minutes ticked by with agonizing slowness as Nick drove through the night. She tensed when she noticed they were heading straight into a seedy part of town. Her stomach roiled at the thought of Joey being kept in a place where he was likely to be assaulted, or worse even, if he managed to escape.
“There it is,” Nick murmured. “Second apartment building on the right.”
“Do we know which apartment might be his?” she asked, leaning forward to see better. The dilapidated building sure wasn’t comforting. “Do you really think he would have brought a kidnapping victim here to his place?”
“Doubtful, especially if he’s working for someone else,” Nick said. “I’m going to get out here to see if I can find out if he’s still living here. Slide into the driver’s seat and head around the block. This won’t take long.”
“All right.” As soon as Nick pulled over and climbed from the vehicle, she slipped over the console and adjusted the seat so she could drive. “Be careful,” she added before he shut the door.
He nodded and then pulled his sweatshirt hood over his head and hunched his shoulders as he loped across the street to the apartment building. As much as she wanted to watch, she forced herself to put the car in gear. At the end of the block was a stop sign and she turned right. There was a small group of tough-looking kids smoking cigarettes as they gathered at the street corner, beneath a streetlight where a small Christmas wreath was hanging. As she watched them she saw the gleam of silver. A knife? Or a gun? Several of them hid their hands in their pockets as she went past, giving her the distinct impression they were hiding something. Drugs? Maybe. Swallowing hard, she made sure the doors were locked before she gripped the steering wheel tightly.
As she came around the last corner to the street where Morales’s apartment building was located, her heart sank when she saw the group of teens had moved down closer to the apartment building. Had they noticed Nick getting out of the car and going inside? What if they planned to rob him when he came out? This was a bad neighborhood, where crime ran rampant. She knew Nick carried his service weapon, but the odds were still stacked against him, especially since all six of them were likely armed, too.
She was fumbling with her cell phone, intending to call Nick to warn him, when he slipped out of the apartment building and headed down the steps. Her heart hammered in her chest as the group of kids stepped forward, cutting him off.
Nick kept his hand in the pocket of his jacket and she assumed he had his gun ready. He sidestepped the kids, but they crowded closer and once again, she caught sight of a flash of silver.
Rachel unlocked the car and leaned on the horn. The group of kids swung around in surprise, and in that split second, Nick ran around them and jumped into the car. “Go!” he shouted as he slammed the door shut.
She stomped on the accelerator and the car leaped forward. In her rearview mirror she saw the group of kids begin running after them. Did they still intend to rob them? Or worse? As she approached the stop sign up ahead, she glanced frantically both ways before ignoring the sign and going straight through the intersection without stopping.
“Take it easy,” Nick said, putting a hand on her arm as she took another turn a little too fast. “They flashed a few knives and demanded money, but we’re safe now.”
She couldn’t speak, could barely calm her racing heart enough to take a deep breath. Her entire body was shaking in the aftermath of their close call.
“Pull over up ahead,” Nick instructed.
She knew he wanted to drive and couldn’t blame him. She did as he requested, trying to hold herself together. She dragged herself out of the driver’s seat as Nick came around to meet her. He lightly clasped her shoulders, peering down at her. From the streetlight behind her, she could see the concern etched on his handsome face.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
She tried to speak, but her throat felt frozen. It abruptly hit her how much she was depending on Nick to help find her son. If anything had happened to him, she’d be lost.
As much as she longed to lean against his strength, she forced herself to step back, putting distance between them. “I’m fine, but I was afraid they were going to hurt you,” she confessed softly.
“Me, too, and I didn’t really want to shoot any of them. Thanks to your quick thinking, I didn’t have to. Now let’s get going, okay?”
She nodded and went around to the passenger side of his car. “Did you find anything?” she asked, hoping the stop at the apartment building hadn’t been in vain.
“Yeah. Morales still has a place there, apartment number 210 according to the mailbox. I spoke to the manager, but he claims he hasn’t seen Ricky in weeks.”
She tried not to be too discouraged by the lack of information. Truthfully, he’d found out more than she’d hoped. “I guess that means he’s not likely keeping Joey there.”
“I doubt it. There are too many nosey people around, like those thugs back there.”
“I hardly think they’d be the types to turn Ricky in to the police,” she said with a sigh.
Nick didn’t say anything to the contrary, which only made her more depressed. “Are you still up for heading over to the ex-wife’s place?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Yes.” Granted she’d been terrified back there at the apartment building, but nothing was going to stop her from searching for Joey.
* * *
Nick glanced over at Rachel, marveling at the depth of her strength. Granted, she’d been scared to death back there at the apartment building, but that hadn’t stopped her from doing what needed to be done.
He used his radio to request a search on the Morales apartment related to the hit-and-run case. The dispatcher agreed to send a couple of uniforms over. He didn’t really think they’d find anything useful, especially since the manager had been all too willing to talk once he’d seen Nick’s badge.
If Morales had been around, the manager would have told him so.
The trip to Margie Caruso’s house took about twenty minutes. Her neighborhood was several steps up from where Morales lived. At least the houses were neat and clean for the most part, several decorated with Christmas lights.
The address indicated the house they were looking for was the third one on the right. Nick slowed down as he drove past the modest red brick home with the tan trim and black shutters. The entire place was dark, not a single light on inside the place that he could see.
“What do you think? Is anyone home?” Rachel asked.
“I don’t know. It’s about nine-fifteen, so I suppose Margie could already be asleep....” But it wasn’t likely.
Maybe they were on the wrong track? Could be that Margie Caruso was living a normal peaceful life that had nothing to do with the Mafia or kidnapping Rachel’s son.
“What’s the plan?” she asked, keeping the house in sight as he drove by.
“Don’t have one yet. It’s not as if we can simply walk up and demand to search the place, even if someone answers the door.”
“Why
