Twilight (28 page)

31

T
he Vincenzi home in Fort Myers must be a considerably more modest one than the monstrosity they had searched in the Chicago suburbs, Rick thought, as they drove into the neighborhood of small Spanish-style stucco structures on postage-stamp-size lots.

Dana hadn’t said a word since they’d left the airport. She had sat huddled between him and her father on the drive, seemingly oblivious to their presence. She hadn’t reacted in any way when he’d taken her icy hands in his and rubbed them to restore the warmth. From time to time, he could feel her shivering, even though the tropical air was warm and muggy.

He glanced at her father and saw that he hadn’t missed Rick’s gesture. It would have been too much to expect approval in his eyes, but there was no censure, either, just questions that would remain on hold for the time being. Rick could respect a man for wanting to wait and see before giving his blessing to a relationship.

If there was to be a relationship, he reminded himself. That was very much in question, for the time being. Dana was allowing his touch at the moment, because she was, quite frankly, oblivious to it. Later, he had no idea what to expect. He prayed for the best and feared the worst.

In the meantime, there was Bobby to worry about. He was convinced that Joey wouldn’t harm the boy. No matter how panicked he was, how cornered he was feeling, he was a decent kid at heart. Rick conceded reluctantly that his opinion was based more on desperate hope than facts. Joey had been in a gang for a long time before Tico had forced him out after his own redemption. He’d been in there long enough to become desensitized to violence. Who knew what effect Carlos’s ugly influence had had?

There was a crowd gathered on the street just down the block from the Vincenzi home, though the police had done their best to keep neighbors and others drawn by the unfolding drama at a distance.

“You okay?” Detective Rogers asked Dana, after pulling to a stop behind a line of police vehicles.

She nodded, though her complexion was pale and her eyes darkened by fear. Unshed tears made them shimmer like deep blue pools.

“Let’s go, then,” her father said. “Let’s let Bobby know that his mom is right outside.”

As Dana and her father made their way to the SWAT team coordinator, Rick held back and surveyed the throng, searching for Tico. If Joey was inside, Tico wouldn’t be able to stay away. Nor would he have gone in with his brother. Rick still believed that his friend would fight to the end to prevent a tragedy.

Eventually he spotted Tico lurking in the shadows, two houses down, standing all alone. Rick slipped through the darkness and came up behind him.

“We’ve got troubles, old friend,” he said softy.

Tico jerked at the sound of his voice, but he never turned. He kept his bleak, tortured face focused on the house where his brother was holding an innocent young boy hostage.

“I was too late,” he said in a voice quivering with emotion. “As soon as I knew, I came after him, but I was too late. If all of this comes to a bad end, I will kill Carlos with my bare hands.”

“It’s time for the truth. Did Joey kill Ken?”

Tico’s head snapped around at that. “Never!” he said furiously. “It was that gringo, that slime who is inside at this very moment holding Joey and the others hostage.”

Rick gaped at the totally unexpected reply. “Gringo? Who?”

“Drake.”

“Peter Drake?” he asked, incredulous, even though he’d seen that very man at the scene of another murder.

“Sí.”

“How the devil was he involved?”

“From the beginning, he was demanding payoffs,” Tico said, obviously aware that it was too late now for denials or evasions. “He said I should be pleased to become a front for a money-laundering operation, since he had made it possible for me to open.”

“I don’t understand.”

“He and the woman were having an affair. She used her influence with her husband and with the
padre
to put the loan deal together for me. As far as I knew, it was a straightforward deal. Then this Drake came to me and explained the facts of life, as he called them. He had this little drug operation, he and some others.”

“Lawrence Tremayne?” Rick guessed, thinking of the Latin American connection that they’d never been able to make sense of.

“He was one. There were more, I suspect, though I never met them.”

“Did you cooperate?”

“For a while, until I could think what to do.” He regarded Rick wryly. “With my past, I didn’t think I could go to the police.”

“You could have come to me,” Rick said.

“No, my friend. I could not involve you. For once, I needed to solve this problem on my own. You were counting on me to be a success story, yes?”

Rick guessed the rest. “You talked to Ken.”

“
Sí.
It was the worst mistake of my life. I should have known how he would react. He went loco. He threatened to blow the whole operation out of the water. He was incensed at the betrayal of men he’d thought to be honorable. I tried to calm him, to make him think rationally, but he insisted on doing it his way, on confronting them with what he knew, on giving them a chance to make things right.”

“Right how?”

“By turning themselves in.” Tico shrugged. “He was a very naive man, yes? It was his charm, but also his downfall.”

“How did Carlos and Joey fit in?”

“Drake went to Carlos with his little problem. Carlos decided it would be a fascinating test of Joey’s loyalty to him to ask him to shoot the
padre.
Naturally he did not trust him to do it. When Joey refused, Carlos pulled the trigger, then placed the gun in my brother’s hand. Do you think the police would have believed that, though?”

“And today? What happened to bring you down here today?”

“Joey told me earlier that Drake had had Vincenzi killed, too, and that he was planning to fly here, get Carolina and leave the country. We concluded, once more, that the police would not believe such a story. We decided to try to stop them ourselves. Joey, however, was too rash. He went in before we could think of a plan. Drake has them all now.”

“Including Ken’s boy,” Rick concluded quietly.

Tico stared at him. “The
padre’s
son is in there?”

“Yes.” He met Tico’s gaze. “Perhaps you and I should do what the police do not dare.”

“Go in?” Tico replied, looking doubtful. “I do not think this is such a good idea.”

“We don’t have a choice, my friend. If we don’t, they may harm the wrong man. They think Joey is behind this, and Drake will be eager to serve him up as the culprit.”

“You would do that for me? You would risk your life to save my brother?”

“I would do it for you,” he said readily. “And for Dana.”

“I saw her arrive,” Tico said. “I did not guess that you were with her.”

Rick shrugged. “Where else would I be?” he said wryly. “Though at the moment I doubt that she appreciates it.”

“You have it very bad, don’t you,
mi amigo?
”

“
Sí.
Very bad.”

Tico grinned at him. “So, you and I are together again. You have a plan?”

“As I recall, we were once very good at improvising.”

“True, but there is danger in that.”

“There is danger in living,” Rick told him. “And even greater danger, sometimes, in doing nothing.”

They moved in tandem then, slipping around behind the house, staying in shadows, alert for the presence of the SWAT team that had every door and window under surveillance. Breaking in without being detected, from either within or without, was not going to be so easy.

“Do you know exactly where they are being held?”

“At the far end of the house, I believe. The garage protects it on one side, and the windows are smaller. I have seen no movement through any of the sliding glass doors. It seems to me it would be foolish to hold them where they can be readily seen, and this Drake is no fool.”

Rick regarded the house thoughtfully. “Perhaps we can change that. Wait for me here.”

He circled to the front of the house and slipped through the crowd, until he could catch Dana’s father’s eye. The older man joined him at once.

“Tell Dana to insist on seeing her son, preferably through that sliding glass door in the living room. Once he’s there, ask her to try to keep him in view as long as possible. Cry, plead, whatever it takes, okay? Make sure she keeps Bobby where he is plainly visible so there will be no mistakes.”

Her father didn’t waste time asking a lot of unnecessary questions. He seemed to know intuitively what Rick was planning. He, too, seemed to accept the limitations of the police.

He met Rick’s gaze with an unblinking look. “Are you sure you can do this?”

“I have no choice but to try.”

“You could leave it to the police.”

“And while they debate the alternatives, the man inside could begin to get very jittery. I have to do this for Ken’s sake.”

“And for my daughter’s,” the older man guessed. “God speed, son. Thank you.”

Rick hated expressing any hint of doubt about the outcome, but he needed Dana to know what she had meant to him. He met the other man’s gaze. “If anything should happen to me, would you...?”

He smiled and squeezed Rick’s shoulder. “I will tell her that you love her very much. I think, though, that you should come back to her safely and tell her yourself.”

Rick grinned. “I’m going to do my damnedest to do just that.”

* * *

Dana’s eyes were gritty from staring so hard at the tiny house, trying to catch a glimpse of her son. He must be terrified. So far, though, the police hadn’t let her make an appeal to Joey Garcia, nor had they let her speak to her son.

She was dimly aware of her father having a hushed conversation with Detective Rogers, then of several policemen huddling together, as her father returned to her side.

“You doing okay, baby?”

“Dad, I am so scared,” she admitted. “I don’t think I have ever been more terrified.”

“Not even when Johnny Payne locked you in that steel vault?” he asked, referring to a harrowing incident that had taken place while she was an investigator.

“Not even then.”

“He’s going to get out of there,” her father reassured her. “I believe that with all my heart.”

“But we’ve been at a stalemate for hours. I don’t think the police are even negotiating for his release.”

“That may be about to change.”

She stared at him. “What do you know?”

“Here comes Detective Rogers now,” he said, evading her eyes. “Let’s see what he has in mind.”

“Mrs. Miller, we have phone contact with the kidnapper. Do you think you could talk to him?”

The very idea of chatting with the person who was terrorizing her child made her blood run cold, but she nodded. She tried to remind herself that Joey was little more than a boy himself and that he was Tico’s brother.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

“Ask to see Bobby. Tell him you want to come up to that front window and see your boy. If he agrees, keep Bobby and the kidnapper there as long as you can.”

“What if he refuses?”

“Keep at him until you wear him down. Plead. Cry. Whatever it takes.”

She nodded.

“Okay, then, let’s do it.”

He spoke to the SWAT commander, who relinquished the phone to her.

Dana forced herself to remain calm as she clutched the receiver as though it were a lifeline to her son. “Joey?” she said softly.

A sinister laugh made her stomach plummet. Instantly alert, she said, “This isn’t Joey, is it?”

“How brilliant of you to conclude that, Mrs. Miller. You were always far too smart for that saccharine husband of yours.”

“My God,” she murmured, instantly recognizing Peter Drake’s voice, even though she had heard him use that tone only once before, at the meeting at her house with the church elders. “It’s you.”

“Right again. I was afraid you’d put it together. Those stupid policemen don’t have a clue who they’re dealing with. I’ve had them on the phone with Joey all evening. I couldn’t resist the chance to talk with you, though.”

“What do you want?”

“My freedom,” he said simply. “Carolina and I want to leave the country and live quietly.”

“I can make that happen,” she said impulsively. “But first I want to see Bobby.”

“Sorry. Not possible.”

Terrified of the answer, she asked the obvious questions anyway. “Why? Have you killed him already?”

“Killed my ace in the hole? Perhaps you’re not as bright as I thought.”

“Then why can’t I see him? You could bring him into the living room. I’ll stand right outside the window.”

“And I will make myself the perfect target for some sniper.”

“No,” she insisted. “You can stay out of sight. Just let Bobby come where I can see that he’s all right.” Though she’d vowed not to cry, she couldn’t help the sobs that rose in her throat. “Please, Peter. I have to see him. I have to let him know I’m here.”

“You can speak to him on the phone.”

“No,” she repeated. “It won’t be the same. Look, I can help you get away from here, but not unless you do this for me.”

“What makes you think you can get the police to let us go?”

“I’m a minister’s wife. They’ll believe me when I tell them you had nothing to do with this, that it was all Joey Garcia. That’s what they think, anyway.”

“They are idiots, aren’t they?” he said, sounding thoughtful. “Okay, I will bring Bobby to the window. Don’t try anything crazy, because I will have a gun on him the whole time. You come up to the house alone. If I see anyone else close, the deal’s off and your boy is dead. Are we clear?”

She swallowed hard. “We’re clear.” She handed the phone back to Detective Rogers and gave him a curt nod to indicate that the kidnapper had bought the plan. Then she began moving very slowly across the street and onto the Vincenzi’s front lawn. With each step she took, her heart pounded a little harder and sweat beaded across her forehead.

Was she doing the right thing? She had blindly accepted the police plan without asking what their intentions were. Would they be rushing the house from another direction, even as she herself approached? Was she only putting her son into more danger? It was too late for second thoughts now, though. She was only a few yards from that window and a precious glimpse of Bobby.