House and Jess are still trying to find a connection between the Molino and Locarno families. Does Julio's friend Tina hold the key?

As always, I'm happy to see new and 'old' readers enjoying my story. Thanks for reading and for your comments.

Chapter 99.

I used Julio's key this time. The inside of the studio apartment hadn't changed, not that I expected it to. His phone was sitting in the charger on the kitchen counter.

"Well, that's a relief," Jess said.

It was flashing and I hit the button to reveal there were a dozen phone and text messages and another fifteen emails. I started to go through them.

"Greg, that's Julio's private correspondence!"

"And your point is? How are we going to learn anything if I don't check these out?"

Jess grimaced, but walked away and began rifling through some papers on a table next to the bed. She had to be as curious as I was about what we might find.

Many of the messages were friends wanting to know where Julio was, worried that they couldn't reach him. I looked for any from Tina or from Carlo Molino. There were two from the girl, similar to the ones from his other friends, without any real information.

I finally found a voicemail from Molino, in Italian. It started the same way as the others, where was Julio and why didn't he answer his phone, yada yada yada. But then Molino demanded that Julio complete the assignment he'd been given, and warned him that if he didn't, he'd be sorry. If the message had been sent before the abduction, I would have thought there was a connection. As it was, I wondered once more whether it was the Locarnos or Molino who'd ordered it. The fact that Jess, Nina and Julio were probably held at the auto shop would point to the latter.

"Greg, look at this." Suzy brought me a couple of photographs. One showed Julio with a pretty girl in her late teens. They were grinning at the camera. In a second picture of the two of them, they both had their eyes crossed, mugging for the photographer. There was a photo of a beautiful young woman with long dark hair and eyes in an elaborate wedding gown, most likely Julio's cousin Francesca. The rest showed assorted other people, with or without Julio. I assumed the middle-aged couple with him in one or two were his parents.

"Family means a lot to him," Jess said.

"I wonder whether his mother and father know why Molino sent him here."

She pointed to the phone in my hands. "Did you find anything among his messages?"

"Only that Molino's not a happy camper." I looked around the small place. "I guess we're through here."

She nodded and started to put the photographs back.

"Maybe he'd like to have those with him in the hospital."

"He won't be there much longer, will he?"

"Probably not."

She put the photos back in the drawer and we left. As we walked outside, I saw a girl looking up at Julio's windows, the same girl as in the photographs.

I approached her. "Tina?"

She was startled. "Who are you?"

"We're friends of Julio's," Jess told her. "I'm Jess, and this is Greg."

"Have you seen him? Do you know where he is? I haven't been able to reach him! We were supposed to go for pizza and a movie last night."

"Julio's had a bad couple of days. He's in the hospital." An idea occurred to me. "We were on our way over there. Why don't you come with us?"

"Oh! Could I?" She frowned. "What's wrong with him?"

Rather than answer, Jess asked, "When did you speak to him last?"

"Yesterday. He told me he'd been abducted but was home again. Is it true? Did you know about it?"

Jess nodded. "I was with him. They took us outside the Melting Pot, Julio, my sister and me. The gags they used on us had some chemicals in them that made us all sick, but luckily none of us got a dose that caused permanent damage."

"Oh! That's a relief!"

"He'll probably be ready to go home by tomorrow morning," I added, winning a smile from the girl. I opened the car doors and Jess started to get into the passenger seat. "You can get in the back," I told Tina.

She nodded. A trusting soul.

As we drove back to the hospital I let Jess steer the conversation, knowing she was just as curious about Tina as I was. "Julio told us your grandfather is Anthony Locarno."

"Yes, yes he is. I was surprised that Julio knew about him, but he seemed impressed." In the rearview mirror I saw her shrug. "To me he's just Nonno."

"Your family is very civic-minded and well respected. They came from northern Italy originally, didn't they?" Jess kept the conversation going.

"Yes. There are very few relatives left there, though. I guess I'm a typical third-generation Italian-American."

Jess nodded. "Me, too. Well, I'm more like second-generation. My family, the Giordanos, are from Bologna."

"To tell you the truth, I've never been to Italy, don't even know much Italian. But Julio and I talked about going some day. I know he wants to return to Sicily, at least to visit his parents. But he likes it here."

"Your family and his don't have any connections, do they?"

"None. I guess your family and mine don't either."

"I don't know of any." Jess pressed her lips together in thought. "You never met Julio's cousin."

"Francesca? No. He told me about her. So sad!"

"So, no one else ever mentioned the name Francesca Molino to you?"

"Molino? I didn't even now her last name." Tina shook her head. "No, and I don't know anyone named Molino."

A thought occurred to me. "Tina, did you ever take a car to the shop where Julio used to work before he got the job at the restaurant? It's an auto detailing shop. They do customizing and painting."

Again she shook her head. "I don't think so. My brothers and my uncle are the ones into fancy cars and that sort of thing."

"Your Uncle Marcello?" Jess asked. I'd told her what I'd read about the family. She has a much better memory for names than I do.

"Why, yes. How did you know?" Tina sounded surprised.

"How do we get in touch with him?"

"Why would you want to?"

"Tina, we're looking for a connection, any connection between your family and Julio's," Jess explained. "If your uncle was a customer at that shop, he may have had contact with Carlo Molino, Francesca's husband."

"Uncle Marcello works in downtown Trenton, at the family's real estate office. He's a lawyer, too. You can probably reach him there."

We'd arrived at the hospital. I parked and the three of us headed for Julio's room. I wasn't surprised when his face lit up the minute he saw Tina with us. Having her there in the flesh was even better than a message on his phone.

"Look what we found hanging around your place," I quipped, but I don't think he even heard me.

Tina went straight to the bed and took his hand. "Julio, they told me what happened to you. I'm so sorry. How are you feeling? I've been so worried, especially after what you told me about the kidnapping. And then you didn't show up last night."

"I'm fine, Tina. Feeling much better." He grinned at her. "I'm sorry I missed last night. Maybe after I get outta here, OK?"

"Sure. Any time. You know that."

Julio looked past her to me. "Doctor, I can go home soon, can't I?"

"I think so." I handed him his phone. "Looks like you have several messages."

He looked at it. "OK. I'll check 'em later." His eyes returned to Tina. "But what were you doing at my place?"

"Like I said, looking for you. Bobby didn't know where you were, either."

"Who's Bobby?" I asked.

"Bobby's the guy in the apartment next to mine. Older guy, retired. He kinda watches out for everyone in the building. I guess he didn't see me leave with the paramedics." He smiled at Tina. "You'd better tell him I'm OK."

She nodded. "I will. I have to go back there to get my car." She turned to indicate us. "Jess says she was with you when you were abducted but she's not sick like you."

"They tell me I was affected the most. Jess and her sister were both sick, too, but they recovered already."

"How did all of this happen and why?"

"I wish I knew. Dr. House is trying to find out." He gestured toward me.

"He and Jess asked me questions about my family. Julio, you don't think they would do something like this, do you?"

"I don't know what to think. Tina, there are some things I never told you, but this may all be tied into it."

She frowned at him. "What kind of things?"

He swallowed hard. "Carlo seems to think that your family had something to do with Francesca's death."

"But it was an accident, wasn't it? And why would my family have anything to do with it? We didn't even know her." Her eyes narrowed. "What does any of this have to do with the place your used to work?"

"Jess thinks that's where we were held." He shook his head. "Carlo owns it. It has nothing to do with your family. None of this makes sense."

"It's possible that some of Tina's relatives were customers of the shop," I said.

"Really? I don't remember seeing the name Locarno as a customer there."

"Doesn't Carlo have another car shop, closer to Trenton?" Jess asked.

"Yeah. There's one in Trenton, but it doesn't cater to the same clientele. I think they specialize in souping up cars for street racing and things like that." Julio turned to Tina. "Anyone in your family into that?" He sounded surprised.

"One of my brothers used to be. Ricky. But he had a bad accident a year or so ago."

"During a race?"

"Yeah. He broke his leg, took forever to heal and he still walks with a limp." She looked at my right leg. "He doesn't need a cane, though."

"Before his accident, was it possible that he took a car to the shop in Trenton?" Jess asked.

"I guess so. You'd have to ask him."

Jess looked at me. "I think we should do that." I nodded.