1 The Ghost in the Basement

by SUE FINEMAN

  When she moved back to River Valley, she thought she’d have a home and the stability she’d always craved, but Cordelli had ruined it. The press wouldn’t leave her alone after his lies, but the part that hurt the most was what her presence in River Valley was doing to Donovan and his law enforcement career. He’d never make captain with this hanging over him. He’d be lucky to keep his job after this.

  Pop came into the kitchen. “We won’t let him get away with this, Hannah.”

  “It’s too late, Pop. He’s already done his damage. By casting doubt on my character, he put Donovan’s in question.”

  Donovan came in with the dog. He’d been working out and running, getting in shape to go back to work, and Laddie often ran with him. “I need a shower.”

  “Go ahead. Dinner in about thirty minutes.”

  “What’s that noise?”

  “I took the phone off the hook.”

  He hung up the kitchen phone and it immediately started ringing. “Don’t answer it,” she said.

  “Why?”

  “Cordelli gave an interview. I’m sure they’ll show it again tonight. Channel five. Go take your shower.”

  He turned her to face him. “Was it that bad?”

  “Worse.” She turned back to the stove. “What time are your friends coming tonight?”

  “Eight-thirty or nine. Are you all right?”

  “Ask me after you watch Cordelli’s interview.” She was too upset to talk about it now.

  Hannah knew Cordelli would get his revenge, but she’d never expected him to get it this way.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Donovan had invited his friends and their wives or significant others to the house for a New Year’s Eve party that evening. Cordelli’s spiteful television interview had left her drained, but Hannah put on her best gray silk dress and strappy black heels and greeted their guests with a smile. Every one of them had either seen the interview or learned of it, but they didn’t treat Hannah any different than they had before. She knew that had everything to do with the way they felt about Donovan.

  Carson gave Hannah a big hug. “Forget Cordelli. No one believes anything he says.”

  “I hate that creep,” said Perkins. “A man like that on the police force makes the rest of us look bad.”

  “Technically, he’s no longer on the force,” said Joseph. “He’s on suspension pending a trial.”

  “We need to get him behind bars, where he belongs,” said Jalinski. “If someone doesn’t shoot him first.”

  Everyone spoke at once, but they all expressed the same sentiment. They wanted Cordelli caught and prosecuted for the things he’d done not just to Hannah, but to other women.

  “Hannah, you should sue Cordelli for slander,” said Cora, Tom Peterson’s girlfriend. “He said some things pretty bad things about you, but you haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “Oh, I did something wrong all right. I refused to let him put his hammy paws on me.” He thought she’d give him what he wanted. Like Monique. Only Hannah was nothing like her mother.

  Perkins changed the subject. “Hannah, have you read any more of the diary pages?”

  “I finished the book this week. I have the last three pages for you.”

  “Read them out loud,” said Donovan.

  “All right.” She retrieved the pages from the study and sat on the sofa beside Donovan.

  “Andrew was supposed to come by and finish the work on the outside of the house, but I haven’t seen him for days. His brother came by looking for him. He seems worried and I am, too, but I can’t let Cal know.

  “Still no sign of Andrew, and Sonny cries all the time. Cal took the strap to him today, for no good reason I could see. Poor Sonny. I don’t know what’s wrong, unless it’s Andrew. It isn’t like Andrew to stay away like this. He’s a responsible, dependable man, and the house isn’t finished. I hope he isn’t sick.

  “My precious baby girl was born yesterday. She’s a beautiful baby, but Cal won’t even look at her. I asked him what he wanted to name her, but he walked away, angry. Is it because the baby is a girl? I named her Hannah. Sonny is crazy about her. He stopped crying, but he seems so sad. The only time he’s happy is when he’s with the baby.”

  Hannah closed the book. “Charity didn’t know Andrew had been killed, not then anyway, but she found out.”

  “How do you know?” asked Peterson.

  Hannah didn’t want to say anything about her visions, so she told them about the letter Trevor had found in the post of the old brass bed in the attic. “She wrote a letter to her sister and explained everything that happened, but she didn’t mail it. My great-grandfather, Cal Taylor, was the one who murdered Andrew Jefferson. After Charity had the baby, Cal found the hidden staircase and assumed Charity had been having an affair with Andrew. He thought the baby was Andrew’s, so he killed Andrew and smothered the baby.”

  “But the baby was Cal’s,” said Donovan.

  Hannah closed her tablet. “Charity loved Andrew, but they never acted on that love. Cal didn’t know the baby was his until after he’d killed her. Charity shot him in the face, and he lost his sight. She told the doctor it was an accident, but she did it on purpose.”

  “Who put the clothes in the fireplace?”

  “Charity,” said Donovan, “but she didn’t tell Cal where they were. It was her way of maintaining control over him.”

  All that was left to do on the murder case was to find Andrew Jefferson’s family, if there was anyone left in his family, and give him a decent burial.

  If only the situation with Cordelli could be resolved so easily.

  In spite of Cordelli’s vicious news conference, Hannah and Donovan and their friends celebrated the new year. And it was a lively celebration. They’d conquered the mighty Vittore and there was an arrest warrant out on Cordelli. The third leg of the trio, Mayor Tony Porcini, would topple. His organization was crumbling, and Porcini’s sons weren’t strong enough to pull it back together.

  Hannah replenished the snacks in the living room and Donovan refilled empty glasses. “Hannah, do we have more ice?”

  She went into the kitchen and refilled the ice bucket, but they were nearly out of ice. Donovan was busy with his friends, so Hannah grabbed her jacket and purse and ducked out the kitchen door. She’d be back before he missed her.

  Two steps outside the door, someone slapped an evil smelling rag over her mouth and held it so tightly she couldn’t breathe. She kicked and fought and tried not to breathe in the drug in the rag, but she felt herself weakening.

  “Bitch. You asked for this,” said Cordelli.

  With a last burst of energy, Hannah pulled her foot up his leg under his pants and gouged his ankle. He kicked and the heel broke off her shoe. His grip was so tight she couldn’t move enough to make him let her go. Finally, starved for air, she inhaled and sank into blackness.

  Donovan missed Hannah and went into the kitchen to see what was keeping her from the party. But she wasn’t there. Her purse and jacket that usually hung beside the kitchen door were gone. He groaned. “Aw, she didn’t go out by herself again, did she?” He glanced around for a note, but didn’t see one. Opening the door, he spotted her purse and the heel of her shoe beside the porch and his heart beat harder.

  Had Cordelli taken her?

  Who else? Running inside, he yelled, “Hannah’s gone.”

  His men ran toward him. Carson hunkered down beside the heel of her shoe and pointed to a wadded white handkerchief Donovan hadn’t noticed. “Smells like chloroform,” said Carson.

  Peterson voiced in one word what they were all thinking. “Cordelli.”

  “I’ll kill him this time,” said Donovan. “I don’t care what it does to my career. He’s history.”

  “Not if I get to him first,” said Perkins.

  After a thorough search of the area around the house, the men came back inside. An APB had been put out for Cordelli before, but now the situation had intensified. The man had a hosta
ge. Or did he intend to rape her? Or kill her? With Cordelli’s temper, the only thing Donovan knew for sure was that Hannah had been drugged and taken against her will. She’d fought or she wouldn’t have broken the heel off her shoe.

  By midnight, every officer and detective, on-duty and off-duty, were actively looking for Hannah and Cordelli. Perkins woke a judge and obtained three search warrants. Peterson and Perkins took two officers and searched the mayor’s mansion. Carson took another officer and searched Cordelli’s home. Jalinski and a uniformed officer searched Vittore’s home.

  Joseph took the kitchen tongs and put the drug-saturated handkerchief inside a plastic bag and then sealed it and marked it for evidence. Then he did the same with the heel of her shoe. “Hey, Donovan, there’s blood and tissue on this heel.”

  “Enough for DNA evidence?”

  “Looks like it.”

  Donovan and Joseph mapped out a plan of action as they would for any case. If they couldn’t find Hannah by morning, they’d call in the FBI. She had clearly been abducted – kidnapped – which was a federal crime.

  At two o’clock in the morning, all the local television stations sent reporters to film an interview with Donovan at the house on Livingston Avenue. Donovan stood in front of the living room fireplace, where the Christmas stockings Hannah had made still hung, and voiced his greatest fear. “Hannah disappeared around eleven-thirty. We were running out of ice, so she was probably on her way to the grocery store down the street. We found a man’s white handkerchief with the initial C on it, and it had been saturated with chloroform. Hannah’s purse and the heel from her shoe were found nearby. There’s a little blood and skin on the heel, so we know she fought her assailant.”

  “What was she wearing?” a reporter asked.

  “A gray dress and a black jacket with a hood. One of her shoes doesn’t have a heel.” He held up the plastic bag with the heel they’d found by the kitchen porch. Then he held up a picture of Hannah, the one he’d taken on Christmas morning when she opened Billy’s gift, the cookie jar he’d bought with his own money. She was smiling broadly in the picture.

  She couldn’t be smiling now.

  By giving their evidence to Judge Harvey, they’d effectively ended Cordelli’s career. Cordelli’s TV interview was meant to redeem himself, but all it brought was ridicule from reporters. The man was angry, and he was getting revenge another way.

  Physically, Cordelli was no match for Donovan, so he’d gone after Hannah instead. What did he intend to do with her? The creep was undoubtedly a sexual pervert, but he was smart enough not to rape her and risk leaving evidence. Wasn’t he?

  In that instant, Donovan knew where Cordelli had taken Hannah, a place that up to now was a safe haven for the Porcini/Vittore/Cordelli bunch. He made a quick phone call. “Perkins, we need another search warrant asap.”

  “For where?”

  “Uncle Tony’s Cat House.”

  “You think she’s at Rainbow’s?”

  “Where else?”

  “I’m on it now.”

  <>

  Hannah was vaguely aware of being carried and dumped on a bed. Her shoes were pulled off and then her pantyhose, but he left her panties on.

  “Take her jacket and dress off,” said Cordelli.

  Hannah kept her eyes closed, so they wouldn’t know she was coming out of her stupor. She wanted to get a better idea where she was and who she was with besides Cordelli before she looked around.

  A woman said, “What about her bra?”

  “Leave it on for now,” said Cordelli.

  The rest of her clothes were taken off. Hannah stayed limp.

  “I don’t like this,” the woman said. “My customers like their woman awake and participating.”

  “She’ll be awake soon enough.”

  “Are you sure she’s in the business?”

  “She’s Monique Maxwell’s daughter. What do you think?”

  “Monique was one of my best girls.”

  “This one is a spitfire. She’ll give your customers a wild ride. Vinnie is on his way over. He wants her first.”

  “Okay with me. I hate to try a new girl on a paying customer.”

  Someone pulled a satin sheet over Hannah and they both left the room.

  She opened her eyes a little and looked around. A small lamp on the dresser washed the room in a soft pinkish light. All the fabrics in the room were pink, and the bed was a big four-poster with handcuffs on all four posts. Did they intend to restrain her? If they tied her to the bed, she wouldn’t be able to fight her way out of here.

  Did Donovan realize she was missing? If he did, he and his friends would be out looking for her. Her phone and pepper spray were in her purse, but she didn’t see her purse in the room. She’d probably dropped it when Cordelli took her away from the house. Scanning the room, she didn’t see a phone anywhere.

  Lifting her head a little, a wave of dizziness washed over her and she knew she was in no shape to fight anyone. If Donovan didn’t find her soon, she’d be at the mercy of a man named Vinnie. Whoever he was.

  Wearing only her panties and bra, Hannah curled into a ball and dozed off and on, too weak from the drug to get off the bed and try to find a way out.

  A man came into the room with Cordelli, and she forced herself to breathe evenly, so they wouldn’t know she was awake.

  “What did you give her?” the man asked.

  “A little chloroform. It should have worn off by now. She’s a fighter, so watch yourself.”

  “I thought she was Monique’s daughter.”

  “She is, but she likes it rough.”

  The man put his hand on Hannah’s shoulder. “Is that right, baby? Do you like it rough?”

  Hannah didn’t move. The way her head pounded, she couldn’t fight off one man. And there were two in the room. Did Cordelli intend to stand by and watch another man rape her? Or did he intend to participate?

  A woman somewhere yelled, “Raid,” and both men ran from the room. Hannah lay there curled in a ball, praying Donovan had come to get her out of this place and away from these people. She hadn’t felt this helpless since that child molester locked her in the trunk of his car.

  At least they’d left the light on.

  “Donovan,” Peterson called. “I found her.”

  Donovan ran into the room. He almost cried when he saw Hannah lying on the bed, curled in a fetal position. He gently brushed the hair off her face and kissed her forehead. “Hannah, honey, are you all right?”

  “Head hurts.”

  “I know. The paramedics are on the way. Did anyone in this house hurt you?”

  “No. Vinnie was going to rape me, but then he and Cordelli ran off.”

  “Anyone else involved? A woman?”

  “A woman helped Cordelli undress me. I didn’t see her, but I felt her hands on me.”

  “Rainbow,” said Donovan. “No girls come into this house without her knowledge.”

  The paramedics came in and examined her, but she wouldn’t let them take her to the hospital. “I’ll be all right as soon as my head clears.”

  Carson burst into the room. “We got Cordelli.”

  “Pick up Vinnie Porcini, too.”

  “For what?”

  “Attempted rape.” Donovan knew the charge might not stick, but Vinnie knew what Cordelli was doing, and he was a willing participant. They’d find something to charge him with, something that would stick, a reason to throw his sorry ass in jail. Cordelli was another story. He’d be charged with kidnapping and end up in a federal prison.

  Donovan helped Hannah put her dress on. They’d already bagged her shoes for evidence, so she walked down the stairs and out the front door in her bare feet. Donovan scooped her up and carried her out to his car, where she settled in the front seat and strapped herself in.

  “Did you find my purse?”

  “It was by the back door with the heel of your shoe and Cordelli’s handkerchief.”

  “I tried to fight
him off, but that stuff knocked me out.”

  “You shouldn’t have gone out by yourself.”

  “Not now, Donovan. I can’t handle any lectures now.”

  At home, Donovan put Hannah to bed and asked Trevor to keep an eye on her. Then he went back to work.

  Reporters buzzed around the station, excited about something besides the football games scheduled for New Year’s Day. Cordelli and the mayor’s oldest son were both sitting behind bars, and Rainbow had been arrested, too.

  Uncle Tony’s Cat House was closed, and reporters were speculating on whether it would ever open again. If Donovan had a choice, it would have closed years ago. Over the years, the men in the mayor’s family had turned it into their own private party house. They were in and out of the place all the time, and they never had to pay for the services of the girls who worked there. They got their sex for free, in exchange for letting Rainbow’s operate without interference.

  Those days were over for good.

  Donovan filled out all the paperwork on the capture, and at four in the morning, after he finished the last report, he went home. Hannah still had to give a statement, but that could wait until the drug was out of her system and she could think more clearly. For now, they had what they wanted.

  They’d rescued Hannah, and she was sleeping safely in her own bed.

  They had Constantine Cordelli behind bars.

  They’d shut down Rainbow’s operation.

  And they’d effectively disgraced Tony Porcini and ruined his family’s reputation. The man everyone knew as Uncle Tony would never be elected mayor again, and no one in his extended family would get elected either. The Porcini reign in River Valley had ended.

  <>

  At three in the afternoon on New Year’s Day, while Pop watched football on television with Trevor and Billy, Donovan drove Hannah to the station to give her statement about what happened last night.

  Donovan sat by her side while she told Perkins how she was grabbed outside the kitchen door of her home, how she gouged his ankle with the heel of her shoe, and how she was carried inside a building and pushed onto a bed, then nearly stripped by Cordelli and a woman she didn’t know.