Die for Me

Chapter Seventeen

Wednesday, January 17, 8:30

P.M.

Sophie got out of her car in the nursing home’s lot and waited for Vito to park. He’d been silent, brooding, and angry as they’d left the precinct. When he’d followed her to the nursing home, he’d kept so close to her rear bumper that he’d have plowed into her if she’d had to stop suddenly. She’d gone over Vito’s and Katherine’s confrontation in her mind all the way over, which was a hell of a lot less unnerving than thinking that a killer might be watching her. Something had happened to someone Vito was supposed to have protected. Sophie remembered the roses. Her gut told her they were related.

Vito slammed his truck door and came around to take her arm.

“You are going to tell me what that was all about,” she said.

“Yeah. But not now. Please, Sophie, not now.”

She studied his face in the soft glow of the streetlights. There was pain in his eyes, in the set of his jaw. And guilt. She understood about guilt. She also knew Katherine would never have allowed her to leave with Vito had she not been convinced he could indeed take care of her. “All right. But calm down. You’re going to frighten Anna, and she doesn’t need that right now.” She threaded her fingers through his. “Neither do I.”

He drew several deep breaths and had schooled his features to calm by the time they got to the desk. Sophie signed them in. “Miss Marco. How’s Gran been today?”

Nurse Marco frowned. “Same as always. Mean and ornery.”

Sophie frowned back. “Thanks so much. It’s this way, Vito.” She led him back through the sterile halls, aware of the curious stares of the nurses. Curious nothing. They were leering. Drooling, even. “Don’t make eye contact,” Sophie murmured, “or they’ll be on you like white on rice. They don’t get eye candy like you every day.”

He chuckled, breaking the tension. “Thanks, but not a picture I wanted in my mind.”

“Don’t mention it.” She stopped outside Anna’s room. “Vito, she doesn’t look anything like she did before. You need to know that.”

“I understand.” He squeezed her hand. “Let’s go.”

Anna was dozing. Sophie sat next to her and touched her hand. “Gran, I’m here.”

Anna’s eyes fluttered open and one side of her mouth trembled in a smile. “Sophie.” Her eyes looked up, and up again until she saw Vito’s face. “Who is this?”

“This is Vito Ciccotelli. My… friend. Vito loves the opera, Gran.”

Anna’s eyes changed, softened. “Ahh. Sit, please,” she slurred.

“She wants you to sit.”

“I can understand her.” Vito sat and took Anna’s hand in his. “I heard you in Orfeo at the Academy downtown when I was a kid. Your Che faro made my grandfather weep.”

Anna regarded him steadily. “And you? Did you weep?”

Vito smiled at her. “Yes. But let’s keep that our secret, okay?”

Anna smiled back, slowly. “Your secret is safe with me. Talk to me, Vito.”

Sophie’s throat thickened as Vito talked about the opera and brought a light to Anna’s eyes that hadn’t been there in a long time. Way too soon, Nurse Marco intruded.

“She needs her evening medication, Dr. Johannsen. You should go.”

Anna breathed out a petulant breath. “That woman.”

Vito still held Anna’s hand. “She’s just doing her job. It was so nice to meet you, Miss Shubert. I’d love to come again.”

“You can, but only if you call me Anna.” Her good eye narrowed slyly. “Or Gran.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “Gran.”

But Vito just laughed. “My grandfather would have been so jealous of me tonight, sitting with the great Anna Shubert. I’ll come again, as soon as I can.”

Sophie leaned over and kissed Anna’s cheek. “Be nice to Nurse Marco, Gran. Vito’s right, she’s only trying to do her job.”

Anna’s lips thinned. “She’s mean, Sophie.”

Sophie shot a worried glance at Vito and saw he’d tilted his head pensively.

“How so, Anna?” he asked.

“She’s mean and hateful. And cruel.” It was all Sophie had ever gotten her to say.

Sophie controlled the sudden tremble of her hand. That Vito hadn’t laughed it off bothered her a great deal. “Sleep, Gran. I’ll see what I can do about Nurse Marco.”

“You’re a good girl, Sophie.” Anna’s mood shifted again and she smiled her half smile. “Come soon, Sophie, and bring your man here.”

“I will. I love you, Gran.” She kissed Anna’s other cheek and hurried out, not stopping until she got to her car, Vito never more than a step behind her.

“You didn’t talk to the nurse,” he said quietly.

“What am going to say? Are you abusing my grandmother?” Sophie heard the hysteria creep into her voice and sighed, forcing herself to calm. “She’d just say no.”

“Have you found evidence of abuse?”

“No. Gran’s always clean and seems to get her medicine when she needs it. She’s kept on a cardiac monitor and a few of the nurses have ICU experience. This is a good nursing home, Vito. I researched it so carefully, but… She’s my grandmother.”

“You could…” He hesitated.

“I could what?”

“You could use a camera,” he said slowly.

“Like a nanny-cam?” Sophie asked, and his lips quirked up.

“In this case a granny-cam,” he said and she laughed, feeling a little better.

“Do you know anything about cameras like that?”

He winced. “Yeah, I do. My brother-in-law Aidan knows more. I’ll ask him.”

“Thanks. If I can get an affordable camera, I’d put it in her room in a heartbeat, just to give me and Harry peace of mind.” She smiled at him. “And thank you for that, in there. You made Gran so happy. I wish I’d thought of it before, bringing in people who would talk to her about her music. Now I have to go home. When will I see you again?”

Vito blinked at her, incredulous. “Like, every time you look in your rearview mirror. I’m not leaving you tonight, Sophie. Didn’t you hear us? Munch or Bosch or whatever the hell his name is may be watching you.”

“I heard you. And I listened. But I don’t expect a twenty-four-hour bodyguard, Vito. That’s just not practical.”

Vito’s eyes flashed and she thought he’d argue. Then his eyes went as sly as her Gran’s had. “You owe me a double bonus prize for this morning.”

“Yeah, but you owe me for translating.”

He grinned. “I think this is what they call compound interest.”

She swallowed, her body already tingling in anticipation. “See you at the house.”

Wednesday, January 17, 9:25

P.M.

She had an escort, which was most unfortunate. He frowned as he watched Sophie Johannsen drive away in her grandmother’s car, followed closely by the truck driven by the man who’d walked her out. He’d have to wait until she was alone.

He’d known she’d show up here. Long ago he’d checked her financials and found the checks she’d written to the nursing home. She paid them a lot of money. He’d heard health care costs were on the rise, but even he’d been surprised. He’d never pay so much for his parents. But then, he no longer had parents, so the point was moot.

He wished he’d been able to hear what they’d been saying. Next time he’d be better prepared. He’d wanted to snip all his loose ends in one fell swoop, but that wasn’t going to happen tonight. No matter. He had other diversions. He put his van in gear, then glanced over his shoulder to where Derek Harrington lay, bound and gagged.

“You wanted to know how I got my inspiration,” he said. “You’re about to find out.”

He’d return for Sophie Johannsen tomorrow.

Thursday, January 18, 4:10

A.M.

Vito woke slowly. He’d slept well, exhausted by four long days of work and two short nights of teaching Sophie the fine art of making love. She was a fast learner, capable of assimilating all he’d shown her into moves that left him utterly spent. But now he’d recharged and he wanted her again. He reached… and patted an empty bed.

Vito’s eyes snapped open. She was gone. He jumped from her bed, his heart knocking in his chest. He stopped in the bedroom doorway and listened, relieved at the low murmur of the TV downstairs. He pulled on his pants and forced himself to take the stairs two at a time instead of in one big leap.

She was curled on the sofa, cradling a mug in her hands. Sleeping at her feet were the dogs, looking for all the world like rainbow-head wigs. Her head jerked around when she heard him. She’d been jumpy, too. “I woke up and you weren’t there,” he said.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

He stopped at the coffee table on which he’d left his folder and Bev’s art book. The book was open to The Scream, and Sophie was watching him.

“I didn’t mean to pry. I didn’t know it was a book for your case. I was trying to take my mind off… Anyway, the page was marked. It goes with the screams, doesn’t it?”

Guilt speared him. He’d been sleeping like a baby while the sound of those horrific screams kept her awake. “We think so. I’m sorry, Sophie. I never would have wanted you to hear what you’ve heard or see what you’ve seen.”

“But I have heard and I have seen,” she said quietly. “And I’ll deal with it.”

He sat next to her, stretching his arm across her shoulders, gratified when she snuggled against him. They sat in silence, watching the movie on the TV. It was in French and she was watching without the English subtitles, so after a minute he lost interest in the flick and sniffed at the mug in her hands. “Hot chocolate?”

“Good German cocoa,” she confirmed. “Shubert family recipe. Want some?”

“Maybe later. Is this one of your father’s movies?”

“En Garde. It’s not nearly as good as Soft Rain, the one you saw.” Her mouth lifted sadly. “Alex wasn’t a great actor, but he got a lot of screen time in this movie. It’s a swashbuckler flick, and he fenced competitively when he was in school. There he is.”

Alexandre Arnaud walked across the screen, sword in hand. He was a tall man with golden hair and Vito immediately saw the family resemblance. “You needed to see him.”

“I told you I’m not that difficult to figure out. I don’t like to be alone in this house. If you hadn’t been here, I’d be at Uncle Harry’s watching Bette Davis movies with him.”

In this house. She sounded morose when she said it, but every time she’d spoken about her uncle it was with affection, so he thought Harry was a good place to begin. He made his voice casual. “Did you live here or at your uncle’s when you were a kid?”

Her wry look said that she’d seen right through his ploy. “Mostly here with Gran. I started out with Harry and Freya, but they had four kids, and here I got my own room.”

“But you said you didn’t like to be alone.”

She pulled back and leveled him a long look. “Are you interrogating me, Vito?”

“No. Yes. Kind of. I’d prefer you keep thinking of me as nosy. It sounds less harsh.”

“So it does. I lived with my mother until I was four, but she got tired of me and dumped me on Uncle Harry. Harry gave me the first real home I ever knew.”

“An even better reason to hate your mother than her affair with your father.”

Her voice cooled. “Oh, no. I have much better reasons to hate my mother, Vito.” She turned her eyes to the TV, but she wasn’t watching it. “Anna was still touring that first year, but when she was home I stayed with her in Pittsburgh. When she was gone I stayed with Harry. When I started kindergarten, Gran sold her place in Pittsburgh and moved here so I wasn’t shuttled back and forth.”

The picture of a little Sophie being passed around with no roots squeezed at his heart. “Did Freya not want you?” he asked and her eyes widened.

“Nothing gets past you. Freya hated Lena so much. Having me around was hard.”

How selfish, Vito thought, but kept it to himself. “So what about your father? Alex.”

“Alex didn’t know about me for a long time.”

“Anna didn’t tell him.”

“She’d broken up with him less than a year before I was born and she still hurt, according to Maurice. According to Harry, she was terrified my father would take me away.”

“So how did you eventually meet him?”

“I always asked about my father, but nobody ever talked about him, so one day I took a bus to the courthouse, went up to the counter and asked for my birth certificate.”

“Industrious. Did they give it to you?”

“Considering I was only seven, no.”

Vito stared at her. “Seven? You were riding around on a city bus alone at seven?”

“I was trading empty beer bottles to the nearest corner store for Ho Hos and beef jerky when I was four,” she said flatly. “Anyway, the lady at the courthouse asked for my next of kin. The next thing I knew Uncle Harry was there, so upset. He told Gran I had a right to know my father. Gran said over her dead body, and Harry stopped arguing. I thought that was that. I was plotting a new plan to get my birth certificate when one day Harry shows up at my school with passports and two tickets to Paris.”

“He just up and took you to France?”

“Yep. He left a note with Freya so she could tell Anna. I think Uncle Harry slept on the sofa for a long time after he got back for that one. He still does, come to think of it.”

“So what happened when you got to France?”

“The taxi dropped us off at a front door that was fifteen feet tall. I held Uncle Harry’s hand so tight. All I’d wanted was to know my father, and all of a sudden I was terrified. Turns out, Harry was too. He was afraid Alex would shun me, or worse, keep me. What happened was a formal visit, but with an invitation to come back over the summer.”

“Did you?”

“Oh, yes. The invitation was issued by the Arnaud family attorney straight to Gran. It was basically a threat that if she didn’t send me for the summer, Alex would claim his custodial rights. So I spent my summers in a French mansion, with a tutor and a cook. The cook taught me the art of French cuisine. The tutor was to teach me to speak French, but I picked it up quickly so he moved on to German, then Latin and so on.”

“And the linguist was born,” he said and she smiled.

“Yes. Staying with Alex was something out of a fairy tale. Sometimes he’d take me to see his film friends. The summer I was eight, they were making a film at the ruins of a castle, and I got to go.” The memory of it sparkled on her face. “It was incredible.”

“And the archeologist was born.”

“I guess so. Alex helped me over the years, with introductions, connections.”

“But did he love you?” The excitement ebbed from her face and his heart squeezed.

“In his own way. And over the summers I grew to love him, but not the way I love Harry. Harry is my true father.” She swallowed hard. “I’m not sure I ever told him so.”

He started to ask how Katherine factored in, but bit the question back. Mention of Katherine would bring up the confrontation they’d had at the precinct. Similarly he held off asking what the other reasons for hating her mother were. He figured Sophie would want quid pro quo in the secret sharing department.

Instead, Vito pointed over to the corner of the room, where CDs and vinyl albums were haphazardly stacked where they had not been before. “Having a yard sale?”

She frowned. “No. After seeing you with Gran tonight, I thought she might like to hear some of her old favorites. Anna has an extensive record collection. Very valuable. But they’re all gone, along with every recording of Anna in concert. Even Orfeo.”

“Could your aunt or uncle have moved them?”

“Maybe. I’ll ask them before I get all excited about it. I did so want to take her something to listen to tomorrow, but I’ll find something, even if it’s off eBay.”

Vito thought of his own record collection-most of which he’d inherited from his grandfather. He suspected there might be an Anna Shubert vinyl in his box, but he didn’t want to get Sophie’s hopes up, so he closeted that thought away.

Sophie got up. “I’m going to get some more cocoa. Do you want some?”

“Sure.”

She paused at the doorway. “I know the other questions you have, Vito. And I think you know mine. But we’ll leave things as they are for now.” She left without waiting for a reply and suddenly restless again, Vito got up and paced.

He always came back to the open book on the coffee table, though. Finally he sat down with the book and closed his eyes and let himself remember.

Go ahead and scream. No one can hear you. No one will save you. I killed them all. Then the words echoed in another voice. Are you ready to die, Clothilde?

“Shit.” Vito lurched to his feet as the pieces connected. “Holy fucking shit.”

“What?” Sophie ran back, a mug in each hand. “What’s wrong?”

“Where’s the phone?”

She pointed with the mug. “In the kitchen. What is it?”

But he was already in the kitchen dialing Tino’s cell. “Tino?”

“Vito? Do you know what time it is?”

“Wake Dominic up. It’s important.” He looked at Sophie. “It’s a fucking game.”

She said nothing, instead sitting at the table and sipping cocoa while he paced like a wild man. Finally Dom came to the phone. “Vito?” His voice was scared. “Is it Mom?”

He felt a pang of guilt for worrying the boy. “She’s fine. Dom, I need to talk to that kid who came to the house last night. The rude one with the game. Jesse something.”

“Now?”

“Yes, now. Do you have his number?”

“I don’t hang with him, Vito. I told you that. Ray might have it, though.”

“Then give me Ray’s number.” Vito wrote it down, then placed his next call to Nick.

“What?” Nick was whiny when he was waked from a sound sleep.

“Nick, last night some kids came to my house. They were playing this World War II video game and there was a scene where this woman is strangled. Nick, listen carefully. The guy who does the murder says ‘No one can hear you. No one will save you.’”

“Oh my God. You’re tellin’ me this is a game?”

“If not, they’re connected somehow. Meet me at the precinct in an hour. I’m going to try to get a copy of the game. Call Brent, Jen, and… Liz. Have them meet us there.”

Hanging up with Nick, he planted a hard kiss on Sophie’s mouth, then licked his lips. “That chocolate tastes good. Remind me where we left off later. For now, get dressed.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not leaving you here alone with those two rainbow wigs for protection.”

She sighed heavily. “You owe me big-time, boy.”

Vito slowed down long enough to give her a respectable kiss that left them both breathing hard. “Compound my interest. Now get dressed.”

Thursday, January 18, 7:45

A.M.

“The game is Behind Enemy Lines,” Vito explained to Liz, Jen, and Nick while Brent played the game to get them to the strangulation scene. They’d gathered around Brent’s computer in the IT bullpen, which was a very different environment from the homicide bullpen. Vito had counted no fewer than six Star Trek action figures on as many desks as he’d walked to Brent’s cubicle. Brent himself had the set of the original crew of the Starship Enterprise. Mr. Spock was still in his original box. Brent was very proud of that.

Vito found that very disturbing, but he focused now on the game. “It’s a World War II first-person shooting game. You’re an American soldier who’s trapped behind enemy lines. The objective is to get from Germany, through occupied France, to Switzerland.”

“This is a very popular game,” Brent commented. “My kid brother was trying to get one at Christmas and the stores were all sold out.”

Jen made a face. “The graphics suck. How nineties.”

“Kids don’t buy it for the game play,” Brent said. “I’ve got it ready to go, Vito.”

Vito pointed to the screen. “At this point you’ve decimated a bunker, then searched for the woman who betrayed you. When Brent kills the last Nazi, it’ll go to the cut scene.”

Brent fired the final shot and the scene went to the one Vito had watched with the teenagers Tuesday night. On screen, the American had his hands around the French woman’s throat and the woman fought for her life.

“No. Please no!” She struggled, and the screen filled with her face and his hands as she sobbed and begged for her life. The fear in her eyes gave Vito a chill. It had been far too real for comfort the first time he’d seen it. Now he knew why.

Jen sucked in a breath. “My God. It’s Claire Reynolds.”

“Are you ready to die, Clothilde?” the soldier mocked and she screamed, chillingly. The soldier laughed. “Go ahead and scream, Clothilde. No one can hear you. No one will save you. I killed them all. And now I’ll kill you.”

His hands tightened further and Clothilde began to writhe. The hands lifted until her feet no longer touched the floor. Her hands grabbed at his, her nails scoring his skin. Panic lit her eyes and she began to gasp for breath.

Then her eyes changed, horror combined with the certainty that she would die. Her hands clawed, her mouth gaping open as she desperately fought to breathe. Finally she stiffened, then her eyes went abruptly blank, her hands limp on the soldier’s now bloody wrists. The soldier gave her a final vicious shake, then tossed her to the floor. As her body lay crumpled in a heap, the camera focused on her eyes. Wide open and dead.

“Clothilde is Claire,” Jen repeated quietly. “We just saw Claire die.”

“There’s a scene where the soldier shoots a young man in the head with a Luger,” Vito told them. “And another where he blows up a man with a grenade.”

Liz sat heavily. “He killed all those people for this game?”

“Not all of them,” Vito said. “At least not for this game. But you should see what this company’s coming out with next. Brent, go to their website.”

Brent typed and the screen filled with a gold dragon soaring across a night sky. The dragon landed on a mountain and the letters O-R-O circled the dragon. The R landed on the dragon’s scaled chest while the dragon caught the two O’s in its front claws.

“Wow,” Nick said. “Impressive.”

“This is oRo’s website,” Brent said. “They were a not-quite-B-list game designer that was facing bankruptcy before Behind Enemy Lines came out. They’ve doubled their net worth three times in the last six months.” He clicked a button and the face of a barrel-chested man in his forties filled the screen. “Meet Jager Van Zandt. Pronounce it with a Y, not like ‘jogger.’ Jager is the president of oRo and its principal owner. Born in Holland, he’s lived in the U.S. for about thirty years.” Brent clicked again and the thin face of another man appeared. He was the same age as Van Zandt, but easily a third smaller. “This is Derek Harrington, oRo’s VP and art director.”

“He did the art?” Jen said in disbelief. “He doesn’t look big enough to be our killer.”

“Harrington did the flying dragon,” Brent said. “He’s good at cartoon characters and flashy dragons. He doesn’t do faces worth shit. Harrington didn’t do those cut scenes.”

“Maybe he’ll know who did,” Nick said grimly.

“They’re headquartered in New York City,” Vito said. “When we’re done here, I say we take a little trip. Show them the press release, Brent.”

Brent clicked and sat back. “Front and center.”

“‘oRo’s next game announced at the New York Gaming Expo,’” Liz read aloud. “‘

BEHIND ENEMY LINES

continues to exceed sales projections,’ stated President Jager Van Zandt at the conclusion of a standing-room-only presentation of their breakout game. ‘Our next endeavor is The Inquisitor, a game of swords and sorcery and medieval justice. Very prominently featured will be the dungeon, where gamers earn bonus points for originality and effective use of their weapon arsenal.’” Liz blew out a controlled but angry breath. “Find these guys and squash them like bugs.”

Vito’s smile was fierce. “That will be a pleasure.”

“So, Brent,” Jen said, “how do you know all this about oRo?”

“I’m a gamer from way back, so I keep up with all the new companies. My kid brother is really good. He’s majoring in game design at Carnegie-Mellon.”

Liz looked dumbfounded. “You can major in game design?”

“One of the hottest new majors out there. My brother and I have been watching the industry because he graduates next year and is looking for places to send his résumé. oRo moved to the top of his list after Behind Enemy Lines came out, because they’re hiring.”

“Your brother’s a computer artist?” Vito asked.

“No, he’s into the game physics-how to make the characters move fluidly, which is Jager’s department, incidentally. But last year Jager must have finally admitted that his game physics sucked, because he lured one of the big physics experts from one of the other companies. I’m always watching the industry for investment opportunities. Rumor has it that oRo’s going IPO soon. But now I couldn’t buy their stock.”

“If they’re arrested, it’ll be worthless,” Liz said. “You’d lose your shirt.”

“If both Harrington and Van Zandt are involved, yes. But if it’s just one of them, their stock will go to the moon. I could retire at forty, but I couldn’t live with myself.” He took the CD out of his computer. “People were murdered for this. I couldn’t profit from that.”

That gave them all pause, then Vito squared his shoulders. “We have to keep anyone from profiting from that, so let’s get moving. I’m expecting the fashion model that hadn’t responded to Munch’s e-mail to come in around ten. Liz, can you meet with her since we’re going to New York? Tell her to stay quiet and out of her e-mail.”

Liz shook her head. “I’ve got a press conference at ten and meetings with the brass before and after.”

“I’ll meet her,” Brent said. “I won’t profit from oRo, but I wouldn’t mind meeting a model. Besides, I’ve already talked to her, with Bev and Tim yesterday.”

Liz chuckled. “Your priorities are commendable, Brent. But I have to wonder-if Harrington and Van Zandt live in New York City, why are all the victims from Philly?”

“Neither Harrington nor Van Zandt had the personal capability to do this work,” Brent said. “Somebody who worked for them did, and that person doesn’t have to work from their headquarters.” He picked up the CD case. “Where did you get a copy of this game in the middle of the night, Vito? It’s like gold right now until oRo puts out more.”

“A kid from my nephew’s school had it at my house Tuesday night. Last night his parents found and confiscated it and were only too happy to give it to me. They wanted it out of their house-they’ve got other younger children and didn’t want them seeing it.”

Liz frowned. “I don’t want our interest in this game leaked, Vito.”

“The kid’s dad is a reverend. I don’t think he wants anyone to know what his kid was into any more than we want him to tell.”

She nodded. “Good. I don’t want Jogger to get wind of our investigation and flee. While you’re headed up to their office, I’ll give NYPD a heads-up that you’re coming. Maybe they can help us shave off some time if we need a warrant. I’ll tell them to contact you directly, Vito. Nick, are you all finished with the Siever case-no more court?”

“I’m done. I can’t think that Lopez would need to call me back.”

“I’ll alert her anyway.” Liz clapped her hands. “Well, don’t just stand there. Go.”