by Andrew Hess
“Who?”
I looked to my left and saw Officer Tremont inching his way towards the hall. I leaned in to Officer Reyes. “Do me a favor and keep an eye on him.”
“Yeah but…”
“Just do as I say.” I turned back towards Brianna. She was on the edge of her seat dying to know who our suspect was. “Do you know anyone by the name of Mark Thompson?”
“No, should I?”
“We believe your ex, Nick DeFalco, has been using that name as his alias. We were hoping you could help us find him.”
“You think Nick killed someone,” Brianna laughed. “That wuss ran away from every fight he’d ever been in.”
“Maybe he was tired of running,” Officer Reyes smirked.
“No, he was the most passive aggressive person I knew. He purposely agreed with people so he didn’t get into an argument with them. Plus he couldn’t stand the sight of blood. He’d gag and turn away from it.”
I smiled and stared at Brianna. “I guess that’s why none of his victims had any cuts or wounds on them. He found ways to subdue them before killing them.”
“Detective, I dated him for a few years. I think I know Nick better than you. There’s no way he killed anyone.”
“There are three students that were found dead in or around their dorms that say otherwise. One of them was directly connected to Nick. I just need to figure out how he knew the other two.”
Brianna sat back in her chair. Her mouth moved like she had something to say, but swallowed the words instead, thought twice about it and continued. “Who were the three students?”
“Rachel Walker, Nicole Sherman and Christina Tyler,” I replied. “Each death was made to look like a suicide.”
Brianna sat frozen in her chair. Her happy-go-lucky expression was replaced by complete and utter fear. “No they’re not.”
“I’m afraid so. Did you know any of those girls?”
Brianna hid her eyes behind her hand. “Christina was Nick’s housemate.” She choked back tears and wiped her face which had turned bright red. “Nicky and Rachel lived next door to me. They were my best friends.”
“So then Nick must’ve known them too.” I waited for her to reply, but her eyes continued to fill with tears. “How well did Nick get along with them?”
“We met during freshman year. They seemed to get along just fine; almost as close as I was with them.”
“What changed?” There was something she wasn’t telling me; something she didn’t want to say because she realized the man she once loved was a killer.
“Nick and I were getting into a lot of fights. Nicky and Rachel kept blowing us off and I didn’t know why. Rachel told me they couldn’t stand Nick; that they hated the way he treated me and was too needy. Nicky kept trying to give me relationship advice. Once Nick found out he freaked and kept shouting they didn’t know anything about relationships because they’d never been in one.”
“What kind of issues did you and Nick have?”
“He kept complaining about his housemates and had major trust issues with one of them.”
“Which one?”
“He felt Kevin was trying to break us up and wanted to hook up with me just to piss him off.”
“Why would he think that?”
“I don’t know. I hung out with his housemates a lot when Nick was working. Kevin had messaged me several times over the internet, but I never showed any of those messages to Nick.”
“That doesn’t mean he didn’t find them.” I started to worry that Kevin might be another victim on Nick’s hit list and knew we needed to find Kevin or Nick before it was too late. “Miss Cataldi, when was the last time you heard from your ex?”
“Not since I moved here in July. He kept calling and harassing me; begging me to take him back. So I moved and changed my phone number.”
“Do you know where we could find him?”
“I don’t know where he’s living now, but he was renting a place on Oakwood over the summer.”
“Any idea where he’d go if he was on the run?”
“Maybe back to his parent’s house in North Carolina.”
I had Brianna write down the addresses of Nick’s parent’s house and the apartment on Oakwood; hoping one of the two could provide us with a lead on Nick.
“Thank you Miss Cataldi. If you hear from him or can remember anything that can help us, please call me immediately.”
Chapter 88
I hurried both officers from the house and said our goodbyes to Officer Tremont. I was sure he was happy to get back to his desk job and not being a babysitter to a couple of New York cops. I waited for Tremont to pull away before grabbing my cell and calling the Lieutenant.
“Lieu, I’ve got a possible address for Nick DeFalco.”
“Great, where are you now?”
“Just about to leave Cataldi’s house.”
“Good, I’ll call it in and get the warrant to search his apartment. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find something to arrest him on or better yet we find him.”
I smiled at the thought of barging into Nick’s house; finding the ID cards and busting him for the three murders. I wanted to be the one to bring him down; to throw him in jail and to break him during interrogation.
Officer Reyes took the keys from his pocket and reached for the driver’s side handle. I threw my hip into the door; ripping it from his grasp.
I snatched the keys from his hand. “I’m driving.”
“But the Lieutenant said…”
“I don’t care what he said. We’re going and I’m driving.”
Chapter 89
The email arrived early Thursday morning as Kevin woke from another restless night sleep. He stretched his arms; silently yawning and crawled out of his bed. He dragged himself across the dimly lit room and sat down in his leather chair to turn on the computer.
Kevin hated checking his student email. It was typically some stupid campus announcements that he would instantly delete. He only kept the important information like homework assignments, schedules, and anything pertaining to his online classes. He found a strange email sitting in his inbox from a name he didn’t recognize. He was about to delete it until he read the subject line.
Christina’s Memorial
Dear Kevin;
We at the Outdoors Club are saddened by the loss of our friend and member Christina Tyler and would like to hold a memorial at the lighthouse on top of Mohonk Mountain tomorrow night in her honor. It was where we got to know you both and felt it would be a special place to keep her memory alive. We know you two were very close and would love it if you could join us. We will be meeting at the top around twelve noon tomorrow. Hope to see you there.
Marie
Kevin pounded his fist on the desk. “Are you fucking kidding me,” he shouted. “Those fake bastards didn’t even know her and they wanna pretend they were good friends.”
Kevin pulled up his music and blasted the heavy metal songs loudly over his speakers as he stared at the email. He read it multiple times; letting his anger flow through his fingertips as he wrote a nasty response to Marie; telling her off; telling them how they never knew Christina; not like him. He wanted to hurt the Outdoors Club the way he was hurting. After all, it was their stupid group that brought them up to that mountain. In fact he wanted nothing to do with them from the start. It was Christina that begged him to go to the meetings and to go on the trip.
Christina; his mind wandered back to the good times they shared; especially the last few months. She wanted him to join her at the Outdoors Club. She wanted him to make new friends; to live life to the fullest; to spend as much time as he could…with her.
He looked at the last pictures they took together on his phone. One was the night of his party with Christina dressed in the sexy cat costume with her arms wrapped around his neck. The other was a picture they took together on top of Mohonk Mountain. It was the happiest he had been; even if it was only for a couple of days.
“F
ine I’ll go,” he snapped. Kevin put down the phone and deleted his original email and replied with a friendlier response saying he would be there. He looked at the picture again. “I’m doing this for you.”
Chapter 90
It took us close to an hour and a half to get back to the station. Officer Reyes held on for dear life; using his arms to brace himself against the passenger door. I pulled into the station as if I were a street racer seeking cover from the cops. The squad car came to a screeching halt in a parking spot near the back of the building. Officer Reyes opened the door and fell to the ground. I swore his lips kissed the concrete thanking God for letting him get back in one piece.
“Welcome to the force rookie,” I laughed while strutting to the station doors.
As I entered, a group of officers crowded around my desk suiting up with their Kevlar vests and loading their weapons. Lieutenant Esposito stood in the center of the crowd. His suit jacket was thrown over my chair and looked as ready as everyone else.
“Are we all set,” I asked.
The Lieutenant smiled and held the search warrant in his hands. “We’re ready to go; just waiting on you to suit up.”
“You’re coming too?”
“Of course; why should you get all the fun?” The Lieutenant’s smile was something none of us were used to, but was great to see. “I wanna see this bastard in cuffs just as bad as you do.”
“Then what are we waiting for?”
The Lieutenant stood on the desk hovering over the mass of officers. “Ladies and Gentlemen, we’re about to move out to our target. We are going for a search and seizure. If anyone runs into Mark Thompson; Nick DeFalco or whatever the hell he’s calling himself, you are to take him down. We want him brought in alive. In the meantime, I want everyone to secure the house and rip the room apart. Bag anything that could be evidence. Let’s take this son of a bitch down before he even thinks about murdering another person.”
Chapter 91
It was the moment of truth. It took minutes for North Oakwood to become surrounded with uniformed officers ready to swarm the towering three floor house.
The Lieutenant paced up and down with a line of officers waiting behind him. “All right gang; we have units on both corners of the block as well as a squad car sitting on Grove street. Rodney, take these three officers to the backyard. If anyone runs from the house, you take them down immediately.”
“Yes sir,” Rodney replied and directed the three officers to follow him through a cluster of bushes and through a tall wooden gate.
The Lieutenant turned to me. “All right Detective, lead us in.”
“What?”
“It’s your investigation and your suspect.”
I looked around at the group of men and women sworn to protect and serve the people of Ulster County; street cops, detectives and our fearless leader stood ready.
“We enter on my mark. I want everyone to split up once we’re inside and sweep every floor.” I raced to the front door with the Lieutenant at my side. My fingers raised in the air; counting down from three…two…one.
A sea of officers stormed the house; each rushing to a different floors. The Lieutenant grabbed my arm and directed me up the stairs.
“Where’s his room,” I asked.
“Second floor; room fourteen,” he replied.
We hurried to the end of the hall finding two rooms sitting across from each other.
My head turned to each of our choices. “Which one is it?”
“Take them both on three,” the Lieutenant whispered. Officers stood on both sides of the door. The Lieutenant nodded to me and counted down.
I grabbed the handle and slammed my shoulder into the door; finding resistance from the locks. The Lieutenant did the same; opening his door with ease and was met by a woman’s piercing scream.
“This must be it,” I shouted. We kicked the door until it broke from its hinges. Our guns were stretched out as we entered, but found a near empty room. Only a stripped down bed and basic necessities like a dresser, desk, and table sat idly nearby.
“Where’s Nick DeFalco,” the Lieutenant shouted at the woman he encountered.
“H-he left a few days ago. Said he had a family emergency to take care of back home.”
“Shit!” Esposito pushed the officers out of the way as he barged into the room. “Detective, he’s gone.”
I slammed my fist into the wall. “I want this room turned upside down. I want anything with DNA, finger prints, papers; anything that belonged to him bagged and tagged.
The officers ripped open the desk and dresser drawers finding them empty; not even a shred of paper; not a sock; nothing that could help us.
“Looks like he took everything Detective.”
“Then get the CSU in here. We need this place checked from top to bottom.” I was at my wits end. Nick was one step ahead of us. I doubted we would find anything, but I needed something; anything.
Chapter 92
I sat in the Lieutenant’s office. My adrenaline was pumping harder than ever. We missed him by just a few days; most likely ran into hiding right after killing Christina Tyler. I cupped a hand over my face; feeling the tears rushing to my eyes.
I felt a hand press lightly on my shoulder. “It’s not your fault Ali,” the Lieutenant whispered.
“My fault…you think I feel like this is my fault?” I watched the Lieutenant withdraw his hand. “Why the fuck would I think this was my fault? I was the one pushing this investigation forward since day one and you were the one preventing me.”
“I know Ali; I’m sorry. I should’ve listened to you sooner.”
“You damn right you should’ve. We might’ve caught him by now if you didn’t silence me every time I tried to talk to you about it.”
“You’re right, but we can’t play the blame game; not now. That’s what he wants. He wants us to fight each other and lose sight of what we need to do.”
“And what are you planning to do? How do you intend to catch someone that’s been one step ahead of us?”
“For starters, you’re running the investigation. You call the shots; whatever you need I’ll get you. I’ve already ordered officers to patrol campus round the clock and a car to watch the Oakwood house at all times.”
I wiped away the tears and stood up to look at the officers still sitting at their desks. “Where’s Rodney?”
“He’s tying up the loose ends back at the house. He’s making sure the landlords keep an eye out for Nick and letting all the housemates know if they run into him to call the station immediately.”
“What do we do? He’s gotta be long gone by now.”
“I put in a call to the police in North Carolina in case he did go back home. It’s unlikely, but I wanted to be cautious.” He put his hand on my shoulder again. “Go home Ali; get some rest. There’s nothing more you can do right now.”
Chapter 93
The day was a bust. Our only chance to catch Nick…Mark…whatever his name, slipped through our fingers. It didn’t matter how much I blamed the Lieutenant for insisting these cases were accidents and suicides. I still couldn’t help feeling like I let the three victims down.
I didn’t want to go home. Matthew was still away. He didn’t call me or respond to any of my texts since he sped off the other night. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to Rodney or anyone from the station or anyone period. Instead I parked my car on Plattekill Avenue and walked over to P&Gs to mask the pain, anger and sadness with a bottle of tequila and six dollar towers of beer.
I took a spot on a stool in the back of the bar, ordered the first beer tower and the first of many shots. The tequila was dry and stung as it slid down my throat.
“Another one,” I shouted back to the bartender as he poured a drink for a waitress. He came over and refilled my glass; filling it until dribbled over the sides as I picked it up.
I sat on the stool for what felt like an hour when in fact it had been three. The lights in the restaurant dimmed, most o
f the tables were void of customers and the speakers blasted music. Multi-colored lights filled the room; swirling all around the dimly lit bar.
By the end of the second beer tower, I could feel my body swaying side to side. I thought I was falling off the stool but looked down to see I was moving with the beat of the music to the dance floor.
“Hey there hot stuff; care to dance,” man’s voice said over the loud bass thumping music.
I could barely make out the guy’s face and would normally say no to some random stranger asking for a dance. But I was feeling exceptionally good at that moment. I was having fun and I didn’t want it to stop. I shrugged my shoulders and continued moving to the music.
The man inched towards me; closing the distance between us. His hand reached around my waist; drawing me in so close I could feel his body rubbing against mine. My heart was beating fast. I didn’t know what I was doing. My arms reached around his neck bringing this stranger nose to nose with me; our lips missing each other by inches.
I was in trouble and I knew this wasn’t going to end well. My heart was telling me to go; get out of there before it was too late. But my brain was telling me to stay; have fun and relax; everything was going to be fine. The hours of drinking clouded my judgment and I stayed locked in a close embrace with some guy that I didn’t know.
His hands lowered; sliding down the small of my back and cupped my ass. He gave it a squeeze and pulled in closer. I was practically on top of him and could feel every movement. He placed his lips on my neck; kissing my collar bone and working his way up to my ear.
“How about one more drink and we get out of here,” he whispered. The air from his lips excited me and any thought I had of walking away went out the door.
“Let’s go,” I replied with a slight moan as he pressed his body into mine. He picked up my left leg; pressed in a bit more and could feel him grinding away on the dance floor. My cheeks flushed red from embarrassment; excitement and desire. “Let’s go now,” I shouted.
