Jack smiled and shook it. “Thanks, man.”
He left then and Rome watched him. If anything, it was good to know Jack had his life somewhat back on track. He was a good detective, but the home problems had made it hard for him to concentrate on the job.
Rome sat back down and decided to blow through the paperwork he had left so he could get back to spend some time with Maria.
· · · · ·
Maria shut her suitcase and sniffled. She’d had a good cry while she’d folded and packed her things, but now was the time to get that stiff upper lip her father always told her to have. She felt it tremble, and she put her fingers against it. There would be no regrets. She couldn’t have them. Moving on and doing what she wanted to do was the most important thing. The one thing her time with Rome and on the case taught her was that she was a good FBI agent. She hated it, though. She dreaded the idea of going back to LA and investigating. Life is too short not to do what you want, she told herself.
Before she could start crying again, the doorbell rang. She dabbed her eyes as she walked to the door. When she looked through the peephole, she was surprised at the visitor.
She composed herself with a few breaths and opened the door.
“Hey, Maria,” Jack said. “Thought I would come by and say aloha.”
Chapter Sixteen
Rome walked through his front door and was sort of surprised at the stillness. Maria could be quiet, but she wasn’t that quiet. If anything, she would still be packing. She was a woman who liked everything just so.
He walked through the house, the floors squeaking beneath his feet as a sense of wrongness surrounded him.
“Maria?”
No answer. Fuck. He walked all the way through the house and found nothing at first. Had she left not wanting to face him? But then he saw her suitcase sitting open on the bed, a few more items still waiting to be packed.
“Maria!”
He ran through the house, drawing his weapon. Her laptop was on the desk in his guestroom where she kept it. Panic and fear now twisted his gut. When he heard her phone ringing, he ran to the kitchen.
He saw the two-zero-two area code and knew it was someone she worked with.
“Hello.”
There was a pause. “This is Agent Smith. I’m looking for Maria Callahan.”
“This is Officer Carino, and I’m also looking for Maria.”
“Oh, Carino. Is Callahan around?”
Aggravation marched down his spine. He knew he didn’t have time for this. “No. I can’t find her.”
Another pause. “Is that normal?”
“No. Not normal at all.”
“I’m trying to get ahold of her to tell her that we’re cancelling the flight. The LA killing was an ex.”
“Just like the one in Dallas and Sara.”
“What?”
He didn’t realize he had spoken out loud until the agent spoke. “We had a woman here, ex killed her. At first they thought it might be The Dom, but it didn’t fit.”
“What I want to know is why you have her phone and where the hell is she?”
“I’ll ask her that as soon as I find her.”
He hung up without waiting for an answer. He was heading toward the door when the bell rang. When he opened it, he found Tina, Jack’s wife. Her face was beat all to hell, her lip split, her left eye black, and her nose had definitely been broken.
“Tina, hun, what happened to you?” he asked.
“I’m sorry to bother you Rome, but I had nowhere else to go. It’s Jack, he went crazy today.”
She stepped into the house. When she stood next to him, he was reminded of her petite frame. She didn’t even reach his shoulder.
“No, don’t worry.” Even as he said it, he had half his mind on Maria and where she might be.
“Like I said, I didn’t know where to go. I was furious when I found the stuff, and when I confronted Jack, he freaked. I have never seen him like that.”
He showed her over to his couch, trying his best to keep his patience in check. The poor woman had been worked over.
Once she was settled, he asked, “Now, why don’t you tell me what you’re talking about?”
She drew in a deep breath. Rome watched as she physically pulled herself together. “I was going through his stuff, getting it ready for him to pack up this morning. I found this plastic bag, looked like one of those evidence bags you all use.”
“What was in the bag?”
“Panties.”
“Panties?” The worry he had earlier was now blossoming into full-blown panic.
“Yeah, there were lots of them. At first I didn’t think anything of it. I mean, it would have been wrong if he had brought them home and they were evidence. He could get in trouble. I know he isn’t a great cop. He lied. He said that you were never doing your job. That he had to pull up the slack.”