by LS Sygnet
“I won’t apologize for marrying her, Joe.”
“Of course not. Clearly your judgment has been sorely lacking where this woman is concerned from day one. This is not like you at all, Johnny.”
Me? Me? How could any of this be related to… “Oh shit,” I whispered. At least I thought I did.
The pause in the room grew heavy, angrier, uncomfortable.
“Is she there right now, Johnny?”
“Uh, just arrived, Joe.”
“Well, Dr. Eriksson, we meet at last. I understand you’re no longer part of any law enforcement agency, so I’m going to have to insist that you leave. Immediately. Johnny, I swear if you tell her one thing about any of our current –”
“Sir,” I stepped closer to the phone and tried to stop my knees from knocking. Not an easy task to perform at will. “I don’t know what you think Johnny did, but I can assure you –”
“You can assure me?” Collangelo thundered. “Let me tell you what your assurances mean, Dr. Eriksson. They mean nothing. Terrell Sanderfield, a senator who happens to be a formidable opponent, funded in large part by people who used to support me, has been going over OSI’s activities for the past nine months looking for irregularities. Do you disagree that it was somewhat unusual for the highest ranking law enforcement officer in this state to travel in OSI’s private jet to upstate New York to visit your incarcerated father, to fly you to Washington D.C. for unknown reasons while you were investigating someone who is now dead?”
That red-black haze I saw when feeling particularly homicidal returned.
“Don’t even get me started about his role in thwarting an official FBI investigation into his new bride’s involvement in a homicide. We got the man reassigned to parts better left unknown because of my connections, my political clout that got the job done!”
“Enough!” Johnny barked. “Do you want to know why I went to see Helen’s father?”
“No,” I whispered. “Johnny don’t.”
“Why we went to see David Levine in Washington while we were investigating Datello?”
“Johnny, anything you could tell me at this point wouldn’t mean jack shit. I’m sorry. The damage is done. The press is calling my office for rebuttal to Sanderfield’s accusations. Even if I had the gospel truth right now, it wouldn’t undo the wreckage of my career. Even if I manage to get re-elected by some miracle, there’s no way I’ll get funding for OSI beyond –”
“What if OSI uncovers a human trafficking ring operating right here in Darkwater Bay?” The question popped out of my mouth by necessity. My internal battle shifted from attack to defense. Johnny didn’t deserve this. One thing Collangelo said made perfect sense to me. This was all my fault.
“What?” he hissed.
“It’s the case OSI asked me to help with. It didn’t begin with suspicion of human trafficking. It was only after we found the woman most directly responsible for the abduction of Danny Datello’s daughter did we realize we’d scratched the surface of something much bigger,” I said.
“And this is why you’ve been ignoring the situation I specifically asked you to investigate, Johnny?”
“Sir,” I said, “I’m afraid that Johnny’s investigation overlapped with ours.”
“Hasn’t the press printed this yet, Joe?” Johnny sneered.
“Printed what exactly, and what do you mean your cases have overlapped? Dr. Eriksson, explain yourself.”
“We recovered the Datello baby. Melissa Sherman had her in Montgomery.”
“Jesus,” he rasped. “And you couldn’t have picked up a telephone and called me?”
“That’s my fault too,” I said. “I apologize, governor. And I take full responsibility for why it appears that Johnny ignored a direct order.”
“Hmm,” he hummed with more sarcasm that I imagined a noise could convey. “And this is where the wedding thing comes in, I take it.”
“Not entirely,” I said. “Johnny’s been concerned about my health.”
“This is exactly what I’m talking about,” Collangelo fumed. “Johnny, you cannot continue to blur personal and professional lines.”
Our eyes met. I nodded.
“She’s pregnant, Joe.”
“I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but that really doesn’t help matters much.”
“I appreciate the congratulations,” Johnny said. “Pardon me that the health of my wife and our baby matters a little more to me than your career, Joe. Not to mention, the dead child that washed up out of the bay after being abducted in the Philippines. And the woman, the one who physically abducted the Datello infant, she claims that your old friend Eugene Sherman owned her. What does that tell you, Joe? Maybe we should be looking into what Sherman’s contributions to your campaign actually bought.”
“Johnny, you can’t possibly believe that I’d be part of something so vile!”
“Why not? My judgment is so poor after all.”
“There is no way to prevent the shit-storm this story is going to unleash, Johnny. Or do you deny doing any of the things Sanderfield claims of which he has evidence that you did?”
“Nope,” Johnny said. “Yeah, I went to see Helen’s father. I personally paid for that trip, Joe.”
“You took OSI’s jet.”
“I did. Which I paid for out of funds from the business I own. He’s got a flight manifest. Period. As for why Helen and I went to Washington, well it was to put the pieces together using her contacts in the bureau that linked Datello with his assassin Mitch Southerby. It was in fact, official OSI business, and it would’ve come out in court if Sherman’s pal Alfred Preston hadn’t murdered Datello before he could be tried in court.”
“There’s still the matter of this agent that was investigating Dr. Eriksson. Sanderfield’s allegations against OSI don’t exactly match what you told me at the time, Johnny.”
“You want to hear what really happened with that issue, governor? How about if I have the FBI call you personally to explain it,” I said. “In the meantime, like it or not, we’re pushing forward with an investigation that truly matters.”
I turned on my heel and stormed out of Johnny’s office. Thirty seconds later, I was crouched in the corner of the handicapped stall in the women’s bathroom, ready to choke on the bile of my deception. Angry tears burned like lava on my cheeks.
How could Johnny be so stupid? Did he think that no one would ever question what he’d done to protect me?
It was where my anger toward him transformed into self-loathing. It was all my fault. If I hadn’t let him get close in the first place, none of this would’ve happened. He wouldn’t have exercised poor judgment. He wouldn’t have pulled strings to get my overzealous former colleague Mark Seleeby off my back. He wouldn’t have uncovered where my father lives or talked to him.
God forbid that Sanderfield find out what else Johnny did to protect me while he was in New York.
I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed the old familiar number.
“Hello?”
“David, it’s me.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m sorry I only call when the world falls apart. Some friend I am, huh?” I tried to mask the sniffle, heard David’s chair creak at his recognition of the sound.
“You’re crying. Talk to me.”
Where to begin?
“Johnny and I got married today.”
“Helen, that’s wonderful! Congratulations! Why the tears?”
“I’m pregnant.”
Silence.
“I think it’s partly hormones.”
“Helen, are you happy about it?”
“I’m not unhappy. I’m fucking miserable.”
“Oh dear,” David soothed. “What can I do to help?”
“I’m not miserable about the baby.” I filled him in on Johnny’s problems because he was too stupid to know better than to fall in love with the train wreck that is me. This time, I didn’t omit my suspicions about the human
trafficking ring.
“Well,” David said at the end of my rushed tale, “you should’ve called us the second you suspected that this thing was bigger than one abducted infant. Preston should’ve called when this Filipina girl washed up in Darkwater Bay.”
“I suppose I’m going to have the FBI lurking in my shadow again over his death.”
David chuckled softly. “That’s the one thing you don’t have to worry about, Helen. Your former colleagues at Downey Division were pretty adamant that Preston basically executed a man in custody.”
“Really?”
“Tony Briscoe was downright livid that anyone even questioned your actions.”
“You’re kidding. He hates me, David.”
“From what I heard, his account was nothing less than the solid blue wall, Helen. And of course, the medical examiner’s report proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Preston shouldn’t have died from his wounds. That doesn’t however, exonerate you.”
“It doesn’t?”
“We should’ve been the first call you made about his allegation that this kidnapper was an unwitting victim of Danny Datello.”
“I don’t want the city crawling with agents. It’ll spook these people and we’ll never catch them.”
“Sadly, your logic makes a lot of sense,” he said. “So I suspect that the most helpful thing I can do for you right now is call the governor and explain to him that Mark Seleeby needed to be spanked for harassing you when it was clear to everyone else that you had absolutely nothing to do with Rick’s death. After that, I’m hopping on a plane and coming out there to help you sort through this other mess.”
“David, I wish you wouldn’t do that.”
“Which part?”
“Johnny needs to close this case on his own.”
“But he isn’t doing it alone. He’s got you. And you’ve got me. I won’t take no for an answer, Helen. Think of it this way. If this Senator Sanderfield is or was on the Sherman payroll, and he’s already gunning for OSI, my presence takes some of the heat off Johnny for her arrest. I could be some good leverage with the attorney too. Let’s not forget that even a single event of kidnapping is a federal offense. We don’t have to tip our hand about the full investigation because the bureau is involved.”
I dragged my lower lip between my teeth.
“Helen?”
“How soon can you get here?”
“I’ll call Collangelo from the plane and let you know what time I land and how effective I was at soothing ruffled political feathers. Can you pick me up at the airport later?”
“Yes.”
“Good enough. Let me get on the phone and make the arrangements.”
“David, you’re staying with us while you’re here.”
“Deal,” his grin wrapped around me like a warm hug. “Hang in there, sweetheart. The cavalry is on the way.”
I disconnected the call and unwound a giant wad of toilet paper from the dispenser. The blast from my nose bounced off the ceiling. Elephant trumpet.
The bathroom door squeaked.
“Helen?”
Johnny.
“Give me a few minutes.”
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I called David Levine.”
Footsteps clacked across the tile floor and entered my field of vision. A light thump landed against the stall door, presumably Johnny’s forehead.
“I thought we weren’t getting the bureau involved in this.”
“He’s calling Collangelo, who I might add, is a prick that I hope I never meet in person.”
“Honey, it’s his career. He was blowing off steam. Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time he’s gone ape shit over nothing.”
“It isn’t nothing, Johnny,” I whispered. “If anybody’s career is on the line, it’s probably yours, and it’s definitely my fault.”
“Like you, I don’t need the job or the money. Remember?”
“You love being the top cop in the state.”
“I love my wife.”
More sniffles.
“I wanted to kick his ass for going after you like that, Helen. I’m sorry. Chris shouldn’t have dragged you into it.”
“Yeah, he really should’ve.”
“So what does David plan to tell him?”
“He’ll call me later and fill me in,” I said. “He is coming to Darkwater Bay to help with all of this, Johnny. I told him he could stay with us while he’s here.”
“I see.”
“You’re not angry about that, are you?”
“No,” Johnny said. “Unfortunately, I’ve got to head over to Montgomery tonight. Joe’s setting up an interview with the paper where he and I will explain what some of OSI’s expenditures mean.”
“But –”
“I know,” he said softly. “We’ll have to postpone our wedding night, sweetheart. I planned to take you with me, but if Levine is on his way …”
“Maybe he won’t need you there after David calls him,” I said.
“Don’t count on it.”
Chapter 31
I met David at the airport in Montgomery at midnight. Johnny and Collangelo were still talking to the hard-ass reporter from the rag newspaper that loved nothing more than printing political scandal.
When David called to tell me the conversation with Collangelo went very well, and learned that Johnny and I wouldn’t be together on our wedding night, he altered his flight plan.
“Are they still at it?”
“Collangelo and the reporter?”
David nodded.
“They were when I left.”
“I don’t suppose you were part of the interview.”
“No badge, remember? I’m not even a paid consultant, which if you think about it, looks pretty good in light of Sanderfield’s gripe about the cost of OSI.”
“You said some things about this guy when we talked earlier, Helen. Johnny was looking into Sherman for illegal campaign contributions when you uncovered this human trafficking thing, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re sure Sherman was part of it?”
“I talked to the State Department, David. Not only was this guy a slave owner, he wasn’t really Eugene Sherman. His name was really Gill Vorre.”
“What time is the woman’s arraignment?”
“Nine,” I said. “We’ll have to be up before dawn to get home in time.”
“And the DA handling the case?”
“Zack Carpenter,” I said. “I think you met him in December when we arrested Datello. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled that you’re here.”
“Helen, you said that Detective Mackenzie had a theory that someone else is involved with the prostitution aspect of the evidence you uncovered on Sherman’s laptop.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Are we sure that Sanderfield doesn’t know what kind of scum he crawled into bed with? I mean, the guy was recruited by Danny Datello to challenge Collangelo in the governor’s race. He may have received illegal campaign contributions from Sherman. It doesn’t really give him a squeaky clean image in my book.”
“Sherman formerly supported Collangelo too, and he’s not involved in this mess at all. God only knows if Danny supported him prior to the advent of OSI. Politicians will take money from anybody, David. You know that.”
“True.” He paused and fiddled with the zipper on his coat. “Still, Sherman managed somehow to corrupt an FBI agent, Helen. I did a little more digging into Preston’s history after we talked this afternoon.”
“Let me guess. There’s no indication that he was anything more than a guy with ambition who lacked the ability to achieve his goals.”
“Actually, no. There were a couple of things that in hindsight, looked like pretty serious issues to me. Were you aware that he was one of the agents that showed up with Mark Seleeby when he arrived the second time to harass you last year?”
“No.”
“He was pretty vocal about his dislike, H
elen. In fact, he filed a report endorsing what Seleeby was investigating with regard to Rick Hamilton’s untimely demise.”
“Florence Payette said something to me yesterday. She said that Eugene Sherman was very excited when I came to Darkwater Bay. I wonder what she meant by that.”
“Has anyone dug into Datello’s fishing business yet for a link to where the Villanueva girl was found?”
“Crevan and Dev are going to follow up with the new CEO of Datello Enterprises in the morning. Celeste already promised cooperation.”
I signaled and turned into the drive at the governor’s mansion. Security recognized me and waved me through. I filled him in on the plan for Devlin’s date with Fantasia Monday night.
“You’ve covered all the bases, haven’t you, Helen?”
“We’re trying. We need someone other than Payette. She’s a mess, David.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
I parked behind the sprawling mansion and shut off the SUV. “Do you think we’ve got a case, or am I blowing this out of proportion?”
“I don’t think it’s an accident that Analynn Villanueva turned up dead in Darkwater Bay. I suppose the most tenuous aspect of this to my way of seeing it is that Datello was involved.”
“They could’ve double crossed him. Florence said he was good friends with Sherman, that they used to meet at Sherman’s house, David. Maybe she was telling the truth. Sherman felt that the baby shouldn’t be raised by a young mother with a father in prison.”
“More likely, it was a plan that the wife cooked up after Sherman died,” David said. “Nobody would intentionally screw with a member of the Marcos family, Helen.”
Nobody but me.
“Preston murdered Danny. I’d say he didn’t care about the Marcos family ties.”
“Your coroner friend seems to think that Preston was living on borrowed time anyway, Helen. He had nothing to lose.”
“But what could he possibly gain from his involvement in this, David? That’s what I don’t understand.”
