House, Jess, Wilson and Nina are finishing up the meal they started in last week's chapter. Now that's a long meal. But this chapter is more about meeting with Ricky Locarno.

Thanks to all of you who are reading my story.

Chapter 102.

We'd reached the entree part of the meal when Johnny joined us. "How was everything?"

"Delicious." Nina grinned at him. "Then again, we wouldn't have contracted with you if the food from your kitchens wasn't top notch."

I was too busy eating to reply. It had been one of the best Italian meals I'd ever had, even in Italy. The osso buco alone was the most delicious."

"I sense the four of you are up to something more than enjoying my food."

How much did we want to share with Johnny? He'd been helpful the past few days, but I doubted he had any more information for us.

"We're just talking about where we might set up an office for the catering company," Jess said.

I smiled at her.

"You could use some space here," Johnny offered.

"We'll need quite a bit of space, maybe eight hundred square feet."

"Hmm. I doubt we'd have that much. There's a small restaurant not far away that's going out of business. That property might be available."

Nina and Jess exchanged nods. "Something to consider," Nina said.

Johnny studied them. "That's not all, is it? You still don't know why you were abducted with that boy, Julio."

Jess shrugged. "There's no way we can get to the bottom of that now."

"No? With all you learned about him, why he came to this country, all of that. I'm sure you have some ideas." He turned to me. "Doctor, you don't strike me as the type to let this go."

"And what do you expect we can do about it? I'm a doctor. I solve medical puzzles." I felt Jess' eyes on me as I played innocent.

Johnny stroked his chin. "Nina, do you, too, think there is no way you can find out what is going on?"

"Well, I..." She looked at Jess and then me. Jess lips were pressed together and my face was as blank as I could make it. Nina cleared her throat. "I wouldn't know where to begin."

I noticed that Johnny didn't ask Wilson, and a good thing too. He was the only one who wasn't directly involved in our investigation, but he was the one with the biggest mouth and he'd heard our earlier discussion.

Johnny sighed. "Well, if I hear anything, I'll let you all know."

"Thanks, Uncle Johnny." Jess smiled at him. "We'd appreciate it."

"And now, for dessert. I know how much you girls enjoyed the tiramisu the last time you were here. And maybe some zabaglione, too?"

"Sounds yummy," I said.

He left again to arrange for the finishing touches on our meal, and Jess and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm not sure why you don't want him to know what we're doing," Nina said.

"The fewer people who know, the better." I saw Jess nod in agreement. "If we think he can help, we'll tell him what we know before we ask."

The next morning, we picked up Nina and drove back to Trenton. My car was beginning to know the way. We arrived at the building housing the Locarno offices ten minutes early.

"Should we go up right away?" Nina bit her lower lip.

I shrugged. "Why not?" I went through the revolving door with Jess and Nina behind me, and up to the lobby desk. "Hi again."

The guard looked at us. He seemed to recognize Jess and smiled at her.

She grinned back. "We have an appointment with Mister Richard."

"Yes, you're on my list." His gaze shifted to Nina and his eyes lit up. "And you are?"

"She's my sister. They may have her name on the list, too."

"Oh, yeah. Here it is." He tapped the list. "You can go up."

We took the elevator to the tenth floor again. This time when we went through the glass doors, a younger woman met us. "Jessica and Nina Giordano? I'm the receptionist, Heather. Mister Richard is expecting you. Right this way."

She took us to the same conference room where we'd met with Marcello the day before. The young man sitting at the table looked up when we walked in. I tried to remember if he'd been in any of the pictures on the wall of either of the auto shops, but I didn't think so.

"I apologize for not getting up." He touched the crutches leaning against the table to his left. A younger and slighter version of Marcello, he wore a dark gray suit, white shirt, and maroon tie.

I lifted my cane in response.

"My uncle told me what you were looking for. I've picked out half a dozen possible locations." He pointed to the papers on the table. "Two are in Trenton and the rest just north of the city."

While Nina and Jess looked at the descriptions of each in turn, I asked, "What, you don't use computers for this?"

"Oh, yes, we do, but I thought it would be easier for the ladies to look at them together this way. Of course, we can set up access so they can look at new properties that become available, and also look at more details on everyone they're interested in. I gather you're Dr. House? Where do you fit into their new business?"

I ran a hand over my mouth and chin. "Nothing. I'm just along for the ride. Moral support, you might say."

"Do you know my sister, too?"

"Tina? Sure. Nice kid." I pointed to his crutches. "She told us about your accident, but not that you still needed those."

Ricky shrugged. "Some days I can manage without them."

I nodded. "I can relate."

"So what happened to you? Was it an accident, too?"

If I lied, I might be able to segue into a discussion of cars, but it would be too easy for him to catch me out. "No, it was an infarction, like a heart attack, but in my leg. The muscle died, they removed a piece, end of story. Except for the constant ache, the frequent pain, and this." I brandished my cane.

The sympathy in his eyes were also something I saw often. At least he had the experience to e empathetic.

"I like these three." Jess spread them out in front of her.

Nina nodded. "But what about this one?" She placed a fourth one on top of the middle of the three. It looked like office space in a high-rise.

Jess nodded. "I considered it, but decided it wouldn't have the street presence of the others."

"OK." Nina moved it away and looked more carefully at the three Jess picked. She glanced up at Ricky. "Can you take us to see these?"

"I'll have to set it up. Only one of them is listed directly with us, the others are multiple listings." He reached for the phone on the desk and began punching in numbers. Once he'd completed a low-voiced conversation with the person on the other end, he hung up the phone and smiled at us. "I can take you to the one we're selling this morning and the other two tomorrow afternoon."

Jess looked at her sister and shrugged. Nina nodded. "Fine with me."

I could accompany them to the first, but had to make an appearance at the hospital sometime. I hoped that if I showed up that afternoon and in the morning I could get away to meet them by two the next afternoon. Meanwhile, I'd have to make the most of my time with Ricky.

"Can we go now?" I asked. "I have to get back to the hospital where I work in a couple of hours."

"Sure." Ricky stood with some difficulty and grabbed the crutches. "You can all come in my car. It's not far."

We followed him out to the elevator. He took us to the garage under the building where his car was parked in a close in handicapped spot. It was a brand-new BMW, similar to Nina's, but it had been modified to make it easier for Ricky to drive.

"Nice work on this car. Where'd you have it done?" It was an obvious question and I didn't think it would send off any red flags.

"A place here in Trenton. Custom Cars. It's over on Old Trenton Road."

So he had used Molino's shope. I wondered if he knew who owned it.

He looked at me as I slid into the front passenger seat. "Are you thinking of having work done on your car?"

I nodded. "I've thought about it off and on over the years. Looks like they do good work."

"They should. It cost the moon, but it was worth it. I probably have their card somewhere." He drove out of the garage and down the street. About two miles later, he pulled up in front of a storefront with a For Sale sign in the window. It was in the middle of a row of storefronts, most of which were occupied. "This is it, ladies."

We all got out and Ricky struggled with the crutches and a lockbox until Nina offered to open it for him to get out the key.

The front room was empty and fairly large. A door at the back led to a room about the same size with some shelving and a sink.

"At least there's plumbing," Nina commented, but she wasn't smiling.

The back room contained a beat-up old desk and a rickety wooden swivel chair, with a door to the alley behind the row of stores.

Jess grimaced. "It'll do, but it's far from perfect."

Nina nodded. "It would definitely be better if the storeroom was in the back, and the office space connected to the entry. And I don't think we need so much room up front." She sighed deeply. "Guess we'll have to see what you can show us tomorrow. Thanks, Richard."