by Laura Marie
“Let’s just enjoy our lunch together and not talk about any of this stuff anymore. Okay?”
“Fine, Miss Thang! Whatever you say.” Celina gave a small smile.
Victoria was sure that Celina wondered what Victoria was really up to. It should be obvious to Celina that research would not put a smile like that on her best friend’s face.
* * * *
Victoria returned to her office to find a bouquet of red roses on her desk. She opened the small, white card and found a note from Bret.
Victoria,
May you enjoy the next few days as our relationship evolves both professionally and personally. I can’t wait until this weekend at the cottage.
Love
Bret
“Shit!” Victoria said out loud. Bret never mentioned anything about going away for the weekend. There was no way she could go and avoid sleeping with him. The thought made her stomach churn.
“I guess those flowers were from someone you weren’t expecting.”
Victoria turned abruptly to find Uncle Patrick standing in the doorway. Her heart dropped and so did her mouth as she tried to recover from the shock of the surprise visit. Did Steven tell him everything? She couldn’t help but wonder.
“What are you doing here?” She placed the card on her desk, then leaned against the front of it with her arms crossed in front of her chest.
“You didn’t answer my question. Who are the flowers from?” Uncle Patrick touched the roses.
Victoria’s cell phone rang and she excused herself to answer the call.
“Yes, this is Victoria Mardullo.”
“My name is Casey. I called the other day. I don’t know if I should be doing this, but the girls at the restaurant said I should tell you. We had no idea that Danny was your father. We liked him. He was a good man.”
Victoria did not want to miss this call.
“Could you hold on one second please?” she asked. Casey said yes, and Victoria spoke softly to her uncle.
“I really need to take this call. Can you wait a few minutes?” He nodded and took a seat in one of the fancy leather chairs in her office. Victoria left the room and headed into the conference room.
“I’m sorry for the interruption, Casey, please go on.”
“Well, I just wanted you to know that your dad wasn’t involved with Linda. Linda had a reputation of seducing men and drinking too much.”
“And you know this…how?”
“One night, while I was tending bar, she had a few too many gin and tonics when she started talking about making so much money and sleeping around with men. She was a con artist. She told me all about the lie she told your father about that big shot Bret Collins forcing himself on her.”
“You’re sure about this? If I need a sworn statement from you, will you do that?”
“If it’s necessary. I never cared for Linda, but your dad was such a nice man. Linda was setting your dad up. All I could think was that they were planning on pinning something at the police department on him. At least that’s what I got from the bits and pieces of conversations. Linda was a big drinker of the hard stuff.”
“Why are you telling me this, Casey? Did someone put you up to this?” Victoria was learning to trust no one and be wary about free information.
“Your dad was a good man, like I said. Some guys started harassing me one Thursday night when he was there. He had one of the local New Jersey Troopers he knew personally walk me out of the building that night. The guys never bothered me again. He didn’t know me from Eve, yet he used his Jersey connections to help out some bartender he barely knew. I was annoyed that Linda was pulling something on your dad, but I was too late in informing him. He was murdered the following day, and I can’t help but feel like I could have done more.”
“Don’t do that to yourself, Casey. Right now, you’re helping me out. I need to know everything she said.” Victoria wrote notes down on the yellow business pad in the conference room.
Ten minutes later, she made her way back to her office where her uncle sat behind her desk.
He looked as though he belonged there and had every right to be snooping around.
“What do you think you’re doing, Uncle Patrick?”
“Hey, if you leave someone in your office for more than five minutes, what do you expect them to do but become nosey?” He held the card from Bret in one hand and some notes she wrote down for her article in another. Victoria could just imagine what her uncle thought.
“If you don’t mind, can you remove yourself from my desk and drop the papers?”
Uncle Patrick got up and met Victoria by her desk. He held the little white note out toward her.
“You’re not considering going there with him this weekend, are you?”
Victoria took the card from his hand. Uncle Patrick caught and held her hand gently in his. He loved her like a daughter, she knew that, and she tried to maintain her composure.
“He’s wrong for you, Tory. If you’re involved with something that seems to be over your head, you’d come to me, to your family, right?”
“I’m not in over my head. I’m working on a story and I’m dating Bret Collins. That’s all.”
“A story on corruption in police departments and dating a man believed to be involved in corruption and illegal activity.”
“Alleged corruption and illegal activities. He has nothing to do with my story.”
“He’s not a man to mess around with, Tory. Your father and he were enemies for multiple reasons. He would have been a suspect in your dad’s murder, but he had an alibi that day and night. He was shacked up with some twenty-year-old bimbo down in New Jersey.” Uncle Patrick let go of her hand and walked toward the door.
“So that should give you peace of mind. Maybe he’s not as bad as you think?”
“Tory, your dad hated him and he hated your dad. How can you sleep with a man who wanted to destroy your father?”
“I’m not sleeping with him, first of all, and secondly, he didn’t want to destroy my father. He wants to be town supervisor, and Dad didn’t want to see him in that position. Bret didn’t waste time trying to get Dad’s vote. He focused on those who backed him and didn’t support Jack ‘Flip’ Walker.”
“You’re wrong, kid. Flip is the better choice for the position. He does things the legal way. I came by to tell you that this weekend we’re having a fiftieth birthday party for Aunt Jane. Be there and without Bret Collins.”
“I’ll see if I can make it. I may have other plans.” Victoria held the card in her hand where her uncle could see it.
“I love you, Tory, and I hope you know that if you need me, I’m here for you…and so is your family.” He said good-bye and left.
Victoria went to her desk to think about Casey and Jack ‘Flip’ Walker. They were the next two people she needed to get information on.
Now she had a good excuse to decline Bret’s offer. A family gathering she was forced to go to for her mom’s sake. Bret would believe that. He knew how much Victoria loved her mother.
Just then, her phone rang and she answered it while she looked over her notes.
“Yeah, Tory, it’s me, Peter. Did you hear the news? They found Ronnie Chappa’s body.”
“What? When and where?”
“This morning some old couple were taking a walk through the memorial gardens and found him. Tod and Don are working the case.”
“Uncle Patrick was just here. He didn’t say a word.”
“He was? Well, did he tell you about Bret?”
“No. What about Bret?”
“The FBI is at town hall. He, along with about ten other town officials, are being accused of corruption, payoffs, and receiving bribes for votes in the upcoming election. I don’t know why Uncle Patrick didn’t tell you.”
“I don’t know why, either. I’d better go. I need to call Bret.”
“Tory…disconnect yourself from him before it’s too late…He’s trouble. Can’t you see that?”
“I need him,” she said without thinking. She needed to question him about Linda and their relationship. She needed to contact Monroe and Warren.
“What do you mean you need him? You’re not in love with him, are you? You can’t be serious!”
She had to allow him to think the worst. Victoria hung up the phone.
Her cell phone rang again, and this time it was Investigator Warren.
He told her everything that went on and about questioning Bret soon. They felt he would go to Victoria for support and assistance and perhaps ask her to do something illegal or confide in her more.
“We want you to wear a wire, Victoria. He’s going to ask you to do something illegal, and we want it on tape. The more proof and evidence we have, the longer he’ll stay behind bars.”
Victoria wondered why they wouldn’t question Bret about his connection to her father’s murder. All Warren and Monroe seemed to be interested in was the political corruption and removing Bret from the ballot. Her inquisitive mind, her journalistic instincts, as well as those from being a cop’s daughter, now went into overdrive. She didn’t trust Monroe or Warren one bit. What was going on? Who could she trust? How would she find out the truth?
She accepted wearing a wire, then asked about the murder case. All Warren said was they needed this information first. She figured they had no idea about Casey or Linda’s con artist ways. Now Victoria really had some work ahead of her as she hung up the phone and began making her own inquiries.
* * * *
“How was I, darling? Do you think she bought it?” Casey asked the killer. He was one of her regulars.
The killer pulled Casey’s naked body against his as he grabbed a handful of her backside.
“That was perfect. You’ve done good,” he whispered, then pulled her by her hair, dragging her head down under the sheets. She let out a cry of pain and he laughed, then demanded she satisfy him. The bimbo waitress from Mallorie’s had turned out to be good for more than just a roll in the hay. Now he needed to get rid of her. He couldn’t take a chance she may give him up, but he would use her one last time before ending her pathetic life.
Smiling, he leaned back against the headboard, opening his legs while the bimbo did her thing and helped him to relax. He felt a little tense and his muscles were sore after setting up the crime scene just right this morning. Ronnie Chappa was heavier than he had looked. Closing his eyes, he imagined someone else beneath the sheets. A woman of class, sophistication, and sweetness. Never once did he think that his Victoria was capable of such secrecy and investigative intuition. Not being one to underestimate anyone who entered his playing field, he would be sure to keep a closer eye on her.
Moving his hips, imagining Victoria waiting for him with open arms, he thought about the upcoming weekend and smiled. He was confident that the investigation would be over in the next few days.
* * * *
The afternoon flew by, and Victoria still had no inside information on Monroe and Warren. Getting info on them proved to be harder than she thought. But she did, however, find out more about Flip Walker.
He was truly on the straight and narrow and definitely won her vote. She found out he had made accusations about Bret and some others on the board last year. Nothing came of it. There were no charges and everything was dropped.
Begging her mind for answers and for alternate routes to uncovering the information she needed, the thought popped into her mind. Victoria’s aunt Jane worked in the town hall with the parks and recreation department. She would have known about any gossip or accusations of such. Victoria gave her a call.
Her aunt had plenty to say after they discussed Bret Collins and Steven being the better choice. She tried to share all the information she knew about Bret, both personally and professionally.
“I wish you had called me sooner. I knew you would figure out he was no good. I hope the sex was worth it,” Aunt Jane said as she continued to share information.
“I never slept with him, Aunt Jane, but it’s nice to know that my family thinks I’m easy,” Victory snapped, and her aunt became silent.
“What can you tell me about Flip?”
“Flip is a great man…”
Her aunt continued to carry on about Flip and him being the better choice for town supervisor. She then mentioned the accusations and how a few of the board members had suddenly come into some extra money and the accusations were dismissed. Victoria knew Bret paid them off, and now things were coming together. Flip didn’t give up.
“I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if Flip was the one who called the FBI as soon as they found out the corruption had spread to the police department. You should call him, Tory. He was a good friend of your father’s,” Aunt Jane said.
Victoria did just that.
Flip Walker turned out to be a really nice man. He apologized for all the trouble and her involvement, but was glad she was safe. He also had no idea who could have killed her father.
Victoria’s next call was to Bret. He had left three messages on her voice mail while she was on the phone with Flip, and he sounded desperate.
She needed to set up a time and place to meet, then contact Monroe and Warren. In between, the FBI would wire her and she would also investigate Linda Delaney.
Bret wanted to meet Victoria in Boulder Point at six that night. She’d meet the agents at five.
Everything was set, and Victoria continued to type away on her laptop, pulling together her article, her evidence, and proving her father’s innocence.
By four thirty, Victoria’s head spun. She received phone call after phone call, pulling together her information, the facts. Now the media was onto the local corruption story. Her boss nearly fainted when she told him she needed to leave for the night to take care of something. She informed him that the article was nearly done. He could take portions of it and send it to an associate at the local newspaper. The full article would run in this month’s edition of the summer issue of Search and Seizure.
As Victoria left her office, her cell phone rang.
“I missed you. Where are you headed?” Steven asked, and she had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“I missed you, too. I’ve been real busy today. I suppose you’ve heard about Bret and Ronnie Chappa?”
“Who hasn’t? I’m at work right now. I just wanted to check up on you. Where are you off to?”
“I’m…uh…meeting Bret for drinks. I really can’t talk right now, there’s a lot going on and I don’t think discussing it on an open line is smart.”
“You’re what? Why would you be meeting him for drinks? I thought the FBI had a hold of him already. Victoria, where are you headed?”
“Sorry, Steven, but this is how it has to go down. Please, don’t worry about me. Monroe and Warren, along with a few other agents, will be at the place watching,” Victoria told Steven as she got into her car and closed the door. She could hear the anger in his voice.
“Baby, I don’t like this one bit. What if he tries something? Are you going to let him—”
“Steven, please don’t make this harder than it is. I need to focus, or he’ll know I’m not interested in him. It’s just an act, Steven, nothing more.”
Steven was silent a moment. Victoria could hear him breathing. He was worried, and so was she.
“I just don’t want him touching you. I can’t stand to think what this guy is capable of or the fact that he really wants you. I can’t help but worry, Tory. I don’t like this.”
“I know you don’t. I really have to go. I promise to call you as soon as I’m done. I love you.”
“I love you, too, and please be careful.”
Victoria actually felt better hearing from Steven. He had no idea how much strength she pulled from their relationship. She couldn’t wait for everything to be over. She figured she would confront Monroe and Warren with her new information and demand that they help clear her father’s name and make his innocence public as soon as they had B
ret and the others behind bars.
* * * *
“Victoria, all you need to do is keep Bret talking. He’ll want to use you somehow, and we need all this on tape.” Monroe secured the wire.
“It was Flip Walker who called you guys in, wasn’t it?” Victoria asked.
Monroe and Warren exchanged glances. They obviously knew Victoria was good at her job. She was a journalist and came from a long line of law enforcement officers. It wouldn’t be long until she figured things out. They explained everything. They were the ones who were surprised to find out that Linda Delaney was a con artist. Not even the detectives had figured that one out.
“So, she was planning on framing your father for something, along with Bret Collins?” Monroe released a surprised and exasperated sigh.
“Yes, that was the plan. They first tried to bribe him, but that didn’t work. I’m sure that was before the nice picture of them was taken,” Victoria added.
“It’s interesting how that picture wound up in Linda Delaney’s apartment,” Warren added.
“It’s also interesting that Ronnie Chappa was at the apartment as well and now he’s dead,” Warren stated, and both Monroe and Victoria looked at him.
“Holy shit, maybe Bret is the killer. He offed Danny for figuring out he was up to no good, taking bribes, corrupting officers like Ronnie Chappa who was on his payroll.” Monroe attempted to rub the kinks from his neck.
“And the woman who called me said Linda had a drinking problem. She was probably talking too much. He had to kill her. But why wouldn’t he make a run for it right now with all of you investigating him?” Victoria asked.
“That’s a good question, and we’ll have to ask him, but for now we need to know what else he wants from you. We’ll be watching the whole time. They’ll be other undercover agents there, as well. Just keep him in the restaurant. It will be easier for us to keep an eye on you and also more likely that he won’t try something.” Monroe tested the microphone.