Dante wasn't quite ready to go home yet, so he headed down to the station. He needed the distraction. Throwing himself into the investigation was one way to do it.
"Hey, Dante. Didn't expect to see you here today. Look, I was able to get a little more information off of that phone call. It seems that it was from a cell phone. The call originated from somewhere in the vicinity of the city. That's as close as we could get on a location. However, we were able to find out where the cell phone was purchased. A uniform is going to the store now to talk to the employees. We'll put a tracing device on Sonny's phone also."
"Thanks, Commissioner. I appreciate it." Dante hung his head, the disappointment in himself showing on his face . "I just wish I would have been there when that call came in."
"Listen, you and I both know that nothing would have changed, even if you were there. It happened once already anyway, right?"
"Yeah, but. You're right. I just want this to be over, for this creep to be locked up forever."
"We all do and it will be, soon. We're going to keep after this." Dante shook his head in agreement and walked over to his desk.
"Hey buddy, what brings you in today?" asked Ronnie.
"Well, Lulu is pretty upset with me at the moment, so I decided to lay low for a few hours. Ronnie, what do you know about Officer Franco? Didn't he work with you at NYPD?"
"You mean Bobby Franco? Well, he graduated from the academy about 3 years ago. He worked awhile for NYPD, but got tired of walking the beat in the big city. He moved here about six months ago. He's got an impressive record for the short time he's been a cop. Why do you ask?"
"Lulu got another call yesterday from the SOB who raped her. When I went outside to look around, Franco was on guard duty. He wasn't due there until tomorrow. He said that he took the place of the officer who was supposed to be there last night. Said he was sick or something. By the way, who was that officer? I want to talk to him."
Ronnie looked through the roster. "That would be Officer Minette. So far, everything sounds plausible. What makes you so suspicious of him?"
"When I asked if he had seen anything strange going on outside the house, he said that he had been there around 5:30 and saw nothing."
"Okay. And…"
"Ronnie, I didn't mention a specific time."
Ronnie's expression turned to shock. He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. "Do you think that he might be in on this?"
"Yeah, I do. We need to check this guy out. I want to know everything, right down to what he had for supper last night."
"Whoa. What's this 'we' business? You're not doing anything with this. You let me handle it. The last thing we need is to raise any suspicion. If you start poking around, he's gonna figure it out. I can do it without any red flags going up."
"All right, but you let me know what you find out."
"Don't worry, I will."
"Hey guys, what's up?" asked Lucky. He turned to Dante. "Aren't you supposed to be off today?"
"Yeah. Well, change of plans. You're sister isn't real happy with me right now." Dante told him about everything that happened the night before.
"You know my sister. She'll come back around."
"Well, boys, I've got some work to do. I'll let you know what I find out," said Ronnie, as he nodded at Dante.
"Thanks, man. I owe you one."
"Yankees game. Seats behind home plate will work just fine." Dante smirked and waved as Ronnie walked away.
"What was that all about?" asked Lucky.
"I'll tell you later. Now, you said that the DNA samples taken from Lu... um, the scene didn't show up in any of the databases, right?"
"Yeah. Nothing at all. I'm telling you, this guy knows how to cover his tracks. The question is, how is he doing it?" Just then, Franco walked in. Dante's eyes followed him until he walked out of the room.
"Oh, I think I know. I just can't prove it yet." He told him about his encounter with Franco and that Ronnie was digging into his past.
"Man, if this is true, he'd better pray that the Commissioner gets to him first."
"Oh yeah, because if not, he'll be sorry he ever set foot in this town." Dante clinched his fists, the anger evident on his face.
Lucky decided he should change the subject. "So, do you want to tell me more about this phone call?"
"Well, the phone call from yesterday didn't turn up much. Mac said that all they could get were some coordinates on the origin of the call. It was made somewhere around Port Charles, which means it could have been near Greystone. Which means-"
"That he's still watching her. She's got to be scared out of her mind. That could explain the drinking."
"Maybe, but have you ever known her to just go get drunk like that? Not only that, she was really angry with me. You know, Ma made a good point last night. Lulu and I have never argued like that before. It was almost like she pushed me away for my own good."
"Do you think that there was some kind of a threat made?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Well, that's a place to start. You've got to use that to break down the infamous Spencer wall she puts up."
"No time like the present, right?" He grabbed his jacket and headed out the door. He just hoped that Lulu would still want to look at him, let alone talk.