

  Spinelli caught Shannon’s eye roll and he could tell she was nearly bursting at the seams to find out who her visitor was.

  “Mrs. Finch, what time was my visitor here, and did he mention his name or what he wanted?”

  “He came by at about 11:00. I heard someone in the hallway so I opened the door thinking it would be you and as soon as I caught a whiff of him, I knew it wasn’t you. I asked if I could help him and he said you were expecting him. I told him you weren’t home yet and he said he would wait around for a bit. He wasn’t much of a talker.”

  Spinelli immediately thought the worst. Loukas the Greek’s muscleman already came by looking for her.

  “Mrs. Finch, did your sister get a look at Shannon’s visitor?” Spinelli asked hoping to get a good description.

  Mrs. Finch shook her head. “No, she didn’t come to the door at all. Like I said he wasn’t much of a talker so the whole conversation didn’t take but a minute.”

  A rush of disappointment rippled through Spinelli. “Are there any attributes you can describe about him for me?’

  Mrs. Finch perched her hands on her narrow hips. “Well, he’s got a big shadow, not only tall but wide. And he’s got a deep monotone voice and he breathes kind of heavy. He smelled like fresh baked bread and garlic. He made me hungry.”

  Spinelli thanked Mrs. Finch for her time, wished her a good night, and followed Shannon into her apartment.

  Shannon hung her handbag on the coat tree next to the door. She turned and looked up at Spinelli. “It was him, wasn’t it?”

  He knew she knew but apparently, she needed to hear him say out loud, “Yeah, pretty sure.”

  Shannon nodded. “I’ll get my things.” And she spun on her heel and headed down the short hallway toward her bedroom.

  Spinelli snooped about Shannon’s apartment as he waited for her. He eyed her basic beige furniture and immediately concluded that it suited her conservative
nature. He liked her lightly decorated living room walls, a picture hung here or there but none of that cluttered looking home decorators stuff covered her walls. A wood shelving unit stood in the corner of the living room. Two of the shelves were lined with romance novels and the other two shelves housed pictures of people. The largest picture on the shelf looked like a family photo. It consisted of a woman who looked a lot like Shannon but a bit older and a lawyer-looking gentleman a bit older than the woman in the photo. Three little red-headed boys with freckles stood in front of the couple.

  “That’s my sister, Claire and her family, her husband John and their boys, Cody, Zack, and Brady. They live in Boston now. I don’t get to see them much since they moved away,” Shannon said as she lifted the photo from the shelf and pulled it closer to her sad eyes.

  Spinelli grabbed the duffel bag from her hand. “Got everything?” She flashed her eyes around her living room and then nodded.

  Silence filled the air during the ride back to Spinelli’s house. He could easily see the worry lines take over Shannon’s milky white face. His heart felt heavy. What he would give to take her worry away.

  Shannon followed Spinelli into his house, through the kitchen, and into the small hallway which opened the way to two bedrooms, a small office, and a bathroom. He stopped in the middle of the hallway and pointed to his right. “That’s my bedroom at the end of the hall and then there’s my office.”

  He resumed walking in the opposite direction of his bedroom. He opened another door. “Here’s the bathroom,” he said as he continued walking, “and here’s the spare bedroom.”

  He pushed his way through the doorway and set her duffel bag on the bed. He looked around the room and then fixed his gaze on her. “Think you’ll be okay in here?” he asked, hoping she’d say no and ask to share his room.

  Shannon nodded. She wasn’t much for talking the past several hours.

  Spinelli glanced down at his watch. “Wow, it's 2:00 a.m. already.

  You must be exhausted.” She nodded again.