Midnight Caller (11 page)

“Erin, right now I need you to do what I ask. No arguments. No debates. Do you think you can do that?”

She nodded.

“Let your answering machine screen all your calls. And if you hear from Carol, call me immediately. You know how to reach me 24/7. You have my home, work and cell numbers. Use them.” He tilted her chin. “Keep the house locked both day and night. And don’t go anywhere alone.” He trailed his index finger down her cheek. “Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Now walk me out and lock the door behind me.” When he reached the door, she called his name and he looked back. The tears she’d been fighting flowed in silent rivulets down her cheeks. “Bring Carol home, Tony. Please. Bring her home.”

S
ergeant Greene slammed his hand on the table. “I’m not letting this lunatic get away with it again.” He paced the front of the room. “Marino, when did this woman go missing?”

“She was last seen seven-thirty Sunday night.”

The sergeant wrote the time on the board in the front of the room. “She’s been missing less than thirty-two hours. He doesn’t kill them right away. This one may still be alive.”

“What do we know about her?” He poised his marker over the board.

“Same age range.” Spence consulted his notes. “Walks out the door for a specific destination and vanishes into thin air. No witnesses. No signs of struggle.”

Sergeant Greene nodded, wrote the name
Carol Henderson
beside the other victims and added
same age, no witnesses, no signs of struggle
to the column.

“Winters, what did you find out about the boyfriend?”

“Stone’s clean. Not even a traffic ticket,” Winters said.

Tony stared at Carol’s name on the board beside the other victims and bile backed up in his throat. The lab tech, Lenny, had been his one viable lead and an ironclad alibi took that off the table. Now he was back to square one. No suspects.
No leads. How could this be happening? This was hitting too close to home.

“Okay, let’s review,” Sarge said. All four men stared at the pictures taped to the board. “What do we know about these women?”

“Neighbors and friends all reported the victims seemed out of sorts, nervous, shortly before they disappeared,” Winters said.

“That’s right. I’ve confirmed that all of our victims received anonymous telephone calls. We didn’t pick up on it right away because the reports were filed in different jurisdictions and the communications on prank calls fell through the cracks.” Spence took a sip of his coffee and then grimaced at its bitterness.

“Make it four,” Spence said. “I’ve confirmed Carol Henderson filed a complaint with the Holly Hill police.”

The blood drained out of Tony’s face. This couldn’t be happening.
The victims got calls. Carol got calls. Please, God, don’t let anything happen to Erin
.

“Make it five.” Tony looked directly at his sergeant. “Erin O’Malley, a friend of mine, is receiving calls. She’s Carol’s best friend.”

“This is the first solid lead we’ve had. I want a trap put on her line today. Winters, you handle it.” Sarge paused while he digested the new information. “So the killer likes to taunt his victims before he grabs them. We can hand that to the press. What other angle can we explore?” The sergeant tapped the marker on the board. “The answer’s here, men. We’re just not seeing it.”

“They’re all single mothers,” Spence said.

“Not all. Cynthia Mayors was married,” Winters corrected.

“Newlywed,” Spence said. “A quickie wedding in Vegas and the guy ships off to Iraq. Maybe the killer didn’t know she got married. Maybe he thought she was still a single mom.”

“What about it, Marino? Is your friend a single mom?”

Tony nodded.

“Okay,” Sarge said. “Let’s play with that angle. The guy doesn’t like single mothers. There are millions of single parents out there. What makes these four special?”

“The kids.” Tony’s voice raised an octave with excitement.

“News flash. All single mothers have kids,” Spence said.

“Not just kids. Special kids. Look.” Tony raced up to the board and pointed at each name. “Each family has a handicapped kid. Mayors had two kids, one of them autistic. Leigh Porter has four children, the second child is deaf. Carol’s child has Down syndrome.”

“Anne Morton’s kid isn’t handicapped,” Spence said.

“Wait a minute.” Winters quickly paged through his notebook. “The Morton kid is in regular third grade classes, but when I interviewed her teacher, she told me the child had a specific learning disability. She gets extra tutoring and occupational and physical therapy twice a week.”

Tony stared at the board in disbelief. “That’s it. That’s the connection.”
Erin. Single mom. Handicapped child. Anonymous calls
. “Erin O’Malley’s son has cerebral palsy. Erin’s our next target.”

“Are you all right, Marino?” Sarge asked.

“Fine, sir.”

His sergeant stared at him like he was a bug under a microscope. “Just how good a friend is this woman?”

Tony hesitated. He knew Erin was going to hate police poking around in her life. He also knew the sergeant might remove him from the case if he felt Tony was in over his head. The job had always been first, last and always with him. There’d never been a question where his duty lay until now. A picture of Erin entered his mind. Her short auburn curls catching the sunlight. Her green eyes shining with intelli
gence and challenge. Her lips soft and full. She was in danger. His duty was to protect her, no matter the cost. He offered up a silent prayer that neither Erin nor the sergeant would cut him out of the loop.

“I met both Carol Henderson and Erin O’Malley at the Easter parade three weeks ago. I had dinner with both women at Ms. O’Malley’s home last night. Based on what we know about this man, I believe Erin O’Malley is on his list of victims, possibly his next victim.” He looked the sergeant straight in the eye. “And that makes it personal for me, sir. Very personal.”

The sergeant stared intently at him.

Tony paused before asking, “Will you be removing me from the case, sir?”

“Are you going to give me a reason to remove you, Marino? Will your personal involvement with this woman impede your ability to investigate this case?”

“No, sir.” Tony fought to hide his relief.

The sergeant nodded and Tony returned to his seat.

“All right, men. I know we’ve interviewed every hospital employee and come up with nothing. Interview them again. We need to go deeper. We found a connection. Find out every place these women have ever taken their kids. I want to know and I want to know it yesterday. What school do they attend? What park do they play in? What babysitters do they use? Where do they shop? Where do they fill their medications? What doctors do they use? Carol Henderson is missing, men. Missing. Not dead yet. What are you waiting for? Go!” The men stood to leave. “Marino, give me a minute.”

Tony joined the sergeant in the front of the room. He was surprised to see empathy in the sergeant’s eyes. “As you know, I don’t have the budget or the manpower to provide Ms.
O’Malley with 24/7 protection. Especially since we’re not even sure she’s the next target.”

Tony nodded. “Understood.”

“But I will authorize an increased police presence in her neighborhood. Intermittent, unscheduled drivebys that may throw off anyone who is watching her place.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The sergeant cleared his voice. “Make sure Ms. O’Malley understands the gravity of her position. See if you can get her to leave town, go visit relatives or something. And if you want to remain on this case, you keep me in a close loop on this one.”

“I will, sir. Thank you.”

Tony left the building, slid behind the wheel of his car, and slipped his key in the ignition. What was he going to do? He had to find Carol before it was too late. But he was torn. Someone was targeting people he knew, people he cared about. And right now Erin appeared to be at the top of the list. His jaw clenched with determination. He had to find Carol. And he had to find a way to protect Erin. The question was how?

“I’ll have the tuna salad on rye with lettuce, tomato and pickle. Gimme potato salad and beans as my sides, a can of Coke and a chocolate chip cookie.” Patrick Fitzgerald finished his order, nodded to Tony and left the line to find a table. Tony placed his order, paid for the two lunches and joined the older man.

“This deli has the best box lunches in town,” Patrick said. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“My pleasure.” Tony took a bite of his sandwich.

Patrick took his time spreading a napkin on his lap. “Is this table okay? I got the one closest to the back. Away from everybody. After all, I’m sure what you are about to ask me
is private and confidential. You won’t want all the other patrons listening in.”

Tony, surprised by the elderly man’s insight, paused. “What gave me away?”

Patrick chuckled. “I didn’t get to be seventy, son, without developing a strong power of observation and some good old common sense. My common sense tells me that a detective I’ve met twice, once at a child’s birthday dinner and then at a break-in, isn’t asking me out to lunch because he missed my company. My power of observation tells me you’re smitten with our Erin. You want to pump me for information.” The old man sat back in his chair and grinned.

“You are observant, Mr. Fitzgerald.” Tony smiled.

“Now spit it out. What do you want to know? Or maybe I can save you the trouble. Erin and her family have lived next door to me for the past four years. Erin used to go out with some doctor fellow, but no one lately. She’s a great gal, a good mother and deserves to get herself hitched to a good guy. That boy of hers is the smartest little whip I’ve ever met. And I’m sure your power of observation told you that I have a sweet spot for Tess.”

Tony chuckled. “Well, you come right to the point, don’t you?”

Patrick nodded. “Only way to be. So what do you want, son? You want me to put in a good word with Erin? I’ve already done that a time or two, but I’ll be happy to do it again.”

Tony gestured toward the food. “Please. Enjoy your meal.”

The man didn’t need a second invitation. He bit into his sandwich with gusto and actually smacked his lips. His facial expression was one of pure delight. “I love this place. Don’t get to come here often. The quality of the food and the smells of fresh meats and pickles remind me of the old-fashioned
delis when I was a kid. I don’t drive too much anymore. Go to the doctor’s and the pharmacy and grocery store, but that’s all within a couple of miles of my house. So this is a real treat.”

“If I’m not being too personal,” Tony asked. “How are things going with you and Tess?”

“Better than you and Erin.” The man chuckled and took a swig of his drink.

“Do you see Tess often?” Tony asked.

“I manage to pop in once or twice a week. And she pops over to my place now and again. Just because we’ve got a little snow on the roof doesn’t mean we don’t play the same courting games you kids do.” Patrick grinned.

“So, Tess wouldn’t find it unusual behavior if you popped in every day or stayed for longer visits?” Tony finished the last of his lunch, pushed his plate aside and folded his hands on the table.

“No, I suppose not. She might even welcome it if she thought I was doing some matchmaking for you. She’s taken a shine to you, you know.”

Tony sighed deeply. “Mr. Fitzgerald, I wish that was all I was asking.”

Patrick’s grin faded. He gulped down the rest of his drink and stacked the empty plates. He sat back in his chair and looked Tony straight in the eye. “What’s this all about?”

“Mr. Fitzgerald—”

“Fitz.”

“Sorry. Fitz. What I’m about to tell you is confidential. You can’t mention this conversation to anyone, not even Tess. Do you think you can keep things quiet?”

“If you have to ask, you’ve taken the wrong old man to lunch.”

Tony smiled and nodded. He leaned forward, lowered his voice and told the man everything. He noticed a slight tremor
in the old man’s hands, but his stoic expression and calm, level voice told him he had not misjudged him.

“How can I help? What do you want me to do?” Patrick asked.

“Not much more than what you’re already doing. I want you to stop by as often as possible. Keep alert to anything unusual, no matter how trivial, and let me know about it. I’ve already spoken to both Erin and Tess. They know our victims received anonymous calls. They also know that each victim had a handicapped child.”

The blood drained from Patrick’s face but he remained calm.

“Carol fit the victim’s profile. So does Erin. Both Erin and Tess have assured me they’ll be on guard for anything out of the ordinary.” Tony drew a business card out of his wallet. “This is the number to my cell phone. Call me any hour, night or day.”

Patrick accepted the business card and slipped it into his pocket.

“My sergeant is being kept in the loop. Although we don’t have the manpower for 24/7 surveillance, there will be an increased police presence patrolling your street. But I need more. I need to have eyes and ears inside the house when I can’t be there myself.”

Patrick nodded. “I understand.” He closed his eyes and slightly bowed his head for a moment as though in silent prayer.

Tony gave Patrick time to process the information and glanced around the room. The cash register dinged. The sound of laughter and conversation drifted from neighboring tables. A young boy running in the aisle accidentally bounced off the edge of their table on the way to the restroom. Everything seemed so normal and uncomplicated. So why did his stomach feel like he had swallowed a burning iron ball?

“Funny thing, this life of ours,” Patrick said. “Each day
slips into another until thousands of days have passed. But you still think you have forever.” He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed moist eyes. “You think you can fall in love, maybe even marry and you’ll just keep on ticking like a Timex watch. For a moment, you forget that you’re not in charge, God is.” Patrick shoved the handkerchief in his pocket and stood. “We’ve been here long enough, son. Let’s head home. We’ve got work to do.”