The Stranger Next Door (16 page)

Chapter Eighteen

After twenty-four hours, Jack had reached his maximum worry point. Now, at almost sunrise, he was out of his mind with fear. He and Robbie had driven around the entire city and not seen one glimpse of Tess. They’d contacted all of her friends in her address book, and none of them had seen her either. It was starting to look like Tess had disappeared.

Turning into his driveway, Jack wasn’t surprised to see Patrice leaning against her car waiting for them. She’d been out all night as well looking for her best friend.

He’d called Patrice and told her his worries about Tess this morning when Tess still hadn’t returned home. Patrice had come right over. He’d also been forced to explain why Tess had been so angry that she peeled out of her drive, which led to her missing person act. As it turned out, Patrice had been a friend of Tess and Dean since high school. She wasn’t too pleased about their suspicions of Dean and his father, either.

“I'm sure she’s fine,” Patrice said from her seat at Jack’s kitchen table where she sipped her coffee. Problem was, she didn’t sound too convinced.

“After you called, I figured she run over to the Camillos’ for comfort and end up staying the night in Dean’s old room.”

“And?” Jack prompted.

“That wasn’t the case. Roman said she’d shown up asking a lot of questions and left after about an hour. He tried to get her to take a guard with her, but she refused. Apparently she was very upset, but he wouldn’t tell me why.”

“He had something to do with this. I just know it,” Jack said, gazing out the window toward Tess’s still-empty house. “Roman Camillo knows where Tess is.”

“I don’t care what you say about Dean’s family. There’s no way on Earth they would ever hurt Tess.”

“Are you sure about that?” Jack snapped.

Patrice arched a brow and replied, “Damn sure. I’ve known Tess, Dean, and his father since our first year of high school. They’re good people.”

Jack wished he could be as optimistic as Patrice, but he couldn’t. There was something fishy about that family, and if what Robbie said about them being involved with the shady underworld of the mob was true, Tess was in more danger than she could imagine.

“I know you believe that,” Jack began gruffly, “but I don’t. That’s why I called Captain Lewis. He should be here any minute. I also told him my suspicions of Roman Camillo.”

Patrice stood and gaped. “You didn’t.”

“Yes, he did.” Robbie nodded from across the kitchen table. “Tess left yesterday morning and hasn’t returned. She didn’t take any clothing, and we can’t get her on her cell. I have to agree with Jack. Something’s not right.”

Patrice nodded. “You're right; she is missing. I’m worried about her just as much as you are, but you’re wrong about the Camillos. Maybe she’s just hiding out in a hotel somewhere. You know, just trying to get her ducks in a row.”

Jack scowled in her direction. “I’m not only worried about the Camillos. Anything could have happened. What if she had an accident or was attacked again?”

Patrice paled, and for the first time since arriving, she looked truly concerned. “I never thought about that. Tess is always so careful.”

Patrice may not have thought about the danger Tess could be in, but he’d been thinking about it since the moment she stomped her tight little behind out the door. He’d wanted to follow her then but knew he wouldn’t make it out of the drive before she stopped him and either gave him another what for or just ran him over with her car.

I should have chanced it. I should have stopped her.
Jack watched as the captain’s police car pulled into the drive. The captain stepped out and so did another man. The two climbed the front steps.

“Good to see you again. You remember Officer Flynn?” the captain said as he shook Jack’s hand.

Immediately recognizing the officer from the night Tess was nearly kidnapped, Jack nodded, extending his hand. “I do. Come on in.”

Leading the officers into the house, Jack watched as they greeted Patrice and Robbie and took a seat at the table.

“Where’s your partner?”

“Holdings is taking some personal days,” the officer answered lightly. “Short notice, but what the hell. I can handle things on my own.”

“You might be able to handle things, but it’d be better were he here. I know he can’t control when a family emergency arises, but he better expect a hell of a lot of work waiting on his desk when he gets back. He left a lot of things unattended,” the captain said, obviously disappointed with the absent officer.

Despite his fear, Jack had to admit the absence of the overly handsome officer who’d seemed more than a little interested in Tess tickled him pink. The last thing he needed on his mind was another man throwing himself at Tess when they found her.

“So,” the captain began, setting his hat down on the table next to him, “you think something’s happened to Tess? Would you care to explain why?”

Frowning, Jack took a seat next to Robbie and pulled out the file they had shown Tess the day before then, as quickly as possible, explained his fears and the reasons for them.

Captain Lewis frowned at the evidence for a long moment then pulled out his cell phone.

“You need to get over here now. To three-sixty-five Long Acre Drive.” Without waiting for a response, he snapped the phone shut, then turned to the young officer and said, “Put out an APB, missing person, and whatever else you can think of on Tess McCoy. I want her found as soon as possible.”

“You think she’s in danger?” Officer Flynn asked.

“You bet your ass I do. Now move.”

Jack watched with disbelief as Flynn rushed out the front door before looking back to the captain.

“You boys don’t know what you’ve gotten yourselves into,” Captain Lewis said.

Jack shook his head. “What about Tess? Aren’t you worried about her?”

“Damn straight I am,” Captain Lewis replied with force. “You’re poking around in something that should’ve never been dredged back up. Tess has been through so much these last couple of months, then you drop something like this on her? And now she’s missing!”

“Captain,” Patrice’s calm voice interrupted, “why do you think Tess is in trouble?”

“That’s a good question,” Robbie said calmly. “What aren’t you telling us?”

Before the captain had a chance to answer, Officer Flynn re-entered the house, accompanied by another man Jack recognized immediately.

Standing, the captain hurried over to the man and shook his hand before leading him back to the table.

“What the hell’s going on here?” Jack asked with incredulity as Roman Camillo gazed at him through hard, sea green eyes.

“How’d you get here so fast?” the captain asked Roman.

“I was on my way to talk to Tess when you called. I was just at the corner.”

Patrice rounded the table to be enveloped in the man’s arms. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“It’s good to see you too, Patty-girl.”

Nodding, Patrice stepped away.

“I hate to break up the family reunion, but I need to know what the hell is going on and where the hell Tess is. Am I the only one thinking about Tess here?” Jack bellowed.

“Tess is still missing?” Roman asked, his voice filled with concern.

“Why the hell do you think we’re all here?” Jack snapped. “Why do you think Patty came by your house asking if you’d seen Tess? Apparently something happened to her after she left your house … or before.”

He knew he was acting like an irrational jackass, but he didn’t care. Tess was out there somewhere, and these two men obviously knew something that would lead him to her.

“Just take a seat and we’ll explain,” Captain Lewis said calmly.

Jack remained standing for a long moment. The urge to burst out of his house in a dead run screaming Tess’s name surged through him. He needed to see her, to feel her skin against his, to know she was safe within the circle of his arms.

“Jack.” Robbie’s voice reached his ears. “Let’s listen to what he has to say. They might know where to start looking for Tess.”

Glancing in his direction, Jack relented and retook his seat.

“All right, explain,” Jack demanded.

“Long story short. A little over thirty years ago, Roman here decided he wanted out of the mob. He realized what he was doing was beyond wrong, and that the mob life just wasn’t for him. So, he worked with me and another officer to do just that. I believe you know that officer.” Captain Lewis pointed to Robbie.

Robbie looked surprised. “My father?”

“That’s right. For a long time he tried to bring Roman down. During that time he was Sylvester. But when Roman gave us the option of bringing down the entire ring instead of just him in exchange for a new life and identity for his newly growing family, we jumped on the opportunity. And it worked. When Roman went into protective custody, your father couldn’t say anything to anyone about Roman or his whereabouts. It would have put Roman and his family at risk. Although he shouldn’t have been discussing the case around you at all,” he said, looking at Robbie, “that’s why he never told you what really happened to Roman.”

Robbie nodded. “I understand.”

Jack leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. “You’re telling me that Roman, with help from you and Robbie’s father, faked his own death? That’s how he got out of the mob and why he’s the man in both pictures?”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

“Did Tess know any of this?”

Jack frowned at Robbie’s question. He knew without a doubt she didn’t.

“No,” Roman said. “After I learned of my old boss’s death, we moved back here. I thought that time of my life was over. If anyone was left, they would still think I was dead.” His eyes lowered. He twirled his thumbs together and sadness covered his expression as he continued. “My son learned of my past life, and I'm afraid that’s what killed him and his wife. He got mixed up in that lifestyle. Now that Tess explained to me about the attempted kidnapping, and seeing as how you think she’s missing, I think someone’s after her for some information they think Dean might have shared with her. I should have done more to keep him out of that life.” He shook his head wearily.

Captain Lewis cleared his throat and, looking a bit uncomfortable said, “Actually, Dean wasn’t really involved in that lifestyle. Not in the way you think he was.”

“What are you talking about?” Jack asked with confusion. “Either he was involved or he wasn’t.”

“I’d like to know what you're talking about,” Roman agreed heatedly.

Captain Lewis grumbled with frustration. “About two years ago, Dean came to me, asking for a shot at detective. I knew he was ready, but Tess wasn’t, so he worked on cases in his spare time. Last year, when we needed someone to go undercover, he was the first to jump at the opportunity. I didn’t want to, but he begged me to put him on a certain case.”

“And which case would that be?” Robbie asked from across the table.

“We’d recently uncovered some illegal activity that lead us to believe it was mob related. Dean jumped on the chance, and against my better judgment, I let him go undercover. I knew there was a chance someone might recognize him as Roman’s son because they look so much alike, but he was adamant.” He shook his head.

“I knew something wasn’t right. I knew he was involved, but he never corrected my assumptions, never told me he was undercover. Even his marriage to Melanie led me to believe he was in over his head,” Roman said quietly.

“He couldn’t,” Patrice said calmly as she nodded with understanding. “He was undercover. He couldn’t tell anyone, not even you or Tess. There was too much risk of someone overhearing and blowing his cover.”

The all nodded in unison.

“But wouldn’t this type of undercover work be assigned to someone of higher ranking? FBI maybe?” Robbie asked.

“Usually,” the captain replied. “But since we didn’t have any solid evidence against one particular person, only suspicions, we were told to proceed as we saw fit. It happens sometimes.” He shrugged.

“Wait a minute,” Jack said. “What do you mean his marriage to Melanie made you think he was in over his head?”

Roman scowled. “Melanie was the daughter of my old boss, Ritchie Bottenelli. She faked a pregnancy to get Dean to marry her. There was an ulterior motive there, either concocted by Melanie herself, or her father, whom I'm assuming faked his own death, to get to me for something.”

“No, he’s really dead,” the captain spoke up. “I saw him buried with my own eyes.”

“Then who’s been stalking me? Who killed my son and his wife and tried to kidnap Tess?” Roman rumbled with irritation. “This has Ritchie written all over it. Not to mention, he’s the only one who was ever called ‘the old man’. He always looked older than he actually was,” he said, answering Patrice’s questioning look.

“I don’t know, Roman. I just don’t know.” Captain Lewis shook his head.

Jack let the information flying around sink in for a long moment.

He had many questions, but his main concern at the moment was where Tess could be.

“Tess came to see you, didn’t she?” he asked Roman.

“Yes, and when she confronted me about the pictures you showed her, I explained everything. She was a little shaken when she left and refused the guard I begged her to take.”

“When did she leave your house?” Jack asked brusquely.

“Just after sunset last night.”

He was more certain than ever Tess was in danger. Fear pricked across his skin like a million tiny insects biting him all at once.

Placing his head in his hands, Jack struggled to control the pain and anguish churning within him like a hurricane. If he fell to pieces now, he would be of no use to Tess, wherever she was.

The crackle of a walkie-talkie rippled through the air, interrupting Jack’s line of pessimistic thinking.

“Dispatch to Officer Flynn. Come in, Flynn. Over.”

Grasping the receiver clipped to his shoulder, Flynn tilted his head to speak into the device. “Flynn here, over.”

“We have a location on the red BMW registered to Tess McCoy.”

“Great. Where is it?”

The line crackled for a long moment before the female voice sounded again. “On its hood in a ditch on Pine Lane Drive. Looks like whoever was driving missed the curve and crashed. Luckily the people who found it were walking. If they’d been driving, they never would’ve seen it. It was secluded in the deep culvert.”