hang-up button and was about to call Drew when she realized he hadn't left a number. She checked caller ID but where his should have been, it only said Unknown . She thought of calling his cousin Ann at her office, then decided against it. There was really no valid reason he couldn't use the darkroom today while she was painting, as he had done two other times this week already.
After putting out some cat food and refilling the bird feeders, she went back inside her studio and tried to use her painting to block out all thoughts of Rico. He was a full-grown man and she was no longer his caretaker.
And she ordered herself not to give a single thought to what might happen at five o'clock today if he hadn't paid his debt.
Teri had almost convinced herself to stop worrying about what he had done when she heard the sound of a car's engine in the driveway. She looked out the window expecting to see Drew, yet hoping it was Rico. Instead, there was a blue-uniformed officer getting out of a white and blue police car. Her stomach churned with the certainty that something had happened to Rico. She had been fighting it all morning, but that hadn't kept the truth away.
Then again, what if Rico hadn't paid his debt and this was another messenger from that "certain Irishman"? Her perverse memory called up stories of criminals pretending to be cops. Might a killer also steal a police car to flesh out his disguise? For one cowardly moment she considered staying within her locked studio, but her common sense told her that would only postpone the inevitable. With trembling fingers she unlocked the door and stepped out onto the landing as the officer approached the front door of the house.
"Officer?" she called down, and waited for him to locate the source of the summons. When he returned to the driveway and looked up at her through his dark aviator glasses, she noticed how his right hand rested on the top of his holster. Again, she had to force herself to speak. "May I help you?"
"I'm looking for Mrs. Rico Gambini."
Swallowing her cowardice, she descended the stairs to join him in the driveway. At least that way she was out in the open, on level ground, in case he turned out to be a fraud. "I'm Mrs. Gambini. Has there... been an accident?" She held her breath, waiting for his answer.
"Not that I'm aware of," he replied in a way that made Teri think he had dropped the word "yet".
"Is your husband at home?"
"No." She made a mental note of the number on his silver badge, then decided to answer his next question before he asked. "I haven't seen or heard from him since Friday afternoon."
"Is that normal?"
She shook her head. "No. We..." She took a deep breath and decided the truth was the only explanation that would work. "I made him leave and told him to never come back. We're getting divorced. His boss called this morning. Said he hadn't shown up. He was really angry. Did he call you? Did Rico do something wrong at work?"
He hesitated a moment, as if trying to decide if she was worthy of any information. Using a minimum of movement, he slowly extracted a notepad from his back pants pocket and a pen from his shirt. The sight of him preparing to write down anything she might say unsettled Teri a bit more before he finally explained.
He glanced at his pad. "His boss is Mr. Kelly?"
"Yes."
"Apparently, Rico never checked in properly at the end of his shift Saturday. Just left his truck in the lot with the keys and some mail still in it. He said Rico broke a rule now and then but this was more than an infraction. Kelly also advised that your husband's car was in the employee lot and no one could say for sure if it had been there continuously since Saturday or not."
"What?" The knot in Teri's stomach tightened. "That doesn't make any sense, unless he... went off with someone else." She exhaled heavily. That was probably why Kelly had sounded like he knew something she didn't. "What should I do?"
"Tell me, Mrs. Gambini, were the problems
After putting out some cat food and refilling the bird feeders, she went back inside her studio and tried to use her painting to block out all thoughts of Rico. He was a full-grown man and she was no longer his caretaker.
And she ordered herself not to give a single thought to what might happen at five o'clock today if he hadn't paid his debt.
Teri had almost convinced herself to stop worrying about what he had done when she heard the sound of a car's engine in the driveway. She looked out the window expecting to see Drew, yet hoping it was Rico. Instead, there was a blue-uniformed officer getting out of a white and blue police car. Her stomach churned with the certainty that something had happened to Rico. She had been fighting it all morning, but that hadn't kept the truth away.
Then again, what if Rico hadn't paid his debt and this was another messenger from that "certain Irishman"? Her perverse memory called up stories of criminals pretending to be cops. Might a killer also steal a police car to flesh out his disguise? For one cowardly moment she considered staying within her locked studio, but her common sense told her that would only postpone the inevitable. With trembling fingers she unlocked the door and stepped out onto the landing as the officer approached the front door of the house.
"Officer?" she called down, and waited for him to locate the source of the summons. When he returned to the driveway and looked up at her through his dark aviator glasses, she noticed how his right hand rested on the top of his holster. Again, she had to force herself to speak. "May I help you?"
"I'm looking for Mrs. Rico Gambini."
Swallowing her cowardice, she descended the stairs to join him in the driveway. At least that way she was out in the open, on level ground, in case he turned out to be a fraud. "I'm Mrs. Gambini. Has there... been an accident?" She held her breath, waiting for his answer.
"Not that I'm aware of," he replied in a way that made Teri think he had dropped the word "yet".
"Is your husband at home?"
"No." She made a mental note of the number on his silver badge, then decided to answer his next question before he asked. "I haven't seen or heard from him since Friday afternoon."
"Is that normal?"
She shook her head. "No. We..." She took a deep breath and decided the truth was the only explanation that would work. "I made him leave and told him to never come back. We're getting divorced. His boss called this morning. Said he hadn't shown up. He was really angry. Did he call you? Did Rico do something wrong at work?"
He hesitated a moment, as if trying to decide if she was worthy of any information. Using a minimum of movement, he slowly extracted a notepad from his back pants pocket and a pen from his shirt. The sight of him preparing to write down anything she might say unsettled Teri a bit more before he finally explained.
He glanced at his pad. "His boss is Mr. Kelly?"
"Yes."
"Apparently, Rico never checked in properly at the end of his shift Saturday. Just left his truck in the lot with the keys and some mail still in it. He said Rico broke a rule now and then but this was more than an infraction. Kelly also advised that your husband's car was in the employee lot and no one could say for sure if it had been there continuously since Saturday or not."
"What?" The knot in Teri's stomach tightened. "That doesn't make any sense, unless he... went off with someone else." She exhaled heavily. That was probably why Kelly had sounded like he knew something she didn't. "What should I do?"
"Tell me, Mrs. Gambini, were the problems
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