Part 12 (1/2)

aYouare probably right. But you know what? I donat give a d.a.m.n if you trust me or not. The only thing I care about is keeping you, Roman and Anna safe.a Gabe nodded. aI think that should top all our lists, especially Anna. Knowing her, sheas worried about all of us and not herself.a aLikely.a aThen we need to make sure that we all keep watch over her. We have the skills to keep her safe.a aIall talk to Roman about it.a aOkay.a aIn the meantime, I guess I donat have to tell you to watch your back.a aWe said the same thing to Jeff last night. Didnat help him much, did it?a Dante frowned. He was beginning to wonder if any of them were safe. And who the killeras ultimate target really was.

Anna dreaded her next stop, but she knew it had to be done. She didnat bother to knock. Plus, she still had a key in case the door was locked.

She turned the k.n.o.b and rolled her eyes. Of course it wasnat locked. Her father still thought that just because he had a house full of weaponry, he was invincible.

aDad? You here?a aOut back.a The slider was open to just the screen. She looked around the living room. Needed a good dusting, but he was keeping the clutter under control. Then again, Frank Pallino had always liked order in his environment, whether at work or at home. Minimal knickknacks and still the same furniture that had been here when Mom had been alive, which was why Annaas tension level settled to a reasonably calm state whenever she came home.

As she walked through the kitchen, she smiled at the gold-and-white curtains over the kitchen sink, and the brick-yellow Formica tabletop with its s.h.i.+ny metal legs that had stood the test of time and who knows how many years. It even still had the matching chairs she remembered sitting at for years. That thing had to be an antique.

Her dad was out back with Rusty, his golden retriever. Anna had gotten Rusty from a shelter a few years ago after Dad had retired from the force, figuring head needed a playmate, someone to keep him active. Theyad always had dogs when she was growing up. After the family dog, King, died when Anna was around twenty, Dad hadnat gotten another. Head insisted he did just fine without having to deal with an animal underfoot all the time. Anna moved out when she joined the force and she knew her father was lonely.

Plus, head put on some weight around his middle, no doubt from spending too many days watching TV and drinking beer. No amount of nagging on her and on her fatheras physical therapistas part had gotten him out of that d.a.m.n chair.

She knew head been depressed. His life had been as a cop, and he hadnat known what to do with it after he couldnat be a cop anymore. Having to retire at fifty years old sucked. Her dad still had a lot of life in him, a lot of energy.

And then shead gotten Rusty, only a year old and one rambunctious dog.

Oh, man, had her dad been p.i.s.sed at her, had yelled at her and told her to take the d.a.m.n dog away. But shead refused. Shead moved into the house with her dad and the dog and told her father that the shelter had a strict no-return policy, and furthermore, she was going to give up her job and become his physical therapist if he didnat start cooperating.

That had gotten his attention. And the dog wriggled his way into her dadas heart fairly quickly. How could he not? Rusty was affectionate and sweet and learned fast once he found a family to love him.

Since her father wasnat going to allow her to quit her job on the force, he reluctantly straightened up his act, started back on his therapy and welcomed Rusty into his house. Though Anna was certain he secretly fell madly in love with the dog at first sight. Theyad been inseparable ever since and she credited Rusty with her fatheras amazing recovery.

Now he took Rusty to the senior center a couple times a week. The older folks loved Rusty. And together Dad and Rusty did safety talks at the local schools.

Her dad had found things to do to stay busy. He felt useful now, and she was so grateful for that.

She stood at the door and watched Rusty go after the ball her father tossed. Rusty bounded back, ball in his mouth, making a game of keep away, but his dad grabbed the ball, dog spit and all, and tossed it again.

She laughed and stepped outside. aHe can do that all day long, canat he?a Her dad turned to her. aAs long as Iam willing to throw it.a aI see youare bending pretty good.a aYeah, the water therapy is helping.a He came inside and Rusty followed, eager to see Anna, as always. She bent and petted the dog, who then bounded off to his water bowl while she and her dad sat at the kitchen table.

aWhatas going on?a he asked, his keen eyes boring into her.

aHow do you know somethingas wrong?a aBecause I know you. There are worry lines across your forehead, plus you look like you havenat slept in a week.a aGood thing I donat come to you seeking compliments about how great I look.a He laughed and cupped her cheek with the palm of his hand. aYou have boyfriends for that.a aSure, Dad.a aSo whatas going on? Problem case?a She hesitated, knowing this was going to be tough. aThereas a lot I have to talk to you about.a He leaned back in the chair. aStart at the beginning. Iall listen.a aDanteas back in town.a He frowned. aSince when?a aA few days ago. George Clemons was beaten to death in the alley the other night. It was the same spot where I was attacked. A heart was carved on his chest. Here.a She placed her fingers where her scar was.

Her dad pushed his chair back. aJesus.a aIt gets worse. While we were following up on that murder, Jeff Barrone was beaten to death last night. Same alley. Heart carved on his chest.a Her dadas eyes filled with tears. He stood. aOh, s.h.i.+t, baby. Come here.a She could be the strong, invulnerable detective all she wanted with everyone else, but that never held water with her dad. To him, she would always be his baby girl, and she knew it had destroyed him that night shead called him from the ice-cream shop. Head rushed over there and shead known from the moment he got there that he was more devastated by what had happened than she had been.

Since her mom had died when she was six years old, she knew head felt as if it had been his duty to protect her, and he had failed that night. Not to her. There was no way he could be with her all the time, and no one could have foreseen what could happen. But she had seen the guilt on his face, and shead have done anything to wipe that away.

He patted her back and stroked her hair, and somehow, she did feel better.

He stepped away and they sat again, but he held tight to her hand. She looked down where their fingers were joined.

Her lifeline. What would she do without him?

aIave been busy the past few days. Had some school functions with Rusty and some doctor appointments and therapy sessions. Havenat even caught up on the news or read my paper. I didnat know. Why didnat you tell me?a aIave been kind of busy myself, but knew youad want to hear it from me.a aAre you all right?a He swept his knuckles across her cheek, the concern on his face so deep it made her heart ache.

aYes.a aNo one knows about the connection?a aOf course not.a aMaybe you should tell them.a She c.o.c.ked her head to the side. aNot gonna happen, and you know why.a He sighed. aYou shouldnat have protected Dante that night.a aAnd weave been over this a hundred times. Let it go, Dad.a He shrugged. aFine. So itas obvious someone else was there that night. Someone saw the whole thing and identified all of you, and now heas playing this sick game of cat and mouse and murder.a She nodded. She wasnat going to tell him about the note and flowers. Knowing her dad, head camp out at her house with his gun, putting himself at risk.

aGot any thoughts on who it might be?a aI have no idea. Someone who was with Maclin, or maybe somebody he was meeting. Maybe it was even a person walking through the alley that wasnat connected to him at all. Though they wouldnat have known who we were.a aEasy enough to find out if you try hard enough.a aI suppose.a Shead pondered all the angles until her head throbbed.

aWhy wait twelve years, though? Why file it away all this time?a aThatas whatas bugging me, too. The only thing I can come up with is Dante. Gabe was gone for a while, and he came back. Now Danteas back, which means weare all here now.a His father nodded and dragged his fingers through his hair. aThatas the only G.o.dd.a.m.n thing that makes sense. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, this is a mess. And you canat tell anyone at the precinct about it.a aI know.a He lifted his gaze to hers. aThough you can if you need to.a aNo, Dad. I canat and I wonat. Too many people could be hurt if I did. The guysayou. Iall never tell what happened twelve years ago.a He shook his head. aWe should have never played it that way. I shouldnat have let you talk me into keeping that secret.a aWe had to protect them. They saved my life.a aAnd now someoneas trying to take theirs. We have to figure out why.a aNo. I have to figure out why.a He took her hand. aYouare not in this alone, girlie. I might be retired but my cop brain isnat. Go back to the beginning.a aThe Maclin case?a aYeah.a aDad, Iave been over the case time and time again. Mainly because I wanted to know what had been done as far as investigating it. Theyad developed no leads and after a while it went cold. And we know why.a aSo reopen it. Do some investigation into similar crimes, and lo and behold the Maclin case is gonna come up. He was beaten to death in the same alley, so youall have a legit reason for being in his file.a She pondered his line of reasoning. aI was also working in one of the buildings then, so I was interviewed as a potential witness for his case.a Her dad crossed his arms. aConvenient, huh? Thatas why youall suddenly remember Maclinas case from twelve years ago.a She laid her head in her hands. aLying sucks.a aYes, it does. But use it to your advantage now and bring in the Maclin kidas file into your current investigation.a She sighed. aI guess so. But there were no witnesses. I remember that much. And I lied and said I closed up shop and was out of there before he died.a aIt never hurts to look again, see if thereas anything you missed.a aOkay. I need to get back to work.a He stood and hugged her again, then held her out at armas length. aYou get to the point you need to spill your guts about that night, you do it. You donat worry about me or the guys, you just do it, okay?a aIam not going to tell anyone about that night. Youad lose everything. Theyad be arrested.a aThey were juveniles then, honey. That was a long time ago and I doubt anything would stick now. They were defending you. And now theyare being targeted by a murderer. As for mea You donat worry about me.a She kissed his cheek. aYouare my father. I love you. Iam always going to worry about you.a

Fourteen.

aWhatas all this stuff?a Dante asked.

Anna looked up at him. Head just taken a shower, his hair still damp as he pulled up a seat at her kitchen table.

He smelled like soapa”something with a fresh pine smell. Whatever it was, it slid into her senses and made her want to lean over and shove her nose in his neck. Between his scent and the sleeveless s.h.i.+rt that showed off all his tanned muscle, it brought back last night, before shead gotten the call about Jeff.

Theyad started something hot together and hadnat finished it.

Probably for the best anyway.

Yeah, right. She needed to keep reminding herself of that, because her libido was pinging so loud she was surprised Dante couldnat hear it.

He swept some of her loose hairs behind one ear, then gave her a dark, dangerous look. The kind of look that made her swallow, hard. She couldnat help but stare at him. His face had the kind of physical beauty that made her just want to sit and stare at him, just like it had been with those women on the street. It had been like that when they were younger, too. Girls were jealous shead landed him as a boyfriend. Shead been d.a.m.n smug about it. She knew how lucky she had been to have Dante. Tall, dark and handsome fit him to a tee thena”even more so now, only one could add dangerous and devastating to the mix.

And a mysterious element that seemed to cling to him no matter how much he told her of his past.

aYou keep staring at me like that and Iam going to get you naked and spread you on top of all these files on the kitchen table.a Now, there was a fantasy she could spend hours imagining.

Forcing herself to blink, she said, aYou donat want to do that.a His lips curled. aYeah, I do.a aI have work.a He seemed to ponder whether he was going to let her do her work, or pick her up and toss her on the kitchen table. If he chose the latter, she wasnat certain shead have the will to put up much of an objection.

aOkay, tell me what all these files are.a Admittedly, she regretted his choice, but she turned to the folders. aTheyare the files from the Tony Maclin case.a He arched a brow. aHow did you get those?a aRemember I told you they interviewed me on his murder case because I worked at one of the businesses that fronted the alley that night?a aYeah.a aI pulled his file and brought it into this case, claiming his murder was exactly the same type, in the same location.a aDo you think itas a good idea to bring that connection into play?a aIf I didnat, someone else would. And then Iad be asked why I didnat bring it up since I had been questioned about his murder.a aYou could always say you were sixteen at the time and you forgot.a She shot him a look. aThatas right. I forgot the time I was questioned about a murder. Come on, Dante. Iam a detective. Itas my job to make that connection. Especially having been a part of the file.a He sighed. aI guess youare right. I donat like it, though. It drags the past into the now.a She shrugged. aUnavoidable. Itas already here.a He laid his arm over her chair, the heat from his body making her all too aware of him.

aThat must have been hard on you, having to answer questions, pretending you had no idea what had happened that night.a She shrugged. aI got through it.a aIam sorrya”againa”for you having to do it alone.a aI wasnat alone. My dad helped me through it.a aIam glad he was there for you.a Because I wasnat were the words he hadnat said. But theyad already been said before. No reason to keep repeating them.

She went back to trying to focus.

aAnything in particular youare looking for?a aNot really. I talked to my dad today. He said to pull the files and look again.a Dante leaned back in the chair. aWhat else did your dad have to say?a She lifted her gaze to Danteas. aAbout the murders, or about you coming back?a aBoth, I guess.a aHe was surprised to find out you were here, agreed the timing of the murders might have something to do with your return. The killer might have wanted us all here at the same time, and thatas why he waited for you to come back.a Dante nodded.

aHe also thinks maybe I missed something the first time I looked at Tony Maclinas file, so I should look again.a aI canat imagine you overlooking anything.a She shrugged. aItas possible. I wasnat investigating a case the first time I took a look at it. Or the second, or the third. I kept going back to it, but itas not like I went over it with a fine-tooth comb. It was more of a cursory overview. Morbid curiosity, you know?a And shead never really given Maclinas file the detailed look she needed to give it, because every time she opened it up it reminded her of that night.

aYeah.a He s.h.i.+fted his focus to the file folders spread out on the table. aOkay, so what should we be on the lookout for?a aI donat know. Anything that might give us a clue or help us with the current case. Something the original investigators might have missed. Interviews, photos, evidence, something I might have missed when I looked at it.a He pulled a folder and opened it up. aLetas start digging.a They both went silent and perused the files. She opened the envelope containing the crime scene photographs and wrinkled her nose.

Looking at Maclinas b.l.o.o.d.y, beaten body again conjured up memories shead tried so hard to eradicate. It was like being back there again. She could still smell the humid night, the blood, could still feel his hands on her, touching her, ripping at her clothes.

Try as she might, she couldnat suppress the shudder.

Dante glanced over. aHard to look at?a aNot really.a aLiar.a She shot him a glare. aHard for you to look at?a aNo. He deserved what happened to him. I donat feel remorse. But I wasnat a victim that night. You were. Itas easy for me to look back at that night and feel nothing but hatred for him, and sadness for what you had to go through.a She studied him, his relaxed posture, the lack of tension on his face and in his body. He wasnat lying. Then again, in his line of work he was probably good at masking his true feelings. aHe wasnat the last person you killed.a He didnat flinch. aNo. And youave seen a lot of dead bodies since Tony Maclin,a he reminded her. aYes.a aSo just look at those photos like any other crime scene. Let it go, Anna.a He was right. She had to take the emotion out of ita”had to take herself out of it and look on Tony Maclin as just another victim.

Even though shead been his victim, even though head tried to rape her, would have likely killed her. She stared down at the photos of his body and felt the familiar stirrings of tension swirling around her.

She closed the file. Just as she had every other time shead gone through it, looking at it without really seeing what was in there because it reminded her too much of that night.