He rang the doorbell, and the sound of a traditional bell chime was clearly audible. Moments later, a beautiful young woman who appeared to be Greek and was dressed in a classic maid’s outfit of a black dress with a frilly white apron, opened the door and greeted him with a silent nod.
“Hello,” Al said, with a polite smile. The girl looked like she was a teenager, and he could tell his appearance unsettled her. The deep purple ragged scar on his temple and the glint of his gold teeth sometimes had that effect on people. “I got an appointment with Mr. Argyros,” Al explained, but she continued to look at him with a blank expression. “Dino?” Al said, wondering if he had the right house. He’d be surprised if Rob had gotten it wrong.
“Ah yes, Mr. Dino,” the girl said, motioning for him to come inside. Al realized her English wasn’t very good, and decided against trying to make small talk with her. He followed the maid down the hall and into a study with dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the deck, Puget Sound, and Dino’s boat.
“Al De Duco, it’s good to see you,” Dino said, standing up from behind a desk and walking around it to greet Al with a firm handshake. The maid hurried out of the room. “Heard from Dom Langello you’d retired after Vinny’s death and gone to the Cayman Islands. You must miss Vinny a lot. He and I met for lunch occasionally, and he always spoke highly of you.”
Al swallowed. “Guess I miss the Boss more than I woulda thought. Tough old boot like me, and I’m still workin’ on puttin’ the past to bed. Some people, they stay with ya’ all the time.”
“I know what you mean,” Dino said, with a faraway look in his eyes. A moment or two later, his attention snapped back to Al. “Sorry, I guess I was miles away.” He motioned to some armchairs by the window. “It’s late in the day, and I could do with a beer. Would you care to join me?”
“Sure,” Al said. “A beer sounds good, thanks Dino.”
Al settled back in one of the armchairs, while Dino pressed a button on his desk, and told someone he’d like two beers brought to his office. Then he joined Al in one of the chairs by the window.
“I appreciate the conversation we had after Vinny’s murder ‘bout Theresa Larkin,” Al said, stretching out his legs. He marveled how comfortable the blue jeans were and decided to buy a couple more pairs. They were interrupted by the arrival of the maid, carrying a tray with two glasses of beer on it.
“Thank you, Berenika,” Dino said to the maid when she served them the beer. “That will be all. Please, make sure my wife and children know I am not to be disturbed.”
The maid nodded and left the room.
“I’m pleased they got the person who killed Vinny,” Dino said, taking a sip of his beer. “So, what brings you back to town?”
“Some friends of mine needed my help,” Al said. “Asked me to come back to Seattle fer a few days. Truth is, Dino, it’s a delicate matter.” His eyes rested on Dino’s face, ready to gauge his reaction. “I’ve been unofficially hired to help solve the murder of Dana Donnelly.”
Dino set his beer on the table and stood up, walking past Al to the windows. He stood there, hands jammed in his pockets, with his back to Al for a long time. At one point, he bowed his head and rested it against the cool glass of the window pane. When he turned back to Al, his face was strained. “I’m assuming Vinny told you Dana and I were lovers.”
“Yeah,” Al said, his eyes never leaving Dino’s. “Think it came up once in a conversation when we was watchin’ her show on television. That’s why I’m here. Since ya’ were close with her, I wanted to get yer’ read on what happened to her.”
Still standing, Dino reached for his beer on the table. His voice cracked when he spoke. “Al, I have no idea what happened. The day Dana told me she was ending our relationship was the worst day of my life. I hate to use the word affair, because it makes it sound so…seedy. What Dana and I had was so much more.”
Al hated to see a grown man in as much pain as Dino was obviously in at the moment. He noticed his beer wobbling in his hand, and it occurred to Al that it may not have been Dino’s first drink of the day. “Were the two of ya’ together fer very long? ”
Dino’s eyes were shining. “Four years, give or take. I thought Dana was my soul mate. We had an understanding, and we spent as much time together as we could. Then, last week…suddenly, everything changed. I was blindsided when she ended it.”
“What happened?” Al asked him. “Didja argue ‘bout something?”
Dino shook his head, and emptied the rest of his beer. “Nothing like that. She said she and Mickey had done some soul searching and agreed that if she would give up our relationship, he would give up gambling. I know it sounds naïve, but I had really thought we could continue on forever.”
Al raised an eyebrow. As far as he was concerned, Vinny sure had been right about saying that for a smart guy, Dino was acting real dumb over a broad. “Jes’ how was that supposed to work, Dino? Ya’ were both married with young families. Strikes me as kinda’ selfish on both yer’ parts, if ya’ don’t mind me sayin’ so.”
Dino sat back down, swirling the last drops of beer around in his almost empty glass. “I mean, she was in a marriage where her husband’s gambling took precedence over her marriage, and I was, and still am, in a marriage that’s more of a financial convenience for me than anything else.”
“Hmph,” Al said. “Must be terrible, all that sneakin’ around and lyin’ all the time. Can’t see the point. If ya’ love someone, really love em’, don’tcha just wanna be with ‘em all the time?” He found himself thinking of Cassie, and his heart quickened.
Dino nodded. “You’re right. It was a no-win situation, but even so, I really hoped we would get back together. Dana wouldn’t take my calls. When my wife, Gia, told me we’d received an invitation to Dana and Mickey’s New Year’s Eve party, she said she had no desire to go, because she wanted to keep me away from Dana at all costs. But I insisted we attend, so I could see Dana again.”
“So, Gia knew what was goin’ on? All this carryin’ on under her nose?” Al gave Dino a look that indicated he was not impressed .
Dino gave a sad shrug. “Yes. I’m not proud of what I put her through. Gia confronted me about Dana several times. She saw the Page Six piece, and there were various other times she had good reason to suspect that Dana and I were more than just good friends. I always denied it until now. I finally came clean to Gia after Dana’s death.”
Al would have liked to have been a fly on the wall during that conversation. “How’d she take it?”
“Evidently Gia had already heard from her hairdresser, the same one Dana went to, that Dana and Mickey were going to try and make a go of their marriage, including breaking off relationships with anyone either of them might have been seeing. As it happens, Mickey was no saint either. Gia said, when she heard that, all she wanted was for Dana and Mickey’s house to be sold as soon as possible, so they would move away and get out of our lives for good. I think she was hoping that with Dana gone, we could put it all behind us.”
Al leaned forward. “Is Gia the type who coulda hated Dana enough to do somethin’?”
Dino shook his head. “Gia has a hot temper, but it blows over in a flash. It’s usually directed at me. With our children and the staff, she’s a very gentle person. There’s no way she could ever put a knife in someone, although she may well have wanted to put one in me once or twice over the years,” Dino said, laughing bitterly. “She’s the type that takes spiders outside and lets them loose rather than kill them. She even instructed our maid to do the same thing.”
Al squirmed in his seat, and looked down at the floor. The sight of a spider would have him running out of there in five seconds flat, if that. He faced Dino squarely. “Dino, hate to do this, but gotta ask ya’. Were ya’ mad enough at Dana to make sure if ya’ couldn’t have her, Mickey wouldn’t get her either?”
Dino’s gaze met Al’s without wavering. “Al, I understand why you have to ask that, but don’t ever
even insinuate that again. I loved Dana. Pure and simple. She was the reason I got up in the morning. The last few days have been the worst in my life. No, I had nothing to do with her murder. Why would I? Hope springs eternal. I really thought there was a chance we could get back together. With her dead, so is that hope. I honestly don’t know how I’m going to live the rest of my life without her.” With that, he buried his face in his hands, and started to rock back and forth in his chair, loud sobs escaping through the fingers that covered his face.
Al sat in an uncomfortable silence while Dino sobbed. He didn’t approve of Dino’s behavior with Dana, but the guy was suffering plenty over it now. When Dino’s sobs subsided, Al spoke up. “Dino, I’m sorry. I’ve never been in love like that, and I can’t imagine what ya’ must be goin’ through, but I’d be willin’ to bet yer’ wife would like to have a little of that love showered on her. If Dana and Mickey were goin’ to start fresh, maybe that’s an omen that you and Gia oughta try too.”
Dino was quiet for a few moments before responding. He looked up at Al, his eyes red. “Yeah, you may be right, Al. Is that what Vinny would tell me if he were here?”
Al stood and reached over to shake Dino’s hand. “Jes’ might be a little bit of good advice from the grave. Good luck, my friend. I’ll let myself out.”
CHAPTER 16
Al hummed to himself as he drove to the address Rob had given him for Jerry’s house. It was a couple of hours since he’d left Cassie at the Starbucks in Pioneer Square, and the memory of it made him smile. One coffee had turned into two, and he’d reluctantly left to head back to Bainbridge Island. Jake had texted him to say that the recording equipment he’d requested was waiting for him in Jake’s mailbox.
Cassie had captivated Al even more than the first time he saw her, if that was possible. The tinkle of her laughter, the way she tipped her head to the side and closed one eye when she was thinking about something, and even the way she stirred her coffee. Al found all of it adorable. He’d never met anyone who made his heart pound through his chest the way she did, nor his face ache from smiling so much. The feel of her soft skin against his lips when he kissed her goodbye on the cheek had stayed with him through the ferry ride back to Bainbridge Island. That, and the promise of seeing her again in a day or two, was enough to sustain him through the boat trip in a state of bliss instead of his usual apprehension at being surrounded by water.
Reaching his destination, Al did a slow drive-by past Jerry McGee’s house, checking to make sure no one was home. The lights were off, and DeeDee had mentioned earlier that Jerry was expecting to be out all evening, but Al wasn’t leaving anything to chance. For that reason, he kept on driving and parked around the corner. That way, if Jerry did come back unexpectedly, he wouldn’t see a car in front of his house, nor would the neighbors. Al made sure the street was empty before getting out of the car and walking back in the direction of Jerry’s house.
It was dark, but the street lamps on the quiet street provided enough light to showcase the home’s technicolor charm. As he walked up the short driveway, Al could see that a great deal of work had been done on the house. The white picket fence had been painted so bright that it threw off an ominous glow in the darkness. A yellow brick walkway zigzagged across the grass and led to the front door, the bricks bright enough for Dorothy and her friends from Oz to feel right at home.
This is creepin’ me out , Al thought, noticing that although the driveway was lined by a wooded area on one side, not one twig or branch littered the ground. He wondered if it was swept daily.
Walking across a small patch of grass, he approached the porch that extended along the front of the house and wrapped around the sides of it. Stretching his leg over the profusion of carefully tended plants lining the walkway, Al stepped onto the porch and made his way around to the side of the house. From there he could see that the house, although much smaller than Dino’s, had large windows overlooking Puget Sound at the rear.
With his back against the exterior wall of the house, Al continued until he reached a door. Covering his hand with his handkerchief, he jiggled the lock deliberately to make a small amount of noise. He held his breath waiting for the sound of alarms or dogs. There were none.
Smiling, thoughts of Cassie still swirling through his mind, Al removed a hairpin from his pocket which he’d borrowed from DeeDee’s bathroom that afternoon. Given the circumstances, he didn’t think she’d mind, and hadn’t considered it worth mentioning. Poking the pin into the lock, Al congratulated himself when the lock clicked open seconds later. Ya’ still got it, De Duco , he thought.
It was a bit like riding a bicycle. He’d learned how to jimmy a lock at an early age in Chicago, and it was something that had always stayed with him. Just like the familiar adrenalin rush he felt as he drew his gun and entered the house, passing silently through the kitchen and each of the rooms on the ground floor, looking for anything that could be a problem. Al’s stealth belied his bulky form as he crept up the stairs, with not so much as a creak or a breath betraying his presence.
He had no idea what he expected to find, and passed through the master bedroom and office, checking the drawers and closets, but he didn’t find anything of interest. It was only when he opened the last door, the one at the end of the upstairs hallway, that he found something. He stood looking at the scene before him in shock, while it became very clear to him who had murdered Dana Donnelly.
Al removed his phone from his pocket, and took his time going around the room taking one photograph after another. When he was finished he turned and walked down the stairs of the deserted house. The only difference on his journey out was that he didn’t leave in silence. His language turned the air blue, and he slammed the back door with a thump, kicking over a potted plant on his way down the yellow brick road.
Jerry’s picture-perfect house is jes’ as fake as he is, he thought, as he hurried back to where he’d parked on the nearby side street. Speeding off as fast as DeeDee’s SUV would allow, and once he was a safe distance away from Jerry’s home, he pulled into a business parking lot and called Jake.
“Hey, Al,” Jake said. “How did you do today? Are you coming over here to pick up the wire?”
“Listen up, cuz’ this is serious,” Al said impatiently, wanting to get back to DeeDee’s house as soon as possible. “I already stopped by yer’ place earlier, and took that stuff outta the mail box since ya’ weren’t around. Thanks. I met Dino this afternoon, and he’s not our man. Jerry McGee, on the other hand, is a nutjob. He killed Dana D, and my guess is he weren’t jes’ foolin’ when he said DeeDee was next. I gotta tell ya’, the man’s a loony. ”
“Tell me what?” Jake said, his voice rising.
“There’s a room in his house,” Al said, “plastered with pictures of Dana. It ain’t even a collage, more like freakin’ wallpaper. I got the photos on my phone. Dana with this guy, Dana with that guy. And he’s spray painted graffiti over all of it. Weird don’t even describe it.”
“You mean, like some kind of shrine?” Jake sounded uncertain.
A hollow laugh escaped from Al. “Oh, man, not a shrine. More like an altar of death. Things like, ‘Your time has come, you faithless slut.’ Or, how ‘bout this one, ‘You’ll die in front of me, just like you killed me on prime time.’ Coupla’ other things I can’t repeat, or Vinny would turn over in his grave. Dana’s head is ripped off in some of them pictures, and there’s one with a cut-out sword stickin’ right into her. That one hurt, jes’ lookin’ at it.”
Al heard Jake exhale loudly. “And you’ve called Chief Hewson about this, right? Because there’s no way DeeDee’s going there at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. You’re the one who’s insane if you think I’m even going to discuss it.”
“Calm down, and let’s think this through.” Jake’s response was exactly what Al had been expecting, but Al wasn’t convinced that going to the police was the best approach. That, and a yearning for a taste of the excitement of the old life he�
�d left behind, made him want to finish what he’d started. “A few sticky pictures ain’t no reason to arrest someone fer murder. Don’t prove nothin’. Unless there’s a murder weapon or some DNA evidence, and as far as I know there still ain’t, the police are gonna have to let him go. Then we’ll jes’ be back to square one, except by then he’s gonna be even madder, and possibly more reckless. We need to stick with the plan we discussed. Then we can catch him red-handed, hand over the evidence to the police, and they can lock him up and throw away the key.”
“What if something goes wrong, Al?” Jake’s voice faded over the line. “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to DeeDee. ”
Al stared out through the windshield at the empty parking lot beyond. Finally, he got it. What Jake felt about DeeDee. Dino’s feelings for Dana. He’d only just experienced a fleeting glimpse of this romantic love thing that had eluded him all his life. If what he felt for Cassie, after meeting her on only two brief occasions, was to grow into something more, then it seemed to him falling in love with a woman must be the scariest, most exciting, precious thing in the world. He’d loved Vinny like a brother, but this was something different.
His reply to Jake was simple. “It won’t go wrong. Ya’ ain’t gonna let it. Jes’ show her how much ya’ love her, Jake. Now, let’s go over it again.”
By the time Al pulled up in front of DeeDee’s house a short time later he was tired, hungry, and a tiny bit worried that maybe he and Jake were doing the wrong thing. But there was no backing out now.
“Hi, Al,” DeeDee called out from the great room when he entered. “Have you eaten? I wasn’t sure if you were having dinner with your friend, but if you didn’t, I can fix you something.”
Murder After Midnight: Northwest Cozy Mystery Series Page 11