Beautiful Bounty(14)

“Thanks. It was a long time ago. My dad was a cop, just like my brothers. And I was going to be a cop too, but they pushed me into going into forensic sciences. I had the grades for it, and got a scholarship and all. But after graduation, I went into the police academy anyway.”

“You were a cop? All of you? How’d you all end up in Florida?” Ronnie asked with curiosity. Last summer, she assumed he was just a playboy who worked for his brothers in the family business. Interesting, there was more to this man than she thought.

“Yeah, for a while we were. My oldest brothers wanted out. They both wanted out of New York and were tired of the job. Blaze had just gone through a tough break up. I didn’t want to go, but hell they were all going, so here I am,” he answered her questions.

“Did they ever catch the person who killed your parents? If you don’t mind my asking?” she asked tentatively.

Nikko didn’t answer right away. He took a moment to compose his thoughts. “Hmm, well, no actually. He’s still out there. Somewhere. Andreas hasn’t given up. He never will. He got a few notes from him that first year, but then the case went cold.” He paused and she watched his hands caress the steering wheel lost in thought. “He was a serial killer, a case of my brother’s. The guy, he was the Rosedale Romeo.”

Ronnie nodded as her heart rate picked up. She remembered hearing that name on the news when she was just a kid.

“Oh my god,” she whispered.

He continued. “He came after our family because Andreas got too close to him. He took it personally. When Andy figured out who the guy was, the manhunt was on. They decided to release his name to the press and splash pictures of him all over the news, so there wouldn’t be any more victims. The police descended on his family and the guy had nowhere to run. His name was Salvatore Erickson. The dude’s wife said she didn’t know anything. She was shocked that her husband had this secret life. Said she had no clue what a monster he was. Andreas believed her. The man was seriously twisted. She was put into protective custody, given a new name, a new life. They had kids and she took them too. They were all in hiding. Salvatore had no one else. He was furious. He was pissed at Andreas and blamed him for ruining his life. Not because he was a sick bastard who liked to torture and mutilate girls, but because he blamed Andreas for destroying his family.”

Nikko paused again in his tale, and Ronnie waited patiently for him to continue. She didn’t want to push, but she was definitely intrigued. She never would have guessed Nikko faced so much pain and horror so young.

He eventually spoke after glancing her way once seeing her waiting. “For a year, the trail was cold. A few notes promising revenge.” He shook his head and she saw the cold look that crossed his face. “I was the only one still living at home at the time. I snuck out with my buddies one night and when I got home, I found them.”

“Oh, how horrible!” Ronnie’s hands flew to her mouth as she gasped.

“Yeah, it was pretty bad. I didn’t want to go to school after that. Just wanted to finish the car that my dad and I started. But, Andreas moved back home. My other brother’s lived in the city. Andreas was a detective, Gio had made detective too. Blaze was in law school. He did the police academy later. Like me. They promised to help me finish the car as long as I kept going to school. Each weekend one of them would work on it with me.”

His voice sounded rough. She felt her own throat tighten, thick with emotion for him.

“You’re close to your brothers,” she commented to ease the tension in the car.

“Yes, I am,” he stated. “They’re pretty much all I got.”

Ronnie nodded sympathetically. Her family was small too. And she cherished each one of them.

“How about you Ronnie? Got much family?” he asked, giving her a small smile and then he returned his focus to the road.

“Small too. It was just me and my mom, growing up. My grandparents are great; my granddad is one of my best friends. I have an uncle too, but he is somewhat of a recluse.”

“My grandparents on both sides died long ago. I don’t remember them,” he told her. “I do have an aunt. My mom’s sister, and a cousin too. Victor.”

“Yes, Monica’s husband.” Memories of the wedding popped into her head. She couldn’t find it in her to be mad at the moment. Not after all he revealed. “Monica and Ana grew up with my mom. So, they are like aunts to me. I love them a lot.”

“I could tell you were close,” he added. When they both remained silent for a while he decided to forge ahead. “What are your grandparents like? I don’t remember much of mine. Always thought it would be cool to have them around.”