You Can't Hide (40 page)

“He can wait another few minutes.”

Aidan flinched as Tess’s nails dug into his neck. As one they turned to where a very large older man stood, his massive arms crossed over his barrel chest. He was built like a brick, his upper body evidence of years of heavy manual labor. His face was bent in a ferocious scowl, like a father might look at the man who’d been burning up the sheets with his daughter all night long.

“Mr. Ciccotel i.” He held out his hand. “I’m Aidan Reagan.”

Tess’s father just looked at his outstretched hand and the moment grew awkward. With a tired sigh Tess took Aidan’s hand in her own. “Dad. I didn’t expect you.”

He studied her with cool dark eyes and Aidan realized from where her ability had come. “I suppose you didn’t,” he finally said. “Can we talk, Tess? Privately?”

She looked up at Aidan from the corner of her eye, wary. “Go on. I’ll call you.”

Aidan stepped back and blew out his own sigh when the door shut in his face, then turned for the stairs. He didn’t want to be late a second day in a row.
Thursday, March 16, 7:30 A.M.

Joanna frowned at the inside of her desk drawer. She’d been looking for photo paper to print some of the pictures she’d taken for her exposй on Dr. Jonathan Carter and found half her supply gone. “Keith, have you been printing pictures?”

He didn’t look up from tying his tie. “No.” Briefcase in hand, he started for the door. His voice was like ice and she frowned at his back. “I said I was sorry, Keith.”

He stopped, his hand on the doorknob. “I’m not sure you understand the meaning of the word, Jo. I’m not even sure who you are anymore. I’l see you tonight.”

The door clicked as he closed it quietly. A slam would have been better, but that wasn’t the kind of person Keith was. Then she shrugged. He’d come around. He always did. One of Ciccotelli’s friends down. Now on to the next fly on the flypaper. She’d already done some digging. She was on to something big. She could feel it.

150

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

Thursday, March 16, 7:40 A.M.

Michael Ciccotelli was a forbidding man. From the adjoining room came her mother looking flustered and tired and… stuck in the middle.

Tess looked at them both warily. “When did you get in?”

“Last night,” her mother answered.

Vito’s midnight visit now made sense. Tess sat down. “I don’t know what to say.”

Her mother fluttered her hands. “You wouldn’t come to us, so…”

“Gina, sit.” Gently her father pushed her mother into a chair, then stood behind her, his big hands on her mother’s slender shoulders. “What’s going on here, Tess?”

He was pale, his lips colorless. His big hands trembled. “Sit down, Dad.”

“I’l sit when I choose. I asked you what’s going on. You can start with Reagan.”

“He’s a nice man. We’re…” The words escaped her. He’d taken care of her, but that was not the self-supporting image she wished to project. “We’re dating,” she finally said. Her father’s brows lifted. “I see.”

She lifted her own brows. “I’m sure you do,” she said coldly.

“Tess,” her mother chided and Tess lurched to her feet.

“Why are you here?”

“Don’t be rude,” Vito muttered.

“Oh, you shut up. I’m not going to let you all brand me a fallen woman. I’m thirty-three years old, for God’s sake. And he’s the first man I’ve… dated in a year.”

“After Phillip.” Her father grimaced. “Damn him to hell.”

Tess had to bite back a laugh that seemed to come from nowhere. “Aidan calls him ‘Dr. Damn-him-to-hell,’” she said and thought her father’s lips twitched. A little corner of her heart crumbled and she softened her voice. “Dad, Vito says you’re sick. Why did you come all this way?”

He swallowed. “You’re in trouble. Your mother wanted to come. So we came.”

Her mother looked over her shoulder with a sad shake of her head. “You promised.”

He closed his eyes. “All right. I wanted to come. I needed to be sure you were all right. See you with my own eyes.” He opened his eyes and she was stunned to see tears there. In all her life she’d never seen her father cry. Never. “You were hurt last year and we couldn’t come because we didn’t know. You wouldn’t tell us. You’re in trouble now and we have to hear it on the news. Do you know how that feels, Tess?”

Her mother patted her father’s hand. “The news said you told your patients’ secrets,” she said. “They said you’d been unethical and your license was suspended.”

“They’re filthy liars,” her father uttered, his voice shaking with restrained wrath. He lifted his chin. “You wouldn’t do any of that.”

Another corner of her heart cracked. “The licensing board did suspend me, Dad. How do you know they’re not right?”

He pinned her with his dark eyes. “Because I know you. And I know above all else, you don’t lie. I raised you better than that.”

“Just like that?” Her own voice was bitter, sarcastic. “You believe me?”

“We’ve always believed in you, Tess,” her mother said softly. “We love you.”

Her father sighed. “And I know that things aren’t always what they appear to be.”

Tess closed her eyes, refusing to be swayed. “I know what I saw, Dad.”

“And it looked bad. But Tess, I didn’t do anything. That woman pretended to be a maid and before I knew it she was in my room and…”

Tess steeled her spine, the picture all too plain. “I remember. I was there.”

He pul ed a chair from the little table. “I believe I’l sit now. You always were the difficult one, Tessa. Always asking questions I had no idea how to answer. I always knew you’d be a doctor or a lawyer… something big. Something important.” He drew a labored breath. “I’m all right. I just get winded sometimes.” He steadied himself, meeting her eyes. “But Tessa, you never asked me

151

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

what happened. I kept expecting you to, but you never did. For years I waited.” Her mother took his hand and held it.

“I
saw
what happened,” Tess said from between clenched teeth, suddenly unsure of herself and hating her own weakness as much as she’d hated her mother’s.

“You saw one piece of it,” he insisted. “I kept wondering how, after all the years of your life you could believe that one very bad thing about me. How one moment undid your whole life.” He looked away. “And I didn’t know anything could hurt so bad.”

She looked at her parents’ joined hands. And envied their solidarity even as it infuriated her.

“Neither did I. I kept expecting you to admit you were wrong like you always told us to do, but you never did.” His mouth tightened, but he said nothing. “And you.” She looked at her mother’s devastated face. “You say you always believed in me, but you didn’t. You slapped my face for telling a lie and crawled to him.”

Her father turned only his head, staring at her mother in shock. “You struck her?”

“I was angry.” She sighed. “I was wrong to strike you, Tess. I was angry and hurt and afraid, too. But I never crawled to your father or anyone. I asked him what happened. And I believed him.” Her lips curved humorlessly. “You think I’m a sap.”

“I didn’t say that.” But she’d thought it. She still did.

“Do you think I’m a sap for believing in you now?”

“No.” Tess shook her head. “Because I know
I
didn’t do anything wrong.”

Her father’s smile was mirthless. “Isn’t it interesting how parallel our paths have become?

Because neither did I. If I said I’d never looked at another woman, I’d be lying. But I swear that I have never touched anyone else. Not that day. Not ever.”

His comparison struck a chord and Tess faltered, uncertain. “She was all over you, Dad,” she whispered.

He met her eyes directly. “She was all over me. I never touched her, Tess.”

His voice rang with conviction and truth. He was here… and he didn’t have to be. He’d believed her, when few others did. Was it possible it was all a misunderstanding? She thought about that day, what she’d seen. The skinny bimbo had wrapped herself around him like a limpet. But had his hands been on her? Tess couldn’t remember. But she did know that never before that day had she caught him in a lie. Not once. He looked terrified, and she became aware that this moment could forever fix or seal the rift. “I should have asked you then. Dad, what happened that day?”

His breath shuddered out of him, his wide shoulders sagging in relief and she realized he hadn’t expected blind acceptance, just trust. “She walked right in, Tess. Said she was a gift and I tried to make her leave. Before I knew it, she was stark naked and I had no idea where to put my hands to shove her out the door. She said not to play so hard to get. And five seconds later, you walked in. After you left, I told her that I’d call the cops if she didn’t leave. She got huffy. Said she’d been warned I’d be a tough nut, but bail wasn’t included in her fee. So she left.” He shrugged. “That’s al .”

That’s all.
She fought to swallow the lump in her throat as he waited, the agony of expectation on his face and suddenly the truth of that horrible moment was eclipsed by the truth of this one. He’d believed her, this man who’d been her hero. Because he loved her. Could she do less? His face blurred as her eyes filled. “I’m sorry, Dad,” she whispered. “Can you forgive me?”

“Come here.” He drew her onto his knee and pressed her cheek to his shoulder. “Can we just go on, back to the way things were?”

She breathed in the smell of cedar that always permeated the clothing he wore. Her tears were absorbed by his work shirt and were no more. “That sounds like a plan.”

He rested his cheek on the top of her head. “I’ve missed you, baby.”

“I’ve missed you, too, Daddy. It’s been a hard year. A harder week.”

“So tell me about it, baby.”

Her mother squeezed his shoulder. “First, you lie down. You promised.”

“In a minute, Gina,” he said sharply, glaring up at her mother.

152

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

Shaking her head, her mother disappeared through the door to the adjoining room and returned with an oxygen mask and a portable pump. Tess’s eyes widened. “You’re on oxygen?

And you got on an airplane? Are you insane?”

“I needed to see you,” he said, rol ing his eyes when her mother fitted the mask to his face.

“Now talk to me Tessa.” He scowled. “And start with Reagan.”

“He saved my life, Dad,” she said and watched his face pale beneath the mask. “Breathe.” She pressed a kiss to his forehead. “And next time, shake his hand, okay?”

He struggled with a breath. “Okay.”

Thursday, March 16, 8:00 A.M.

“So it’s closed.” Spinnelli looked around the table. “We’re done.”

Murphy and Aidan sat on one side of the table, SA Patrick Hurst and Spinnelli on the other. Rick and Jack rounded out the other two ends. Nobody looked pleased. Spinnelli frowned. “Bacon’s dead, we have al the pictures, his confession. Clayborn gets arraigned this morning. Tess’s life can go back to normal.”

“Except that the whole city thinks she’s a loose-lipped weasel,” Murphy muttered. “I don’t know, Marc. It just doesn’t feel right.”

“Perhaps because you didn’t arrest Bacon,” Patrick said. “He took away your resolution.”

“That’s part of it,” Aidan conceded, recalling his own helpless fury at seeing Bacon floating dead in the tub. “But it doesn’t feel right. I read Bacon’s psych evaluation. Tess didn’t do the whole evaluation, by the way. She saw him once. The main eval was done by Eleanor Brigham who died before finishing it.”

Murphy looked troubled. “Doesn’t seem like he could hate her so much based on only a single meeting.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Aidan said. “Bacon was a drifter with one specific vice-he liked to peep. He never really held a job. There is no ruthless determination, no setting of real goals other than to watch unsuspecting women naked.”

“He doesn’t fit the profile,” Jack said thoughtful y.

“What profile?” Patrick asked.

“Tess’s profile,” Aidan told him. “Antisocial voyeur. Organized, goal-oriented, and accustomed to delegation. Bacon didn’t fit.”

“Maybe Tess’s profile is wrong,” Patrick offered. “She has been distracted.”

Aidan shrugged. “It still doesn’t explain the timing. Why kill himself now?”

“Maybe he saw the patrol car outside Lynne Pope’s office building,” Spinnelli said. “He knew we were closing in and panicked.”

“This person is cold and calculating, Marc,” Aidan argued. “He tortured Adams for more than three weeks. He doesn’t seem like the panicking type.”

“You say ‘doesn’t,’” Patrick observed. “You real y don’t think Bacon is the one.”

“I don’t.” Aidan looked at the evidence, frustrated. “But it’s only a feeling.”

Spinnelli’s face was stern. “Aidan, the fact remains that we have a signed confession. We have all this evidence that points to Bacon. We even have pictures of Hughes dead in that alley on the memory card you found with all the pictures. Unless you have something more than a feeling, we’re going to close this case and move on.”

“Well, I’m still bothered that we didn’t find his stash,” Rick remarked.

“Or the camera that took the pictures of Hughes,” Jack added. Everybody turned to look at him. “The memory card holding all the pictures of Hughes doesn’t fit the digital camera we found in Bacon’s apartment. A different camera took those pictures.”

“Shit,” Spinnelli muttered, now looking very displeased.

“And there’s the guy in the picture with Connel ,” Murphy said. “He’s the one who planted the camera in Seward’s place. They’re damned big loose ends, Marc.”

Spinnelli looked at Patrick. “You have all you need to make the appeals go away?”

153

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

“The tapes of Tess you found in the Rivera girl’s apartment were enough for that. Finding the tan coat and wig yesterday was a bonus.”

“All right then,” Spinnelli said, holding up his forefinger. “One more day. Go get something concrete. Aidan, stay here.” Everybody else walked out, leaving Aidan and Spinnelli alone.