Ultimate Fear (Book 2 Ultimate CORE) (CORE Series) (31 page)

“Since Tuesday? How did you even know or suspect anything?”

“I’m a cop. I pick up on things.” He nodded to her sandwich. “First, it was the way you’ve been inhaling your food. Second, you wore the same clothes twice within a couple of days. Third, every day this week you’ve driven into the precinct from the opposite direction of your apartment. Fourth—”

“Enough already,” she said, and picked up her sandwich. “Okay. I admit it. We’re back together.” When his smile grew, she held up a finger. “Hold up. I haven’t officially moved back in and still have my apartment.”

“What are you waiting for? I haven’t seen you this happy in years.”

“I am happy, but we still have a few things to work out first.”

“Like?”

“Shouldn’t we be discussing the new lead on the Henderson case?” Last month they’d been called to an apartment building to investigate a homicide. At first glance, it appeared as if the wife had murdered her husband with a .22. Thanks to an anonymous tip, they were now looking into the couple’s fifteen-year-old son as a potential suspect.

“Your love life is more interesting. So what do you need to work out?”

Wasn’t that the million dollar question? This past week had been eye opening for her. She looked forward to going home now—going to her real home—and seeing Dante there. He’d shown her how lonely her life had been, how much she’d isolated herself and he’d given her a reason to look forward to waking up in the morning.

But there was an elephant in the house.

A ginormous, six-ton elephant.

“It’s not necessarily what me and Dante need to work out,” she said “It’s what I need to work out for myself.”

“Sophia,” he said, his eyes softening with understanding.

She set her half eaten sandwich aside. “Yeah, she’s everywhere I look. In my apartment, I didn’t have anything of hers except one picture I kept in my bedroom. At the house— So two days ago, I went into the linen closet in the guest bathroom. There was the purple, hooded unicorn towel I used to wrap her up in after her bath.” The towel had been too big for her baby girl, and she smiled when she remembered how adorable she had looked with the hood draped over her head. “Some of her bath toys were there, too, and it just…” She let out a sigh. “It’s
so
damned hard.”

“You’re finally facing your grief. Only now, you’re not going at it alone.”

“I know. Dante’s been very patient. So patient, it’s scaring me.”

“Waiting for the other shoe to drop?”

She half-smiled. “I don’t want to live like that—wondering when my world is going to turn to shit again, wondering if I’m going to have to go back to my apartment and—”

“Then stop wondering and cancel the lease.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Sure it is. Call the landlord and tell him you’re moving out.”

She reached for her Diet Coke, then leaned into the chair and let the sun heat her face. “You know exactly what I meant.”

“I do. But if you want to make things work between you and Dante, you’re going to have to show him you’re ready and willing to do what it takes to save your relationship. Cancelling your lease is a huge step in the right direction. Think about it from his position. He has his wife back home, only she’s keeping a place on the side in case she needs to run again.”

“I didn’t—”

“You did run, and keeping the apartment tells me you’ve convinced yourself that you’ll have to run again. If I’m thinking that, you know Dante probably is, too.” He crumpled up his sandwich wrapper. “And that’s gotta suck for him.”

“I don’t want to hurt him again.” Guilt made her stomach queasy. “Can I tell you something? It’s personal, and I’ll need you to promise not to judge me or tell Dante.”

He leaned forward and studied her, his gaze intent. “Jess, Dante’s my friend, but I would never betray your trust. And I might not always agree with your decisions, but I’ve never judged you before. I couldn’t, and no one should, not unless they’ve been through what you have.”

Her throat tightened, and she swallowed hard. “Thank you. You’ve been a good friend.” Not needing the other diners listening to her confession, she also leaned forward. “I…God, this is going to sound stupid.”

“Let me be the judge of that.”

“I thought you weren’t going to judge me,” she said with a smile, while nervousness made her legs jumpy.

He chuckled. “Just spit it out.”

“One of the reasons I had a hard time being around Dante was because he reminds me of my daughter.”

“He’s her father. That’s natural.”

“It’s more than that. She looks just like him. Same dark hair and eyes. When I look at him, I see her, and remember everything that I lost. I’ve never said this out loud, but he’s like a human memento. I love him, but I can’t help resenting him and what he represents, too.” She drew in a shaky breath. “Pretty crappy on my part, huh?”

He reached over and gripped her hand. “When you go home today, look at Sophia’s picture. Really look at it, and when you do, don’t focus on the color of her eyes or hair. Check out her smile, her nose—those are yours. Same with the shape of her eyes. Your daughter is the perfect combination of you and Dante. And when you’re looking at Sophia’s picture, ask yourself, what does Dante see? Have you ever thought that when he looks at you, he sees her, too? That maybe you’re
his
human memento?”

She hadn’t. Even if Alex was right, knowing Dante, he wouldn’t resent her for reminding him of their daughter. He would welcome and celebrate it.

“I think beating yourself up over these natural feelings is a waste of time and energy. One other thing, you keep talking about what
you
lost. What about Dante? He lost his daughter, too.” He glanced to the traffic on the street. “You always hear about a mother’s love, and I know there’s something special to that. But I have three sons and would be just as devastated as Shannon if anything happened to them. They’re
our
boys.”

God, she’d been so selfish. How many times had she thrown the fact that
she’d
been the one worrying over becoming pregnant, that
she’d
been the one to carry their baby for forty weeks, that’s
she’d
been the one dealing with the doctors’ appointments, giving birth and nursing their daughter. The only reason she’d been the one dealing with the birthing process and breast feeding was because she had the right body parts.
 

Last week, when they’d been arguing, Dante had referred to himself as
just the sperm donor
. She’d never meant to treat him as if he had no part in their daughter’s birth, and wished she could take back the selfish things she’d said to him. “Has Dante ever said anything to you about me treating him like—”

He shook his head. “Dante’s never said a word to me about you.”

Liar
. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. What you two talk about in private isn’t my business.”

“You don’t believe me? Well, think about this. You hardly ever open up about anything to me, and Dante’s the same way. So, who do you talk to when you have something going on in your head? Who does Dante? You don’t have to answer, because I already know. You
had
each other. When you moved out, shut him out, you didn’t just get rid of your
human memento
, you walked away from the one person you could turn to when it mattered the most. And you took that away from Dante, too.”

Wow. Alex was in rare form today. She’d never heard him talk like this before, and had no idea how insightful he could be. Her respect for him doubled. He was a good man, and she appreciated his honesty and friendship. “Thank you,” she said, glad they’d had this talk. The weight of the guilt she’d been carrying lightened a bit, but to rid herself of it completely, she knew who she really needed to have this conversation with—her husband. “Dante and I…we’ve talked about a lot of things this past week, but I think I need to bring up everything you and I just talked about.”

“Maybe. Or maybe you should officially move back in. Actions sometime speak louder than words and all that shit.” He grinned. “Unless there’s something else in your personal life you want to talk about, can we go back to the Henderson case? I’m better with homicide than marriage counseling.”

She chuckled. “Don’t sell yourself short. You’ve given me a lot to think about.” While most of what they’d talked about had been on her mind, Alex had helped clarify it and made her realize that in order to make her marriage work, she would need to unload some of her emotional baggage on to Dante and confess all of the worries and guilt she’d been carrying with her. “And you’re right, we need to finish looking into that lead in the Henderson case. If the son was the one who shot the father, and the mom is covering for him, my question is why?”

“Maybe the mom put him up to it, or maybe the kid was tired of watching his dad hurt her. Remember, the neighbors claimed the husband was always yelling at her. Verbal abuse doesn’t get the same kind of notice as physical abuse does.”

“Or maybe—” Her cell phone vibrated on her belt, and she quickly retrieved it. When she glanced at the screen, her heart tripped. “Sorry, it’s Dante. How are you?” she answered.

“Excited,” Dante said, which she would have guessed by his tone.

“About?”

“Walmart finally came through.”

“Please tell me we have video surveillance.”

“That and more. Can you come to CORE?”

She looked to Alex, and asked, “Mind if we make a detour? Dante has a lead on our case.” She’d told Alex all about their investigation Monday morning, right after she apologized for blowing him off on Friday and not showing up for work.

He grabbed their trash off the table. “I’m in.”

Shoving the chair back, she stood. “Alex is with me. We’re on our way. Did you look at the video yet?”

“No. I’m waiting on you.”

Like he had been for over three years. Yeah, she really needed to have a heart to heart with him later. She also needed to cancel the lease on her apartment. She was committed to Dante in every sense, now she needed to prove it. But first, it was time to catch a glimpse of a kidnapper.
 

Chapter 12

“MEET YOUR KIDNAPPER,” Rachel said, zooming in on a still shot of a Walmart cash register.

Jessica moved closer to the large TV screen in CORE’s evidence and evaluation room. “Having the video in color is helpful, but between his head being down and his baseball hat, there’s no clear shot of his face. Is there any other footage?”

“Yes, there is. I’ve got it cued up on these screens,” Rachel said, pointing to the two TVs next to the one they were viewing.

Dante stood and moved next to Jessica. “Hold up. Can you run this video first? I’d like to see how this guy moves.”

“Sure,” she said, and hit PLAY.

The man on the screen approached the checkout line carrying a box of black contractor bags, along with the Roll-Baby umbrella stroller. According to Walmart, he’d purchased the stroller at five forty-eight in the evening, eight days before Quinn Joyce had been left outside of Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. The man didn’t walk with purpose, he didn’t act out of the ordinary, he simply strolled up to the cash register, and set his items on the belt. But he did pull his hat low and made sure to keep his head down.

“I wonder if he’s aware of the security cameras,” Lola said.

“I think so,” Rachel responded. “I’ve already looked through the footage, and not once does he raise his head. Walmart’s people also viewed the videos and clocked him going into the store at five thirty-seven. He went inside with the intent to buy, not shop. You’ll see on the other videos that he goes directly to the baby section, then to the lawn care department, without deviating.”

The time at the checkout line took less than a minute. The suspect paid with cash and, not bothering with a bag, carried the items toward the exit.

“Okay, that’s the end of that one. Look to the next screen.” Rachel ran the footage.

The man, still keeping his head down, stopped at the exit and tossed his receipt in the garbage can, then left the building.

“Too bad it’s been over two weeks,” Alex commented. “That receipt would have his fingerprints all over it.”

Jessica thought the same thing. But at least they had the confirmation that one of the kidnappers was indeed male. And— “He’s been to the store before,” she said, thinking back to what Rachel had told them moments ago. “He was in and out quickly. He knows the store and where the different departments are located.”

Dante nudged her with his arm. “Good point, Detective.”

When she looked at him and caught the pride in his smile, she couldn’t resist smiling back. “Thank you. I know it’s just a guess, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was living in St. Joseph. If we had a better angle on his face, we could show it around the store or Phil could send it to local builders in the St. Joseph area. Someone is bound to know who this guy is.”

“Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen,” Rachel said. “Look at the next two videos.” She hit PLAY again. “This is him walking into the baby section. Look, he barely stops, just grabs the stroller and goes.”

The video stopped. Rachel hit a few buttons on her computer keyboard and a different surveillance DVD began playing. “Now he’s getting the contractor bags.”