Deep in Death: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (18 page)

“All right,” Jackie said, composing herself. She glanced at Nick. “Why don’t you talk to Julia or Jon and get a list of their guests?”

“I’ll take care of it,” Kate said. “And I’ll get a list of the guests from our company as well.” She glanced at Jackie and her composure faltered. “Jackie I swear I’ll find out who did this and make them pay. I promise.”

Jackie nodded, but her face crumpled and she began to cry. At that, Kate burst into tears. “This is all my fault! I’m so sorry Jackie!” Kate threw her arms around Jackie and sobbed. Jackie patted her on the back and they both cried together. Feeling their grief and hearing their sad thoughts opened a hole in my heart, and tears streamed down my face too.

Watching us, Nick’s eyes filled with tears. Mortified, he stood and hurried toward the door. “I need to make some phone calls. I’ll be back.” He quickly exited the room, thinking about calling to update his dad, and grateful to get away from our tears.

Jackie pulled away from Kate and grabbed some tissues off the night stand. After blowing her nose and wiping her eyes, she turned toward us. “We need to stop this. I can’t believe my Joe is dead. He wouldn’t have let this happen, and neither would Ramos. Until we find their bodies, I refuse to grieve. Now…let’s get to work. Besides the Passinis, who the hell would dare kill my husband?”

Her outburst put a stop to my tears, and Kate and I both grabbed a few tissues. Jackie picked up her mini-bottle and took a big swallow

Kate had already finished hers, and rummaged in the fridge for another, but decided against it since she had work to do. I glanced inside the fridge and found a Diet Coke. Yes! I promptly grabbed it and popped it open.

After finishing off her bottle in one long guzzle, Jackie sat down in the armchair and let her head fall back. Her initial enthusiasm had dried up, and she couldn’t stop the tears from leaking out of her eyes. Seeing this, Kate pursed her lips and moved to the door.

“I’m going to get those lists together,” Kate said. “I’ll call and we can meet up later.”

“Good idea,” Jackie answered. “If you don’t mind,” she said. “I’d like to be alone for a while.”

“Sure,” I agreed. “I need to call home anyway.”

I followed Kate out of Jackie’s room and shut the door. In the hallway, she paused, her lips turned down in a frown. “Tell me the truth. Did you hear the detective think they were dead?”

“He thought so…but only because most everyone had been accounted for.”

She nodded and turned to leave. Before she got to the elevator, she stopped and glanced over her shoulder. “You’ll let me know if they find anything, okay?”

“Sure,” I agreed and watched her get on the elevator. With a huge sigh of my own I opened my door and hurried inside. I kicked off my shoes and headed straight to the bedroom where I flopped down on the bed. The emotional turmoil I’d gone through left me exhausted. I debated about calling Chris and filling him in, but I just wasn’t ready to do that. Saying they were probably dead out loud made it too real, and I just didn’t want to face it. Instead, I snuggled up with my pillows and fell asleep.

Loud knocking on my door woke me. I checked the time, realizing I’d been asleep for two hours. I hurried to the door and cracked it open. Nick stood on the other side, so I pulled it open and let him in. “Did you find out anything?” I asked.

“Not yet. Do you want to get something to eat?” he asked.

Since it was nearly four in the afternoon, and I’d been up since five-thirty that morning with nothing to eat all day, I realized I was starving. “Sure. Let me get my purse.”

As we stepped out into the hall I hesitated. “What about Jackie?”

Nick shook his head. “I already talked with her. She’ll have something brought up if she gets hungry, but right now, she just wants to rest.”

I could hardly blame her for that. We took the elevator to the lobby and ended up in the hotel dining room for dinner. I got a burger and fries, but after the first few bites, I couldn’t eat anymore. With Uncle Joey and Ramos’ deaths looming over me, I just didn’t have an appetite. When Nick’s plate was empty, I met his gaze. “After all this, do you still think they might have made it out?”

Nick narrowed his eyes, worried that I might start crying again if he told me the truth. “Yeah, sure,” he lied. “Ramos is a very resourceful person. If anyone could make it out, it’s him.”

I liked what he said, but knew he didn’t believe it. Tired of the whole thing, I suddenly wanted to find out what had happened, good or bad. “Maybe we should go back to the docks and see if they’ve made any progress.”

“All right,” Nick said. “The police and divers should still be there. What about Kate? Where did she run off to?”

“To get the guest lists. She was supposed to call, but to be honest, I think she wanted some alone time with Alec.”

Nick considered it. “Lucky for her he wasn’t involved, but I’m not so sure I trust that the Passinis didn’t have something to do with it. How good are your premonitions anyway?”

“Real good,” I said. “I wish it was them; it would make this whole thing easier.”

“That’s for sure. I called my dad and asked him if he knew of anyone who’d want Manetto dead. He said there were lots of people, but that didn’t mean they’d actually kill him. Not when it meant certain death since we’d end up killing them.” He snorted. “You know something funny? He didn’t know Manetto and Jackie were married.”

“Really?”

“Nope. But my mom did. She even knew Jackie was next in line to run the business. How do you like that? She didn’t even say anything.”

I smiled. “Good for her. Was your dad disappointed it wasn’t him?”

“No, especially since my mom was so happy about it.”

“Makes sense to me,” I said.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Yeah…let’s go.”

It had started to rain again, and the dreary afternoon held little warmth. I shivered as we pulled into the parking lot and found only one police car left. The detective from earlier was sitting inside and motioned us over to get in out of the rain. Nick slid into the front seat, and I sat in the back.

“Good timing,” the detective said. “I was just leaving.”

“Did they recover the bodies?” Nick asked.

“Yes. There were two. At the moment, they’re still out on the search boat, but they’ll be taking them to the morgue. They didn’t tell me if they found any IDs on the bodies, and from what I understood, they might have been close to the explosion.” He was thinking that for one body, there wasn’t a lot left to ID.    

“Crap,” I said, feeling the blood drain from my head.

“Are you all right, Miss?” he asked, concern tightening the crinkles around his eyes.

I swallowed and laid my head back against the seat. “Yes. Please continue.”

“With the explosion so close to the rooms, it looks like they were unable to get out before the boat sank. We’ll probably need your help to identify them, but the bodies won’t be ready for you to see until morning. I have to advise you that they will be difficult to identify. That long in the water makes bodies decompose pretty fast. We’d have to rely on a tattoo or a chipped tooth or some other identifiable mark. Barring that, we can always get dental records, but remember…that takes time.”

“We’ll come in the morning,” Nick said.

My thoughts immediately went to the bullet wound Ramos had taken while we were in Orlando. I knew exactly where that was, but looking at his decomposing dead body was something I didn’t want to do. Not now, not ever. I closed my eyes and swallowed. Was he really dead? How could this happen? I thought for sure they’d made it out.

Nick noticed my distress and thanked the detective. He got out of the car and helped me out. Keeping ahold of my arm, he led me back to the car and I slumped into the seat, light-headed and a little nauseated. We drove back to the hotel in silence. At my door, Nick hesitated. “Will you be all right?” he asked.

“Yes. Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He nodded and I hurried inside, not wanting him to see my tears. I thought of the last time I’d seen Ramos at the office and how he’d tried to kiss me. I’d pulled away, and he’d joked about wanting to do that before he died, and now it would never happen. Memories flooded over me. I remembered the thrill of riding behind him on his motorcycle. His smile as he ate fish tacos like they were going out of style and the look on his face when he saw his brother for the first time in fifteen years.

Sobs escaped my lips, and I no longer tried to hold them back. He was gone, and I’d never see him again. And Uncle Joey? He was gone too. After all this time of trying to get out from under him, now…it was over. They were dead.

Taking a deep breath to get under control, I knew it was time for a hot bath. I filled up the tub, and scooped the bath salts out of my luggage, grateful I’d had the foresight to pack them. Soothing eucalyptus and uplifting spearmint flooded my senses, and soon I was lying in the comfort of soft, hot water. At least now the tears had a place to run.

I didn’t get out until I had refilled the tub with hot water a few times. Now my fingers and toes were shriveled like prunes, but at least my tears had dried. After drying off, I pulled on my pajamas and snuggled in bed with my phone, finally ready to call Chris without blubbering like an idiot. I was sad and needed to hear his comforting voice.

“Hey Shelby,” he answered. “How are things going? Did they show up?”

“Oh Chris,” I said, tears immediately running from my eyes. “It looks like they’re really dead. The detective said the divers found a couple of bodies in the lower rooms near the explosion. With everyone else accounted for, they think it must be Uncle Joey and Ramos. They’ve taken them to the morgue and Nick and I are supposed to identify what’s left of them in the morning.”

“Wow. I can’t believe it.”

“I know. It looks like it’s really them.” I sniffed, then grabbed a tissue and wiped my nose. “I feel so bad. And guess what? Uncle Joey and Jackie were married…she told them at the front desk that she was his wife and I never knew. Now he’s dead, and she’s all alone.” I couldn’t stop the tears from falling, but at least I wasn’t sobbing anymore.

“Oh, honey…I’m really sorry to hear that.” Chris took a deep breath. “I never thought he’d really be dead. Are you sure it’s them?”

“Well…actually…no. They didn’t say there was any identification on the bodies, that’s why they want us to come to the morgue in the morning…but I’m not sure I can do that. The detective said that after being in the water so long, they probably wouldn’t look very good, and just thinking about looking at them like that is giving me a stomachache.”

“Then don’t go. I’m sure Nick and Jackie can handle it. Anyway, you’re not part of the family. It shouldn’t be you that has to identify them.”

“I know,” I said. Was that an accusation?

“So…do you know what happened? Did the Passinis do it?”

“That’s the strange part. It’s not them. We confronted them, and I know they didn’t do it. They’re just as confused as we are.”

“What?” he asked. “That doesn’t make sense. Who else had the motive and means to carry it out?”

“Exactly,” I agreed. “This is a nightmare. Not only are they gone, but we have no idea who killed them and why.”

“Maybe it’s time for you to come home.”

“But…I need to find out who did this.”

Chris sighed. “I know…but Shelby…listen to me, this could get dangerous. What if you figure it out and that person decides to kill you. There’s so much that could go wrong, and…I don’t want you to get caught in the middle of something you can’t get out of. Right now you can leave. With Manetto gone, there’s nothing holding you there.”

“But there is,” I said. “I can’t walk out on Jackie. I have to see it through. At the very least, I have to know if they’re really dead.” Now it was my turn to sigh. In my mind I knew what he said made sense, but my heart was still breaking to think they were dead, and I knew he’d never understand that. “So, I’ll see how it goes tomorrow. I’m going to try and get some sleep now. I’m exhausted.”

“That’s a good idea, and…Shelby…I’m sorry you’re so sad. Let me know what happens tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll call you.” I said it without much warmth. He wanted me to leave, but I wanted to stay, and the comfort I’d called him for wasn’t there, leaving me empty and disappointed.

“Hey,” he said. “I love you. I wish I was there to hold you tonight. This is a shock. I’m sure you never expected this to happen. If you need to stay a little longer we’ll figure it out, okay? I’m sorry if I said the wrong thing, but you know how I felt about Manetto, right? Anyway, I’m still sorry you’re hurting.”

“Thanks Chris. This is just…hard, and I feel really bad.”

“I know…and it’s okay that you feel bad.”

The tightness in my chest loosened and I was able to breathe freely again. I asked him how things were going at home with the kids and, for a moment, forgot all about Uncle Joey and Ramos.

“I found Sean Hanley’s address,” Chris said. “And I checked his records, but besides a couple of speeding tickets, he’s clean.”

“That’s interesting. Thanks for doing that. When I get back we’ll have to figure out what to do and go from there.”

“No honey…the first thing you’re going to do is tell Harris…then we’ll go from there. Okay?”