Necessary Decisions, A Gino Cataldi Mystery (46 page)

Then he sat on the bed, looking out the front window. He’d promised the detective he’d be here in the morning, and the man had laid his job on the line. The man didn’t owe him nothing, but he went out of his way. Lonny let out a big sigh, reached in the suitcase, and started taking clothes back out, setting each one neatly into the drawer where it belonged.

A voice came from behind him. “I’d have gone with you. I hope you know that.”

He turned, embarrassed. Lucia stood there, innocent and true. “You know?”

“I know you haven’t been the man I married since you lost your job. And I know that all those nights you came home with money, you didn’t get it working honest labor.”

“How did you know?”

“I didn’t smell cement on you, or see stains on your arms.”

He sat back on the bed, defeated. “You should have said something.”

“Uh-huh. And what would you have done?” She walked over and stood before him.

Lonny looked up at her. “I’m through hiding and doing wrong. But now…”

“What kind of trouble are we in?”

“No
we
. It’s
me
. I did some bad things. Now I got to pay for them.”

Lucia sat beside him on the bed. Her fingertips traced lines up his big arm. “It will always be
we.
No matter what happens. You remember that.”

Lonny kissed her. Her lips weren’t soft like they used to be; they quit tasting like honey long ago. But he couldn’t let go. Didn’t want to let go, not wanting to free his lips for what he had to say.

“I’ll be goin’ to jail. How long, I don’t know.” He tried to hold back tears, but they came out in a flood. “What am I gonna tell the kids? All these years of preaching what’s right and wrong, and now…now this.”

Lucia rubbed his head. Kissed his cheek. “Those kids are old enough. They know you’re not perfect. You’ll tell them what you did, and why. And then you’ll show them how a man handles his business.” She kissed him again and stood. “Like you’ve done all these years.”

“They’re gonna hate me.”

“They might be embarrassed. Maybe even angry. But they’ll love you like they always have. Can’t take that away.”

Lonny stood and looked Lucia in the eyes. “Will you stand with me when I tell them?”

She grabbed his hand and headed for the door. “I’ve stood with you for eighteen years, Mr. Hackett. I won’t step down now.”

Lonny talked through the night, telling his kids what he did wrong and helping them figure out how they would live the rest of their lives without him. He’d be gone for most of it, if not all. He didn’t tell them he could get the needle. He didn’t even want to think of that. He
did
tell them they’d likely be married with grown kids of their own before anyone would even consider letting him out.

When he was done, he took Lucia to the bedroom. They sat on the bed for hours, just holding each other and talking. He was still talking when Detective Cataldi’s car pulled into the driveway. He stood, straightened his shirt, took a handkerchief from the drawer, and tucked it into his back pocket. Lonny needed to feel like a gentleman today more than ever.

“Time to go, Lucia.” He kissed her, a quick peck, then grabbed a small bag and headed out.

***

I stood in the driveway, waiting. I was both relieved and surprised when Lonny came out. I didn’t know if he’d be here. Before I could say anything, Lucia ran out the door. She passed Lonny and ran to me.

“Do you have to take him now?”

“I should have done it last night.”

“I know. We all thank you for that. But do you have to take him?”

“If not now, when?”

She stared at me, her huge brown eyes pleading, opening up to let me see her soul. “Never,” she said. “He doesn’t deserve this.”

“Lucia, do you—”

She placed her finger on my lips, shook away tears from her eyes. “Shh. I
know
what he did, Detective. He does too. He did it for his
family.
”

Lonny was approaching, but she held up her hand, warning him off, then turned back to me. I loved this strong, wonderful woman. For a brief moment, I envied Lonny.

“Detective, have you ever loved someone so much you would do
anything
to save them? I
know
you loved your wife. I saw it in your eyes that day we did dishes together. She was a lucky woman, your Mary.”

She must have seen the look of surprise on my face. “Your necklace, Detective. It’s inscribed with her name. That’s how I knew.”

Lonny came up, opened the car door, and put his stuff in. He went to Lucia and kissed her.

“It’s not fair what you’re doing,” Lonny said. “The man is doing his job and he’s been good to us.”

She nodded, fighting tears as Lonny got in. The kids came out and surrounded her, waving to Lonny as I backed out of the driveway. I tried focusing on what I had to do that day, but I couldn’t get Lucia’s eyes out of my head. We drove a couple of miles in silence, and then Lonny looked my way.

“I know it’s not fair of me to ask, but would you mind checking in on the kids? They’re gonna need some guidance.”

“I’m sure Lucia can handle it.”

“She pretends to be a rock. But she’s gonna break when I’m gone.”

“Lonny, I’ve got my own son. My own problems too.”

“I’m sorry. Like I said, it’s not fair.”

We drove another few miles, heading south on I-45.

“Still, I’m asking,” he said.

I pulled off the freeway and into a diner. “You want breakfast?”

“Haven’t had any.”

I grabbed a booth near the front window, ordered a huge meal then sat there reading the paper. Lonny sat across from me, playing one of those games where you try to leave one peg in the center. All the time, I couldn’t get my mind off Lucia and the kids. I drank three cups of coffee and was mopping up eggs-over-easy with white toast, doing anything I could to get the images of Mars and Jada out of my mind. And Lucia.

Lonny had good kids. Real good. I knew how difficult it was to raise good kids. It took a team. Tough enough even then, let alone as a single mother with no money. Putting Lonny away was a sentence for his whole family.

I looked over at him. He was shaking. Scared shitless. I didn’t blame him. Going to prison was worse than going to war. All they did was kill you in war. I fought one last time with my conscience—thought about Lucia trying to work and raise those kids. Then I thought about Rico Moreno and what I’d done to him and his family. I owed the world something besides another prisoner in Huntsville.

“You’re going home, Lonny.”

His eyes opened up real big. “Don’t go messing with me, Detective. I’m already shitting my pants. I can’t afford no hopes.”

I glared at him. “You ever so much as—”

He wiped his mouth, got up, stepped to my side of the booth and picked me up and squeezed. Then he kissed me. Goddamn
kissed
me. Right there in the diner. All I could do was laugh.

I threw a twenty on the table, looked at what I had left—a ten and two ones—and threw them on top of the twenty. Might as well make a few people happy today. “Let’s go tell Lucia.”

As we rode to his house, I thought of all the lies I’d have to tell Ribs. And Tip. But I brushed that concern aside. Things to worry about another time.

Half an hour later, I pulled into Lonny’s drive and unlocked the doors. “Get the fuck out, Hackett. And I swear to God, I better never see you again.”

Lucia ran out of the house, followed by Jada and Mars. The whole family stood in the drive, hugging. I couldn’t help but smile. I watched for a moment then put the car in reverse.

Lucia came to the car. “Are you coming in for coffee?”

I shook my head. “Thanks anyway.”

She leaned in the window next to me. “Get out of that car, mister. And get your butt inside.”

I couldn’t argue with that. When I stepped out, Lucia grabbed me and squeezed for all she was worth. Then she kissed me, on the lips, soft and warm.

“Detective, if I weren’t a married woman, I’d…” She turned her head, embarrassed. “You’re a good man, Gino Cataldi. A
damn
good man.”

Chapter 68

Where Is Number Two

I
left the Hacketts and drove slowly down the road. I hadn’t reported anything I knew about Lonny, so there was no paperwork to cover up. Delgado and Tip would know, but I could handle them. Delgado was supposed to be getting the wrap-up from the fire department and the preliminaries from the M.E. I called to see if he had any update.

“
Cómo estás, amigo?
” he answered.

“I’ll be better if you have good news.”

“Depends on what you’re looking for.”

“Tell me, Ribs.”

“Fire department basically confirmed what they suspected. There was a woman on the driver’s side of the van with bump on her head on the left side. Almost looks like she fell out the door when the fire started, knocking herself unconscious, and then she burnt up. The fire started with a broken fuel line. Doesn’t look like tampering at this point. It spread so fast because there were a lot of empty or half-empty gas cans in there, which made them explode.”

I couldn’t argue much at that point. “What about the money?”

“They found it in the same kind of bags we sent it out in. It’s impossible to tell how much, but enough, they said.”

“Enough for what?”

“This wasn’t a few hundred-dollar bills, if that’s what you’re wondering. This was lots—pay-off-your-mortgage-type lots.”

“Son of a bitch, are you telling me they all died?”

“The body count is right—four males and the female, just like it was supposed to be.”

“That’s what bothers me. The ‘just like it was supposed to be’ shit. Do you buy it?”

“Buy what?”

“That they planned a meticulous kidnapping, pulled it off without a hitch, and then Number Two eliminates her four partners, and as she is getting away the van
happens
to have a fuel-line break. Oh, and lest we forget, she falls out of the van, hits her head, and the whole place blows up, money included.” I waited. “You’re buying that shit?”

“You know I’m not, but what are we going to do? The lady beat us at every turn. She’s probably on her way to a beach in Tahiti by now.”

“I’d bet fifty-fifty on that.”

“We’ll get her. Don’t worry.”

“Yeah, all right. I’ll see you later.”

“What happened with Lonny?”

“What about him?”

“That’s what I want to know. Something was up with him, going out looking for that guy Willard, leaving again, then him and you seeing Harbough. You tell me.”

“Turned out to be nothing,” I said.

A long silence followed. “And you want
me
to buy that shit?”

“I’ll tell you about it later. I’m going by the Marshalls’ house.”

I stopped by there and told them we’d gotten the ones who did it. That they were all dead. I didn’t like lying, but I couldn’t break Lonny’s trust. And what good would it do to tell them there might be one left out there. Cause them some more sleepless nights; fuel those fires of vengeance and hatred. I’d been through that myself. No sense in others going through it.

After leaving, I wandered, riding around, not knowing what to do or what I wanted to do. This case had torn me up. I ended up deciding to go to the warehouse. There were things that still bothered me. I parked about fifty feet from the building, still reeking from the fire, then got out and walked around. I didn’t go in, but I did walk out back, taking note of the door on that side and the narrow trail leading away from the building. It looked as if it could be wide enough for a car. Only one way to find out.

I drove around the side, keeping to the gravel so the car didn’t sink in the wet ground. The trail led to the back section of woods. It grew narrow, but I kept it fully on the road. When I entered the woods, a few branches scratched the sides of the car, probably taking some paint off, but other than that, it wasn’t a bad ride. Within two miles, I exited onto a small paved road to the north.

Texas had a lot of small backwoods roads, though most people never drove them, tending to stay on the freeways. This road was new to me. I took it east and followed it for about five miles until it dead-ended into a farm. I headed back and followed it west. The road branched north, then east, ultimately coming out near Conroe on the west side of town.

As I got close to town, traffic became bumper-to-bumper. My eyes wandered as much as my mind. During one of many delays, I found myself staring at a license plate. It started with VNA. It jarred my memory. I’d never gotten those plates from Herb, and they probably never went back to check on them. It was likely nothing, but I had nothing to do. I called Herb.

“Herb, can you send me those plates Julie had you run? The VNA numbers from The Woodlands area.”

“Shoot, Gino, I forgot to get that to you.”

“How many are there?”

“Hang on.” He put me on hold for a few seconds. “In your immediate area, with cars registered to women, six.”

“How about texting them to me? Names and addresses.”