Nick was waiting for his partner Maria to bring Cara Walker. They weren't doing the interview here, they were going to his rented room. This was New York with millions of people but Nick was paranoid. He thought he saw someone watching him, but it was just some guy waiting for his pizza order. Nick had to force himself to relax. This wasn't Sweet Valley. When he saw Maria's car, he gestured for the waitress.

The waitress smiles at the cute customer.

"Ready to order?"

Cara was breathing hard. This wasn't the stand. This was just a practice interview. Needless to say she was terrified. Maria saw her hyperventilating.

"Cara. Relax. Nick won't intimidate you. He just wants to know the basic facts."

Cara forced herself to breathe easier.

"I know. But I just wish we were in high school again. Our biggest problem was vying for head cheerleader. Now who would have guessed that my life is literally on a thread." Cara moans.

Maria smiles at her with sympathy. She takes Cara's hand.

"I been on the front lines of danger. I had to see and do things in the line of duty. Even now I have to work this case. Cara. Nick and I will protect you. But for now, lets eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"Just a coffee then."

Forty five minutes later, Cara, Nick and Maria drive back to Nick's hotel room, a middle range hotel far from downtown. Now sitting in Nick's hotel room, Nick starts asking Cara questions.

"Okay. Cara. Where did you meet Marco Karl?"

"In college. Senior year at Bristol."

"Did you have any indications of his true identity?"

"Not at first. He told me his name was Marco Romano. I didn't think much of it when I found out his real name."

"You did hear about Nelson Karl though."

"Kinda. I didn't care about what went on in the States. All I cared about was my life in Europe."

"What did you say when you found out about Marco's real name?"

"When I asked, all he said he was just a sperm donor. A brief mistake according to his mom. She only used Nelson's last name to obtain child support."

"What about Uncle Giovanni?"

Cara closed her eyes. She had no clue what Nelson truly looked like, but when "Uncle Giovanni" walked in the room, he had a ton of work done. Plastic surgery, fake tan, he even had hair plugs. Cara knew the moment he walked in. But she didn't want to be rude. She figured he was just another man suffering from mid life crisis. He gave her and everyone the heebie-geebies. But other than him being loud, and slightly rude, he was nice.

"He seemed nice. I saw him sprotically over the next two years, but rarely. He never stayed overnight, if he wanted Marco, he just called or sent his assistants."

"Okay." Nick was writing down his notes. "The phone call. Tell me about it. Everything. From before and after."

Cara closed her eyes. If only. Feeling Maria's hand, Cara fought to remember the memories. There was one that stood out.

"It was two weeks before. I was getting ready to go to bed when I overheard something about teddy bears. I didn't think much of it. Marco worked during the Christmas season delivering presents. I just wished him goodnight and went to bed. But then I needed to pee. While I was in the loo, Marco said something about money laundering. I tried not to listen, but I was curious. He said his papa sent him one hundred million to pick up at the dock."

"The dock? Cara, if Karl sent him money, then that proved Nelson was the one who ordered it."

"It would be my word against his."

Dammit. She was right. If they can find out the ship, they can find the captain. Usually anything coming from International waters or even local waters got inspected. The captain would need to be there to sign off everything. Even well hidden money would be detected by dogs.

"Cara. Do you remember the dock's name?"

Cara thinks. There were so many. Marco didn't always stay in England. He traveled extensively for work. But she remembered one place he went to do his family business on a regular basis.

"He went to Cornwall a lot."

Nick remembered that place. He and many law enforcements were watching all the major ports. Falmouth was one of the largest. If the money was sent from there, then they needed to search for the ship. According to their investigation, the money was sent to England, but which port. Even one million would be hard to move, never mind one hundred.

"Did he say anything else?"

"No. I suspected he knew I was listening. He closed the door to his office. He then started speaking in Italian."

"Okay. Tell me about the call, the call you got that night."

"I was having dinner with my friends. Before I came to the restaurant, Marco called me from Montreal. He was checking in. We talked about work, vacation, our wedding. He then asked if any business calls came in. I said no. He went quiet, then he asked where I was eating. I just said a local place. That's it."

"Hmmm. Tell me exactly what happened at the restaurant. The name. Who were you with? Your food, the staff, the patrons, the atmosphere." Nick said writing down his notes.

"A place called Shirley's. It's a local eatery, very popular in the city. They have the best pasta. I was having dinner with my friend, Ashley DeHaven and her husband Peter. I was eating butternut squash ravioli with turkey, Ashley was eating crab salad and Peter was eating veal. All three of us were drinking red wine. The staff was just the same people I seen the few times I came here with my friends or my mom. The restaurant was full that night, I can't tell you who they are, sorry."

"Okay. Think. Anything unusual."

Cara tried to think. She remembered a guy with tattoos. He was new, Cara never seen him before. She didn't judge, many immigrants came to England to work. But he stood out. Especially when he rudely started bossing the younger crowd around. He was American, Cara knew it immediately. Before that phone call, Cara saw him taking out a phone. Ten minutes later, Cara got that mysterious phone call.

"There was a guy with tattoos. He was making a call. A few minutes later, I got one. I didn't think much of it. Oh god." Was Marco spying on her? Fuck. He was worse than Cara thought. "He kept coming by our table offering us fresh water and napkins. I thought he was just being nice." Cara was wondering why he kept staring at her. She just figured she was single at the moment. But then again, there was many attractive women sitting alone, many who were lonely. Cara had on a engagement ring.

"Cara. About that call. Do you remember anything. Any background noise. Anything."

She strained to remember. She overheard bells.

"Bells. Other than the guy breathing, I heard bells."

Nick was writing things down. Bells? That could be anything.

"How can you describe the bells."

"Uh. I don't know, jingle bells? That phone call lasted less than a minute."

That kinda narrowed it down. But Nick had a long way to go. Many cell phones had jingle bells for their ring tones.

"Think harder. Anything else."

Cara squeezed her eyes shut. The guy breathing, jingle bells. Wait. A faint announcement. Ten minutes. All aboard to Truro.

"Truro. All aboard to Truro."

"Truro. Thanks Cara. I have to narrow it down, but if my hunch is right, it was around the holiday season. Maria, see if you track down security footage."

"I'll try."

"Cara. Maria can take you home. When are you returning to California?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"Okay. Talk to no one. Not even your friends. Not to the DA, till I get more evidence. I can send for a car to protect you."

"Jessica has security. But I appreciate it." Cara couldn't wait for this to be over.