IF SHE RAN Page 6

  “Well, come on in,” she said. “I’ve got some cinnamon rolls that just came out of the oven. And coffee ready to go.”

  Cass led them into the house, walking casually ahead of them. The smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls beckoned like a ghostly finger, pulling them forward.

  “Looks like you were right,” Kate whispered softly to DeMarco as they walked down the hallway. “It is almost as if she was expecting me. I’m a sucker for a good cinnamon roll.”

  Cass led them into her kitchen. Kate thought it, like some of the exterior of the house, had seen some TLC since the last time she visited. As she perched herself on a barstool along the kitchen counter, the entire scene from eight years ago flashed in her head.

  I was standing, leaning against the counter by the stove, when Cass nearly fainted from the grief of losing her son. Her husband had died two years earlier. Prostate cancer. She cried out to him in her anguish and pleaded with me to explain it all to her.

  Kate shook the thought away, not allowing herself to go back there. Besides, Cass looked well. Perhaps whatever skewed motivations had pushed her all those years ago had died. Maybe she was now a perfectly healthy and rational woman. Time healed all wounds, right?

  “Mrs. Nobilini, this is—” Kate started.

  “Oh, I think you and I have been through enough where you can call me Cass.”

  With a smile, Kate tried again. “Cass, this is my partner, Agent DeMarco. I’ve informed her of our history.”

  “All of it?” Cass asked as she took cinnamon rolls out of a still-steaming pan and placed them on plates she took from the cupboard.

  “Yes. Even the things you probably wouldn’t want a stranger to know.”

  Cass nodded as she brought the agents each a cinnamon roll. “I’m not particularly proud of that time of my life. I dealt with my pain in sorrow in some very questionable ways. I always meant to call you…to apologize…”

  “It’s okay,” Kate said. “How are you?”

  “I’m okay now. But that period went on for years. I…well, I nearly broke the law a few times if I’m being honest. Surveilling people, coming close to breaking and entering a few times.” She sat down on the other side of the bar on her own stool and joined them with her own roll. “I devoted my life to it for several months. The final straw was when close friends of mine called the police on me. Not for breaking any laws, but because they feared I was a danger to myself. I went to therapy and worked it all out.”

  Kate wasn’t sure what to say. She couldn’t imagine going through that sort of pain, even after losing her own husband several years ago to dubious circumstances.

  “Well, as you said at the door,” DeMarco said, apparently sensing Kate’s hesitation, “we’re in the area to try to solve another murder. Jack Tucker. A murder that seems to be eerily similar to your son’s.”

  “Can I ask how similar?” Cass asked. But her tone indicated she might not be prepared to hear it.

  “Same type of gun. Same execution style. Another resident of Ashton who appears to have been a very happily married man with a perfect life, found in an alleyway in New York City.”

  “My God,” Cass said.

  “I wonder, though,” Kate said. “In all of that time you spent working towards trying to find answers, did you come across anything that, even now, felt like it might lead somewhere?”

  “No. Nothing.” Cass looked away, poking at her cinnamon roll in embarrassment. “And after a while, it occurred to me that anyone that was able to kill Frank in such a blatant and egregious way…well, they’re probably long gone by now.”

  “It would be a reasonable thing to assume,” Kate said. “In terms of Jack Tucker, did you know him or his family by any chance?”

  “I didn’t personally,” she said. “But something occurred to me yesterday that seems odd. It might be nothing, but…it doesn’t feel like it.”

  “What’s that?” Kate asked.

  “Do you remember Alice Delgado?”

  The name popped up in her head as if it had been waiting all along. The fact that she had revisited that name on the old case files the night before no longer seemed by chance. “I do. She admitted to making advances towards Frank and was so stricken with guilt that she visited Jennifer and told her about it.”

  “Right. As I understand it, Alice worked with Missy Tucker a few years back. It was a small job, just manning a register at a local boutique shop that closed almost as quickly as it opened up.”

  “How long ago was this?”

  “Maybe four years ago, give or take. The place was only open for like a year and a half. Everything in there was just too damned expensive.”

  “Have you reached out to Jennifer since Jack Tucker’s murder?” Kate asked. “I imagine it brought a lot of new stuff up. New pain and questions.”

  “No. I thought about it. But I didn’t want to assume that the Tucker murder would automatically bring up Frank’s murder in her head. She may not even be aware of the way in which Jack was killed. She sort of clammed up after Frank died. We don’t really talk much. Her entire life is completely centered around her children now. Well, that and community projects. She’s very…intimidating. A lot of people see her as the poor widow, you know? But she’s very involved. Community projects, school stuff for the kids. I think she’s really active with the PTA.”

  “They had two, right?”

  “Yes. Carter and Elisa. Jennifer has managed to sort of pick up the pieces…starting a new life and all that. But you know…I hate to throw her under the bus but even though she’s a bit older now, she hangs around with younger ladies. I think it’s because of the PTA at the middle school. There’s a tight-knit group of ladies involved in the middle school PTA.”

  “How’s that throwing her under the bus?” DeMarco asked.

  “It’s a small town, dear,” Cass said. “People gossip all the time, especially the women. Maybe even more so with the women on the PTA. I know it might sound fickle, but that’s Ashton for you. If there were rumors or gossip or anything related to Jack Tucker or the brief little working relationship between Missy Tucker and Alice Delgado, I guarantee you it was circulated in that little group.”

  “Are you not part of the group?” Kate asked. She took a huge bite of her cinnamon roll as she waited for an answer.

  “Oh, I’m too old. I only know these women because you get to know everyone in a town like this.”

  Kate finished up her cinnamon roll, starting to get a good idea of where they’d have to go next. It would be yet another step back into her past but that was okay; if this visit with Cass Nobilini had turned out smooth, she figured anything was possible. Still, she felt a sense of foreboding as she thought about digging those old skeletons up, picking at those old scabs. It was also surreal to sense that in order to dig up any leads on her current case, she was going to have to keep revisiting an old one—an old one that had managed to escape her and taunt her for years afterward.

  “Agent Wise, are you okay?”

  Kate blinked, the sound of her name coming from Cass Nobilini jarring her out of her train of thought. “Yeah…I was just lost in my own thoughts for a second.”

  “Were you?” Cass asked, as if she understood perfectly. “Or were you—like me—stuck on trying to figure out how to escape that one certain part of your life you wish you could go back and change?”

  To that, Kate could say nothing. It was as if the old lady had crawled into her mind and starting moving things around.

  Would that be so bad? Kate wondered. While she’s in there, she can have these memories from her son’s case and take them with her. I sure as hell don’t want them anymore.

  But that wasn’t exactly true. Because the longer she sat in Cass’s kitchen, the more certain she became that crumbs from that old case would be what it took to close the Jack Tucker case.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  It took quite a while for Kate and DeMarco to track down Alice Delgado. When they found that she was n
ot at home, they requested her number from the bureau. The number went straight to voicemail. Kate then called the head office of the school that her son, Patrick, attended to see if they had any secondary contact information on file, since, like Jennifer Nobilini, Alice was actively involved with the PTA. That’s where they hit pay dirt. The secondary information was not necessary, as Alice was currently at the elementary school, speaking with a local DJ about the set-up and playlist for the upcoming Fall Festival.

  Kate and DeMarco entered the school, heading for the office first in order to be properly buzzed in. It was alarming to Kate to see that schools these days had to be so security-based. It had been twelve years since she had stepped foot in a school, and that had been to attend Melissa’s graduation. While she had heard about some of the security measures taking place at even the smallest rural schools, seeing it firsthand was something very different—especially within an elementary school.

  They found the gymnasium with no problem, following the sound of a few skidding sneakers and a bouncing basketball. When they got there, they saw some kids playing a game of five-on-five. On the right side of the gym, a gym teacher or coach of some sort watched the game. At the far end of the gym, a middle-aged woman was speaking to a tall man who seemed to be very interested in a particular corner of the gym. Kate assumed this to be the DJ that Alice was working with.

  They walked to the far end, toward the DJ and the woman Kate assumed to be Alice. While she did not remember Alice Delgado nearly as well as Cass Nobilini, she assumed she would recognize the woman’s face. She saw each and every face from that case at least once or twice a month in her head. It had gotten better over the years, but those faces and their expressions always seemed to find a way to come back to haunt her.

  As they got closer, she saw that it was indeed Alice Delgado. She was still quite pretty, a woman having just crossed the border of thirty that could easily pass as twenty-one with a little extra time in front of the mirror. And as Alice’s face came into view, Kate started to recall how unpleasant the woman had been. Once she’d confessed to her attempt at seducing Frank Nobilini, she’d been honest and genuine in her remorse, but the guilt that had swept down on her had also turned her into something of a bitch. During follow-up visits and conversations, Alice had been confrontational and very heard to speak to.

  The look Alice gave her when she noticed the two agents coming across the gym made Kate think that not only did Alice remember her quite well, but that she still held a grudge. Kate was reminded of Melissa who, on a few occasions, had referred to her own angry expressions as RBF, or “resting bitch face.” And that’s exactly what Kate was getting from Alice as she and DeMarco approached her.

  “Ms. Delgado, can we have a minute of your time?” Kate asked.

  Alice looked surprised, completely off of her game, but did her best to hide it with that stern and bitter look of anger.

  “I’m in the middle of something,” Alice said. But already, there was curiosity in her tone. In her eyes, too. Her disappointment and anger was quickly being overruled with her need to know why an FBI agent she met eight years ago had suddenly reappeared in the elementary school her seven year-old son was attending.

  “I understand,” Kate said. “But this will only take a moment and it’s rather time sensitive.”

  She sighed, placed her hands on her hips, and looked to the DJ. “Could you give us a second?” she asked.

  He nodded and walked away, heading over to check out the game of five-on-five. When he was safely out of earshot, Alice Delgado started speaking before Kate or DeMarco ever had the chance.

  “Yes, I know about Jack Tucker. And I know that his murder was basically the same as Frank Nobilini’s.”

  “Well, we’re still lacking any sort of clues,” Kate said.

  “Just like last time, then?”

  It was a biting remark. Kate was thrown off her game for a moment but was equally surprised when DeMarco took a single step forward and stood up for her. “No, not like last time. There are others dealing with their own grief right now. A woman named Missy Tucker—a woman we understand you worked with for a short time. So unless you wish what happened to Cass and Jennifer Nobilini eight years ago onto another widow, we’d appreciate your cooperation.”

  The look on Alice’s face was one of utter disbelief. DeMarco might as well have just reached out and slapped her.

  “Yes,” Alice said, slowly starting to check her attitude. “We worked together for a small amount of time. The two of us and one other woman ran a little shop in town for a while.”

  “Did you get to know her well?” Kate asked.

  “Fairly well, I’d say. We never really became close friends or anything like that, but we chatted quite a bit.” She paused here and then added: “I’m sorry, but how does learning about Missy help you to find Jack Tucker’s killer?”

  “Because it’s good to know if there was ever anything that came up in casual conversation that might have seemed odd to you,” Kate said. “Anything that might have marred your opinion of their marriage.”

  Alice chuckled at this, shaking her head. “No. Good grief, they were like the picture of a perfect marriage. He was always doing things for her, always doting over her and the kids. I got pregnant very shortly after the FBI ditched Frank Nobilini’s case. Married the father. And honestly, we always looked at the Tuckers’ marriage as something to shoot for.”

  “Would it surprise you to know that Jack’s mother was not the biggest fan of Missy?”

  “It would not. That woman has issues. From what I understand, Jack was very close with his mother. This is just my own theory, but I think she took it as a competition when Jack got married and all of his attention went to his bride and their children. Shit…I knew that back when I first started working as a nanny in Ashton. Word gets around, you know. Apparently, Jack’s mother was competitive…wanted her little boy under her thumb at all times.”

  It was clear that Alice was still a little uncertain about talking to them. Like Kate, it was clear that she had issues from the case eight years before that she had not quite resolved yet. Maybe the guilt or the hurt of confessing to Jennifer Nobilini. Kate started to feel bad for her in that moment. More than that, she started to feel guilty all over again for having never found Frank Nobilini’s killer.

  “We spoke with Cass Nobilini this morning,” Kate said. “She indicated that a lot of mothers of school-age kids might be part of social circles that tend to hear things other people might not be privy to.”

  “You mean gossip?” Alice asked.

  Kate said nothing, hoping her silence would speak for itself.

  “You’re not wrong,” Alice said with a hint of annoyance. “But I stand by what I said. There was absolutely nothing to say about Jack and Missy Tucker. They were perfect. Some of my friends sometimes use him as measuring stick—how they wish their husbands would love on them the way Jack loved on Missy. Let’s face it, Agent Wise. Back in the day, when you and I first met, I was attracted to Frank Nobilini for a reason. I made a fool of myself for a reason. He was a good man, just like Jack. A kind and generous man and who was attractive as hell to me. It’s attractive as hell to a lot of women, you know?”

  “Any chance the Tuckers might have been just posturing it all?” DeMarco asked.

  “If they were, they should be actors. In a town like Ashton, if you can somehow stay out of the grapevine, you’re doing something right. So, no…the Tuckers were solid. If they were hiding secrets, they were pros about it.”

  “How about friends?” Kate asked. “While you were working with Missy, did she tend to talk about certain women that she hung out with?”

  “Missy has one very good friend, a woman named Kelly Osman. There’s another woman they tend to hang out with but I don’t know her well. Jasmine Brooks is her name. They’d know a lot more about Missy and her life than I do. They’re on the PTA as well, but they have kids in middle school. And that’s the PTA Missy spends most
of her time on. They tend to need the most help.”

  “Cass tells us that Jennifer Nobilini also serves with the PTA. Is that right?”

  “Yes. She’s pretty active, especially with art-related things. She sort of hops back and forth between this school and the middle school. She’ll sort of poke her head into our little PTA circle of friends, but I think the gossip and small talk bothers her sometimes. She’s extremely helpful with all things PTA but when the meetings and functions end, she mostly sticks to herself. Even when she helps out with her little community projects around town, she keeps a low profile. Doesn’t want the attention, and keeps to herself.”

  “Are things…awkward between the two of you after what happened?”

  Alice shrugged. “Maybe a bit. We don’t really talk, you know? Even when we are in the same PTA meetings, we don’t force it. We don’t pretend nothing happened, but we’re not hateful to one another, either. I have nothing against her. If anything, I respect the hell out of her.”

  “Thanks for the information,” Kate said. “We’ll let you get back to your project.”

  “Agent Wise…I think I speak on behalf of Cass Nobilini and Missy Tucker when I say that I hope you find the sonofabitch this time. Why come back and do this to someone else eight years later?”

  “We’re doing our best,” Kate said.

  A lopsided frown crossed Alice’s face as Kate and DeMarco turned away. It was a frown that seemed to mock, to say: Are you really?

  DeMarco fell in close to Kate as they exited the gymnasium. “Don’t do that,” she said.

  “Don’t do what?” Kate asked.

  “Beat yourself up about the past. Leave the past where it is. You keep looking behind you and the present is going to sneak up on you and kick you in the teeth.”

  Kate nodded but in her head, she couldn’t help but think: I’m afraid it already has.

  ***