Part 3 (1/2)

Dante went into the kitchen to get Ellen some water. Gabe followed. aYou get in touch with Jeff?a he asked Gabe.

aYeah. Heas out of town. Heas as wrecked about George as the rest of us, and as confused about where it happened. None of this makes sense, man.a Dante nodded. aTell me about it.a He brought Ellen a gla.s.s of water and box of tissues. After a while, she stopped crying and contacted a friend, who came over and collected the kids. Once they were gone, as typical for Ellen, she sat, straightened her shoulders and looked at them.

aTell me what happened.a Anna looked to Dante. She was giving him the opportunity to take the lead, to decide how much to tell her.

She deserved the truth. All of it.

Dante grasped Ellenas hand. aHe was beaten to death. Andasomeone carved a heart in his chest.a Ellen sucked in a breath and held her hand up to her heart. aWho would do this?a Dante wished he could tell her about the connection to that night twelve years ago. But he wouldnat. He couldnat. Not without betraying his brothersa”and Anna.

aWe donat know yet, Mrs. Clemons,a Anna said. aBut weall do everything we can to find out.a aThank you,a she said, then turned to Roman. aWill you work the case, too?a He nodded. aThey wonat want me to because George was my father, but Iall do everything I can to be involved.a She held out her hand and Roman grasped it.

This was family. Dante had missed it. And head come home too late to save it.

aThereas more,a Anna said. aAn ounce of cocaine was found in Georgeas pocket.a Ellenas eyes widened. aDrugs? George doesnat do drugs. Never did.a aDo you have any idea why he would have had drugs in his pocket?a Anna asked. aMaybe one of the foster kids was mixed up in drugs and he was interceding on their behalf?a Ellen shook her head. aNo. None of the boys staying with us have drug-related issues. I canat think of any reason head be involved in that. George was strict about no drugs in this house. You took drugs or brought any into this house, you were in deep trouble with him. Head personally call the police on one of the kids if he found drugs. For him to be found with drugsa”a her eyes watered aa”itas an insult to his memory.a aWeare all pretty sure it was a setup, Ellen,a Gabe said, laying his hands on her shoulders. aThe police will get it figured out.a She grabbed for a tissue. aBut in the meantime, theyall put in the record that he was found with drugs on him. And that doesnat sit well with me. George would be so hurt by that.a She shuddered out a sob, and Dante wanted to make this all go away. He wanted to back up one more day, get here sooner. He wanted to stop all this from happening.

Could he have?

Dante didnat want to leave Ellen, but she said her two younger sisters were coming over. There were funeral plans to be made, and he didnat want to get in the way. They all took their leave with the arrival of her sisters. Dante promised to come back tomorrow. She grabbed him in a fierce hug.

aDonat disappear.a He kissed her cheek. aIam not going anywhere. I promise. And if you need mea”for anythinga”you call.a She pulled back, her eyes s.h.i.+mmering with tears. aI will.a They all walked outside, and Dante looked up at the clear sky. G.o.d, it was still hot out, and he had no idea what time it was. Late.

Roman and Anna were huddled near his car, whispering. Arguing. Roman finally took off, and so did Gabe, leaving the two of them together.

Anna was about to get into her car, but Dante headed her off.

aAnna.a Her head shot up and she pinned him with a glare, but didnat say anything.

Head forgotten how beautiful her eyes were. As a teenager, shead been so pretty with her hair always in a ponytail, her face shaped like a heart, her skin dark in the Italian way, her eyes the color of the finest whiskey. And her moutha”head never truly been able to appreciate her mouth, with her full bottom lip that begged for the tugging of a manas teeth.

He hadnat been quite a man yet, hadnat had the time to fully appreciate Anna, never got to see her blossom into a woman.

She was so pretty at sixteen. Now? She could stop traffic.

It had been a rough night. The kind of night when a man thought about grabbing what he wanted before it was too late.

Head denied himself what he wanted for a long d.a.m.n time. Things like home. Family.

Anna.

His jeans tightened as she stared at him and he stared back, but he didnat think she was l.u.s.ting after him the way he l.u.s.ted after her, since she was probably thinking he was guilty of some kind of crime. Or maybe she thought he was guilty of a lot of sins that had nothing to do with the murder tonight.

He probably was.

aYou need something?a she asked.

Loaded question. aNot really.a aThen I need to go. Iam busy.a She was brus.h.i.+ng him off.

He wasnat going to let her.

aAnna.a aWhat?a aI havenat seen you in twelve years. Have a cup of coffee with me.a

Three.

Annaas stomach clenched. Just being in the same vicinity as Dante Renaldi again made her dizzy. His presence brought up memories shead shoved so far into the past she hadnat thought about them in years.

Or tried not to think about them. Tried like h.e.l.l not to think about them. Until tonight.

Coming upon that murder scene in the alley tonight and seeing Dante had stolen every breath in her lungs, had made her legs go weak. Her first instinct had been to turn around and walk awaya”no, run away. Shead almost called another detective in to take the scene, but she refused. This was her job. Theread be no excuse for walking. Plus, Dante, Roman and Gabe had been there and shead needed to know why.

She didnat like it. It had all been too much like twelve years ago, the night humid and smelling like recent rain, the asphalt streets slick and mirrorlike as shead driven onto the scene. Shead seen plenty of dead bodies and people standing over dead bodies since shead been on the force, had worked plenty of crime scenes with Roman. It wasnat until shead spotted Dante and Gabe that the shock of awareness had hit her. The familiarity had cloaked her in heavy memories she still hadnat been able to break free from, clouding her thoughts and jumbling her normally stellar police process. She was organized and relentless in pursuit of a case. Was this fate getting back at her for her part in what happened twelve years ago?

Fate was awfully f.u.c.ked up sometimes.

aWell?a She lifted her head, found Dante staring at her.

Losing herself in thought wasnat like her, either.

aWell, what? I said I was busy.a aI asked you to have a cup of coffee with me.a aIam on duty, Dante.a aLater.a aI wonat be finished for a while.a aIall meet you in the morning.a She sighed, feeling suddenly tired. aWhy?a aBecause I want to talk to you.a aWhy?a She knew it was juvenile to repeat the question. She was stalling.

aHave coffee with me in the morning and Iall tell you why.a And so, apparently, was he. She should say no, walk away. Maybe then head go and leave her alone, leave the memories alone.

But for some reason, she couldnat let it alone. Curiosity, maybe. And maybe he had some information on Georgeas death. A cup of coffee and some conversation could yield some info.

aFine. Meet me at Uncle Billas Pancake House at seven-thirty.a aSee you then.a She didnat exhale until he walked away from her and got into his car.

She climbed into hers and drove to the precinct, her body on autopilot while her mind tried to process everything that had happened tonight.

A body in the alley, killed just like the guys had killed Tony Maclin. Beaten to death. And not just any body, but George Clemons, the boysa foster father.

A connection.

Then the heart carving, just like hers.

Shoving the thoughts aside, she drove into the parking lot of the Metro police station, turned the engine off and sat there, needing a minute or two to collect her thoughts and just breathe.

What did it all mean? And why did it happen just as Dante came to town?

Was he the connection?

The station was always quiet at night, she thought as she walked in. She could use a little quiet right now, some time to think about the events of the night. She sat down at her desk and picked up the now-cold coffee, grimacing at the bitterness. She dumped it in the trash and went to the machine for a soda, then stared out the window at the few cars that pa.s.sed by this time of night, wondering where they were going and what they were doing. Going to work, getting off work, leaving the bars?

Where was Dante right now?

Not that it mattered.