The Stranger Next Door

by Chastity Bush

  Despite his fear, Jack had to admit the absence of the overly handsome officer who’d seemed more than a little interested in Tess tickled him pink. The last thing he needed on his mind was another man throwing himself at Tess when they found her.

  “So,” the captain began, setting his hat down on the table next to him, “you think something’s happened to Tess? Would you care to explain why?”

  Frowning, Jack took a seat next to Robbie and pulled out the file they had shown Tess the day before then, as quickly as possible, explained his fears and the reasons for them.

  Captain Lewis frowned at the evidence for a long moment then pulled out his cell phone.

  “You need to get over here now. To three-sixty-five Long Acre Drive.” Without waiting for a response, he snapped the phone shut, then turned to the young officer and said, “Put out an APB, missing person, and whatever else you can think of on Tess McCoy. I want her found as soon as possible.”

  “You think she’s in danger?” Officer Flynn asked.

  “You bet your ass I do. Now move.”

  Jack watched with disbelief as Flynn rushed out the front door before looking back to the captain.

  “You boys don’t know what you’ve gotten yourselves into,” Captain Lewis said.

  Jack shook his head. “What about Tess? Aren’t you worried about her?”

  “Damn straight I am,” Captain Lewis replied with force. “You’re poking around in something that should’ve never been dredged back up. Tess has been through so much these last couple of months, then you drop something like this on her? And now she’s missing!”

  “Captain,” Patrice’s calm voice interrupted, “why do you think Tess is in trouble?”

  “That’s a good question,” Robbie said calmly. “What aren’t you telling us?”

  Before the captain had a chance to answer, Officer Flynn re-entered the house, accompanied by another man Jack recognized immediately.

  Standing, the captain hurried over to the man and shook his hand before leading him back to the table.

  “What the hell’s going on here?” Jack asked with incredulity as Roman Camillo gazed at him through hard, sea green eyes.

  “How’d you get here so fast?” the captain asked Roman.

  “I was on my way to talk to Tess when you called. I was just at the corner.”

  Patrice rounded the table to be enveloped in the man’s arms. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “It’s good to see you too, Patty-girl.”

  Nodding, Patrice stepped away.

  “I hate to break up the family reunion, but I need to know what the hell is going on and where the hell Tess is. Am I the only one thinking about Tess here?” Jack bellowed.

  “Tess is still missing?” Roman asked, his voice filled with concern.

  “Why the hell do you think we’re all here?” Jack snapped. “Why do you think Patty came by your house asking if you’d seen Tess? Apparently something happened to her after she left your house … or before.”

  He knew he was acting like an irrational jackass, but he didn’t care. Tess was out there somewhere, and these two men obviously knew something that would lead him to her.

  “Just take a seat and we’ll explain,” Captain Lewis said calmly.

  Jack remained standing for a long moment. The urge to burst out of his house in a dead run screaming Tess’s name surged through him. He needed to see her, to feel her skin against his, to know she was safe within the circle of his arms.

  “Jack.” Robbie’s voice reached his ears. “Let’s listen to what he has to say. They might know where to start looking for Tess.”

  Glancing in his direction, Jack relented and retook his seat.

  “All right, explain,” Jack demanded.

  “Long story short. A little over thirty years ago, Roman here decided he wanted out of the mob. He realized what he was doing was beyond wrong, and that the mob life just wasn’t for him. So, he worked with me and another officer to do just that. I believe you know that officer.” Captain Lewis pointed to Robbie.

  Robbie looked surprised. “My father?”

  “That’s right. For a long time he tried to bring Roman down. During that time he was Sylvester. But when Roman gave us the option of bringing down the entire ring instead of just him in exchange for a new life and identity for his newly growing family, we jumped on the opportunity. And it worked. When Roman went into protective custody, your father couldn’t say anything to anyone about Roman or his whereabouts. It would have put Roman and his family at risk. Although he shouldn’t have been discussing the case around you at all,” he said, looking at Robbie, “that’s why he never told you what really happened to Roman.”

  Robbie nodded. “I understand.”

  Jack leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. “You’re telling me that Roman, with help from you and Robbie’s father, faked his own death? That’s how he got out of the mob and why he’s the man in both pictures?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

  “Did Tess know any of this?”

  Jack frowned at Robbie’s question. He knew without a doubt she didn’t.

  “No,” Roman said. “After I learned of my old boss’s death, we moved back here. I thought that time of my life was over. If anyone was left, they would still think I was dead.” His eyes lowered. He twirled his thumbs together and sadness covered his expression as he continued. “My son learned of my past life, and I'm afraid that’s what killed him and his wife. He got mixed up in that lifestyle. Now that Tess explained to me about the attempted kidnapping, and seeing as how you think she’s missing, I think someone’s after her for some information they think Dean might have shared with her. I should have done more to keep him out of that life.” He shook his head wearily.

  Captain Lewis cleared his throat and, looking a bit uncomfortable said, “Actually, Dean wasn’t really involved in that lifestyle. Not in the way you think he was.”

  “What are you talking about?” Jack asked with confusion. “Either he was involved or he wasn’t.”

  “I’d like to know what you're talking about,” Roman agreed heatedly.

  Captain Lewis grumbled with frustration. “About two years ago, Dean came to me, asking for a shot at detective. I knew he was ready, but Tess wasn’t, so he worked on cases in his spare time. Last year, when we needed someone to go undercover, he was the first to jump at the opportunity. I didn’t want to, but he begged me to put him on a certain case.”

  “And which case would that be?” Robbie asked from across the table.

  “We’d recently uncovered some illegal activity that lead us to believe it was mob related. Dean jumped on the chance, and against my better judgment, I let him go undercover. I knew there was a chance someone might recognize him as Roman’s son because they look so much alike, but he was adamant.” He shook his head.

  “I knew something wasn’t right. I knew he was involved, but he never corrected my assumptions, never told me he was undercover. Even his marriage to Melanie led me to believe he was in over his head,” Roman said quietly.

  “He couldn’t,” Patrice said calmly as she nodded with understanding. “He was undercover. He couldn’t tell anyone, not even you or Tess. There was too much risk of someone overhearing and blowing his cover.”

  The all nodded in unison.

  “But wouldn’t this type of undercover work be assigned to someone of higher ranking? FBI maybe?” Robbie asked.

  “Usually,” the captain replied. “But since we didn’t have any solid evidence against one particular person, only suspicions, we were told to proceed as we saw fit. It happens sometimes.” He shrugged.

  “Wait a minute,” Jack said. “What do you mean his marriage to Melanie made you think he was in over his head?”

  Roman scowled. “Melanie was the daughter of my old boss, Ritchie Bottenelli. She faked a pregnancy to get Dean to marry her. There was an ulterior motive there, either concocted by Melanie herself, or
her father, whom I'm assuming faked his own death, to get to me for something.”

  “No, he’s really dead,” the captain spoke up. “I saw him buried with my own eyes.”

  “Then who’s been stalking me? Who killed my son and his wife and tried to kidnap Tess?” Roman rumbled with irritation. “This has Ritchie written all over it. Not to mention, he’s the only one who was ever called ‘the old man’. He always looked older than he actually was,” he said, answering Patrice’s questioning look.

  “I don’t know, Roman. I just don’t know.” Captain Lewis shook his head.

  Jack let the information flying around sink in for a long moment.

  He had many questions, but his main concern at the moment was where Tess could be.

  “Tess came to see you, didn’t she?” he asked Roman.

  “Yes, and when she confronted me about the pictures you showed her, I explained everything. She was a little shaken when she left and refused the guard I begged her to take.”

  “When did she leave your house?” Jack asked brusquely.

  “Just after sunset last night.”

  He was more certain than ever Tess was in danger. Fear pricked across his skin like a million tiny insects biting him all at once.

  Placing his head in his hands, Jack struggled to control the pain and anguish churning within him like a hurricane. If he fell to pieces now, he would be of no use to Tess, wherever she was.

  The crackle of a walkie-talkie rippled through the air, interrupting Jack’s line of pessimistic thinking.

  “Dispatch to Officer Flynn. Come in, Flynn. Over.”

  Grasping the receiver clipped to his shoulder, Flynn tilted his head to speak into the device. “Flynn here, over.”

  “We have a location on the red BMW registered to Tess McCoy.”

  “Great. Where is it?”

  The line crackled for a long moment before the female voice sounded again. “On its hood in a ditch on Pine Lane Drive. Looks like whoever was driving missed the curve and crashed. Luckily the people who found it were walking. If they’d been driving, they never would’ve seen it. It was secluded in the deep culvert.”

  Jack’s heart sank so low he swore he could feel its rapid beating in his stomach. Bile rose to the back of his throat as he listened to the intense conversation.

  “Was anyone in the car?”

  “Negative. The car was empty. I took the liberty of contacting the local hospitals, and none have a patient by the name of Tess McCoy nor has anyone matching her description been admitted within the last forty-eight hours. Sorry, Marty.”

  “Thanks.” Officer Flynn frowned.

  Jack stood up and began to pace. “If she isn’t in the car or any of the hospitals, then where the hell is she?”

  All eyes turned to Roman.

  “I can think of only one person who could possibly have her.”

  “Who?” Jack asked from between clenched teeth.

  “Whoever’s pretending to be Ritchie. Someone’s been threatening me for the last three months. They’re claiming to be him, but I think it could be someone closely related to him out for revenge. After all, I did put him in prison for the rest of his life.”

  “Where would they take her?”

  Roman stood and moved toward the door at a quick clip. “There’s only one place I can think of. If this person is set on doing things the old way, which I'm certain they are. It’s deep in the woods and is backed by a large lake that makes escape, or entrance, from the rear of the building nearly impossible.”

  Standing, Jack hustled behind Roman, as Robbie, Patrice, and the captain followed suit.

  “How can you be sure?” Robbie asked, grabbing his keys and handing Patrice her purse.

  “Because that’s where we took people who had information we needed. We’d, um, question them, then…”

  Jack didn’t need for him to finish the sentence to know what they did after the questioning was over. Tess was about to be tortured and killed over something she knew nothing about. He couldn’t let it happen. After denying what he knew he felt for Tess, he now realized he loved her. She was his life now, and he would do anything to get her back.

  Jack slid into the seat beside Robbie, while Patrice and Roman slid into the captain’s police car.

  Hitting the gas, they followed the captain down the street.

  “We’ll find her,” Robbie said quietly as he steered the speeding car down the winding road.

  Jack didn’t answer. His mind was nothing more than a jumbled mass of confusion. How could he have let this happen? He shouldn’t have let her leave alone. Now he was about to lose the only woman he’d ever loved.

  Closing his eyes, he prayed they would make it in time.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Something warm and sticky dripped onto Tess’s upper thighs.

  Cracking her eyes open, she ignored the pounding in her head as she fought to focus her eyes.

  Forcing her eyes fully open, she recognized the red substance coating her thighs as blood. Her blood.

  When Boob Number One, as she’d dubbed Sal, punched her in the face, he must have knocked her out. And, worse, he’d broken her nose in the process as the pounding in that area was almost more than she could tolerate.

  “Come on, Sleeping Beauty, rise and shine.”

  The sting of the ice water as it splashed over her head and shoulders forced a squeal of shock from her parched throat. She looked up and into the eyes of someone she’d never expected to see.

  “Danny?” she gasped in surprise as her long-time friend Officer Danny Holdings peered down at her. Joy surged through her at the realization she’d been found. How lucky was she that her friend had come to her rescue?

  Danny reached forward and tipped her face up then examined her nose and mouth.

  “You haven’t touched her other than this, have you?”

  “No, sir. Just that. You were right. She’s a mouthy little bitch,” Sal said with a shake of his head and his now injured hand.

  “Danny?” Tess murmured with confusion as the man before her nodded at the other man’s response. “Danny, what’s going on?”

  As she peered at the man she’d known for the last decade, she noted several differences, in not only his appearance but in his entire demeanor.

  His usual shaggy blond hair was slicked back against his head much like Sal the Boob wore his. His police uniform had taken a backseat to a black suit and tie and, also like Sal, a pair of hideous shoes completed the ensemble.

  It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on here. It was obvious to her that Dean wasn’t the only crooked cop on the force.

  “You’re with them. You’re the old man?” she said with astonishment.

  “How very observant of you.” Danny nodded his approval. “You always were a sharp one.”

  “This is why you were at the airport, isn’t it? You were watching me.”

  “Correct. I was keeping an eye on you, hoping you’d step away from that behemoth you’ve been screwing so I could lure you out to my car. But you never did. You two were all over each other like a pair of horny teenagers. It was quite pathetic. Then that other man joined you, and I knew I wasn’t getting out of there with you.”

  “How did you know I’d be at the airport?” she asked.

  “Followed you. My men had been watching you. Every time you left your house, someone was on your tail,” he replied easily. “How do you think we knew where to snatch you this time?”

  “Why?” she asked breathlessly. “Why are you doing this?” The pain rumbling through her took a backseat. It was nothing compared to the shock of Danny’s betrayal.

  “Oh, come on, Tess.” Danny cocked a brow. “Don’t act like you don’t know what this is all about.”

  “I have no idea what you're talking about.” She shook her head, ignoring the intense throbbing of her head.

  “You’re trying to tell me Dean never told you anything about his extra-curricular activities?”


  Tess shivered.

  “You practically lived with that family and you expect me to believe you didn’t know what they were knee-deep into?”

  Tess frowned. Not only because of the situation she currently found herself in, or the fact that one of her friends and fellow officers was working the wrong side of the law, but because she’d missed all the signs of what Dean and his family had been involved in all those years ago. What kind of cop missed something like that? It was no wonder she hadn’t made detective yet. She was a complete idiot.

  “You damn well know I don’t know anything, so why are you wasting my time?” she spat. “Besides, you're obviously living life gangster style. You should know I have nothing to do with whatever you're looking for.”

  Danny walked in a wide circle around her, tapping his forefinger against his chin. Stopping before her, he crossed his arms across his chest. “Let’s try this a different way, shall we?” he said calmly. “I bet you have a lot of questions. Like, why you're here, why I’m here, and so on. Am I correct?”

  “You bet your ass you are,” she grumbled.

  “I see.” He nodded. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll explain some things to you, and then you can explain a few things to me.”

  Tess harrumphed. “Wouldn’t that go against your rules or something? What if I told everyone what you are and what happened here tonight when this is all over?”

  Danny and the other two men laughed heartily. “Oh Tess,” he said, wiping at his eyes, “that isn’t a concern. After we’re finished with you, you’ll have a real good view of the bottom of the lake.”

  She didn’t know why she felt a shock of surprise at his admission. She’d seen situations like this before. She shouldn’t have thought it would be any different for her. Danny was going to kill her just like he’d killed Melanie. Fear trickled down her spine as she gazed into the face she’d once thought handsome. The face she’d once thought belonged to a friend.

  He was right about one thing. She had a lot of questions, and since he was going to answer them, she asked the first one that popped into her head.