MemoriesErasedTreachery (7 page)

"What!" Ewyn shouted, startling Kiera, who jerked awake, eyes wide, hands trembling, and her little legs stiffening. "
Shh-yit
," he hissed in an undertone. "How come I wasn't given that information at the hospital? Or when you came to the estate." He eased off the sofa. "Wait. Let me put Kieki in her crib." He hurried into the bedroom, settled Kiera in her bed, turned on the baby monitor, and then turned on the stereo, which had become part of their nightly routine.

Once, when the ringing of his phone had disturbed Kiera, through trial and error, he had discovered music could soothe her back to sleep. Since then, he just turned on the music as soon as he put her to bed then nothing disturbed her.

He put George Winston's
December
CD into the disc player, adjusted the volume, and dimmed the bedroom lights as he left the room. He strode over to the sofa, snatched his beer off the coffee table and took a long swig, then started pacing.

"Let's hear it."

"I didn't have the information when I came to the Calderone estate, and you showed up at the hospital right after the girls had died. Hospital personnel only had time for minimum cleanup for proper identification. The younger girl wasn't stripped until the bodies were removed to the morgue." Patterson paused. "If you'll recall, I've been trying to connect with you…left messages with your attorney, yet you didn't feel the need to respond."

"Yeah. Some people have that effect on me." Ewyn stopped pacing and sat down. "And your messages weren't specific. Why didn't you tell my attorney?"

"There are some details I don't like discussing on the phone," Patterson snapped. "Besides, when I received the information, there was nothing anyone could have done to change the outcome. As uncouth as you may think I am, I didn't think I should interrupt the funeral with that type of news."

"Uh-huh. Or you decided to play out your version of check…checkmate?"

"Listen. No one thought to examine her before she reached the morgue, since all outward appearances suggested she had died like her sister, as the result of injuries sustained in the crash. The small caliber of the gun made the wound unnoticeable until the medical examiner x-rayed her body, and discovered the bullet," he explained. "Because of the nature of her injuries, an autopsy wasn't a priority, and the ME didn't get to her until the day before the mortuary retrieved the bodies. Hell. Even after finding the gun in the car, quite a few women carry guns, the Calderone name came up--"

"The assumption being people like the Calderones carry guns and deserve whatever happens to them, right?" Eyes narrowing, Ewyn held his temper in check. "Go on."

"Mister Kelley. If I had suspected anything but a tragic car accident, I would have pursued my suspicion from day one, as diligently as any other homicide, regardless of the Calderone name," Patterson declared. "I have been pursuing it from the moment I became aware a crime had been committed, without your family's cooperation, and despite the FBI's interference. I'll continue to do so until it's resolved. However, at this point, I need answers and cooperation from you and your family to help with my investigation."

"Right." Ewyn nodded. "What else do you have?"

Patterson sighed. "The ME found the gunshot wound and contacted me. Thinking it could have been an accidental shooting, I had to wait for the coroner's full report, and those findings led me to believe it was a homicide."

"Why?"

"From the bullet's trajectory and location, the Gun Shot Residue on Carolyn's hands and the sleeves of her clothing, she must have grabbed the gun. With the muzzle in her hands, the gun went off," he said. "She was in the backseat, passenger side. Nicole had been strapped into the front passenger seat when we retrieved the car from the ravine. So the perp must have been the driver."

"Damn." Tears of angry frustration welled up in Ewyn's eyes. "Any idea who…man, woman…"

"No. The damage to the car, smudged prints--the rain didn't help either. Once we verify which prints belong to the girls, we'll run the others through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, just in case we get lucky with a point match on a few of them," Patterson explained. "I doubt we'll get anything viable."

"Why?

"The cold. Nicole had been wearing gloves and Carolyn's were in her jacket pocket. More than likely the perp had on gloves." Patterson flipped a page in his notebook, checked his notes, and said, "We found blood trace on the steering wheel and the dashboard on the driver's side. Neither girl was in the driver's seat. Once we eliminate the possibility of it being your nieces' blood, we'll run it through the COmbined DNA Index System."

"Which will be useless if your unknown subject doesn't have priors. He or she won't be on the grid," Ewyn stated.

"True."

"Gun unregistered, serial numbers filed off."

"You've got it."

"I understand the ATF has a process for retrieving filed off numbers. It's not a hundred percent proof, but worth a try?"

"You know about that?" Patterson looked impressed.

"Yeah." Ewyn smirked. "Devin has an interest in it. Guess I've picked up a few things from him."

"I'm already looking into the feasibility of getting the ATF to run the tests."

"I understand."

"There's more," Patterson told him.

Chapter 5

"What else could there possibly be?"

"Once I realized I had a homicide, I thought maybe it was a carjacking gone wrong. Until I went to Pepperdine and spoke to the girls' roommates."

"And?"

"Jennifer Cardiff, Nicole's roomy said your nieces had been AWOL from college for the six months prior to their deaths."

"No! We spoke on the phone every other month, they never said…" Ewyn mumbled and shook his head. "I had no idea. Hadn't seen them since spring break. What in the world would make them leave school for such a long period without telling me or their aunt?"

"Good question. The combination of circumstances-- the gun, their absence from school, their father's disappearance--aroused my suspicions. The roommates said it wasn't normal for your nieces to ditch school." The detective sighed. "And I have to admit, the Calderone name played the bigger part in my suspicions." He picked up his beer and leaned back.

"I went through the things found in Nicole's car, but nothing jumped out at me, relative to the deaths. I also talked to Anthony Calabria--one of those snot-nosed rich kids who think the world revolves around him. Said he and Nicole had been friends since freshman year. Know him?"

"I've met the roommates, but never heard of this Calabria," Ewyn stated. "What was he…a boyfriend?"

Patterson shrugged. "According to him, he, Nicole, and Carolyn were like brother and sisters, yet he claims he had no idea where they had been for six months. He assumed they had gone home because of their aunt's illness. School administration had a similar story from Nicole regarding family leave."

"For six months, and why now? My aunt has been sick for close to two years, and she has around-the-clock care." Ewyn frowned. "If this Calabria and Nicole were like brother and sister as he claims, it's odd he would assume she went to the estate."

"Not really. According to Jennifer, Calabria and Nicole
were
best friends. But within the last year, something changed, but Jennifer doesn't know why." Patterson paused and took a few gulps of beer. "Jennifer thinks Calabria took the role of brother too far, and Nicole's reticence about the baby's father could have alienated the two friends. Maybe Calabria's persistence in learning the truth prompted Nicole to get away for a while, and since she was pregnant, rather than let her go alone, Carolyn went along."

"Sounds reasonable, but why
didn't
they come home? Calabria couldn't have gained access to the estate without Nicole's permission. And why didn't the girls tell their roommates where they were going?" Ewyn frowned.

"Maybe your nieces thought their roommates would tell Calabria."

"Perhaps," Ewyn mumbled. "Did you ask Calabria about the baby?"

"Oh, yeah. He said Nicole confided in him about being pregnant when she first found out. Everything he told me was consistent with what her roommate said. Nicole refused to talk about the baby's father."

"Something doesn't fit. If Nicole and Calabria were so tight all those years, why would things change because Nicole didn't want to talk about the baby's paternity?" Ewyn paused. "And why wasn't he at the funeral?"

"Good questions."

"Maybe it's nothing, but Jennifer was only speculating on the cause of the rift between the two. What I'd like to know for sure is when the animosity began. Before or after Calabria learned about the pregnancy. As a brother figure, maybe Calabria objected to Nicole seeing the baby's father from jump-street."

"Hmm. You have a point. I hadn't considered that aspect," Patterson said and jotted something in his notebook. "Your theory strengthens my suspicions about Calabria knowing more than he's telling, so I put the carjacking theory on the back burner."

"Hmm. With a name like Calabria, I'll assume he's Italian. Is he from California?"

"He's Italian, but originally from the Chicago area. He came out to visit friends after high school and decided to go to college out here…so he says. I had him pegged as the child's father, until I saw her." Patterson glanced at Ewyn. "Personally, I didn't like him, and I'll be keeping Mister Calabria on my radar."

"No one else in their circle of friends knows where the girls were for the last six months? Or no one is telling," Ewyn added.

"You've got it." Patterson drained the last of his beer. "What can you tell me about your sister-in-law?"

Ewyn scowled. "Why? You think this has something to do with the girls' mother."

"Well, both Nicole and Carolyn's roommates said your nieces hated their mother, never got along with her. Nicole's roommate said the mother despised the girls." Patterson shook his head. "Odd, a mother hating her own children."

"If you knew the mother, not so odd," Ewyn muttered.

"According to our records, she's deceased, yet there's no documentation indicating where she's buried."

"Ah-ha. So you think she might be alive and involved in the girls' deaths." Ewyn stared at Patterson, his mind whirling.

Was it possible, Cecilia alive? They never recovered her body--no, Nicole wouldn't have let her mother get close to her or Carolyn. Nicole despised Cecilia even more than Ewyn despised the woman. Besides, Nicole would have told him about seeing her mother…
shit!
Maybe the girls didn't recognize her.

If Cecilia survived the fire, she might have sustained burns or some form of disfigurement, had reconstructive surgery. Damn. Some scary thought--Cecilia roaming around amongst them, unrecognizable.

On the other hand, maybe Cecilia had contracted the girls' murders when she had arranged his demise and never had the chance to call it off. Hell. Cecilia thought she was invincible, never considered she'd get caught, much less die before her daughters.
If
she was dead.

"Mister Kelley."

"Huh…oh. Sorry to disappoint you, Detective, but my sister-in-law died in a fiery car crash in the mountains of Italy. By the time rescue reached her, nothing but ashes." He gave Patterson the family's official version. "The family buried her in Italy. It's been almost two years."

"A car accident like her daughters? Ironic. Could both accidents have been a hit, some type of retaliation against your brother, who is now missing?"

"No, Detective, sorry to disillusion you. My brother's disappearance could be attributable to syndicate activities, but my sister-in-law and my nieces, definitely not. As a norm, we
mobsters
don't do family members, especially females."

"If you say so." Patterson stood. "Sorry to hear about your sister-in-law." He jammed his notebook into his shirt pocket. "One more question."

"Sure."

"I imagine your nieces were wealthy. How are their wills setup, and who benefits from their deaths?"

"According to their wills, each girl was the other's beneficiary, unless the girls married or had legitimate issue, who would take precedence over each girl inheriting the other's estate. If there were a spouse
and
a child, they would share equally. If said spouse is the paternal parent of said child, the spouse would be executor of child's portion until said child is of legal age. If said spouse wasn't the paternal parent, estate trustees would choose another executor for said child's estate. Cecilia, their mother, was excluded if the aforementioned conditions exist."

Ewyn picked up his beer and took a few swigs before continuing.

"If none of the aforementioned conditions exists, their mother would receive a small set percentage, and the remainder of Niki and Caro's money would revert to the Calderone estate, evenly distributed amongst surviving Calderone relatives. Gregorio, their father, was excluded because technically it's his money, but he would be included as part of the surviving relatives clause. Since Niki had a child, all else became a moot point, null and void," he explained. "The details are a matter of record, so why do you ask?"

"Cutting through the red tape." Patterson grinned. "So the baby is quite the heiress."

"Yes, she is."

"Who inherits if something happens to the baby?"

Startled, for a moment, Ewyn didn't respond. What the detective's question suggested was unthinkable. "Why do you ask? You don't think…"

"Just a formality."

"I had the family attorney draw up a will for Kieki, one similar to Nicole's. It's standard practice in our family. The child can change it when said child reaches eighteen."

"So her money would revert to the estate, or the father?"

"For now, the estate. Since a father hasn't come forward."

"Well, thanks for talking with me." Patterson held out his hand. "I've taken up enough of your time."

"Sure." Ewyn stood and shook the proffered hand. "Thank you."

"I can assure you this will remain an open investigation. If you think of anything, or you find something helpful in the girls' things, let me know. Their friends might talk more freely to a family member." He turned and headed for the door. "It sure would help to know where your nieces were for six months. If they were with somebody, why it was a secret--to give me a starting point."