Lethal Legacy
Page 13
He was awestruck at her bruised cheek and eye. For a moment he just stared at her, rage filling his veins. Who the hell hurt her? He wanted to reach out and touch her, hold her. He inhaled, attempting to calm his anger. “Victoria…are you okay? What happened?”
As if she’d forgotten she looked like she’d been in a bar fight, she said, “What the hell are you doing here?” Her voice raised an octave. “And how the hell did you know where I was?”
Apparently, he wasn’t the only one flooded with emotions. She was pissed. He needed to calm her down. “May I come inside?”
She looked at him with a bewildered look on her face. He stared back. Finally, she took a step back, allowing him to step inside.
He looked around the beautiful, spacious house and then back at her battered face.
She clicked her tongue in annoyance. “What do you want?” She peered out the window at his truck. “I can’t believe you came all the way out here. You scared the hell out of me.” She waved her gun. “I could have shot you!”
He quickly, but lightly, grabbed her arm. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, why don’t I just take that from you…for now.”
Prying the gun from her fingers, he asked, “Are you alone?”
“Oh, that’s it, isn’t it? You think I’m hiding out here with Will, don’t you?” She rolled her eyes and opened her arms. “Well, look around for yourself if you’d like. He’s not here.”
“I trust you.”
She crossed her arms. “No, you don’t.”
He stepped closer to her and touched her cheek. “Victoria, what happened?”
She looked down. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”
“You didn’t call the cops, did you?”
“No.”
They stood in silence for a moment. So much to say, but nothing was coming out.
She dropped her arms and looked up at him. Her expression a little less volatile, which eased him a bit. She motioned him to follow her to the kitchen.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Opening the fridge she said, “Water, wine or whiskey… not much else.”
He really shouldn’t drink right now. He needed his wits about him to keep on subject and his hands off of her. He needed to calm the rage he felt when he looked at her cuts and bruises.
He glanced at her half empty wine glass on the counter and contemplated for a moment longer…what the hell.
“Whiskey.” Okay, so he’d lost that battle.
As she reached into the cabinet, he caught a glimpse of her tight abs. His stomach tickled. Damn it, Danny. Yeah, he needed that whiskey, definitely.
She set his whiskey on the table and leaned against the counter. Why the hell was there so much tension between them?
Looking at her bruised eye, he said, “Tell me what happened.”
She picked up her wine glass. “I don’t want to file a police report.”
“Okay. Off the record then, tell me what the hell happened.”
She took another long sip, turned and gazed out the window at the lake. He followed her gaze. The moonlight reflected a bright silver beam across the water. A million twinkling stars filled the cloudless sky. The trees danced in the cool fall breeze.
Keeping her gaze out the window, she said, “I was attacked.”
He tightened his grip on the glass. “Attacked?”
“Yes. Right after you left the event.”
Guilt twisted in his gut for not being there to save her. He stayed silent and let her continue.
“I was walking through the back of the building, when someone jumped up behind me and got me in a choke hold.” Her voice lowered. “I was dragged by my hair outside.”
His jaw clenched.
“I was being hoisted into a car when…” She paused. “Someone attacked my attacker.”
“Who hit you?”
A long moment of silence. “A man named Anthony Ramos.”
He didn’t need to write it down. He’d remember it until the man felt Danny’s fist through his jaw.
“Any idea who the other man was?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it could have been a bystander. Maybe a man from the party who saw what was happening, ran up, and Anthony attacked him. At that point, I couldn’t see either man’s face. I didn’t know which one attacked me.”
He made a mental note to check the police records to see if anyone had called in the incident, or reported getting their ass kicked in the alley. “Okay, then what?”
“He pretended he was the one who rescued me, and took me to a house.”
“What house?”
“I don’t know.”
Her hand trembled. “Then, he attacked me.”
Danny gripped his glass so hard the ice cube shook. He felt his body heat rising with anger.
His voice low and menacing, he said, “Give me details, Victoria.”
Her eyes remained on the lake. She was thinking through something, he knew it.
“He got me inside, acted as if he were comforting me…and then he just attacked me.”
“Victoria, turn around.”
She looked over her shoulder at him.
“You’re leaving out details.”
She took another sip, her glass almost empty now, and peered at him over the glass. “Why are you here, Lieutenant Dabrowski?”
Okay, if she didn’t want to give him the full story now, that’s okay, he’d get it out of her later. “You promised me a talk, remember?”
She nodded, gazing at him.
Seeing pain in her eyes, Danny walked over to her. “Would you like to sit by the lake?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “Yes.”
He smiled. “Do you have a coat? It’s a cool evening.”
“Yes.” She disappeared down the hall and came back with two wool blankets and a coat. Grabbing the bottle of wine and her empty glass, she pushed out the back door. They walked to the dock in silence.
Victoria laid down a blanket, and motioned him to sit. Danny inhaled the fresh country air and looked at Victoria as she gazed up at the twinkling sky. Her face seemed to sparkle in the moonlight.
They sat in silence for over five minutes. Finally, she spoke.
“I assume you know that my mother died giving birth to me.” Her voice was soft but full of emotion.
He wanted to scoop her up. “Yes.”
“You have no idea how many times I’ve wished that I died that day instead of her. She was beautiful.” A small smile spread over her face. “I’ve seen pictures. My dad said she was full of life and full of love. Even at such a young age, I felt like I needed to prove to my dad that I was worth having, since he lost the love of his life because of me.”
Danny leaned toward her. “She didn’t die because of you.”
“She wouldn’t have died if I were never born.” She gazed into the black water. “When I was old enough to pick up a crayon, I started drawing pictures of her. Even though I’d never met her, I drew her. Almost every day. My dad would pin them up around the house.”
She looked down. “How hard that must’ve been for him.” She took a deep breath. “I was just a little girl when he was murdered.”
Danny listened intently as she told the story of watching her father get murdered.
“How long was it until you spoke again?”
“Over a year. I painted over three hundred paintings that year.”
“I’d like to see them.”
She smiled and looked at him. “They’re locked away. I haven’t looked at them in years.” She took another deep breath. “Anyway, there’s your story Lieutenant. What questions do you have?”
He put his hand on hers. “Thank you, Victoria.”
She nodded.
“Do you remember any abnormal behavior from your dad, in the days or months before his death?”
“I remember he worked a lot more. More hours. And, he seemed stressed and worn down. I’d always try to cheer him up.”
“Did he have a lot of friends?”
“Do you remember him taking any business trips?”
She paused. “Yes, actually, a few right in a row. Which was abnormal, he never traveled.”
“Where did he go?”
“Mexico. I remember because he brought me back authentic Mexican toys.”
“Did he ever take you up to his office at work?”
“No.” She eyed him. “Tell me what you know.”
He wasn’t sure how much to tell her, but he knew she was withholding information from him. Maybe the more information he gave, she would reciprocate.
“Victoria, there are no microphones here, no cameras, nothing. It’s time to be honest. On both our parts.”
“You go first.”
He sat silent for a moment. “Before his death, your father was being investigated for selling chemicals to the highest bidder, namely Mexican drug cartels, who had ties to terrorist organizations.”
A minute passed before she shook her head. It was as if all the emotion had already been drained out of her and that was all she had in her.
He gave her a moment to let the news sink in.
Finally, she said, “No. No, that can’t be true.” She looked at Danny. “He was never arrested. If he was illegally selling, why wasn’t he caught, or in jail?”
“The FBI gathered plenty of intel, but they couldn’t tie him to actual terrorists or cartels. There wasn’t enough proof.”
“Why now? How can you know now?”
“I received his files from the FBI. The phone numbers he called, addresses he visited and websites he frequented are now known terrorists or anti-government groups. They weren’t at the time he was investigated. And after he was murdered, the case went cold, and that was that.”
He gave her a minute to breathe, then continued. “But that’s not all, your father worked closely alongside John Mortin, and spoke with him several times in the days leading up to his death.”
“John Mortin? The guy who just died in the car crash?”
Danny nodded. “It’s all tying together.”
Chapter 16
She sat motionless, feeling short of breath, as if she’d been punched in the gut. Her head was swimming; it seemed like a bad dream. Danny sat beside her, watching her.
The roar of the bugs had calmed, the dark night was quieter, but the buzzing in her head was deafening. She focused on the sound of the lake lapping against the dock.
Danny reached over and put his hand on her knee. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “You don’t believe John Mortin tumbling down that ravine was an accident, do you?”
“Correct.”
“You think someone did it.”
He nodded.
“Do you think William did it?”
“I don’t know. I’ve got to find out where he is first, and why the hell he disappeared.”
“So, someone murdered my father and John Mortin decades later, and now we know that they were acquaintances. But, how does it tie in? Why now? Over thirty years later?”
Danny waited a beat. “Victoria, do you think there is a connection with what happened to your father and William, today? With William’s disappearance?”
She paused. “I don’t know.” Hell, she felt like she didn’t know anything anymore. She cocked her head. “You said Mexican drug cartel, right?”
“Right.”
“William has traveled to Mexico a lot lately.”
“Okay.” He figured as much. “Anything else?”
He squeezed her knee. “Tell me. You need to tell me, Victoria.”
She hesitated and looked into his eyes. The moonlight illuminated his strong face and piercing blue eyes. Her world was crumbling piece by piece and she knew she needed to be honest with him. She also knew that she didn’t want him to leave. She felt safe with him…and that was a feeling she was not familiar with.
She sighed. “Yes. There is something else. Anthony Ramos.”
He balled his fist. “Yes.”
“There’s more I haven’t told you.” She gripped her wine glass. “I met him in a bar, the day before my house burned down. The day after, he came to visit me at the gallery, right after you left.”
His eyes were laser focused on her.
“We spoke briefly about the fire and I mentioned that the police were looking into possible arson. He then told me he was a private investigator and that he could find out details surrounding the fire for me.” She lowered her head, embarrassed. “A few days later I called him, asking him to find out information about a blonde I saw with my husband. He came to my hotel room and he insinuated there was a link between my father’s death and William’s.” She shook her head. “I didn’t believe it.”
“He said he was a PI?”
“Yes.”
Danny shook his head. “Bullshit. He’s no PI. He was getting close to you…for something. Anthony probably isn’t even his real name. Did he find out who the blonde was?”
“No. I gave him a picture and that was the last we spoke about it.”
“Anything else you’re leaving out?”
She paused. “Yes.” She took a deep breath. “The night he attacked me… he was asking for a key.”
“A key?”
“Yes, a key. He kept yelling, asking me where it was.”
“Do you know what he was talking about?”
“No. But he yelled something about my father. He acted as if I should know about it.”
“A key.” Danny tapped his finger on the dock. “A key.” He looked at her skeptically. “And you know nothing about any key?”
She looked him straight in the eye. “No, Danny, I don’t.” Frustrated and emotionally exhausted, she raised her voice. “Don’t you think I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure it out?” She exhaled, tears filled her eyes. “And one more thing…I stabbed him. I stabbed him in the back, during the attack.”
Danny scooted closer, put his arm around her and leaned down in her ear. “Victoria, you did what you had to do. Everyone has a right to defend themselves and you were strong enough to fight back. It says a lot about you.”
She nodded and wiped her eyes. “I have the knife. It’s in my bag, by the front door.”
“There’s the silver lining. I’ll have it tested for DNA immediately and get Anthony’s real identity.”
“Yeah, yes, take it. I don’t want it.” She leaned her head back and took another deep breath. “But how the hell does all this tie together? My father’s past, my house burning down, my missing husband and a stranger demanding a key. And how the hell are my father’s past and my current husband linked?”
“That’s what I’ve got to figure out. But, I’ll need your help, Victoria. Will you come to the station and make a statement?”
“No. I just told you everything I know.”
His face flashed with impatience. “You’re not safe, you’re not safe out here. Come back with me.”
“No one knows I’m here, Danny. Hell, everyone thinks Will is dead, anyways. No one would come looking for me out here.”
Frustrated, he ran his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t want to tell you this…but, there’s been a leak. The media knows the body wasn’t William’s, and that he’s missing.”
She snapped her head around. “What?”
“That’s why we need this closed up, soon. You’ll be hounded by the media.”
She raised her voice, her tone heavy with shock and anger. “Who the hell leaked the information?”
“We don’t know, but we’ll find out.”
Disgusted with law enforcement, yet again, and pissed off, she vehemently shook her head. “Danny, I’m not going into town. I’m staying here.”
He glanced back at the secluded house. “It’s not safe here. We can offer you police escorts and protection if you need it. I can protect you.”
“No. No. I’m staying h
ere.” Her green eyes flamed with defiance. Frustrated, she pushed herself up and stood. She put her hands on her hips and looked down at him. “I’m not going anywhere. And you’re not solving anything sitting here.”
He stood and looked at her. A moment passed and he lightly took her hand. “Come back with me.” Desperately he said, “Victoria…”
She looked down. In a whisper she said, “I’m fine. Go.”
He softly placed his finger under her chin and tilted her face up.
Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she looked up at him.
He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Please come back with me.”
For a moment they stared into each other’s eyes. She suddenly craved him. His body, his lips, his muscular chest. His protection. His passion.
But, she looked away.
He waited for a moment before dropping his hand. Then, he turned without another word and walked away.
She watched him walk into the house, get the knife with Anthony’s blood on it from her bag and walk out the front door. Before she could tell herself not to, she kneeled down and cried.
* * * *
“Carlos Chavez.” Wilson laid a grainy black and white picture on Danny’s desk. “This is the main man linked to Victoria’s dad, Charles Henry’s communications in his file. Most notably, this email address and these physical addresses in Mexico.” He tossed another paper on Danny’s desk. “Of course the email is no longer active and the addresses are now shopping centers, but based on the information McAndrew and I dug up, Carlos was the leader of a drug cartel called the CCO–Carlos Chavez Organization. The group was active back in the late seventies.”
Danny rolled his eyes. “Egotistical son of a bitch.”
Wilson laughed, “I thought that too. Why the hell would a criminal label an entire illegal organization with his own name.”
“Idiot. So, they’re not active anymore?”
“Not according to what we dug up. The organization seemed to disperse shortly after Victoria’s dad was murdered.”
Danny began tapping his pencil on the desk. “Tell me more about the group.”
“They were small. Maybe twenty people, tops. They got their start dealing drugs then dabbled in stealing jewels and jewelry, eventually working their way up to obtaining and selling chemicals on a small level. This is where Charles Henry and King Chemicals comes in.”