Midnight Caller (10 page)

Erin struggled to find the right words. “When I’m with Tony, I don’t feel in control of my life. I feel vulnerable and uncertain.”

“Control? Is that what you want? A neat little life where everything’s predictable?” Tess reached across and clasped Erin’s hands. “But life isn’t neat and tidy, now, is it? There’s laughin’ and loving. Disappointments. Tears. The best you can hope is to have faith and ask God to give you the strength to
survive life’s ups and downs. But control?” Tess chuckled. “My mother used to say, ‘You plan and God laughs.’”

Jack pulled on his mother’s sleeve. “Mom, can we go play now?”

“Did you eat all your cereal?”

“Uh-huh,” Amy said, the last mouthful of cereal garbling her speech.

“Okay.” She lifted Amy off the chair. “But don’t make a mess.”

“We won’t,” they chorused and scurried away.

“We can learn a lot from those sweet children,” Tess said. “They’re filled with such joy and energy.” Tess patted Erin’s hand. “
Live
your life, child. Time is a thief and life passes before you know it.”

“So you think I should take a chance with Tony?”

Tess rolled her eyes. “Haven’t you heard a word I’ve been saying?”

“Okay, Tess.” Erin laughed and gestured for her to stop. “I get the picture.”

“I’ve been thinking,” Tess said. “I’ll be visitin’ that nice Mr. Fitzgerald after dinner tonight. We’ve been flirtin’ over the backyard fence long enough. It’s about time I find out if he can melt one into the floorboards.”

Erin’s eyes widened.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Tess fussed. “I’m still breathing, aren’t I?”

Both women laughed and continued to enjoy their morning coffee.

T
ony gestured to the chair beside his desk. “Have a seat.” He scrutinized the man, tall, clean-cut, expensive suit and shoes.
And wanting to be anywhere else but here
. “I’m Detective Marino. How can I help you, Mr…?”

“Dr. Robert Stone.” The man squirmed in his chair. “This is incredibly awkward.”

Tony waited, knowing silence was a powerful interrogation technique.

“I’m probably being foolish,” Stone said. “I’m sure nothing’s wrong.”

Everything about the man’s demeanor screamed otherwise. Tony smiled encouragement but remained silent.

“My date didn’t meet me last night. I’ve called her multiple times, even drove to her home, but she wasn’t there.”

Before Tony could respond, Stone said, “I know it sounds juvenile but Carol wouldn’t stand me up. She knew I was planning something special. She just wouldn’t have done that.”

The name caught Tony’s attention. “Carol?”

“Carol Henderson.”

“She’s a nurse at the hospital?” Tony tensed.

Dr. Stone raised an eyebrow. “Yes, do you know her?”

“I met her recently.” Tony picked up a pen. “You say you had a special date?”

“Yes. We were supposed to meet at eight o’clock at the gazebo beside the Granada Bridge.”

“If the date was special, why meet her? Why didn’t you pick her up?”

Dr. Stone shifted in his seat. “She spent the day with friends. It was easier to agree to meet.”

Tony’s suspicions grew. Something more was going on here. He’d been lied to by the best and this guy wasn’t one of them.

The doctor lowered his gaze. “Carol spent the day with her best friend, Erin O’Malley.”

Tony leaned back in his seat. “Have you called to check if she’s seen Carol?”

Stone looked at his hands. “I was hoping you might do that.”

Tony arched an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

“I used to date Ms. O’Malley. I’d find it awkward asking her about Carol.”

He dated Erin? Hmm, he hadn’t seen that coming
.

“We didn’t part on the best of terms,” the doctor continued. “Although I’ve run into Erin a few times since the breakup and it seems to be water under the bridge, still…” Stone shrugged. “I don’t think Carol told her we were dating.”

Tony studied him with new interest.
Was Erin still harboring feelings for this man? Why did it end badly? And who ended it?

“Why’s that? Is Carol the kind of person who would date someone her best friend still cared about?” Tony asked.

“Of course not.” Stone straightened in his chair. Obviously outraged at the question, he glared at Tony. “Carol was a wonderful human being. And fiercely loyal to the people she loved.” He shook his head. “She was certain Erin was finished
with me long before we started dating. It was my feelings for Erin she questioned.”

Tony tented his fingers against his lips and rocked back in his chair. Thoughts ricocheted through his mind like a fired pinball. After a moment, he sat upright. “You said ‘was.’”

Stone looked puzzled.

“You said Carol ‘was’ a sweet human being. Do you have any reason to believe she still isn’t, Doctor?”

The man sputtered. “No, of course not, I…”

Tony waited.

Tears welled up in the doctor’s eyes. He pulled a small velvet box from his pocket and flipped it open to reveal a stunning diamond ring. “I planned to propose. Carol wouldn’t have stood me up. Something had to happen to her.”

Tony poured the doctor a glass of water. “Did Carol know your plans?”

“We’ve had several general discussions. About marriage. About children.” Stone sipped his water before continuing. “Truthfully, Detective, I’m so in love with the woman I don’t know how she couldn’t know.”

Surprised by the man’s show of raw emotion, Tony softened his voice. “Do you have any specific reason to believe something happened to Ms. Henderson? I understand not meeting you for your date was unlike her. But is there anything else I should know?”

Dr. Stone’s shoulders slumped forward. He looked defeated and weary. “Carol’s been receiving anonymous phone calls. She filed a police report a couple of weeks ago.”

The hair on the back of Tony’s neck stood up. That’s why Carol’s name had been so familiar. He’d overheard Spence telling Winters he was going to check it out to see if there might be any connection to their victims. They’d discovered
all the victims had received calls, but the information hadn’t been obvious because some of the women had reported it to the sheriff’s office and others reported it to their local police department.

The doctor’s eyes darkened, anger evident in his voice. “Then she started receiving anonymous packages. Rotten fruit. Dead flowers. All accompanied by threatening notes. The last box contained pictures of Carol with her head cut out of the pictures. She reported it to the police.” Stone rubbed his eyes, lack of sleep evident on his face. “Your department took it seriously. Unfortunately, they said there wasn’t enough evidence for them to arrest anyone. They would continue to investigate and hoped to produce a lead. Meanwhile, they warned her to be cautious where she went and who she spoke to. Now she’s missing.”

Tony held his head in his hands. His stomach twisted. Carol’s image, Amy’s laughing face and Erin’s smile all spiraled through his mind. He prayed for strength, for wisdom. How was he going to tell Erin that he believed her best friend had become a victim of a serial killer? And that his gut told him she was next?

Erin heard the crunch of gravel and looked up from watering the plants to see her aunt approach. “Hi. Where are the kids?”

“Watching a video in the living room. Still no word from Carol?” Tess asked.

“No, and I’m worried. I was concerned when I knocked on her door this morning and found she hadn’t come home last night. But now I don’t know what to think. No matter how much fun she had last night, she would have at least called by now. You know how protective she is about Amy.”

“I know. I’m worried, too. Maybe we should call someone.”

“Who would I call? She’s not scheduled to work. She’s not
answering her cell. I don’t know who this ‘Mystery Man’ is.” Erin stooped down and wound up the hose. “Why did she have to be so secretive? I can’t believe she’s been seeing this guy for months and the first I hear about it is Amy’s birthday party.” Frustration laced her words. “Now I don’t have a clue where to start looking for her.”

“Maybe we should call the police.”

Erin stood and pulled off her gardening gloves. “And tell them what? That she left last night looking like a million bucks to go on a special date and we haven’t seen her since? Somehow, I don’t think they’ll be too concerned.”

“Well, we have to do something. We can’t just sit here.”

Erin sighed. “That’s exactly what we have to do. Until she calls or shows up or something.”

They both heard the doorbell.

“I’ll get it,” Erin said. “Why don’t you go inside and check on the kids?” She hurried around the side of the house, shielded her eyes against the sun and grinned when she recognized the man on the porch. “Hi. I wasn’t expecting you.”

Tony came down the steps. His grave expression as he approached gave her pause.

Tell me nothing’s wrong. Tell me I have a vivid imagination and you came by to see me…or Jack…or that you’re here for some Irish coffee
.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Have you heard from Carol?”

Erin’s stomach clenched. “No. Why?” She shoved her hands in her pockets to still the sudden trembling in them.

“When was the last time you spoke with her?”

“Last night. Right before she left for her date. But you know that already. You were here.” She took a deep breath. “Tony, what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

“She’s missing.”

“I know that, but how did you…?” An uneasy feeling crept over her. “What’s happened?”

He slid a protective arm around her shoulders and gently guided her toward the house. “As far as I know, nothing’s happened to her. Let’s go inside and talk.”

They no sooner stepped into the foyer than the children raced toward them, hugging Tony’s legs and shouting his name.

“Tony, are you going to watch me ride my bike?” Jack asked.

“Me, too,” Amy demanded.

Tony squatted and closed both children in a bear hug. “I’d love to play with you guys,” he said, an unfamiliar gruffness in his voice. “But it’ll have to wait until next time. I have to go back to work in a few minutes.”

The gentle way Tony brushed the curls out of Amy’s eyes made Erin’s heart constrict so tightly that she could barely breathe.
He knows something and it’s bad. It’s very, very bad
.

“Aunt Tess is going to take you outside,” Erin said.

Her aunt nodded and, for once, didn’t ask any questions. “Come on, children. Let’s go next door and show Mr. Fitzpatrick how well you ride.”

After they left, Erin looked at Tony. She didn’t want to see sympathy or concern in his eyes, but she did. “Just tell me.” She steeled herself for his words.

He tugged her hand and led her into the kitchen. “Someone filed a missing person report earlier today. Normally, we wait forty-eight hours, but under the circumstances, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to do a little poking around.”

“Someone reported her missing?” She clenched her fists against her chest.
Breathe. One. Two. In. Out
. “I don’t understand. Who?”

“The man she was supposed to meet last night.”

Erin sat perfectly still. “You met Mystery Man?”

Tony nodded.

“Who is he?”

“That’s not important right now.”

Erin popped out of her seat. “What do you mean it’s not important? If he was the last one to see her, he has to know what happened. Maybe they fought. Maybe he did something to her and he is trying to cover his tracks.”

Tony stood, crossed to the sink and got her a glass of water. “Here, drink this.”

She pushed it away.

He gently pushed her back into her seat and placed the glass on the table beside her.

“Did he hurt her, Tony? Did he?”

Tony squatted in front of her and cradled her hands in his. “He claims she never showed up. He got worried when she didn’t return his calls.”

“She never made it to their date? Do you believe him?” Erin pinned him with her gaze.

“Until I have reason to think otherwise, yes, I do.”

Erin contemplated his answer and nodded.

Tony took a seat beside her. “Did you know Carol received anonymous telephone calls?”

“Yes.” When she saw his features darken, she said, “I was going to tell you about it last night but I forgot. For one wonderful evening I got lost in good food, good conversation and a good movie. I just didn’t think about the calls.” She crinkled her forehead. “What do the calls have to do with anything?”

“Maybe nothing. What can you tell me about them?”

Erin found the even tone in his voice soothing and his calmness contagious.

“Carol got some prank calls just about the same time I started getting them and changed her number. They stopped for a while. But recently they started up again. Worse this time. He started whispering terrible things. She got upset and reported them to the police.”

Tony took a small notepad out of his pocket. “Anything else?”

“She started getting weird, disgusting gifts. Rotten fruit, dead bugs, creepy stuff. She reported all of it and although the cops seemed concerned, there didn’t seem to be much they could do about it.” Erin stared at him. “Please tell me you don’t think this has anything to do with her disappearance.”

“I’m not sure of anything right now. I’m just trying to cover all the angles.” He scribbled in his pad. “Can you think of anyone that might want to hurt Carol? Anyone mad at her? Holding a grudge?”

“Of course not.” Erin thought for a moment and then said, “Except…This is silly. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with Carol’s disappearance.”

Tony encouraged her with a smile. “Why don’t you tell me anyway? You never know what might be helpful.”

Erin fidgeted with her hands. “Carol didn’t get along with Lenny, one of the lab technicians at the hospital. Truthfully, she was uncharacteristically harsh with the man. She believed he was the one making the calls.”

Tony held his pen over the notepad. “Do you have a last name for Lenny?”

“Richards. But Lenny couldn’t have had anything to do with this. He’s…well, a little odd…a loner…doesn’t seem to know how to make friends. But I can’t believe he’d ever hurt anyone. I never did believe he made those calls.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know.” Erin shrugged. “Female intuition? Lenny’s
like an ugly old dog that gets kicked around a lot. He licks his wounds, growls sometimes but he doesn’t bite back.”

Tony tucked the notebook back in his suit pocket and stood.

Erin’s throat muscles tightened. She forced herself to speak. “Do you think the calls have something to do with Carol’s disappearance?”

He shrugged. “It’s just a piece of the puzzle. Probably nothing. Your calls stopped, didn’t they?”

She hesitated.

“Erin?” Tony impaled her with his eyes.

“I’ve been getting them again for the past few days.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

She winced at the anger evident in his expression. “You’ve been busy with the case you’re working on. I filed a formal complaint. I just didn’t get around to mentioning it to you. I guess I just hoped they’d go away.”

Tony sighed heavily. “Erin, I need you to tell me
everything
. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on.”

“You think these calls are significant, don’t you? What aren’t you telling me?” She pinned him with her eyes and wouldn’t let him look away.

“
All
of the victims in the case I’m investigating received similar calls. Carol got calls and she’s missing. That’s a strong enough coincidence not to disregard anything.”

Erin ducked her head. Her stomach somersaulted and a wave of dizziness threatened to drop her.

Tony gently kneaded her shoulders. “I have to get back to work. Are you going to be all right?”

“Sure.” She took comfort in his tenderness and concern.