Necessary Decisions, A Gino Cataldi Mystery (31 page)

Mars walked up to him, got to within a few feet of the older boy, and stopped. He nodded. “Jason, have you seen my sister in the last few days?”

From a five- or six-inch height advantage, he sneered down at Mars. “You her dad?”

“She’s in trouble. I need to know if you’ve seen her, or if you know who she was with.”

“Cops already been there. I told them I got nothing.”

“I know what you told them, but I figured maybe you know
something.
Anything that would help.”

Jason didn’t look at Mars, but Mars continued. “She stayed at Alexa’s night before last. On her way to school, best as we can figure, somebody snatched her. Did you see anything? Talk to her that morning? See any cars or vans or trucks that didn’t belong in the neighborhood?”

“Go home, little man. I got no time for you.”

“You need to make time. I’m not leaving without answers.”

Jason’s crew surrounded Mars. He’d seen them do this before, mostly for intimidation. Jason had a tough-ass reputation, but from what Mars could tell, he seldom fought anyone. Never anyone tough.

Jason stepped up to Mars and flicked his cigarette at him. “Me and my boys don’t feel like talking. So you go on home. And when your sister comes home, tell her I’m a little hungry for some black meat.”

That drew a laugh from everyone but Mars, who grabbed him by the throat and squeezed. Jason broke the hold then pushed back. He threw his fists in the air, ready to fight. “Let’s go, motherfucker. You’re dead.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Jason. Tell me what you know.”

Jason came after Mars, throwing a right punch then pushing forward with a left.

Mars grabbed hold of Jason’s arm with his left hand, and Jason’s collar with his right. As he pulled Jason with his movement, Mars’ right foot swept Jason off his feet. He hit the parking lot—hard.

Mars was on top of him in a second. He took hold of Jason’s left arm, twisted it then got him in an arm-bar, a jiu-jitsu hold. From there, he could break Jason’s arm with one move. The fight was over less than half a minute after it had started. All that remained was getting the information.

“What do you know about Jada?”

“Let go of my fucking arm. You’re breaking it.”

“It’s not broken yet, but if you don’t talk, it will be.” Mars kept an eye on Jason’s boys, but they weren’t doing anything. As he figured, the whole bunch of them were pussies. Mars put more pressure on Jason’s arm, bringing him to the point where it could break at any moment. He was begging Mars to let him go.

Mars was convinced of two things right now—Jason didn’t know where Jada was, and he was a bigger pussy than he’d thought. Mars let go of his arm and got to his feet, waiting for Jason to get up. “Go near Jada again, and I’ll take you out for good.”

“Who the fuck you think you are?” one of Jason’s boys said.

Mars stared him down. “I’m a Hackett.” He got into position to fight, shoulders slightly hunched, arms out from his sides. “I got plenty left if you want some.”

The boy backed off. “I got no time for little sixteen-year-old punks.”

“Just for tonight, how about we pretend I’m eighteen? Come on. Let’s do it.”

The other guy backed up quickly. The circle that had formed around Mars parted. Mars straightened up, looked at each of them as he went through. “Any of you see anything?”

No one responded until Mars got to his car. One of the boys broke rank and walked over.

“Mars, wait up.”

“You got something?”

“I don’t know. It’s probably nothing, but yesterday morning I’m waiting at my bus stop, and I see this lady drive by three times.”

“Where’s your bus stop?”

“A couple of blocks from Alexa’s house.”

“Same lady? You’re sure?”

“I
know
it was the same lady. She’s a goddamn fox. I park valet over at Kirby’s. She came in a few times. I mean a stone-cold fox.”

“You know her name or where she lives?”

“I know part of her plate. VNA, then some numbers.”

“How the hell do you remember that?”

“When we parked it the first time and she got out, me and my bro couldn’t quit staring at her ass. Then he saw the plate and said ‘Check it out, VNA—very nice ass.’ We laughed about that.”

“How old was this woman?”

“I don’t know, dude. She was a fox, a cougar, a bobcat, one of them things. All I know is she had a damn nice ass.”

Mars tapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks.”

“No problem. See you around.”

Mars drove to Alexa’s house. He had no idea if this information would be any use to the detective, but it was worth a shot. Jason needed his ass kicked anyway.

Chapter 45

The Call

T
ension was high at the Winthrop house. Not a smile was to be found. If someone had dropped a live grenade, it would have been a mad rush to see who could dive on it first to end their misery. It was seven o’clock, but none of us had eaten dinner, living off coffee, a few biscuits left from breakfast, and a bag of pretzels we found in the cupboard.

When the phone rang a few minutes later, it might as well have been a live grenade. Everyone jumped.

One of the techs stepped into the kitchen on the second ring. “Unknown caller!”

I looked around and found Lonny. “Remember, not a word.”

Scott stood beside me looking nervous.

“Are you ready for this?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Pick it up on my signal,” I said, “and remember, keep looking at this pad. If I need to tell you something, I’ll write it down.”

We all got our headsets on. On the fifth ring, I gave Scott the go ahead.

“Hello.”

“Is this Mr. Winthrop?” It was the same voice as last time, the professional one.

“This is he.”

“You messed up sending that cop.”

“I’m sorry. I—”

“Bad as that was, though, you
really
fucked up by not sending the money.”

I scribbled on the paper.
Blame me.

“The cop said it was best…”

Money tainted
, I wrote.

“He said the money was—”

“Bullshit! Tell Detective Cataldi to stop feeding you lines.”

The front door opened, and Mars came in. Sameena got to him before he could say anything. She had him go back with his parents.

Scott did a good job of composing himself. “What do you want?”

“What I wanted all along. Seven million dollars. And you know
how
we want it.” A long pause, then, “The problem is, you made a mistake and it’s going to cost you. If your daughter was a virgin before, your greed has cost her that.”

The first thing I thought of was Lonny going wild. I turned quickly. He was about to react when Lucia’s hand went over his mouth.

“Don’t you
dare
say a word. They’ll kill her.”

***

Scott heard the words
If she was a virgin before, your greed has cost her that
. He cringed, felt like crawling into a hole. “No!”

The man on the phone said, “It was your greed that did it. You’re to blame.”

Scott had built his career on making quick, insightful decisions. He hoped his fortune continued, because he was about to make another decision, and he had no time to consult with Gino about it. “I’ll pay you an extra hundred-thousand dollars.”

“I’m afraid—”

Before the kidnapper finished, a woman’s voice from the background interrupted him. “Wait!”

Silence followed then what sounded like arguing before the man came back on the line. “A nice surprise, Mr. Winthrop. We are not unreasonable people. We reward creativity. Make sure you add the new money to the bags.”

Scott thought about the decision he’d just made. It could be a life-changing one. Somehow, though, he felt better. Cleaner. “What about my daughter? When will I see her?”

“After we get the money.”

“How—”

“Oh, and Mr. Winthrop, come yourself this time. Don’t send a cop pretending to be Uncle Eddy.”

Detective Cataldi scribbled furiously on the scratch pad.
Don’t do it.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there.”

“A wise decision. We’ll call in the morning,
after
you get the money from the bank. I’ll call around ten.”

As Scott was about to hang up, the man spoke again. “One more thing. Go to Academy and pick up two Adidas sports bags. You’ll need two bags for the money, as it’s quite heavy. We’ve already tested these bags; they’re big enough to handle that amount. Each bag will weigh about seventy pounds, but you’re a strong man, Winthrop. I’m confident you can manage.”

“I’ll manage.”

“Good.”

***

Scott hung up, looking as if he’d been victorious. I didn’t know if he had or not, but at least we’d bought some time. Before I could gather my thoughts, Lonny rushed into the kitchen.

“What about Jada? Do you think—”

“If you mean do I think they’ll molest her, I doubt it. Mr. Winthrop’s fast thinking may have saved her from that. I know you’re worried, Lonny, but for now, let’s focus on bringing her back alive. Everything after that is a bonus.”

From behind Lonny, Mars said, “Detective, I may have something for you. I don’t know if it’s important or not, but…”

“What?”

“A car came by the house several times in the days before they got Jada. A woman was driving, and—”

“How do you know this, Mars?”

“I asked some friends, they—”

I tried to keep the anger from my voice, but I don’t think it worked. “What did you say? Who did you talk to?”

Mars seemed nervous now. “Friends, some kids.”

“Goddamnit! I told everyone not to say
anything, to anyone.
”

“All I did was—”

Sameena had come over, probably warning me off, but my anger had built to a level where I couldn’t keep the tone down. I didn’t even try. “What you did was maybe get your sister killed. If they find out they don’t have Alexa, your sister’s life is nothing to them. Less than nothing.”

Mars was crying now, and Lucia had come up to hug him. “Is she gonna be all right?” he asked through the tears. “I was just trying to do something. I couldn’t stand just sitting here.”

“How the hell do I know if she’ll be all right?” I started to settle down.

Crying kids always did that to me. Kids and women. And the tears usually followed one of my rantings. I patted his shoulder. “I’m sorry to upset you, but
please
stay at the house and don’t talk to anyone outside.”

Scott looked at Mars, then Lonny and Lucia. “Don’t worry. Jada will be all right.”

I had forgiven Mars already. Scott was another matter. “How the hell do you know that, Mr. Winthrop? Let
me
run this show.”

“She’ll be all right because I’m giving them the money.”

I stopped. Stared. Lucia let go of Mars and ran to Scott, embracing him. Lonny looked as if he’d fall again.

“What?” I said.

Scott hugged Lucia. “I decided to let the Hacketts have the money.” He laughed then, one of those cover-up laughs that people do when they don’t really mean it. “Of course, I hope you recover it, Detective. I don’t want to start my life all over again.”

Lonny was beside him now, looking like a kid at a grownup’s party, with no idea what to say.

“I’m gonna cook us some dinner,” Lucia said. “I
know
I’m hungry, and I’m betting everyone else is too.”

Scott laughed, and I realized it was the first genuine laughter in this house all day. “Detective, are you hungry?”

“I’ll get something. This is all good news, so good, that I’m going to send everyone home to freshen up for tomorrow.” I went to Scott and Lonny. “You both have my cell. If anything happens, call me. Otherwise, I’ll see you early in the morning. And remember, don’t talk to anyone.”

I walked over to Mars my hand extended. “Sorry about blowing up. We’re all under pressure, but it’s no excuse.”

“I shouldn’t have done it,” Mars said, and shook Cataldi’s hand.

“That’s okay. Now how about telling me the rest of what happened.”

Mars filled me in on the story, including the part about the VNA license plate and how the friend remembered it because the lady had a
very nice ass.
I let him finish his story and thanked him again. Before leaving, I called Connors and the rest of them into the room where the techs had set up. “I want you to go home, get some rest, and be ready for tomorrow. Be here by eight.”

“Anything we need to do?” Connors asked.

I looked around. “Yeah, think of ways for us to catch these guys. We’ve got three things to focus on: catching the kidnappers; getting Winthrop back his money; and most importantly, bringing Jada home safe.”

“You don’t think they’ll let her go when they get the money?” Connors said.

“As far as I’m concerned, there is no way in hell they’ll let her go. The fact that they are talking about raping her means they were already thinking about it—at the very least. So put your thinking caps on, people. Tomorrow we’ve got to be smarter than them.”

Chapter 46