Midnight Caller

Carol, still chuckling, led Jack and Amy away.

Erin watched the man get down from the table and stretch to his full six-foot-two height. He was tall, dark and lethally handsome. She wished the ground would open up and swallow her. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “When he said he had a wish, I thought he would ask for a new toy or a video game. I don’t know what to say.”

Her discomfort deepened when with an athletic grace he covered the distance between them in seconds. His T-shirt strained against his muscular arms and chest. A pleasant masculine scent teased her nostrils and Erin squelched a sudden, irrational urge to move closer for a deeper whiff. But it was his eyes that moved her. Deep, dark, chocolate eyes lit with amusement and a hint of something else. Empathy?

Empathy she appreciated. Sympathy she didn’t need from anyone.

“Relax,” he said. “Don’t you know? I hang out with the Easter Bunny. Who knows better than me the surprising things that slip out of the mouths of kids?” He offered his hand. “I’m Tony Marino.”

His grip was firm and strong.

“Erin O’Malley.”

He released her hand and gestured for her to wait. He pulled a wallet from his back pocket, withdrew a business card and handed it to her.

“I work for the Sheriff’s Department.”

“You’re a cop?” What else could go wrong today?

Tony nodded. “A detective.” His eyes held a warmth and compassion that made his next words easier to hear. “I’d like to volunteer to accompany Jack on the boys’ bus.”

This tall, muscular man with a giving heart and a voice like hot, southern honey made Erin stand up and take notice despite his bad taste in permanent employment.

He nodded toward the business card. “You can verify my credentials before Saturday, ma’am.”

She refrained from answering and tried to make sense of her ridiculous, and completely unexpected, attraction to him. Just the word cop usually worked like a bucket of ice-cold water. And the fact that he was a member of the untrustworthy male species normally cinched the deal.

“Why would you want to ride the bus with my son?” she asked.

“That’s what today is all about, isn’t it? Granting wishes to kids?” He leaned close. His breath fanned her cheek and he whispered in her ear as if they shared a secret all their own. “I know from personal experience what it feels like to grow up without a dad. I know what it would mean to your son to ride the bus with the other boys.”

“I…I…” A multitude of emotions bombarded Erin. Surprise. Embarrassment. Curiosity. Goose bumps danced along her arms when those chocolate eyes locked with hers. She glanced at the card in her hand and, for once, was speechless.

“Don’t answer now,” Tony said. “Just think about it and let me know.” With a wink and a wave, he picked up the rabbit cage and left.

Erin was touched by the man’s kindness. Helping out for the Wish for the Stars fundraiser. Volunteering to ride the bus with her son. But she had promised herself not to get involved again with any man, especially a cop. Men lie and men leave.

After church, Tony entered the station. He had prayed hard at the service that morning that the Lord would provide a lead, a direction, something to help them find the missing woman before she became the next victim. He walked past the bull pen and headed toward the lockers. His senses heightened. Something wasn’t right. Knowing how he hated Easter duty, the guys had been ribbing him all week. Now that he had actually done the deed not a sound came from the peanut gallery.

He nodded to Richard Spence and Brad Winters as he passed their desks. They looked up, nodded and returned to work. Thank You, Lord. It’s about time they moved on to something else. They’re good detectives, but sometimes they act like jerks.

Tony crossed the break room and opened his locker. A flood of rocks…no, not rocks…eggs…plastic eggs bounced off his head, his shoulders and rolled over his feet. Loud, raucous laughter sounded behind him. Tony saw Spence, Winters and a half-dozen other guys squeezed into the doorway, straining to get a bird’s-eye view.

“Funny, guys. Real funny.” Tony had to admit it was a pretty good prank. He chuckled, kicked a path through the eggs, and elbowed his way past the gawking men to his desk. His backside barely hit his chair when a loud, commanding voice caught his attention.

“Marino, don’t get comfortable. Spence. Winters. In my office.” Sergeant Greene hollered from his office doorway. Expecting to be chastised for the egg incident, they filed into the room like guilty schoolchildren and flopped into the chairs in front of the desk.

The sergeant slid a manila folder across the desk. “Here’s the latest information on our missing woman. Now we have a face to go with the name.”

Tony picked up the folder, flipped it open and looked at the picture inside. She was an average, pleasant-looking woman. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Her smile warm and generous.

“Cynthia Mayors is thirty-one, married and has two children under the age of eight,” Greene said. “Her husband was notified this morning and is making arrangements to fly home from Iraq as soon as possible. Meantime, Child Protective Services has been called in to care for the kids.”

Frick and Frack, otherwise known as Spence and Winters, respectively, leaned sideways stealing a glance at the picture. Spence squinted his eyes and looked closer. “She probably ran off with her boyfriend.”

“Didn’t you hear?” Winters asked. “He said she’s married, stupid.”

“Since when does that mean anything? Just because she’s married doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a boyfriend,” insisted Spence. “Matter of fact, I’m sure of it. Look at that picture. She’s grinning from ear to ear. You only see grins like that when everything is new, exciting, and reality hasn’t hit you over the head with a cast iron pot. Don’t see married folk grinning like that as the years add up.”

“Speak for yourself. You wouldn’t know a good marriage if you fell over it. The ink’s not even dry on your divorce papers yet. What divorce is it, anyway? Three? Four?” Winters brushed a piece of lint from his impeccably ironed trousers. “I’m married fifteen years this May and if you took a photo of me today, I’d be grinning up a storm.”

“Really? You’re sitting there grinning? Then I’m thinking I need glasses ’cause the only thing I see when I look at you is the same old sourpuss who walks around here all day like his shoes are too tight.” Spence looked pleased with himself for the comeback.

“Enough,” the sergeant yelled. “Can we get back to the matter at hand and leave the school yard antics outside?”

Spence and Winters glared at each other.

Bringing the conversation back to business, Tony said, “I didn’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary at the picnic yesterday, Sarge. I’d bet no one even knows she’s missing. When was she last seen?”

“Friday. A couple of the nurses report she left right after the three o’clock shift change. She never arrived home. The babysitter called it in late Friday night.”

“Has anyone mentioned anything that might help us out?” Winters asked. “Trouble at home? Trouble on the job? Anybody hanging around or bothering her?”

“As you know, we’ve just begun the investigation,” Sarge said. “So far we know her husband’s in Iraq. She talks about her family a lot, especially her kids. Carried umpteen photos in her purse and took the time to show them every chance she had. Other than her husband being away, everything seemed good on the home front. From what I’ve heard, she’s well-liked by her peers. As far as a stalker, no one noticed anyone suspicious hanging around.”

Sergeant Greene leaned back in his chair. A scowl twisted his features. “The particulars of her disappearance match those of the other two women we’ve lost.”

Winters said, “How do you figure, Sarge? Both our prior victims were single. This one’s married.”

“And both our other ladies are dead,” Spence said.

“That’s why we’ve got to move on this pronto, gentlemen,” Sarge replied. “All three women seem to have disappeared into thin air. No witnesses. No signs of struggle. Two of the women left their jobs and never arrived home. The third woman left her home for an appointment and never arrived. That’s enough to tie them together for me.”

The sergeant tossed his chewed yellow pencil on the table. “It’s worth a hard look. If there’s a connection between Cynthia Mayors and the other two victims, I want to know it before she becomes victim number three. This isn’t New York or Chicago. If a woman’s body shows up here, we’re probably looking at a domestic dispute, a drug overdose or a bar pickup gone bad. Two women disappear in this community and then turn up dead? That raises the hair on the back of my neck. A third woman vanishes? I gotta tell you I’m wondering if Ted Bundy’s younger brother just moved to town.”

“We hear you, Sarge. We’ll get on it right away,” said Winters.

Tony picked up the folder and carried it back to his desk. Yesterday’s picnic had been a waste of his time. He should have been out with the other men canvassing the neighborhood, conducting interviews.

The image of a freckle-faced boy and a mom with auburn hair popped into his mind. He had to admit it hadn’t been a total waste of time. He might have the chance to do something special for a handicapped kid. That made him feel good.

He loved kids but decided never to have a family of his own. Choosing to be a cop was a twenty-four-hour, seven-day-a-week, dangerous job. He didn’t want to subject a child to the possibility of growing up without a father. Been there, knew that pain. So he fed the occasional paternal urge with his sister’s kids or helped out with the church youth group.

Besides, what kind of father would he be? He’d never had a role model. Just like that kid he’d met today. No uncles. Not even an older brother. His mom didn’t bring dates home to meet him ’til his late teens. It had been just him, his mom and his sister. What if he didn’t measure up? He saw the results of bad parenting every day on his job. Nope. No kids for him.

Tony dragged his hand over his face. He needed to buckle down and work. But on what? They didn’t have one lead that hadn’t been investigated. As much as it sickened him, he had to acknowledge they’d hit a brick wall and couldn’t do another thing but retrace their steps until the killer made another move.

He flipped open the folder and studied the picture. This woman was somebody’s wife, somebody’s mother, somebody’s friend. Experience told him she was probably already dead. Sarge was right. Three was a very unsettling number.

TWO

Erin tugged the business card out of her pocket.

“I see you still haven’t thrown that away.” Tess plopped her ample girth onto a nearby kitchen chair. “Must be you are at least considering the lad’s offer.” The older woman squinted. “What are you doing in here, anyway? Cleaning the kitchen is my job.”

“I thought I’d give you a hand.”

“You know what they say about two cooks in a kitchen…”

Erin smiled. Tess was notorious for spouting the first line of famous sayings and never finishing them. One of these days, she was going to put her on the spot and see if she even knew the other halves of those sayings.

“So?” Her aunt peered across eyeglasses riding low on her nose and waited.

“I have no intention of taking his offer seriously.”

“Is that so?” Tess pretended to brush nonexisting crumbs off the table into her upturned palm. “Even though you went through the trouble to find out he is, indeed, an honorable law enforcement officer?”

Erin ignored her.

“Even though Jack has his heart set on riding the boys’ bus? Even though the gentleman was nice enough to offer to ride with him? You’re just not going to do it. Makes sense to me. Sure it does.”

Erin sighed. “You don’t understand. I can’t ask a total stranger to play Jack’s dad. It’s humiliating.”

“First of all, lass, he’s not a stranger. He’s a police officer from our very own community who has a kind heart for a handicapped boy. And you’re not asking him to play Jack’s dad. Just to accompany him on the bus. Besides, he volunteered.”

“We’ve been over this a hundred times. No. Now that’s the end of it.”

“Harrumph. That’s stubbornness and pride speaking.”

“Well, it must be an inherited trait.” She shot Tess her best “don’t go there” glare.

The older woman pushed back her chair and stood. “Maybe you ought to pray on it. I know Jack’s been praying every night. Did you ever stop to think that maybe the good Lord put this police officer in your path as an answer to Jack’s prayers?”

Silence stretched between them.

“I’m going to check on the boy. It’s obvious I’m talking to a brick wall in here.”

Erin shook her head. What was she going to do with Tess? The sixty-five-year-old had a bad habit of pushing too hard in things that were just none of her business and Erin hadn’t found a loving way to discourage the meddling.

Walking over to the trash, she tossed the card in the bin. There. That’s where you belong. You’ve caused enough trouble in this house. She stared for several minutes at the small white rectangle lying atop discarded lettuce. Instead of a business card, she saw dark eyes framed by crinkled smile lines. She felt the soft caress of his breath against her skin. She smelled the musky, masculine scent of him.

Shaking her head to rid herself of those nonproductive thoughts another image slipped into her consciousness, the pleading eyes of her son. Before she could change her mind, she snatched the card back up, swiped it on the leg of her jeans to wipe off any lettuce residue and shoved it back into her pocket.

Erin had finished sweeping the floor when Tess reentered the room. “Everything, okay?”

Tess chuckled. “The lad’s built a small city in the living room with those plastic blocks. Maybe he’ll be an architect when he grows up.”

Before she could respond, the phone rang. She snatched up the receiver. “Hello?” Erin paused for several seconds before repeating her greeting. “Hello, is anybody there?” She strained to listen and was certain she heard breathing. Someone was there. Why didn’t they answer? Her mouth twisted in a frown and she hung up.

“Who was it?” Tess asked.

“Nobody. Probably a wrong number.”

“Funny, they can’t dial the number they want, but they can remember our number long enough to call it a dozen times by mistake.”

Erin poured herself a mug of freshly brewed coffee and joined her aunt at the kitchen table. “Maybe it’s a telemarketer. These days a computer dials the number and connects to a salesperson only after you answer. It takes a bit for the connection to go through.”

“Uh-huh.” Tess pushed her bifocals down her nose and stared intently at her niece. “And I suppose you’re wearing your worry face because you’re afraid you might be missin’ the sale of a lifetime?”

Erin chuckled and sipped her coffee.

“I might be getting a little deaf, lass, but I’m not blind. Someone’s been calling this house at odd hours for the past four days and I never see you talking to anyone. What’s going on?”

Erin shrugged. “Honestly, Tess, I haven’t a clue. I answer. They don’t. End of story.”

“Don’t tell me ‘end of story.’ Did you write down the number from your caller ID?”

“There isn’t one. It just reads unknown name, unknown number.”

“You need to find out who it is.”

She patted the older woman’s hand. “Don’t get in a dither. It’s just some teenagers playing a prank. They’ll get tired and move on to someone else.” She carried her empty mug to the sink.

“Erin O’Malley, you sit back down here and listen to me.”

Erin, surprised at her aunt’s tone of voice, did as she was told.

“We’re not livin’ in the world I grew up in.” Tess waggled a finger at her. “Used to be you left your doors unlocked. You knew your neighbors and everybody watched out for everybody else. Today it’s a world of strangers. Nobody even takes the time to know the person livin’ right next door. There are more bad guys and less of a way to know who the bad guys are until it’s too late.”

The animation and emotion in her aunt’s face surprised Erin. “I never knew you had such strong feelings about this.”

“Why shouldn’t I? Age blesses one with wisdom, lass. We are two single women living alone with a handicapped child to protect. You need to be more concerned when something strange happens. How can you protect yourself, or us, if you don’t keep your eyes open to what’s going on around you? And what’s going on around you right now isn’t right. You need to fix it.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?” Erin asked, suddenly suspicious of her aunt’s true motives. “Call a cop? Or did you have a particular detective in mind?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Tess ducked her head.

Erin almost laughed out loud at the expression on her aunt’s face when she realized her ploy hadn’t worked.

“Shame on you for trying to scare me,” Erin said.

“I’m speakin’ the truth,” Tess insisted. “If you used that brain of yours, you’d be smart enough to be scared.” Tess carried her own empty mug to the sink. “I don’t see how it could hurt to ask the detective’s advice. He’s expecting you to call him anyway. So do it.” She glanced over her shoulder. “And just so you know, I meant every word I said.”

“You’re right. I need to report the calls,” Erin said. “I would have called the police before now, but I really thought it was Billy Sanders. Remember last year when he harassed everybody in the neighborhood for days with heavy breathing and giggles?”

Tess nodded as she started washing her cup. “That boy needed a good swift kick in his…”

“Anyway,” Erin said. “I thought he was doing it again, so I went over to see his dad this morning.”

“Really? How’d that go?”

“It’s not Billy. His dad tells me the boy has straightened out. Joined a church youth group. Matter of fact, he was away this past weekend at a Christian teen camp.”

“Good for him,” Tess said. “So what are you going to do about the calls?”

Erin crossed the room and wrapped her arms around her aunt’s back, resting her cheek against the back of her head. “I am going to call that ‘fine, young detective’ you keep pushing down my throat. But you better know, old woman, that I’m on to you and your sneaky ways. I already made up my mind to call the detective. Calls or no calls. I want Jack to ride the bus with the boys.”

Tess squealed, turned around and pulled Erin to her despite the soap suds on her hands. “I knew you’d come to your senses. It just takes time for reasonable thoughts to get through your thick, Irish skull.”

“I love you, too, Tess.”

Tony clenched his teeth so hard his jaw hurt. Ever since he got the call about a corpse discarded in the tall grass by the Tomoka River, he had been dreading this moment. He nodded to Winters and Spence, who had just pulled up. Telltale yellow tape roped off the crime scene. The forensics team was already at work, taking pictures of the body and carefully gathering evidence.

“Hey, Keith.” Tony acknowledged the motorcycle cop who had been first on the scene. “What do we have?” Spence and Winters drew up behind him.

“I was heading north on Airport Road when these two kids ran out of the woods, screaming to high heaven and white as sheets. This park has a reputation as a good fishing spot. Seems they got more than they expected. They went into the brush close to the river and, literally, fell over the corpse.” Keith nodded toward the boys. “I got them calmed down. They’re waiting over there for their parents to pick them up.”

Two boys, about eleven or twelve, stole glances in their direction. The shuffling of their feet and the slight green tinge to their skin attested to the fact they wanted to be as far away from the park as possible.

Winters said, “We’ve got this,” and he and Spence headed toward the boys.

Tony ducked under the yellow tape and gingerly approached the medical examiner.

“Hi, Sally.” It never ceased to surprise him how a sweet, grandmotherly looking woman would choose to spend her days surrounded by corpses. Go figure.

“Tony.”

“What can you tell me?” He squatted beside her.

“Not much yet. Looks like she was killed elsewhere and dumped here. I’ll have more specifics for you after I get the body back to the morgue. She fought back. Should get some good DNA samples from under her nails.”

Tony glanced at the corpse and knew two things instantly. The body’s injuries matched the visible injuries of the other two corpses. And Cynthia Mayors, the woman who had disappeared from the hospital after her Friday shift, was no longer missing.

Several hours later Tony trudged into the office, tired, hungry and with only one thing on his mind: finishing his report and going home.

“Hey, Tony,” the desk clerk yelled. “A woman called a couple of hours ago. Left her name and number. Said something about meeting you at the Easter picnic and wanted to talk to you about a problem she’s having.”

As the clerk’s voice rang through the room, Tony grimaced. He glanced at his fellow officers. Here we go. Round three for pranks and jokes. But right now he didn’t care. He had hoped she’d call. He didn’t like to think she would let her kid down. He took the message from the clerk and headed back to his desk. At least he’d be able to make one little boy’s life a little happier. He wished he could have been in time to save Cynthia Mayors’s children from the world of hurt he just delivered to them.

“I’ll get it!” Tess’s voice drifted down the hallway after the doorbell rang.

Erin retested the water temperature for Jack’s bath, then stepped aside. Jack held on to the safety rail and lowered himself onto the nonskid mat. Erin placed clean pajamas and a towel on the toilet seat cover and made sure the walker was placed safely within reach. “I’ll have hot chocolate waiting for you when you’re done.”

Jack, already covered head to toe with soap bubbles, grinned at his mother. “With whipped cream and marshmallows, please. And can I have one of those chocolate chip cookies you hide over the ’frigerator?”

Erin chuckled. “We’ll see. Make sure you clean behind your ears.”

She walked down the hall and entered the kitchen. “Who was at the—” A rush of pleasure raced through her body at the sight of the man standing beside her aunt. Dressed in a dark gray suit, white shirt and patterned tie, he was even more handsome than when she’d seen him at the park. And those eyes—should be a crime walking around looking so good.

“Hi. Remember me? I didn’t bring my rabbit with me. Hope you don’t mind,” he said.

Her aunt chuckled and busied herself wiping the counter.

“Of course, I remember you, Detective Marino. Please, sit down. Make yourself comfortable.”

“Call me Tony.” He slipped off his jacket and loosened his tie. “Hope you don’t mind. It’s been a long day.”

“Not at all. I know how you feel. The ER can be stressful at times, too.”

“You work at the hospital?” Tony raised an eyebrow and wondered if she knew Cynthia Mayors.

“I’m a nurse in the emergency room,” she said with a nod.

“Would you be likin’ a spot of coffee, lad?” Tess asked.

Tony acknowledged her. “That I would, ma’am.”

“Call me Tess. You’ve already met my niece, Erin.”

Tony extended his hand to Erin. He smiled broadly, his teeth even and white against his tanned skin. “Nice to meet you again, Ms. Erin O’Malley.”

There it was. Gorgeous smile. Eyes so captivating it was difficult to look away. Because of her instant attraction to him, Erin expected the familiar goose bumps when her hand slid into his grasp, but she wasn’t prepared for this strong pull of emotion and found it surprising. Even a bit confusing. What was the matter with her? He was a cop, remember? Cop, as in don’t-even-think-about-it cop. Not to mention the fact that he was a hunk. In her experience the words male and hunk in the same sentence always spelled trouble, always caused pain.