Take Me There
an excerpt

Amy’s funeral was held that Saturday on the island of Manhattan at the church her parents attended. The pastor was nice and the service was beautiful. The casket was closed. Kay knew Amy’s mom still hadn’t recovered from going to the morgue and identifying her daughter’s mangled body; it was something she would have nightmares about for years to come. Kay knew she’d have quite a few nightmares herself.

Frank had stayed in town to help with the police investigation while Kay helped plan the funeral. He sat next to her now and gently squeezed her hand as tears slid down her cheeks. The pastor started talking about how hateful this crime was, how good Amy had been, and Kay ran from the service. She couldn’t listen to this any longer; it was like rubbing salt in a wound. She knew this was her fault. She had to find some way to make it up to everyone, including herself. She couldn’t forgiver herself for what had happened to Amy.

“Let’s go,” Frank said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she nodded, allowing him to lead her away from the church. They’d come in his car and he held the door now for her to get in. Once behind the wheel, he offered her a kleenex and then drove them off the island.

They were barely back in New York City limits when Frank got a call on his cell phone. The call was short and he frowned as he glanced at Kay several times before finally telling her what was going on.

“The police found something, a piece of paper in Amy’s hand,” he told her.

“Why didn’t the Medical Examiner find it if it was in her hand?” she asked. Her reporter instincts kicked in even when she was this upset.

“He did, they just had to decipher what it said and what it could mean. It was covered with blood, Amy’s blood.”

Kay shuddered. “So what does it say?”

“Tom.”

“What?” she shrieked. “Why would it say your brother’s name? What could she know about him?”

“That’s what I was going to ask you. You knew her better than I did. What do you think it meant?”

Kay shook her head. “I don’t know. I’d asked her to look into the Marconi Empire for me, to check around about Tom in New York, so it could’ve been a lot of things. They might find more in her apartment. Have they searched that yet?”

He nodded. “There wasn’t anything important, nothing more than what she’d already told you she found. She must’ve been going after something when they found her and killed her.”

“But she was in her apartment when she died; that much was obvious from the amount of blood everywhere.”

“Right, but what’s to say whoever it was didn’t drag her back to her apartment before killing her? As crowded as New York is, you would still get noticed if you slaughtered someone on the street.”

“I wasn’t saying that; I really don’t think these guys are that stupid. Come on, Frank, even I know we’re in the middle of a mafia war. I know about the cops dying and the two thugs who died shortly after them. And now Amy, who was snooping around about Tom – and whose nose was cut off. Don’t you think the message is obvious? They’re saying I should keep my nose out of it.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to find out who did this to her and who killed Tom and take them down. I don’t react nicely to threats.”

Frank grinned at her. “That’s my girl.” He reached over and squeezed her hand as he drove her back to the hotel. The funeral service was over; it was time for her to go home. Her girls probably really missed her.