Fatally Linked

by Juliann Vatalaro

  Dani looked over to Jake’s target as she finished her fourth clip. He was trying to match her hits. If she was seeing correctly, he was hitting it dead on. Zach used to try to match her. He came close, but never dead on like this. When she was done with the clip she started to bring the target in, but Jake stopped it. He went back to his lane and continued until he was through his four clips. He hit the button to retrieve both targets.

  “Not bad, huh?”

  “You missed one.”

  Jake looked back. “No, I didn’t.”

  “There are only six shots around the seven. There should be seven. You missed the target completely.”

  Jake ran back to look at the target. He looked close at the seven. A smile broke out on his face. He jogged to catch up to her. “Did it cross your mind that maybe I hit the same exact spot twice?”

  Dani shook her head, and with a small smile said, “It’s possible, but I’ll need more proof that you’re that good.”

  Jake grinned. “Next time I’ll make it clearer.”

  “With any luck there won’t be a next time.”

  CHAPTER 7

  DANI TOOK THE SUBWAY HOME. She was in a fog. Today had taken a big toll on her. Unfortunately, it was far from over. She had to look at Zach’s computer. She knows the password. She knows that it will give her a clue to finding his killer. The problem is she also knows that to find that information she is going to have to read his journal. That was something she never wanted to do. It was the one private thing she thought he should have. Zach was a talker. He was also a thinker. He had to write things down so he would never forget what he had been through in his life.

  She stepped onto the elevator, hit the button for her floor, leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. As she stepped off the elevator, she looked to her right. Jake was keeping pace right next to her.

  “Where did you come from?”

  He shook his head and smiled. “I’ve been next to you the whole way home.”

  “Well, go home. I need to do this alone.”

  “I don’t have a home. I thought I’d stay in Zach’s place.”

  Dani stopped walking and sucked in a breath. She shook her head. “No. No, you can’t stay there.”

  “I told you, I need to find out everything I can about Zach. The best place to do that is from his home. I promise I will never open the bookcase. You will not see me living there.”

  Dani continued to her door. “You’re determined to make this hard on me, aren’t you?”

  “No. I’m trying to make it easier on you. Please let me help you. I think it’s what Zach would want me to do.”

  “Whatever.”

  She threw her jacket in the usual spot on the chair by the door. She kicked off her shoes and went to the refrigerator for a beer. She popped the top and took a long pull. A quick glace at Jake had her opening the refrigerator again to get one out for him. She handed it to him and sat on the couch with her feet up on the coffee table.

  “I thought you were going to check out his computer?”

  “I’m not ready yet.”

  “I thought going to the range was supposed to prepare you for it.”

  “It was a start. The beer is the next step.”

  “How many steps are there?”

  “I won’t know until I’m ready.”

  Jake grabbed the remote for the TV. “You mind if I check out the scores?”

  He didn’t wait for an answer. He flipped on the TV, sat back, and put his feet up.

  “Take your time,” he said. “I’ll be here for you when you’re ready.”

  She opened her eyes long enough to glare at Jake before closing them again.

  Two hours, three beers, and a glass of wine later, Dani got up and went to take a shower. When she came out, she stood in front of the bookcase. She took a deep breath before hitting the switch. “Don’t come in unless I call you.”

  She hesitated before she turned the computer on. As she stared at the screen, she couldn’t help but apologize to Zach. “I’m sorry, Zach. You know I love you. You know I don’t want to do this, but I don’t have a choice. I need to know. I need a clue to help find who did this to you. Please forgive me.”

  She wiped her face with her hands before typing in the password. Slowly she scrolled through his files. She knew what the name of the file was. Just as Zach’s password was his private nickname for her, Princess, the name of the file for his journal was her private nickname for him, Charmer. She clicked on the file.

  The file was over a thousand pages. She didn’t want to intrude by reading it all, so she scanned all the way down to four months ago when he found out about Jake. She closed her eyes, blew out a breath, and opened them again. She began to read.

  November 21, 2014

  So today was an interesting day. I found out I have a brother. I still can’t believe it. I’m thirty-four years old and I find out today that I have a brother. Not just a brother, an identical twin brother.

  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw him on the news. I actually thought, Hey, that didn’t happen. I never gave that interview. Then the news anchor said they were broadcasting from California. I knew it wasn’t me. I had to find out who he was.

  I just got back from California. I believe Jake was more in shock at seeing me than I was to see him. I walked up to him with my hand out.

  “Zach Danato,” I said. “Somehow I think we should know each other.”

  His pause was only for a moment. He grabbed my hand and shook. “Jake Santos. I think you’re right.”

  We spent the next four hours trying to figure out what the hell was going on. He’s going to go through his mother’s—correction, our mother’s—papers. I’m going to have to go through Dad’s.

  Dani is not going to believe this. Wait, I can’t tell Dani. She’ll think I’m an idiot for not knowing about him. I’ll wait. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll wait till we see what we can find out. But I’ve already lied to her about where I was going and what I was going to be doing these past few days. I hated having to lie to her, but this is something I had to do myself. I’ll wait to tell her, then I’ll apologize the rest of my life for hurting her by lying.

  November 30, 2014

  Jake and I met with our parents’ lawyer today. It seems they had already filed for a divorce when Mom found out she was pregnant. They stuck it out ‘tll we were born. Then they each took one of us and put the papers through. My mother took Jake and moved to California. Dad took me and stayed in New York.

  The lawyer had our birth certificates. He had our footprints and blood test. It’s official. I have a twin brother. I have the proof in front of me, but still can’t believe it. I guess on one hand that I don’t want to believe it. I can’t believe Dad would do that to me. Yeah, we had some problems because of his gambling, but he loved me. I always knew he loved me.

  I know I have to tell Dani now. Unfortunately, there is something in the back of my mind telling me I shouldn’t. It has nothing to do with Jake. He seems to be a good guy. He’s a cop also. Detective First Grade, I‘m only second grade. He seems smart enough. From the bust he made that was broadcast on national TV, he is competent at the job. He’s good-looking. Well, of course he’s good-looking; he looks just like me.

  Dani had to laugh at that.

  He does seem to be a little bit of a neat freak. That’s definitely the opposite of me.

  Huh. Dani would probably fall for him faster than she fell for me. It took me and Dani two years to finally give into our feelings. We’re partners. Partners are not supposed to have a personal relationship. We still have to keep it a secret. I know it bothers her. I know she wants to tell everyone about us. I love her so much. As long as I know she is mine, it doesn’t bother me that no one else knows. I’ll give her anything else in the world, but I can’t give her that. The second everyone finds out, I’ll lose her. I can’t take the chance.

  Dani stopped to wipe the tears away.

  Maybe that’s
why I don’t want her to meet Jake. They will probably hit it off and be great friends. Dani and I were great friends before we became lovers. Then lovers fell in love. So much in love I’m going to ask her to marry me. She’ll need a few days to think about it, but she’ll say yes. She’ll be worried about how it will affect us on the job. I know she loves me, so the few days won’t bother me. After a few days, she’ll say screw it to the job and yes to me. Maybe I’ll wait ‘til after I ask her. Once she commits to me, she’ll never go back on her promise.

  But Jake, I don’t know. I don’t know him all that well, but I have a sinking feeling from what I do know he would be better for her than me. He’ll fall for her if they met. Oh, I don’t think he’ll ever act on it, but he’ll fall for her. Damn, I don’t know what to do. She’s going to be so mad that I didn’t tell her as soon as I found out. Maybe I’ll just wait ‘til after we are married.

  “Damn right I’m mad at you. How can you be so stupid? You just wrote that you know I love you. Why would you possibly think I would leave you for Jake? Or any other man for that matter.”

  “Dani, are you okay?” Jake yelled through the bookcase.

  “Yes, don’t come in here.” She turned her attention back to the screen and scrolled down to the beginning of the current month.

  February 15, 2015

  The hits just keep coming. A few months ago I found out I have a twin brother. Today I found out I have a daughter. Her name is Katie. She’s sixteen and she ran away from home.

  Dani sucked in a breath. “Oh God. No.”

  Her mother, Jennifer, was my high school girlfriend. I had no idea she was pregnant. We broke up just before we went to college. Actually, she broke up with me. She said I needed to be free to enjoy my college years. She didn’t want to tie me down. For a month I missed her. I would call to make sure she didn’t change her mind and want me back. Then I got busy. I met some people and put her behind me.

  Now she needs my help. Katie ran away two weeks ago. She’s looked everywhere, but can’t find her. Jennifer tried to fill me in on all she knows, but I couldn’t listen to her. I yelled at her. I told her she had no right to hold my child back from me. I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her till it hurt.

  I have no idea how I’m going to tell Dani this. First a long-lost brother, and now a long-lost kid. God, right now my life sucks. The only bright spot in my life right now is Dani and I can’t talk to her about any of this. I can’t take the chance on losing her. I won’t take the chance.

  “You idiot. I love you, Zach, but I’m really pissed off at you right now. How can you possible think any of this after the night we had the night before you wrote this? How can you not trust my love for you? How can you not know I would help you though everything and anything.”

  She wiped the tears again.

  February 16th, 2015

  It’s really hard looking for Katie without being able to tell Dani why I keep disappearing for hours at a time. I hated lying to her when I went to California to see Jake. Lying now about Katie is killing me, but I can’t tell her. Not yet. I have to find Katie first. Then I’ll tell her everything. I brought in Manark to help me look. He’s on the streets all day and night. He usually knows what’s going on. I’m waiting on a call from him now. He thinks he’s seen someone that fits her description in an all-night café. I’m a little nervous about finding her. She’s going to hate me. She’s going to think I ran out on her.

  Dani scrolled down, but there was nothing else. There would never be anything written in this journal again. Zach was gone. Killed a little after midnight on February 17th. She put her head down and cried all over again.

  “Dani, are you okay?” Jake asked. It has been over an hour since he had heard from her.

  She didn’t lift her head, but she shook it. “No. I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again.”

  Jake went over to her. He hesitantly softly rubbed her back. “I’m here for you.” He knelt down next to her. “Let it out. You’re not alone.”

  Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around his neck and cried on his shoulder. Five minutes later, she pulled back and stood up fast.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” She swiped the tears from her cheeks.

  Jake slowly got up. “It’s okay. Whatever you need, I’m here. Even if it’s just a shoulder to cry on.”

  Dani wiped the tears away. “You probably won’t believe me, but I never cry. I just can’t help it these days.”

  “Totally understandable. Do you want to talk about it?”

  Dani walked back to the computer and scrolled back to November. “Read this first. Do not go back further then this.”

  “Is there anything before this I need to see?”

  “I wouldn’t know. Zach’s journal is his private business. It needs to stay that way. Please don’t go back any further.”

  Jake turned toward the screen. Dani headed back to her apartment.

  Ten minutes later, he found Dani on the couch with a beer in one hand, and the other arm over her eyes and her feet up on the table.

  “It seems I have a niece.”

  Dani didn’t move. “It seems so.”

  “Somehow I think it’s too much of a coincidence that we now need to look for two different Katies.”

  Dani removed her arm from her eyes and sat up. She took a sip of beer and looked at Jake. “We had her. We sat down with her. We let her get away. My God, Zach is going to be so mad at me.”

  “If he told you about Katie, I’m sure he would be. Since you didn’t know, I’m thinking he’ll give you a pass.”

  “I think I understand why she was looking at you like you were a ghost.”

  “You think she knows Zach?”

  “I’m not sure. All I know is she was scared. I thought she was just nervous because we were talking about Willy. Now, I don’t know.”

  “We have to find her. Who is Manark?”

  “A CI—confidential informant. He’s good. He knows everybody.” She grabbed her phone off the counter. “Manark, Lieutenant Castello. Call me back the second you get this. It’s a matter of life and death. Yours.”

  She threw the phone onto the coffee table.

  “Can we go find him?”

  “He moves around. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

  “Did Zach ever mention this Jennifer to you?”

  “Yeah, but he never used her last name.”

  Dani went over to Zach’s side of the bookshelf. She scanned the shelves and pulled out his high school yearbook. She flipped through the pages. When nothing hit she sat down and started again. Jake sat next to her. She moved away.

  “Hold on. Before we get into this we need to discuss a few other things.”

  “No, we don’t.”

  He grabbed her hand to stop her from flipping the pages. “Yes, we do.”

  She dropped the book on the table and went to get another beer. She handed one to Jake. “Okay, talk.”

  “Zach and I talked a lot. He told me so much about you. I have seen almost all of it these past few days. What you need to know is that I can honestly say that I never gave him the impression that I would try to take you away from him.”

  “Understood. But just so you know, there is no way in hell I would have let you take me away from him.”

  “Understood.” Jake nodded. “Why would he think it was a possibility?”

  Dani thought for a moment. “Zach was a very strong man. He was confident, smart, a leader… and respected by everyone who knew him. He could have been a lieutenant. He didn’t take the test. He was happy with his rank. He didn’t need the money from the raise he would have gotten. He kept joking that one lieutenant in the family was enough. His one and only fault had been trusting love. He told me his father—well, I guess I should say your father… he told me he got close to two women during his life. Zach loved them both. They both left him. Well, they left your father, but he never saw them again. It hurt. He w
as always afraid to get close to anyone. Even me. He felt if he loved again that he would get hurt. Even by me. After we were going out about six months, I wanted to tell everyone. He thought it would jinx our relationship, so we kept it quiet.”

  “Yet he asked you to marry him.” Jake got up to pace. “And you didn’t say yes.”

  “No. I didn’t.”

  Jake sat next to her, taking her hand. “But he knew that. He knew you would say yes after you worked it all through.”

  She nodded. “Yes, he did.”

  “Would you still have said yes if you knew about me and Katie?”

  “Of course I would have.”

  “Then stop beating yourself up about not telling him before he died. He knows. That’s all that’s important.”

  “Yeah, I know. But it still hurts to know he died without knowing for sure.”

  “He did know for sure. He wrote it down.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it. It’s just something I’m going to have to live with.”

  “And Katie?”

  “Once we find her I’ll tell her everything there is to know about Zach. She will not hate him. I’ll make sure of it.” She took a sip of her beer. “And she’ll have an uncle.”

  “Yes. She will have an uncle.” He picked up the book. “Let’s find my niece.”

  Dani sat back and rested her head on his shoulder. “Jake?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thanks.”

  He patted her leg. “You’re very welcome.”

  They both took another sip of beer before turning back to the book.

  As they scanned the book, Jake asked. “Why didn’t Zach need the money? A detective in the police department doesn’t make millions.”

  “No, but a father that gambles sometimes gets lucky.”

  Jake gave her a sideways look. “How lucky?”

  Dani went into Zach’s half of the apartment. When she came back, she handed Jake a bank statement. “I guess this is yours now.”

  Jake looked at the paper. “Zach was a millionaire?”

  “Did he tell you that your father died from a heart attack?”