by Cindy Bell
As she was rummaging in her purse, she didn't notice someone walking behind her. Mary didn't either. It wasn't until they were both suddenly shoved from behind that either of them realized they were being followed.
“Hey!” Suzie shouted as she stumbled around the side of the restaurant. Mary nearly lost her balance and grabbed onto the exterior wall of the restaurant to steady herself. Suzie turned around and looked up to see Dominic standing just behind them, blocking their way to the front of the restaurant. He had them isolated behind the restaurant, and no one was going to notice them being there. Of course no one knew that they had gone to lunch in Parish either, so no one would be looking for them. He looked more dangerous than ever. His eyes were wild as they jumped back and forth between Suzie and Mary.
“I needed to speak with you alone,” he explained. “I'm sorry if I frightened you.”
Suzie studied him skeptically. She was fairly certain that he was just trying to trick them.
“Well, we're alone,” Suzie said and straightened her shoulders.
“It's about Daria,” he said softly.
“Okay,” Mary nodded. “We're listening.”
“The walls have ears,” he explained as he gestured towards the restaurant. “I'm not sure who I can trust.”
“We only want to help,” Suzie reminded him, though her expression remained stoic. She and Mary were in a very vulnerable position, hidden from view, with no one to hear them if they screamed.
“I think you might be the only people that can help,” Dominic admitted. His hardened visage abruptly crumbled into despair. “I thought that I had made sure she was safe. But I guess it wasn't good enough.”
“Tell us what you mean,” Suzie said. “How did you have her safe?”
“I think Baylor's taken her,” he admitted tearfully. “I thought I had her somewhere safe, but when I came back she was gone. No one knew where I was hiding her. He must have followed me,” he shook his head.
“Why were you hiding her?” Mary asked. “Did she kill Antony?”
“What?” Dominic shook his head sharply. “No, she didn't kill him. Neither of us did. I had to keep her safe from the person who did kill Antony, and wants to kill her as well.”
“I'm sorry,” Suzie said with compassion. “We'll call the police right now and we'll find her.”
“No!” Dominic shouted and abruptly grabbed Suzie hard by the shoulders. So hard that she winced in pain. “You can't call the police,” he said desperately. “If Baylor gets wind of the police being involved he will kill her right away. There's no way I can protect her if the police are involved.”
“But you have no idea where they are,” Mary pointed out with a frown. “You might not be able to find her.”
“I know Baylor,” Dominic said and glanced at the floor. “We grew up together. I know every place he would go. I just want a chance to look for her, to find her myself.”
“Baylor, your business partner?” Mary asked. “Why did he kill Antony?”
“It doesn't matter,” Dominic groaned. “All that matters is getting Daria back home safe where she belongs. That's where you two come in. I want you to tell me everything you hear from the Garber police. Understand?”
Suzie and Mary exchanged a swift look. It didn't feel as if he was giving them a choice. Suzie knew that it was one thing to withhold information, it was quite another to share police information with a known criminal. She cleared her throat.
“We'll do the best we can,” she said. “But what are you going to do if you find her?” Suzie asked. “I'm sure that Baylor isn't going to hand her over easily.”
“He won't have a choice,” Dominic said through gritted teeth. “I'm going to find Daria, I'm going to make sure that she's safe.”
“I don't think you should do it alone,” Mary warned, her sympathetic nature showing. “Suzie's cousin is a police officer in Garber, he can help you.”
“The only way you can help me is to give me any information you get and to pretend you never saw me, never spoke to me,” Dominic insisted. “Please, you have to give me a chance to get my daughter back alive. If you tell anyone that Baylor has her, she's going to die. Do you want to be responsible for that?” he demanded. “I've only told you as much as I have because I need some eyes and ears in Garber. Now I'm asking you, do you want my daughter's blood on your hands?” he asked sharply.
Suzie sighed and looked over at Mary. Mary shook her head slowly.
“Then at least let us help you,” Suzie offered. “If we work together, we can help you find her faster.”
“No,” Dominic said firmly. “I can't have you do that. Baylor is a cutthroat. He will kill anyone who gets in his way without blinking. I never should have tried to cross him.”
“Why did you?” Suzie asked in a murmur. “Why did he take Daria in the first place?”
“I don't want to talk about it,” Dominic shook his head. “I just have to find her. So please, stay out of it. Don't go around asking questions. Anything like that could alert him to an investigation going on. If he knows that anyone talked to me I know that he'll kill her in a second.”
“Dominic, I hate to say this,” Mary said softly. “But you have to consider that he may have already. He didn't hesitate to kill Antony.”
“I know,” Dominic admitted, his voice trembling. “But there's more to this than just betrayal. We have a history. I can only hope that our history will be enough to keep my daughter alive.”
Suzie grimaced. She could only hope the same. As intimidating a man as Dominic was, she could see him crumbling before her very eyes at the thought of harm coming to his daughter. She couldn't help but see him as a father rather than a criminal.
“We'll do what we can,” Suzie said softly. “Will you keep us posted on what you find?”
“Yes, I can do that,” Dominic nodded. “But you must promise not to share any of the information I give you with the police. Not only will Baylor kill Daria if he finds out, any number of my clients will become quite upset if they find out I have had any contact with the police.”
“We won't share the information,” Suzie assured him. She rattled off her phone number to him. When he looked up at her again, his expression was tight and fearful.
“My Daria, she's a good girl,” he said shakily. “I've done many things that I'm not proud of, but she has always been the bright light in my life. I need to find her. If I don't, I don't know how I will survive.”
“Just make sure that you are careful,” Mary said. “No one is going to save her if the only person who can, is hurt or killed.”
“I can handle Baylor,” he said with a frown. “The only question is how fast I can find him.”
“If I get any information on a location, I will let you know,” Suzie nodded.
Dominic smiled faintly with gratitude. But the smile soon faded. His expression shifted back into the granite slab it had been when they had first met him.
“Please ladies, don't make me regret confiding this information. I can promise you that I will do whatever it takes to protect my daughter. If you prove to be untrustworthy, then you are a risk to both my daughter and myself.”
“We're trustworthy,” Mary insisted before she turned away from him. Suzie followed right behind Mary as they walked towards the parking lot. Suzie's shoulders were tense and high as she expected that at any moment, Dominic might attack them from behind. When they reached the car unscathed and settled inside, Suzie finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“What do you think?” Mary asked as she looked over at her.
“I think we need to get out of here as fast as we can,” Suzie replied as Mary pulled out of the parking lot. It wasn't until they were back inside of Garber that Suzie even dared to speak of what had just occurred.
“I don't know if we can trust him,” Suzie said with concern.
“I can understand why,” Mary nodded.
“Why would he tell us all of that information?” Suzie pointed out. “We'
re no one but a couple of women having lunch at a restaurant asking about his daughter. Why would he trust us and tell us so much about her?”
“Maybe he wanted help and felt we were the only people he could turn to,” Mary suggested.
“I don't know,” Suzie shook her head. “I think it's possible that he was setting us up for something. If it's true that his partner has Daria, she's in grave danger. I guess it doesn't matter what Dominic's intentions are.”
Chapter 9
When Suzie and Mary returned to Dune House, Suzie was still a little troubled by not being able to reach Jason. She had considered stopping by the police station, but she didn't want to risk him asking about where she had been. She settled behind the computer at the front desk instead to do some research on both Dominic and Baylor. She was fairly experienced at digging up information on people. She wasn't convinced that Dominic was telling her the whole truth about the situation that he was facing. As she scrolled through articles, Mary prepared them something to eat.
“It just seems so odd to me that he doesn't want the police involved at all,” Mary said through the open kitchen door as she made them each a sandwich. The soup at the restaurant had not exactly been filling.
“Well, a man like Dominic doesn't exactly have the best track record with the police,” Suzie pointed out. “A lack of trust for the police has probably been handed down through his family.”
“Still,” Mary shook her head. “If it was one of my children, I wouldn't hesitate to seek out every resource I could find.”
“Maybe, since he thinks he knows who has Daria, he feels he can handle it,” Suzie frowned as she scanned an article about an apparent drive-by-shooting that Baylor was the prime suspect in. Several people were injured and two people had died. If Baylor had truly committed the crime then he seemed every bit as violent and uncaring as Dominic had described. Of course Suzie couldn't overlook that Dominic was also named as a suspect in the crime.
“I just hope he can,” Mary said as she walked over with Suzie's sandwich. “It's so hard to know what’s the right thing to do. With Daria's life probably hanging in the balance, I feel that we should tell Jason what we know, but at the same time, if Daria were to be killed because we went to the police, I don't think I could ever forgive myself.”
“It is tough,” Suzie agreed. “But I think we have to let it be Dominic's decision right now. He's going to know how to handle Baylor better than any police officer could.”
“Good point,” Mary nodded and took a bite of her sandwich.
There was a light rap on the front door that drew Suzie's attention from the computer. She glanced up at Mary who was already walking towards the door. Neither had to speak to know what the other was thinking. Was it Daria outside the door? Was it Dominic? Suzie stood up from her chair as Mary opened the door. Mary froze for a moment.
“How can I help you, detective?” she asked.
Curious, Suzie began walking towards the door.
“I thought I'd pay a visit to see what the two of you were doing in Parish asking about Dominic Palov,” he replied in a grim tone.
Suzie's heart skipped a beat as she recognized his voice. Detective Brown was not always the most pleasant man to be around. She stepped up beside Mary.
“Is it a crime to ask questions in your town?” Suzie asked with an edge to her voice.
“Not at all,” Detective Brown replied with a slow smile. “But, whenever someone is asking about Palov, I make it my business to know why. I'll admit, knowing that it was you two asking questions made me even more curious and besides, I don't want either of you getting caught up with Palov, he's a very dangerous man.”
Suzie took a slight step back. She was surprised that Detective Brown's intentions appeared to be good.
“Well, we weren't causing any trouble,” Suzie said calmly.
“We were just following up about one of our guests who was staying here,” Mary explained politely. “Nothing to be concerned about.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Detective Brown said as he looked from Suzie to Mary. “When it comes to the two of you I tend to think that you're always up to something.”
“Detective Brown, why would you ever think such a thing?” Suzie asked with a slight laugh.
“This is no laughing matter,” Detective Brown snapped. “I know that you were asking about him. I know that you were around his son-in-law's office.”
Suzie was a little bit startled by his sudden change in demeanor. She recalled the men she had seen lingering by the corner of the office building. She had thought they might be criminals at the time, but now she thought that they were probably working with Detective Brown.
“Do you have him under surveillance?” she asked curiously.
“I'm the one asking the questions here,” Detective Brown shot back. Mary frowned.
“There's no need to be rude,” she said in quiet protest.
“I'm sorry,” he said, his gaze lingering on Mary. “When it comes to Dominic Palov, I can't afford to be polite. What I want to know is what business you have with Dominic Palov,” the detective said as he looked sternly between Mary and Suzie. “I heard you had a meeting with him today.”
“I wouldn't exactly call it a meeting,” Suzie said swiftly. “We just happened to run into each other.”
“Dominic Palov does not happen to run into anyone,” Detective Brown argued. “Now, come clean, ladies, I really don't want to turn this into an interrogation.”
“Is it a crime to speak to someone?” Mary asked and narrowed her eyes. Detective Brown met her gaze, he studied her for a long moment.
“No, it's not a crime. But it isn't wise to be alone with a man like that. He could have hurt you,” he cleared his throat and glanced over at Suzie. “Either of you.”
“Well, we're not hurt,” Suzie said.
“Look, I've been on Palov's trail for years now,” he explained. “I just want to know what you three talked about. If he's up to something I should know about, then I want an explanation.”
“It was only about his daughter,” Mary volunteered with a sigh.
“Mary,” Suzie warned.
“Suzie, he's a detective,” Mary said with a shrug. “We don't need to hide anything from him. Do we, Detective Brown?” she asked as she looked back at him with a sweet smile.
“It's Wes,” he said and met Mary's eyes again. “You can call me Wes if you like. You're right, my only interest is in helping here. Now, you know how police departments can be about jurisdiction. I know something happened here involving the Palov family, but I haven't been able to get an exact idea of what.”
“Is that why you're really here?” Suzie asked with annoyance. “To get the scoop?”
“If you want to share,” Detective Brown shrugged. “If I can offer any help in the case, I'd be happy to. But I'd need to have an idea of what has happened. Your cousin has been pretty tight-lipped about the whole thing.”
“I think we should tell him, Suzie,” Mary said as she stepped closer to Detective Brown. “Who would know better how to help us find Daria than someone who has been investigating the Palovs for so long?”
Suzie's heart began to race. She thought of Daria being held somewhere and helpless. She thought of the repercussions if they told Detective Brown about their concerns, and the potential consequences if they didn't.
“No, Mary,” she said quietly. “We can't risk it.”
“Can't risk what?” Detective Brown demanded as he studied both of them. He took a slight step closer to the two women. “I think you need to start coming clean about what's really going on here.”
“Look, we did meet with Dominic today,” Mary said all at once. Suzie could tell that she was about to confess everything.
“We met with him about his daughter,” Suzie interrupted swiftly. “She and her husband Antony had been staying here, and as I am sure you know Antony ended up dead.” She noted a hint of sadness in Detective Brown’s eyes but she carried o
n talking. “There's an investigation into Antony’s death, and Palov's daughter, Daria, is missing. We just thought, as a courtesy, we would return Daria's things that she left behind here to her father. If it was your child, wouldn't you want someone to do the same?” Suzie pointed out. She could feel Mary's eyes settled on her with disapproval, but she ignored it. She certainly didn't trust Detective Brown to keep things quiet, and she couldn't knowingly put Daria at more risk than she likely already was in.
“So, you just paid him a cordial visit?” Detective Brown asked with disbelief. “You couldn't have mailed it, or had one of the officers take it to him?”
“That's a little impersonal, don't you think?” Suzie asked as she studied him intently.
“So, Dominic Palov's son-in-law really is dead,” Detective Brown said with more sadness than she expected him to show. “I couldn’t find out much about what was going on because it isn’t my jurisdiction, you know how Parish and Garber don’t like sharing information. I was hoping Antony’s death would just land up being a rumor,” he sighed.
“It's a tragedy for Dominic,” Suzie volunteered, hoping to steer him away from Dominic as a suspect.
“You must really think I'm an idiot,” Detective Brown said with dismay. “As if I don't know what was really happening between Palov and Antony Gable.”
“What do you mean?” Suzie asked hesitantly. She wondered if she had managed to lie herself into a corner.
“I mean that Antony Gable was my inside man,” Detective Brown said grimly. “That's why I came here to see what was going on. He was going to turn on Dominic Palov in exchange for a relocation into the Witness Protection Program with his wife, Daria. I have been working with him and the FBI. He had so much information on Dominic Palov's clients that he was going to give me,” he cringed and rubbed lightly at his forehead. “I warned him. I told him no matter what he did, not to tip off anyone that he was speaking to me. He must have told someone.”
“Oh, wow,” Mary said as she placed a hand lightly against her lips. “Now, who is the one that was lying?” she demanded. “You should have told us that from the start.”