by Keene, Susan
As we cleaned up our mess, Ryan’s phone rang. He put his hand over the microphone. “It’s Neil. He has our results. He emailed them to me.”
He opened his laptop and read. Denise Madison died in a drowning accident on Table Rock Lake on the Fourth of July, 1970. She reappeared in June of 1978 and taught at Frances Howell High School in St. Peters.
Dominic De Marco married Jane Dancing De Marco on September 23; 1964.They had two children, Daniel and Jeffrey. The boys were killed along with their mother in an automobile accident in October 1979. The boys were six and nine. The authorities could never rule out foul play. It was thought a rivalry between the De Marco Crime Family and the Lombardi Family contributed to the accident.
Dominic had two sisters and two brothers. His oldest sister, Louisa disappeared in June of 1978 and was never found. His sister, Margaret, was murdered by the mob in 1988. His brother Frank was gunned down while at the horse races. His brother Michael died of a fever in 1962.
There has never been a nurse licensed as Sally Jeffers. There were three Sally Jeffers in that time period, in the St. Louis area; one was a housekeeper at Honor Hospital, one an airline flight attendant and number three was a family attorney.
There were four Dr. A. Signorelli’s in the greater St Louis area. One died in 1954, one was a dentist and died in 1979. One moved to work at the Mayo Clinic in March of 1978 and the last one died in a skydiving accident in 1977.
Honor Hospital was founded in April of 1950 and was bought and revamped as a rehabilitation center in 1983. The CEO was Martin Aldo. Head of surgery was Silas Green.
“That’s a lot of information. He says if he finds anything else important, he’ll send it.”
Ryan’s email alert dinged again. “This is interesting, when Neil put the names Kathryn Ann Madison and Sophia Lynn De Marco in the search engine together, he got nothing. When he accessed the dark web; this is what came up. Born: Missouri Baptist Hospital, April 1, 1980, Mother: Margaret De Marco, Father: Jonathan Gaddu. Baby Kathryn was born first at 1:36 am and Sophia at 1:45 am.”
The room was so still all I heard was breathing.
Ryan came over to me. “Do you still have that board we used to play Pictionary? It had paper attached and we used it to draw on. I’d like to make a family tree and timeline.”
“Sure, all that stuff’s in here. We all had such a good time with it; I couldn’t bear to throw it away.” I smiled at them while I dug for the old toy.
Ryan stood beside the board. “Let’s make a timeline, and who’s who. I’m sure we all caught the dates, but let’s be sure.”
I sat down on the couch and looked at the emails. “Okay, Denise Madison died July 1974 but reappeared June 1978.”
Sophie leaned over the back of the couch so she could read over my shoulder. “Louisa, Dominic’s older sister disappeared a month after Denise reappeared. Denise was never seen again, and you saw Denise Madison a few weeks ago. Do you think they are the same person?”
Tony joined the conversation. “If Denise Madison, your adopted Mother, and Louisa De Marco are one in the same, your supposed mother would be your aunt and Dominic would be your uncle.”
“It gets more complicated than that, our mother is another De Marco I’ve never heard of before, Margaret. She was executed by the mob in 1988. And who’s Jonathan Gaddu? How did another hospital become involved and why have we been a secret so long?”
Ryan called for quiet. “Let’s get this chart made so we can study the players.”
I continued down the facts we had. “Brother Frank was gunned down at the Horse Races. Sounds like another mob hit. It says we were born at Missouri Baptist Hospital in St Louis. I have some facts about Jonathan. It says Jonathan Gaddu, New York Stage Producer. He won more Tony awards( 21) for his achievements than any producer of his time, three for Best Musical, eight for Best Producer, six for his directing, and four special awards.
He was married to Margaret De Marco in June of 1973. It gives his birth date as August 7, 1944. It says related articles―The Mafia murder of Mickey the lip Amato.”
Ryan agreed he would look the article up while I took Chili out and fed her. When I came back I was invigorated by the fresh air and ready to know more about my life.
The phone rang. “Hi, Amy, what’s up? Really? No kidding? Well, bring it and Nathan and come on over.” I hung up. “Amy says she and Nathan watched a movie last night and we need to watch it. I told her to come on over.”
No one spoke a word. Ryan paraphrased the article. “Mickey ’the lip’ Amato was out on bail. He had Rico charges pending and two murder indictments. He must have been up to no good because as he sat in his limousine, outside the Fox Theater, six gangsters from another crime family tried to ambush him before he could appear in court the following day.
“Mrs. Gaddu, (Sister of New Jersey crime boss Dominic De Marco) waited for her husband (the famous New York Theater mogul, Jonathon Gaddu) in her chaffered rental car, behind him.
“When Amato realized it was a hit, He stepped out of his car with a machine gun and preceded to kill all six men who had come to do him harm. Margaret Gaddu’s driver left the scene as quickly as possible, but not fast enough.
“On March 31, 1980, Amato and his henchmen followed the car and murdered the driver and Gaddu’s nine-month pregnant wife in the middle of Kingshighway Boulevard. The driver was pronounced at the scene and Mrs. Gaddu was pronounced dead later at Honor Hospital along with her unborn baby.
Mickey Amato was to be arraigned in federal court in downtown St. Louis on April 2, 1980. He was under heavy guard, yet a sniper’s bullet found both he and his co-defendant, Sammy little man Gusto as they left the court.
“No one was charged with the murder but it has always been thought that Dominic De Marco, was responsible as revenge for his sister’s death.”
CHAPTER 25
O nce Amy and Nathan arrived we got comfortable and watched the movie. The first five minutes were horrible. Some giant cricket chased people, grabbed them and held them in his legs while he dined on them.
I asked. “Is this a joke?”
Nathan held up a hand. “Wait, we’re almost to the good part.”
A minute or two later, a small red-headed woman, ran down a street against the crowd. When she got to the person she wanted, she turned around. Sophie and I gasped. It was us, or enough of a likeness to know we were related. We watched closely. She was the star and she and her male co-star electrocuted the beast and went off to live happily ever after.
Ryan slowed the film down so we could more easily read the credits. The woman who looked like us was Roxy Watkins.
Sophie put both hands up to her mouth. “Tony! Do you recognize her?”
“Yes. She was the woman who came to play with you a few times a week. When you were eight, we never saw her again. You cried for her every day for weeks. Do you remember her?”
“Yes. She was sweet and loving; there wasn’t much of that in my childhood. After she didn’t come for a week or so, Dominic came to my room. He had never been there before, nor did he ever come again. I remember word for word what he said me. Sophia, come closer, I want to talk to you. Your friend can not come to see you anymore. She wanted me to tell you she wishes she could, and she loves you more than you will ever know.”
Tony said, “Now we know why―Roxy Watkins was Margaret De Marco. He must have cared about his sister. She was gunned down in 1988. It explains a lot. Why she changed her name, why she didn’t take you two to raise? What I don’t understand is why they didn’t have both of you at the estate.’’
I interjected. “I don’t know how they faked her death from a gunshot wound the first time? And how was it we were born at a different hospital?”
Ryan picked Chili up and said. “Why don’t we leave it until tomorrow? I’m on information overload. Nathan, can I borrow the movie so I can take it over to Neil and get a copy?”
“I already did, boss. The copy we watched is yours.”
/> Nathan and Amy left. The four of us sat in silence for a few minutes until I confessed. “I need some time alone to go over all of this in my head.”
“I like to do that too,” Sophie said. “We’ll see you in the morning.
CHAPTER 26
I took a hot shower and put on clean clothes. Ryan and Chili had been gone for hours. I didn’t know if I should have been worried or not.
My phone was in the living room. I went to get it. Sophie sat alone on the couch. “Where’s Tony?”
“He went for a walk. He’s been gone a long time.”
“Not good. Last night Ryan and I took the dog out. Two men in a black SUV gave us the warning to stop investigating our past and live in the present if we wanted to be left alone. Ryan has been gone for hours. I had best go after them.”
“Didn’t you think that might be something we would want to know?”
“Yes, absolutely. You were asleep when we came in. This morning I forgot. I guess Ryan did too. I had better go look for them. Is Tony armed?”
“Yes, want me to go along.”
“No. Stay here and be safe. Tony might need to get in. If he does, it’s important to check the camera to make sure no one is trying to use him as a cover to get up here.”
I walked into my room, picked up my Glock and put it in my pants near the small of my back. I put another clip in my jacket pocket. On the way down, I called Ryan’s cell, he didn’t answer.
I stayed off the sidewalk and stepped lightly into the shadows of the building. Ryan’s truck was parked another block down on the other side of the street. A wave of fear soared through me. Not only was Ryan out, but he had the puppy with him. I was sick with worry.
I wanted to go to the truck to see if Chili was in it. I leaned against the cool brick of the building and sized up my options. The vehicle sat twenty yards from me. If I went over to it, I wouldn’t have any cover.
I heard a scuffle ahead of me. I walked toward it. Tony was on the ground. Ryan knelt beside him, gun drawn. Two men stood over both of them. They also held guns. It looked like a standoff.
I moved close enough to listen. Ryan spoke to one of the men. “This man has no interest in you or your business. He wants to go on with his life. He has no intention of causing trouble for anyone.”
The other one kicked Tony’s leg. “How do you know what he wants? He knows too much.”
I worked my way behind them. Ryan saw me but didn’t move or flinch. He went on with the drama in front of him. “There were two men here last night with the same message. Tony and Sophia want to have a family and a life. They intend to move far away. They don’t want to hurt anyone.”
When I was a foot behind the men, I stuck my Glock in one man’s left’s ear. “Put your guns on the ground and kick them toward him.” I pushed him toward Ryan and forced my weapon further into his ear.
Ryan scrambled to his feet. “You heard her. Drop your weapons.”
Both men bent slightly to put the guns on the sidewalk. I frisked the man on the left and the gunman on the right. The first man had a second shoulder holster on the other side. The other one had a knife with a ten-inch blade in his boot. These men were serious. “I got here late to the party; you’ll have to tell me what this is about.”
Ryan challenged them. “If I have this correct, they would like to take Tony and Sophia as a bargaining chip to get what control they can of the De Marco crime family. Is that right, gentlemen?”
“We represent the De Marcos,” one of them boasted.
Tony opened his eyes and scrambled to his feet. “You guys don’t know much, do you? Dominic wouldn’t sacrifice anything to save Sophia. And you are not from the family.”
They looked at one another and whispered a couple of things. “We were hired by a guy from the city to find the De Marco woman and take her back to him. Something about her ole man.”
Tony stood as close as he could to the speaker. “The only thing that can happen here is that you end up dead. I’m going to tell you this one time. Don’t come around here again. You don’t know enough about the people you want to scam. The only outcome here would be your funerals. You aren’t from the De Marco family, but I am. You don’t want to mess with any of us.”
I picked their guns up one at a time, broke them down, and scattered the parts in every direction. The man’s second gun, I stuck in my waistband and I handed the knife to Ryan. I stood on my tiptoes so I was even with the guy’s nose. “Are we done here?”
Neither one answered. They got in the car and left.
I walked toward Ryan’s truck. “Where’s my dog?”
Ryan laughed. “I knew it. You didn’t come for me. You came because you were worried about Chili. She’s locked in the truck.”
I ran over to get her. I heard Ryan press the electronic lock as I got closer so I could get in.
“Let’s go home,” I suggested to all of them.
Once we were safe in the apartment we turned on cable news. The headline was―…the body of Dominic De Marco and two unidentified males were pulled from the Hudson River early today. The bodies were badly decomposed but De Marco was positively identified by family, close friends, identifying marks, and tattoos. Arrangements will be announced later.
Tony slipped off his jacket and sat on the couch. “Isn’t that convenient, once the bodies were too decomposed to identify, they are recovered. Dominic and a few million dollars are somewhere on an island laughing at everyone.”
Sophie sat beside him. “Why would he leave? He was the Boss, the Don, everyone did as he said. What would change that?”
“It’s one of the secrets they don’t want us to learn,” Ryan stated.
CHAPTER 27
R yan suggested we visit Mother once again. Sophie and I wanted to find Jonathon Gaddu. If he was truly our father, he could tell us about Roxy Watkins or Margaret De Marco or both.
We all sat on the balcony, in the sun, and enjoyed the fresh air. I walked to the railing and turned to face them. “Sophie and I are going to fly to New York and visit Mr. Gaddu. We believe, if he is our father, he can shed light on the mystery surrounding us.”
Tony and Ryan looked at one another. Tony stood. “I am going to stay here, go to Missouri Baptist Hospital and see if I can expand on the information we have.”
Ryan glanced at Tony. I had the feeling they had discussed not going with us. “I haven’t put in a full day of work in over a month. I’ll stay here with Tony. That way, neither one of us has to eat dinner alone.”
Ryan made our reservation. We would fly out in the afternoon. When I went to pack, my sister followed me. “I don’t have any clothes of my own so I’m going to have to wear yours again. I know I should buy some. I haven’t wanted to go out. I had a suitcase with me, but it got lost somewhere.”
I pointed to the closet. “Take what you need. Sorry it’s such a mess. I have expectations of cleaning it, but there’s always something pressing that keeps me from it. Yours was so neat and organized.”
She picked out a dress, some slacks and tops. “I have a maid. I’m not sure it was a great loss. They might have had a tracker in it. They always knew where I was.”
“Really, it’s no problem. It feels good to have a sister to share with.”
Sophie took her choices, along with a bag and went back to her room to finish getting ready. She stopped in the doorway, looked back and smiled at me.
Ryan and Tony drove us to the airport. When we said our goodbyes, Ryan handed me a manila envelope. “Here are some more facts about your possible father. It’ll be interesting reading on the plane.”
Once we were in the air, I opened the envelope Ryan had given me. Sophie and I put our heads close together and read it at the same time.
Jonathon Gaddu was born in Paris, France on August 9, 1944. His parents were theater performers but never reached stardom. Gaddu attended the International School of Paris and the University of Paris where he earned a Liberal Arts degree. He also spent some time at
the Bilingual Acting Workshop.
In 1968 he moved to New York where he studied drama at Julliard. Gaddu had his first off-Broadway success in 1972. He married Roxy Watkins on June 18, 1974. His wife died in 1980. Mr. Gaddu never remarried.
Sophie turned toward me. “If this is true our father wouldn’t know about us.”
I put my hand on hers. “I don’t understand any of this. Why not let us go with him?”
She looked out the window. “We’ll have to wait and see.”
We didn’t talk the rest of the way to the hotel. I was lost in my own thoughts and memories. I guessed my sister was too. Once we settled in we ordered from room service and watched a movie in our room.
We chose to eat our breakfast in the hotel dining room. People watched us as we walked through the lobby and were seated. I glanced around and them staring. They turned away when I looked up. “I guess there aren’t many red-headed twins around. Have you seen many plays?”
“A few when Tony and I were in college.”
“I wonder if any of them were Gaddu’s?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t pay much attention back then.”
After breakfast we stepped outside. The weather was cool with no wind. “Let’s walk over to the theater,” Sophie suggested.
“I’ll put the address in my phone’s GPS.”
When we arrived we hesitated at the stage door. Sophie laid her hand on my arm. “Are you afraid?”
With my hand on the door, I answered. “I don’t think its fear. I wonder what he’ll say or do. He’s seventy-three. I hope he doesn’t have a bad heart.”
I took a double take when she said, “Jeez.” The word I used all the time.
The hall was eerily quiet. The only light came from a desk near the stage. A man sat tapping his pencil on it as if in deep thought. You couldn’t hear our steps on the thickly carpeted aisle. When I spoke to him, he jumped. “Are you Jonathan Gaddu?”