AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That tells me he wasn't released to police custody. That could be good. He's not in prison. At least not then.
I thank the hospital worker and hang up, my mind whirling. It's not much. It’s possible it means nothing. But it feels like something. If this pans out, if I can find Lazaro, could it change things between me and Lana? I shake my head, not allowing myself to hope.
I go to my kitchen to make coffee and figure out my next step in finding John Doe in Lafayette, Indiana. Could he still be there? It’s been three years. He could have moved on.
The coffee is starting to brew when a knock comes on my door. I don’t normally get company. Perhaps it’s my neighbor looking for her cat again.
I open the door, and my heart nearly stops. Lana stands before me. Her expression doesn’t give anything away.
"Lana.”
She doesn't answer immediately, just fixes me with that piercing gaze. After a moment, I worry she’s going to change her mind and leave.
I step back, opening the door. “Come in.”
As she brushes past me, I catch a whiff of her perfume, the scent that's haunted my dreams since I met her. I close the door behind her, my mind racing, telling me not to fuck this up.
Lana makes her way to my living room. She sniffs. “Coffee this late?”
“I’m working. Would you like some? Or I can get you something stronger."
"Please," she says, sinking onto my couch.
I head to my kitchen, pouring her a finger of whisky. She’s made herself at home. That’s a good sign, right?
I bring her the glass and then settle in the recliner across from her.
For a long moment, she sits quietly, sipping her drink. Finally, she fixes me with a piercing stare, her eyes full of pain and uncertainty. "I need to know what really happened that night, Henry. I've been going over it in my head, trying to make sense of it all, but I just can't. I need to hear it from you."
I take a deep breath, steeling myself for the conversation I've both dreaded and longed for. "Okay. Anything specific?”
“The whole night.”
I nod. “I was at work and I got the call records about who was reporting your family. It wasn’t the Rinellas.”
Her brows rise.
“It was Peter, using his deceased father’s phone.”
“He wasn’t worried about being traced?”
I shrug. “I think Peter’s thought process wasn’t normal. I imagine he saw it as his father getting revenge. I don’t know. I’m not a shrink. But when I discovered it, I tried to call you. I was worried and wanted to warn you. You didn’t pick up, so I drove over to your home.”
She watches me intently. I wonder if she’s trying to determine whether I’m telling her the truth. I hope she sees that I am.
“When I arrived, your sister-in-law was worried that Elio was missing and Matteo was in an accident and you were picking him up. God, Lana… I knew then that the shit had hit the fan.” I wish I’d poured myself some whisky because I could use some liquid courage recounting this story.
“I raced to the place she told me you were going. I found your car.” I shake my head as anger fills me at what followed. “I called Peter, acting like his partner, trying to figure out where he might be… where you would be. He flat out told me he had you. I couldn’t fucking believe it Anyway, I called for backup and well… I told you how that went.”
She swallows, and I see pain in her eyes.
"I was terrified, Lana. I’d given your sister-in-law my card and told her to call if she heard from anyone. She called to tell me Elio and Matteo were fine. That’s when I asked Elio for help.”
She tries to smirk. “I imagine that it was hard asking a criminal for help.”
“Not at all, Lana. I’d ask the fucking Cartel to help if that’s what it would take to save you.”
She blinks like she wasn’t expecting that. "And then you showed up at that warehouse."
