“Oh, Jesus,” he said when they flashed their badges. “What now? I talked to my PO yesterday. Whatever it is, I didn’t do it.”
“When was the last time you saw Regina?” Sam asked.
“Who?”
“Your ex-wife, asshole.”
“Shit, that bitch?” As he spoke, he flipped burgers and sautéed onions. “Been more than a year since I laid eyes on her. Biggest mistake I ever made. All she wanted from me was a green card. Totally played me.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because the second she got it she was out the door. I thought she was home visiting her mother until I got served with divorce papers. Too bad for her that she set off INS alarms when she filed for divorce.”
“They rescinded the green card?”
He nodded. “She was able to get a work visa, but that was temporary.”
“You never saw her again?”
“Nope. She didn’t need me anymore, and I certainly had nothing to say to her.”
“How long were you married?”
“About fifteen months all told. Together about ten of them.”
“All that time, you had no inkling that she was playing you?” Freddie asked.
“I made the mistake of falling for her.” For a moment, he seemed lost in his memories, but then he seemed to remember the hurt. “What’s this all about? Is she in some kind of trouble? Wouldn’t surprise me.”
“She was killed Saturday night,” Sam said.
He froze mid-burger-flip. “
Killed?
What happened?”
“She was murdered in her apartment.”
“God, I can’t believe that.”
“Where were you Saturday night?”
His eyes bugged. “You don’t think…I hated her for what she did to me, but I’d never
hurt
her.”
“Where were you?”
“Right here. Two to midnight.”
“You didn’t leave at all.”
“Not until the end of my shift.”
“And someone here can attest to that?”
“Sure, the manager. He’s out front.”
After confirming Seamus’ alibi, Sam and Freddie left the restaurant.
“Another dead end,” she said.
Gonzo knocked on the door of the apartment upstairs from Maria’s and waited impatiently. He’d told Sam that his personal crisis wouldn’t affect his work, but that was proving much easier said than done. His body hummed with tension while he waited to hear something—
anything
—from Andy.
The door opened, and a middle-aged woman greeted him and his badge with a grunt. “This about Maria?” she asked.
“Detective Gonzales, Metro Police. May I have a moment of your time?”
She gave him a good once-over before admitting him into her apartment.
“Do you mind if I ask your name?”
“Debbie Hopkins.”
“Have you lived here long?”
“Six years.”
“What about Maria?”
“Coupla years, I guess. I didn’t know her very well.”
“If you could tell me anything you did know about her, that would help.”
“She never had much to say but wasn’t unfriendly. Just quiet.”
“Was she seeing anyone?”
“Not that I ever noticed, but she wasn’t around much. She worked a lot.”
“Did she work for just the cleaning service?”
“I don’t know. It seemed that she worked every night. I heard her shower go on in the mornings because the pipes would clang.”
Gonzo’s cell phone rang. “Excuse me. I have to take this.”
She gestured for him to proceed.
His heart stuttered when he saw Lori’s number on the caller ID. “Hello?”
“You had to send fucking
social workers
over here?
Are you fucking kidding me?
”
“Wait a minute—”
“No,
you
wait a minute. I’m sorry I ever called you. You can keep your money and your social workers and your DNA tests. Just stay the fuck away from us.”
“I’m not staying away from my son, Lori. I don’t care about the money or anything else. I want my kid.”
“Then I’ll see you in court, because you’re not getting anywhere near my son if I have anything to say about it!”
Before he could form an answer to that, the line went dead. His hands shook as he returned the phone to his pocket. He took a moment to collect himself before he turned back to finish the interview. “Sorry about the interruption,” he said, forcing a calm tone to his voice when he wanted to shriek with frustration. Withdrawing his card from his pocket, he handed it to Debbie. “If you think of anything else that might be helpful to the investigation, please give me a call.”
“You might want to talk to Mrs. Ellison in 4B. I think they were friendly.”
“Thank you,” Gonzo said, grateful to leave the airless apartment.
Once outside, he sat on the stoop, taking deep breaths of cool fresh air. When he managed to calm down, he reached for his phone again to call Andy.
The moment the lawyer came on the line, Gonzo said, “We’ve got a problem.”
Sam knocked on the door of Selina Rameriz’s apartment. They had turned the non-immigrant portion of the employee list over to McBride and Tyrone. “Miss Rameriz,” Sam called when she knocked. “Metro Police. We need to speak to you about Regina and Maria.”
“I have nothing to say,” came a small voice from inside the apartment. Her English was smooth but accented. Mrs. Smithson had told them Selina was Columbian.
“Miss Rameriz, please open the door. We just want to talk to you. You’re not in any trouble.”
“Show your badges.”
Sam and Freddie held them up to the peephole.
Another minute passed before they heard the sound of locks being disengaged. The door opened to reveal a tiny young woman with dark hair and skin. She wrapped her arms around herself protectively. “What do you want?” Her eyes, which were rimmed with red, darted between them and then past them to the hallway.
“Have you been threatened, Miss Rameriz?” Sam asked.
She shook her head. “Someone is killing the people I work with. I’m frightened.”
“Did you know of anyone that either of them was involved with who might’ve wanted to harm them?”
Again, she shook her head.
“Did you spend time with either of them away from work?”
“No.”
“Can you tell us anything about who some of their other friends might’ve been? Any men they were seeing?”
“No, I’m sorry. I know none of that.”
Sam glanced at Freddie.
He handed Selina his card. “If you think of anything that might be helpful to the investigation or if you feel threatened in any way, please call me.”
She took the card, shut the door and engaged a series of locks. “The poor girl is terrified,” Freddie said once they were outside.
“I can’t help but think she knows more than she’s saying.”
“I agree. If she barely knew them, why did she look like she’d been crying all night?”
“Good point. Let’s keep her on our list to talk to again if we don’t get anywhere with the others. Maybe if we take her downtown we’ll get somewhere with her. Who’s next?”
After interviewing five other Capitol Cleaning Services employees with similar results, Sam and Freddie returned to HQ at the end of their shift. Frustrated by the stonewalling from the women they’d spoken to, Sam gathered the other detectives working the case into the conference room for updates.
“Someone please tell me you have something we can work with,” Sam said. “This case is starting to piss me off.”
“I found one thing kind of interesting,” Jeannie McBride said.
“Where’d you come from?” Sam asked the third-shift detective. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”
Jeannie flashed a sheepish grin. “Couldn’t sleep so I came back to work.”
“Hear that boys?” Sam said. “Look at that dedication.” Enjoying the dirty looks from the male detectives and a bright smile from Jeannie, Sam waved at her to proceed.
“I dug a little deeper on the financials for Regina and Maria. Both recently wired large sums of money to their families at home. Maria sent seventy-five hundred and Regina five thousand.”
Sam released a low whistle. “Where do cleaning ladies making seventeen bucks an hour get that kind of money?”
“They had something going on the side—drugs, gambling, prostitution,” Freddie said. “Something that pays big.”
“Would they take a chance like that when they were desperately trying to stay in this country?” Gonzo asked. “They get caught and they’re looking at automatic deportation.”
“They take the chance if they—and their families—desperately needed the money,” Jeannie said.
“And the babies are insurance policies to keep them here if all else fails,” Sam said, hearing the click of pieces coming together. “I’d really like to know who fathered Maria’s baby.”
“Her neighbor, Mrs. Ellison, was friendly with Maria,” Gonzo reported. “But she said she never saw her with a man or heard her talk about being involved with one.”
“Check her travel status,” Sam said to Cruz. “See if she’s been back home recently. The father could be someone there. Follow up with the family to see if she had a significant other there who might be the father.”
Cruz nodded and made a note of her instructions.
“I’d also like to know from both families where they were told the money came from. They’ll be lies, but I want to know how they explained away that kind of money.”
Freddie added that to his list.
“Did we get anywhere with matching them up with the offices they cleaned?” Sam asked.
“They both worked in the Hart Building,” Detective Arnold reported. “In addition to Lightfeather, Regina cleaned Ackerman’s and Cook’s offices.”
“Ahh, our old friend Senator Cook,” Sam said, glancing at Freddie. Thanks to some inflammatory statements the senior senator from Virginia made to Nick about Julian Sinclair, Sam and Freddie had interviewed Cook after the Supreme Court nominee had been murdered. To say that Cook had been less than hospitable would be putting it mildly.
“Maria cleaned Lewis’s, Cappuano’s, Trent’s and Stenhouse’s,” Arnold continued, casting a nervous glance her way as he mumbled Nick’s name.
“Another blast from the past,” Sam said. Senate Majority Leader William Stenhouse was a bitter enemy of former Senator Graham O’Connor, John O’Connor’s father. Sam had interviewed Stenhouse during the investigation into John O’Connor’s murder, and like his colleague Cook, Stenhouse had been indignant and outraged by the implication that he might’ve had something to do with a murder. “Very interesting. In the interest of full disclosure, Nick mentioned that he knew Maria and that she cleaned his offices.”
Her comment was met with muttered acknowledgments. She hated when her two worlds collided this way.
“I want someone on Selina for a day or so,” Sam decided. “She was hiding something today when we talked to her. I want to know what it is.”
“Tyrone and I will take the first shift on her tonight,” Jeannie said.
“Excellent,” Sam said. “Have patrol show their photos around at the local shops, markets, restaurants again. Let’s find some of their other acquaintances. Get me some threads to pull.”
“You got it,” Jeannie said.
“I’ll see the rest of you in the morning,” Sam said.
As they filed out of the conference room, Gonzo gestured for Cruz to follow him down the hallway.
“What’s up, man?” Cruz asked when they were alone.
“This thing with Gibson…”
Cruz groaned. “
I can’t deal
. We totally screwed up, and if he gets sprung…”
“I hear ya. It’s eating me up too.”
“I keep going over it and over it in my mind. Why didn’t we wait for the warrant?”
“Because we knew we had him, and we wanted to nail that son of a bitch for what he did to Sam.”
“Yeah,” Cruz said, regretfully. “Wish we had it to do over.”
“Well, we don’t, but the way I see it, we owe her one.”
“No kidding.”
“So let’s get serious about finding the former tenant at Reese’s house. No doubt the people who lived there before Reese know something about her father’s shooting. I don’t care what we have to do…”
“I’m with you. Whatever it takes.”
“Let me think about the next step, and I’ll get back with you.”
“I’ll give it some thought too.”
“Good.”
“Everything okay with you?” Freddie asked. “You’ve seemed preoccupied today.”
“Yeah,” Gonzo said, startled by the question. Despite his best efforts, he was apparently wearing his personal turmoil for everyone to see. “Everything’s fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Later.”
After Cruz walked away, Gonzo reached for his cell phone to call Christina. “Can you break free yet?” he asked when she answered.
“Just about. Why? What’s up?”
“Bad day. I need you.”
No doubt surprised by his stark admission, Christina said, “I’m here. What can I do?”
“Meet me at my place in an hour?”
“I’ll be there.”
“Thanks.”
“You don’t have to thank me. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Overwhelmed by the rush of emotion, Gonzo closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. “Same here.”
As he ended the call, he took a moment to marvel at the recent changes in his life. He couldn’t recall ever saying the words “I need you” to a woman before nor had he imagined rearranging his life for a baby he hadn’t even known about three days ago. But the truth was, he did need Christina more than he’d ever needed anyone, and there was nothing he wouldn’t do to gain custody of his son.
With that in mind, he made another phone call, to the friend who’d introduced him to Lori.
“Dude,” his buddy Mark said when he answered. “Long time, no see.”
“Too long. How are you?”
“Hanging in there. You?”
“I’ve got a little problem I was hoping you could help me with.”
“What’s up?”
“Remember Lori Phillips?”
“Sure. What about her?”
“You know the baby she had recently?”
“I heard a rumor about that. What about it?”
“She says the kid is mine.”
“Holy shit! For real?”
“I saw him yesterday. Looks like me. He’s got my chin dimple.”
“Wow. I didn’t think you guys were all that involved.”
“We weren’t. Really. But apparently, it doesn’t take much.”
Mark released a nervous laugh. “So I hear.”
“The thing is, I’m not digging the scene where they’re living. Do you know anything about that guy Rex she’s seeing?”
Mark released a low whistle. “Rex Connolly?”
Bingo. Gonzo made a note of the name. “I don’t know his last name.”
“Lots of tats? Rough-looking dude?”
“That’s the guy. What’s his story?”
“I’m not really sure, but Sara said Lori is pretty serious with him.” Mark’s sister Sara was a close friend of Lori’s. “I figured the kid was his.”
“So they’ve been together a while then?”
“About a year maybe. What about the kid? What’re you going to do?”
“I’m considering my options,” Gonzo said, purposely evasive. He’d played in a softball league with Mark years ago and considered him a friend, but he didn’t want it to get back to Lori that he planned to seek custody. “Do me a favor and don’t mention to Sara or Lori that you talked to me?”
“No problem. Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will.” He had what he needed. “Thanks.”
Gonzo ended the call and returned to the detectives’ pit just as Sam was leaving her office.
“You’re still here?” she asked.
Gonzo glanced at the crowded pit where shift change was still under way. “Would you mind if I borrowed your office for a minute?”
She studied him for a long moment. “Sure. Lock up when you’re done.”
“Will do. Thanks.”
“See you tomorrow.”
Gonzo was relieved when she left without asking any questions. He went into her office and shut the door. While he waited for her computer to boot up, he thought about Andy telling him to get anything they could use in court to prove the baby would be better off with him than with his mother. In the meantime, Andy had filed the motion to demand a DNA test.
Gonzo typed in Rex’s name and was surprised to find five Rex Connollys in the system. He scanned through the mug shots, half hoping he’d find one he recognized and half hoping he wouldn’t. The fifth photo was his guy. As his heart thudded, Gonzo clicked on the link to his rap sheet.
Multiple arrests on drug charges—possession and dealing—a breaking and entering charge that was later dropped and a sealed juvenile record. Feeling sick and riddled with anxiety, Gonzo printed the sheet. As long as he was committing acts that could get him fired, he also ran Lori’s name through the system and was shocked to find a recent drug charge on her sheet too. The possession charge had been adjudicated six months prior, and she’d been placed on five years’ probation.
“Bull’s-eye,” he whispered as he printed both records.
As his final act of things that could get him fired, Gonzo faxed the information to Andy’s office and stood watch over the fax machine until all seven pages had transmitted. He collected them and turned to leave.
“Working late, Detective?” Lt. Stahl asked.
Gonzo almost jumped out of his skin. “Just finishing some paperwork, Lieutenant.”
“You’re awfully jumpy.”
“Am I?” Gonzo just wanted to get the hell out of there, and there was no one he cared to speak with less than the unpleasant man who used to be his boss. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to sneak up on me.”
“I didn’t sneak up on you,” Stahl huffed, his multiple chins jiggling with indignation.
“Is there something I can help you with, Lieutenant?”
“Nope.”
“Then I’ll be on my way,” Gonzo said. Feeling Stahl’s beady-eyed stare burning a hole in his back, Gonzo tucked the rap sheets under his arm, grabbed his coat and headed out while the getting was still good. Not until he was in his SUV and headed for home, did he manage to take a deep breath. Right before he pulled up to his building, he called Sam.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Just thought you should know that Stahl was skulking around the pit tonight.”
“What was he after?”
“Wouldn’t say, but as usual, he was acting weird. Just thought I should mention it.”
“Thanks for the heads-up,” she muttered. “I wish he would stay in the rat squad where he belongs.” Stahl had been transferred to the department’s internal affairs division after Sam had been given his old command.
“Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“I’m betting he had something to do with this situation with Gibson.”
“You really think so?” Gonzo asked.
“Wouldn’t put it past him.”
“He’s freaking evil. Why can’t they get rid of him?”
“I’m sure they’re trying. Did you get anywhere with your situation?”
“I got what I needed.”
“Good.”
“Thanks for the help.”
“Sure thing.”
Gonzo ended the call and rested his head on the steering wheel, forcing himself to breathe through the anxiety that cycled through him. His entire life was spinning out of control, and he felt powerless to stop or control it. A tap on his window interrupted his thoughts. Gonzo looked up to find Christina waiting for him.
He reached for his keys and got out of the car.
She held out her hand to him.
Gonzo linked his fingers with hers, and just like that, his world stopped spinning. He stared at her, dazzled and breathless. “I love you,” he whispered.
She gasped. “You…you…”
He realized he was doing this badly. Pocketing his keys, he raised his hands, cupped her face and brushed his lips gently over hers. “I love you.”
Tears flooded her blue eyes. “You do?”
Nodding, he kissed her again. “Surprised the hell out of me too.”
Christina laughed through her tears and leaned into his embrace as he escorted her into his town house. He had no idea if he’d left the place a mess, but he suspected she wouldn’t care.
Inside, she turned to him and gripped his hands. Looking up at him with a shy smile gracing her gorgeous mouth, she said, “I love you too.”
It was exactly what he needed to hear and exactly what he’d never expected to find. Gonzo leaned his forehead against hers.
“What happened today?” she asked.
He eased the coat from her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. “Later,” he said, kissing her with more intent. “I’ll tell you later.”
She looped her arms around his neck and fell into the kiss.