Cluttered Attic Secrets (20 page)

He nodded, looking somber. “We have part of the answer now, but it doesn’t explain who’s been using the space lately and how they knew about it.”

“I’ve never told a soul.” Maureen frowned. “Of course, there were church members who knew about it, but the whole time Ms. Young was alive, we never heard a whisper that anyone else knew or that it had become common knowledge.”

“No angry husbands showed up?” Hank asked.

“Never. I’m pretty sure none of the neighbors even suspected.”

Hank nodded. “We noticed the back yard has bushes and that hedge to keep it private.”

“They were already there when Ms. Young inherited the house.”

“Do you happen to know,” Tina asked, “if Mrs. Benson knew about any of this?”

Maureen nodded. “She knew. She belonged to the same church, and I think she might have even suggested the whole thing to Ms. Young.”

“Did Ms. Young tell you who at the church knew about this arrangement? Do you have some names you can give us?”

“No, she wouldn’t tell me. She said the less I knew, the better. She said is wasn’t that she didn’t trust me, just that it was safer for everyone.”

“I’m not surprised. Ms. Ahern, we’ve taken up enough of your time. And can’t thank you enough for this information.” Hank stood up. “Can we contact you if we have more questions?”

Maureen shrugged. “Sure. I don’t know how much help I’ve been for the current situation, though.”

Tina got up. “You’ve filled in a lot of the blanks for us. And the coffee was delicious.”

“Thanks.” Maureen smiled again. “Good luck with the investigation. If I think of anything, I’ll give you a call, Mr. Silver.”

They said good-bye, and Tina and Hank went out to his car. The sky had turned overcast, and Tina shivered. Hank raised the top, and they sat there for a few moments just looking at each other.

“So,” Tina said. “We know the background, but it seems as if it has little or no bearing on what’s going on there right now.”

Hank put the engine in gear. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

“You think they may have started using it again for abused women without telling Leslie.”

“It’s a remote possibility. But you’re right, doubtful.” Hank pulled away from the curb. “It doesn’t explain what happened to Joshua Young.”

“Maybe Joshua knew about the secret space and he, his wife, and Sophie stayed there sometimes. The clothing we found in the armoire seems to suggest something like that. Someone found out about it from any of the three of them, and began to use it for illegals or human trafficking.”

Hank sighed. “Someone like Irene Hendricks, you mean.”

“Yes.”

“We need to talk to Sophie again. She may even know how Irene found out about it, if that’s what really happened.”

“Not today. Let her get used to being at the Fitzgeralds. Maybe we won’t even have to do that if we learn more.”

“Not ‘we’ any longer, red. Now’s the time for you to back off.”

“How can you expect me to do that, Hank Silver? We can at least brainstorm together.”

Hank sighed hugely again, then grinned at her. “Well, first, we need to eat. Where would you like to go?”

“Oh, is it that late?” Tina glanced at the dashboard clock. Almost six. “We’re not dressed for anywhere fancy. How about Easton’s Point Pub?”

“Sounds good. Want to ask Michele to join us?”

Tina jerked around in her seat. “She’s following you again?”

“Never stopped. I’m learning to live with it.”

“What she said about the case in New York. Human trafficking. You think that might be what’s going on at Leslie’s?”

“The thought crossed my mind. Rhode Island has become a mecca for lots of illegal immigrants. Your explanation of how Joshua Young could have gotten caught up in all that makes quite a bit of sense.”

“Has Lisbeth found out anything more about him? Where he was living, for example?”

Hank frowned. “I wondered when you’d start asking about him.”

Tina stared at him. “You know something and haven’t told me. Hank!”

“Well, nothing current. We found a record of a Joshua Young at a facility in Massachusetts. He wandered off years ago, and no one has seen or heard from him since.”

“Oh. Oh, my.” Tina’s heart ached for the man. She realized they’d arrived at the pub. She didn’t want to go in right away. “Please tell me more.”

“Okay.” Hank turned off the engine and faced her. “We sent a photo to the facility, and they said it looked like the Joshua Young who’d lived there. They had to match it with their own photos, though. Hardly anyone’s still working there who knew him. And he’d aged, of course. We asked Leslie’s father for a DNA sample. He agreed, but it will take weeks to get results. Of course, none of this tells us how and why he ended up near Leslie’s place. Or about Sophie.”

“Someone in Newport has to know about him. I don’t think he could manage long on his own.”

“The wild card is Sophie’s mother.” Hank checked his rearview mirror to see what Michele was doing. “If she was higher functioning, they may have gotten by. I’m worried that she’s no longer alive, herself, though.”

“How come?”

“I think she would have come forward to identify him.”

“If she knew what happened to him. I hope Lisbeth is grilling Irene Hendricks. That woman knows a whole lot of important information.”

“Yeah.”

They got out of the Jaguar. Tina looked around for Michele and spotted her leaning against her car. The woman had style, Tina had to admit to herself. She wore a black trench coat, black skinny jeans, and black, high-heeled ankle boots. A gleaming white scarf with something sparkling in it encircled her neck, and her golden blonde hair shone in the lamplight.

Tina marched over to her. If surprised, Michele hid it well. “Why don’t you just join Hank and me for dinner?” Tina stopped in front of the other woman, a bit closer than she normally would.

Michele looked amused. “That would be charming.” She moved away from her position against the car and took a step toward Tina. Now Tina was being crowded. She admitted it was a good countermove, but keeping her face as expressionless as she could, she turned and walked to the restaurant’s entrance where Hank waited.

“Ladies.” He opened the door with a flourish. Of course, his face also showed no emotion. They’d all be terrible actors, trying never to emote, Tina thought. But they seemed to be playing parts in real life.

After they were seated, they ordered drinks. Tina asked for a daiquiri, Hank Scotch and water, and Michele a lemon drop martini. Tina was trying to decide if Hank was annoyed or amused by her move. But she ignored him and turned to Michele. “What news from New York?”

Michele laughed. She looked at Hank. “I can see why you love her.”

Hank took a large breath of air, held it a moment, then exhaled. “Is it that obvious?”

“Oh, yes. To me, anyway.”

Hank frowned. “Really.”

When he didn’t say anything more, Tina said, “The topic was New York.”

Michele’s smile widened. “So it was. New York is an interesting place, even without that big city down south.” She looked at Hank. “Actually, some people there are re-thinking what you told them.”

Now Hank looked surprised. The waiter came with the drinks, and Tina realized Hank welcomed the distraction while he gathered his thoughts.

After the waiter left, Hank took a long swallow of his Scotch. “What made them do that?”

“Me, mostly. I know you better than they do.”

Tina glanced between the two of them. Hank looked like a big cat ready to spring, and Michele looked like a kitten who stole all the cream. Tina could feel the electricity between them, and instead of it warming her, it made a huge chill run down her spine.

When Hank didn’t take Michele’s bait, she raised an eyebrow and said, “You don’t want the details? Or shouldn’t we discuss it in front of your little friend?”

Hank grinned. “Your claws are showing, my dear. I’ve decided to be open with Tina. Discuss away.”

Michele took a sip of her martini, then carefully blotted her mouth with her napkin. “You remember Rudy.”

“Who could forget Rudy?”

“You’re right. He’s pretty unforgettable.” Michele leaned toward Tina. “He’s huge, about six-five, way over three hundred pounds. And not the proverbial Teddy bear. He’s tough, but fair. But he has a wicked tongue, and as he himself often says, he doesn’t suffer fools gladly.”

“Got it,” Tina said. “My uncle would say
he
suffers fools badly.”

Hank laughed. “King of the twisted, and sometimes-not-twisted, clichés.”

Michele looked as if she didn’t know whether to smile or not.  “Anyway, Rudy was in charge of us peons. He’d never met Hank before. Called him ‘hotshot’ because of his reputation. Hank ignored that drama and just did his job. As I told you, we were investigating a particularly abominable group of human traffickers. And Hank began to smell a rat in our group. He went to Rudy with his suspicions. The rat was one of Rudy’s pets, so of course he didn’t believe Hank. Instead, he removed him from the team and sent him back to Newport.”

Tina looked at Hank. “I don’t understand why you couldn’t have just told me that.”

Hank glanced at Michele. “Later.”

Tina sighed and decided another daiquiri was called for, so she waved at their waiter. He nodded and came over, apologizing for not getting back to them sooner. After they all agreed they wanted another round and ordered some food, Tina asked Michele. “So, what happened that made Rudy change his mind about Hank?”

“Rudy, as smart as he is, never caught onto the fact that Hank and I knew each other rather well from working together before. I trusted Hank’s instincts more than I did Rudy’s, so I started my own little investigation. I have some, shall we say, assets Hank couldn’t use to get close to the person.”

“You played Mata Hari? You said you’d never do that again.”

Michele’s laugh tinkled. “It was worth it this time. Darwin is incredibly smart and sophisticated. Quite a challenge. But like most men who think they’re what every woman wants, he got loose-lipped when trying to impress. Especially when plied with drinks. Or other intoxicants.”

Tina’s eyes widened as she looked between Michele and Hank.

Hank rolled his eyes. “You may have noticed, Michele likes to be outrageous and shock people. She probably checked Darwin out on-line, found something I missed, or something that turned up after I left.”

Michele pouted. Tina couldn’t tell if it was serious pout or a fake one. “Actually I used both methods. I’m a professional, after all.”

The question is,
Tina thought,
a professional what?

Hank laughed. “Indeed.” He raised his glass to Michele, then took a long swallow of his Scotch. “So you convinced Rudy that Darwin is a mole. We really don’t need the details.”

“Oh, not in front of the children?” Michele raised an eyebrow at Tina.

Tina grasp on her glass tightened. She made a conscious effort to loosen it.

“Um, Michele,” Hank said. “Be careful. Tina has a gun and knows how to use it. I’m guessing you haven’t bothered to check her out on-line.”

Michele looked startled, and then her eyes narrowed. “No, never crossed my mind to do that.” She picked up her martini glass. “Stupid of me,” she muttered.

Hank ignored the comment. “So why are you here? Why have you been following me? Us? What the hell. Have you really been following Tina and not me?”

Michele laughed. “Men. So self-absorbed. You less than most, I admit. But it still took you this long to think of that?”

The waiter brought their drinks and salads. After he left, Tina stirred the dressing more evenly into her greens. “Why would Michele follow me?”

“I have no idea.” Hank put salt and pepper on his salad, a habit Tina had never gotten used to.

“Well,” Michele said, “after I blew the whistle on old Darwin, Rudy didn’t like having me around. In my research, I found a thin, very thin, thread leading to Newport. I decided to follow up on it, both to let you know you were right, and to see what I could find out here.”

“Took you long enough to let me know,” Hank grumbled.

“I found it more fun to watch what you were doing.”

“I’m sure. But why didn’t Rudy get in touch with me himself?”

“I’m not sure. Give you both some time, probably. He’s of course unsettled by what Darwin was doing. Questioning his judgment about him. And you. Eating lots of Snickers bars.”

“Well, I’m not at all anxious to go back to work with the man.”

“I don’t blame you. He’s brilliant, but difficult.”

“You like the challenge, though,” Hank said.

“Well, sure.”

“Okay.” Hank put his fork down and took his a sip of Scotch. “Let’s get back to this thread you found. Any more since you get here?”

“It involved old houses with secret spaces.”

Tina suppressed a gasp. So her speculation about how the space was used currently may have been on the mark. She knew the people who dealt in slaves were ruthless. But she’d hoped, after learning that it had once been used for abused women, that that was the answer. Either way, she wondered how Leslie would feel about living there when this was all over.

“You have any specific addresses for these houses?” Hank asked. “Is Leslie’s one of them?”

“Leslie’s address didn’t come up. However, a certain Mrs. Hendricks’s did. I only put that together when I got here and saw you two go into her house. All I had was a street name.”

“Oh.” Tina saw Sophie in her mind’s eye and shrank back from the image. She looked at Hank. “You don’t think Sophie…”

“Did you get any sense that she’d been abused sexually? You’re the expert here.”

Tina shook her head. “She did tell us about the woman slapping her and said it was the only time anyone had hurt her.”

“Yes. And she didn’t shy away from me. I think she would if a man had hurt her that way.”

“Agreed.” Tina looked at her empty daiquiri glass with regret. But two drinks was her limit. She took a sip of water.

“Did you two learn anything else from Sophie?”

“Only that she opened the cellar door for the people who have been getting in.” Hank pushed his empty salad plate away. “And that one woman slapped her in the face.”

Michele scowled. “These people are scum of the earth. We need to stop them.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Hank said. “So, what else did you dig up?”

“This group is completely quiet on-line. Cell phone communication is different, but spotty. Most use disposable phones, but I get the feeling that some are so attached to their expensive ones that they use them sometimes when they shouldn’t. That’s how I found the Newport connection, and Mrs. Hendricks’s street name. I need to know what your Lisbeth has uncovered about Hendricks and her house, if anything.”

Hank sighed. “Mrs. Hendricks is all buttoned up. Won’t talk at all. Very smart of her. They’ve searched her house. But I wonder if they looked for a secret room there.”

“I hope so.” Michele stopped talking while their server took away the salad plates and set down their dinners.

After he left, Tina asked Hank, “Lisbeth didn’t say?”

“We haven’t had much time to talk. I’ll call her now and ask.” Hank rose from the table and walked over toward the rest rooms.

And left Tina and Michele staring at each other. Finally, Tina said, “You and Hank known each other long?”

Michele smiled. “Not nearly as long as you’ve know him. But long enough.”

Tina reframed from rolling her eyes. “You like playing games, don’t you?”

“I was a whizz at Monopoly when younger. Now it’s chess.”

“I’m not surprised. Hank and I used to play checkers a lot.”

Michele laughed. “Touché.”

After that they ate silently until Hank came back. He sat down. “Lisbeth said they tried to find a secret room in the Hendricks’s house, but had no luck. She called Mr. Hall.” He tuned to Michele. “You know who Mr. Hall is, the architect?”

Michele nodded.

Hank shook his head. “Of course you do. He’s meeting Lisbeth there tomorrow morning to see what he can find. Mrs. Hendricks still won’t talk. She did demand to know where Sophie has been taken. Of course, she’s not being given that information.”

“Is it possible she’ll find out somehow?” Tina stopped buttering her roll to look at Hank.

He wouldn’t meet her gaze. “Anything’s possible. I called a friend of mine to watch the house.”

Tina sighed with relief. “What more can we do?”

Both Michele and Hank stared at her.

“You,” Hank said,” can eat your dinner, go home, and get some sleep.”

Tina felt her face flush with anger. She pointed the knife she was buttering her roll with at him. “My friend is in danger. A little girl. My old lover.”

Michele suppressed a laugh and looked at Hank to see his reaction.

Tina ignored her. She knew Hank wouldn’t give away his feelings. “Even my own town. All in danger from these…these sleazebags who are trafficking in human beings—women and children. Maybe even some of your own gender, Mr. Silver.”

“Dangerous sleazebags, Ms. Shaw. I know you’ve been lucky in some past situations, but this is way beyond your skill set.”

“Lucky? That’s all you think it was?” Tina sputtered. She stood up, grabbed her purse, and walked toward the exit.

“Where are you going?” Hank barely raised his voice, but she still heard him, and ignored him.

Why and how could he make her so angry? She found the cab company’s phone number in her cell and contacted them. She knew Hank was scrambling to pay the bill, and she walked briskly outside into the fresh air. Nippier air than when they’d arrived.

She shivered and stood by the door, waiting for her ride. Hank and Michele came out just as the cab pulled up. She walked over to it.

“Tina.”

She turned around to look at Hank. Shook her head. As she turned to get in the taxi she noticed the man she’d seen before lurking near the entrance. She hesitated, staring at him.

He stared back with cold eyes. She shivered again, this time not from the outdoor temperature. She grabbed the door handle and fumbled it open. Inside, she gave the driver her address, then hit Hank’s number on her cell.

When he answered, she said, “Don’t turn around. There’s a man watching you. I’ve noticed him before. Tall, thin, brown hair. The coldest, scariest eyes I’ve ever seen. Good hunting.”

She ended the call and leaned back in her seat. Maybe Hank was right, damn him. Maybe she was out of her league.