Mick’s investigation was being seriously hampered by his having to babysit the unpredictable Ms. Shaw. Luckily his sister’s schedule had some freedom for the next few days. Until then, Mick had figured out what to do to keep Shaw contained, which was why he was waiting for his cousin Ramon. Sheriff Ramon Gonzalez, now that he was all grown up. Head of one of the local police departments.
Ramon had agreed to meet Mick at the Dunkin’ Donuts in Belmar, which was buzzing with an assortment of the resident clamdiggers and the Bennies who rented shore homes in town during the summer months, inflating the town’s population and filling many of the local shops along Ocean Avenue. The place was crowded, but far enough away from his usual haunts that it was safe to meet Ramon there.
At Mick’s request, Ramon was dressed in civvies to avoid attracting attention. His cousin slipped onto the cement bench opposite him at the outdoor table where Mick had settled down to wait for him. On top of the table were Ramon’s favorites: black coffee with a chocolate frosted donut.
As his cousin noted the treat, his eyes lit up with joy, reminding Mick of the Ramon from their childhood.
“Thanks, mano.” He picked up the paper cup and took a sip, wincing at the heat of the coffee. His hand was headed for the donut when Mick stopped him.
“Did you bring what I asked?”
Ramon rolled his eyes. “When you called me, I thought, Miguelito is finally going to do the right thing and join the force.”
Mick shook his head. “You know that I can’t consider joining the force—”
“On account of your parents? Because of the money they need?” Ramon immediately challenged. He braced his hands on the edge of the thick cement tabletop and leaned forward. “They’re almost finished paying off that bank loan. You don’t need to keep on sacrificing what you want—”
“No sacrifice, Ramon. It’s what I like to do,” he replied and picked up his own cup of coffee to take a sip.
“Bullshit, mano. You were always a White Hat. You can’t have changed that much over the years.”
A White Hat, he thought, clenching his jaw to contain a retort. If he was, that hat was a mite muddied and grey in spots these days. Life had taught Mick that nothing was ever black or white.
“Did you bring what I asked?” Mick repeated.
Ramon looked from side to side, clearly cautious. Then he plopped a plastic bag from a local grocery store on top of the table. “Everything you need is in the bag, but if you get caught—”
“I’ll explain how I stole it from your police station. Does Mabel still leave the women’s bathroom window open so she can sneak a smoke?”
Ramon shook his head and in a chiding tone said, “Mabel retired last year. You might have known that if you came to visit more than once a month.”
Mick knew that Ramon wasn’t just talking about visiting the people he had befriended while working as an EMT for the town. Ramon was trying to make him feel guilty about visiting his family.
Mick raised his hands and held them out in a now-you-see-me gesture. “I’m here.”
Ramon rolled his eyes again, picked up the donut and took a big bite. Gesturing to Mick with the half-eaten confection, he said, “You’re here out of the blue and I bet you haven’t called your mami. You know that the last thing you want is to have her show up at your door uninvited.”
Mick could well imagine it. His loving but demanding mother descending on his home in the midst of this mess with Shaw. He could just picture her going all camo in front of his mother. Hell, he wished he could hide out when his mami was on one of her missions.
Snagging the plastic bag from the middle of the table, Mick opened it and peeked within. Inside was the electronic monitoring device he had requested, as well as a small piece of paper. He didn’t need to look at the paper to know it held information on how to access the system to activate and track the ankle bracelet.
“Thanks, mano. Now what do you know about Mc-Mahon and Hernandez?”
Ramon took another sip of his coffee. “The two detectives manning the Wells murder?”
Mick nodded and Ramon continued. “Met them years ago at a police conference. I thought they were straight-up guys. I hear they’re stuck waiting for the state lab guys to process the evidence.”
“So they can’t release the crime scene yet?” Mick said with a smile.
“Don’t know, but I can find out. What’s your interest in the case?” Ramon asked.
Not that Mick intended to answer. Instead he stood, grabbed the bag and jiggled it as he said, “Thanks again. Could I ask you to do me one more favor?”
Ramon grew serious and once more perused the area around them before responding, “You name it.”
Mick nodded, leaned forward, and whispered, “Keep mami away for the next few days.”
Mick hadn’t been gone for long. Not more than an hour. The beep beep beep of the alarm system announced his return.
Caterina wondered where he had been while she lay tied to the bed, the soft strains of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons playing in the background. Her one hand moving against imaginary strings, recalling how to play the piece.
“Summer” was playing. Somehow appropriate. She couldn’t remember how long she had been in the Wardwell facilities, but recalling the heat and humidity after she had escaped, she definitely knew it was summer now.
Noise came from downstairs. Mick’s voice, muted from the distance between her room and wherever he was on the lower floor.
Then silence.
A few seconds later she heard his tread on the stairs. It was surprisingly light. She caught a glimpse of him through the open doorway as he climbed up the stairs, and then he was at the entrance to the room.
He said nothing as he entered, walked to the chair and sat, a plastic bag in his hand. Opening the bag, he slipped a small piece of paper into the pocket of the button-down shirt he wore and then removed a small black box connected to a black plastic band of some kind.
He rose, stepped to the foot of the bed and grabbed hold of her heel. He held it steady as he slipped the band around her ankle, joined the two ends and then snapped them into place to secure it to her leg.
“What is that?” she asked.
“An electronic monitoring device. If you attempt to leave the area, it’ll warn me. If you continue beyond the perimeter of the house, I’ll still be able to track you down. And I will.”
Caterina stared at him hard, anger vibrating through her body at his threat.
Mick wasn’t sure why, but he suddenly felt like he needed to defend himself. “I’m not a monster,” he said, as if reading her thoughts.
“Prove it,” Caterina challenged. “Let me go.”