“Mattie. We need to talk about what’s going on here.”
He could have been talking about Chloe’s case, or work, or us. It made me nervous to think about the last part.
“What do you have in mind?”
“We need to talk, but I’d feel better knowing there won’t be any interruptions—phones, deliveries, or anything else.” He pulled my arm into his and walked me to the stairs leading up to the second floor. “Get some rest. We’ll pick up where we left off tomorrow. Buzz me when you’re in safe, okay?” He squeezed my hand then let go.
Why didn’t he kiss me? Should I kiss him? I didn’t want to leave, but willed myself to walk upstairs and into the apartment. The locks clicked into place. I leaned against the door for a moment and let out a sigh.
After I buzzed down, and we said goodnight, I crashed onto the bed.
I counted plaster flower patterns on the ceiling for a million seconds and wondered how my life got to this point. My eyes moved from the ceiling to the windows that flanked the bed. Darkness was settling around the house. I remembered I was supposed to call mom.
When she answered, I felt relieved.
“Hey, Mattie,” she sounded muffled.
“Hey, mom. Is everything all right?” I could tell something wasn’t right.
“Things are fine, but I won’t be able to come home for a few more days.” She sighed and my heart sank. “Grandpa admitted he missed his last two doctor appointments. Your Aunt Eileen and I want to take him for a check-up next week. I think he really needs to go, he fell twice since we’ve been here.”
It was important for mom to help grandpa. I didn’t need mom as bad as he did right now. Even though I enjoyed being independent, I missed mom and needed some advice. Maybe Jocelyn was a better person for the kind of advice I needed, anyway. “Take whatever time you need.”
“Will you be okay about handling work, and school?”
“Work is going pretty well, Hank and the guys are helpful. School starts up soon, so I don’t expect any major projects for a week or two. Do what you need to help grandpa, I’ll be fine until you get back.” It was hard to sound convincing, but I tried.
“Thanks, Mattie. Make sure you keep the doors locked, and call if you need anything.” Mom and I talked a while longer. She told me grandpa snuck a cigar into the house and tried to smoke it near a window so no one would know. Except, Aunt Eileen could smell it when she got back from grocery shopping, and she let grandpa have it. When he did see his doctor, he was given strict orders not to smoke, or drink, or have any fun, according to my grandpa.
“Sounds like you have your work cut out for you. I miss you, but it’s good you both could be there for him when he needs you.”
“He can be a tough customer, but it’s a blessing to get time with him. I love and miss you, Mattie May.” Mattie May was one of the nicknames mom gave me when I was little. I still liked hearing it.
“I love you too, mom. Take care and remember to rest when you can.” We signed off of our call and emptiness filled the room.
I never got to eat the ice cream we brought home earlier, but it would take an act of God for me to open the door and go get it. I walked to the kitchen and checked the fridge and cabinets. A bag of M&Ms caught my interest. I poured some milk and took the bag with me to the bedroom.
The phone was quiet, so I munched a little candy then picked up a book and read for a while.
Part of my bedtime ritual included washing my face, brushing my teeth and reviewing my to-do list. Writing things down helped me unload what was in my brain, to help me sleep easier. I added milk to the grocery list then paged over to the section dedicated to Chloe’s case.
There were notes all over, and a suspect list in the left margin. I scribbled some notes about our meeting with Tess, and made a note to research Ruggiano. My mind wandered to the story about Samuel Davis. I wondered what it must have been like to be Amelia—first engaged to Davis, then kicked to the curb, then shuttled from house to house with her sister while her ex-fiancée made a life with her cousin. What happened between Amelia and the Indian boy? I started to contemplate it when the phone startled me.
My hands searched the nightstand for notes on our current “guests” while I did my best to politely greet the caller.
“Did you forget what I said?” I froze. It was the same hard-edged voice that warned me before. “If you need a reminder, look out your front door. It’s just a little something to show you that I can get to you anywhere.”
I stifled a cry.
“If you don’t stop asking questions, you’ll be next,” he threatened me, and then the line went dead.
Dial tone changed to annoying beeping, followed by a recording of an operator asking me to hang up and try again. I dropped the phone. My arms clutched my waist. I bent over to get air, and tried not pass out breathing heavy for a few minutes. After some slower, longer breaths, I calmed down enough to walk over to the window. There was no indication a maniac stood outside, but I couldn’t see much. I walked back to the bedroom and reviewed my options. Hide under the covers until someone found me, or go out swinging.
I was scared, but needed to find out what the crazy guy left. Plus, I only noticed one phone line lit up when I answered the stalker’s call—an indication that the bad guy was outside the building, otherwise, two lines would be lit. Good news. So, I grabbed my Louisville Slugger from under the bed, slipped on my tennis shoes and walked from the bedroom to the living room, and over to the front door by the stairs.
My hand grabbed the doorknob. I exhaled every ounce of breath I could, looked up to say a quick prayer, and turned the knob. I opened the door slowly. It creaked, so I stopped.
I pushed it open even slower. I don’t know why, but being quiet seemed like it might protect me somehow. The door opened enough for me to peek out. I still couldn’t see anything. I stuck my head and shoulders out as far as possible, without actually stepping out of the apartment. Nothing happened. A good sign, I hoped. The house sounded quiet, so I put two feet out the door. With one hand on the curved railing, and another on my wooden weapon, I moved down the staircase.
Pound, pound, pound, pound, pound!
“Ack!” I jumped. He’s trying to get inside! Should I run upstairs, or stay still and hope no one hears me? I couldn’t decide.
Pound, pound, pound, pound, pound! It came again as my heart thudded. I turned to run when I heard him.
“Mattie! Are you in there?” It was Derek. I reversed and took a few hesitant steps toward the bottom of the stairs. “Is everything okay?” He sounded worried out there. Maybe he’d run into the freak trying to scare me to death. I should let him in for his own safety.
Two enormous wooden doors were closed in front of me. Beyond them were the two outer glass doors, locked for extra security, and beyond that was Derek. He’d been friendly to me and was concerned now, so I responded in kind.
“Yes,” my voice cracked. ‘Yes, I’m here. Give me a minute.” I set my bat down and worked the locks. As soon as the first set of heavy wooden doors opened, I saw him.
Derek stood on the front stoop holding a huge floral spray of dead roses. I had to will my eyes back to Derek, so I wouldn’t go catatonic thinking about the dead flowers, or the bad guy who brought them to my doorstep.
I twisted the metal key inside the lock until it clicked. Derek helped open the door, and stepped inside. He stood there with the flowers and looked at me intently.
“I saw a strange van pull up. A really big guy in a ball cap got out and put these on the front stoop. He got back in the van and left, which was when I noticed the flowers were dead. Something didn’t seem right, so I came over to check on you.”
“Thanks. How did you see all that?”
“My dad had me taking care of some last minute details for a viewing next week. We needed to restock some supplies.” He looked around and shifted uncomfortably for a minute. “Actually, I was unloading toilet paper from my car when it happened.”
/>
I stifled a laugh. Derek turned three shades of red. “I figured you were over here, and might need help. The look on your face when you opened the door says I was right.”
“Yes,” I admitted. “I’m glad you came. I got a strange call. Some guy told me to look out my front door for a package. I guess he left these.” I took the flowers and looked them over. No card, no note, just dead flowers and a black ribbon.
“If you want, I can help you look around and make sure everything is secure.” Derek seemed harmless, and I wasn’t about to do it myself, so I invited him the rest of the way inside. “I can pitch those, unless you want them for something.”
“I don’t want them.” They were dead, they stank, and it scared the crap out of me to look at them. I gave them back to Derek. The stranger who left them knew exactly what he was doing, because there wasn’t a note, and who would question dead flowers at a funeral home over a holiday weekend anyway? I’d make sure to tell Garrett and Ryder, but there didn’t seem to be much else I could do.
“Let’s get rid of these and then make our rounds,” he suggested. I walked him all the way through the funeral parlor and out the back door.
“It’s over here.” We headed over to a large metal dumpster.
Derek lifted up one of the rubber lids and tossed the flowers in with the rest of the garbage. “All gone.” He brushed his hands off. “Now let’s check out the rest of this place.”
CHAPTER 14
We went through each room. Derek helped look around and made sure the doors were secured.
Derek asked me how I liked living here. I told him it was an adjustment, but something I could handle. I went with him everywhere except the prep room, which he quickly checked for me. “So far, so good,” he announced as we finished locking up the back. “Let’s go through the rooms to the front then check upstairs.”
We were near the fridge when it hit me—ice cream. For Derek’s courageous efforts, I promised to share some with him. I took the ice cream and my baseball bat as we finished the first floor lock-down. Derek followed carrying hot fudge and whipped cream.
“I planned to have this for dessert but was too chicken to come and get it after everyone left.”
“Understandable.”
Soon, we reached the top of the stairs. The apartment door was open, and I couldn’t remember if I left it open, or not. I eyed the door and then looked at Derek.
“Why don’t I go inside first, and take a look around,” Derek suggested. I was nervous about bringing a guy I barely knew up to the apartment when no one was home, but a stalker was running around, and I wasn’t about to go in alone. I nodded quickly. May as well rip the Band-Aid right off! I thought.
Derek entered the apartment carefully, with me right on his heels. He looked alert as he moved around inside.
We worked our way from the front to the back of the apartment, going through every corner of the bathroom, living room, bedroom—it was only slightly embarrassing when he noticed my jammies and M&Ms—we reached the kitchen, which is where the reconnaissance ended.
“All clear.” His shoulders relaxed and he smiled at me. “This is a nice place.”
“Thanks. We tried to make it as much like home as possible. We even have a wall clock and a plant.” I pointed them out to him, like they were game show prizes. “I appreciate you coming to my rescue, and making sure everything was safe.”
“Anytime, Mattie. I’m happy to do it.” When he smiled, I blushed. His black t-shirt looked good against his light skin, and there was something that almost glowed in his eyes. He was attractive, but this was not what I expected to be thinking about after everything that happened with Garrett tonight.
“Ice cream doesn’t seem like the right way to thank you, but would you care to join me?”
“Only if you’re sharing the fudge and whipped cream.” He said seductively.
I tried not to think about it too much as I made us a couple sundaes. I topped his with extra whipped cream, just to have some fun. I poured extra chocolate on mine—it’d been that kind of a day. “We can sit at the table, or in the living room, if you want.”
“How about outside?”
“Come again?” I didn’t think it was such a good idea to leave the apartment, but he sounded confident enough for the both of us.
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” Derek walked to the door. He picked up my bat from where I’d left it on the living room chair. “Here, you can take this in case I’m not enough.” Then he winked at me.
Derek seemed brave enough, so I went along with him. We walked back downstairs and opened the heavy set of wooden doors. After I unlocked the outer glass doors, we stepped onto the porch and sat down. With the awning, and my Louisville Slugger, as our protection we ate ice cream and watched the cars drive by.
“How are you feeling?” he asked after a few bites.
“I’m doing a little better. This was a good idea. If we hadn’t come out now, I would’ve probably hid inside until the crew came back next week.”
“Coming into this business as an outsider must be difficult for you. I had a lot to learn when my dad first showed me behind the scenes.” He took a big bite of ice cream and looked over at his family’s funeral home.
“There sure is a lot more to it than I thought,” I admitted, and stirred fudge into some of my melted ice cream. “Dead bodies, strangers and coming in at all hours of the day and night. Some callers, like tonight, bother me more than anything.”
“I’ve had those. One night, this guy called in hammered and asked if we’d let him take a peek at the bodies.”
“Eww, I hope you told him no!”
“I did, but he cursed me out. It was hard to understand him what with all the slurring, but I caught on pretty quick.” We laughed.
“There was a woman,” I told him. “She called to say her husband had died. She was so choked up, I could barley understand her when she started. Even when I helped her calm down, it took a while to get all the information. All she wanted to do was talk about him.” I stirred my chocolate soup for a moment and looked back at Derek. “I listened to stories about how they met, and what a great husband he was. It was so sweet and sad, but I was happy to talk with her. And then, of course, there are the real crazies.” I stared beyond the buildings into the sky.
“Do you want to talk about what happened with that guy tonight?” He poked his spoon around the bowl a little.
“It’s a long story. I think it has something to do with a friend of mine.” I wasn’t sure where to start or how much to tell him. “She died recently, and I’m kind of investigating it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Someone said she committed suicide, but it just didn’t seem like something she’d do to herself, or her mom. I started asking questions. Now we think she was killed.”
“We, meaning you and Garrett?” Irritation showed on Derek’s face and in his tone.
“Yes. Why don’t you two get along?”
“Long story.”
“You can tell me if you want.” He didn’t make a move to speak, so I kept talking. “We talked to a woman at the Coroner’s office, but she was adamant my friend killed herself.”
“You guys saw Tess?” he sounded surprised.
“Yeah, why?”
“Because Garrett and Tess were pretty serious a few years ago.”
“He told me,” it felt weird to talk about it with Derek.
“The break up was pretty ugly.”
“She seemed okay, but I don’t think she’s over him completely.”
“Probably not. Garrett broke it off.”
“That’s what he said, but there was something else. Tess mentioned somebody named Ruggiano. It sounded like a sore spot between them. I was about to do some online research on the name when I got the bad guy’s call.”
“I can save you some trouble.” Derek put his bowl down and turned toward me. “Ruggiano is bad news. He deals in all the illegal activities around
here, and has for years.”
“You mean he’s in the mob?”
“Ruggiano is the mob.” Derek was serious. “A few years ago, when Garrett and Tess were together, she got involved with Ruggiano. She claimed everything was legal then, that she was just helping him out with some personal business, but something didn’t jive. Everything with him is illegal, and Tess was getting paid for whatever she was doing. Garrett told her to stop, but Tess is something of a hard head. When she refused to stop, Garrett ended their relationship.”
“Wow. How do you know so much about it?”
“Tess told me.” I tried to think of reasons Tess might have opened up to Derek about something so personal, but could only come up with one. Then he confirmed my suspicions.
“We started dating a little after Garrett broke things off.” Derek looked at me intently, like he was studying my reaction. I didn’t say a word. I just sat there and wondered what I thought about Derek. So far, he seemed to be both interesting and complicated.
“Look, I had a thing for Tess way back, and she knew it. She was fun to hang out with, but it became obvious she just used me to make Garrett jealous. It worked. He’s pretty much hated my guts since then, but I give the guy credit. He didn’t budge and he didn’t go back. I heard him tell her once it had something to do with protecting his family. I don’t know much more, we didn’t date long.”
My brain was trying to catch up with all this Garrett, Tess, Derek and Ruggiano stuff. Once I thought about it, the questions came. “Tess gave the impression her work with Ruggiano was in the past. What do you think?”
“Maybe she thinks so, but once you’re in business with a guy like him, I think you’re in for life.”
“Do you know if her work with the mob could be linked to my friend’s death?”
“Anything is possible. I’d be careful if I were you, Mattie.” He reached for my hand. “I heard Tess wasn’t the only one working for Ruggiano. The guy still has a lot of players in the game—doctors, lawyers, cops—and he’s hand-picked most of them. Rumor around town was Garrett did something big for him about a year ago.”
Red Ochre Falls Page 13