Jack Stratton: Jacks Are Wild Part 33

Jack could see pieces of something that must have been large and ceramic but now lay shattered on the floor. He drew his pistol and motioned Replacement behind him.

"Mr. de Lorme, this is the police. We are entering the premises," Jack called out.

Silence greeted him.

He moved left and through a huge study to an even bigger kitchen. Everything looked new and expensive but also empty. Jack held up his hand, and Replacement b.u.mped into him.

Jack turned and glared.

She mouthed, "sorry" and moved against the wall.

They stepped into the hallway, and Jack saw a doork.n.o.b turning. He reached back and put one hand on Replacement's chest and then held his finger up to his lips. The door opened, and Kiku appeared. She motioned them over.

"He's in the bas.e.m.e.nt." She stepped in front of Replacement and turned to Jack. "It's bad."

I wonder what her definition of bad is?

"Is he alive?"

"Sort of."

Sort of?

Jack started to follow her down the stairs and glanced back at Replacement. Jack held out his hand. Her eyes blazed.

"Listen, kid. I need you up here to tell me if anyone comes in the house. There may not be an exit down there."

"Kiku said there was a slider in the bas.e.m.e.nt," Replacement pointed out.

"Fine. The truth is I don't want some hideous image burned into your head," Jack whispered, but it was still a growl. "I have so many in mine, one more doesn't matter to me. Don't argue."

Jack turned and headed down the steps.

He was glad he had Replacement stay upstairs. Arber lay in a b.l.o.o.d.y heap on the floor. Bats and chains splattered with blood lay scattered around him. Jack could only recognize Arber by his hair and build. The man was still breathing, and Jack heard him groan.

He looked at Kiku, who stood next to a laundry rack. The rack was fixed to a section of wall that could be pulled out.

There's a hidden room behind the wall.

Kiku walked over to Jack. "It's a recording room. He has cameras through all of the house but mostly in the bedrooms and bathrooms. They're not for security."

"Are they on now?"

Kiku shook her head. "No. Today's tape is gone, too. I removed the tape of the day we visited."

Anger suddenly coursed through him, his pulse raced, and his teeth ground together.

Marisa would have come here.

"Live or die?" Kiku asked.

"What?" Jack looked at her.

Kiku looked puzzled. "Should I finish him off, or should we go?"

Replacement thundered down the stairs and stopped halfway when she saw Arber. "We don't kill people." Jack saw her gagging, but as he moved toward her, she held up a hand.

Kiku nodded to the back room. "The TV in there is paused on a scene of him with an unconscious girl."

"Paolo found out he dated Marisa and came here. I'm surprised." Jack stared down at the b.l.o.o.d.y man.

Kiku's eyes hardened. "You're surprised that Paolo would do this to him?"

Jack stared back at her, and his eyes were cold. "I'm surprised Paolo let him live." They headed quickly back upstairs.

Kiku shook her head. "He may not make it. Besides, it looks like Arber won't be hurting any more girls. Paolo must have used that bazooka he carries when he shot Arbor in the groin."

Jack winced.

Replacement looked at the kitchen phone and then to Jack.

He walked over and picked it up. He pressed the talk b.u.t.ton, dialed 911, and then wiped it down. He waited until he heard the operator come on and he motioned for them to go.

"Did you touch anything?"

Replacement shook her head. All of the color had left her face. They hurried for the car. Jack wiped down the door handle before they left.

He jumped in the car and flew out of the driveway. Kiku now sat in the backseat, and Replacement was in the front, looking out the window.

They were just pulling away when Jack saw the flashing lights ahead and heard the sirens.

"Cops," Kiku whispered.

"Ambulance," Jack corrected.

With its sirens blaring, an ambulance rounded the corner in front of them and sped by and into Arber's driveway.

Jack frowned.

"What's wrong?" Kiku asked.

"That's way too fast for a response time. Someone else must have called them."

Jack angled his head and looked down as a police cruiser raced by them. They didn't slow and kept going.

Jack reached out for Replacement's shoulder. She was getting even whiter, and he was starting to worry about her getting carsick. "You okay, kid?"

She nodded. "Do you think that guy did something to Marisa?"

"No. Paolo left him alive. If he had done something to her, Paolo would have skinned him."

Replacement's throat tightened, and she held up a hand. "Didn't need that."

"Sorry."

"What's our next move?" Kiku sat up between them and squeezed Replacement's shoulder with one hand.

"Regroup. I have to think. Let's go back to my apartment."

Kiku nodded, and they both looked at Replacement. She closed her eyes and put her head against the window.

Normally it just hurts like h.e.l.l Jack parked the Impala and hopped out. As they walked toward his apartment, he noticed Ilario in a car across the street.

"Don't look at me." Jack's voice was clear and clipped. "Head in."

Kiku took Replacement by the elbow and started to speak animatedly to her as they walked up the steps of the building.

Jack crossed the street and got into the pa.s.senger seat of Ilario's car.

"How'd you find me?" Jack closed the door.

"Paolo looked you up. He said some cop said your name. You're the only one named Jack in the sheriff's department."

Thanks again, Donald.

"Did you get anything?"

He looked up at Ilario, and his chest tightened.

The kid's a mess.

Deep circles stood out under Ilario's red eyes. His skin was pale, and his hand trembled as he shook Jack's hand.

Ilario slumped in the seat. "I called. Paolo's been... He's been...looking."

He hasn't seen this side of the family business.

"You were with him at the tattoo parlor."

Ilario nodded.

"Did Shawn say anything?"

Tears formed in his eyes, and his lips trembled. "Is that his name? Is he okay?"

Jack stopped himself from merely saying yes. "I'll check."

"Paolo-I've seen him mad but..." He suddenly looked up. "I don't have much time. Shawn didn't do it. He, he talked back and Paolo got mad. Shawn told us about you and another guy."

"Arber."

Ilario nodded.

"We went there next, and Arber slammed the door in Paolo's face. My uncle didn't care for that. They started asking Arber questions, and Paolo kept looking at this mirror. All of a sudden he grabs the guy and just smashes his head into it." He swallowed. "There was a camera behind the mirror. I don't know how Paolo knew, but he went crazy. The guy had this room-"

"Did Paolo find a tape?"

"Lots of them." Ilario's voice seemed distant. "Girls. Arber told us everything. He'd get them drunk and then drug them."

Jack tried to push down the rage that churned inside him.

"Arber said he never touched Angelica. He said she didn't like him. They only dated a couple of times, and Angelica dumped him."

"Paolo believed that?"

"Yeah. After what they did to Arber, I do, too."

"Did Arber say anything else? Anything about her paintings?"

Ilario nodded. "He said he buys her paintings. Gives her top dollar. Paolo broke his hands then. He said a sc.u.mbag like him wouldn't do that. Arber admitted going to her apartment to try to talk to her about a new one she did but he said she wasn't there."

"Did he say he went into her apartment?"

"He went on and on. He was begging. I think he thought if he told the truth they'd let him live. He told Paolo he wanted to steal her painting and used a key he took from her to get in but the painting wasn't there."

That must have been when he took the business card back. Dead end. Nothing.

"Paolo shot him in the groin and left him to die." He shook his head. "I just..."

"You called the ambulance?" Jack asked.

Ilario nodded.

"Did you use a burner phone?"

He nodded again. "No matter what someone's done, I just couldn't leave him like that."

"Have you heard anything else?"

He shook his head. "My father's going crazy. He's getting more men, and he's going after the Yakuza."

"Ilario, I don't think they had anything to do with it."

"Do you know?" He grabbed the steering wheel and glared at Jack.

"I'll find her. They're going to contact you. You have to let me know the minute you hear anything, okay?"

He nodded. "I saw the pictures she's drawn of you in her apartment. Angelica trusts you. You have to find her."