Jamie Hill Triple Threat (55 page)

"Hi Brady," she said softly, and then noticed his cast. "Oh, your arm! Are you all right?"

"No, I'm not all right," he snarled in reply. "That fucking Xavier Tesco ran us off the road into the river. I barely made it out alive. My partner is fighting for his life right now in the I.C.U. So, no,
Genevesia
, everything is
not
all right."

She glanced around. "Can I come in so we can talk about this, please?"

"I don't think that's a great idea."

"Just for a few minutes. Brady, please." Her eyes reflected the pleading in her voice.

He shuffled back and motioned her in.

Gina stepped inside.

He closed the door. Averting his eyes from the sway of her hips as she walked, he sat in his chair and motioned to the sofa for her.

"Do you have any other injuries?" she asked timidly.

"A concussion, but that's just my brain. Nothing I use very much."

She exhaled with exasperation. "Brady, look. I'm sorry this happened to you and Joey.
Really, extremely sorry
. But if you think my family had something to do with it—"

He snorted in disbelief.
"If I think?
Are you serious, or are you abso-fricking-lutely insane? Tesco has worked for your father for as long as Jack can remember, which I'm assuming is pretty fucking long. You're suggesting he
accidently
ran into our vehicle on the same day we began a full-out investigation of the Moretti family?" Anger rose inside him until he shook. He looked at the ceiling and tried to gather some composure. "That's fucking brilliant, Gina. The coincidence to end all coincidences."

Her face reddened. "You have every right to be angry about what happened. It sucks, and it sucks worse that Joey's in such bad shape. If I could do anything to change what happened, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

"You have done enough." Brady gazed at her levelly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Her dark eyes flashed.

"How much information did you take home to Vic and Tony? I spilled my guts to you every night about the case. What we were working on, where the investigation was heading..."

She jumped to her feet. "I never spied on you for my family! I would never do that. I loved you, Brady! You have to believe I would never have sold you out."

"I don't believe it, and neither does anyone else on the force. They all think you played me for a fool, Gina. That really hurts, because I loved you, too."

Tears welled in her eyes. "There's no way we can get past this? If I could prove to you that I never spilled your secrets?"

"How am I supposed to believe anything you say after you lied to me? That's what I just can't get past."

"I suppose you're right." She headed toward the front door, but paused. "There's one thing you should know. Something's happening with the company. I was at my brother's house last night, comforting Teresa after the day's troubling events. When Danny got home, I heard them arguing. I couldn't really tell what the fight was about, but I heard one statement. 'Everything will be all right if we can just get past Thursday. This will all be over,' he said to her."

"Thursday?" Brady's mind raced. "That's all he said?"

She nodded. "It's all I heard, anyway."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Good thing you're not the type to spy on someone you love."

Gina scowled. "Maybe I love you more than my
idiota
brother."

"I hope you really feel that way, because he's going down. I'm not sure how much we can pin on your father and at his age, I'm not sure I really care. But, Tony-slash-Danny, knows full well what he's into is illegal. I swear to God, Gina, if it's the last thing I do, he's going to pay for what he's done."

"Do you understand what you're saying?"

"Damn straight I do. That pretty little wife of his better brace herself. You all should."

"Do what you have to do, Detective. But be careful. Danny won't go down without a fight."

Brady hardened his facial features. "Neither will I."

"Scemo
. Foolish man."

"I'm not going to miss getting sworn at in Italian," he muttered.

A small smile creased her face.
"Sentirai la mia mancanza."

"Oh yeah?" He didn't even want to ask what it meant.

"You're going to miss me," she offered, widened her smile, and walked out.

"I already do," Brady said dully, to the back of the door.

* * *
*

Brady barely slept that night thinking about what Gina had said.
Everything will be over Thursday.
It was already Wednesday, and he was confined to bed rest—w
hich doesn't mean I can't call Mel and let her know what I found out.
Her reaction was less than he'd hoped for.

"Of course I'm interested,
Marshall
. We just have half a dozen directions to go on this case, and none of them are getting us very far," Mel told him.

"This seems like a damned good lead. Can't you put a tail on Tony Moreno for the next twenty-four to thirty-six hours? I feel sure he'll lead us to something."

"I'm not sure Forrest will go for that. We've already spent an insane amount of man hours on this thing, in one week alone. It really hasn't turned up much. East Asian Imports looks pretty clean from what we've seen."

"Of course they do, from the outside. We need to dig deeper, find that next layer and peel it away. I know they're at the bottom of this whole mess. I
know
they are. Maybe I should call the lieutenant."

"I'll
talk to Forrest. You're supposed to be on bed rest and he's not going to want to hear from you. Let me handle it, and I'll get back to you when I know something."

"Sooner than that, please. Can you keep me posted on what's going on? I'll go fucking nuts if I have to sit around here wondering what's happening."

"Well, that won't be a long trip. Just make sure you stay put. I don't want to hear from any of our guys in the field that you're nosing around while you're on sick leave."

"Me? Are you serious?" he deadpanned.

"Listen Brady," she lowered her voice. "This thing's getting really ugly. Xavier Tesco suddenly disappeared. We don't know if it's foul play, or if he's been sent into hiding. Gives some credence to your story, for sure."

"He could still be after me." Brady said what Mel hadn't.

"Nothing would surprise me about this case. I haven't seen a lot of honor among this particular band of thieves."

"No shit. Okay, Mel, I'll leave it up to you. Just make sure to call me when you know anything, will you?"

"I promise. Now go. Rest." She disconnected the call.

Brady hung up. The next time he went out, he'd swing by the cell phone store and see about getting his mobile unit replaced. He felt strange not having it available.

The hands on the clock ticked interminably. The morning crept by, and when four o'clock arrived, Brady called Mel back.

"Jeeze, give me some time to work, man!" she protested.

"You've had all day. Tomorrow is Thursday. What's Forrest going to do about it?"

Mel hesitated.

"Aw, fuck! Don't tell me nothing. For God's sake, please don't tell me nothing."

He could envision her shaking her head. "He doesn't think
Moreno
will lead us to anything. He's upped the surveillance of the warehouse district, so if anything unusual—"

"Yeah, if a big deal goes down, I'm sure they'll do it right there in the street where the cops are patrolling. Damn it, Mel! What are you guys doing down there?"

"Actually," her voice sounded sheepish. "Stone and I were pulled off the case today. A dead body turned up downtown, the kid of some banking mogul. The father doesn't want to believe it was suicide, but we're on it until we find out for sure."

"You have got to be kidding me!"

"I told you, the powers that be aren't satisfied with what we've come up with after an intensive dump of manpower."

"So my case gets relegated to a back burner because no one's there to push for it? What about poor Costa, lying in the hospital?"

"I'm sorry, Brady. I did what I could."

"I know you did, Mel. Thanks. I should go."

"Brady, don't do anything stupid."

"Not the first time I've heard those words."

"Probably won't be the last, either."

"I can only hope not." He ended the call before she could caution him further. He didn't want to hear it. If the department was going to pull back from his case, then it was up to him to see it through.

Brady changed into a pair of jeans, a button-down shirt and a jacket. Everything took longer with the use of only one hand, but he managed. He retrieved his back-up gun from the locked case he kept in the back of his closet, and tucked it into the back of his jeans. As he left the house, he missed his cell phone more than ever. It was a horrible decision to leave without letting anyone know where he was going, but he had no choice. Anyone he could tell would try to talk him out of it. Brady knew what he had to do.

He drove to the offices of East Asian Imports. The silver Cadillac Escalade he knew belonged to Tony Moreno sat in its usual space in the lot. Brady chose an inconspicuous parking spot a few rows away and shut his engine off. He crouched down in his seat and waited.

Less than thirty minutes later,
Moreno
came out, talking on his cell phone. Brady watched him get into his vehicle and drive off. He followed the silver car, keeping several cars between them.

Moreno
stopped at a liquor store and came out with two bottles in brown paper bags. He placed them in the back of his car and proceeded home, where he parked in the garage. Brady watched the house for another thirty minutes, but all was quiet. He decided to go home himself. He'd be back tomorrow. Thursday.
Everything will be over Thursday.

He slept fitfully, and rose before the sun to begin his day's surveillance. He drove past the East Asian offices and circled the warehouses before heading back to
Moreno
's house. Because of the garage, he really couldn't tell if
Moreno
was still there or not, but it was five-thirty a.m. Brady suspected he was. He parked and waited.

Shortly after seven,
Moreno
backed his Escalade out of the driveway and headed toward the office. Brady trailed him, trying to keep a good distance between the two vehicles.
Moreno
stopped for donuts and Brady's thoughts immediately went to Costa and his love of all things cruller. The memory only served to make him angrier. He shook it off and maintained his distance, trailing
Moreno
.

The man took the long way to work, through the back alleys of several warehouses. Brady watched closely but stayed on the main thoroughfares. When
Moreno
ended up at his office, Brady stayed in the back half of the parking lot, where he could see the Escalade and the office door.

He slid down in his seat and settled in for a long morning. He'd brought some sandwiches and coffee to get him through the day, and a fresh three-pack of gum. Just when he'd unwrapped the first ham and cheese, and poured a cup of joe from his thermos,
Moreno
reappeared. Apparently in a hurry, the man hopped into his car and raced from the parking lot.

"Shit!" Brady tossed his sandwich into the passenger's seat and stowed the coffee in a cup holder. He followed
Moreno
, struggling to keep up with the man, and remain inconspicuous at the same time.
Moreno
was definitely in a hurry.

Fortunately, they didn't have far to go. A group of warehouses, close to those belonging to East Asian Imports, was
Moreno
's destination. He parked and entered the first building in the row.

Brady stayed out of sight scanning the buildings.
Why do I know this place?
His mind raced, trying to recall when he'd been there before.

The drug bust that implicated Richard Allen
. These were Allen Imports warehouses, Brady was sure of it. He parked and, staying in the shade of the buildings, crept to the door
Moreno
had entered.

He didn't need to go inside to hear the heated conversation taking place.

"I told you to cool your jets! Everything is on schedule. When Rocko gets the call from the buyer he's going to phone me. By ten p.m. this will all be over."

Brady recognized the voice, but couldn't place the speaker. He closed his eyes, trying to picture where he'd heard it before.

"I'm fucking finished after this,"
Moreno
replied. "The heat's all over me. I got God-damned detectives nosing through my underwear drawer."