Broken Promises (17 page)

“Sounds like to me—okay, just hear me out.”
She leveled her gaze in his direction. “This isn’t what
I
actually think, but I can see why the police
might
think
Jackie ran away.”

“Because it’s the easiest solution. Write her
off as a runaway mom. Like they tried to write off my brother as a
runaway.”

“Did they really?” Shaking her head, she let
out an exasperated huff.

“If our dad hadn’t been a doctor and one of
the town’s movers and shakers, they wouldn’t have done anything. As
it was, one detective got very involved and busted his ass trying
to find my brother and, later, whoever took him.”

“What’s his name? Could he give us a
hand?”

“I’ll never forget Detective Sergeant Johnny
Ross. I’ll check around and give him a call. He’s probably retired
by now.”

“Hm.” She twisted her mouth to the side. “Did
they ever find his killer, or were there more boys taken?”

Smart gal. Asked good questions too. “Like a
serial? No, that’s the weird part—no more boys were taken.
Detective Ross said the area must’ve gotten too hot for the
kidnapper, so he moved on.”

“Look, you and I both know Jackie didn’t run
off.” She continued pacing. “Maybe we need to take a deeper look at
Brad.”

“Brad has an alibi—of sorts.” He hesitated,
not wanting to tell her Brad’s alibi was a hooker who hadn’t been
found yet.

“Of
sorts
? Either he does or he
doesn’t.”

“It’s not that cut and dried.” Damn, Bette
was great at cutting to the chase. Might even prove to have a knack
for investigating. “The local LEOs are still looking into that
aspect—at least, they better be.”

“You’re not telling me something.” She cocked
her head to the side and eyeballed him.

“Okay. He was with a hooker named Brandi. A
yet-to-be-found hooker.”

“Duh, rat bastid!” She shook her head and
fisted her hands. “Don’t think I won’t be telling Jackie about
dat.”

“Careful, Jersey.” Indeed, her New Jersey
accent had resurged, and she was in full Mafia princess mode. Her
eyes flashed with anger as she flipped her hair over her
shoulder.

She shot him a sideways glance and shrugged.
“Makes me wish—just a little—I could get my brother. Y’know?”

He set his hands on her shoulders and stopped
her pacing. “I
do
know, and no, don’t even
think
about it.” Better yet, she should read the no-BS expression in his
gaze.

She pursed her lips and shrugged. “My brother
doesn’t even know where I am.”

“You sure?”

She nodded. “Definitely. I let him know I’d
left Nashville and why. And you don’t want to know what he
threatened to do to Rod—” She held up a hand. “Don’t worry, I
didn’t give Gino his name. I just let him know I was okay and back
in the Northeast. That, plus I still didn’t want anything to do
with the family business.”

“Good.” How he’d ever explain it to his
superiors at the Bureau, he wasn’t sure. Getting involved with a
wiseguy’s sister might just be a career killer. Might? No, it was
the death knell to his life’s dream. But he was sure of one thing:
Bette’s desire to keep out of the family dealings—at least until
she threw out her comment about putting a hit on his
brother-in-law. What would he do without the Bureau? All through
school, that was all he’d ever wanted. He shook his head, wishing
he’d never let his Galahad complex get the better of him six months
ago. Almost.

“God. What a face. Come on. You know I was
kidding about putting a hit on Brad. I’d much rather deck him
myself, and then tell Jackie.” She chewed her bottom lip
thoughtfully. “Do you think she actually knows he’s unfaithful or
will she be devastated? Honestly, I thought they had a good
marriage. Just goes to show, I guess.” She pulled out the chair in
front of the dressing table and sat, giving her long, dark hair a
pat.

Somewhat gingerly, Alex sat on the edge of
the bed and smiled at the thought of Bette decking his
brother-in-law.

Without warning, the dog, which had been
behaving fairly well, jumped on the bed and flopped over on her
back, exposing her belly with her four hairy paws outstretched.
“What?” Glad of the distraction, he darted a glance at Bette,
managing to control his urge to flee. “Rude dog. Can’t you control
her?”

“Little girl just wants her belly rubbed. You
should be flattered.”

“She’s tormenting me.” Like her mistress but
not on the same level.

“No such thing. Dogs are smart, and they know
people. Even if you’re still afraid of her, she’s letting you know
she’s submissive and not aggressive.”

“Yeah, that’s what they all say.” His tone
rose in a falsetto. “
‘Oh, don’t worry about her. She won’t
bite
.’ Right! Next thing you know, I’ll be in the ER with
multiple lacerations.”

Bette doubled over, laughing so hard she
seemed to have trouble breathing.

“I’m serious.”

“I know you are. That’s what’s so funny.”
This she managed to say between gasps of laughter.

“You and this
dog
are seriously
pissing me off.”

“I’m sorry. She’s just recognizing you as the
alpha male.”

“Alpha male? Yeah, that’s me, all right.” He
cast a quick look at the dog. “She senses that, huh? Pretty smart
of her.”

More giggles from the Mafia princess. Man, he
had to get those words out of his head.

His cell phone rang. The caller ID showed
Canandaigua PD. “Sorry to interrupt your hilarity, but I need to
take this.” His heart raced as he answered, “MacGregor.” Good news
or bad?

Detective Spitz’s flat and noncommittal tone
came over the line. “Got a floater washed up on the north bank of
the lake. Matches your sister’s general description. Appreciate it
if you’d come down to the morgue for an identification.”

“Oh, God.” His heart sped into overdrive..
Mouth dry, he tried to speak. Finally, the words came. “Already at
the morgue?” Why hadn’t they called him sooner?

“Give us an hour or so.”

“Where is she
right now
?”

“Still on the scene. Now listen to me. This
is an active crime scene. FBI or not, you don’t have any business
messing around down here. The coroner’s already pronounced her, and
she’ll be on her way into the morgue before you can get down to the
lake. Hear me, MacGregor?”

“Yeah.” He disconnected the call, then turned
to Bette. “Uh—” His tongue literally stuck to the roof of his
mouth.

“No! What is it?
Tell
me!”

He waved her away, shaking his head and not
wanting to believe it was his sister’s body on the way to the
morgue.
Had
to be a mistake. He picked up the car keys.
“Gotta go.”

“Wait. I’m going with you.” She jerked the
keys from his hand. “I’ll drive.”

“What about the dog?” Why he gave a flip
about the mutt when his sister might be dead, he had no earthly
idea.

“Taking her down to my apartment right now.
Won’t take me a sec.” She headed for the hallway; the Sheltie
jumped off the bed and followed. Bette stopped at the door. “Wait
for me!”

Once Bette was out of sight, Alex sat on the
bed and buried his face in his hands. Images of floaters came to
mind. The same desolation he’d felt when he learned his brother’s
body had been found knifed through him just as sharp and left a new
jagged wound. God, this couldn’t be happening again.

Not again.

Chapter Eighteen

Bette turned on the ignition and gave Alex a
sideways glance. She’d never seen him so down. Eyes dull.
So
not all there. “You going to tell me where we’re headed sometime
today?” Her hands shook on the steering wheel. Dammit. “I heard you
say morgue. That’s where we’re going, to the morgue, right? Are
they sure it’s Jackie? No, it just can’t be.”

“No. Drive…toward the lake.”

“Which side?” She backed out onto the street
and headed the car in the direction of Main Street.

“Just head toward the bathhouse—the park,
whatever they call it now.”

“Okay…” She held her breath, waiting for him
to tell her more.

“Should be able to see where we need to go
from there.”

His tone was so devoid of emotion, she had to
drag more information out of him. It just couldn’t be Jackie or
Cody, please, no. “Please tell me about the call. H-have they
found…?” If she couldn’t even bring herself to say the word “body,”
she certainly couldn’t blame Alex for staring ahead and giving a
dead-on impression of a zombie. She hung a quick left on Main.

She stayed in the inside lane and again cut
her gaze toward her grim passenger. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he
swallowed. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.

Okay, eyes back on the road. The lake was
only a few more blocks. She’d find out soon enough. Not that she
couldn’t guess. Or wanted to.

And sure enough, up ahead, Eastern Boulevard
was blocked off, and a cop was directing traffic away from what had
to be the crime scene. Multiple patrol cars, a black van with
Coroner
on the side, and what had to be every cop car in
Canandaigua and Ontario County lined the side of the road.

A body—of course, that was what the call was
about. Not that she hadn’t already figured it out. Seeing all the
cops and patrol cars with their flashing blue-and-white lights hit
her harder than expected. Too sharply, it brought back memories of
the night she’d returned from a girls’ night out and found her home
a pile of smoking embers. Her parents were dead and already loaded
into the
meat wagon
, as one of the cops called it. She
swallowed, blinking back the tears. Fat lot of good tears would
do.

A block before the police detour, she turned
and parked on the street. She removed the keys from the ignition,
then turned to see Alex’s bleak expression. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t know it’s her. Not yet.” Without
meeting her gaze, he scrambled from the car and raced toward the
lake before she could undo her seat belt.

“Dammit. Wait!” He shouldn’t have to face
whatever the authorities found—not alone. She jumped from the car
and ran after the man. The man who might’ve just lost his only
sister.

~~*~~

Alex’s heart pounded, beating loud in his
ears. He stopped running only when the patrol officer stopped him
at the perimeter of the crime scene. “FBI,” he said, whipping out
his ID and badge, and then ducked under the tape before the
officer, who was only doing his job, could object.

He surveyed the scene, and quickly his gaze
focused on the gurney and body bag. Time slowed. Was this what his
grand illusions of being an FBI agent amounted to? His sister dead
at the hands of an unsub? Would his nephew be next?

Powerless. Dammit, he was powerless. And more
than anything, he hated that someone else had the upper hand and
had taken the life of his sister.

No. Not Jackie
. Not until he saw for
himself.

A wide form blocked his progress toward the
body. Alex held up his arm to shove the detective out of the
way.

“Hold on, MacGregor.” Spitz shoved back and
stood his ground. “You don’t have any business down here. Told you
to meet me at the morgue.”

“Dammit, tell me! Is that my sister or
not?”

“Look, I’m sorry,” Spitz began. “Should’ve
waited until—”

“Until what?” The rage, the anger, the
unfairness of it all burst from him, leaving him shaking and
needing to punch someone. Anyone. And Spitz would do fine.

“One of the sheriff’s deputies knows your
sister—takes his dog there— Anyway, says it’s not her. Sorry, but
he came on scene a couple of minutes after I called you.”

“It’s not—is he sure? Let me see. I
have
to see.” He dragged in a breath, then moved toward the
body, his legs jerking, almost failing to support him.

Spitz jerked his head at the coroner’s
assistant. “Let ’im have a look.”

The assistant unzipped the bag enough for him
to see the pale, bloated face of a woman. Fair hair and dull, dead
blue eyes. But it wasn’t his sister. Someone else.

Relief surged through him. He wanted to dance
and sing, but remorse kicked him in the gut. Someone else would
grieve tonight. Someone who’d lost a mother or sister or daughter.
Not Alex.

Not yet.

A commotion broke out behind him. He turned
and saw Bette duck around the patrolman and run toward him. He
opened his arms. “It’s not Jackie.”

Bette threw herself into his arms and hugged
him. “Thank God. I was so scared. Are you all right? Do you know
who it is?”

He shook his head. “All I know is it’s not my
sister.” He took a deep breath. “Let’s get out of the way. There’s
still plenty of work to be done.”

Hand in hand, they walked slowly back to
where the car was parked. He restrained the urge to skip. “I feel
so guilty.”

“Why?” She gazed up at him, her dark eyes
filled with confusion.

“Because I’m so damned happy it was someone
else. Anyone but my sister.”

“That’s only natural.” She squeezed his hand.
He squeezed hers back, receiving an enormous amount of comfort from
her simple gesture and her very presence.

They walked the block back to the car,
picking their way along the bumpy sidewalk where the roots of
hundred-year-old trees had broken through the concrete. “I was so
afraid,” he finally admitted. “All the way down to the lake, I
imagined how her body would look. Fortunately, that woman hadn’t
been in the water very long. At least her family won’t have to view
a body that…” He paused, then continued, “She’ll still be
recognizable…to someone. You wouldn’t believe the horror the
relatives of some victims have to identify.” He shook his head.
Given that the physical description of this woman was similar to
Jackie’s, was there a serial killer just starting up in the area?
But that didn’t fit with Cody’s being abducted so soon after his
mother.