get Lucy back by 6:00 p.m. tomorrow. He didn’t believe for a minute that she would follow through on her threat to quit, and he wasn’t going to make her late.
Sean turned onto the Jersey Turnpike heading toward Manhattan. “So that’s what this whole dating kick he’s been on has been about. Finding a girl to bring home to your mom?”
“I guess so. But honestly, I’m glad that’s all it is, because I was worried about him. He’s not usually like this. Anyway, what’s our plan for tonight?”
“Suzanne is meeting us at a bar near the Bureau along with the NYPD detective working the case.”
“Vic Panetta?”
“Some guy named DeLucca, out of Queens. Weber was stabbed in the parking lot of Citi Field in the middle of a baseball game. Money and jewelry stolen.”
“She was wearing expensive jewelry at a baseball game?”
“According to her insurance records, she always wore her mother’s wedding ring on her right ring finger. It was valued at over fifteen thousand dollars. Her friends said she never took it off.”
“So her attacker may have asked her to hand it over and she refused?”
“Could be. We’ll know more when we read the reports. Suzanne didn’t tell me much of anything over the phone. Except she wasn’t there for the game—didn’t have a ticket—but apparently planned to meet someone.”
“No witnesses?”
“None came forward. No security cameras in the area—only on the entrances and exits.”
“And Weber herself?”
“I know what you know.”
“I thought we were retracing Tony’s steps.”
“We are. Suzanne will give us the rundown, but he made at least one stop after he left her and that’s what we’re going to follow up on.”
“And Suzanne is fine with us helping?”
“Hans called her already. He wanted this off-the-books because he didn’t know what Tony was up to and he didn’t want anything in the press.” Sean glanced at Lucy. “And I want to know what’s in her files.”
“Why did we have to come here? Couldn’t we have gotten the files e-mailed or faxed? Talked to Suzanne on the phone?”
“We could have, but I wanted to get you away. Last time we were in New York you said you wanted to come back, and this is our chance to have a night off, just you and me.” He glanced at her. “You’re okay with that, right?”
“Of course I’m okay with it.”
“Good. Because I missed you and I only have twenty-four hours having you all to myself. In between this investigation.”
“Tonight, Sean, will be ours.”
She smiled, and Sean was relieved. While he knew Lucy loved him, he was the more romantic one. He relished these moments when they could get away. And every vacation they’d had to date had ended in disaster. So he wasn’t calling this a vacation, but he was going to treat tonight as such.
The time away would help Lucy regroup and think clearly before she decided what to do about Hans, as well as how to deal with the possibility that Tony’s death might not have been of natural causes. Sean wasn’t convinced it was murder—could a killer get away with two murders, in different states, at different times, staged as heart attacks? That would be pushing it. However, if it worked once, why not again? They needed to find out if there was any connection between Stokes and Presidio other than the McMahon case.
Sean drove straight to the Park Central Hotel where he and Lucy had stayed in February when he was searching for his missing cousin. He grinned at the smile on Lucy’s face. “Surprise.”
“You’re sneaky.” She leaned up and kissed him. “I love it.”
He glanced at his watch. “We’re going to have to hustle to meet Suzanne by six.”
They dropped their bags in their room—which had a view of Central Park—and left the hotel. Sean hailed a taxi. “We’re not driving?” she said.
Sean always preferred to drive, but he didn’t like traffic. “Don’t want to deal with parking,” he said.
It was less than a ten-minute cab ride and Lucy and Sean walked into the bar and grill. Lucy spotted Suzanne sitting at a table, facing the door. A plainclothes cop sat next to her. Lucy watched as the cop handed Suzanne a twenty.
“What was that for?” Sean asked.
“I was right. I said you’d be here within forty-eight hours. DeLucca doubted me. Good to see you both.”
After introductions, Suzanne got down to business.
“I’ll let you look at the files, but you’re not taking a copy.” She stared at Sean. “I’ll be watching you.”