by Wendy Byrne
“We’ve got a partial plate, but that’s it.”
“How do you know it’s them? Who called it in?”
“The ID matches. They were staying at some place on the far southeast side. One of the neighbors phoned it in, anonymously of course. So far we haven’t come up with anything more than that.”
“Why kidnap a baby and a young mom?”
“Leverage. Entice your cousin not to talk.”
“Give me the address.” She hung up the phone and headed south on the Dan Ryan Expressway.
The whole ride there she contemplated her irrational behavior that afternoon. While she didn’t regret confronting Schmidt, or sending the word out to Ramirez, it took precious time away from finding Cynthia and Junior. Now her impulsiveness could have cost them their lives.
She rode the shoulder and attached her light on top. Screw the rules. Whoever was doing this wasn’t playing by any rules, why should she?
The building she pulled in front of was made of weathered wood, the structure itself resembling a building inspector’s wet dream. The steps leading up to the door were missing a few planks, and she had to step carefully in order to avoid falling through holes in the boards. While the bottom windows were boarded up, the front door was shiny and new.
Instead of using the old fashioned knocker attached to the door, Isabella pounded as hard as she could and waited. Seconds later, a man appeared. His disheveled hair stuck out in weird angles about his head as if she’d awoken him.
She yanked out her badge and showed it to him. “I’m here to ask a few questions.”
“I already talked to the police. I didn’t see nuthin’.” When he tried to close the door, she stopped him with her hand.
“But you didn’t talk to me.” She muscled her way inside past him. “I want to see where they were staying.” Somehow knowing where Lou and Cynthia had been living might bring some clarity to the situation.
The interior didn’t fare much better. Yellowed wallpaper made the dreary interior even worse. Lack of light and housekeeping standards that would have made a crack house seem like a four-star hotel didn’t help matters.
Rather than respond, he led her up the stairs and opened the first door on the left. Inside, a mattress lay on the floor along with a small, shadeless lamp. She poked through some boxes in the corner, spotting Junior’s clothes and some diapers.
Her heart clenched. At this point she didn’t know which was worse—knowing it was them, or not knowing it was them. She felt sick, frustrated and angry all at once.
“What were you charging them for this dump?” She tried not to think about Lou and Cynthia’s fear as they hid in this hole.
He shifted his eyes away. “Nothing.”
“Liar.”
“Hey, I don’t want no trouble.”
“Too bad, you’ve got it.” She glanced around the room and tamped down her frustration once again. “Tell me what you know.”
“I told the other officers.”
“But you didn’t tell me.”
“They’ve been here for two days. A friend asked me to let them stay. That’s all I know.”
“What’s your friend’s name?” She rummaged through the boxes hoping for a clue, but found nothing.
“Dom, but he left town. I gave the information to the other officers.”
“Okay, so who saw what happened? Who called it in?”
“I don’t know.”
She blew out a breath. “Who else lives in this house?”
“Just my mother. She’s downstairs watching TV. But she doesn’t speak English, only Greek.”
“Great. Then you can do the interpreting for me.”
They walked down the stairs and through the kitchen, which, considering the front half of the house, was remarkably clean. Off the kitchen there was a small room that had a twin bed, a rocking chair and a TV. An elderly woman turned when she heard them walk through the door. She spoke to the man in Greek.
“Ask her if she saw anything.”
He acted as interpreter through a series of question that didn’t give her much information other than what she already knew. But when she asked if the man had a gun, the woman said no, making her wonder why Cynthia didn’t take off and run the other way. Of course she was no doubt carrying Junior at the time, but still…
“Are you sure he didn’t have a gun?”
The woman shook her head in response.
“Then why do you think she was kidnapped? Maybe she went with the man willingly.” She had to put that question out there, even though it made no sense.
“She doesn’t know but…” He twisted his mouth to the side. “My mother says she thinks he might have been one of those corrupt police officers.”
Isabella bristled. The lady watched way too much TV. “Why does she think that?”
A few seconds later, he shrugged. “She says he acted like a policeman, and it looked like he showed Cynthia a badge…”
“What?”
The woman pointed to the TV. Law and Order was on, and she made frantic gestures toward the male detective. Isabella had seen the show a couple of times, but seeing the drama with the actor’s voices dubbed in Greek seemed oddly comic despite the circumstances.
“My mother watches a lot of TV. We have an international satellite, so all the American shows she can see in Greek. Sometimes I think she gets confused about what’s real.”
Isabella drug in a breath. Even if it looks, smells and tastes like a dead end, sometimes it isn’t. “Did she tell the other officers this? That she thought it was a cop?”
He shook his head. “Nope. She was afraid she might end up in the river swimming with the fishes.” He smiled when he spoke the last few words. Maybe the woman watched a few too many Godfather movies as well.
“Why is she telling me this?” She had to explore all the angles. People said and did things for weird reasons.
“She says she was hoping a woman police officer would show up to help, but none came except for you. She says you have an honest face. She wanted to help the woman and the baby if she could.” He argued with his mother for a few moments, a clipped conversation with a whole lot of hand gesturing. Finally, he turned his attention back to Isabella. “She says he looked like that guy.” He shrugged. “See what I mean? Sometimes she gets confused.”
Isabella glanced at the TV and studied the guy. He wore a leather jacket and his dark hair was sprinkled with gray at the temples. Call her crazy, but the guy resembled Malone.
* * *
By the time she got back to her house, she felt as if she’d been awake for a week. On the good news side, Malone must have listened to her this afternoon as she saw no sign of her bodyguard in or around the neighborhood. She supposed he could be hiding out in another car, but was way too exhausted to investigate.
She popped dinner in the microwave not because she was hungry but because she had to have sustenance to continue. She needed to find out who was behind this, and she needed to find out soon. She couldn’t face the idea of anything happening to Cynthia and Junior. She couldn’t even consider the possibility that something already had.
Just as she sat down to eat, her phone rang. Landry. After his earlier text, he’d stopped communicating.
“How’s Lou?”
“Not good. Something about his liver not regenerating at the rate they expected.” She sucked in a deep breath. “But the worst news is that Cynthia and Junior have been taken as well.” She put the fork down suddenly losing her appetite. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but whatever it is I’ve got to get to the bottom of it.” While part of her wanted to throw out the idea that Malone was involved in the kidnapping, it still seemed a little too farfetched.
“What happened at Schmidt earlier today? Lieutenant said something about you tearing the place apart and then going on to threaten some gangbangers.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” She was still bothered by not finding anything. Despite evidence to the contrary, s
he’d bet her life Schmidt was dirty. “I went through boxes, but all I found was more boxes. Then I put the word out I was looking for Ramirez.”
“What were you thinking, goading him like that?”
“Don’t you get it, Lou’s going to die and it will be all my fault.”
“How? Did you shoot him?”
“But he wouldn’t have gotten mixed up in this if it weren’t for me.” She stopped the surge in emotion with a deep breath. “There’s something’s going on at Schmidt. I can feel it in my gut and…Ramirez hangs out there and…”
“What else?”
“There’s a weird odor inside that place. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s strong as hell.” She’d noticed it before when she’d been there, but blew it off. Today that same odor was present, and seemed much more pungent.
“That’s not enough.”
“I know, and it’s ticking me off.” Understatement of the century. Dead ends. Dead ends. Dead ends. Would they never stop?
“I’m taking off early. I’ll be by shortly.”
“You don’t have to do that, Landry. I’m not good company right now.”
“Since when has that stopped me?” Without another word, he hung up.
Frustrated, she called the station to see if they’d heard anything more about Cynthia and Junior. But the lieutenant had left, and nobody else had heard anything. What if Malone was involved? Or, giving him the benefit of the doubt, what if the old woman was right and the police were somehow in on it? Is that what Carmen Samuels meant by not trusting anyone? And did Matthews have anything to do with this whole thing?
Her father, Lou, Ramirez and Schmidt all tied together. But she couldn’t figure out how.
Landry knocked on the back door a few moments later. She walked the length of the apartment to let him in. He had a strange expression on his face.
“What’s the matter? Did you find something out about Cynthia or Junior?” Her voice hitched as the possibility sunk low in her belly. She grasped his arms and forced him to look at her. “What’s going on? How did you get off shift so early?”
“Beckett came in for me.”
“But why?” Her fingers trembled while a leaden weight settled in her stomach.
“Because I didn’t want you to be alone. You’re going through a lot right now.” He couldn’t look her in the eye.
Tears sprung to her eyes. “They’re dead, aren’t they? You’re here to break the news.”
“No.” He shook his head and grasped her arms forcing her to look at him. “They’re fine. They’re in protective custody.”
She let out a shaky breath. “Thank God. But—”
“I knew you wouldn’t go into protective custody and was afraid you’d be next.”
She bristled. “I can take care of myself.”
“Nobody’s immune to a bullet. If I were in danger, wouldn’t you come to my place and help out?”
“You’re a big boy. I’d figure you were capable of making your own decisions.” The nagging feeling that he was hiding something wouldn’t go away.
“Bull. You’d need to be in the middle of things.” He nuzzled her neck. “Come on, I’m only here as your back-up. Even you have to admit there’s a time a cop needs back-up.”
No, what she needed was the time and space to think. He was giving her neither, and there was a whole lot of something he wasn’t saying.
She pushed away from him and held out her hand. “Let me see your phone.”
“What?”
“If you have nothing to hide, you shouldn’t care.” When he reluctantly plopped the phone into her hand, she scrolled through his recent calls. Recognition hit her like a fist to the gut while anger and betrayal fought for control inside. “You bastard.” She slammed her palm against his shoulder. “I trusted you.”
“I can explain.”
“You can explain how you’ve betrayed me at every turn? You can explain how Malone is your new BFF?” She’d trusted him, and he’d conspired with the enemy. When he reached for the phone, she pushed away his hand. Each time she scrolled through and saw Malone’s number pop up, her stomach got a little queasier.
Landry had talked to Malone more than seven times today. From what she could tell, they’d been talking pretty regularly for the last several weeks. Realization stung like a bee pricking along her spine.
“I did it because I was afraid for you.” He tried unsuccessfully to touch her arm. “You were walking into the middle of something that could—”
“How dare you! I’m not some kind of china doll that you have to protect.” Her body trembled from hairline to toes as anger, frustration and fear combined together to make a lethal dose. “You know how I feel about Malone, but you still went behind my back to feed him information. I’m guessing he asked you to keep an eye on me and you complied. Did you give him a blow-by-blow of how many times we screwed over the last couple of days? Is that how it is?”
She stomped to the other side of the kitchen as the mixture of emotions she’d gone through during the day welled inside until she thought she might explode from the pressure. This kind of betrayal could never be forgotten or forgiven.
His jaw tightened while his stare bore into her. He motioned with his fingers for her to give him the phone. “The Malone thing is complicated.” He gave her an uneasy smile. “And the last thing I’d call you is a china doll.”
“Complicated? What is that supposed to mean?” His duplicity felt like a red-hot poker as it slid through her body. “Did you sell me out thinking it would land you a job with the almighty Feds? Is that how much my trust is worth?” She didn’t let him answer. She couldn’t let him answer. Instead she threw the phone, watching as it bounced against the wall. Seeing it lying on the floor broken into pieces brought her little satisfaction. “Malone’s been trying to manipulate me from day one, and you tagged along for the ride.”
A shooting pain hit her right below the rib as she fought back tears. She couldn’t let him see her cry. He would take it for a sign of weakness when it represented something much different. How could he do such a thing to her?
“It wasn’t like that, Isabella. ”
“Oh, really? Tell me what it was like because I’m having a hard time thinking it was anything but you screwing me over for some kind of promotion.” Her chest squeezed as she fought through the reality of her words.
“You don’t get it, do you?” He slowly shook his head. ‘Right about now I’m asking myself why, but the truth is I hung around to make sure you were safe.”
“So the sex was just a little bonus, huh?” Isabella felt as if the skin had been sheared off her body, leaving her exposed and vulnerable.
“This wasn’t about the sex and you damn well know it.” He blew out a breath. “Sometimes you have to trust. You can’t keep pushing people away because you’re afraid of being hurt. You can’t do everything alone.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “I know trust is hard for you, but sometimes you’ve got to give it out.”
She let his words sink inside and allowed raw emotion to rumble through. It hurt like hell. “I trusted you and look where that got me.”
Her father said he’d be back. Her mother went off to work and never came home. Isabella stopped the rush of memories by bringing her fists to her eyes.
“I did it because I love you.” He tried to run his fingers down her arms but she pushed him away.
“You don’t love me or you wouldn’t have done what you did. You wouldn’t have spied on me for Malone. You would have been honest with me from the start.”
“You would have kicked me to the curb in a heartbeat. Who do you think you’re kidding?”
“You ingratiate yourself into my life. Into my bed. You make me believe I can trust you, but the whole time you’re working behind my back. That’s supposed to make me feel good?”
“It made me feel like crap. But I knew it was the best way I had of making sure you didn’t go off and do something stupid.”
&nbs
p; “I’m incompetent now, too? Is that what you’re trying to say?” Oh, God, all this time she thought Landry was her ally. Instead, he’d been working with the enemy.
“That’s not what I’m saying.” He swore softly. “You can’t always be in control. You can’t always do things alone.”
She let out a cynical laugh. “And I sure don’t need a backstabber.” Suddenly, the fight seeped out as exhaustion crept in. Or was that depression? “You don’t know me, or anything about me.”
“You think you’re unlovable so you do everything in your power to make sure it stays that way. You keep people at a distance so you don’t get hurt.”
She refused to ponder what he’d said. Instead she focused on the important stuff. “What about Cynthia and Junior? What pearls of wisdom did your newfound friend Malone tell you about them? Did he tell you he was going to protect them like he protected Lou? Like he protected my father?”
“They’re safe. That’s all I know.”
“Did somebody tell the lieutenant? Did somebody bother to tell me? Or did the Feds know that I’d take it for what it was, a whopping load of crap. They don’t care what happens to anybody in this mess. Malone’s got his own private fan club going, and you’re another member.”
“The lieutenant knows.” He shook his head. “It’s not like we were—”
Betrayal hung all around her as it all became clear. The lieutenant had sent her on the wild goose chase to keep her out of trouble. “You’re more gullible than I thought.”
“You’ve got to trust.” His voice was quieter than usual. She wasn’t sure if it belied his confidence or if he’d given up the fight.
“I need you to leave.” Her voice shook as she yanked open the door and held it, hoping he’d leave without any further drama.
“You cannot do this alone.” He walked toward the door, taking hold of the knob. “You’re in way over your head.”
She didn’t respond. She couldn’t. Instead she let him walk through the door. The feeling of aloneness swamped her within seconds. Everything that had happened over the last twenty-four hours hung around her like leaden weights strapped to her chest.