Necessary Decisions, A Gino Cataldi Mystery (45 page)

“Don’t forget to clear Mr. Winthrop’s phone,” he said to a tech passing by.

“Already done, Detective. He’s good to go.”

“I can’t thank you enough,” Winthrop said.

“Thank me? We were just doing our jobs. We owe you the thanks, letting us use the house like this. Disrupting your life…I’m just sorry we didn’t get the money. I would have liked to have had a few minutes with the kidnappers too.”

Winthrop seemed to perk up. “What happened with them again? I didn’t get all the information.”

Delgado shrugged. “They’re all dead. Something happened to the van, we think. A broken fuel line or something. Then it spread to some gas cans, and the whole place went up. Nobody got out alive.”

“And the money?”

Delgado hid his smile. He knew the conversation would come around to the money. “The money burnt up in the fire.”

Winthrop tensed. “All of it?”

“As far as we can tell. They found both bags and a lot of burned up bills. A
lot.
”

Delgado noticed the muscles in Scott’s arms tighten. “What are you going to do about that, Mr. Winthrop? You have to pay that back, don’t you?”

He seemed lost in thought. “What…oh, yes.” He stared out the kitchen window. Gino looked in the same direction, but there was nothing there. “I hadn’t counted on losing it all.”

Delgado folded the washcloth, dried his hands then gathered his folders from the table. He set a few of them on the seat to the left. “Mind if I take a bottle of water with me?”

“By all means. Whatever you need.”

Delgado grabbed a bottle from the fridge and started for the door. Winthrop followed.

“What will happen now?”

Delgado turned. “Now? It’s over, Mr. Winthrop. The case is closed.” He smiled. “Not officially yet, but it’s down to the paperwork. We’ve got the girl home, and the kidnappers are dead.”

“But the money…”

“I know that must be worrisome. More than worrisome, but the money’s gone, sir. There’s nothing we can do about it.” Delgado reached for the doorknob. “Thanks again for the use of the house. Have a great day.”

Delgado got in the car and turned left out of the drive. He went only two blocks before he parked on the side of the street. He climbed into a van with Tip and one of the techs. “Anything?”

“Not yet. I suspect it won’t be long,” Tip said.

About five minutes passed before the tech said, “Got an outgoing call.”

Delgado and Tip put on headphones, listening in on the call. It rang four times.

“Lone Star Recovery.”

“Harbough, we need to talk.”

Scott’s voice was a harsh whisper, the kind you hear in old detective movies. Tip raised his thumb up to Delgado, and they high-fived.

“Who is this?”

“You know who it is. The detectives just left. They said all the money’s gone.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, mister. You must have the wrong number.”

“They’re gone now. They packed up and left. It’s safe for me to talk. What I want to know is who the fuck set the fire? Did you? Do you have the money?”

“
Shut the fuck up!
”

“Did you put that spyware on my phone?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Someone put spyware on my cell phone.”

“Are you talking on it now?”

“They already took it off. It’s clean now. Where’s the money? What happened?”

“Listen, cowboy, I don’t know you, so I’m hanging up.” The line went dead.

Scott dialed again. This time it rang a dozen times, but no one answered. He tried again, but it went to a machine. He didn’t leave a message. Guess he had
some
smarts.

Delgado turned to Tip. “Think that’s enough?”

“Enough for what we need,” Tip said.

Delgado and Tip headed back to Winthrop’s house. Delgado tapped lightly on the door. Scott’s expression was full of surprise when he saw them. “Detective, I didn’t expect to see you again.”

“May we come in, Mr. Winthrop?”

Winthrop hesitated, and Delgado said, “I forgot some files.”

He stepped aside. “Of course, forgive me. My mind was wandering. Seems to be doing that a lot of late.”

“I understand, sir, with all you’ve been through.” He walked over and picked up the folders, holding them while he studied Winthrop. “We’ve been trying to figure out who put that spyware on your phone. Do you have any idea?”

“As I said, I have no idea.”

“All right, just thought I’d ask.” Delgado started to leave then turned again. “I almost forgot. Tip was thinking about the money…”

“Yes?” He perked up again.

“I know you’re worried about it, but with your ransom insurance, you don’t have to worry. It will be reimbursed.”

Winthrop’s brow wrinkled. “Ransom insurance?”

Delgado smiled. This guy was good. “And you don’t know who put the spyware in your phone?”

“I already said I don’t.” His frustration was obviously building.

“You’re certain it wasn’t Mr. Harbough?”

That one hit hard, clearly taking him by surprise. He didn’t answer for a few seconds. “Who?”

“Mr. Harbough. Ed Harbough.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know a Mr. Harbough.”

Tip leaned across the table, narrowing his eyes at Scott, getting his mean look going. “You sure? He investigated an insurance claim you had last year.”

Scott put on his best expression to imitate deep thought. “Harbough… Was that him? I don’t remember. Why? Does it matter?”

“You must have suspected him of the spyware, Mr. Winthrop, because you just called and asked him yourself.” Delgado pushed the button on the tape player, which was set to start at the right spot. Winthrop heard his own voice on the recorder:

“Harbough, we need to talk.”

“Who is this?”

“You know who it is. The detectives just left here. They said all the money is gone.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, mister. You must have the wrong number.”

“Look, they’re gone now. They packed up and left. It’s safe for me to talk. What I want to know is who the fuck set the fire? Did you? Do you have the money?”

“Shut the fuck up!”

“Did you put that spyware on my phone?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Someone put spyware on my cell phone.”

“Are you talking on it now?”

“They already took it off. It’s clean now. Where’s the money? What happened?”

“Listen, cowboy, I don’t know you, so I’m hanging up.”

Winthrop’s face lost every bit of expression. He had nothing left to try. Even his voice failed him. Delgado rewound the tape and sat up straight. “Mr. Winthrop, I think we need to talk.”

He nodded then finally found his voice. “Where did you get that?”

“I don’t think it matters,” Tip said.

He thought for a moment, then, “I don’t think you can use that…”

Tip laughed. “You’re probably right. I’d bet with a good lawyer this would be thrown out in court, so we’re not even gonna try.”

Scott shifted his gaze from Tip to Delgado and back. “What are you going to do with it?”

“We just wanted you to understand that we know what is going on. And we want you to cooperate on getting Ed Harbough.”

Scott stood. “I need to call my lawyer.”

“You could do that,” Tip said. “And I could read you your rights, but I’m not.”

Winthrop stopped, confused.

“What I’m gonna do is drive over to Lonny Hackett’s house and give him this tape. I’m gonna let Lonny read you your rights.”

“You wouldn’t do that, I’ll—”

Tip got right in his face. “You’ll what?” He sneered, twisting his scar until Winthrop backed up. “If you can still talk after Lonny’s done with you
then
I’ll lock your ass up. At that point, you’re going in for the full show: felony murder.”

“Murder? I never—”

“When you’re involved in a kidnapping and someone dies, it’s felony murder for all of you. You’re new to this great state, so let me fill you in on some little-known facts. Texas puts more criminals to death than any other state. We got a whole damn room full of needles waiting for arms to put them in. We don’t much care if it’s a black or white arm either. Equal opportunity killing is what we got.”

“What if I cooperate?”

“Depends on what you did.”

“I told you—I didn’t do anything.”

Tip read him his rights, and then they sat at the table.

“Start talking,” Delgado said. “Start with the fake insurance claim when you met Harbough.”

For the next half an hour, Winthrop talked. He told them how his ex-wife had taken him for almost everything. How he needed money. He’d thought he could get away with a fake break-in, so he had one of the people who did his landscaping pawn some of his belongings for him. Harbough investigated and quickly found the stuff, tracing it back to Winthrop’s ill-conceived plot. Harbough then offered to split the money with Winthrop. The alternative was getting arrested.

“So I took the money,” Winthrop said. “Then I forgot all about him—until a couple of weeks ago. He called and suggested we meet. Over lunch, he proposed the idea for the kidnapping. I don’t know how he knew I had kidnap insurance, but he did. He said he would arrange everything. I needed money, so I agreed.”

“But you never met any of the kidnappers?”

“Never. I didn’t even speak with them until they called.”

“And you don’t know who they are?”

Scott shook his head. “No idea.”

“How did they get the wrong girl?”

Scott sighed. “They didn’t. When Harbough first proposed the idea, I wouldn’t agree. I didn’t want Alexa going through that.” He took a sip of water. “After he realized he wouldn’t get me to change my mind, even after threatening me, he told me about the guest part of the policy.”

Delgado gritted his teeth. He wanted to hit this guy so bad. “So you decided to sacrifice Jada.”

“Don’t say it like that, Detective. Harbough assured me she would be safe.”

Delgado opened one of the folders and pulled out the picture of Jada—naked, beaten and bruised. He set it on the table and slid it in front of Winthrop. “Safe like this?”

Winthrop turned his head. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. He promised!”

Delgado and Tip sat silently. Finally Tip said, “You realize you’ll have to testify against Harbough in court.”

Winthrop nodded. “In exchange…”

“For a lesser charge, yes.”

“What kind of lesser charge?”

“I’m willing to bet we can drop felony murder. That will take the needle off the table. You’d still be charged with kidnapping. It will be up to your lawyer to do anything beyond that.”

Winthrop was silent for a minute, maybe more. Then he nodded. “I’m ready.”

Tip yanked him up. Delgado put the cuffs on.

“Are those really necessary, Detective?”

“Absolutely,” Delgado said, and tightened them a little more.

“Where’s Alexa?” Scott asked. “I need to see her.”

No wonder the girl is so screwed up,
Delgado thought. “She went to visit Jada.” On the way out the door, he called Gino. “Got him, cuz. We’re going downtown.”

“What about Harbough?”

“We’ve got a uniform sitting on him. Tip’s going to stop and pick him up.”

“No! Send someone else.”

“You got it.”

Chapter 67

One Last Night

L
onny drove the car home, letting Jada and her mother have the back seat. Mars kept him company up front. Lonny was proud of Mars. Jada, too. He had great kids, and now he had to leave them.

Time enough for those worries later.
Now was a time to celebrate Jada’s return.

“Whatever you want for dinner, young lady, name it, and it’s yours.”

Lucia laughed. “As long as it doesn’t cost more than six dollars.”

“And forty-two cents,” Mars added. “I’ll kick in my bankroll.”

Jada leaned forward and kissed her brother’s cheek. “I even missed
you,
little bro. Can you believe that?”

They talked and laughed more on the way home, and when they arrived, Lonny announced that he was cooking dinner.

“Lord have mercy,” Lucia said. “What on earth are
you
gonna cook?”

He came out of the kitchen wearing Lucia’s apron and a chef’s hat she’d bought him as a gag gift years ago. “Lonny Hackett’s specialty,” he said. “Jalapeño hot dogs.”

“I should have known,” Jada said. “It’s the only thing he can cook.”

Dinner was full of thanks, prayers, and more laughter. But as the night wore on, Lonny found it difficult to keep a happy face. This was his last night at home. Maybe forever. Several times, Lucia tried saying something to him, but he ducked her. He avoided any situation where he might be caught alone, left to face her questions. After playing a game of Canasta, then a few challenge rounds of Scrabble, Lonny announced he was going to shower.

He went to the bedroom and sat on the bed, wondering what to do. He’d had enough of that dirty money left to get them out of Texas, maybe all the way to Arizona. Or to go the other way to Florida. He’d heard work was good in Florida. And it was warm there. Cops would be after him, but he could change names. A few hundred bucks would take care of that. Get a new ID for all of them, and they could settle down in a growing community. He went to the closet, got a suitcase, and started pulling things out of the drawers, filling it up.