"Early on, he did, but after Anthony won his second term as state senator, Frankie moved down to Phoenix. Anthony told me that his uncle was tired of the brutal Chicago winters."
"But you think Frankie's back in the area?"
She lifted her shoulders in a helpless shrug. "Honestly, I haven't kept track of Anthony's uncle in the years since our divorce. I was lucky to get away from Anthony early in our marriage, shortly after Joey's first birthday." Two years of marriage that had seemed like a lifetime. "I suspect that since Anthony is dead, Frankie might have come back to take his place within the Mafia."
"Rachel, there isn't much of the Mafia left for him to return to," he said. "I happen to know that Bernardo Salvatore and his right-hand man, Russo, are both dead."
The news surprised her. "Really? How?"
He pressed his lips into a grim line. "I can't go into details other than to tell you that I was there when they were killed. You have to consider there might be someone else besides Frankie Caruso after you."
"I'm telling you there's no one else I can think of," she said, wishing he would believe her. "Besides, if Salvatore and this Russo guy are dead, then it makes even more sense to me that Frankie came back to Chicago. Clearly he wants to pick up the crime syndicate where Salvatore left off."
"Maybe. I'll try running a search on him," Nick murmured. "It's possible we'll get lucky."
She didn't bother to tell Nick that she didn't feel lucky. The thought of her son being held by the Mafia, alone and afraid, made fear clog her throat to the point she could barely breathe. Outside the passenger-side window, she stared at the holiday decorations lighting up people's houses. Would Joey be back in time for Christmas? She couldn't even imagine the possibility that he wouldn't be.
Nick pulled up to a low-budget motel and secured two connecting rooms. She reluctantly took her room key from his hand, knowing she couldn't relax, couldn't rest.
Not until she found her son.
* * *
"Rachel?" She glanced up when she heard Nick call her name from the open doorway between their rooms.
"What is it?" she asked, rising to her feet and crossing over to meet him in the doorway.
"Are you hungry?"
She grimaced and shook her head. "No." The mere thought of food made her nauseous. "You mentioned doing a search on Frankie Caruso. Do you have a laptop with you?"
"Yeah, I have my laptop," Nick replied. "So far, I haven't found much."
Frankie Caruso was too smart to leave an obvious trail. She kept her phone gripped in her hand, unable to bear the thought of losing the small link that she had with Joey's kidnapper. She hated to think of what her son might be suffering through right now. Why hadn't they contacted her again? What were they waiting for? "We have to keep searching. We have to find something!"
"Rachel, I know you're upset, but there isn't much more I can do. If we don't hear something soon, we'll have no choice but to pull in the FBI."
"No. We can't." The very thought of bringing in the authorities nearly made her double over in pain. "Your boss promised us some time, right? I'm sure the kidnappers will contact me soon."
"All right." There was a hint of disappointment in his gaze. She told herself she didn't care what Nick thought of her. He couldn't possibly imagine what she was going through. Or what she'd already suffered at the hands of the Mafia. She'd lived with Anthony for two long terrible years and had learned early on that confronting the Mafia directly only made them angry.
She didn't want the man who'd kidnapped Joey to take his anger out on her son.
"I'm going to get something to eat," Nick said over his shoulder. "Stay here and don't let anyone in except for me."
"Can I use your laptop while you're gone?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
She waited for him in the doorway, gratefully taking the computer from his hands. "Thank you."
"I'll be back soon," he said huskily, and he closed the connecting door on his side.
She opened the computer and tried to think of what little she remembered from those early days with Anthony-the places he went, the people he considered friends. She'd purposefully pushed all those bad memories out of her mind after she escaped, so dredging them up again wasn't easy.
Typing Frank Caruso's name into the search engine didn't bring up many hits. She tried using Luigi Gagliano's name too, as he was a distant cousin to Anthony.
Still nothing. And as she stared blankly at the computer, a terrible thought occurred to her.
Here she was, waiting for Joey's kidnappers to call with some sort of ransom demand, but what if she was on the wrong track? What if Frankie didn't want her money, but simply wanted her son?
Frankie had raised Anthony, bringing him into the world of crime at a young age. Was it possible he wanted to use Joey as a surrogate for Anthony?
Was it possible that Frankie was, right now, driving far away with her son?
Rachel's heart rate soared as she surged to her feet. Nick had been right! They should have called the police and the FBI right away! If Frankie had kidnapped Joey for personal reasons then he already had a head start on them.
She grabbed her phone, intending to call Nick, but then forced herself to stop and think. Why would Frankie send her threatening letters, saying she would repay her debts, if he didn't want money?
Pacing the length of the small motel room helped calm her ragged nerves. Her ankle throbbed, but she ignored it. She'd never had a panic attack like this before, not even in the dark days after Anthony had beaten her. She had to stop overreacting to every thought. Every remote possibility.
Somehow she had to be smarter than Frankie Caruso or Luigi Gagliano.
She sat down at the small desk and clicked on the mouse to reactivate Nick's computer. There was one angle she hadn't considered, and that was Frankie's ex-wife, Margie Caruso. Frankie and Margie had divorced the year Rachel was pregnant with Joey, but, surprisingly, they'd stayed on friendly terms. She'd often wondered if Margie had also been involved in illegal activities; otherwise, why wouldn't Frankie have tried to silence his ex-wife? After all, Anthony had often threatened to kill Rachel if she ratted him out.
Anthony's threats hadn't been empty ones, either.
And if Margie was part of the Mafia, it wasn't a stretch to think that she could be in cahoots with Frankie on this kidnapping scheme.
A quick search revealed that Margie was still living in the Chicago area. She wrote down the address, determined to convince Nick that they needed to pay the woman a surprise visit.
THREE
Nick couldn't stop thinking about Rachel and Joey as he ran a few errands. He understood what Rachel was going through-he'd been inconsolable after his wife and daughter went missing, too. He knew he shouldn't let his emotions get in the way of doing what was right, but seeing the pain etched on Rachel's face was impossible to ignore.
After picking up some new clothes he'd put a call in to his FBI buddy, Logan Quail, only to find out his friend was out of the country on his honeymoon. No wonder Logan hadn't returned his calls. The timing was unfortunate, since Logan's expertise would have been perfect for Rachel's situation.
But he'd just have to use another way to help Rachel find her son.
As he was picking up some fast food, his phone rang and he was surprised to discover that the caller was his boss, Ryan Walsh. "Hi, Captain."
"Butler. We have some news from the crash scene you called in earlier."
"You do?" He juggled the phone as he handed over cash and accepted the bag of food from the bored teen at the window. "What do you have?"
"We got a hit on one of the fingerprints. Perp's name is Ricky Morales and he's got a rap sheet, largely for drug busts, but, most recently, he was arrested for armed robbery. He just got out on bail about six months ago."
Nick pulled away from the drive-through window and parked in the first open slot he saw. "Do you think Morales has found a home working as a thug for the Mafia?"
His boss grunted. "Don't see why not. It's a lead worth following since the truck is registered in his name, too. Explains why he dumped his ride as soon as he did. I'll send his last-known address to you in an email. Where are you right now?"
"Getting something to eat." Nick didn't want to say too much. "We also have a possible suspect in Frankie Caruso, who happens to be Anthony Caruso's uncle. Ms. Simon is convinced that Frankie is back to take over the Mafia."
"What do you think?" Walsh asked.
"I think she could be right. You might want to see what you can find out about Caruso's activities. In the meantime, we'll start looking for leads related to Ricky Morales."
"Sounds like a plan." He could hear his boss scribbling notes. "Good work so far, Butler. Keep in touch."