Gene's Story or How I Gained a Cousin A novel by Karen Lockhart Copyright 2016

CHAPTER 58

I looked at Tina in shock. “What do you mean he's dead?”

Ginny came running over, and hugged her, saying, “Sit by the fire, and tell us, why do you think your father's dead.”

I went into the kitchen, turned the water for pasta off, and got three cold seltzers from the fridge. By the time I got back, Ginny had Tina calmed down a bit.

“I haven't seen Dad since before the Patriot's football game. He normally leaves on Saturday night for a friend's house he stays with. They go to the game, and if it's late, he stays overnight again, before coming home.”

“Have you called him?” Ginny asked.

“That's the thing, he always calls when the game is over, to let me know if he'll be home or not that night. He didn't call.”

Ginny repeated her question, “Did you call him?”

Tina looked at us blankly. ”Call him? Why yes, I think I did.”

Oh boy. “Ginny, does she have her phone?”

“No, not on her,” she answered. I walked over to her coat, and fished in her pockets, finally finding the phone in a zippered inside pocket.

“Here Tina, try your dad now,” I said as I handed her the iPhone.

Tina dialed several times, each time the phone went to voice mail.

Tearfully she looked at us, “See, just the answering machine on his business line, voice mail on his cell. What do I do?”

“The first thing you do is have dinner with us. Would you like a drink, or is that seltzer okay like it is?”

“Could I have vodka over rocks? I'll pour some of this on it.”

I helped by turning on the television and putting more logs on the fire. I probably helped more by not talking.

As Ginny made a pasta dinner, Tina finally opened up to me. I asked her, if her dad was in an accident wouldn't the police call her house, not her cell, how would she know? If her father called, how would she know?

I could see her winding up again. “Tina, don't you have a code number that lets you hear messages from the home phone?”

She looked at me blankly, so I took her purse and started looking for a number on a card. After ten minutes of digging, I came up with a card with four numbers on it. I showed it to Tina.

“Is that what that is?” Tina asked. She's not blonde guys.

I had her dial, and put in the code. Sure enough, we heard her father's voice. “Hi, honey, It's snowing so hard I'll stay at Ernie's in Revere tonight. If it lets up tomorrow, I'll head home. See you then, bye.”

Than a second message. “It's so bad I'm staying again. On the way home Ernie and I are going to stop at the Boston Marina to make sure the boat's okay.” Then came a couple of calls trying to sell cable TV, and a reminder from CVS pharmacy of a refill ready to be picked up. Then, “Tina, Ernie and I are at the boat; it looks all right, but I need to brush off some snow.”

“See Tina, that was today, he's probably on the way home or staying overnight at a motel on Route 1 in Saugus.”

Before Tina could answer, we were called to dinner. Ginny had a nice layout, salad, garlic bread, vermicelli with meat sauce, and Burgundy wine. Tina ate like it was her first meal in ages. It was probably her first today, with her worrying about Vinnie.

After we ate, I asked Tina why she felt her father was dead, not just missing.

“He said if ever I went two days without a phone call, consider him murdered. I know how he makes his living, with selling drugs; I also know he works for the guys in the North End of Boston and Providence, Rhode Island - the Mafia.”

Ginny and I exchanged glances, the Mafia! Oh boy, that's what we figured.

“Tina, stay the night with us, you can try the number tomorrow before you head home. Is your Andover house cleared of snow, can you get in?” Ginny asked.

“We have a contractor come and plow the driveway, and shovel the steps, put down salt, everything.”

“Good, when you leave in the morning, Ellen and I will follow you to make sure everything's okay. We have the day off.”

After watching the news, I changed channels to watch a repeat of a 50's Perry Mason show, it's still entertaining. We finally turned in, Tina wrapped up on the couch in my sleeping bag.

We got out of bed around 8 AM and did the best you can with one bathroom and three girls, but we've had practice. The first out was Ginny, who headed for the kitchen. I followed and made 8 cups of coffee, bypassing the Kurig maker.

Tina walked in and sat at the table, rubbing her eyes, and yawning. “Can I help?” she asked.

I passed her a cup of coffee, and said Ginny and I had everything under control.

Ginny looked up,”How do you want your eggs Tina, over easy or sunny side up?”

“Over medium I think. Thank you for the coffee, any milk?” I handed her a carton of half and half. “Will this do?”

After cleaning up, we got dressed in parkas and snow boots, and headed for the Explorer.

“Tina, I'll drop you off at your car then follow you home to Andover, Okay?” She just nodded.

Soon we were driving down streets that looked more like tunnels than open roads. It was funny, the snow banks got smaller the more inland we drove. This is unusual. After twice as long as normal, we pulled into Tina's driveway. Vinnie's Cadillac Esclade was missing, and the lights in the house were off.

Not ten minutes after Tina opened the door, the phone rang. Tina grabbed it, ”Dad, dad is that you?” Her face froze, “Yes, this is Vincent Morales's daughter, how can I help you? No, I haven't spoken with him since early Sunday afternoon. He said he and a friend were going to check it and remove snow. That was yesterday. Why? Where was it found?”

At this Tina sagged to the floor, Ginny grabbed her and helped her to a sofa and I took the phone.

“This is Ellen Hansen, I'm a friend of Tina's, can I help you?”

Yes ma'am, this is the United States Coast Guard, Boston. One of our patrol boats found her father's boat drifting north of Peddock's Island with no one on board. What should we do with it?”

I asked Tina about the boat; she said it was tied up at the Boston Harbor Marina. I passed this on to the Coast Guard, asking if it looked as if someone had been on board.

“Well, the key's in the ignition, and the engines are in gear. The fuel tank's empty though,” the Chief said. “I don't know how long it drifted.”

“Her father's missing, there could be evidence on board.”

“Lady, you're watching too much TV, he's probably curled up with a babe and a bottle.”

“Oh yeah, let me speak with your officer, now!”

A minute went by, then a high voice said “Lieutenant Sands, whom am I speaking with please?”

I gave him my name, the reason for the call to Tina, and asked “Didn't the name Vincent Morales raise any red flags over there?”

He said “Morales, as in drugs Morales? I have to call the State Police, will you be at this number for a while?”

I said we would and hung up. It looked like Ginny had one problem resolved anyway.

Tina looked at me and asked, “Dad, was he on board?”

“No honey, they found the boat drifting near Peddock's Island with no one on board, so I guess your father's friend Ernie's missing also.”

“Dad wouldn't go out in this weather unless he was forced. Oh no, I guess he's done for.”

Ginny rubbed her shoulders and assured her she wasn't alone, she and I would help her.

The phone rang again, this time a State Police Captain was calling for Tina with questions.

I went into the kitchen, about the size of my whole condo, and got cold drinks from the fridge.

I heard her say “Yes you can park in my driveway, I'll be home. There are friends here, they might stay.” I nodded yes. She asked when and said “In an hour then,” and hung up.

“Ginny and I will see you through this, don't worry. Where's the State Trooper coming from?”

“He said the Andover barracks, that's around the corner. I'll put water on to heat for tea.”

To be continued.