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What She Never Knew	By : SisterWine Category: 1 through F > Cold Case Views: 481 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Cold Case or any of its characters. My Characters are The Canne family, Monica and Stacy and Travis DiNuccio. Please do not sue. This is FICTION. I make no money.

Chapter List
- 1-One
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 2
- 3
- 4
Jennifer rolled over onto her left side, her right arm in front of her, her hand wrapped around the blue fuzz of the bear's tummy. Her thumb stroked it's side as she opened her eyes and stared at the small, simple profile of the toy. She stared at it's head that rest on her pillow, beside her's. Pulling it close to her face, she could still smell his scent as the fur tickled her nose. She inhaled again and closed her eyes, trying to imagine his touch again. It was already midmorning and she knew she had to get up but couldn't seem to find the energy.
She groaned, sleepily, as she heard the soft buzz of her phone that rested on the bedside table. Releasing the bear and rolling over to face the nightstand, Jennifer sat up and tucked the covers around her middle as the room had cooled off during the early morning hours. She reached for her flip phone and looked at the ID before flipping it open and answering it. "Hi mom. No, you didn't wake me, I was just lounging." She reached over and pulled the bear onto her lap and toyed with the blue ribbon tails that were kinked and turn in different directions.
The sun poked through from under the heavy mauve curtain and she stifled a yawn as she stared at the bright spots on the floor, dreading opening the door and going outside. The heater kicked on and held a low hum as the room began to warm with a musty aroma.
"Jennifer, when are you going to leave this silly idea alone and come home?" Evelyn half-scoffed at her daughter. The other half of emotion was reserved for what dignity the memory of Travis deserrved. She sipped at her coffee and nibbled on a slice of buttered toast Maria, the new maid, had fixed for her.
Jennifer sighed and looked back down at the bear in her lap. "I have to find him, momma. I have to tell him I'm sorry, for everything."
A sigh came over the line. "Leave it alone. If he is still alive, he doesn't want to be found. Not by this family, at least." Evelyn sat back in her chair on the patio. "Any rate, your sister tells me your son is asking for you. He wants to know when his mother will come home and will it be in time for his birthday?"
Jennifer gave a guilty smile. "Yes, I will be home for his birthday. I promise. I just... I have to do this, right now." An overwhelming feeling of homesickness came over her and she had to change the subject to keep from crying. "I have to go, mom. I have to start my day and send some photos back to my editor. Tell daddy I miss him and Ray and my baby I will call them tonight to talk to him. Love you."
"Love you too, dear." Evelyn hung up with brow furrowing in thought.
~~~~~
Georgia Foley-Strong placed the short tumbler of iced tea down in front of Scotty and then sat across from him on the patio chair she had been lounging in all morning. The older woman of 74 flashed back to a younger woman of 43 and then flashed back to her updated self, in a blink of Scotty's eye as she sat down. "Let's see, Travis.... ? Oh, yes, I remember him. A darling little boy. Didn't really speak much, although, he didn't really know a lot of English back then." She paused to think back to the little boy with big brown eyes and dark curls. "Poor thing lost his younger twin brother to an accident on a playground and then his mother two years later. But, I always got a great big hug whenever I went to do a check." She shrugged and sipped her tea through a clear straw.
There was no real backyard to her brother's house, only a patio set that had been painted white and a yellow sun umbrella that had started to fade. She lounged in a soft purple felt jumper and flip flops and tapped her cigarette ash into the small metal ashtray on the table. A smile graced her thin lips as she thought about the little boy who was always happy to see her but was never really talkative during the visits. "That was over thirty years ago. Oh, where does the time go?" Georgia leant back and eyed the young detective, who scribbled notes down in his small notebook. "Are you from California? Has he done something wrong?"
Scotty looked up from his writing and smiled, nervously. "No, ma'am. I'm from the Cold Case division, here in Philly. A young woman was looking for him and had some sources that lead her to believe he was here, in town. When was the last time you saw Travis?"
Georgia wrinkled her nose in thought. "A young woman, huh? Hm. Um, I retired in '93 and the last time I saw him, it was just about fourth of July of '80." She smiled and laughed as she sat back and shook her head. "He was the cutest little boy that I ever had cross my desk."
"Did you know the people that his mother was staying with, before she died?" Scotty's curiosity about Travis had piqued.
A flutter of birds wisped overhead and then over the top of the house. Georgia lit another cigarette after snubbig the first one out in the ash tray on the table and thought.
"I did. They were a sweet couple but, kinda hippy for the little kiddo. He wanted to stay but they weren't really family-oriented, ya know? His mother overdosed in front of him so, they were not at all the best decision. They did come to see me and ask about him, a few times but our records stated we couldn't share that with them." Georgia shrugged and shifted in her chair, placing the half-burnt cigarette onto the side of the ash tray. "I just remembered, I have a picture of him, the day I was finishing his case. I'll be right back." She stood and walked back into the house and grabbed a large brown photo album from the bookshelf in the living room and smiled as she clutched it to her chest, walking back outside. She walked back to her chair and opened the book, turning immediately to the page and slipping the small square photo out of the sleeve and handing it to him. "That's Travis. He was such a doll."
Scotty stared at the photo and remembered the photo Jennifer had shown him of he and his mother, taken only a few years prior. The happy five-year-old waved at the camera and smiled a cheerful smile that seemed to light up his face. "What was your impression of the Cannes, if I may ask?"
Georgia stared at the photo Scotty held. She recalled the first meeting with them in the living room and also meeting Evelyn Canne, prior to that. "That little boy was so... I think he really missed his momma but he was always glad to see me. I met Evelyn Canne first. She was a sweetheart of a gal and knew Veronica personally. I think they were classmates in college or something. I could tell she loved him right off the bat. Those kids of hers, though... they were best left in boarding school. But, he was always clean and fed and well cared for so my hands were tied." She looked up to find him watching her as he listened. "I stopped by a few days later, from dropping him off, and asked if he was getting along alright. He nodded and pointed to his clothes and shoes and told me what they were, in English. So precious."
Scotty nodded and wrote down more notes. "Any other contact with him, since?"
Georgia shifted again. "No. Not that I know of." She sipped her tea and took another drag of her cigarette. Since leaving Los Angeles and taking care of her brother, she had falled into a smoking habit after meeting her second ex-husband. A breeze started and she carried the sound of her brother's faint voice calling to her, from the living room.
Thanking her and handing the photo back to her, Scotty picked up the pad and pen he used and quietly left through the side gate. The more he found out about Travis, the more he wondered what happened the night he disappeared from Los Angeles and somehow came to settle in Philadelphia.
~~~~~~
Lily peered over Scotty's shoulder and asked what he was doing, a look of utter curiosity on her face. She had just finished up a case from 1943 and laid it to rest, along with the wreath the grandson had bought for his grandmother and was needing something a little more uplifting to follow.
"I had a lady knock on my door the other night and ask if I was someone she knew. She's been looking for him for ten years and this case just gets more strange by the minute." Scotty busied himself with paperwork and phone numbers that Jennifer had given him. Some numbers, he had to dig for on the internet but most were easily accessible. Picking up a yellow memo note, he reached for his desk phone and picked up the receiver, reading the number and starting to dial. It rang only a few times before a woman answered. "Uh, hello, Mrs. Williams, my name is Scott Valens, I'm a detective with the Philadelphia Cold Case. I was wondering if you knew a Travis DiNuccio, by any chance?" Scotty sat back as the woman on the other end answered him and asked why he wanted to know. "I met with a Jennifer Canne and she's here looking for him. Do you have a few minutes to talk a little about him?"
Becky sat down in a chair in the dining room of her home and braced for the worst news. "She's looking for him? Still?" She held onto the long brown cord that had become kinked and stretched over the years of being in use but she had refused to trade it in for a cordless, as cordless phones could get lost when her children came for visits.
Scotty grabbed a pen and a clean piece of paper and got ready to write. "Yes ma'am. She mentioned that the last sighting of him was here in town. Are you still with the Cannes?"
Sighing and shifting in her seat, Becky stared out her front window. "No, I retired from them about seven years ago. Why on earth is she looking for him?"
"I'm not really sure. However, she gave me the impression that she was having difficulty overcoming something that happened the night he disappeared and wanted to rectify it with him. So you know what it was that happened to him?" Scotty got ready to write whatever she might say and hoped she knew the full story. He didn't want to have to arrest Jennifer, in case of murder, but if foul play was involved he couldn't stay silent.
Lily pulled her chair around to sit beside his desk and listen in on his side of the conversation. It intrigued her and she wanted to learn more, in case he needed another set of ears and eyes. She watched him write down what was said and glanced over at the photos Jennifer had left with him of Travis.
Shifting uneasily in her chair, Becky's mouth twitched. "Well, that little boy had such feelings for her, ever since he came to live with them. But she never gave him the time of day. Those kids were always cruel to him and Mister Canne.... The first night he was there, he had to ask, in American, if he could have something to eat. The boy had a terrible time. He spoke Italian, you know? Anyway, I was given orders not to give him anything until he said the words properly. 'May I please have something to eat?' That was a lot for a little boy to say, let alone one just learning English. I let it go after three or four tries with it and gave him a ham and cheese sandwich and glass of milk." Becky let her mind wander back to the night of sitting at the kitchen table, across from the scared and confused little boy with big brown eyes, and trying to help him with his task. "He finally got close with 'Please, I have something eat.' I'll never forget that sentence. What broke my heart for him was him asking me what 'idiot' meant."
Scotty listened and wrote it down, trying to get a better picture of the situation. "You don't think she would do anything malicious to him, do you?"
"All I know, is that before he left, something happened but he wouldn't say. He didn't have to. I'm a mother of two boys and one girl, I know what goes on when they start acting all guilty. Now, he was good and acted like nothing happened and you'd never know it from him but she flaunted herself like she was the Queen of Sheba. That continued for about a week or so and then I sent him to the store for a few things and he never came back." Becky sighed and glanced over at the small table along the wall, in the dining room, that housed photos of her children and family. She stared at one photo in particular of her son Michael and Travis, arms around each other's shoulders and smiling big for the camera. She missed the boy of 10 and even the young man of 25 and hoped Scotty would find him and bring him home.
"What about your children? Did they know Travis?"
Becky smiled and stood up to retrieve the photo of Travis and Michael, from the table. "Oh yes. He was friends with my oldest, Michael. Those two were inseparable. Michael was about the only best friend he ever had. They were always playing soccer and climbing the tree in the back, and then it was right back to being Lonely Joe when he went home. I had a get together one summer day, and he and Michael were in the backyard kicking the ball around. That girl came over to bring back a jacket that needed sewing and I invited her to stay and eat with us. She saw those boys just playing and laughing and something clicked in her. My boy would never do anything to hurt Travis. He loved that boy like a brother and vise versa. But, Jennifer..." she sighed and took another breath before searching for the words to say, "I think that's when she really had feelings for him."
"How long ago was this?" Scotty sat up with interest.
Becky thought. "Maybe late May of '99." She paused and shifted in her seat. "I hope you find him okay. He deserves to be happy. Wherever he is."
Scotty nodded silently. "Thank you for your time, Mrs. Williams."

Continued.
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What She Never Knew