The Stranger Next Door

by Chastity Bush

  An hour later, she turned into the main drive of a large estate. Stopping at the gate, she rolled down her window.

  A voice sounded from a speaker in the brick wall. “State your name.”

  “Tess McCoy.”

  “Tessy-girl, is that you?”

  Smiling, she nodded at the sound of the Camillos’ long-time guard Richard. “Sure is. Is Mr. Camillo around?”

  “Yeah, he’s in his study. I’ll buzz you in and let him know you're on your way up. He’s going to be so happy to see you.”

  “Thanks, I hope so,” she replied.

  Peering over at the picture in the passenger seat, she frowned with worry about the coming meeting. She didn’t want to hurt the old man’s feelings, but she needed to know if there was any truth to what Jack and his partner had told her.

  Stopping in front of the house, she shut off the ignition and took a deep breath. She didn’t know what to expect when she broached this situation with Roman, but she needed to know the truth, and there was only one way to get it.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “She’s been gone all day. Where could she be?”

  Pacing back and forth in front of the bay windows, Jack frowned. The sun was setting, and Tess hadn’t returned.

  He was worried. She’d been furious when she’d left. Not that he could blame her. He should’ve gone to her with his suspicions when Robbie first started his investigation of the Camillos, but he’d allowed the PI in him to cloud his judgment. Tess was a good person, and he’d hurt her terribly. Now, more than ever, he knew she didn’t know anything about what Dean and his father were likely into.

  “She’s probably out with a friend, blowing off steam. Calm down,” Robbie said from the couch, where he sat surrounded by stacks of files and papers. Jack knew Robbie felt bad for hurting Tess’s feelings, but he was like a dog with a bone. He’d gotten a whiff of a mystery, and he wouldn’t stop until he got to the bottom of it.

  “I just can’t stop thinking that something’s happened to her,” Jack admitted.

  After all this time, he’d finally found someone he truly cared about and wanted to be with, and because of his stupid suspicious nature, he’d driven her away. What now? How was he supposed to live without Tess? After the last month with her, now that he was alone in his empty house with nothing but the sound of Robbie’s incessant paper flipping, he felt lonelier than ever.

  As much as he feared to admit it, he felt something more, something stronger than simple like or desire for Tess.

  Robbie was probably right, and Tess was out with some other ladies blowing off steam.

  With one last glance at Tess’s house, he ran a hand through his hair restlessly and turned to join Robbie in the living room. He’d tried calling Tess but hadn’t gotten an answer. She was really upset. He’d give her the rest of the day to cool off and try to talk to her again in the morning. But the worry that she still wasn’t home nipped at him. He’d be worried about her until the moment he saw her car pull into the drive.

  Taking a seat across from Robbie on the free sofa, he sighed silently.

  Looking up, Robbie set the pencil down. “Listen, I'm really sorry about what happened today. I never intended for Tess to ever find out about my suspicions until we had solid evidence, but I had to let you know. Several clients have duped us in the past. You just never know what people are capable of.”

  Jack understood. They’d seen a lot in their line of business. Just because someone looked sweet and innocent didn’t mean they were. As a matter of fact, they were usually the ones to look out for.

  “It’s all right,” he said wearily. “I shouldn’t have doubted her. If I’d just gone to her with our questions, instead of deciding to snoop around on her, she wouldn’t be so angry.”

  “You really believe she didn’t know about any of this, don’t you?” Robbie asked.

  Jack nodded. “She was angrier about our mistrust than our questions. I think if we had laid it out for her, she wouldn’t have been so upset. She might’ve even helped us. It would’ve been hard for her, but she would have wanted to get to the bottom of things.”

  Robbie nodded. “As much as I hate to admit it, I think you're right.”

  Jack raised a brow. “Why the sudden change of heart? You were adamant this morning she was involved.”

  Robbie scrubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah, but the more I think about it, the more I think I missed something. Not to mention, you’ve been living with her for about a month now, and I’ve been around for a couple of weeks. She hasn’t done a single thing to cause suspicion. And I trust your judgment,” he admitted with a shrug.

  Jack smiled. “I thought you said we couldn’t count someone out just because we liked them?”

  Robbie grinned. “True, but you can’t afford to be suspicious of everyone, either.”

  Jack laughed. “You have a point.”

  They sat in silence for a short moment before Jack spoke again. “Do you think Tess is safe?”

  “What do you mean?” Robbie asked curiously.

  “Well, if your theory is correct, and Dean’s family is mixed up in the mob and they thought Tess had some kind of information they needed, why would they attack her twice and then just disappear? Tess thinks like a cop. If she’s run off to question Roman, shouldn’t we be worried for her safety?”

  Robbie frowned. “I can see three choices here. One, they got the information from someone else and no longer need Tess. Two, they’re waiting for the dust to settle from their last attempt to nab her. And three, I’m wrong, and the police are right in that the attacks on her were simply random acts of violence. After all, things like that do happen.”

  “Let’s hope it’s choice number three. The other two don’t sound too appealing.”

  Robbie mumbled his agreement and set back to work.

  Jack picked up a folder and leafed through the old statements and article clippings. Robbie had secretly gotten the old files from a connection he had in the precinct. He’d help Robbie get to the bottom of his mystery. Then in the morning, he’d figure out a way to get back into Tess’s good graces.

  * * * *

  “Tess, my girl! It’s good to see you.”

  The sound of Roman Camillo’s thick Italian accent rumbled through the air around her as he came forward and enveloped her in a tight hug. It had been a long time, since before the funeral, that she’d paid the Camillos a visit. They had been like a family to her. She couldn’t believe she was about to ask if he was a member of the mob, but after she explained what Jack had shown her, he’d understand. She’d always been able to come to Mr. Camillo when she was distressed, and this time would be no different.

  “It’s good to see you, too,” she murmured with a meek smile.

  Holding her at arm’s length, he studied her face. “Okay, I know when something’s wrong. Come sit and tell me what’s bothering you.”

  Taking her hand, Roman led her to a long leather couch situated before his large mahogany desk.

  She’d been in this warm and inviting room countless times before, but now, as she looked around at all of the expensive pieces of art, pictures of Roman and Dean with friends she’d never met, and his ever-present body guard, Vincent, standing beside the desk, the niggling feeling that something was off slithered up her spine.

  She was being ridiculous; she knew that. This man would never hurt her. It had to be the questions Jack and Robbie presented that had planted this traitorous seed of doubt in her mind.

  Lowering herself onto the sofa, she watched as Roman circled the desk and took his seat.

  He was as handsome as ever, with salt-and-pepper hair, deep blue eyes, and an impressive physique. But as she looked closer, she realized there was something more to this man. An air of foreboding surrounded him like an early morning fog. He was an impressively built, intimidating man. However, she’d never see him so much as kill a fly.

  Get over it, she chided herself. This man was like a father to her. She�
�d ask her silly questions then go home and bury her head in the sand like one of the ostriches she’d seen on television.

  “Tess?” The sound of Roman’s voice rumbled on the air around her, bringing her back from her traitorous thoughts.

  Smiling weakly, she gathered her fraying nerves and began.

  “About a month ago, someone attacked me in my garage. At the time, I thought it was just some teen just causing trouble.”

  “But it wasn’t, I assume?” Roman asked quietly, steepling his fingers in front of his lips.

  “No.” She shook her head. “But I didn’t know for certain until later that night.”

  “And what happened that night?” he asked quietly.

  Clearing her throat, she noted the silent anger bubbling in his tone, and continued, “That night, someone broke into my house and tried to kidnap me.”

  Roman stood up abruptly and began a slow, steady pace before the large bay window behind his desk.

  “Someone tried to kidnap you? Did you report this to the authorities? How did you get away and why the hell didn’t you call me? I would have sent someone over to guard you.”

  Tess shrugged. “My new neighbor had been helping restore my new house. He heard a commotion and came running to my rescue. We called the police, and when they came out to investigate, they told me about Melanie’s death.”

  He nodded slowly. “Tragic that was. She wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box, but she was, in a way, family. The police said it was a random break-in that got out of hand…” He trailed off as though he didn’t believe her murder was random

  “The cops suggested that my kidnapping had something to do with her murder, but they didn’t know how the two would be connected and couldn’t prove anything. So, they told me to go to a safe house—”

  “But you wouldn’t go,” he finished for her.

  “No,” she admitted shyly. “But my neighbor is a private investigator and offered to stay with me until the cops gave the all-clear. Since then, there hasn’t been a bit of trouble.”

  Roman stopped his slow pacing before the large window behind his desk to turn and peer at her. “These kidnappers, did they say anything to you?”

  She eyed him suspiciously from beneath her lashes. “Yes.”

  “What?” he asked gruffly.

  Tilting her head to the side, she narrowed her eyes, and replied, “They said they needed to get me to the old man alive and soon.”

  Without a word, he nodded and turned back to the window.

  Suspicion slithered its way up her spine and, with a sharp prick of its fangs, settled in her mind. Roman knew something.

  “There’s more,” she said calmly. Reaching into her pocket, she removed the pictures she’d snatched from the table before leaving. She unfolded them gently. They now felt as though she carried a live, burning flame in her palm.

  When Roman turned from the window to face her, he stilled at the sight of the scrap of paper dangling from her fingers.

  Leaning forward, she slid the picture across the surface of the desk and watched closely as he gazed at the picture.

  “What does this picture of Dean’s funeral have to do with me?”

  “Nothing,” she answered as she quietly unfolded the second picture and placed it next to the first.

  “What’s this?”

  Stepping forward, he slid back into his seat behind the desk.

  Tess frowned. “Remember me saying that my new neighbor is a private investigator?”

  “The neighbor, whom I’m assuming is more to you than just a neighbor?” he asked with an arched brow.

  “Yes,” she admitted with a slight blush before becoming serious once again. “He had his buddy look into your family. After Melanie’s death, and the attempted attacks on me, they both thought there might be a connection.”

  Quietly, she slid the second picture across the desk.

  “This is what I have questions about.”

  Roman stared at the pictures side by side for a long moment before sighing wearily. For the first time, she could see his true age in his face.

  “I never wanted you to find out about this.”

  She gasped. “You mean what they told me is true? You’re affiliated with the mob?”

  “No,” he said suddenly. “I mean, not anymore. You see, when I was young, I got mixed up in a lot of things I wish I hadn’t. This association is one of them.”

  “What happened?” she pressed, pinching the bridge of her nose with irritation.

  “It’s a long story,” he said evasively.

  “I have time.”

  Sighing, Roman took a deep breath. “After I married, I took a look at what was going on around me in that dark world. At all the things we were doing, the drugs, the money, the … murder—” he nearly choked on the word, “—and realized I didn’t want to be a part of that world anymore. I didn’t want my kids to see the kinds of things that went on in that lifestyle. So I tried to bail. But it was too late. I was in too deep.”

  Tess listened intently as he continued.

  “I met with a local detective who’d been trying to put me away for some time. He offered me full amnesty if I turned over the head of the operation. He arrested me a handful of times for show so no one would get too suspicious. Then, while they took down the ringleader in an ambush at his estate, they faked my death to keep any suspicions off me, and gave me a new identity.”

  “Like witness protection,” she said with a nod of understanding.

  “Exactly. After it was all over, I moved my wife away from this area for a long time. I wanted her to be safe, and I wanted our children to be safe when the time came. When I learned of my old boss’s death, I thought it would be safe to come back so we did.” He shrugged. “By the time we moved back here, Dean was six. That’s when the two of you met at school. Things went well all these years, then, just before Dean’s death, I started receiving threats from some old friends. Apparently those who were left when I skipped town figured out I was really alive. They thought I’d snitched on them and their bosses, and they were out for blood.” He glanced over at Vincent and frowned. “That’s why security is tight around here. I hardly ever leave the house nowadays.”

  She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. All of her life, she’d practically been living with a member of the mob. How could she have missed this?

  There were so many questions rolling around like a pinball in her head. She didn’t know whether to be relieved, or appalled, at the revelations Roman had just shared with her.

  “Did Dean know?”

  He frowned harder as he gazed down at the old newspaper clippings still before him.

  She answered her own question. “He did, didn’t he?”

  When he nodded, she felt the blood drain from her face.

  “Melanie was my old boss’s daughter.”

  Tess sat back hard in her chair. “And Dean married her? How the hell did that happen?”

  Roman shook his head. “I don’t know exactly. I don’t know if she was sent to him to set him or me up or if their meeting was strictly a coincidence. I tried to talk him out of marrying her, but he was adamant. He thought she was pregnant, you know, and he wanted to do the responsible thing.”

  Tess shook her head with disbelief

  “He left his life insurance to you, but his other … earnings—” he stumbled over the word as he continued, “—he left to Melanie.”

  “Wait, you’re telling me he not only knew about your past activities, but he was involved with the—”

  He nodded.

  “I don’t believe you.” She shook her head.

  “I didn’t want to believe it either. I’d fought so hard to keep him away from that lifestyle, only for him to fall face-first into it.”

  When she frowned at him, he continued. “When Dean learned what I’d done for a living before buying the oil company, he was shocked. He didn’t speak to me for weeks.”

  “I remember that,” she interr
upted. “I’d never seen him so upset. He said he was angry at you for trying to push him out of law enforcement and into the oil industry, and I believed him.”

  He nodded. “He hated lying to you, but he didn’t want you to poke around and get into trouble. I don’t know how he did it, but he got himself mixed up with the wrong people and made a lot of money in the process. His cover as a cop was perfect. The spotlight never shined on him. He was a decorated officer. Who would suspect him of anything illegal?”

  She cringed. “Are you telling me that the money he left me was…?”

  “No. The money he left you was from a legitimate life insurance policy. You met with the agent yourself. There was no way it could’ve been from illegal dealings. Now, I don’t know about his other earnings. Some could have, and most likely were, from illegal activity, but I can’t say for sure since I don’t have hard proof. That could have been why these people went after Melanie first. They thought she’d have a large sum of money in the house.”

  “Because if Dean was earning money illegally, he wouldn’t take the chance of putting it in the bank and someone noticing and bringing attention to the large deposits,” Tess said quietly.

  “Exactly what I’ve been thinking.” Roman nodded.

  Her head swam with questions, but after receiving the answers to her original questions, she doubted she wanted the answers to the new ones.

  “I know this is a lot to take in,” he said gently. “Right before his death, Dean and I made a vow to never let you know any of this. He told me he had a safe way to get out. He said he even had help to ensure his safety. I believed him. He started to realize how dangerous it was, and how wrong it was, but then he was killed.”

  He might have led a secret life, one filled with illegal activity, but he’d always been a good cop. Was it possible his death hadn’t been an accident? It was too much to take in at the moment, and she feared she already knew what Roman would say if she asked. She didn’t think she could stand to hear it, so she let it drop for now. She wanted to ask Roman something else that had been troubling her.