Wee Hours of the Morning, Saturday, June 21st, 2014
The ringing of my room phone woke me out of the uneasy slumber I’d finally fallen into. I looked at the bedside clock: 2:37 AM. I tried to shake the cobwebs from my head and sit up. My left leg throbbed in pain after spending the previous day cooped up in my car, driving for hours on end. Since I was temporarily on the run, I didn’t have so much as an ibuprofen tablet to my name. At this hour, I’d just have to put up with the pain.
Grogginess subsiding, I realized I probably ought to answer the offending phone that was still ringing. It might be Mel...It’s probably important...
I picked up the handset of the old fashioned style push button phone you saw only in dated hotel rooms these days.
“lo?”
“Dana?”
There was a woman on the line but it wasn’t Mel. “Who’s this?”
“Is this Dana Rossi?”
I hung up. Whoever was on the other end of the line didn’t have my best interests in mind.
Now I was scared. Someone had found me. Nowhere is safe. Wide awake at this point, I glanced over at the little duffle I’d bought at a Wally-World just outside of Columbus. Other than the new toothbrush and paste in the bathroom, it held all of my world possessions that I wasn’t currently wearing as pajamas. Should I get dressed and get the hell out of here?
Scooting to the edge of the bed, I reached for one of my crutches. A thought occurred to me and I also picked up my back-up pistol from the nightstand. It was currently my only form of protection.
The hotel was still and quiet. There were no sounds coming from the third floor hallway outside my door.
I crept to the window and peeked outside through a crack in the heavy blackout curtains. The parking lot down below was also silent and still. My little sedan was parked far down the row out across from my vantage point, barely visible between a pickup truck and an SVU. I watched the area for a few minutes but saw no movement around it.
I debated about what to do. The phone started ringing again startling me out of my reverie.
If they’re on the phone, they’re probably not waiting in the hall to bust through my door...
I hopped back to the bed, sat down on the edge and put the handset up to my ear but I didn’t say a word.
The same female voice as before came across the line, “Dana, I know you’re there. If you’re not going to talk, at least listen to me. You’re in danger Dana. If you want to catch these guys before they catch you and if you want to find out who killed Terri and clear your own name, you have to go to Chicago. You’ll get your answers there.”
Finding my voice, I asked, “Who are you? Where are you?”
“Those questions aren’t important Dana. “
“How do you know about me? How did you find me here?”
“Those questions aren’t important either. The Highway Patrol has it all wrong. If you want to clear your name, you need to get to Chicago, soon.”
“Who do I talk to in Chicago?”
“Terri told you who to talk to.” The line went dead.
Making a quick decision, I turned on my phone and texted Mel.
Me: I need to take care of some things. I’ll be back in Ohio as soon as I can.
Without giving her any time to respond, I turned the phone off once more and then, as quickly as I could, I pulled jeans on over the pair of boxers I’d bought to wear to bed over the weekend. Once I was finished dressing and tossing things into the little duffle, I hobbled out of the room as fast as my crutches would carry me. If I got right on the road at this early hour, I could be in Chicago well before most people were even awake on an early Saturday morning.
It was a little after 6:30 AM when I stopped my car in front of my ex-husband Nate’s house in Lake Forest, north of the city. I hadn’t accounted for the switch from Eastern to Central time as I crossed into Illinois and I doubted anyone was even up. I thought about just waiting in my car until a more reasonable visitation hour but Lake Forest cops were quite a vigilant bunch because they were very paid well to be. If caught, they wouldn’t take kindly to me staking out a house in one of their upscale neighborhoods.
I swung into Nate’s driveway and steeled myself to either do a lot of explaining or, if I couldn’t rouse anybody, to hide out on his front porch for a while, if I had to.
I was half way up the walk on my crutches when the front door swung open and Nate himself stepped out into the dewy early morning in jogging clothes. He looked as fit and trim as always and, aside from the early hour, it was no surprise to see him getting ready to go for a run.
“Dana?”
“Hi Nate...”
“What are you doing here?” His look was at once quizzical and concerned as he stared at my crutches.
“It’s a long and crazy story.”
“Well let’s not keep you on your feet since I’m assuming you probably shouldn’t be. Come on inside.”
“Are you sure? I know it’s early and...”
“It’s okay Dana, really.” As we approached the door, he turned and raised his index finger to his lips. “Just until we get settled. Halle and the baby are still sleeping.”
“Ah,” I whispered, “And I interrupted your chance to get a run in.”
Nate grinned over his shoulder and whispered back, “One day won’t kill me.”
He led me to the back of the house, into his marble and copper decorated kitchen and indicated I should take a seat at the large eating island then he turned and grabbed a stainless steel tea kettle off of a Viking stove. Nate and Halle are doing very well for themselves these days!
I was happy for them. Though we’d parted amicably, I’d always felt sorry for deceiving Nate. I was glad when he found someone who could return his love the way a wife should.
“I assume you’re still more of a tea than a coffee fan?”
I nodded but at the same time said, “Please don’t go to any trouble.”
“It’s no trouble. So, are you going to tell me what’s up because I’m pretty curious to know what has you on my doorstep at this hour?”
“You’re not going to believe this story.”
“Dana, in my business, I’ve heard it all. Try me.”
“Do you remember Terri Sweeting?”
He nodded, “That woman you were with for a while that everyone said was bad for you? Yeah, I remember her.”
I scowled at him, “She’s dead. She was murdered.”
Nate reached into a cupboard for mugs. “Well, I’m sorry then, but what does that have to do with why you’re here?”
“Terri came to Ohio to see me about a criminal matter she was supposedly involved in that she thought I could somehow help her with.”
Nate, a junior partner in a Chicago firm well known for its successful defense of white collar criminals, raised an eyebrow. “How did she think you’d be able to help her?”
“That’s just it. I really don’t know. She seemed to think I had some sort of old connections that I could tap on her behalf but, well, we just didn’t get very far with that whole line of reasoning on her part. Our first meeting ended quickly and she was killed when she was trying to connect up with me to meet again.”
The kettle started to whistle on the stove. He removed it, poured boiling water into the two mugs and began to steep our tea. “So you came up here then from Ohio to try and...I don’t know...talk to these connections and find out...what?”
“I came up from Ohio because someone has framed me for her murder.”
His head shot up from his task, eyes wide, “Dana, I don’t do criminal defense for murder...”
“I’m so sorry Nate! I didn’t mean to startle you. That’s not why I’m here.”
Nate blew out a long, hard breath and shook his head. “It’s a little far-fetched to think that you would murder someone to begin with so I apologize for my initial reaction but you being here if you’re charged in Ohio does beg some questions...”
“Agreed; I understand. I’m here because the only clues I have to who might have killed her led me here. The Ohio State Highway Patrol is in charge and they don’t seem to be interested in pursuing anyone for it but me.”
Nate picked up both mugs from the counter and motioned me with his head, “Let’s move into my den. I think we need to start from the beginning.”
“Is Michael Roan available please?” I was calling from Nate’s den phone to the see if I could get an appointment with the head of security at the casino where Terri had worked.
“Mr. Roan is not in today,” the admin who answered the phone told me.
“Can you tell me when he will be in please?”
“He’s scheduled himself for tomorrow ma’am.”
On a Sunday? Score for me! “Can I make an appointment to come in and speak with him tomorrow?” I’d worked with Michael Roan on a consulting job in my previous position. We’d gotten on well and I was sure he’d remember me. As a security consultant, I had been privy to some inside information on casino operations. I wasn’t welcome to just wander around on the gaming floor, given that knowledge. Getting an appointment with him was my best bet to not get myself in hot water in Illinois too.
“I’ll have to contact Mr. Roan and check with him ma’am. We’re doing a powerboat promo tomorrow. It will be a busy day for the casino.”
“I see. Is it possible for me to contact him now then?”
“No ma’am. I can’t give away his personal contact information.”
“Alright then. Please let him know that Dana Rossi would like to speak with him tomorrow, as early as possible.” I gave her my cell number and hung up Nate’s phone. I’d just have to turn the cell on and off occasionally and check for messages. It was the best I could do, under the circumstances.
Now I’m probably stuck until at least tomorrow not knowing a damn thing more than I already know.
###
Late Saturday afternoon, June 21st, 2014
Nate’s older sister Sarah and I were having a very late lunch and catching up with each other in her little condo overlooking Washington Park. We’d been very close when Nate and I were together. Now, she was coming to my rescue and putting me up, at least for the night.
After lunch, Sarah was going to let me raid her closet for something appropriate to wear to meet with Mike Roan since we’re about the same size and I was living out of a little duffle bag.
“I really appreciate you helping me out. Thanks so much!”
“What are old friends for?”
“I’m just glad you still want to be friends.”
“Dana, I’ll be honest; I always thought Terri was all wrong for you.”
“Look, I know you were upset when it didn’t work out between Nate and me but you know that...”
“Dana, honey...it wasn’t that. Baby I knew you were gay before you did! I just mean that Terri wasn’t the right woman for you...not even close.”
“I thought she was...at first.”
“I know you did but you were in love with the idea of being in a relationship with another woman. You couldn’t see what I could see. She knew I saw right through her though. That’s why she had you push me and all of your other friends away.”
“It would have been great if you would have told me all of this back then!” I leaned over toward her corner of the little table and gave her a playful punch in the arm.
“You wouldn’t have listened. You weren’t ready to see it yet.”
I smiled at her, “When did you get to be so wise?”
“All those years of training!”
“Aren’t you even a little bit scared I might be a murderer like the state cops in Ohio think I am?” I teased her.
She laughed, “Please! I know you. It doesn’t take years of clinical psychology practice to know that you’re not a killer. You don’t have the mindset for it. Heavens, when Nate first brought you to Chicago and you wanted to join the police department, I just shivered at the thought of the situations you might find yourself in.”
“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence!”
“Dana, with or without your help to ‘investigate’,” she made air quotes, “the folks back in Ohio will figure out you aren’t capable of what they think you’ve done mentally, completely aside from your current physical limitations.”
“Now you’re talking like a shrink...”
“That’s why they pay me the big bucks.”