A Little Harmless Submission 6 (22 page)

Before she could start crying again, the doorbell rang. She dabbed her eyes as she walked to the door. When she looked through the peephole, she was surprised at the visitor.

She composed herself with a few breaths and opened the door.

“Hey, Maria,” Jack said. “Thought I would come by and say aloha.”

Chapter Sixteen

Rome walked through his front door and was sort of surprised at the stillness. Maria could be quiet, but she wasn’t that quiet. If anything, she would still be packing. She was a woman who liked everything just so.

He walked through the house, the floors squeaking beneath his feet as a sense of wrongness surrounded him.

“Maria?”

No answer. Fuck. He walked all the way through the house and found nothing at first. Had she left not wanting to face him? But then he saw her suitcase sitting open on the bed, a few more items still waiting to be packed.

“Maria!”

He ran through the house, drawing his weapon. Her laptop was on the desk in his guestroom where she kept it. Panic and fear now twisted his gut. When he heard her phone ringing, he ran to the kitchen.

He saw the two-zero-two area code and knew it was someone she worked with.

“Hello.”

There was a pause. “This is Agent Smith. I’m looking for Maria Callahan.”

“This is Officer Carino, and I’m also looking for Maria.”

“Oh, Carino. Is Callahan around?”

Aggravation marched down his spine. He knew he didn’t have time for this. “No. I can’t find her.”

Another pause. “Is that normal?”

“No. Not normal at all.”

“I’m trying to get ahold of her to tell her that we’re cancelling the flight. The LA killing was an ex.”

“Just like the one in Dallas and Sara.”

“What?”

He didn’t realize he had spoken out loud until the agent spoke. “We had a woman here, ex killed her. At first they thought it might be The Dom, but it didn’t fit.”

“What I want to know is why you have her phone and where the hell is she?”

“I’ll ask her that as soon as I find her.”

He hung up without waiting for an answer. He was heading toward the door when the bell rang. When he opened it, he found Tina, Jack’s wife. Her face was beat all to hell, her lip split, her left eye black, and her nose had definitely been broken.

“Tina, hun, what happened to you?” he asked.

“I’m sorry to bother you Rome, but I had nowhere else to go. It’s Jack, he went crazy today.”

She stepped into the house. When she stood next to him, he was reminded of her petite frame. She didn’t even reach his shoulder.

“No, don’t worry.” Even as he said it, he had half his mind on Maria and where she might be.

“Like I said, I didn’t know where to go. I was furious when I found the stuff, and when I confronted Jack, he freaked. I have never seen him like that.”

He showed her over to his couch, trying his best to keep his patience in check. The poor woman had been worked over.

Once she was settled, he asked, “Now, why don’t you tell me what you’re talking about?”

She drew in a deep breath. Rome watched as she physically pulled herself together. “I was going through his stuff, getting it ready for him to pack up this morning. I found this plastic bag, looked like one of those evidence bags you all use.”

“What was in the bag?”

“Panties.”

“Panties?” The worry he had earlier was now blossoming into full-blown panic.

“Yeah, there were lots of them. At first I didn’t think anything of it. I mean, it would have been wrong if he had brought them home and they were evidence. He could get in trouble. I know he isn’t a great cop. He lied. He said that you were never doing your job. That he had to pull up the slack.”

That was interesting since Rome had been the one who had always done the heavy lifting. Jack was always too busy to do the paperwork.

“So you asked him about the panties?”

She nodded and squeezed her eyes. A fresh wave of tears came pouring out.

“He just exploded. I didn’t expect it.”

“Jack hadn’t hit you before?”

She drew in another breath. “No, not really. He wanted to…he wanted to do some stuff while we were having sex that I wasn’t comfortable with, but that was it.”

Rome studied her bent head. “What kind of stuff?”

She glanced up then looked back down. “He wanted to tie me up. That didn’t bother me that much. God, I can’t believe I have to talk about this with you.”

“I didn’t think he was into BDSM.”

“That wouldn’t have been bad, really, but he tried to tie a scarf around my neck.”

Rome’s heart almost stopped beating. Son of a bitch.

“And with the panties, the thing that upset me was the scarf that was there. It was the one he’d used on me. I thought maybe he had been cheating on me while we were still together, and when I accused him of it, that was when he went crazy.”

“Do you know where he is?”

She shook her head. “He left, and I took myself to the hospital. They wanted to call the cops, but I wanted to come to you. He took the bag with him, Rome.”

“You did the right thing. Is your new boyfriend here?”

She shook her head. “And he’s going to be so mad at me for doing this when he wasn’t home, but Jack told me he was leaving tonight, and I wanted to get rid of his things. Mike’s on the Big Island for business.”

“Okay. I want you to come with me, we’re going to go to the department, and you will file a report against him.”

She nodded, and he was thankful for that. If he’d had to fight her on it, he might have lost it then and there. One thing was for certain, he didn’t care what he had to do, he was going to find Maria, and if Jack was still alive, he was going to kill the bastard with his bare hands.

· · · · ·

Maria came awake abruptly, the sharp smell of ammonia assaulting her.

“That’s right, Maria, Ms. FBI Agent. Wake up and show me those baby blues.”

She did and realized that Jack was standing close to her. So close that she could smell the musky scent of his sweat. Jack leaned down closer, bending at the waist. She tried to jerk away, but realized she couldn’t get any further. She tried to move her hands, but they were bound behind her.

“Tsk, tsk.” He shook his head. “Someone would think that you didn’t like me.”

He straightened. “I couldn’t believe it when Carino told me you were an FBI agent. Who would have thought such a luscious piece of ass like you worked for the F…B…I?”

He trailed a finger down her cheek. Inwardly she cringed, but she didn’t show it to him. He would get off on her fear.

“So Rome told you about me?”

Jack pulled away. “Yes. Well, not on purpose. See, he thought you were leaving, was not going to see you again, and his heart was breaking. Poor, poor Rome. He is never lucky in love. The women he’s had never seem to last.”

“Let me guess. You’re Amy’s fiancé. The one nobody could find.”

He offered her a smile that sent a fresh wave of icy fear down her spine. “Guilty. She was really easy to get to. She was feeling lonesome after my old partner dumped her. Rome apparently has an issue with commitment, but you know all about that.”

“Like it matters to me?”

It did, but she would be damned if she would let the bastard know.

“No? Well, women like you are married to your job.” He sniffed. “Very unfeminine.”

She said nothing but kept watching. He was pouring chloroform on a cloth. The sickly sweet smell was easy to detect.

“So you came behind Rome, went after his leftovers.”

“I know what you’re trying to do, agent. I’ve had the training.”

But there was a tremor in his hand. She had gotten to him.

“Oh, okay. I mean, I guess you don’t mind being the ‘sloppy seconds’ guy.”

His smile tightened as he walked back to her, but he said nothing.

“I am sure it doesn’t mean you can’t get your own woman.”

“I’ve had my own woman.”

“Rome split with them, then you came in behind. They’re vulnerable, needy, and you can satisfy a woman like that.”

“Shut the fuck up.” His face was turning red.

“They never seem to stick around with you, though. Is that the problem you had with Amy? Or was it that she started to compare you to Rome? Did they all do that, so you had to go after them? Kill them?”

“You fucking bitch,” he screeched. He gave her the back of his hand with so much force the chair tipped over onto the ground. Her head slapped against the cement floor, and she saw stars.

Then she felt his hand slip behind the back of her head, and he pressed the cloth against her mouth and nose. She struggled for a moment and then everything faded to black.

· · · · ·

Rome’s nerves were riding a fine line between panic and rage. Fucking hell, he should have seen it. He had dropped off Tina at the department and told them to put a trace on Jack’s phone. He wasn’t even out of the parking lot when his phone went off.

“Carino,” the captain said. “We got a GPS track on his phone. He has her on Sand Island. Warehouse.”

The idea had his gut churning. Jack must have had her for at least four hours, and the thought of what he could have done to Maria during that time… He shook his head. He would not think about it.

“The address?”

The captain rattled off an address. “I’m sending backup. The FBI had to be notified since she’s an agent.”

“Tell them to approach without sirens.”

He hung up without getting the agreement. Right now the only thing that matter was getting to Maria.

Several long moments later, Rome pulled up to the building. There wasn’t a way to really sneak into some place like this.

He found a side door unlocked. It was easy, too easy. His suspicions were confirmed when he stepped inside.

“Nice of you to join us, Rome,” Jack said.

He followed the sound of his old partner’s voice and found him in the storage area. He looked horrible, as if he hadn’t slept in days, and Rome didn’t miss the gun in Jack’s hand. There was a battered table on one side and to the left of that sat Maria. His head about fell to his feet when he saw her. She had a bloody nose, a split lip, and she was tied to a chair. She looked like she was unconscious.

“It took you long enough.”

He glanced at the man he used to trust with his life. Rome knew then he should have seen the signs. They had been all over the place.

“Well, I had a chat with Tina. She had a lot to say about your relationship.”

He laughed. The sound of it sent a sick ball of dread to his stomach. He inched closer and saw that Maria was still breathing. He drew in a deep breath and decided he needed to get her out of there, away from the maniac. Then he could deal with the bastard.

“She’s okay. You know I wouldn’t hurt her until you showed up. Well, not much. She did struggle a bit, so I had to use chloroform on her twice, but she should be okay.”

“Tina’s giving a statement at the station. Oh, and she called that Mike guy. Someone told me he used to fight in the ring...he apparently has plans to tear you apart.”

Jack’s eyelid twitched. “What do I care?”

“You should. You’ll lose that job you have in LA.”

Jack shrugged like he didn’t care, but Rome knew that he did. It was all coming apart now, which made Jack even more dangerous. He had nothing to lose.

“I’ll figure something out. I always do. As my mom always said, I’m a smart boy.”

Rome cocked his head to one side. “Really? I would have thought she said you were a loser.”

Jack’s finger twitched on the trigger. “You’re wrong.”

“Isn’t that why you attack women? Because you could never deal with mommy being such a total bitch?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Or, hey, maybe it was the other way. Did she smother you?”

Jack said nothing, his face turning redder by the minute.

“Did she treat you like you were a man...like a real man? That’s it, isn’t it? What did Mommy do to you? Did she make you sleep with her when it was way past time to do that?”

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Romeo Carino, who sleeps with his partners, who trusts the wrong partners. How the fuck are you going to get yourself out of this one? Huh? How will you make sure to convince the HPD that you aren’t a total fuckup. I’m a killer, you’re last partner in Seattle was dealing arms, and this one,” he said, waving the gun in Maria’s direction, “is going to be killed.”

“Oh, I don’t think it will be a problem. I didn’t hire you, someone else did. That person will probably get fired because you should never have passed the psych evaluation. Hell, I’d be amazed you would be able to clean toilets with any evaluation.”

“Shut up,” he said, swinging the gun back in Rome’s direction. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I know how to ace those things. Easy.”

“If you didn’t, I know what they would say. Aggression issues toward women. Uncontrollable temper, psychotic. All because his mommy liked to touch him.”

“I said to shut the fuck up.”

Rome noticed that Maria moved her foot.

“Why don’t you tell me whose fault this is?”

“What?” Jack asked, his attention temporarily snagged on the question.

“If you aren’t at fault, which I’m sure you’re not, who did it? Who causes you to do the things you do?”

“You have no idea what it’s like dealing with this. My father—,” he drew in a deep, shuttering breath. “My father was a bastard.”

Sweat was gathering on Jack’s lip, and his eyes were starting to glaze a bit. Rome knew the signs of someone going into a complete psychotic episode, and he couldn’t take the chance. When Jack looked away for a moment, Rome looked at Maria. She was awake, and so he nudged his head in Jack’s direction. She gave him a slight nod but allowed her head to drop forward again.

“So, why don’t you tell me all about that bastard?”

“Man didn’t know how to treat his family.”

“But, I thought it was just you and your mother.”

Jack shuddered. “No. He didn’t live with us. We were Daddy’s other family.”

“Ah, so you’re a bastard, too.”

He walked back toward Rome, his gun leveled at Rome’s chest. He stood close to Maria.