Stephanie
I stared at my phone. Tank smiled at me. "Did Ranger hang up without saying goodbye?" he asked.
"You know he did. Did Vince, Hector and Cal check in?" I knew the men were dressed in street clothes and hanging around Pete's Pub. My phone chimed before Tank could answer.
"Cal and I are stopping by Shorty's. Do you want me to bring back anything?" Vince texted. I smiled and asked for my favourite dessert. "Got it."
Tank sat beside me as I linked into the cameras inside the garage. He didn't say anything, but I knew Tank was aware of the situation. His phone buzzed while I was talking to Carlos. Lester must have provided the intel. Tank pointed to the camera outside the elevator. "You've got this," he said. I chewed on my thumbnail as Ranger's SUV pulled into the lot. Another vehicle drove inside on his bumper. I waited for them to get out of the car and approach the elevator. Tank showed me how to switch the view to the elevator.
Carlos looked into the camera and raised an eyebrow. I knew he was asking if I wanted to visit. "Yes," I said to the screen. Tank clicked on his phone. I watched as Carlos glanced at the phone. He returned his gaze to the camera and winked. "Where are we meeting?" Carlos opened his hand.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Tank asked. I nodded. He placed his hand on my lower back and led me to the conference room on the fifth floor. It was across the building from Ranger's office.
We got to the conference room when the elevator opened. I sat opposite the door, so I could see Carlos, Lester and Uncle Joe enter the room. "Stephie?" Uncle Joe asked when he entered the room. I nodded.
He cautiously approached me. I couldn't stop from launching into his arms. Uncle Joe held me as I cried into his shoulder. After a few minutes, he asked, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I never thought I'd return to Trenton, but it was the only way to draw my stalker out into the open. So far, he hasn't appeared," I confessed.
"We're monitoring his communications," Joe replied. "I know all the players."
"Any clues where to find Mancuso?"
"I was hoping you'd have some answers. We arrested Joseph Morelli for obstruction and removing unauthorized files and evidence from the records department. The police chief accessed the videos for the rooms involved and noticed the recordings got deleted. Do you have any ideas or thoughts of who Morelli got involved in his scheme?" Juniak asked.
I thought for a few minutes, then closed my eyes. A weaselly man appeared in my mind. "Scrawny police officer. He works on the beat. Brown, greasy hair and wears a permanent scowl," I replied. "I think he swapped furniture with Morelli to remove traces of Mancuso."
"Sounds like the overzealous cop, Benny." Juniak recognized my confusion and said, "Brian Gaspick." I snapped my fingers. That was the name. My memories had all returned, but my abilities were hit-and-miss most days. It would take time for me to rebuild those neurological pathways.
Maybe it wasn't about my abilities but more like living in Trenton brought back too many painful memories, blocking them from firing on all cylinders.
"Wait! His name is Brian. Why did you call him Benny?" I asked. An image popped into my head, making me giggle. "Ah. Brian uses Benadryl as a sleep aid. Eventually, it would stop working." I shook my head at the man's stupidity. What if he had an allergic reaction? The medication wouldn't be as effective.
Vince arrived a few minutes later with food. "Dad sent extra tiramisu," Vince said when he placed the takeaway bag on the table. He reached inside to grab his meal.
"Didn't you get food for the others?" I asked.
"Your uncle Joe and Ranger declined. Cal and Hector ate on the way while I drove," Vince explained.
"Please take a seat, Vince," Ranger said. Vince looked at me for approval. Joe barely stifled a snicker. Ranger was his boss. He should be following orders, not checking if I was okay with the request. I grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the seat beside me. Hector sat on my other side, while Cal sat across from me. Ranger waited for Vince to eat his sub before barking, "Report." I rolled my eyes.
Hector started his report. He spoke in rapid Spanish, but I had no trouble keeping up with his speed. "We dropped Vince off a block away from the Plum's house. Cal and I went to Morelli's house to observe the TPD forensic detectives remove a weapon, ammunition and other forensic evidence from his van. A young girl, I believe the oldest daughter Isabelle, unlocked the garage and vehicle for them to search. The detective asked if she had seen the items before. The child said she hadn't, but they were in the same location where she witnessed her father hiding them. Detective Sanders asked her if she was positive that her father had hidden the items. She confirmed that she watched outside her bedroom window that faced the garage behind their house. Isabelle could see inside since her father stupidly turned on the lights. He had no idea that he was getting watched. She recorded a video on her camera. The girl gave the detective the date-stamped recording."
I was proud of my daughter. But I had to know one more thing. "Why did she record him?" I asked.
Hector grinned and replied, "She thought his behaviour was suspicious, especially since he grabbed tools to detach the panel inside the van. It was a way to protect the rest of her family."
"Does Valerie know Isabelle recorded her father's actions?" I asked.
"No. Valerie was on the phone with her mother when the detective arrived. Isabelle told the detective that she had never mentioned the recording to anyone. She borrowed her friend's laptop to copy it onto a flash drive. Isabelle left a copy in her friend's care and never let the other copy out of her sight. She took it everywhere," Hector replied.
"Your daughter is intelligent," Uncle Joe said. I grinned. He used his phone to ask for a copy of the footage. Within a few minutes, he projected the video on the screen at the back of the conference room. I wondered how she managed to zoom into the garage. "Frank bought her a camera with various zoom lenses to attach." That made sense. There was no mistaking what Joseph Morelli was doing. He looked around to ensure nobody was watching.
"Morelli never looked at his house," I said. I wondered how he made detective.
"He didn't expect his family to pay attention," Ranger suggested. "Morelli underestimated your daughter."
Ranger focused his attention on Vince. "I hopped the back fence to gain access to the backyard and patched into the bugs Frank left in the kitchen and on the phone receiver. By the way, Valerie's pregnant because Joe messed with her contraceptives. I have a recording of Valerie offering to move Isabelle into the basement without privacy. Steph, I'm sure there's a way your lawyer could use that to regain custody of your daughter."
I wanted my stalker, Giacomo Pacini, to get caught before I opened that can of worms. It wouldn't help if I put her in the direct line of fire. "Could we send it to my lawyer and hold off on taking Isabelle from her home," I suggested. Vince nodded and assured me he would send the voice recording to the Rangeman lawyer.
The following words Vince spoke made me smile. "Helen got arrested for interfering in an ongoing police investigation. However, I believed Helen when she stated her innocence regarding the evidence."
"She's still guilty of conspiracy to commit a murder," I snapped. "Uncle Joe, do you know who is Joseph Morelli's godfather?"
"Salvatore Sunucchi. He's Bella Morelli's nephew," he replied. Hector bolted from the conference room and returned with a laptop. I smiled at my honorary brother. He sat beside me, and we worked on another search on Bella Morelli's family.
"He lives on the second floor of a four-story brownstone walk-up on the corner of Fifteenth and Morgan. Sunny owns the entire block. Has anyone checked if he was housing Mancuso?" I looked around the room, hoping someone would have an idea.
"Mancuso is a Morelli, but Sunucchi isn't. They aren't directly related." I waved off my uncle Joe's explanation to do more digging.
"Um. Guys. Did you know that Bella Morelli's nephew Giuseppe Bianco changed his name to James Caruso before he attended law school?"
"Judge Caruso is related to Joseph Morelli?" Juniak asked.
"Yes. Is there a problem?" I asked. Juniak typed a message on his phone for someone to check the records.
"Potentially. Caruso got assigned to Joseph Morelli's and Helen Plum's arraignment cases," he replied. "The prosecutor is known to be lenient with the Morellis." That was not what I wanted to hear.
Joe Morelli
The booking officer shook his head as he processed me. Another officer pulled me through the door as Big Dog accompanied Helen Plum into the room. Helen glared at me. I knew her arrest meant the detectives found the evidence I planted inside her house. She opened her mouth to say something, but I shook my head. There were too many officers to overhear our conversation.
Eddie took me to the cells in the basement. I got shoved into one where only a gangbanger lay on the bench. He opened one eye to assess me, then closed it to resume his nap. The cell beside mine was empty.
Thirty minutes later, Big Dog opened the door of the adjoined cell and pushed Helen Plum inside. "Holler if you need to use the washrooms. I would have put you on the other side with the women, but the sector was overpopulated," Big Dog explained.
When Big Dog left, Helen got close to the bars separating us and hissed, "What did you do?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," I replied. Helen glared at me until I confessed. Helen was furious that I picked the lock to her secure storage box. I reassured her that I only put stuff inside and didn't remove anything. Though I wanted to remove the tiny plastic tooth holders for Stephanie, Valerie and my daughters so nobody else could learn what I already to be true. My mother-in-law was disgusted that I implicated her in my scheme. Didn't she understand that I had to vilify Rangeman and run that business into the ground?
After Valerie gave birth to Angie and Mary Alice, I got DNA tests done. I asked the lab to compare them to Isabelle's sample. The lab confirmed they were my daughters, but they suggested that Valerie and Stephanie didn't have the same father. I wondered if that's why Valerie never received the Testa fortune. She wasn't a blood relative. Maybe I should get a sample of Frank's DNA to verify. My gut said Valerie wasn't Frank's biological daughter. For now, it was my secret. Helen wouldn't want her reputation in the Burg tarnished. Men were permitted to have mistresses, but married women were supposed to remain virtuous.
I needed Stephanie removed from existence to get that money. Valerie was nothing more than a placeholder until I cleared Terry Gilman of any wrongdoing regarding the law. Once I got my hands on the fortune, Valerie would be useless to me. I'd let her raise the girls, but not my son. I couldn't wait to meet him. We still had nine months to go.
Helen decided to share her conversation with my wife. "Valerie is concerned about having another child. Your house isn't big enough to accommodate four children," Helen said.
"We can put Isabelle in the basement. Valerie and I have worked hard to get her to behave appropriately. Renovating the space to create a bedroom isn't in the budget. Maybe when she earned her privacy, we could reconsider."
Helen gasped, "That's what Valerie said. What would the neighbours think?"
"I'm sure we could convince them it's for the best. Until Isabelle behaves as a proper Burg girl, she doesn't deserve privacy," I replied. Helen peeked over my shoulder to ensure the Hispanic man wasn't listening to our conversation. I glanced back to see he had rolled over to face the wall. "Once I get my hands on the Testa fortune, I could afford a larger home."
"Don't worry, Joseph. You will get your wish soon," Helen said. Helen stopped talking when Eddie Gazarra suddenly appeared. Shit! How much did he hear before he walked around the corner?
"Did you want to try calling Valerie again?" Eddie asked Helen.
"No. I want to call Frank," she replied. Eddie got Helen to push her hands through the opening in the bars to cuff her. She winced when he tightened them. I watched Eddie walk her to the officer's desk a few feet away to call her husband. When he didn't answer, she called the house and left a message for her mother.
Helen entered her cell feeling dejected. "Nobody home?" I asked.
"Frank's out of town visiting some friends. I called his cell phone, but it went directly to voicemail. My mother was at the bingo hall. She should be home soon. There isn't anything to be done tonight. I'm sure mother will hire a reasonably priced lawyer for me."
Helen sat on the bench and twisted her fingers like I'd seen Valerie do many times. It was a sign that they had something to say and were unsure how I would react. "What's on your mind?"
"The basement bedroom for Isabelle. I told Valerie I would hire a contractor to complete the renovations," Helen replied.
"Absolutely not! I have nine months to get the room built for Isabelle. How hard can it be? We install a few walls and a door. I'm sure Mooch and Anthony could help with that much. There's no need to waste money on a contractor."
Eddie jingled the keys as he returned. He shouted at the man on the bench and explained his lawyer was there to visit. "Abogado," Eddie said. I assumed it was the Spanish word for lawyer. The man stood from the bench and rubbed his eyes. He had three teardrop tattoos beneath his right eye. I never noticed them the first time.
As the man followed Eddie, he looked over his shoulder and winked at me. He made a few kissing noises before laughing. I had no idea what he meant by that.