Blind Faith (33 page)

"Positive. And
Syd
knew he wouldn't be there or he wouldn't have been so willing to let me look. Enrique's employed somewhere else. Nick.

"I'll call Alan and ask him to check it out. In the meantime, if you're

finished
with your little escapades, I'd like you to--"

"Go to
San
Remo
. I know. I'm on my way there now." She lowered her voice to a sexy whisper.
"Unless you want to come to my house and keep me under guard yourself."

That remark brought out a laugh, his first. "You wench."

"Wish I could, but Joe just called. I was right after all, Kelly. He knows something and it's big."

Kelly slowed down as she approached the
Ben
Franklin
Bridge
. "Does it concern
Syd
?"

"I'd bet a year's salary on it. The problem is
,
Joe won't talk until his kids are safely out of the way."

She listened as he told her how his sister had come through for him and would take the children until all danger had passed.

"I'll call you when I know more, okay?"

"Sure. You know where to reach me. Nick."

Forty-One.

Nick's plan had gone off without a hitch, due mostly to the speed with which it had been executed and the cooperation from the entire
Massino
family, even five-year-old Tommy, who hadn't wanted to leave his dad at first but had finally agreed to get on the plane.

At boarding time.
Nick had spoken to the senior flight attendant and explained that the boys would be met in
Aviano
by his sister, Kathleen Hargrove. The attendant had assured him she would personally escort them to the
Alitalia
terminal for their connection to
Aviano
.

After the plane had taken off.
Nick and Joe drove back to
Center
City
and went to a busy sports bar just off
Broad Street
. Half a dozen TV sets were strategically placed throughout the room and every eye was glued to the
Temple
versus
University
of
Dayton
basketball game in progress. Not a soul was paying attention to the two men sitting at a back table, sipping their beer.

Nick slid a card key across the small round table. "I made arrangements

for
you and roe to stay at the

Doubletree.
You're registered under the name of Thomas Parson."

Joe tried a little humor. "You're afraid the boogeyman will get me?"

"Just a precaution."

"Okay." Joe pocketed the key. "But you're going to have to tell me how much I owe you for everything--the plane tickets, the clothes you bought for the kids, the room, everything."

"I'll send you a bill." The man was now officially unemployed and he would need every cent he had, but Nick didn't tell him that. "Are you ready to tell me what you know?"

Joe nodded. He hitched his chair closer to the table and spoke in a low voice. "
Syd
is hiding money.
Illegal money."

He shook his head. "No, but I'm sure it's in his office somewhere, maybe on his computer."

"A week before your father died, he told me he'd overheard a phone conversation between
Syd
and someone else. Patrick could only pick out bits and pieces but it was enough to alert him that the boss was making loads of money through back-room gambling and loan-sharking, and laundering the cash through several phony businesses before transferring it to the
Cayman Islands
."

On the table.
Nick's hands fisted. "Why didn't my father come to me with that information? I could have done something.

Maybe saved his life."

"I told him to. He said he didn't have any proof, but he would soon. He was thinking of bugging the back room where he thought the illegal gambling was taking place."

"Yeah.
He figured he could do it after 4:00 a.m. when the casino closed for a few hours. I asked him if he needed help, but he said no. He didn't want to get me involved in case something went wrong."

Joe's answer surprised him. "I don't know. Nick. I swear on my dear Dottie's grave I don't know what happened. That Thursday morning I expected your father to tell me the bug was in place, but instead he rushed out of there, with a mean look on his face. Next thing I knew, he was lying in the parking lot, dying."

Nick wrapped his hands around his mug, needing something to hang on to.

"I was sick with grief at first,
then
I got angry. I went to
Syd
and told him what I knew."

At the bar, loud cheers broke out as the center for
Temple
scored again.

Joe waited for the noise to die down before saying, "He swore to me he had nothing to do with your father's death. He didn't even know Patrick had overheard his phone call."

"No. He knew that if he did and I went to the authorities, he'd be investigated. He couldn't risk that."

"So he bought your silence." Nick tried not to sound bitter.

Joe hung his head for a couple of seconds before looking up again. "I told him to go to hell at first. I told him I was going to finish the job Patrick had started. I even handed him my resignation. He wouldn't accept it. He kept reminding me I was broke and fifty-six years old.

Who would hire me? On the other hand, if I stayed and kept quiet, he would not only promote me to chief of security but he'd make sure I had enough money to send Danny to college, pay for a full-time baby-sitter for Tommy and buy a bigger house in a better neighborhood."

"No." Joe gazed at him calmly, as if he had been expecting the question.

"What was important was my kids' safety."

"Not in so many words, but he gave me some very strong hints. I would have been a fool to ignore them."

Nick didn't say anything. How could he blame him? If
Syd
had had Patrick killed, as Nick believed, and Joe had become a threat, he would have killed him as well, without hesitation.

"So I agreed to stay at the
Chenonceau
and keep quiet," Joe continued.

"I wasn't proud, believe me.

Not a day went by in the last year when I didn't think of your father. I felt like a traitor, unworthy of his friendship, his trust. Yet at the same time I knew that in my shoes, he would have done the same thing.

Someday, when you have children of your own, you'll understand."

"Hello, princess." Gino kissed Kelly on the cheek. "I was wondering when you'd get here."

"Your young man called." He winked at her. "I think he's checking up on you." At the other end of the kitchen, Connie was filling manicotti with a ricotta-and-spinach mixture. Benny was at the sink cleaning squid.

Knowing her mother would have seen through a lie, Kelly had told Connie the truth. The investigation was coming to an end and Nick hadn't wanted to take unnecessary chances with Kelly.

"I like that boy," Connie had said, giving Kelly a pat on the back. "You should marry him."

"Hey, Kelly!"
Benny held out the phone. "It's Nick."

She walked over and took the wall extension from him. "Why didn't you call me on my cell phone?" she asked Nick.

"Because I wanted to make sure you were where you're supposed to be."

She smiled. It had been a long time since a man had worried about her the way Nick did. "I told you I would be. What's the matter? Don't you trust me?"

"Not after the stunt you pulled yesterday. Besides, I called fifteen minutes ago and you weren't there."

"I stopped at
Victoria
's and filled her in on what took place in
Atlantic City
."

"Better now that the kids are out of harm's way. We'll wait until they've arrived at their destination before going to the police."

"I'll tell you everything when I see you tomorrow morning. Hopefully, by that time, this mess will be all over."

After Kelly had hung up, Connie came to stand beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "I heard you mention
Victoria
. Why don't you call her and ask her and Phoebe to come over for dinner?"

"I already did. She wants to spend a quiet evening at home with her daughter. Ward and Cecily will be at the
Bellevue
tonight,
Adrian
has the night off, and Phoebe can be as noisy as she likes."

"Oh, that's right." Connie bobbed her head. "Ward is getting an award tonight, isn't he?"

"The Benjamin Franklin Award."
It was a prestigious honor bestowed on a single individual each year for his or her selfless efforts to make the city of
Philadelphia
a better place. This year Ward had been selected for financing the construction of a women's shelter through the Eastland Bank.

"How come you weren't invited?" Gino asked.

"I was. I declined in respect for
Victoria
. She's not going either."

Connie shook her head and went to check a pot on the stove.
"Poor kid.

She must be going crazy not knowing what happened to her husband."

Maybe she would soon, Kelly thought. Maybe Nick was right in saying this mess should be over by morning.

Kelly was taking a dish of lasagna out of her mother's oven when Nick called her back, this time on her cell phone. "Kelly," he said, talking over the loud static. "Something came up." He started to fade then came back. "Meet me ..."

He did, though there was little improvement in the connection. "I didn't

get
that. Nick. Can you repeat--"

"I said to meet me in
Weekstown
."

"Where the hell is
Weekstown
?"

"
South Jersey
.
Past
Egg
Harbor
City
."

"What are you doing there?"

"No time to explain ..." More static. "Meet me there."

"Nick,
Egg
Harbor
is an hour from here."

"Not if you take the expressway, then Route 50 to Route 563. Past

Weekstown
, and across Ocean

Yachts, you'll see a path. The cabin is at the end of that path. You got that?"

"Yes, but whose cabin is it?"

"Kelly ... Kelly,
are
you there?"

"Yes," she shouted. "Whose cabin is it?"

"We've got them, Kelly. It's all over."

They were disconnected.

Kelly
lay
her phone on the counter. Connie and Gino were looking at her.

"What was that all about?" Connie asked. "Why would Nick want you to go to
Egg
Harbor
at this time of night?"

Kelly glanced at her watch. "It's only five o'clock." She walked over to the hutch and opened a drawer. "You still keep a map of
New Jersey
in here? Ah, here it is."

She spread it on the counter, located
Egg
Harbor
and
Weekstown
and traced it back to
Center
City
.

"I was about to suggest it," Gino said, already untying his apron.

"Guys, please." Kelly shook her head. "I don't need a bodyguard. I'll be with Nick. You stay here, Uncle Gino." She gave him a knowing look and he nodded.

Traffic was heavy throughout
Philadelphia
and on the expressway, but began thinning along Route 50. Out of the city limits, Kelly had wanted to call Nick and had realized that in her haste, she had left her cell phone on her mother's kitchen counter. Whatever explanation there was for this sudden change of plans would have to wait.

As she passed
Egg
Harbor
, she concentrated on her driving. This was unknown territory to her, but she knew the area was called the Pinelands, a million acre pine forest lying roughly halfway between
Philadelphia
and
Atlantic City
. Some of the land was private, with beautiful summer homes built onto
it,
the rest was government-owned and had been turned into state parks.

At last, she spotted the sign for Ocean Yachts. The small, log-shingled cottage stood alone in the middle of a clearing. Tall pines surrounded it and kept it hidden from the road. Kelly stopped the car and stepped outside looking at the ramshackle structure and the single light that shone through the tiny window. Partially concealed behind the cabin were two cars. Why two?
she
wondered. Who else was here?

Apprehension swept through her as she studied the isolated cabin.

Something about Nick's call had reminded her of something. Something she should know.
But what?