Deep in Death: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (5 page)

“Yes…I see that,” he answered. An amused smile lit his face. “I am Giovanni Passini, at your service.” He held out his hand for me to shake, but as soon as I placed my hand in his, he lifted it to his lips and placed a kiss on my knuckles.

If I was rattled before, now I was speechless. I couldn’t even remember my name. “Uh…nice to meet you. I’m…uh…Shelby Nichols.” I pulled my hand out of his grasp and took a step back. “I guess I’ll be going now.” I glanced around Giovanni and waved. “Bye Uncle Joey, Ramos.”

I hurried out the door, pulling it behind me, but on impulse, left it slightly ajar so I could eavesdrop. That guy was something else, and I wanted to know what he was up to. Giovanni spoke without even a hint of an accent. “What a charming niece you have, Manetto. Where did you get her?”

“That’s none of your concern,” Uncle Joey said, his voice hard. “And I suggest you walk carefully. You’re in my domain and I’m not happy you’re here.”

“Of course… I apologize,” he answered. He was thinking that he enjoyed hitting a nerve with Manetto, even though it was probably a stupid thing to do. “As you know, my father has died. I want to work out a better arrangement for both of us now that he’s gone.”

I stayed by the door until I heard the squeak of Jackie’s chair. Knowing she was probably coming to see what was keeping me, I quickly pulled away and walked down the hall, grateful for the carpet that kept my passage quiet.

She rounded the corner and stopped. “Oh…there you are,” she said. Her shoulders relaxed and she smiled, wondering what had kept me so long. Knowing how Joe felt about Jon Passini, she didn’t think it was a good idea for me to be involved. If he was anything like his father, he was going to make trouble for them and Joe wouldn’t like it one bit. “Did you get everything taken care of?”

“Yes. I’m all set. See you later.” I smiled at Jackie with a confidence I didn’t feel and hurried to the elevators. My heart was still pounding as I rode down to the parking level, but by the time I got in my car, I could finally breathe normally again.

This Giovanni or Jon person was bad news. No matter how charming he was, he definitely wasn’t a friend of the family like he tried to portray. More than that, I picked up deep resentment and anger. He had an agenda to fulfill…and the person he had the biggest plans for was Uncle Joey.

Chapter 3

I drove home determined to get started on my missing person case, and not worry so much about Uncle Joey, but I still couldn’t stop thinking about the mess he was in. I pulled into my garage and hurried inside. It was almost three in the afternoon and I was hungry, so I rummaged through my refrigerator for something to eat. Nothing looked good, but it was mostly due to my anxiety about Uncle Joey. In desperation, I whipped out my phone and pushed number seven on my speed dial. He answered on the third ring.

“Shelby? I didn’t think I’d be hearing from you until tomorrow. Is something wrong?”

“Yes. Is that Giovanni person still there?” I asked.

“Um…no. He just left.”

“Good. There’s something you should know about him.”

“Okay…what?” he asked.

“I wasn’t able to pick up a whole lot, but he’s…a bad person.” It hit me that I could have been describing Uncle Joey, and my palms got a little sweaty, so I hurried on to explain. “What I mean is, he’s just full of resentment and anger and he’s got big plans for you, as in…bad-for-you-plans.”

“Hmm…do you know what those plans are?” he asked.

“No, I wasn’t able to pick up on that.”

“Okay. Anything else?”

“Um…yes.” I hesitated, not sure how to proceed, but hearing Uncle Joey sigh, I decided I might as well put in my two-bits-worth. “I think you should call off whatever’s going on with him, and if you don’t, then at least let me listen to him so you know what his plans are.”

“Thanks Shelby,” he said. “I’m touched that you care so much, but I’m afraid it’s too late to call anything off.” He was silent for a minute, so I figured he was trying to decide how to best use my abilities in his nefarious schemes. “I know you’re worried about this situation, but to be honest, I’m not sure I want you involved in this.”

“What?” I squeaked. “Are you crazy? Don’t you want to know what his plans are?” This was like a dream come true for me, but for some reason, it didn’t make me happy like it should.

He chuckled, and I could visualize him shaking his head. “It’s not that. It’s just that the last few times I’ve sent you on simple errands, you’ve nearly gotten killed. They weren’t dangerous errands either. I know this is a delicate matter, so I’m not sure I should involve you. Besides, there are some things about my business that you would be better off not knowing.”

“Oh…well…I suppose you’re right about that.” Did he think I would double-cross him? Or was it more like I was a liability?

“Listen…if I get in a bind and I can see a way for you to help me out without getting you killed, I’ll let you know. This situation I’m in has been going on for quite some time now, years in fact, and recently, things have changed. After that meeting I just had, I realize it’s time to resolve it…no matter how dangerous…and it could get a little dicey. And by that I mean life-and- death dicey.”

“Oh. Okay.” What did he mean by that? Did he think he might have to kill someone? Or that he might die? If that was the case, I definitely did not want to get involved.

“I’ll let you know if you can help, and I’ll expect to hear from you tomorrow after your lunch with Kate.” The line went dead, and I sat there in shock. Who would have thought Uncle Joey wouldn’t want my help? It was so far from how he normally behaved that I could hardly believe it. What the heck was going on?

He even made it sound like he might not make it out alive. That probably applied to Ramos too, and pain tightened my chest. I realized that just this morning I was thinking that something was wrong with me for liking a mob-boss and his hit-man, and now that he didn’t want my help in a dangerous situation, I was relieved, but…what if he died? Would I feel like it was my fault?

I blew out a breath. I’d have to take Uncle Joey at his word and trust that if he needed my help, he would ask. Other than that, it was something he’d have to take care of himself. Chris would certainly be happy about this turn of events, so why was I still worried? Ugh! Maybe I really did need to see a shrink, especially since I couldn’t go to lunch tomorrow with Holly now that I had to meet up with Kate.

My cell phone rang. Glad for the distraction, I quickly picked it up. “Hello?”

“Hi Shelby! It’s Billie. How are you doing? How’s the arm?”

“Oh, hi Billie. Doing better thanks.”

“Good,” she answered. “Hey…I just got off the phone with Drew. He told me you solved the case he was working on. Single-handedly. He was pretty impressed. I guess everyone was. It made me wish I could have been there.”

I let out a soft laugh, a little embarrassed by all the praise. “Oh, yeah…well, you know me and my premonitions.”

“Yeah. I think you’ve certainly made a name for yourself with the police department. Anyway, he told me to give you a call, said you were working on a dead file case.”

“That’s right,” I said. “I’m just getting started on it now. How about you? Got anything interesting you’re working on?”

“Well…I’m keeping pretty busy covering the homicides for the paper. If I could interview you about this latest case, that might be good. I know it’s late, but have you had lunch yet today? Maybe we could grab a bite to eat…say in about fifteen minutes?” I didn’t answer right away, so of course, she plunged in. “There’s that Paradise Bakery real close to you… how does that sound?”

“Hmm…well, I’ve got a lot of work to do, but I haven’t had lunch yet and I am hungry…”

“I’ll buy,” she said, pushy as ever. “And don’t forget about the cookie they give you. Those are really good.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you there.” It wasn’t lunch with Holly, but maybe this diversion would be good for me, and I looked forward to seeing Billie again. It was also good for Dimples, since meeting in person was the best way to find out what kind of secrets she might be keeping.

When I arrived, Billie was waiting for me and waved me over. I hadn’t seen her since she’d helped me beat a murder rap, and for that, I would always be grateful. After a quick hug, we got in line and soon had our sandwiches and cookies in hand.

“So tell me what happened at the precinct,” she began. “How did you know Spencer was guilty?”

I told her that I had a premonition of him with a bloody knife in his hand. “He kind of broke down when I told him he didn’t mean to do it. That’s when he confessed.”

“My goodness, you’re really good at interrogating people. Those types of leading questions are mostly just guesses. Usually when you do that, you’re wrong more times than you are right. But I guess with your premonitions, you’ve got the upper hand.” She’d seen me in action, and it amazed her every time. She also thought it could come in handy with what she was looking into right now. “Hey…I have a couple of projects I’ve got some leads on, and I’m not really sure which one has the most promise. Do you think you could help me? Do your little voodoo thing?” Her eyes sparkled with mirth.

I smiled. “It depends on what I’d have to do. I’m trying to stay away from the bad guys for a while.”

“Oh yeah.” She chuckled. “But the thing is…I don’t know if they’re bad or not. That’s where you’d come in. All you’d have to do is go with me when I interview them for a story. You wouldn’t even have to say anything. If you got any kind of bad premonitions about them, then I’d know if it was worth pursuing.”

Wow. That sounded a lot like Uncle Joey. “That sounds fair. Who did you have in mind?”

“Well the first person is the Attorney General, Grayson Sharp,” she began. “You’ve probably heard in the news that he’s been allegedly taking money for his campaign to ensure certain people won’t get prosecuted, right? I think one of them might be Joe Manetto, and if I could tie those two together, it would be quite the story, don’t you think?”

My breath caught and I started choking on my sandwich. With watering eyes, I spit the food out of my mouth onto my plate and grabbed my drink. Billie jumped up and started pounding me on the back, making it ten times worse. Taking deep breaths, I finally managed to whisper, “I’m okay…I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “Do you need me to do the Heimlich maneuver or anything?”

“No! I’m fine now.” I took a few more swallows of soda and caught my breath. Billie watched me with anxious eyes until the episode passed. She was thinking my reaction was probably due to what she’d said. She knew Manetto was the reason that judge had shot me in the arm, and she wondered if I knew more about him than I’d said. If so, she needed to know what it was.

“Look Billie,” I said. “You should leave Manetto alone. I’m serious.”

Now she was more curious than ever. “What do you know about him?”

“No…that’s not what I mean. You’ve heard of his reputation. He’s got resources you couldn’t even dream of. He’s untouchable. Believe me…you don’t want to get on his radar.” Her brows lifted with speculation. Everything I’d said just made her more interested. My heart sank. I was totally botching this up. “Someday…I’ll explain why, but as a personal favor to me, will you just leave it alone?”

Her shoulders dropped and she sat back in her chair. “I guess so.”

“Good. I’ll be happy to help with Grayson Sharp. In fact, I think I picked up on something about him.” I lied.

She straightened, her eyes wide and alert. “What was it?”

Since I wanted to keep her mind off Manetto, I had to make something up and hope it made sense. “I’m not exactly sure. I just got a lot of images of the Attorney General’s office door and someone holding a bag of cash. I didn’t see a face, so it could be anyone who works there. Anyway, whoever it was placed the bag full of cash on a conveyor belt, like those you see at the airport, and it disappeared into a tunnel.”

Billie stared at me, wondering if I was making this up or if it was real.

“A lot of times my premonitions are symbolic…like clues, and I have to figure them out,” I explained. “So in this case, I think it’s pretty evident that Grayson Sharp is getting cash from somewhere and it’s disappearing. That tells me you should concentrate on him and his cash flow.”

“All right. I’ll concentrate on Grayson Sharp and see if I can get an interview with him or someone from his office. Do you think you could come with me if I do?”

“Sure. In fact, talking with someone would really help me out.”

“Great.” She checked her watch. “Well, I’d better get going.”

“Yeah, me too, and thanks for understanding about Manetto.”

She twisted her lips and nodded. “I look forward to hearing your story.”

“It’s not a story…it’s just something I’ve heard.”

This time she smiled, thinking that was a vague answer, but it didn’t deter her. Nope. She knew a story was behind it, and since she was good at finding things out, she knew she’d get it out of me at some point. “Fine,” she said. I’ll keep in touch.”

“Okay.” I grabbed my cookie and walked out the door with her. After another wave, I got in my car and sighed. Why had I thought eating lunch with her would be good for me? If anything, I felt even worse. How had I promised I’d explain what I knew about Uncle Joey? This was terrible. But at least now I had time to figure out a story to tell her, so maybe it wasn’t so bad. Frustrated, I leaned my forehead against the steering wheel and sighed. My first day back on the job had turned into a doozy, and right now I wished I’d stayed in bed.

When I got home I decided to forget about Billie, Uncle Joey, and Kate, and concentrate on my case. I changed into comfy clothes and grabbed a diet soda, then took Darcy Shaw’s file into the den and borrowed one of Chris’ legal pads to write down anything that might help me keep my facts straight.

The photo of her happy smiling face and the realization of how closely she resembled her daughter opened a flood of determination in me. I wanted…no…needed to solve this case. Someone had kidnapped this woman, and I felt in my heart she was dead. It wasn’t right. Someone needed to speak for Darcy, and if I didn’t do it, who would?

I spent the next hour jotting down facts about the case, and the more I learned, the closer I felt to this woman. It sent a little shock through me to realize she was only a few years older than me on the day she disappeared. She had blond hair and blue eyes just like me, and at the time of her disappearance, had a couple of teenage kids at home. Her husband, though not a lawyer, was a respected architect with a great firm. 

She had just started a new job too, working for a financial investment company. That’s where the similarities stopped. She was a wiz at math and that was one of the reasons she’d been hired. The company made investments and drew up portfolios as financial planners for their customers. She’d only worked there for two months before she disappeared.

I looked up the company on the Internet and breathed a sigh of relief to find them still going strong. I didn’t know if working there had anything to do with her disappearance, but something told me it was a good place to start. From the notes in the file, I found out the name of her boss, and called the company to make an appointment with him. Lucky for me, he still worked there.

With a little maneuvering, I managed to talk his secretary into letting me take five minutes of his time first thing in the morning. I told her I was a private investigator hired by the police to look into Darcy Shaw’s death. It was the truth, though not exactly for this case. But since it was for a good cause, I only felt a little guilty.