Rick Cantelli, PI: Into the Darkness (Rick Cantelli, P.I. Detectives Book 3)

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “Every word, and I don’t have all the details, but I’m going to get a DNA sample to prove it tomorrow. Then I’ll get Cleaver involved to make sure he doesn’t have to go back to Phoenix. Something’s wrong there, because Jim says he won’t go back no matter what. If he has to go back for even a short time, I’ll be going with him. When I say with him, I mean side by side, locked and loaded.”

  “Give me fifteen minutes, gramps.” Staley disconnected.

  I called Bone next. Bone didn’t laugh.

  “Damn, Rick! I’ll work this all night if I have to. I can’t wait to meet the little guy. Shit… this is great. I’m goin’ to Phoenix with you. We’ll bring Trish and Lo. There will be no survivors.”

  “Calm down, brother. When I get Lois to light a fire under our shark, Cleaver, we may not have to go to Phoenix. Don’t work all night, but I’d appreciate you taking a look into it with our CIA key. I’ll bring Jim into the office tomorrow morning.”

  “Can’t wait. I’m on it, Rick. See you in the morning. You callin’ Lo tonight?”

  “Nope. It’ll be a surprise party tomorrow.”

  Bone laughed and hung up.

  I sat down with my new look old flame, and my Grandson. In the light, there was no doubt. I used to joke with Lo about her daughter Kim being her mini-me. Well… here I am across the kitchen table from my own mini-me. There was no regret, no sigh of desperation, no wishing I was somewhere else – there was simply a heartfelt acceptance of something I figured beyond reality. All the cards dropped on the table face up. Nothing would separate this kid and me from now until eternity came knocking.

  “I have my brother Bone working on the Phoenix case and your background. Detective Staley will be calling in a few minutes concerning police involvement.”

  “I have an Uncle Bone?”

  “Yep. Uncle Bone’s real name is Timothy Griffin, street name T-Bone. I had to bring him in on bonds twice with a stun gun and Mace. We spent a night in the drunk tank together, and I decided I’d either have to kill him or hire him. He’s our IT specialist. My brother Bone is a computer genius – unrecognized until we put the tools in his hands, coupled with his service training in the army. He’s six foot four inches of black badass. Bone will be looking into everything my clearances can bring to light. Let’s let Grandma introduce me to the basics. Go ahead, Stace.”

  Stacy did not ask for a drink, but she looked like she wanted one. She didn’t. Stacy gripped Jim’s hand on the table. “I found out I was pregnant a day before the Homecoming Queen dance you were taking me too. My parents freaked. They sent me to a home for unwed mothers in Idaho Falls. I…I had a girl. Before my folks could collect me afterwards, I was on my feet again. I rode buses when I could afford to, and hitchhiked. When I reached New York, I started waitressing, and the rest was all downhill from then. Sex, drugs, rock & roll were how I lived. That I’m even alive is a miracle after all the stupid crap and people I’ve hurt.”

  Jim listened with rapt attention. “Why didn’t you tell, Pa?”

  This kid was no fool. At twelve, he must have went through a few things. He instinctively knew the questions to ask. Stacy had to take a moment.

  “I was seventeen, Jim. I didn’t know what I wanted other than to leave. Your Grandpa and I came from a small town in Idaho… Twin Falls. I wanted to get the hell out of there, but I fell hard for your Pa. We had a wild time of it.” Stacy chuckled, patting Jim’s hand. “There’s a Bob Seger song titled ‘Night Moves’ that seemed like it was written for your Pa and me – like the song… we were working on mysteries without any clue. I knew at the time, if I’d told him about being pregnant, he would have turned the world inside out to be with me and his kid. Your Pa is that kind of guy, Jim. I never gave him a chance.”

  I didn’t pile on, but the flashbacks of what might have been rocketed through my head without letup. All the questions I’d ever had about that time were now answered… but not the way I’d ever anticipated. Jim saw the look on my face. My mini-me noticed the grim look of acceptance I displayed during Stacy’s story.

  “I guess things could have been different,” Jim said. “Don’t be mad, Pa. I’m not mad.”

  Well hell… the kid accepted on face value something unchangeable in our reality… and chose to move on. The little bugger cut me off at the knees. “It explained a lot, Jim, but it’s still a bit tough to take the facts in all at once. What happened with your Mom?”

  The facts clustered too close for Jim’s emotional state. A grim, tight lipped panorama heralded what must have been going on in his head. He shrugged. “I don’t know my Dad. Mom got pregnant with me before my Dad shipped out for Afghanistan with the Marines. He never came home. Her foster parents had already passed away. We were okay until she got some kind of cancer when I was little. They called it ov…ovarian cancer. They put me into foster care when she passed away. My Mom’s name was Louise Constance Bishop. Her parents lost everything in some real estate flop. Mom said they kind of fell apart after that. Her foster dad committed suicide. Her foster mom was never the same. She had a stroke after my Mom graduated high school. By then, they didn’t have anything, because the foster parents had been financing the house flipper thing they were doing with something to do with their house.”

  “Equity?”

  Jim nodded. “Yeah, Pa. Anyway, a short time before I was to start kindergarten, Mom got real sick. She passed within weeks of going into the hospital. We were living in Phoenix, and they put me in foster care.” Jim stopped his story, and shrugged. “I didn’t do too well. If I’d been better, maybe I wouldn’t have been assigned to the Byers.”

  Jim looked up, and shrugged with a smile. “I learned how to use the school library computers. Mom told me she had been adopted, and what her Mom’s name was. She knew what your hometown was too, Grandma. I guess she tried to find you earlier when her parents died.”

  Stacy sobbed, tears streaming down her face. It wasn’t an act. She had winced at nearly every word. Jim clutched her hand in both of his with a calmness far beyond his years in this world of tears. The kid had compassion, without the need for pretense. The damn kid loved his goofy prostitute, drug using, prison inmate Grandma simply because she was a survivor.

  Stacy clutched Jim’s hands in her own. “I…I won’t make excuses or invent stupid shit to make you feel better toward me. It would be best if we can start with a clean slate. If you can imagine every idiot thing a person can do with their life, and multiply it by three, you would have a good idea how I’ve lived. I can’t change anything. Your Pa taught me that when I nearly got him killed after all the years we had been apart. From what you’ve said, I can tell you luckily have a lot more of him in you than you do me.”

  Jim smiled. “I’m happy to be here. Once I found your name tied to Pa’s, and all the stories in the news, I kept searching. Pa’s stuff, being an ex-Navy Seal, CIA operative, and a private detective gave me hope. I…I had someone to reach… even if I didn’t find either of you. I did! This is the greatest! Your name is linked as the manager of Godfather’s Cell, Grandma. I couldn’t find an address for you, but Pa’s security firm was listed in connection to the store. I went to the store, and waited. When the van came with Madigan & Cantelli Security Services on the side, I stayed out of sight. A bunch of police cars showed up, and went away after a couple of cops came out with Pa and a woman. It was easy to find Grandma after all that in the store.”

  “Good Lord… what a shock,” Stacy muttered. “Jim was like looking through a time portal at you, Rick.”

  “You should have seen her face, Pa. I got ready to run,” Jim explained.

  I enjoyed it all, especially the last line. “Yeah, I can imagine. I’ve seen a few varied looks on your Grandma’s face at unfortunate times.”

  Stacy laughed. “When I came out of the meth lab… right?”

  “That’s one of them, Grandma. Remember what Captain Staley said when he saw you?”

  “Oh yeah… ‘hey, Cantelli… did you bring
a date to this thing’ or something like that.”

  “You worked in a meth lab, Grandma?” Jim’s eyes were huge in a bulging out form.

  Stacy lowered her head into her hands. “Good Lord, Jim… maybe it would be better if you accepted the fact you have the most notoriously moron of a Grandma ever. It would save you some time asking questions.”

  Jim nodded and turned to me. “You were the one who busted her, Pa?”

  “Yep. I wandered into the meth lab warehouse on an unrelated case I was working on. You can imagine my surprise when she ascended from the lab at a SWAT team leader’s request. Although none of us human beings are perfect, your Grandma may rate a few slots below that human perfection category.”

  Jim launched with his fists pumping to the absolute shock of his grandparents’ reality. “You two are the best! No one but you two could ever get me out of that place I was at.”

  “Listen, Jim. I will get you out of foster care. That is a promise only my death would void. Once my lawyer gets on the case, we’ll have a better idea about the difficulty. Maybe we’d better turn in for the night. I have extra toothbrushes, and I’ll throw your clothes in my washer.”

  “Can Grandma stay too?”

  “I’ve never booted her out yet. I have to warn you though. She snores like a wounded rhinoceros.”

  “Rick!”

  Jim liked my warning so much, his Grandma had to put a hand over his mouth to stifle him. “See what you’ve done, you old coot. Now you have the boy laughing at his G-ma.”

  “Sorry, Stace. I didn’t want the boy waking up in the middle of the night thinking he was being attacked by wild beasts. One order of business before we get some rest for the big day tomorrow – you said something’s going on at the foster home in Phoenix. What is it, Jim?”

  “I…I found out they have cameras everywhere, including the bathrooms. They keep the room with their computer gear locked, but they forgot to lock it a couple weeks ago. I went in and saw what they were doing. They have live feeds going out to subscribers. That’s when I used the school’s computer to find Grandma and you like I told you before. Their names are Eric and Emily Byers. They have two girls and three boys, counting me, living there. The girls are the oldest. Kelly’s thirteen, and Rhonda’s almost fifteen. Dominic is five, and Barry’s nine.”

  This will take some actual police work. I had a plan though. “Do they suspect you know about their room?”

  “I don’t think so. I stole fifty bucks off them to get out of there. If-”

  My phone beeped. It was Staley. “Yeah, Bill.”

  “The foster care home did have your grandkid listed missing, and an Amber Alert issued. I cancelled the hunt, letting the authorities in Phoenix know he’s with his grandparents. You’ll have to move fast tomorrow morning though, Rick.”

  “Thanks, Bill. I found out a lot more bad going on in the home than I figured on. Eric and Emily Byers are running a child pornography ring out of the house with hidden camera feeds. Do you want what Bone and I determine is going on, or would you rather we take it directly to the feds?”

  “I could use something hot like this from my confidential informant, especially with some solid evidence. Don’t kill them, Rick.”

  Thanks for that ace. If I have to, it will be tricky. “We’ll work together, and put them in jail. I’ll get back in touch tomorrow with an update. See you then.”

  “Nighty night, gramps.”

  I listened to his chuckle as he disconnected. “Okay, you’re off the Amber Alert. We’ll have to work on the rest tomorrow. I warmed my friend on the police department into taking a look at any evidence we can find on the Byers. C’mon. I’ll get you a new toothbrush, and show you where you sleep.”

  “Pa… do you really know Sally Waters?”

  I had to think for a moment who Jim was talking about. “Oh… you mean Temple Donavan. Yes, I know her very well. I’ll take you with me to the gym tomorrow where you can meet the rest of my Hollywood crew.”

  “That would be awesome! Do you think she’ll like me?”

  “She likes me well enough to call me Pop, so I’m sure she’ll like you. Tomorrow’s an early morning, and a long day, Jim. Follow me.”

  * * *

  Yeah… I heard her. She waited for Jim to fall asleep. Stacy was no dummy, stopping at the bedroom door. The last time she entered my bedroom uninvited, I lit her up. “I hear you, Stace. C’mon in.”

  Stacy moved in under the covers against me. I could feel her naked body, triggering flashbacks all the way into the past of Twin Falls, Idaho. Cursed or blessed with a near perfect memory of times gone by, I remember our first time in the rear of my old Dodge Polara. Yes… we old folks harbor incidents from our past so intense, the moment transcended decades. In the back of that old Dodge, I made the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen scream in pleasure, her legs and arms wrapping around me in a release I never… ever forgot. We weren’t kids anymore. We were sixty year olds that would make younger folk barf even picturing us together erotically. When I turned toward her, we were seventeen again, but a hell of a lot more comfortable. We didn’t speak even a word. We accepted the time vortex ride together, ending in a scream Stacy muffled with her own hands, linking them then around my neck as her legs clutched my sides, and she sobbed, her lips against my ear. Many moments passed in acceptance of past sins, past lies, attraction that could not be denied, and a shared adolescence in a time gone by. I held her to me, sweating bodies heaving against each other, our breathing incrementally returning to normal.

  “Don’t say it, Rick… please don’t say it,” Stacy murmured.

  I knew what she meant. I knew if I had been told about her pregnancy, I would have married her in a heartbeat. Stacy had not wanted it. I knew she had been raised Catholic, so abortion would never have been a consideration. That she never exhibited angst, or mentioned a fear of being pregnant to me heralded her future inner Stacy. I should have been more observant, empathetic, but I wasn’t. It was long ago in a universe far, far away. I gripped her to me more tightly, my lips brushing across hers in acknowledgement of a plea unneeded.

  “We’re past dancing on barren ground again, Stace. I have no clue where any of this will ever end, but I will kill as many people as is necessary to keep Jim safe. You have my word on that. You are welcome to stay here with us… no matter what.”

  Stacy cried… not in noisy, self-indulgent heaves of self-loathing, but in quiet wracking acceptance of choices far in the past we could not change. I simply held her.

  * * *

  Lo met us at the door in full Harpy mode. I led the way, and waved her off without an eye blink or change in my tight lipped readiness.

  “Cantelli!”

  I held my hand in a stopping motion, seeing Bone, Trish, and Shelly in the background. “Stop! We’re too old, and too world weary to yell at each other… at least not for this.”

  I put a hand on Jim’s shoulder, guiding him forward. “This is my Grandson, Jim. Pay no attention to the mythological Harpy appearance of fangs and claws, Jim. This is your Aunt Lois. We’re not joined by blood, but in every other way she’s my sister.”

  Jim held out his hand. “Hi, Aunt Lo.”

  Lois buckled for the first time in our long history. She stared at my mini-me with jubilant acceptance. Lo dived in past the handshake, clutching the boy in her arms without pretense. “Oh my Lord in heaven!”

  She held the boy out at arms’ length. “Sweet Jesus, kid, you look so much like your Grandpa, it’s scary. I’ve been torturing my employee Bone about what was going on since he arrived. He never gave an inch under interrogation. I see why now. This had to be done face to face. Don’t know how you got here yet, but by God you’re staying, even if I have to obliterate numerous unfortunate people to make it so.”

  Jim smiled. “I like you too, Aunt Lo. Can I ask you a favor?”

  He had her. She saw Stacy huddled behind me. Lo instantly knew where, how, and why without more than a second’s contemplati
on. Lo met Jim’s intense stare with her own. “Name it kid. I know what it is already, but make it official.”

  “My Grandma is Stacy Alden. I know she’s done bad things, but Pa agreed to give her a chance to be with us, Aunt Lo. I want Grandma to be with my Pa and I. Can you… give her a chance too?”

  Lo sighed, hugging the boy to her again. “You bet, Jim. I will trust your Pa’s take on all of this with your backup. Seeing you is a treasure I will not ruin under any circumstances. C’mon out knee… I mean Stacy.”

  Stacy walked from behind me, and faced off with Lo, hugging Jim’s shoulders. “Thank you.”

  Lo studied her. “Something’s changed in you. I hope it’s this little boy. I can already tell you’ve made peace with Hooterville, but no use dragging that caboose off the trestle. A lot of things have happened since I first talked to you on the phone a while back. For Jim’s sake, I’ll call us even. I hope you won’t make any of us regret it.”

  Lo held out her hand and Stacy grasped it without smiling. “I’ll be dead first, Lo.”

  “Good enough. I know this doesn’t come without a price. Come inside. We’ll get the introductions done, and find out who I have to kill to make this permanent. Jim, I want you to meet Timothy T-bone Griffin, Bone for short. He already has an info packet I was not allowed to see, which I presume deals with your personal business. Next to him are two women, Trish Rocha, and Shelly Fontenot. One already slept with your Grandpa, and the other wishes she had. It’s a long story I’ll tell you when you’re eighteen.”

  Amongst gasps of outrage from the two women to be explained later, Jim shook Bone’s hand. “Pa told me you know all about computers. I’m glad to meet you, Mr. Griffin.”

  “It’s Bone to you, Jim. I sure am happy to meet you. We’re going to get you all fixed up. Your Pa already texted me this morning about the other details. They fit right into the hacking I did in relation to the Byers couple running the Phoenix foster care home. We’ll make sure this story has a real happy ending.”

  Jim was mesmerized, staring into Bone’s smiling face. “I’m glad to be here. Pa told me we’ll be riding in a limo to the restaurant tonight after the workout in the gym.”