You Can't Hide (34 page)

Frowning, Tess did, but Vito stepped up to take the package first. “Let me check this,” he said, pocketing the receipt. He felt the envelope. “It’s a CD. Were you expecting a delivery?”

She looked at the label. “From Smith Enterprises? No. But I’m always getting samples of textbooks on CDs from companies wanting reviews. Should I open it?”

“I will. Stand back.” Stepping to the far corner of the reception area he opened the envelope and pul ed out a sheet of paper and a CD. And paled. “Call Reagan.
Now
.”

“What is it?” Tess walked over and frowned when he turned the paper over, hiding it.

“Dammit, Vito, let me see it.”

She took the page, not sure what she was expecting. Not expecting what she saw. Frozen, she stared at… herself. Ful color. Ful y nude. A typed line under the picture read

“Deposit $100,000 to the account below or the enclosed video will be sold to the media for widescale distribution. You have until midnight tonight.” Mechanically she handed the page back to Vito, careful y turned on her heel, marched out into the hall where she dropped to her knees and threw up.

Wednesday, March 15, 11:15 A.M.

Aidan was out of the elevator before the doors ful y opened, running down the hall to where a uniform stood outside her door. “Where is it?” Aidan demanded. The uniform, whose name was Nolan, pointed to the edge of the receptionist’s desk. “It’s there. Delivery guy dropped it by. Made her sign for it and everything.”

“Thanks for giving dispatch the company’s name,” Murphy said. “We were able to send a patrol car to catch up with him when he made his next delivery.”

127

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

The delivery man waited for them downtown. Neither Aidan nor Murphy expected any more out of him than they’d gotten from the delivery service. The package had been dropped off with a money order that morning. The clerk’s description loosely fit Bacon, but it could easily be applied to half the middle-aged men in Chicago.

“The delivery guy looked like a col ege kid,” Nolan said. “I doubt he knew what he had. He would have kept it for himself if he did.” Uneasily he looked over his shoulder. “She was totally cooperative about the papers in the vault. I didn’t expect that.”

Murphy looked inside the office. “Who’s been here this morning?”

“Her brother, the receptionist, and her lawyer friend. She got pale and shocky when she saw the CD and her brother wanted to call 911 but she wouldn’t let him. The lawyer called their doctor friend who wanted to give her something to calm her down, but she refused. A maintenance person came up to clean the carpet. That’s it.”

Aidan gave him a brief nod. “Thanks.” Inside, Vito stood on the far side of the receptionist’s desk. His arms were tightly locked across his chest and a muscle twitched in his cheek as he stared into Tess’s office where she sat on the tattered remnants of a sofa looking shel -shocked. Equally horrified, Amy Miller and Jon Carter sat on either side of her, while a young woman hovered in the open doorway to Ernst’s office, clearly uneasy. She would be Denise Masterson, Aidan thought, remembering his search of Tess’s practice and its employees.

“Do you have any idea how much I want to kill him?” Vito murmured without taking his eyes from Tess.

Aidan exhaled quietly. “Yeah. I do.”

Vito’s head whipped around, unholy fury burning in his dark eyes. “You knew?”

“Not until this morning. We didn’t know he’d sent her a copy.”

Vito’s eyes slid closed. “Copy. Then there are more.”

Murphy cleared his throat. “How close are you to getting those papers in boxes?”

Vito’s eyes opened and he blinked, as if just realizing Murphy was there.

“This is my partner, Todd Murphy,” Aidan said quietly.

“We’d just gotten started. Get your LT to send somebody to finish the job.” Vito’s jaw cocked belligerently. “I’m taking her home.”

“She can’t go back to her apartment,” Murphy said, his voice nonconfrontational. Vito gritted his teeth. “I don’t mean that mausoleum on Michigan Avenue. I’m taking her
home
. We’l be on the next flight to Philly.”

“No.” Tess pushed off the sofa, pausing as if testing the ability of her legs to hold her up. Amy Miller and Jon Carter both stood up behind her, ready to catch her if they didn’t. Tess gently pushed Amy’s hands away. “I’m fine, Amy.” She walked across her office and stood next to Vito, Amy and Jon flanking her from behind. “And I’m not going anywhere, Vito.” Her face was pale but her eyes were clear. She lifted her chin and met Aidan’s eyes and pride welled within him. “This isn’t the same guy.”

Aidan knew it, but wanted to hear why she thought so. “Why not?”

“This lacks the coldness, the preparation of the other attacks. This feels more… opportunistic in nature. Like one of his flunkies chewed the end of his leash and ran away.” She shrugged. “The other attacks were intended to terrify, to subjugate. To exploit sick, vulnerable people until they break. Ultimately the worst this could do is embarrass me. And that’s only if I let it. Which I have decided I won’t.”

“We’l find him, Tess,” Aidan said.

“Of course you will. He’s the only link to the person who’s killed four people. I’m just a piece of this. They should be your focus. I’m okay, Aidan. I wasn’t at first, but I am now. Go do your job.” Her bravado wilted when he picked up the package that sat on the edge of Denise’s desk.

“Do you have to take that?”

“It’s evidence, honey. But I promise nobody will look at it that doesn’t have to.” Aidan looked up at Vito. “Are you going back to Philly?”

128

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

“You caught the sonofabitch that did this yet?” Still angry, Vito swept his hand wide indicating the ruined office.

Clayborn was still at large. “No, not yet.”

“Then I’m staying.”

“Then have dinner with us tonight. We can talk more. I’l call you later, Tess.” So busy was he with his own thoughts that he was climbing in the passenger side of Murphy’s car before he realized his partner hadn’t said a word in a long time. “What?”

“Nothing.” But Murphy’s lips twitched.

“What?”

Murphy glanced over before pulling into traffic. “You called her ‘honey.’”

Aidan rol ed his eyes. Busted. “So?”

“And she’s cooked for you.”

Oh yeah
. Memories of the morning flooded back and he shifted in his seat. “Just drive, wil you?” He looked at his notepad. “Bacon’s mother’s house is off Cicero.” They’d already been to the address Bacon had left with his parole officer, an overworked man who hadn’t taken the time to check the fact that the “apartment” was really a pet store in a strip mall.

“What if we don’t find him in time?” Murphy asked, all levity gone from his voice. “If one copy of that CD gets out, we can’t guarantee Tess it won’t be broadcast somewhere. Today or ten years from now. She’l have to live with that. Can you?”

Aidan wasn’t sure and that bothered him. “I’m just having dinner with her, Murphy.”

Murphy opened his mouth as if he’d say more, then shrugged. “Okay.”

Wednesday, March 15, 11:55 A.M.

David Bacon was an innocent man harassed by the police.

It had to be true. Bacon’s mother said so from the other side of her screen door. A sour old woman in her seventies, her ragged black hair sported a wide, white stripe down the part and her thin lips were painted bright red. Through the screen door Aidan was struck with the odor of mothballs and cats.

“We’re not here to harass him,” Murphy assured her. “Can we come in?”

“He’s not here,” she snapped, holding her body rigid. “And no you may not come in.”

“We just came from the address he gave his parole officer, Mrs. Bacon,” Aidan said quietly, his eyes searching what he could see of her living room through the screen. “It’s a pet store in a strip mall. Right there, that’s a violation of his parole.”

She paled, leaving two spots of bright rouge on her cheeks. “You can’t send him back to prison. It would kill him.”

No, that pleasure should be mine
. And Vito Ciccotelli’s. “Where is he, Mrs. Bacon? Is he living here with you?”

“No, I swear. He moved out.” Hurting her feelings in the process, Aidan could see. “He said he needed space. I don’t know where he is. Please leave now.”

Aidan and Murphy exchanged a glance and Murphy nodded. “I’m afraid you’l have to come with us, Mrs. Bacon,” Murphy said.

Her mouth dropped open. “I’m under arrest?”

“No, ma’am.” Murphy’s voice was deceptively kind. “We’d just like you to come along and answer some questions since your son isn’t available to do so.”

And so she couldn’t call and warn him the cops were on his tail. Her thin red lips trembled. “But I can’t.” Weakly she gestured backward. “My cats. Who wil take care of them?”

“You shouldn’t be gone long, ma’am,” Aidan said. “You can leave them some food and water if you like, but we’l need to escort you while you do.”

129

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

They fol owed her through her kitchen into the laundry room where she proceeded to fill four small bowls with cat food. The odor was worse in the laundry room, the enormous litter box overflowing.

I think I’m going to pass out,
Aidan thought. Holding his breath, his eyes swept the small room, coming to rest on Mrs. Bacon’s laundry basket on top of the dryer. Folded neat as a pin were several short-sleeved polo shirts. Men’s polo shirts. Sewn above the heart was the logo for WIRES-N-WIDGETS, a local chain of stores offering a wide selection of electronic gadgets. Gently Aidan cleared his throat. Murphy fol owed his gaze, his lips curving.

“Let’s get you a coat, ma’am,” Murphy said. “It’s cold outside.”

Wednesday, March 15, 12:15 P.M.

“More coffee?” the waitress asked from behind the counter. It was an upscale little diner done in a nouveau forties style that brought scenes from the classic old movies to mind. Situated near the Art Institute, it drew an eclectic crowd of businesspeople and academics and was alive with discussion. Nobody paid any attention to a person sitting alone nursing a cup of coffee on a cold afternoon.

Normally this was a place to sit and reflect. Today it was a place to brood.

“Please, but just halfway. Thanks.” Something had gone wrong. A loose thread left unsnipped had raveled, threatening the whole plan. A camera in Ciccotelli’s bathroom. Who would have considered it?
I should have. I should have checked. I should have killed him.
But that kind of killing required disposing of a body and that left more ends unsnipped. Using Bacon had been a calculated risk. Sometimes risks went wrong.

Now there were films out there whose content was… uncontrol ed.
How soon before he tries
blackmailing me?
That thread would have to be snipped. Right away. The coffee left a bitter taste, but no less bitter than the knowledge that once again Ciccotelli had landed on her feet. The cops had formed a protective wall around her. She’d spent the night with Reagan. Slut.
Don’t tease me, Aidan. You made me remember what it felt like to be wanted,
Aidan.
It was enough to make a person gag.

Reagan was interested. That would have to be nipped in the bud as well.
And I know the very
way to do it.
But first things first. Bacon needed to be dealt with. Snuffing that sick sonofabitch would be satisfying.

But even more satisfying would be Ciccotelli’s reaction to her latest loss. He’d suffered so, moaning for help. Moaning for Ethel. Begging for mercy, for answers.
Why?

He’d been so pitiful, his cries stirring the Blades to more violence. The gang boys had done well. His wounds would show a sustained beating, but nothing traceable. Some might call their arrangement blackmail.
I prefer to think of it as a business proposition that benefited both sides.
The day suddenly seemed less dismal. No more brooding. There was work to be done.

“Check, please.”

Chapter 14

Wednesday, March 15, 3:10 P.M.

Aidan looked up at the store sign with a sigh. It was the third Wires-N-Widgets store in the Chicagoland area. The next nearest store was in Milwaukee, an hour away. “Three strikes and you’re out,” he murmured and Murphy frowned.

“It could be that the third time’s a charm, Aidan.”

“Yeah. Cut the smokes and see if you’re still so damn chipper.” He was discouraged and growing more so. With every hour they didn’t have Bacon in custody the chances of some

130

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

wanker seeing Tess on a Web site went up. He didn’t want to have to tell her they’d failed, to see the worry in her eyes.

They went into the store and up to the front counter where a beefy man stood sorting parts. The name tag on his Wires-N-Widgets polo shirt said GUS.

Murphy laid Bacon’s picture on the table and Aidan saw Gus flinch. “Bacon doesn’t work here anymore,” Gus said and turned back to the pile of tiny parts. Murphy leaned against the counter. “Why not?”

The man took out a stack of small plastic bags and starting dropping a single part into each bag. “Because the boss fired him.” Aidan put his hand on the bags and Gus looked up, pissed. “I have to have these bagged by the end of my damn shift, okay?”

Aidan leaned closer until he was inches from the big man’s nose. “This is a homicide investigation, sir. I really don’t care if you get your capacitors bagged or not, but I can promise you won’t if you don’t start talking to us now. Answer the question. Why did your boss fire David Bacon?”

The man’s eyes widened. “Homicide? Bacon killed somebody?”

“We didn’t say that,” Aidan said. “He might know somebody who did.”

Gus sighed and dropped his voice. “We don’t want any publicity over this.”

Aidan and Murphy glanced at each other. “Did he steal something?” Murphy asked. Gus shook his head. “Worse. We found cameras in the ladies’. Looked into Bacon’s record and found out he’d lied on his app. Said he’d never been arrested, but he’d gone to jail for…” He leaned forward. “Spying on high school girls,” he whispered.