by Beth Flynn
Chapter 49
His days had bled into weeks. Two weeks to be exact. Two weeks since he’d last seen Lucy. Fourteen days of complete and utter torment. They felt like an eternity. He’d made himself stay away from her by keeping himself busy with motorcycle club duties, as well as the part-time job Anthony had hooked him up with. Other than that, he spent his time alone at his new apartment. Not even the women who swarmed him like fire ants when he showed up at Camp Sawgrass could cure the emptiness in his soul. He had no use for them. There was only one woman he wanted. One woman he craved. His misery swirled around him like dangerous debris caught in a tornado.
Today was the day he was to meet with Anthony’s contact to see what he’d found out with the additional information Jonas provided concerning Lucy’s mother. Like the first time, Jonas should’ve gone through Bear, but Anthony was dealing with a situation of his own. And since Jonas was a trusted member of Anthony’s inner circle, he’d hooked the two men up with a warning to Jonas that it would cost an arm and a leg. The kind of information Jonas needed didn’t come cheaply. Jonas didn’t care about the money. He’d pay a fortune to have one more legitimate reason to see Lucy again. And then he’d have to be done with her. It’s for her own good became his internal mantra since he’d run her off at the cabin. If only he could allow himself to believe it.
He now sat in the back office of a family-owned print shop and waited for the mild-mannered and unassuming owner to lock up before taking a seat behind the desk.
“Thanks for not showing up here on your motorcycle,” the man said while rifling through a pile of papers.
Jonas nodded. He understood how important it was for the man not to have any connection to someone like Anthony Bear. His eyes inventoried the room and the person sitting in front of him. Like he’d thought during their first meeting two weeks ago, the guy looked like an average Joe with one huge exception. This average Joe had a powerful connection to someone who was above local law enforcement. His assessment proved correct when the man interrupted his thoughts by saying, “My suggestion that you provide me with as many names as you could think of was very useful. Like I told you, when people establish a new identity, nine times out of ten, they can’t let go of something in their past. It’s a good thing you thought to tell me the name of the Irish Setter Lucy had while growing up.”
Jonas looked momentarily confused. “The dog?”
The man fanned through the report. “It’s all right here. Paddy O’Brien was the head of the Irish Mafia back in the day. The son of a bitch owned everything and everyone connected to crime in Philadelphia. I guess you could even say he owned the city itself, it was so fraught with corruption back then.”
“You got all of that from the dog’s name?”
The man shook his head. “That and the twin brother’s name. I knew Lenny was probably short for Leonard. I was right. Melton Renquest’s real name was David Leonard. I guess he didn’t think anyone would ever make a connection. And they never have. But, as you can see, I’m very thorough.”
Jonas sat up and leaned toward the man’s desk. “So, where does Paddy O’Brien come into this?”
The man smirked. “This is where it gets interesting. Paddy O’Brien had a vision of joining forces with the Italian mob. He thought an alliance would prove very lucrative and he’d have been right. He wanted more than Philadelphia. He wanted the whole East Coast. The only way to make it work was to have the heads of both families intermarry. His only daughter,” he paused and laid down the papers he’d been holding, “Lucy’s mother, was set to marry the oldest son of Carmine Bilotti. Who, by the way, was a direct descendent of Al Capone if you can believe that.” When Jonas didn’t comment, he continued. “David Leonard was an accountant for Paddy but not for anything to do with his criminal activities. Paddy owned legitimate businesses as well.”
The man leaned back and rested his feet on his desk. “The rest is pretty obvious. Lucy’s mother met and fell in love with David Leonard, her father’s legitimate accountant. She obviously wasn’t going to marry Carmine’s son, Sal, so they ran away and changed their identities. When his only chance at increasing his power took flight, Paddy put up a huge reward for anyone who could find his daughter.”
Jonas looked thoughtful. “Is it possible people are still looking for her?”
“Doubtful but not impossible. Paddy died a few years later and the reward died with him. But…” The man paused and squeezed his chin.
Jonas frowned. “But what?”
“Well, there had been a rumor that the couple took a lot of money from Paddy. It was never confirmed, but they would’ve needed money to start a new life.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “I did the background check on Melton Renquest and there was nothing in his financials to indicate he had access to that kind of money. Then again, the guy was supposedly a genius and he could’ve covered his tracks well.” He waved a hand in the air. “The man was smart enough to work as a tax attorney without ever having gone to school. Who knows, maybe the money is still out there somewhere, or maybe he vanished of his own volition and took it with him.”
Jonas didn’t know how, but he had the distinct intuition that Lucy’s recent Peeping Tom was somehow connected. He asked one last question. “What would be the chances that someone from way back in the day would be looking for that money now?”
The man sat up, his expression pensive. “It’s possible. After Paddy died, a lot of his old crew got snagged. Some might still be doing time. I can check into that for you. See if anyone’s been released in the past few years.”
Jonas stood up and tossed a bulging cash-filled envelope on the desk. “That won’t be necessary,” he told the man. He headed for the door.
“Wait,” the man called after him. “You forgot this.”
Jonas turned around and saw him waving the report.
Jonas shook his head. “Burn it.”
Chapter 50
Jonas stormed out of the print shop and headed for his truck. He needed to pay someone a visit. He spotted the police cruiser and switched directions, heading straight for Officer Bruce Miller. He’d been paying Bruce along with two other cops to keep a close eye on Lucy’s home in the event the Peeping Tom returned.
“Everything okay?” he asked. He was agitated and it showed.
“If you’re asking about Lucy, everything is fine,” he told the biker. “I saw your truck here and thought I’d report in personally. I made my last round last night about ten thirty. Her car was in the driveway, and she looked settled in for the night. The street was quiet. I drove past this morning on my way to work and like I expected, her car was gone.”
Jonas squinted down at Bruce. “Today is her long day at the college.”
“Yeah, I know,” the man replied. As if watching gears of a machine in action, Bruce could sense the concentration behind Jonas’ black eyes.
Within seconds of the print shop owner’s admission that it was possible someone could be looking for the Renquest family after so many years, Jonas had remembered some details Lucy had mentioned over the course of their time together at the cabin. One particular item now stood out. The whirlwind romance Mrs. Renquest had with a man named Allen. A man who’d dropped into her life out of nowhere and supposedly disappeared with a neighbor he’d been seeing. If Jonas wasn’t mistaken, Lucy’s new friend, Brad, had showed up not too long afterwards. And somehow managed to infiltrate his way into Lucy’s life. Lucy and Jonas had shared one significant commonality. They both were loners. So the fact that this guy became fast friends with Lucy was beyond suspicious, and Jonas could’ve kicked himself in the ass for not seeing it sooner. He now knew it was no coincidence that Brad, who was the right age, was also an accountant and took an interest in Lucy’s numbers. He’d known something was off about the guy, but he hadn’t been able to place it. Damn it!
“I need a car for a little while,” he told Bruce. “A car that’s not going to be missed.”
Bruce’s eyes darted around
the parking lot before landing back on Jonas. “I occasionally borrow one from the impound lot. It’s parked in front of my house. You know, for when…”
Jonas knew what Bruce borrowed the car for and didn’t care. “Give me the keys,” he demanded.
Without hesitation, Bruce passed Jonas the keys. Bruce’s house was on the way to Lucy’s neighborhood so it wouldn’t take Jonas long to swap out his truck for Bruce’s ride. Jonas shoved them in his pocket and was getting ready to walk away when Bruce asked a question that caused him to pause. He looked down at the dirty cop and scowled in concentration. There was a memory, something nagging at him. Something that was trying to claw its way to the surface. When Jonas didn’t reply, Bruce followed up with a comment. A comment that immediately connected with the memory. Without replying, Jonas headed for his truck, picking up the pace as he went.
Chapter 51
Jonas slowly circled Lucy’s block and after confirming she wasn’t home, decided to park the car two streets away. He was grateful it was a working-class neighborhood and very few people were at home. And it was still hours away from when the school bus would be dropping off a load of kids. He stealthily approached the house from the rear and was surprised the back door wasn’t locked. He hadn’t seen a car in front of the house, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t parked in the garage. For a man of his size, he was surprisingly quiet as he let himself in and scoped out the house. There wasn’t much to see. It was obvious by the kitchen, dining room, and living room that the occupant hadn’t planned on staying. It was furnished but devoid of any personal items. No framed pictures of family or friends. No china in the dining room hutch. No personal touches whatsoever. Pretty much like Jonas’ apartment. Both guest bedrooms were even more sparse and the spare bathroom looked like it had never been used. He made his way to the master bedroom and didn’t even get through the door before he saw the packed duffel bag on the bed. He was getting ready to flee. Jonas slowly made his way around to the other side of the bed and what he saw confirmed what he’d suspected. If they’d been human, there would’ve been a lot of blood. His jaw tightened when he recognized what had been Lucy’s most prized possessions. Sadly, Sam and Sally were now nothing but remnants of their former selves, torn and shredded into almost unrecognizable pieces.
“Bastard,” he spat. Then he heard the front door open. Jonas lay in wait and managed to take him by surprise. Like he already knew it would be, it was easy, almost too easy. He dragged him roughly into the second bathroom and handcuffed him to the backside of the toilet tank. Standing over him, he looked down and asked a question. “What’s your real name?” Jonas demanded. “Don’t even think about lying. What’s your name?”
“Allen Car…”
The punch was swift and unexpected. “Not the name you used when you set up housekeeping with Lucy’s mother. You have one more chance to get it right.” He took out a knife and laid it on the bathroom counter. “If you don’t talk, you can tell me what piece of your face I’m going to cut off first.”
“Sean O’Sullivan,” he admitted with a defeated sigh.
“Okay, Sean O’Sullivan, start talking. From the beginning. Don’t leave one detail out.”
Sean O’Sullivan slowly recounted the same story he’d shared with Lucy, purposely leaving out his hand in the death of Melton Renquest and the woman he’d supposedly run off with. “His real name was David Leonard,” he added at the end of his succinct summary of events.
Jonas had been listening, his arms crossed. “I already know his real name. Where’s the woman you ran off with?”
Sean shook his head. “No clue. She bailed on me somewhere in Virginia.”
Jonas knew he was lying.
Sean looked up and knew he’d underestimated the biker. Just because he hadn’t been around much didn’t mean he wasn’t somehow seriously invested in Lucy and the Renquest family. He had to be to have already known Melton Renquest’s real name. During the course of Sean’s dissertation, Jonas had even added truthful commentary. Maybe the biker had been doing his own surveillance of Lucy Renquest. He was too young to have been part of the original crew, but it was possible he had a father or an uncle who’d shared the story. He knew just by the facial tattoos that the gigantic man was a serious criminal and decided his best chance of survival was to appeal to that side of him. “I’ve, I’ve…I’ve got the numbers,” Sean offered. “I’ve got all the numbers in my back pocket and I know where to look for the money. I’ll split it with you. Fifty-fifty.” He looked up at Jonas, his eyes pleading for mercy. “Let me go and we can be partners.”
Jonas landed another blow to his face that broke his cheekbone but didn’t knock him out. “What do you mean you have all the numbers in your back pocket? How did you get them?”
“She gave them to me,” he said with a whimper. “She gave them to me voluntarily. I didn’t hurt her. I swear. I didn’t hurt her.”
Jonas grabbed him by the hair and lifted him up as far as he could before the resistance of the handcuffs stopped him. “What do you mean she gave you all the numbers? When did you get the numbers from Lucy?”
“Maybe thirty minutes ago,” he cried.
Jonas dropped him and asked, “She’s in school. How did you see her thirty minutes ago?”
Sean O’Sullivan knew he’d played his hand too soon and shrank back from Jonas. “I didn’t know she was home. Her car must be in the garage. She doesn’t park in the garage a lot. I should’ve guessed she was home when I got inside and didn’t have to disable her alarm.”
Jonas grabbed his knife and knelt so they were facing each other. “Where is she?” he growled.
“I locked her in her closet. She’s not hurt. I swear.”
Jonas stood abruptly and sliced the man’s ear off so swiftly, Sean O’Sullivan didn’t even know it was missing until he saw it splatter against the tile wall and slide down, leaving a streak of blood.
“If she’s so much as missing a strand of hair from her head, I’m gonna fill up the bathtub with even smaller pieces of you.”
Chapter 52
Lucy heard the slam of her front door, and the floor shook with what could only have been Jonas’ heavily booted footsteps. When the closet door flung open, she started sobbing again.
“I’ll kill him. I’ll fucking kill him,” Jonas muttered as he used his knife to cut Lucy’s bindings. She cried out in pain when she tried to move her arms and legs. She’d been hog-tied for only about thirty minutes, but the pain had been excruciating.
Jonas carried her to the bed and gently sat her down while he knelt in front of her and carefully cut the tape from around her blindfold. When it had been fully removed, she flung herself into his arms. He held her tightly as they both gradually stood up.
“How did you know?” she sobbed. “How did you know where to find me?”
Jonas spotted her glasses on the floor and bent to retrieve them. He used his thumbs to brush away her tears before softly placing them on her face. He kissed her forehead and said, “It’s a long story that I’ll tell you later.” Almost as an afterthought, he glanced around the room. “Why aren’t you in school, and where is Chaos?”
“He got a hold of one of those poisonous frogs and started foaming at the mouth. I rushed him to the vet super late last night. I’m going to call to see when I can pick him up.” She walked to her dresser on wobbly legs and grabbed a tissue. She blew her nose and said, “The only way you could’ve known I was in my closet is if you talked to Brad. Did he tell you how he supposedly spilled coffee on my dolls and why he seemed so interested in my numbers game? Did he tell you he killed my father?” Her voice came out shrill when she continued, “He beat my father to death, Jonas. And dumped him in a canal.”
Jonas grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her. “It wasn’t Brad, Lucy.”
“Of course it was,” she cried. “I confronted him and he even admitted to targeting my mother first. He killed their neighbor and let my mother believe they’d run off together.”
Jonas shook his head. “Did you actually see Brad?”
Lucy looked perplexed. “No. I had my back to the door and he blindfolded me before I could turn around. Then he stopped using his phony British accent, but I knew it was him.” She then proceeded to tell Jonas about the adage that had aroused her suspicions. “It’s not a common saying.”
Jonas was still clutching her shoulders and backed her up to the bed. He sat her down and explained what the private investigator had found out about her parents and how he too had originally assumed Brad was the Peeping Tom. He was the right age, showed up in the neighborhood around the right time, and had managed to become extremely close to Lucy. He’d been the obvious choice.
Lucy’s brows knitted in confusion. “So who is it? Who from my parents’ past has been stalking me?”
“The guy across the street. I don’t think you’ve met him. The disabled dude with the wife who occasionally visits. I’ve just spent half an hour with him. It’s definitely him.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “The Spindall’s renter? Mike Kelly from Cincinnati? What in the world led you to suspect him?”
“I almost didn’t. I was coming out of the investigator’s office when I spotted Bruce. You know, the cop.”
Lucy’s answer was a small nod.
“I was on my way to pay Brad a visit when Bruce asked me a question. He wanted to know when I could arrange another hook-up with his favorite prostitute, Gloria. He didn’t want money for patrolling your neighborhood. He wanted quality time with her.”
Lucy raised both arms in a gesture that conveyed what she was thinking. “Yeah. So?”
“The last time I was here, after you went to bed, I stayed up and watched the street from the front window. I saw the cab show up with Mike Kelly’s supposed wife. I saw her get out of the car but couldn’t see her face. But there was something about the way she walked that was familiar. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was looking at Gloria.”