a Touch of Ice (21 page)

Annoyingly macho as that sounded, I secretly agreed with him. “Tonight at your house would be great. I’m not good at relationships either, haven’t had many, any really, so I’m twitchy, off balance with someone caring about me, wanting to spend time with me. It’s uncomfortable…in a good way. I think.”

“Un-huh. How about we take this one crisis at a time. There’s no food at home. Any preference on grocery stores?”

He did the single eyebrow thing.

I tried to find words, any words that would express the unpredictable and ever-changing thoughts rolling around in my head, but Mitch pulled to a stop and the sight of the worn-down stable captured my full attention.

It had photographed well. Naturally. Mitch wouldn’t take a photograph that didn’t have atmosphere and an extraordinary amount of artistic character—even if Tony did give him the list of buildings to work from. “I hoped it has some secrets to share with me.”

“Me too, Sunshine.”

We got out of the car, holding hands as we wandered toward the stable. “This feels entirely different from the barn,” I said, turning to look at Mitch. He’d dropped behind, making noises about the light, and had his camera focused on me. A little unnerving, dating a photographer. We were going to have to discuss the always-look-photographable concept.

“Different, how?” he asked as he skimmed through the photos on his camera.

“Less angry, more sinister I guess.” I stopped in front of a set of huge doors, tentatively ran my fingers along the surface. “Nothing here. Is there another way in?”

“Looks like a side door over there.” Mitch pointed toward a door that hung by a single hinge.

Wanting to get on with it, I jogged to the door and brushed fingertips brush over surface. “Oh yeah, this is it. Well, isn’t
that
interesting. Not only do I have images of Shaved Head and Messy, but Tony was here. He came through this door, Mitch, and he looks…nervous. Shaky. Preoccupied and disturbed. It’s hard watching his expressions through the images because I can’t pinpoint them.”

I stepped over the threshold, keeping my fingers in touch with the wall. “Do you think Tony went into business, like outside the family, with Shaved Head? From what I’ve heard about Mama Civitelli, that would be amazingly stupid. Was Tony…on the left of the bell curve, intelligence-wise, I mean?”

“Nope. He knew better than to work against the family, stayed away from their business, focused on his work as a mechanic. He wouldn’t change his mind about that. Tony didn’t want to be on the run.” Mitch frowned, the autumn sparkle fading from his eyes. “But it looks like that’s exactly what happened.”

I continued into the stable, touching the edge of a stall door. “The complete cast of characters passed through this door. It’s like Grand Central with the comings and goings.”

I entered the stall, being careful where I stepped, looked around trying to decide what to touch. I knew it had to be the floor because of the image I’d picked up from Pierce. An extremely unappealing prospect.

“Do you have any wipes in your car? I need to touch this floor, and I’ll be darned if I’m going to do it without a clean-up plan in place.”

“Wipes are available. Want me to get them, or would you rather I stay with you?”

“Get the wipes, by all means, get the wipes.”

After Mitch left, I circled the stall. It didn’t take long. Horse stalls aren’t all that big, even oversized ones. There was definitely something familiar here. Tynan Pierce? I mucked around in the hay some more. Yep, it was Pierce. No mistaking that energy imprint, and the information matched perfectly with the image I’d picked up from Violet’s deck.

Mitch would be back with the wipes any minute, so I ran my fingers lightly along the rest of the floor. Got a clear sequence of images—Tony finding, up-ending the black bag, holding a handful of sparklies, peering into the empty bag, and then scooping the diamonds back into the black velvet bag, securing them with the drawstring.

Footsteps crunched on the gritty floor and spun around. The clip flew from my hair and landed in the muck at my feet. “Damn it. You scared me. And that clip’s a goner.” I took a handful of wipes from Mitch and started to work on my hands as I told him about what I’d seen. Good thing he had a full container of wipes, ‘cause that floor was nasty.

“Let’s start back,” I said, apprehension heavy in my chest. “I need to talk with Violet before we meet with Adam. Do you mind hanging out at my house, give us a few minutes of privacy?”

He slanted a look at me. “I can do that.”

When we got back, I immediately headed to Violet’s and rang the bell.

“Come on up.” Her voice floated from overhead, her upper body poking out from an upstairs window. “I was headed to the deck with a soda. Want one?”

I nodded agreement, and when I topped the stairs, she handed me a Diet Coke with fresh-squeezed lime. “Did you pick up anything for us to work with when you touched the stable?” she asked, leading the way outside.

“Some good images of Tony. Apparently he knew where to look because he found a small black bag with a handful of gems. I’m guessing they were dropped, or whoever was supposed to pick them up, maybe Shaved Head, hadn’t gotten there yet. Maybe Tony beat him to it. I don’t know. The images don’t come with explanations. Extremely annoying, that.”

“If that’s how it played out, it would explain why Shaved Head, Carl Pestorelli, would be looking for Tony, and if there was enough money involved, why he would kill Tony. At least he’d have something to report back to his boss, even if he hadn’t recovered the jewels.”

I set my soda down and looked at Violet, waiting for her full attention. “There’s something I need to tell you…”

Twenty-four

“Umm, let me guess. You need to tell me about how wonderful Mitch is in bed,” she said with a huge grin.

“No, actually I mean yes, he is wonderful, but that’s not what I wanted to say.” I took a deep breath then let the words pile out in a rush. “Violet, I know your name is Annie, that you worked for some secret agency as a sniper. I know Adam is your brother, that you and Pierce were partners.”

“How?” Her face was a mask. Inscrutable.

I gathered up enough courage to go on. “I’ve known some of it since I overheard things in the hospital when you thought I was unconscious.”

“And?”

“I was in the hallway when Pierce came to my house the night I was shot. I listened to your conversation.”

She broke in, angling her chin, remembering. “I thought something felt off that night. I chalked it up to Pierce suddenly being back in my life. But it was you.”

“It was me. I’m not proud of it, but I thought I heard something, got out of bed to check, and I couldn’t make myself stop listening or tell you I was there. If you knew, you would have stopped talking about the interesting stuff—”

She nodded. “Uh-huh.”

I took sip of soda, chewed on my lip.

“Spill.” The single word slammed at me while Violet-slash-Annie wiggled her fingers to hurry me along.

“I. Umm, remember Thursday night when I was supposed to be on retreat?”

The inscrutable look was quickly replaced with guarded apprehension. “I remember.”

“Well, I was sitting in the booth at Gypsy’s right behind you and Adam. I heard your whole conversation.”

“You what? That was five days ago and you’re just getting around to telling me now?”

“There’s more.”

She tucked her hair behind her ear and her expression went back to inscrutable. “Go on.”

“I was curled up on my deck last night when you and Pierce crawled up the side of your house and were talking.”

She shook her head at me, anger rolling between us. “Why didn’t you say something? If you were listening to our conversation, you knew how worried I was about you.”

“At first I was terrified someone connected to Donny was trying to break in. It took a while for my heart to stop pounding. By that time you were involved in your discussion, and I didn’t know how to announce myself without looking like an idiot.”

“I remember the days when you only left your house with a planned itinerary in mind. Now it seems you’re out and about, visiting all the right places at all the right times. This is…I can’t believe it took you so long to talk to me about it.”

“Things have been a little hectic, you know. The only time we’ve been alone together was when we were shopping, and I thought we both needed a break from what’s been going on.”

Her mouth curved with a hint of happy. “I agree. We did need the break. You haven’t asked why I didn’t tell you any of this, why I’ve kept it from you for the past six years.”

“I think that’s obvious. It’s called being under cover and trying to stay alive. We both know I can’t keep a secret worth a darn.”

“You’ve done a damn fine job for the past five days.”

“It about killed me.” I ran my tongue over my lips, took a swallow of soda. “Guess that was a poor choice of words, considering, but it’s been a long five days. Not to mention the restless nights. I’ve been popping candy bars like Tums. Turns out I don’t do well with snooping and eavesdropping on my friends.”

“No. I agree that’s not who you are. Probably why this…confession has thrown me some. Do you have questions? Any that I can answer?”

“Probably not. I have a ton you can’t answer though.”

She closed her eyes, withdrew into inscrutable again.

“I wouldn’t have invaded your privacy this way, but my curiosity got out of hand before I realized what happened. And I seriously think it would be a lot easier and safer if you, Adam, and Pierce weren’t working so hard to hide things from me. That kind of dance can be exhausting, and until West is locked up, it’d be better to use your energy on his capture and…whatever.”

I gulped the last few swallows of soda. Confession is thirsty work, but I needed to get the apology out. “I couldn’t keep this to myself any longer. I know how difficult the ESP fingers can be for those close to me, and now listening-at-doors, well, I’m sorry.”

She was quiet for a long minute, and I still couldn’t read her expression. “I’ve never known you to eavesdrop. It’s weird that I’ve been trained to do that kind of thing and you’ve been getting away with it, probably because it was the last thing I expected from you.”

She focused on me and tucked the errant strand of hair behind her ear again. “Did you pick up anything from touching me? I thought you usually blocked things like that, personal things about me. You’ve always said it fades into background chatter, like white noise.”

“That’s true. There weren’t many images from touching you, and of course, no sound. Most of what I picked up was from being nosy and accidentally showing up on cue. Usually I
can
mute the images that come through when I touch you, keep from attending to them. But the stronger your emotions, the more difficult it is for me to ‘fade’ them. Your relationships with Adam and Pierce—it’s been intense. Too intense for me to ignore.”

“Okay. Well, I’m at a loss here.” She thought a minute, smiled and held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Anna Jamison Stone. Nice to meet you.”

I took her hand, the tension draining from my body. We were going be all right. Still friends. “I’m El. Nice to meet you, too.”

“What’s going on here?” Adam stood in the doorway watching us.

Annie looked at me, and her lips twitched with mischief. “Everly Gray, I’d like to introduce my brother, Adam Stone, Detective with the Apex PD.”

Adam looked back and forth between us. “Nice to meet you El,” he bit out. “I’d like to know how all this revelation came to pass, and what the hell it means to your safety Annie.”

“It’s the beginning of my transition to become me again.” She reached him in two strides, gave him a quick hug. “As soon as we eliminate West, I’ll be free to live and work as Annie Jamison Stone.”

“You’re not there yet.” His voice hitched, concern for Annie like static running through his words.

“Chill. I’m not planning to get killed. Not now when freedom is at my fingertips.” She grinned, wiggling her fingers.

Adam cleared his throat, swallowed the bite of emotion. “Wanted to let you know. Tony’s case was officially re-opened. That makes your leap into freedom heavy on the premature side.”

“Adam, this is my doing,” I said quickly. “It was impossible for me to pretend any longer. You know I wouldn’t do anything to endanger Annie or you, or the investigation into Tony’s death. If anything, I have a personal interest in catching these bastards. I’m the only one who knows about…stuff, and I can keep it to myself. It’s not like I’m suddenly vulnerable to capture and torture—reveal the information or else. I’ve known for a while, and it would have been more unsafe for me to keep pretending.”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Uh-huh. So back to my original question. How are we going to keep the two of you safe? And I think I need to know more about your gift. How badly can it screw up my investigation? Also, if we’re going to have a shit-fan situation, can we work out something to tell the Chief before he starts asking questions about how I’m getting these leads?”

“Prep on that would be really good,” I said, an understatement for sure. “Maybe after I’m done with Peggy?”

He checked his watch. “One hour. Peggy will be here soon, may already be waiting.”

“Mitch is there and will let her in. How come you decided to have me work with Peggy instead of just bringing me a picture of West?”

“We have a lot of pictures, each different. The bastard must have a plastic surgeon on his payroll. We wanted to use your impression of what he looks like to see if we can spot any similarities. And there’s always the off chance he’ll keep his current appearance long enough for us to catch him. Before I go over there, I need to know, did you share this with Mitch? About us?” He flipped his thumb at his chest, then toward Annie.

“No, but I think Annie should tell him. Probably now, while I’m working with Peggy.”

Adam’s face blanched, but Annie nodded her agreement. “It’s going to come out, and I’d rather it be now than when we’re in the middle of a situation.”

Adam’s mouth creased in a frown. “Your call.”

I turned toward Annie. “I have to ask. How did you pick the name Violet James as your alias?”

“Oh, good question. I chose Violet as my first name because it’s so unlike what you’d expect a sniper to be named, and what with the whole ‘shrinking violet’ connotation, it constantly reminded me I was in retirement. James is short for Jamison, my mother’s maiden name. Doesn’t sound like the smartest choice to insure anonymity, but that’s what West would expect. Violet James was confusing enough to keep me safe, and true enough to help me keep my sanity.”

“Well, Annie Jamison Stone, I’m glad we’re friends.”

Mitch, Annie, and Adam were deep in a discussion about probabilities, possibilities, and out-right speculation by the time I finished working with Peggy.

Mitch was leaning forward, animated, emphasizing his points with dynamic hand gestures. Stereotypical Italian. It was impressive since he didn’t have Italian ancestry, at least none he’d ever mentioned. I focused on what he was saying. “Tony stumbled across the jewel trafficking by accident. It’s the kind of thing that would happen to him, living just outside the family business like he did.”

Adam had his detective persona turned on high and his expression was a few miles beyond skeptical. “Doesn’t seem like something you’d stumble across by accident. Tony had to be more closely tied to the family than is apparent. It’s not like the diamonds just showed up. He went after them.”

Mitch looked ready to argue the point, so I jumped right in, nudged him to move over, talking as I snuggled next to him. “If Tony knew Shaved Head and Pudgy…sorry, I can’t wrap my mind around their real names. Anyway, it would explain why he wasn’t afraid to invite them into his house, why he appeared docile when they threatened him. If they answered to Mama Civitelli, he would feel invincible—thinking there’s no way they would harm her Number Three Son.”

“Spot on—” Annie pointed at me— “but according to Donny, they’d already started working for West. Tony must not have known, or he wouldn’t have let them in, wouldn’t have tried to make a deal with them. Not without Mama’s protection.”

I leaned forward, rested my elbows on my knees. “When Mitch and I were at the stable, I got the feeling Tony followed Shaved Head there, witnessed him dropping off the,” –I grinned— “hot ice for Messy to pick up. That’s pure speculation on my part. The images I got aren’t clear as to who was doing what, but for the sake of this discussion, I’d like to go with Shaved Head dropping off and Messy picking up. Anyway, suppose Tony’d spotted Shaved Head, knew he worked for the Civitelli family, wanted to find out why they were invading his territory.”

Mitch rested his hand on my back, rubbed, soothing away some of the tension collecting in my muscles. “If Mitch is right and Tony tried to stay away from family business, he might have started to tail Shaved Head, see if he could find out what was going on. Watching his back in case the family was closing in.”

Annie did a ladylike grunt. “If I understand where you’re going with this, Tony may well have watched Shaved Head stash the bag, lifted it as soon as Shaved Head left, then decided to ransom it back. Maybe in exchange for information about what was going on, maybe for money. Either way, he must have thought he was safe. It would be like poking at a tiger in a cage, safe as long as the cage stays locked. Only he miscalculated—the cage door wasn’t only open, the tiger was crouched behind him ready to pounce. That’s how West works.”

Adam threw up his hands and paced around the room. “Speculation. I need facts to make an arrest.”

Annie was wearing her blank face, and curiosity got the better of me. “I was under the impression Pierce and Annie were the ones responsible for arresting West.”

“I’m the backup plan,” Adam said. “So, I’d like to have some facts to put on Chief Hayes’s desk. I’ll run your ideas by Donny, see if I can chase down dates and times to back up your theories. Who knows, he may be useful yet.”

“Adam,” Mitch cut in, “Donny likes to talk. Chat him up and you’ll get more out of him than with direct questions.”

Adam shifted toward the door. “Will do. You—
all
of you—stay within shouting distance of me and each other until West is out of commission.”

I sat for a few minutes, chasing our discussion around in my head and kept coming back to the one question no one had asked. “So, where are the jewels?”

Blank faces stared back at me.

I shrugged. “We know they’re not at Tony’s house or the barn. The images I picked up at the stable verified their existence, but there wasn’t even a hint indicating their location.”

I scooted around to face Mitch, tucked my feet under me. “As Tony’s friend, you’re the one who can best answer the question. What the heck would Tony do with a bag of cut stones?”