What She Left (Martina Monroe Book 1)

by H K Christie

  42

  Martina

  I swung my body around and stared Alonso straight in the eyes. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

  “I meant nothing by it. It was a compliment. I recall you were always kind of the leader, you know.”

  My patience had officially left the building. “No, I don’t know what you mean. I don’t know you, so what are you implying - that you know me?”

  “I remember watching you when you were young,” he said, with a smug smile.

  The bastard was hiding something, and he was clearly egging me on by eluding my questions. “Whatever you’re implying, just say it already,” I demanded.

  “Calm down. I only want to help you, Martina.”

  I glanced back at Hirsch. “Do you know what the hell he’s talking about?”

  “No.”

  I turned back to Alonso. “Why do you keep referring to me by my maiden name? Did we know each other when I was younger and lived on Stone Island?”

  “We never met, but I felt like I knew you.”

  I leaned over the table, my hands planted on top. “Look, just spit it out. What are you trying to say?”

  He shook his head back and forth. “I don’t know, Hirsch. I’d like to tell her, but I’m afraid it needs to be covered under the immunity agreement.”

  I stepped back as a wave of nausea rolled through me. My mind churned like gears locking into place. I shut my eyes, and it was as if I could see it all on a slideshow.

  “Is the new information in the same vein - as in it was ordered by Frank Henley?” Hirsch inquired.

  “It sure does,” he said, with a gleam in his eye.

  “Then it’ll be covered.”

  Alonso returned his gaze to me. “You’re looking a little pale. You may want to have a seat while I tell you my story.”

  I sat as the rage and disbelief shot through me. “Talk,” I demanded.

  “Like I said, Martina. I knew you, but you didn’t know me. I used to watch you and Donna. The two of you were best friends, right?”

  I blinked rapidly. It was all true.

  He continued, “I’m surprised Donna never told you about our arrangement.”

  “Get on with it, Alonso,” Hirsch commanded.

  “Fine. Here’s what happened. Frank Henley needed someone who could have eyes on the Gilmores at all times. That’s where Donna came in. I swore her to secrecy and threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone. It was good money, and there was no reason for her to tell anyone. She must’ve agreed, since she hadn’t even told her best friend. Anyhow, Frank had me hire her to watch Charlotte, Kennedy, and Theodore. We needed to know of any major events, like a move or a separation or major issues in the family. Donna would give general reports on how things appeared at her next-door neighbor’s house. Mostly, Donna told us they seemed happy and never fought. That kind of thing. I came back once a month to meet with Donna to get my report and she would get her payment.”

  “How long was she doing this?” I asked.

  “A year. Until she told that stupid lowlife boyfriend of hers what she was doing.”

  “Diego?”

  “Yeah, he was a real piece of work. I don’t know what she ever saw in him. She was too good for him.”

  “So what - you killed her because she told Diego about the arrangement?” Why had she told Diego and not me?

  “Pretty much - once I’d told Frank of the breach, he ordered the hit,” he said, with little emotion.

  My mind was processing the fact I was sitting across from Donna’s killer.

  “How did it go down?” Hirsch asked.

  “I told her I had another deal for her where she could make even more money. When we met that night, I told her we needed to go somewhere private, so she brought me over to Beth’s Pond. When she was distracted, I struck her in the back of the head with a big rock. Thankfully, it didn’t require another blow. She was out nearly instantly. It wasn’t how I’d planned to do it, but when I saw the rock I figured it would be faster than if I’d strangled her. I didn’t want to do it, but it was a direct order from Frank so my hands were tied.”

  My head was throbbing. I squeezed my eyes shut to help control it. I gritted my teeth. “How did you know she told Diego?”

  “She confessed. I thought she was smarter than that. I liked her, to be honest, and I’m sorry that it had to end that way. I’m glad you finally found her. Hopefully that brings some closure to the family.”

  My body shook, and I had to control myself because I wanted to reach over the table and strangle him until that smug look on his face turned to shock and surprise as the life drained out of him. Instead, he’d get full immunity. It wasn’t right, not even if he delivered Frank Henley. He’d killed two people and tried to murder me. Before I lost my control, I stormed out of the interrogation room and ran outside of the county jail. Out in the rain, I let the drops splatter down on me and was reminded of the moment I saw Donna’s earring at our place - Beth’s Pond.

  My chest heaved, and I cried out to no one at all. We had found Donna, and we’d found her killer, but with Alonso looking at full immunity, we hadn’t gotten Donna the justice she deserved. Alonso needed to be locked up tight, and the key destroyed. My body vibrated as the grief overtook me. I fell to my knees onto the pavement in the parking lot. I needed the water to wash away the pain and fury. Why was life so damn unfair? Alonso walking free wasn’t fair to Donna and the Bernards, or to Theodore and the Gilmores. There had to be a way to make him pay for what he’d done.

  43

  Detective Hirsch

  I stepped outside the interrogation room and called Callahan at the FBI in Pennsylvania. After his voicemail greeting, I said, “Callahan, it’s Hirsch. The person we were talking about has just been implicated in some serious crimes in California. Call me back.” I hung up the phone, shoved it into my pocket, and headed off to find Martina. She had looked pretty upset when she left. She’d had a rough couple of days. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be in her shoes. Having to listen to Alonso callously describe how he murdered my best friend would have sent me over the edge. Not to mention, thinking Alonso would get away with the murder and all the other horrible things he’d done.

  What I needed to explain to Martina was that I don’t think that Alonso could ever prove that Frank Henley had called the shots on all of these things. Unless he’d recorded their earlier conversations, which was highly unlikely, considering how long ago Donna had been murdered. In my mind, both Henley and Ricci would pay for what they did - one way or another.

  In my experience, the district attorney had a clever way of writing loopholes into immunity agreements, especially when murder was involved. Ricci had given up his crimes far too quickly. He clearly wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. The smart criminals knew to get it in writing before speaking a word. Even if Ricci had immunity in California, he’d been dumb enough to admit to the attack on Martina in Pennsylvania, which wasn’t in our jurisdiction. One phone call to the Doylestown Police Department and an email of the recording of his confession was all it would take to ship him to Pennsylvania to do time for attempted murder. There was no way Alonso Ricci would be a free man - ever again.

  I exited the building and saw a figure in the parking lot on her knees. I jogged toward Martina. I reached her and she glanced up at me before she shook her head in defeat.

  I extended my hand to help her up, and she accepted. I stared into her amber-colored eyes and said, “Let’s talk.”

  She nodded silently as I led her to my car and she climbed into the passenger side. Once we were both out of the rain. I turned to her. “He will not get away with this.”

  “How? What about the immunity deal?”

  “At the bare minimum, he’ll do time in Pennsylvania for attacking you, which we’ll call attempted murder - he has no immunity agreement in Pennsylvania. Not to mention, he’s probably done other things that we haven’t uncovered yet. I’m telling you, this guy wil
l never get to see the light of day again, except for his one hour of mandatory outdoor exercise. Trust me, Martina. We will make sure he is never a free man again.”

  She stared down at the floor of my car. “I don’t know why she didn’t tell me.”

  “You heard what Ricci said. He had threatened to kill her if she said anything about the arrangement. She probably only told Diego because he had threatened her. I spent enough time with Diego to know what kind of man he was.”

  I hoped Martina heard me as she shifted her gaze to the window.

  “Should we tell Kennedy now, that we caught the person who killed her father, or do we wait?”

  Martina was obviously still processing the last hour and didn’t want to discuss Donna further. I said, “I think we should hold off until we hear from the FBI. I called my buddy, and if they have an active investigation, this could screw things up. We can hold Alonso until he can produce evidence against Henley. Are you booked for the trip to Pennsylvania?”

  She returned her attention to me with confidence in her eyes. “I’m booked.”

  I stared into her eyes. “We’ll make sure that Donna and Theodore Gilmore get the justice they deserve. We will ensure Frank Henley pays for what he did.”

  “Let’s take down that son of a bitch,” she commanded.

  That was the plan.

  44

  Detective Hirsch

  I hurried from the rental car as the wind and snow whipped at my face. We were definitely not in the Bay Area anymore. I opened the door and held it for Martina before entering the FBI building in Philadelphia. I shut the door behind me and watched as Martina shook the snowflakes out of her hair. I grinned. “So, have you ever considered moving to the East Coast?”

  She chuckled. “No, and I don’t think I ever will. I prefer sunshine over freezing temperatures any day.”

  I was pleased to see her in better spirits. It had been two days since we’d discovered Alonso had murdered Donna. Martina had taken the news hard, but appeared to be coping.

  I stepped up to the front desk and explained to the clerk we had an appointment with Special Agent Deeley. The woman wearing a headset made a call and then assured me he’d be out shortly. While we waited, we provided identification, my badge, and signed the visitor log. I declared I had a weapon, but my buddy, Callahan, had arranged for me to keep it on me since I was law enforcement. Martina wasn’t licensed to carry a gun in Pennsylvania, and based on her last visit, I didn’t want her to be anywhere without me by her side. I hadn’t told her that, since I’m guessing her response would be akin to a karate chop. Yes, I thought she could take care of herself, but bullets were fast and didn’t need to know Krav Maga to kill. Henley could easily send another goon to come after her. I’m guessing Ricci wasn’t his only henchman.

  Martina and I stood in the lobby. “Any guess to what the FBI investigation is focused on?” Martina asked.

  “I don’t know. He’s a politician and a businessman. It could be anything.” And I meant it. It could be anything from money laundering to serial murder. Some people were damn good at hiding their true selves.

  “Do you think whatever they’re investigating is related to Charlotte and the secret that she kept?”

  “Could be. The suicide by Eloise Henley is a bit too coincidental for my taste.” So far, every coincidence on this case had turned out to be nothing of the sort.

  “I think something has the Henleys under pressure, which is why I think the body count keeps rising,” Martina said.

  Footsteps on the tile drew my attention ahead. I smiled and waved. Callahan and a black man, with a bald head and thick mustache standing nearly six feet three inches tall, approached. I grinned and shook hands with Callahan before focusing on the other man. “You must be Special Agent Deeley?” I extended my hand. “I’m Detective Hirsch, and this is Martina Monroe, a private investigator my department is working with. She’s been investigating the Henleys for several weeks.”

  “That’s right. Callahan’s told me a few stories from your college days. A class clown turned homicide detective,” Deeley said, with a bright smile.

  Martina eyed me quizzically and said, “I’d like to hear some of those stories.” She winked at me before she shook hands with Deeley and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

  Deeley returned the sentiment. “Why don’t you head back with me and we can play a little show and tell. It’ll be interesting to see what you’ve got and how it may tie into our case.”

  So there was definitely an investigation into the Henleys. It did not surprise me. Callahan wouldn’t have had me fly out if there wasn’t.

  They led us back to a hallway and into a conference room. Deeley shut the door behind us and I focused my attention one of the walls. My mouth dropped open. There was a wall of photographs and strings connecting to note cards.

  “Tell us what were looking at here.”

  Deeley explained, “This here is the Henley investigation. Currently, Frank Henley is under investigation for a whole slew of financial crimes. The first thing that got us interested in Henley was because of this guy here.” He pointed to a photograph of a middle-aged man with dark hair. “A whistle blower at his investment firm. He said that Henley was taking secret kickbacks from different investment fund managers. Basically, he’d put his clients’ money in their fund for a kickback. These kickbacks come in the form of fake consulting contracts. We soon found that the kickbacks were just the tip of the iceberg. This guy is so dirty, he makes a pig in slop look like a clean freak.”

  “This started as an SEC investigation?”

  “Yep.”

  I watched as Martina eased up to the board of photographs. She pointed at one and turned back to me. “There’s Alonso, right there.”

  “I’ll be damned,” I commented. Alonso wasn’t lying that he had worked for Henley.

  “I hear you have our pal, Ricci, in custody.”

  “Yep, he’s confessed to two murders and an attempted murder on Martina. He alleges all his crimes were direct orders from Frank Henley.”

  “Who did he kill?”

  “The first murder was thirteen years ago. Donna Bernard, who had been hired to monitor her next-door neighbors, the Gilmores, aka Charlotte Henley’s family in California. The second was Theodore Gilmore, Charlotte’s widow.”

  “And he attacked Martina, twice?”

  “Yep. Once during her last trip to Pennsylvania and last weekend in California. She got the drop on him both times. That’s why he’s in custody now.”

  Deeley leaned up against the wall and crossed his muscled arms. He said, “Nice work,” and gave Martina a slight smile. “Well, from what we have on wire taps and based on our undercover agent’s assessment, Alonso’s probably telling the truth. Frank is one sick man who’s only concern is power. Alonso is just one of his henchmen. Did Alonso tell you why Frank wanted the hits?”

  Martina shrugged. “According to Alonso, there is some family secret that Charlotte had carried. He says he doesn’t know what it is.”

  “Must be pretty big to hire a hit.”

  Martina nodded. “My thoughts exactly. Rumor has it, Henley wants to run for president, so the secret must be bad enough that it could jeopardize his campaign.”

  “Any leads?” Deeley asked.

  “Amy Henley has a letter her mother left after she died.”

  “A letter? In addition to the suicide note?”

  “Yes. She says she can only show it to me in person. She’s also asked to have her DNA compared to Charlotte’s. Did you guys look into Eloise’s suicide? Are you sure she wasn’t murdered?”

  Deeley said, “It had all the hallmarks of a classic suicide. No obvious signs to raise suspicion. She took a bunch of pills, which she had a prescription for, no sign of a struggle, and she left a note. We questioned Amy, and she seemed pretty convinced it was suicide as well. I thought she was hiding something, now I know what.”

  Martina said, “I have a meeting with her this
afternoon. Since telling her that Charlotte had been alive until a few weeks ago and that she has a niece, Kennedy Gilmore, she wants to get to know her newfound family. What’s your take on Amy?”

  “She is pretty far removed from Frank Henley and all his shady business deals. She works at the bistro, which is a clean operation. Most of the Henley businesses are. But then I think Frank got greedy. We have enough charges now to arrest him on most of the SEC violations, but to ensure a lengthy prison sentence we have an operation going down tomorrow morning, on the golf course, of all places, to get him on money laundering and racketeering too. Our boy, Frank, has been playing with the Philly mob.” He eyed Martina. “As for Alonso, we have him on a wire tap discussing Theodore Gilmore’s murder and taking down ‘the PI’ back in California. Frank gave Alonso the option to contract out, but I guess he wanted revenge, since you got him good in the first attack,” he said, with a playful smirk.

  “I got him pretty good the second time, too. He’s lucky I have self-control, otherwise his brains would have been all over the pavement.”

  “You would have done the world a favor. He’s not a good guy, and you may have guessed by now, not the brightest bulb.”

  Unfortunately, that meant the wire taps corroborated Alonso’s story that he was following orders. I explained the immunity deal to Deeley. He shook his head. “I wouldn’t worry. If you can’t get him in California, we’ll take good care of him here in Pennsylvania.”

  Martina seemed to relax. “Good. Donna Bernard was my best friend, and I want him put away for the rest of his life. I’ll tell you this, I’m not sure my self-control would have existed had I known he was responsible for her death when he’d attacked me at the gas station.”