Ewyn rushed over to him and gritted out from between clenched teeth, "Not funny, Devin."
"Funny?" Eyebrow arched, Devin queried, "Have we just met?" He kissed the compressed lips then whispered, "You know I'm never embarrassed."
Ewyn growled, "Fuck you."
"Now!" He never could resist teasing Ewyn. "I'm shocked. We have company." He watched baby-boy open his mouth as if to say something, instead he shook his head and stormed away. Devin followed him into the kitchen and came up behind him. "Need any help?"
"No," Ewyn snarled.
Devin chuckled and backed off. He'd wait until they were alone to pursue Ewyn's tempting offer, and to give a demonstration on the multiple uses of the tongue. He walked to the table, picked up the wine and filled each glass halfway before he sat down across from Patterson and Timothy. He dispensed with all humor when his gaze settled on the detective.
"So, Patterson, how do you want to play this?" he inquired coming straight to the point.
Ewyn came to the table with the platter of stir-fry, the egg rolls, and the bowl of rice. Setting them down, he muttered, "You can help yourselves." He plopped down on his chair and scowled.
Devin winked, picked up the rice and spooned a few portions onto his plate before passing the bowl to Patterson.
"Will your involvement be an official investigation or personal?" the detective asked.
"Strictly personal. The ball is in your court. However, we have resources you aren't privy to, and they could be helpful."
"All we ask is you keep us in the loop," Timothy interjected. "If you encounter any snags, we can check them out from our end."
"Will this be a problem with your superiors?" Devin asked. "If so, Tim will talk to them."
"There shouldn't be a problem, once I let them know we're dealing with Feds, unofficially."
"Good deal." Timothy slid his business card toward Patterson. "Contact me, if you need anything from us." He glanced at his nephew. "If you can't get hold of me, call Ewyn. In the meantime, we'll look into things from our end and turn over anything we discover."
"Even if it involves your other nephew, Gregorio?"
Ewyn had remained quiet throughout the conversation, busying himself with eating and sipping his wine while periodically glancing at Patterson. With Gregorio's name thrust into the conversation, he put his fork down, leaned back, and looked directly at the detective. Devin's knee nudged his.
"It's okay, Dev. I know how the detective feels about my family."
"Whoa, now…wait a minute," Patterson said. "You misunderstood. I know your brother's activities come under FBI jurisdiction, so you can't reveal anything connected to them. But, if some of his cronies put a hit on your nieces…"
"We'll let you know," Devin interposed before Ewyn could respond. "Then it's between you and the FBI."
"Right." Patterson sipped his wine and stared at Ewyn, who glared back. "Will you bite my head off if I tell you, dinner was delicious?"
Ewyn couldn't help himself and burst out laughing. "Thank you."
"Truce?" Patterson wiped his hands on his napkin and extended one.
Ewyn stared into Patterson's eyes for several seconds before taking the extended hand. "Truce."
"Okay. It's settled," Devin stated as he stood and proceeded to clear the table. "Ewyn, since you did all the cooking, relax, take our guest into the living room and offer him something to drink. Tim and I will clean the kitchen."
* * * *
Ewyn climbed into bed and snuggled up to Devin. "What do you think of Patterson's change of attitude?"
"Not much." Devin pulled Ewyn on top of him. "If he gives you any more grief, he'll find out about attitude." His hands roved down over Ewyn's body and settled on his ass.
"I can handle him."
Devin snorted. "I was referring to you, after the look you gave him when he mentioned Greg."
"Funny." Corners of his mouth twitching, Ewyn bit down on his bottom lip to keep from laughing. "Do you think Patterson is going to play it straight with us?"
"Yes and no. He'll give us enough to make him appear cooperative, so we'll keep up our end of the bargain, and allow him access to our resources. Oh, he'll put his all into resolving the case, so he can take the credit and get brownie points with his peers."
"Especially if it ties Niki and Caro's deaths to a mob connection," Ewyn suggested.
"The Calderone name is high profile within the law enforcement community."
"Damn, Dev. I need to get away for a while. Clear my head, and maybe put everything into perspective." Ewyn sighed and snuggled his face beneath Devin's chin. "The girls' disappearance for six months has to be the clue to what happened."
"Could be. And you might be able to get more information from Niki and Caro's roomies than Patterson."
"For sure. I can't imagine his interrogation methods were a hit with college kids." Ewyn snorted. "You know, we didn't celebrate Christmas. It was Kieki's first Christmas and we were in mourning."
Devin chuckled at the quick change of topic, in typical Ewyn fashion. "She won't remember. Next Christmas, she'll be what…fourteen months old, and she'll understand a little of what it's about then. Hell. If nothing else, we'll have fun spoiling her. It will be the beginning of our holiday memories with her."
"Right." Ewyn raised his head and propped his chin on his arms. "I've been thinking. There's still snow on the slopes at Big Bear, do you think you can take time off…a week or two? The family has a place in the mountains."
"Hmm. What do you have in mind?"
"A little skiing, a lot of relaxing, maybe a late Christmas. More importantly, let's go away and put everything out of our minds for a few days."
"What about Kieki? You'd want to be away from her for two weeks."
"Hell, no. Myce and Kieki will go with us."
Devin grinned. "Good deal. I could use the break, and I'm only catching up on paperwork right now. Let's do it. When do you want to leave?"
"This weekend." Ewyn kissed Devin's mouth. "I'll make all the arrangements."
"I'll put in for the time off in the morning." Devin gently rolled Ewyn beneath him. "Now, about the many uses of the tongue." He wiggled his eyebrows, reached up and turned out the light, then proceeded to lick and kiss his way down the quivering body. "I think I know the perfect starting place."
Chapter 9
Ewyn took the day off and drove to Pepperdine University in Santa Monica.
The Director of Housing had contacted the Calderone attorney requesting the family remove the girls' things from the campus as soon as it was convenient. The school needed the space. Ewyn arranged for a moving company to have one of their trucks meet him on campus to collect the girls' things and take them to the family estate for storage. The time had come to delve into Nicole and Carolyn's personal lives, search their belongings, and possibly find the answers to the baffling circumstances surrounding their deaths. When he returned from Big Bear, he had to stop procrastinating.
He glanced at his watch as he turned off Pacific Coast Highway and onto John Tyler Drive headed for parking lot J. He'd made good time. The sun was just beginning to crest the mountains behind him. Hell. He'd had to leave the house at o-dark-thirty to beat the traffic gridlock into Los Angeles, and he'd made it, but his pre-dawn arrival had a down side. He hated having to wake the roommates at such an early hour, even though they seemed pleased he wanted to talk to them, and they said they didn't mind.
In contrast, Anthony Calabria had been difficult to track down, and once Ewyn made contact, Calabria seemed hesitant. He gave Ewyn some lame excuses about class, lab, and basketball practice. Since Ewyn and Patterson suspected Calabria of holding back useful information, Calabria's reluctance to meet with Ewyn seemed to confirm those qualms.
Ewyn had stipulated he expected to see the kid in Nicole's dorm when he reached the college, and Calabria had grudgingly conceded, but the more Ewyn thought about it, the more pissed off he became. The kid had inferred he'd been like
a brother to Nicole, so he should be cooperating with the investigation, volunteering information, not coerced into helping.
Ewyn grinned, thinking about Devin's response to Calabria's reluctance. Devin definitely had coercion on his mind, suggesting he should go to Pepperdine and talk to Calabria. Watching the heat of anger darken Devin's amber eyes, Ewyn was sure Devin's idea of talk was Ewyn's interpretation of interrogate. Devin's version of talking had prompted Ewyn, albeit unwillingly, to come to Calabria's defense and make excuses for the kid.
"Dev, he could be afraid because of the Calderone name. If he knew Niki as well as he has implied, then he's well aware of the family's reputation."
"More reason why I should talk to him, being the benevolent voice of law enforcement."
"Uh…you forget, Calabria has talked to law enforcement. I doubt the kid experienced empathy with Patterson."
"Okay, I'll give you that one. But once you've spoken to him, if you think he's bullshitting you, it's my turn. I'll introduce him to the other side of the family. Show him my techniques and how they differ from Calderone methods, and Patterson's skills."
Ewyn was still smiling when he pulled onto the parking lot outside Lovermich Residential complex. Exiting his car, he noticed the Sage Moving and Storage truck had arrived. He strolled toward the vehicle, and at his approach, the driver climbed down from the cab and Ewyn introduce himself.
"Mister Kelley, I'm John Thornton and this is my partner, David Serrano. Where would you like us to start?"
"I need to go through everything first," Ewyn explained. "Separate what I'm going to keep for storage from what I intend to donate. It may take a while," Ewyn replied. "Do you have a cell phone?"
"Yes," Thornton replied and handed Ewyn a business card with the cell number on it, then climbed back into the truck.
Ewyn slipped the card into his pocket. "The two of you can go get breakfast and I'll call you when I'm ready."
"Sure thing."
"If I don't get all of this done today--did your supervisor tell you to make plans to stay over?"
"Yes, and everything has been arranged."
"Okay. I'll call when I'm ready for you."
Ewyn turned back toward the dorms. As he crossed the parking lot, he pulled his cell from his pocket and flipped it open. He noted the time--5:45 a.m.--keyed in Jennifer's number, and when she answered, he let her know he was on his way up. She met him at the door.
"Hello, Mister Kelley, it's good to see you again," she said and stepped aside to let him enter the apartment. "You remember Kathy."
"Sure. Hi, Kathleen." Ewyn nodded at the other girl. "Have you had time to go through Niki and Caro's stuff, take whatever you wanted to keep?"
Yes, sir," Kathleen replied. "We went through everything. We kept some of the newer clothing, a few pictures of us together, and other mementos from our past years as a group. The rest of their clothing and shoes, we gave to the thrift shop in town. We packed their jewelry and everything else."
"Great. It will save me some time." Ewyn looked around. "Did you get a chance to go through their school papers and books?"
"Yes," Jennifer responded. "We donated current textbooks to the bookstore, gave the obsolete ones to the library in town, and trashed the old notebooks and school papers. We boxed up what we thought the family might want to go through…what appeared to be personal papers."
"Thanks. I appreciate all you've done. It's much more than I had expected." Ewyn reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell. "Do you want to keep any of the furniture?"
"I'd like to keep Caro's television," Kathleen responded. "I mean, who wouldn't. It's the latest in HD."
"Niki's bed," Jennifer cut in. "It's way nicer than mine. I sleep on a futon."
"Not a problem." Ewyn grinned. "They're yours. When the movers arrive, tell them to remove your old things with the rest of the stuff, and I'll take care of disposal on the other end." He flipped open his phone and keyed in John Thornton's number. "Have either of you seen Anthony?"
"Not since yesterday," Jennifer said and glanced at her friend. "Was he supposed to meet you here, too?"
Ewyn nodded then spoke into his phone. "Hey, John. When you're through with breakfast, you can get started." He chuckled. "Yeah, I'm fast." He closed his cell and looked at Jennifer. "Which dorm is he in?"
"He's across the way in Rockwell Towers. I can show you," Kathleen said. "Jen has class in an hour, but I'm free until late afternoon."
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm a Pepperdine alumnus. I remember my way around." He glanced at his watch. "Kathleen, could you stay and wait for the movers. I want to catch Mister Calabria before he gets out and about."
Kathleen hesitated. "Sure…"
"If you can't, no problem."
"Uh, it's not about staying." Kathleen looked at Jennifer, who nodded. "It's Anthony. He's been acting different since Niki died. He refused to go to her funeral, we've tried to talk to him, and now he's avoiding us. Something's not right."
"Mister Kelley," Jennifer said. "I think he knows something about the six months Niki and Caro were gone, but I haven't a clue what it could be. By the time Niki went away, she had stopped confiding in him, and he had stopped hanging with us as much as before."
"Why didn't Niki tell the two of you where she was going?"
Both girls shrugged.
"Niki said they would only be gone for a week or two. Said she wasn't sure where they were going, she just wanted to get away for a while," Jennifer explained. "She promised to check in with us on a regular basis, and since Caro went with her, we didn't press the issue."
"We weren't expecting them to be gone for six months," Kathleen added. "And they did check in from time to time. Caro accounted for their continued absence, by saying Niki needed time off until she had the baby. We assumed they were at the family estate."
"Hmm." Ewyn remained thoughtful for a moment then he asked, "Jennifer, do you have time for a few more questions before you go to class?"
"Sure. Let's sit down. Would you like some coffee?"
"No, thanks."
Ewyn and the girls talked for a half hour before Ewyn stood and said, "By the way. The day Niki and Caro died, was Anthony here?"
"Actually, he showed up after Niki left the second time," Jennifer responded. "He seemed surprised and a little angry because she'd been on campus, but didn't get in touch with him."
"I don't know why he was so surprised," Kathleen remarked. "They weren't talking much before Niki left."
Jennifer nodded agreement. "I told him she only came by so Kath and I could witness new wills, and he stormed off."
"You said, second time Niki came by."
"Yeah. We signed the wills, they left, then Nicole returned with the wills notarized and put them in her desk file."
"Did you pack copies of the wills?"
"Um, well…" Jennifer glanced at Kathleen. "When I went through Nicole's personal papers, I couldn't find her copies in the file," Jennifer explained. "So I packed my copies. I put them in the box marked personal papers."
"Odd." Ewyn frowned. "She gave both of you a copy?"
"Yes. We thought it strange, but she said it was insurance." Jennifer shrugged. "We had classes all day, so we were in and out."
"You leave your doors unlocked, huh," Ewyn remarked, remembering his living on-campus days.
"More than we should, but we've never had a problem. Niki probably came back and took her copies."
"Hmm. Did Niki say where she was going when she left here?"
Jennifer hesitated. "Not really. She talked about getting to the post office before it closed and before they got back on the road."
"Why did you hesitate, just now?"
"I didn't remember about the post office until after I spoke to the detective," she said. "I know I should have called him, but I didn't like him, and I know there's no excuse for not calling."
"Hey, I feel you." Ewyn smiled. "Don't sweat it. You've been a big help, and I appreciate it."
"Thanks. If you need anything else, just let us know. Niki, Caro, Kathy, and I were family."
"I know, and I'm glad they had the two of you in their lives," Ewyn said. "Listen, I'll be back as soon as I catch up with Anthony." He turned to Kathleen. "You don't have to stay with the movers, once you let them in. Any damage or loss, let me know, and I'll make sure you're reimbursed."
Ewyn started toward the door then turned back, reaching inside his jacket, he extracted an envelope from the breast pocket, and handed it to Jennifer. "I thought the two of you would like these. There's a set for each of you."
Jennifer opened the packet, pulled out a picture and tears welled up in her eyes. "Oh…she's a cutie. Look, Kath…look how much she's grown since the funeral." She handed Kathleen the picture of Kiera. "Thanks, Mister Kelley."
"You're welcome, and one last question. Where is Caro's car?"
"They took both cars with them," Jennifer answered. "Wherever they were staying, Caro's car should be there."
"Okay, thanks. I won't take up anymore of your time."
Ewyn hurried from the dorm and drove to Rockwell Towers, then realized he should have walked. "Damn it!" It took a while to find a parking space because most of the students were still in their dorms. Angry about having to go looking for the little piss ant Calabria, Ewyn stormed into the building and took the stairs two at a time. He reached Calabria's room, found the door open. A young man sat at a desk bent over an open textbook.
"Are you Anthony?"
Startled, the kid whirled around and jumped to his feet. "Yeah. Who the hell are you?"
"I'm the man you were supposed to meet at Niki's dorm."
"Oh, shit." The kid looked around as if in a daze, then he focused on a clock hanging on the wall next to the open doorway. "Sorry." He smiled sheepishly. "Studying for a makeup. Lost track of time." He came across the room with his hand extended. "Anthony Calabria…nice to meet you, Mister Kelley. Niki talked about you a lot."
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