When the detectives finished, they thanked her, and Hannibal gave her his card in case she remembered anything else.
“I’ll be right back,” I told her, then got up and jogged up to the two detectives. “You are going to check the security cameras, right?”
“Not our first rodeo, Cerasino.”
“Yeah, I know.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “But this one’s personal.”
Hannibal’s lips twitched. “Yeah, figured that out, too. We’ll call you first if we find anything.”
“Thanks.”
I returned to Haven. Even though her hair was disheveled and her skin was covered in black smudges, she still looked beautiful to me. “Come on; let’s get you home,” I said gently.
Chapter Nine: Haven
Vinnie was so sweet. I was both relieved and pleased he had come as quickly as he had, and grateful that he’d stuck around. The morning would have been much harder without his comforting presence.
I would have called him myself, but I had lost my phone in the chaos and they wouldn’t let me back into the diner to search for it. One of the firemen overheard my protests and offered to call for me. Of course, I hadn’t realized at the time that the handsome fireman who had led us to safety was Vinnie’s brother.
“As wonderful as that sounds, I’d really like to go to the hospital first and see how Cal is doing.”
He nodded. “Of course. I’ll give you a ride. My car’s over here.”
I really did like having him around. I was feeling pretty raw and having a big, strong policeman by my side helped. Especially since that big, strong policeman was Vinnie. Besides, the hospital was on the other side of town, and now that I had effectively lost both my jobs, grabbing an Uber was an extra expense I didn’t need.
On the other hand, I didn’t want to take advantage of his kindness.
“You don’t have to do that,” I said, giving him an out. “If you have something else you have to do—”
“I don’t,” he assured me firmly.
“Then thanks. I appreciate it.”
His large hand felt good against my lower back, strong and warm, as he led the way to his car. It was a welcome reminder that I wasn’t alone and exactly what I needed.
Vinnie’s car was a dark sedan. Simple, classic, and masculine. Just like him. In a gentlemanly gesture, he opened the passenger door for me before sliding into the driver’s seat.
Visions of Cal lying so still on the floor, blood seeping from his mouth and nose, made me shudder. It had been a brave thing he did—shoving me and Wanda into the kitchen while he confronted those hooligans.
I seemed to be surrounded by brave men lately. That was new for me. Outside of the old-time movies I was addicted to, there hadn’t been a lot of stand-up guys in my life, certainly not the father who had abandoned not just one wife and child but two.
As we wound our way around the firetrucks and back toward the hospital, I suddenly asked, “So, are all the men in your family heroes or something?”
He glanced sideways at me. “Sorry?”
“Well, you’re a cop. Your brother back there—sorry, I don’t know his name—”
“Dom.”
“Dom is a fireman. Any cowboys or astronauts in the bunch?”
He chuckled, which was what I had intended. My reasons were at least only semi-selfish. He had looked so concerned from the moment he’d arrived on the scene, and I wanted to see him smile.
“Well, my brother Nick was in the Marines for a while. My other brother, Paulie, is a lawyer downtown, specializing in family services. My sister Sofia is an ER doc, and my baby sister Gina does graphic design.”
“That’s a lot of brothers and sisters. You have a big family, huh?”
“Pretty big,” he agreed. “How about you?”
“Just me and Joel.” I didn’t go into more detail. I would much rather hear about his family than mine, especially since they seemed so ... traditionally normal.
Thankfully, he seemed to pick up on that and didn’t ask any more questions. We drove the rest of the way in silence, but it was a nice, comfortable silence, not an awkward one.
“Haven! Thank God! Are you okay?” Wanda jumped up from one of the chairs in the waiting room the moment she spotted us. Like me, she still wore her waitress uniform, smudged and dirty from the ordeal. Looking at her, I realized I didn’t look any better.
“Yeah, I’m fine. How’s Cal?”
She cast a quick, assessing glance at Vinnie, then turned back to me. “I don’t know. They won’t tell me anything because I’m not family.”
“Wait here. I’ll see what I can find out.”
Vinnie walked right up to the reception desk and leaned forward to speak to the woman there. I didn’t miss the way her eyes lit up. I imagined mine looked just like that whenever Vinnie focused his attention on me, too.
A sudden wave of jealousy rose up, but I forced it back down.
“So,” Wanda said, breaking through the green haze. “You called him, huh?”
“Yeah. Or rather, his brother did. His brother was the fireman who pulled us out.”
Wanda’s eyes widened. “Damn. Are all the men in that family hunkalicious or what?”
I managed a small, tired laugh. “That’s what I asked him.”
“You did not.”
“I did. Well, I said hero instead of hunkalicious, but you know, tomayto, tomahto.”
We were prevented from continuing along that vein when Vinnie returned with information.
“They’ve taken Cal upstairs to get some CAT scans. My sister was on-call last night, and we lucked out, because she’s on break. Come on. If I know Sofe, she’s carb-loading in the cafeteria. We can grab some coffee and get you ladies something to eat while we’re there.”
He grabbed my hand, not giving me the chance to voice my concern over my appearance.
The gesture wasn’t lost on Wanda. She raised her eyebrows, smirked, and tagged along.
“Hey, Vin.” A beautiful young woman dressed in scrubs gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “What are you doing here?”
“Hey, Sofe. These are my friends, Haven and Wanda. They were hoping for information on a man who came in this morning—Cal Lindelman.”
Sofia didn’t seem surprised by the request. She looked at Wanda, recognition dawning in her tired eyes. “You came in with him, didn’t you?”
Wanda nodded. “Yes. They won’t tell me anything, though.”
Sofia nodded. “That’s protocol. Patient privacy and all that. But I can tell you he’s stable. We’re running a few tests and will probably keep him overnight for observation. He’ll be sore for a while, but he’s pretty tough, and I expect him to make a full recovery.”
“Thank you.”
I felt my eyes growing moist again. I knew I was running on empty when a simple kindness like that was enough to bring me to tears.
Her phone started beeping. She pulled it out of her pocket and frowned. “I’ve got to run. It was nice meeting you, Haven, Wanda. See you at Ma’s on Sunday, Vin!”
Sofia hurried off to do her thing.
Vinnie ignored our weak protests and insisted that we sit down, then proceeded to get us something to eat.
“Hm. Officer Hot Pants serving me breakfast? I could get used to this,” Wanda teased when Vinnie went back up to get something for himself.
“Don’t,” I warned. “He’s got a couple of brothers, though. Feel free to go after them.”
She laughed. “Territorial much?”
She had no idea. Actually, I had no idea. I had never been in a situation where I felt quite so possessive, especially not over a guy I barely knew. That wasn’t exactly true, I realized. Vinnie and I might not have officially gone out, but in a way, we had been seeing each other for a while. We’d had plenty of conversations over the past couple months, enough for me to feel like I did know him pretty well.
After breakfast, Vinnie took Wanda home first, then me.
“So
me first date, huh?” I joked softly as Vinnie walked me to my door.
He grinned. “Not exactly what I had in mind.”
Me either. “I’m sorry. Thanks for coming, though. I ... didn’t know who else to call.”
“Hey.” He curled his index finger under my chin and lifted my face until I looked him in the eye. “You can call me anytime, got it?”
Warmth rolled through me, either from his touch or his words or the way he looked at me. Maybe all three.
“Got it.”
“Get some rest.”
“I will.”
Vinnie waited until I locked the door, then I heard his footsteps fade away.
I was watching him from the window when Joel emerged from his room.
“Are you just getting home?”
I turned and watched his expression darken as he took in my appearance.
“What the hell happened to you?”
“The diner was robbed last night,” I said wearily. “They attacked Cal then set the place on fire.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, just shaken up. Wanda and I were in the kitchen during most of it.”
I yawned. The excitement of this morning’s events was finally catching up to me and I felt drained.
“I’m going to get a shower and go to bed. We can talk more later, okay?”
I left Joel scowling and went into my room. I knew he had more questions, and I would answer them, but not right then. At that moment, I just wanted to wash off the smell of smoke and forget about how the universe seemed to be conspiring against me for a little while.
Chapter Ten: Vinnie
Though it was officially my day off, I went in to the station. I knew I wouldn’t be able to think about anything besides the case and figured I might as well do something productive while Haven got some rest.
Her face kept popping up in my thoughts, making me more determined than ever to put a stop to those terrorizing my town and the people I cared about.
Yes, I cared about Haven, more than I probably should at this stage of the game, but despite my best efforts, I couldn’t control how I felt. My heart and body were in agreement. My head, which had been stubbornly reminding me of all the reasons I shouldn’t get seriously involved with someone, wasn’t protesting as loudly anymore. In fact, that little voice was eerily silent.
I suspected it had something to do with the fear and the constant parade of “what-ifs” marching through my mind. What if Cal Lindelman hadn’t done what he did? Haven could be in that hospital right now. What if Dom hadn’t gotten them out in time, and they succumbed to smoke inhalation or worse? And the biggest “what-if” of all: what if I lost the woman I was meant to spend my life with before I pulled my head out of my ass and did something about it?
Hannibal and Lecter were with one of our audio-visual techs, reviewing the surveillance footage from Lindelman’s. I pulled up a chair and joined them, rationalizing that I might be of use. Beyond the personal interest I had in the case, I was at the diner practically every night. I knew the regulars and was familiar with the types who frequented the place after “normal” business hours. If there was anyone acting suspicious or didn’t look like he belonged, I had a good chance of spotting him.
They were concentrating on the feed from the last twenty-four hours and would work backward from there if necessary. At one point, Lecter paused the video and pointed to Joel sitting at the counter. The kid had books in front of him, though his focus kept returning to the security camera itself. Hannibal looked at me. “Does the kid usually come in at night like that?”
“No,” I answered honestly, wishing I could tell him differently.
“Hmph.” They resumed the video.
For the next several minutes, we watched people come, go, and move around. Joel seemed more interested in the goings-on of the diner than his schoolwork. I wasn’t the only one who picked up on that.
“Seems pretty convenient, him showing up the same night the place is hit,” Hannibal said.
Lecter grunted in agreement.
“Maybe he was just concerned for his sister. He was a little shaken when I told him about the attack on my brother’s girlfriend.”
“Maybe,” he said, his tone skeptical.
I had to admit it didn’t look great, but I had a hard time believing Joel would put Haven in danger. Just the opposite, in fact.
The more I watched, the more I was convinced Joel’s behavior was more that of someone on high-alert than someone scoping out a place with ill-intent. Especially when I came in. Then the kid seemed to visibly relax. If he had been up to no good, my presence should have made him more high-strung, not less.
Which gave me an idea.
“Pull up the footage from the security cameras south of the diner, starting with the one on Baker Street and going from there.”
“Time window?”
“Around midnight.”
The A/V guy did his thing and, after about fifteen minutes, I found what I had been looking for.
Three blocks down from Lindelman’s, Joel was approached by a couple of guys dressed in dark hoodies. It was impossible to make a positive ID, but they looked familiar enough for me to peg them as some of Slash’s boys. Joel’s defensive body language suggested it wasn’t a friendly encounter.
“Joel is very protective of Haven,” I said, watching the exchange, “and threatening her is exactly the kind of thing Slash would do to keep Joel in line.”
Hannibal sat back, his brow creased in thought. “You think the hit on the diner was a message?”
“Maybe,” I said, feeling the rightness of it in my gut. “That makes more sense to me than the kid bringing trouble to his sister’s doorstep.”
“He’s right.”
Hannibal and I both looked at Lecter, surprised he had actually said something.
“All right. Let’s bring the kid in and hear what he’s got to say.”
My cell phone buzzed. I pulled it out and looked at the display. “Sorry, guys, I have to take this.”
I tapped the screen and put the phone up to my ear. “Haven? What’s up? Everything okay?”
“No,” she said, sounding slightly panicked. “It’s Joel. He’s gone.”
“What do you mean, Joel’s gone?”
Both detectives snapped their gazes my way.
“I mean, I got up to get a drink of water and he’s not here.”
“Maybe he just stepped out to grab some lunch or something.”
“No. His backpack’s gone and ...”
“And what?” I prompted.
“He left his apartment key on the kitchen table with a note that said, ‘I’m sorry’.” She exhaled. “And the hundred dollars I keep in the drawer for emergencies is gone, too.”
“Okay, hang tight. Let me see what I can find out, okay?”
I knew this looked bad for Joel, but my gut still told me things weren’t what they seemed.
“Give me a couple hours,” I told Hannibal and Lecter, who had been listening intently. “If we’re right and the diner hit was meant as a message, the kid might think he’s doing her a favor by blowing town.”
Hannibal nodded. “Makes sense. But if you find him, you have to bring him in. Guilty or not, he knows something.”
“Agreed.”
Instead of heading right to Haven’s, I decided to stop at the bus station first. It seemed to be the logical place for a seventeen-year-old with limited funds to go if he was trying to find the fastest way out of town.
My hunch paid off. I found him slouched in the corner, scowling and trying to look like a badass. He looked more like a lost kid to me.
I sat down beside him. “Haven’s worried about you.”
He shifted. “She’ll get over it.”
“She fought like hell to get you here, and you’re going to repay that by leaving her hanging?”
“It’s for the best.”
“Let me guess,” I said quietly. “You think you’re doing the noble t
hing. That by walking away, you’re taking the threat with you and keeping her safe. It doesn’t work like that, Joel. Slash doesn’t just let people walk away, not without sending a message. If the first message doesn’t get through, then he’ll send another, and another, until it does. Get me?”
“You can protect her.”
“I can,” I said slowly, “but I can’t be there all the time, and Slash isn’t going to just go away. I know he’s had people watching you, trying to keep you in line.”
His eyes widened.
“Yeah, I know. We’ve got surveillance camera footage of them following you home last night.”
He was quiet for a while. Then he said, “I told them I wanted out. Like you said, they don’t take kindly to that. One of them saw me getting into the car with you the other night. They said, if I told you anything, they’d take it out on Haven.”
“That’s why you walked her to work.”
He nodded. “They came up to me on the way home and warned me to keep my mouth shut. They said, if I did, they wouldn’t hit the place when Haven was there, but if I didn’t ...” He scrubbed his face with both hands. “They fucking lied. Now Haven’s lost both her jobs because of me.”
“Both?”
“She worked at the Cecilton Bean Company downtown, too. Her asshole boss fired her when she got called to the police station the other day.”
“Corporate café? The one in the Wilkins building?” My brother Paulie worked in that building and frequented that place. He said the coffee could rival our nonna’s, which was high praise indeed. I would definitely be asking him about this asshole boss.
He nodded. “And she put her schooling on hold, too, till I graduate,” he said miserably. “I’ve been nothing but trouble for her since I got here.”
I felt for the kid, I really did, but this was a gut-check moment for him, a crossroads of sorts, and I wasn’t going to just keep my mouth shut and watch him walk the wrong way.
Just For Him (The Cerasino Family, #2) Page 5
