Her Final Watch (A Detective Blanchette Mystery Book 2)

by Marguerite Ashton

  “No, you’re not. You’ll just try to talk me out of it on the way over. I’ll take Alec. Jeremiah, finish going over what you have left in your stack and I’ll finish mine when I return.”

  “You could take me,” Jeremiah offered. “Did you forget that I’m your partner?”

  “No, I didn’t forget.”

  Evan put his head down. “Why do you have to keep putting yourself in the way of possible danger?”

  “I’m doing my job. Besides, I have an advantage that most people don’t.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Mr. Surace respected my dad. And if Mikey was jumped because people knew he was at the police station, then I owe it to Mikey’s father to visit him. Show some compassion and ask some questions. Then we’ll see what happens.”

  Jeremiah pushed off the table. “Is this because I disagreed with you about Mikey being a suspect?”

  “It’s because you’re too attached to this case.”

  “I’ve got a reason for why I wasn’t able to meet you at McGinley’s.”

  “I don’t care to hear it.” Lily retrieved her keys from her pocket. “You’re entitled to your privacy.”

  “Someone very close to me committed suicide not long after we broke up. I went to visit her grave.”

  Silence fell among the three detectives.

  Evan said, “Sorry to hear about that, J.” He looked at Lily.

  “Sorry for your loss,” Lily said. “I better go.”

  *

  7:00 p.m.

  “I know you don’t see any of the working girls, but Crystal assured me that you’ll want to hear this.” Quentin stood in the doorway of Pop Surace’s office. “It has to do with Leash.”

  Pop stopped rocking in his chair and sat forward. “Send her in.”

  Quentin stepped to the side, showing the dancer into the office. Wearing a black cut out dress and heels, Crystal took several steps onto the beige area rug, stopping a few feet in front of Pop’s desk. Her thick dark hair shielded one side of her round face that was covered in make-up, which made her look older than she was.

  What happened to simplicity? A touch of make-up and an outfit that covered the obvious.

  Was Mikey right about him and his old fashioned values not being good for the type of business he was running? Would his thoughts ruin his plans: to build something decent for the Surace legacy? A legacy where one didn’t have to worry about the law.

  Pop stole a glance at Quentin stationed near the door. The guard immediately reached into the nearby closet, took out a blanket and nudged Crystal.

  “Oh. Sorry,” Crystal said, taking the blanket and wrapping it around her body. She looked back at Quentin, then turned back to face him. “Mr. Surace?”

  “What do you have to tell me that you couldn’t tell one of my men?”

  “My client, Leash, revealed to me that he’s making a move on the Suraces and that no one will find out about until it’s too late. I think he’s working with someone.”

  “Did he talk about his plans?”

  Crystal shook her head.

  “This client revealed this information to you and offered you nothing? Why tell me when you could’ve blackmailed him? Get a little something for yourself.”

  Vibrations from the music thumped off the walls.

  “I’ve gotta a kid and I need this job. Do you believe me?”

  Pop leaned back in his chair and rocked. “Thanks for thinking of the family. Take the rest of the night off.”

  Crystal turned and walked out, keeping the blanket.

  Quentin stepped forward, shutting the office door. “What do you want me to do about this latest news?”

  “I want you to check it out. See if this Crystal’s words hold water. I want to know who he’s working with. When you find out, stop by the house. Don’t call or text me on those stupid smartphones.”

  “Done.”

  *

  7:58 p.m.

  Lily sat at the table in the rear of the club while Alec sat at the bar sipping ginger ale.

  Lily scanned her surroundings. The lights where the dancers performed on stage were off. Opera was the choice of music for that evening. If she hadn’t been in here before, she might even consider the restaurant side as a suitable place for casual dining.

  She drummed her fingers on the table, checking her watch every few seconds. The waiter came down the stairs and asked the same question he’d asked Lily before he left. “Are you ready to place your order?”

  “For the third time, I don’t want to order food. I’d like to speak with Mr. Surace.”

  The waiter stepped around the table, closing the space between him and Lily. “Please place an order ma’am. It’s the only way I can help you with your request.” He stepped back.

  Lily picked up the menu and scanned it. It was in Italian. I can’t read this. She didn’t want to delay her visit with Mr. Surace so she continued reading the menu while she tried to remember the name of Deena’s favorite dish.

  She folded the menu and handed it to the waiter. “Spaghetti with Bay Scallops.”

  “Good selection.” The waiter turned and left.

  Several minutes later, Mr. Surace shuffled in Lily’s direction and sat down at the table. “Thanks for agreeing to sit down and have dinner with me. You never know who’s watching. DEA. FBI.”

  “Thank you for seeing me, Mr. Surace.”

  “Call me, Pop. For you, it’ll be Pop.”

  Lily nodded.

  The waiter returned with a bottle of wine. He filled Pop’s glass first.

  As the server went to pour Lily a glass of wine, she placed her hand over the top. “I’ll have water.”

  Pop looked at Lily. “A woman who turns down good wine isn’t very thirsty or she’s expecting.”

  “I’m expecting.”

  “Brava.”

  Soon their meals arrived.

  Lily placed a napkin in her lap. “I want to apologize for what happened to your son after he left the police station.”

  “Talking to the police is not a practice allowed in our circles. However, I do believe in being respectful to women. My wife bore me a son twenty-eight years ago after doctors told us there’d be no children in our future. How she proved them wrong.

  “Never once did I cheat or lay a hand on my wife. God rest her soul. It’d break her heart if she knew I’d allowed such disrespect to go on in the family.” Pop took a bite of his risotto and exhaled. “What’s the real reason that brings you here?”

  “I’ve come to ask for your help. Will you allow Mikey to give me the name of the person responsible for the deaths of at least three people?”

  “You’re correct. For things to happen in this family, it has to go through me. Mikey gave you what you needed to know. Probably more than he should have.”

  “I hope you’re not asking me to believe that seeking your own justice would be the appropriate thing, when you’re able to give me the name and let me and my detectives handle it.”

  “If you’d come earlier, I might’ve considered it.”

  Lily looked down at her plate full of food. The aroma was enticing but she couldn’t find the energy to lift her fork. Something had happened to change Pop’s mind. “Are you telling me that someone else is going to die?”

  “I had a girl who works here tell me that this person you’re looking for has done something bad against my family. After all we did by granting him mercy so that you cops could take care of him instead of us. Now I have to step in. Something must be done.”

  “Is there anything I can say to change your mind?”

  Pop took a sip of his wine. “I’ll tell you this much, the guy, he split—making him fair game for both sides. He’s hiding somewhere and if you find him before we do, he’s yours.”

  Lily pondered what other choices she had to save her suspect. She had to find him and find him fast. “I have one more question.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Someone broke into my tru
ck and left a postcard behind. The postcard is of the camp that once stood where your club stands now. Do you know anything about it?”

  “Are you asking if I know anyone who would do such a thing?”

  “It could be perceived as a threat. I’m working on a case that involves a member of your family. I just want to make sure that it’s not some sort of warning.”

  “I can assure you that it has nothing to do with my family. However, it might have something to do with your family.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I knew the previous owners. In that bankruptcy, I acquired everything that came with it. There were some registered guest logs for the parents who stayed in the cottages during their children’s stay at the camp. One of the names on the log was Deena Blanchette.”

  Mother? I don’t remember her staying at the resort. She always told me she couldn’t stay because of work. “Do you still have them?”

  Pop nodded as he signaled to his men. “As a favor to Collin, I kept the registration records in my safe. Your dad wanted to protect his family name.”

  One of the guys returned with several ledger books and handed them to Lily. She took them and scrolled through the entries. She looked under the last names and saw Deena’s listed more than once.

  What was Dad trying to protect? Then she remembered something that she had learned about an old friend of her mother’s.

  Lily flipped to the letter “m” and skimmed the listing for the name that had been the subject of an ugly family secret.

  Lily’s heart sank as she neared the bottom of the list. Penned in red ink, like distorted graffiti sprayed underneath the bridges along the Rock River, was the name Lily still had a hard time seeing. Landon Montejack. Her biological father. Even though he was no longer alive, it still hurt.

  She took in a deep breath and exhaled. What good did it do to confront Deena about a subject that Lily had promised had been forgiven?

  Pop patted Lily’s hand. “If you ever need a favor, come see me. I promise, I won’t refuse.” He downed his wine, got up from the table and glanced down at Lily. “If that time ever comes, I’ll tell you a story about your father and what he did for me in the nineties. I love telling stories.”

  Lily stood and watched Pop leave the room. Thoughts circled around in her head. Why would she ever need to ask a favor from the mob?

  *

  The latch on the door clicked louder than Lily wanted it to as she finished locking up the house.

  Heat swirled up from the vent near the door and whistled quietly.

  Heat.

  As Lily took off her gloves and stood next to welcomed warmth, Max came up and nuzzled Lily’s hand.

  “I don’t think you’ve ever snuck in the house when you were younger,” Deena said, coming half-way down the spiral staircase. “No sense of doing it now.”

  Lily spun around and saw a wry smile spread across her mother’s face.

  By this time, Mother was usually in her bedroom with the door shut tight, sleeping or prepping for the next work day. “It’s a quarter after ten. I didn’t want to wake you.”

  “I can’t sleep.” Deena continued down the stairs.

  An encounter with Deena was too soon for Lily after what she’d learned tonight from Pop Surace. The truth of the matter was Lily didn’t want to see her mother. Another wound had been cut open, reminding Lily of their love-hate relationship. “I’m headed to bed. Tomorrow’s going to be another long day.”

  “For me, too. I have an appointment in Fort and a meeting with Zach in Madison. I hope to be home before dinner. Do you think you’ll be home to have a meal with me?”

  Annoyed, Lily dropped her eyes down to the floor. Only if you can look me straight in the face and tell me the truth for once. What was it about the man who raised me that you felt a compulsive need to cheat on him? Feeding into your obsession for a man you never married. Embarrassing Dad over and over again. “I can’t promise anything. I’ll see what I can do.”

  “All I’m asking is that you try,” Deena said, her voice brittle. “I’ll wait up for you.”

  Zach was the family’s lawyer. Why did Mother need to see him?

  Lily watched as Deena ascended the stairs and closed her bedroom behind her. The sadness in Deena’s voice, coupled with her own unanswered questions, knocked Lily back for a moment as she walked into her bedroom. The last time she had heard her mother that melancholy was a month ago when they both got the news that her dad had been killed.

  Chapter 20

  The next morning the silence surrounding Deena was deafening as she sat up on the bench in her hospital gown waiting for the tech to return after showing the radiologist the films from her mammogram. She glanced up at the clock.

  It had been more than twenty minutes. None of her yearly mammograms had ever taken this long. They’ve found something wrong.

  Deena gazed down at her trembling hands. She hadn’t been this frightened since she was fifteen when her mother drove them to see Father Murphy so she could repent of her sin. Afterward, Deena was taken to the seminary, where she stayed for almost a year.

  The lack of being in control was a hard thing for her to grasp. Cracking the whip and demanding answers from others was what she was used to. It wasn’t happening in the radiology department of Fort Atkinson Memorial Hospital. She’d have to wait.

  A light rap on the heavy wooden door halted her thoughts. Dr. Geschu, a thin male entered the room.

  Dr. Geschu removed his glasses and offered his hand. “It’s been at least two years since I’ve seen you.”

  Deena’s heart thudded in her chest. She shook his hand, holding on for a little while longer. “I wished it’d been longer.”

  “I got good news, and I have bad news. The good news is your mammogram shows nothing. The bad news is I know it’s there and it’s at eleven o’clock. It’s important that I schedule you for your consult with the surgeon immediately.”

  Surgery? Am I going to die? Deena rubbed her fingertips over the lump. “How soon? I mean I’ve got clients and an upcoming trip to New York. There’s no way …”

  “Deena, I’m not asking you. I’m telling you. This is not something you can wait to get taken care of.” Dr. Geschu looked down at his chart. “I can get you in to see the surgeon on Monday. If the doctor agrees with me, you’ll be scheduled for surgery the following day.”

  Deena nodded. How was she going to tell Lily at dinner?

  *

  9:12 a.m.

  Outside Hindle Café, Jeremiah watched as wadded papers tumbled across the gray pavement and into a pothole blocked off by traffic cones. He took a sip of his coffee as Lily adjusted her wool beanie. He had screwed up with his partner. She probably wouldn’t believe anything else he said. He wished he could get her to understand the trouble he was in. The more he thought of his situation, the more it embarrassed him.

  Time was running out to tell Lily everything. It needed to happen. It had to before she was caught in the crossfire.

  Lily sipped from her travel mug. “I’m not sure this is El Niño weather anymore. Today seems colder.”

  “Can we talk about the other day?”

  “We can talk about the case.”

  Jeremiah’s annoyance flared as he let a wall of silence separate them. Was this how it was going to be between the two of them from now on? All because Lily thought he lied to her. As if she had never told a lie before. Besides, it wasn’t a lie. Technically. Technically, it was only a delay in telling the truth.

  He grabbed his thermos off the table, and they started walking towards the Charger. “We stayed up going through all of that paperwork and found nothing, Lily. It’s like we’ve hit a brick wall.”

  “I know. But let’s remain positive. It’s a new day and we’ve gotten some sleep. We’ll go over the photos and notes you put together detailing Ariel’s final days and see if there are any holes in the timeline.”

  Lily’s phone rang. She stopped to answer it. With sudden inte
nsity, she fired off a barrage of questions. “Thanks.” She clicked off the phone. “That was Norris at the crime lab. The D.N.A. on the cigar from the crime scene is coming back as no match. But they’re still working on the cigar from Dan’s house. Fingers crossed.”

  “What about the print on the envelope?”

  “We’re still waiting.” Lily returned her cell to its case. “Here’s something new. Ibee left a voicemail last night. I’ll return her call once we get to the station.”

  “Maybe Ibee developed a conscience after you confronted her about being Ariel’s handler.”

  “Maybe.”

  As they approached their car, a black vehicle with tinted windows moved slowly in their direction.

  “Jeremiah, something’s not right. Check out that car?”

  The car sped in their direction.

  “Get down!” Jeremiah lunged at Lily, knocking her down to the ground.

  Crack! Crack! Crack!

  Glass shattered into pieces around them as bullets whizzed by their heads.

  Tires peeled out and away from the café.

  Jeremiah placed his hand on Lily’s back and noticed her dark dress pants were soaked. “You okay? Were you hit?”

  “I’m fine. It’s just tea.”

  “Be careful and stay low.”

  Men and women cried out for help.

  Sirens blared in the distance.

  Jeremiah got to his knees and looked between the iron bars of the bike rack. His heart pounded in his chest like a steel drum. Shit. They’ve found me.

  “Is it safe?” Lily asked.

  “They’re gone. I think,” Jeremiah said standing. He flagged down the patrol car headed their way.

  The cruiser screeched to a halt a few feet away from the bike rack.

  When Nick got out of his cruiser, two more patrol cars pulled up alongside one another, blocking in Jeremiah and Lily.

  Jeremiah extended his arm and helped his partner get to her feet. “You sure you’re okay?”

  Lily stood, placing her hand on her belly. “My baby.” She doubled over in pain. “I need to go to the hospital.”

  Nick sprinted toward Lily and scooped her up in his arms. He placed her gently in the back of the car and closed the door. “I’m taking Detective Blanchette to the hospital. More responders are en route.” Nick ran around to the driver’s side. “I’ll notify dispatch about my destination.”