MemoriesErasedTreachery (20 page)

"I'll let the staff know to expect Patterson." Ewyn grinned. "I'm sure he won't mind waiting until we get back."

Devin pulled up to the estate, pressed the code numbers, then glanced over at Ewyn while he waited for the gates to open. "I promise we'll take a real vacation once we resolve this."

"Hey. Don't sweat it. With the possibility of Kieki's life being on the line, vacations can wait."

Devin drove up the driveway to the front door, unlatched the doors, climbed out of the SUV, and handed his keys to Martin. "Have Mick and Tag arrived?"

"Yes, sir, they're with Miss Gemma and Detective Patterson. Mister Timothy called, said he was on his way."

Ewyn laughed. "I wonder if Patterson is still pissed."

"Who cares?" Devin snorted. "If he wants to play in the big leagues, he'd better get over himself. Of course, he wouldn't have had to wait three hours, if
someone
hadn't gone shopping, as if Kieki needed more things."

"Hey! I recall you purchased a few outfits and toys for her, too," Ewyn said as he stepped out of the truck. He helped Mycelia by taking Kiera from her arms. "And that reminds me--Myce, did the staff pack the storage chest we found in Niki's closet?"

"Yes, but I couldn't go through it."

"No problem, I'll do it. Kieki may be able to use some of the stuff. At the least, it will make a nice toy chest and heirloom for her." Turning to the chauffer. "Thanks, Martin. You can put the Escalade in the garage after it's unloaded."

Martin nodded and moved to the back of the vehicle.

Ewyn looked at Kiera and scrunched up his nose. "Phew…Kieki, somebody made stinky." She giggled and bounced in his arms. He kissed her grinning mouth and handed her back to Mycelia. "I think a change will help," he stated and followed them into the house.

"Oh yeah." Mycelia chuckled. "A change, a bath and food, then down for a nap. She remained awake the entire trip," she said moving toward the elevator. "Since you're still on vacation, will you be taking her with you when you leave?"

"No," Devin responded. "We're going to finish off our vacation with the contractor coming in to remodel. Most of the time, we'll be here during construction. Would you have the staff put our stuff in Ewyn's room?"

She nodded. "Sure thing."

Mycelia stepped into the elevator, while Devin and Ewyn headed up the stairs. Mick greeted them at Gemma's door. "Damn, man." He looked at Devin. "Don't you know the definition of relaxation?" He shook hands. "Remind me to never take a vacation with the two of you."

"Tell me about it," Devin countered as he headed across the room. He joined Gemma on the sofa, gave her a hug, and kissed her cheek. "How are you holding up?"

"To be honest, Dev, and this may sound macabre, I haven't been this alive for quite some time. Sans the possible threat to Ewyn and Kiera, I'm enjoying myself, I like being involved, and I'm really getting into this detecting stuff." She patted his hand.

"Ewyn's dad let me sit in on his business discussions, on occasion. Oh, I knew it wasn't a socially acceptable form of commerce, especially for a young lady, but it was my heritage." She laughed and looked at Detective Patterson. "I loved my big brother, and I was proud of him, regardless."

Grinning, Ewyn came over and gave her a hug. "Calderone to the bone." He kissed her cheek then turned to Patterson. "Did you get anything out of the journal?"

"It was interesting, to say the least, but I came to the same conclusions as the rest of you," Patterson told him. "The husband is the prime suspect."

Ewyn nodded and turned to Taggart. "I'm going to help get Kieki settled, want to join me? Dev and Mick can fill us in later."

Taggart followed Ewyn to the door. "Don't have to ask me twice."

Ewyn and Taggart encountered Timothy on his way into the apartment as they left. "The gang is all here," Ewyn joked as they passed. "We'll catch up later."

Devin vacated the seat next to Gemma, greeted Timothy who took his place on the sofa, then he went to the sideboard to get a bottle of water. He made himself comfortable in the chair next to Mick and asked the detective what he had discovered.

Patterson told him what he knew regarding the blood, the fingerprints, and the gun found at the scene of the accident. It led nowhere, but he did canvass the Big Bear area and found the obstetrician Nicole had consulted.

"She used an alias--Alanna Kelley. Told the doctor she was visiting friends in the area, gave her address as a post office box, and said she would only be there for the summer," Patterson reported. "Not unusual since the estates in the area only use post office boxes. The doctor's staff didn't push it since it's a resort, and they get quite a few transient patients.

"At her last visit, the week before she died, she told him she was going home. That's the reason he didn't send out a query. She took copies of her pregnancy history with her."

Devin asked, "Were you able to get copies?"

"Yeah, but she listed the father as unknown."

"Damn. You said she used an alias. Don't they require I-D for health insurance purposes?"

"She paid cash. However, get this--she had a bogus driver's license for Alanna Kelly with a bogus address in San Mateo." Patterson shook his head. "Smart woman," he mumbled and looked around at the assembled company. "No offense, but she'd have to know the right people to arrange that, planned out in advance to the smallest details." No one responded, so he continued.

"It completely floored the doctor to find out Nicole had died. Said he read an account of the accident in the newspaper, but he didn't connect it to Nicole."

"I don't understand," Gemma remarked. "Where was she planning to have the baby?"

"Saint Bernadine's," Devin replied. "They wouldn't have turned her away. It had to be Nicole's destination when the car crashed, considering the location of the accident. She was coming home, so to speak."

"Makes sense." Gemma sighed. "Explains why they were on that highway."

The group spent a few hours reviewing the information at their disposal without resolving anything. Discussions turned to the individual areas of investigation each would pursue. After coordinating their schedules, they agreed to meet once a month to discuss any progress. "So we won't be spinning our wheels, duplicating efforts," Devin stated.

"If anyone discovers something in the interim, contact Mick. He'll touch base with the rest of us." Devin turned to Patterson. "Tag and I will have to forego a few of these sessions when duty calls. Mick will keep us in the loop."

"Not a problem," Patterson responded. "Will you need help with surveillance and protection for your baby-girl, or Mister Kelley?"

"No, thanks," Devin replied. "We have it covered."

"Okay." Patterson headed toward the door. "I'll be in touch."

The door closed behind the detective and Devin turned to Mick. "Carlos will begin construction on the condo, day after tomorrow."

"Yeah. Tag and I talked it over and we're good to go." Mick went to the sideboard to refresh his coffee. "We'll move in tomorrow. With you and Ewyn spending most of your time over here, we'll monitor the construction, and keep an eye on the place."

"Are you sure? I'll be in and out, in case there are any problems with the changes."

"Yeah, it's all good. I want to check out the lay of the land, so to speak. See what kind of surveillance we'll need, and where. Get it set up and integrated into the construction plans." Mick returned to his seat. "I want entry to the penthouse limited to key lock access installed in the elevator, and the stairwell doors alarmed. We'll also check out the neighborhood."

"Good deal. Timothy and I will want in on the surveillance set up."

Mick nodded. "Sure thing, and while Tag isn't here, I want to fill you in on how we met. It involves Tag's baby sister, and why he feels so connected to Kieki."

* * * *

Hell. What's with all the activity?

Slouching down in the seat and peering through the windows--too many people. They could be watching me. Damn. Things are getting too risky here. Surveillance is no longer viable. I bet it's Ewyn's partner. With the botched hit on Ewyn, then Gregorio disappearing, more than likely, they're suspicious of everything. Hell. Didn't consider that. I wonder if they're investigating the deaths. Nothing in the news, and with Nicole's father out of the picture, this should have been easy. I can't think, and I didn't take the pills again. My head is going to explode.

I hate that bitch! Even dead, because of her brat, Nicole did it to me again. Well, I'm not giving up. She owes me, after everything I've done for her. I can bide my time, let things calm down, and wait for them to drop their guard. It's going to take a while for me to get what I need set up on my end anyway.

Need a passport, have to find a safe house out of the country, make travel arrangements. By the time it's done, the kid will be walking and getting out more, off the estate, which should open up a wide range of options for getting close to her.

It'll be worth the wait.

* * * *

Devin sat on the sofa in Gregorio's office. With his arm draped across Ewyn's shoulders, he looked around at the assembled company. For the last six months, Devin, Ewyn, and Timothy had met with Patterson, Mick, Tag, and even MacGregor sat in on some of their sessions. With so much law enforcement and its associated resources, they had nothing.

They weren't able to get a lead on Kiera's father and they couldn't find a marriage license. They had checked the states with the most popular marriage spots within the contiguous forty-eight, Hawaii, and the Caribbean islands, and nothing. There were registrations for quite a few Nicole Calderones, but without the mystery man's last name, it was a wash. The collective consensus was Nicole had married somewhere in Europe. Nicole's phone records indicated she called only known friends, and their one potential lead came from Timothy's Italian connections. It was iffy.

In the town bordering the monastery where Cecilia purportedly died, Timothy's sources heard rumors about survivors of the earthquake's devastation. Two years had passed however and memories were sketchy. Some of the townspeople thought the survivors were nuns. Others said they were transients the nuns had taken in. "Again, we're working with hearsay," Timothy said. "The only thing the townspeople agreed on--two people survived the monastery destruction, and the survivors were brought to the hospital in the town."

Devin picked up the threads of conversation. "Our sources encountered problems tracking that lead because the town had suffered quite a bit of damage, too. During the chaos, recordkeeping wasn't at its best. Our people are still running down leads," he stated and felt Ewyn tense beside him.

"So there's a possibility CeCe
is
a threat," Ewyn grumbled.

"Hey. Let's not anticipate. CeCe being alive is a long shot."

"Ewyn, even if she's alive, she has no power here," Timothy commented. "Your family despises Cecilia more than you do. The cousins won't come to her aid because Vince loved your mom as if she were his own. The other syndicate families won't help her either, for fear of antagonizing your cousin."

"That's true," Ewyn agreed. "But what if no one recognizes her? If she had reconstructive--"

Devin cut him off. "I thought we settled the issue of Cecilia."

"Without proof, I don't think it will ever be settled, Devin. Not for me. I'll never stop looking over my shoulder," Ewyn declared, an edge of impatience creeping into his voice. "Just for a moment, let's reverse your theory about not concentrating on CeCe for fear of someone else coming out of nowhere and biting us in the ass." He looked around the assembled company. "What if CeCe comes out of nowhere, because we've relegated her to non-threatening?"

"You're right." Devin reached over and massaged the tense muscles in the slender neck. "We won't let her slip through the cracks, but you have to agree, she has no power here. Greg saw to that. Besides, she has nothing to gain in this situation without eliminating you, Kieki, Kieki's father, and most of the people in this room," Devin reminded him. "It's a long shot without contacts,
especially
if she changed her look."

"Ewyn." Taggart drew his attention. "Do you honestly believe she could arrange a hit without your cousins getting wind of it? Someone trying to put a hit on a Calderone, as Devin said, even disguised would draw attention. There
are
channels you have to go through. What your cousins don't control, every agency in this room does."

"Okay! You're all right. I'll try not to get so hyper every time Cecilia's name comes up."

Everybody laughed, even Detective Patterson, who knew enough about Ewyn to recognize the absurdity of his statement.

Still smiling, Devin said, "I realize none of us can continue to spend as much time on this as we have. However, if we're all agreed, we'll do what we can in our spare time and meet here next month, if we have anything new to report."

Everyone nodded and the group moved to the dining room for dinner.

* * * *

"Hey. Checking in."

"How's the trip?"

"A lot on my mind. So, what's the word?"

"Cops say Carolyn was shot. They found the gun in the car."

"Damn. What are they doing about it?"

"Setting up round-the-clock protection for baby and uncle, and trying to locate the child's father."

"Hmm. They suspect he's the killer."

"Yeah."

"I'll be out of the country for a while. You know what to do. I'll check in when I can."

"Right."

Six months later

Ewyn turned over and smiled.

Alerted by the rustling of Kiera's disposable diaper, and the scraping sound on the carpet made by the pads on the feet of her pajamas, he waited in anticipation. He always woke before her, and then he'd hold his breath while he lay listening for her to climb safely out of her crib.

Hell. He'd never forget when, at ten months old, she had managed to scramble over the crib rail, scaring him shitless. Although she landed safely on her little padded butt, since then, his fear of her falling headfirst over the rail, prompted him to leave the crib rail lowered. After his initial scare, he had wanted to rush out and purchase one of those youth beds with the half-rail, but the voice of reason talked him out of it. Devin convinced him Kiera was too young, still slept wildly all over the crib, and might fall out of bed while asleep, injuring herself more than if she were awake. Ewyn had conceded and agreed to wait until she turned, at minimum, three years old before buying the bed. At eighteen months, Kiera had honed walking to a fine science. With the crib rail lowered, she climbed in and out of bed with ease, thereby reducing his anxiety, while not diminishing it completely.