One or two more wrinkles to add to the mystery, and still House hasn't solved it. Still, I think after this it can't be much longer before he finds the single thread that will lead him back through the maze to the source of everything that's happened.

As always, I'm happy to see new and 'old' readers enjoying my story.

Chapter 98.

The three of us descended on Julio's room late that afternoon, each with our own questions for the young man. I hoped I would be able to ask one that would trigger a revelation that would open up this tangled web of interconnecting people and events. It didn't even have to be one of my own questions. Maybe Uncle Johnny or Jess would have a perspective that would finally send us in the right direction.

Julio smiled when he saw us. Jess and I had been his only visitors besides Bertoli. He didn't know Johnny as well, but the man's commanding and yet pleasant manner tended to put people at ease. It was no wonder he'd become so successful without the need of mob connections.

I started the interrogation, making a decided effort to keep my tone non-accusing. "Julio, we've been wondering about Francesca. Did she have any known connection to the Locarnos before she arrived in New Jersey?"

I don't think he expected the question, because he paused to think about it before answering. "No, none of us did."

"So she met them here?"

His eyes narrowed. "I guess so. Carlo said they were responsible for her death, but he never said anything about which members of the family she knew."

"How did he know they were connected to her death? Wasn't it an accident?" Jess asked.

"No." His face clouded over and he frowned. "She was abducted on her way home from work one night, like we were. The next morning her body was discovered in an alley. Death by natural causes, they said. But Carlo knew better." Julio nodded gravely. He still believed Molino had been telling him the truth. "I guess that's one of the reasons I was so frightened when we were taken."

"But why the Locarnos? What did they have to do with anything?" Johnny didn't hide his skepticism. "If there was no connection to the family, how did their name even come up? There are millions of people of Italian descent in this area of the country."

Carlo blinked a few times, then he shrugged. "I dunno. All Carlo said was the Locarnos were responsible, and had to be dealt with."

"Dealt with how?" I demanded. We needed answers and we needed them fast. I was through playing nice with the kid. "What were you supposed to do?"

Julio's face had been pale before, due to everything he'd been through, but now it turned the shade of a blank piece of printer paper. He swallowed and in a faint voice said, "Sabotage one of their businesses, and plant evidence that they were cheating on the contracts they had with the state."

"Alone? You were going to do all that by yourself?" I kept my eyes from rolling but it was a struggle.

He shook his head. "A couple of Carlo's guys were supposed to help me, but they'd taken off by the time I got to Jersey."

"Taken off where?"

"I don't know. The other guys at the shop said they'd left the week before on vacation and never came back. I never found out what happened to them. None of the others at the shop were supposed to be involved. That's why I hesitated about doing anything. And then I met Tina."

"Tina?" Jess shook her head to clear it. "Wait, who's Tina?"

"Tina Locarno. The granddaughter of the head of the family. We, um, met at the movies."

Was this the piece I was missing? Julio's motivation to avoid what he'd been sent to do? But he'd never mentioned her before, and she certainly hadn't visited him in the hospital. "OK, take it from the beginning. You met her at the movies and...?"

"I didn't know who she was. I mean, she may have mentioned her last name, but I don't think so. It wasn't until a week or so later that I learned she was a member of the family."

"And by then you'd fallen for her," Jess guessed.

"What? No. We were just friends. Still are, I guess. She's a nice kid, but just a kid." Like he was so old!

This time I rolled my eyes. Whenever I thought we were getting somewhere, it turned out to be nothing. "So you met Tina and the two of you became friends, but there was nothing romantic between you. Still, it was another reason for not carrying out Carlo's orders."

Julio hesitated, but then nodded. "I didn't really want to in the first place. I'm not a bad guy."

"Of course you're not!" Jess smiled at him.

"And the things Tina told me about her family made me realize they weren't bad guys either. I was confused. I still believed what Carlo said, that they'd caused Francesca's death, but I refused to do anything until I knew more, and then I met Mr. Bertoli and got the job with him and, well, here I am."

"Confused as ever."

"Yes."

"Julio, there's no evidence of any connections between the Locarnos and your cousin's death, you do understand that?" Maybe if I repeated it enough it would get through to him, and he'd realize Carlo had lied.

"I...I guess. But why would Carlo say there was if there wasn't? Why would he send me after them?"

"That is the sixty-four million dollar question."

"Did Tina know who Molino is?" Jess asked. I'm glad she thought of that, because it wasn't something I would have.

Julio shook his head. "It never came up."

"You never talked to her about Francesca?"

"Yes, of course I did, but I don't think I ever mentioned her last name, just that Francesca would have liked her."

"Why's that?"

He shrugged. "I guess because they were both interested in art and music. Poetry, too. I have a poem and picture back at my place that Tina gave me, and it reminded me of a drawing Francesca made of the garden behind our house back in Sicily."

"So, not just the creative aspect, but also the subject matter," Jess said.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"And you're still friends with her?"

"Tina? Sure. But I haven't heard from her the past few days."

"Did you check you phone?"

"What? No. I guess not." His face brightened. "Maybe she sent me a message or a text. What happened to my phone?"

"Maybe Bertoli has it," Jess suggested.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"He went back to his restaurant. I'll give him a call." Johnny walked over to the window and took out his own phone. He and Bertoli had obviously developed somewhat of a friendship out of all of this.

Meanwhile, I rummaged in the bag of Julio's things, but all I found were his clothes and a well-worn wallet containing a driver's license, a couple of credit cards and no cash. There was a set of keys, a wadded up tissue, and nothing else.

"Could you have left your phone home when they brought you into the hospital?" Jess asked.

He didn't answer right away. "I had it on the charger. Usually I grab it on my way out the door."

"Except you were carried out by the paramedics, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, maybe it's back at your place." I jingled the keys. "These your keys?" We'd already broken into his place when he was missing, but why bother when I had keys? "Jess and I can go retrieve your phone."

"Would you?" He was such an innocent.

"Of course. We'll go in a little while and bring it back with us." After we listened to any messages on it, of course, but he didn't have to know that.

Johnny returned to the bedside. "Bertoli has no idea where his phone is."

"We think it might be back at Julio's apartment on the charger."

"That would make sense."

"Did you want to stay here with him while we go look?" Jess asked her uncle. She knew as well as I did that Johnny wanted to talk to Julio and this would give him an opportunity to do that without anyone listening in.

"Of course. And when you return, you'll join me at my restaurant for dinner."

I nodded. "I never pass up a free meal."

Johnny chuckled. "Who said anything about it being free?" He turned to the patient. "If you'd like, I can have someone send over some food for you, too."

"Anything's better than hospital food." Julio grinned.

We left them, intent on getting to Julio's quickly, not that there was any urgency in getting his phone, but the sooner we did that, the sooner we could have dinner. Besides, my curiosity was aroused about the young woman Julio claimed was 'just a friend', but one who could be the key to lots of what was going on.

As we drove to Julio's apartment, Jess seemed very thoughtful. Just before we arrived she broke the silence. "Carlo Molino's antagonism to the Locarnos must be based on something. Maybe Tina's a link but I think we have to continue to search for a connection, however tenuous, between the two families."

"Maybe it's not a direct connection, maybe there's some mutual friend, or more likely a friend of one who's an enemy of the other." I glanced her way to see her nodding.

"Someone has to know. That someone is obviously not Julio."

"Even Bertoli hasn't been able to come up with anything."

She rubbed her cheek. "I'm surprised he didn't know about Tina."

"Perhaps he did." An idea was forming in my brain, but it was nebulous at best. I pulled up in front of Julio's building. Maybe something in his apartment would make it clearer.