by LS Sygnet
“Pretty damned dumb to go after Datello’s kid,” Crevan shook his head. “I mean think about it, Helen. Why go after one of the most powerful criminal’s kids? Why not pick a nobody?”
“Because Celeste is vulnerable. Datello is behind bars. His little empire has been crushed. Of all people in the world, he’s the last to have the means to do anything about this. Add to that, maybe Sherman was counting on pockets of corruption remaining in Darkwater’s police department. Maybe we’re too inept to catch them. God only knows how long they’ve been trafficking human beings through this city.”
“You think that might’ve been part of Datello’s operation?” Crevan asked.
“I highly doubt it.” My fist slammed on the table. “I should’ve seen this. Think about his original felony, guys. What was it that prompted him to try to bring his uncle down in the first place?”
“His father’s murder,” Devlin said.
“Exactly. Nothing matters more to Datello than the sanctity of his own flesh and blood. He’d want no part of a human trafficking ring.” I paused and stared hard at him. “Who was your partner in Montgomery?”
“Andy Gillette. Why?”
“Give him a call. See if he’ll keep an eye on this Sherman house until we can get there. I’ll get a couple of coffees for the road.”
“We?” Crevan echoed.
“You, me, Devlin. When we get there, you and this former partner of Dev’s can ask the merry widow a few questions about her baby. Did you find out if the hospital collected a cord blood kit on baby Datello?”
“They did,” he said.
I turned a pointed stare on Devlin. “If Sherman was such a high profile figure in Montgomery, what are the odds that the papers are still talking about his life and legacy? He’s been dead what, a week? Two maybe?”
“A little more than two,” Devlin said. “But he was pretty prominent. We can pick up a paper when we hit the city limits. I think his annual charity was held this week. The last day or two maybe. There’s bound to be some wailing and moaning in the press about his death, what a great man he was.” He framed his sarcasm with air quotes.
“Let’s go,” I said. “Our clock is still ticking, gentlemen.” A glance at my wristwatch reminded all of us that our control of the case would shortly end. The intrepid Agent Preston would be arriving in Darkwater Bay any time now. “We’ll call Chris from the road and let him know how to stonewall the bureau if they ever bother to show up,” I said.
We were in the car less than five minutes when I slumped over in the back seat. This time it wasn’t nausea that overwhelmed me. My eyelids felt weighted. Exhaustion made every muscle in my body scream for sleep. Odd dreams flitted through my subconscious. If I weren’t a devout devotee of science, I might’ve wondered if it was some strange precognitive foreboding. Finding Sherman suddenly morphed into Johnny opening the stranger’s front door.
He pointed an accusing finger and told me he was done with me.
Projection anyone?
Of course I felt more than a single pang of guilt for my angry words, the fact that I hung up on him after telling him I didn’t want to see or speak to him. What sort of mess would the voicemail reveal if I bothered to turn the cell phone on?
Then again, he hadn’t called the office again. He didn’t call Crevan or Devlin. He wasn’t asking anybody if I was all right. Somehow, that knowledge weaving around in my brain didn’t make me feel better.
A beam of light pierced my forehead when he opened his mouth to yell at me. It was a hot knife stabbing into my frontal lobe.
I sat up with a start.
“Good morning sunshine,” Dev grinned at me over the front seat. “Did you sleep well?”
I squinted in the early dawn sunrise. “Are we in Montgomery?”
“We stopped for gas. Crevan’s gonna pick up a newspaper inside the store and some fresh coffee and Danish.”
I rubbed my eyes. “Is your old partner watching the Sherman residence?”
“Reluctantly, but yes. He confirmed that last night was the annual benefit for the arts in Montgomery. Our grieving widow got home before midnight last night. She was not alone.”
“Color me surprised.”
“He says she’s very young, Helen.”
“How young is very?”
“Twenty-something.”
“Shit, how old was Sherman?”
“Eighty-nine. Randy old goat, wasn’t he?”
“Once a pedophile, always a pedophile.”
Crevan opened the passenger door, a white paper bag between his teeth, newspaper tucked under one arm, and three coffees in a tray. I reached up and grabbed a coffee and the paper from him.
“As promised, the front page has a story about the late Sherman Trust for the Endowment of the Arts. Guess the bastard made enough money from selling children to give something back to the community,” I said.
Crevan and Devlin chatted about the best route to chez Sherman while I devoured the article. I snorted. Art programs for under privileged kids in the inner city. How big was Montgomery anyway?
“Roughly two million if you count all the suburbs,” Devlin said.
I glanced up sharply.
“You asked,” he grinned at me in the rearview mirror. “Hey, Crevan, have you ever noticed that she talks a lot without realizing it when she’s zoned out like this?”
“Shut up, Dev. I’m not deaf.”
I followed the article to the society page where the cream of Montgomery were cited for their donations and patronage to the arts. The picture at the top of the page made my coffee hit the floorboard with a wet thud.
“Jesus, Helen! Did you burn yourself?”
My hands trembled. I held up the page. “On official business for Collangelo. Isn’t that what he said?”
Crevan’s jaw dropped. “Helen, there’s got to be a rational explanation. If he said he was on a case –”
“What the hell is it?” Devlin tried unsuccessfully to steal a glance over his shoulder.
“It’s the alleged love of my life, pawing another woman while staring down her very low cut dress,” I fumed. “Unbelievable! No wonder he didn’t want me here with him! Is this what’s been going on with all his impromptu overnight trips to Montgomery since I’ve known him?”
“Shit,” Devlin muttered.
I tossed the paper aside and grabbed the handful of napkins Crevan held out. He made excuses while I mopped up the mess in the carpeting.
“Helen, don’t jump to conclusions.”
“Like he’s a two-timing bastard?”
“You know he loves you.”
“Sure he does. In Montgomery for an indefinite period of time while he does some special thing for Joe. Wasn’t that the bullshit excuse he gave? More like does someone special for Joe – like court the favor of this fucking woman for political gain.”
“Who is she?” Crevan asked. “Does the caption identify her?”
“I didn’t get that far,” I muttered. Tears threatened to burst from my eyes. I squelched the urge. I would not shed a single tear over the cheating bastard. “Who cares who she is, Crevan? This is Johnny being Johnny. Everybody warned me that he was a player, and like a fool, I believed him when he said it was all an act, part of his cover when nobody knew he was running OSI.”
“And that might be exactly what he’s doing now.”
“Oh please. The whole damn state knows who he is now,” I fumed.
Crevan reached over the seat and snatched the newspaper before I decided to shred it into a million pieces. He sucked in a deep breath. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
“What?” I huffed.
“It’s Melissa Sherman.”
“Give me that!”
Crevan held it out of my reach.
“Who is she? One of Sherman’s stolen children? One that rated better treatment than poor Florence?”
“It’s his widow,” Devlin said. “You don’t suppose that Joe Collangelo got wise to what Sherman was
doing behind the scenes, do you? It could be the case that Johnny came here to work on.”
“Are you serious? Look at his face! I’ve seen that look before. The last thing on his mind when that photo was taken was his job.”
“Helen, what if Devlin is right?”
“Call your old pal and ask him how late Mrs. Sherman’s escort stayed when he brought her home last night. I bet he’s still there, the fucking lecherous pig. And I bet Gillette knew exactly who he was, which shoots your undercover theory straight to hell, Devlin.”
While Devlin pulled out his phone and dialed his old partner’s number, I turned my phone on. Voicemail had two messages.
One: “Doc, answer the goddamned phone. I’m calling back in five minutes. We need to talk.”
Two: “Helen, since you’re not going to answer the phone, I suppose what I have to tell you will have to wait until later. This isn’t how I wanted this conversation to go. Guess it’s not important anyway, huh? Since you don’t want to see me or speak to me. You’re gonna regret this when you calm down.”
“No,” I whispered. “The only thing I regret is that I ever listened to your lies in the first place.”
I heard the last half of the conversation Dev shared with his old partner. “Left her house right away, huh?” Long pause. “Yeah, I know. Well, we’ve got our share of photographers publishing pictures that don’t tell the whole story in Darkwater Bay too. Guess the guy is a magnet for that sort of thing.”
My snort was decidedly disgusted.
“Right. Well we’ll be there in a few minutes. Like I said, we need to talk to Mrs. Sherman about this woman who we think might’ve worked for her husband about five years ago. No big deal, really, Andy. I appreciate the help.”
Devlin’s eyes met mine in the mirror again. “Did you get the gist of that?”
“He was the perfect gentleman. Escorted her to the door and went home.”
“Pretty much. Andy says nobody has come or gone from the Sherman place since. Oh, he did say one other interesting thing. Last night was the first time Mrs. Sherman has made a public appearance since her husband’s public memorial service. She looked like she was about to pop.”
I leaned forward. “As in about to deliver a baby?”
“Yep. Quite the scandal that she managed to procreate with a husband who was nearly sixty-one years older than she is.”
“Shit. They planned this for a very long time, didn’t they?”
“Or they realized that the Datello baby was the perfect opportunity for theft.”
“We’re taking that baby and having her DNA tested against the cord kit in Darkwater Bay,” I said.
“Helen, we can’t barge into this woman’s home and take her baby. What if we’re wrong?”
“Talk to her, Dev. Bring up Florence right away. If she knows we’re asking questions about the woman that very likely supplied the baby she’s trying to fob off as her own, I bet she suddenly isn’t a mom anymore.”
“We’ll see.”
“And if she cops to having a baby, get a DNA sample if you can. I don’t care if we’re digging through trash cans full of dirty diapers. If she stole that baby, I’m taking her back to Darkwater Bay right away.”
Devlin pulled up behind a dark sedan parked on the street of a very affluent section of town. “We’re here.”
His former partner unfolded his lanky frame from the car and loped back toward us. Dev rolled down his window and reached through with a hand. “Andy. Good to see you again.”
“Glad to see Darkwater Bay didn’t kill you off on its first attempt,” he flashed a straight, toothy smile. Crows feet crinkled the corners of his eyes as he silently appraised Crevan and me.
“You must be Helen Eriksson. And this one would be your new partner, Conall, right?”
Dev chuckled. “You get extra points for paying attention. How come you never listened to me that much when we were partners?”
“I always listened. Right now, I’m hoping to hear a really good explanation for why we’re harassing this poor woman. She’s been through a hell of a lot this month, Dev. You sure she’s involved in whatever you’re investigating?”
“Of course we’re not sure,” I snapped irritably. “If we were, there would be no need to talk to her.”
“We don’t think she’s done anything wrong, Andy. She might know a woman involved in an investigation back in Darkwater, somebody that worked for Mr. Sherman a few years ago. This is basically background information. I figured for old time’s sake, maybe you’d like to come inside with me for the chat.”
“Seriously?”
Devlin nodded. “What do you say?”
“Sure. Anything I can do to help.”
Dev cast one last glance at me and opened his door. He leaned into the window and spoke to Crevan. “See if you can’t iron out the other mess while we’re inside. I think it deserves immediate attention.”
They were barely across the street when I warned Crevan. “I have nothing to say to him. Apparently he wanted to dump me via AT&T last night. Technically, at least to his perverse way of seeing things, he wasn’t cheating.”
“Helen, that is not the Johnny Orion I’ve ever known.”
“Then perhaps this is a residual from his brain injury in December. He forgot how to be a decent human being that can tell the truth. He knew he was gonna get caught by the press at that stupid social event. Tony Briscoe merely gave him the perfect excuse to try to make our breakup my fault. Now are you gonna come with me to search the trash cans or not?”
“Legally, they’re not public domain until they’re at the curb, Helen. So no, I’m not going to help you get evidence we can’t use in court.”
“Fine,” I snarled. “How long do you think it’ll take Devlin to figure out that this woman is a liar, a kidnapper and a slave trader?”
“More than thirty seconds.”
“I suppose now you’re picking sides too.”
“Helen, you’re my friend. He’s my friend. Same as always. One has nothing to do with the other. I will say that if he’s dumping you for some society skank, I’ll be very disappointed.”
“And?”
“If you’re blowing this out of proportion and creating a problem because you tend to be paranoid as hell, I’ll be equally disappointed. I’m done trying to get you two to be rational. You’re on your own this time.”
The phone, and the temptation it created, just about burned a hole in my hand. Maybe I should call him and have it out right now. Would he be surprised that I’m sitting outside the new love interest’s house right now? Would he rush over to her defense, save her from his crazy, homicidal ex?
While I imagined elaborate scenarios and fantasies of wresting Crevan’s gun from his hip and shooting both adulterer and adulteress, minutes sped by. I didn’t notice the dark sedan speeding down the street, screeching to a halt in front of Sherman’s house.
Crevan’s hiss snapped me out of wishful thinking.
“Get down!”
My knees hit the wet spot on the floor. “What’s going on?”
“Don’t know. Stay down. I’ll be right back.”
The car jostled when he slammed the door, Crevan’s crisp footsteps faded quickly as he dashed across the street.
I’ve never been good about following directions. I peeked over the window in time to see the front door fly open. Melissa Sherman charged out the door and flung herself into Johnny’s arms. Devlin emerged next with a small wrapped in pink bundle against his chest followed by his wildly gesturing former partner. I could see distended veins from my vantage point across the street.
“It’s her!” Devlin’s voice boomed across the sleepy expanse. “I’m taking this child into custody until further testing can determine her identity, Andy. Get out of my way!”
Johnny set the merry widow away from him and took a menacing step toward Devlin. Crevan got between them, both hands on Johnny’s chest. “No, Johnny, you don’t understand.”
; “I understand that one of my detectives appears to be taking a baby unlawfully –”
“She just told us that her baby was stillborn two weeks ago,” Devlin snarled above the growing mewl of the baby in his arms. “How the hell does she have a baby in the house if hers died, huh, Johnny? And if this kid is two weeks old, how the hell do I know that we’re gonna find a fresh umbilical cord on her belly?”
Johnny took a step back. His eyes darted toward the car where I furtively watched. I ducked low.
“Shit!” If he saw me, the confrontation would no doubt be so spectacular, it would dwarf the one between a police commander and his two detectives.
“Look, we’ll take her back to Darkwater and run the tests. If we’re wrong, you can have my badge.” Devlin’s voice was disturbingly close to the car. “Crevan, I want this woman under house arrest until we’ve got the test results.”
He opened the back door of the car. “Get up, Helen.”
“He’ll see me.”
“Yeah, and he just defended that lying bitch. I don’t care if he sees you or not. I never said anything before, but I never thought he was good enough for you. Get up off the floor and take this baby before he tries to stop me again.”
I slid up to the seat. Devlin laid the squirming baby in the crook of my arm. “Take a picture. We’ll send it back to Darkwater and see if she looks like the photo we put out on the Amber Alert.”
I peered into the tiny face. “No need, Devlin. This is her.”
“Great. I’ll have Crevan take her into custody and have the local branch pick them up for transport back to OSI.”
“Devlin, I don’t want you to lose your job over this,” I said.
“And I refuse to work for a man who won’t enforce the law.”
He threw the car into gear and sped away from the curb. I turned to stare out the window. The last thing I saw was Johnny’s stunned expression when our eyes met.
Chapter 10
The trip back to Darkwater Bay would take less than two hours with Dev driving like demons were chasing us. To his way of seeing things, they might well be.
“What did she say to you?”
“Sherman?” He grunted softly. “She tried to pass off some sob story and make me feel like an insensitive oaf for asking about her late husband and her very well documented condition at his memorial service.”