Mob Boss Eleven- The Wrong One (The Mob Boss Series Book 11) (20 page)

Tommy
was shaking his head. “You’re lying,” he said.

“I’m
not lying!
 
She begged me to help
her!
 
On my momma’s grave, she begged
me!”

“You’re
lying,” Sal said.
 
“Why would Grace put
herself in that kind of danger?
 
She was
at that table too.
 
She was sitting right
there when those bullets started flying.”

“She
was supposed to duck,” Joe Nathan said.
 
“That would be the signal.
 
When
she ducked.”

“Where’s
the video?” Sal asked Reno.
 
“Let’s check
it out.
 
That’ll let us know if this
prick is lying or not.”

But
Tommy already knew.
 
He didn’t hesitate
another second.
 
He fired, hitting Joe
right between the eyes.
 

Sal
and Reno were stunned.

“He’s
lying,” Tommy said.
 
“I don’t care what
that video says.
 
That’s why I couldn’t
spare him.
 
For my wife’s sake, for my
wife’s honor and good name, I wasn’t going to let him play us for fools.”
 
Then Tommy walked out.

Tommy
was waiting in the Bentley, in the backseat, by the time Reno and Sal came out
of the safe house.
 
Reno and Sal looked
at each other, as if they were trying to decide who would have this thankless
task.
 
Sal was Tommy’s younger brother
and they loved each other dearly, but Reno was Tommy’s best friend.
 
They were closer than brothers.
 
Reno got in the backseat with Tommy.
 
Sal got behind the wheel.

Reno
looked at Tommy.
 
Tommy had his head back
and his eyes closed.

“Tommy,”
Reno said.

Tommy
didn’t respond.

“She
ducked, Tommy,” Reno said.

Tommy
opened his eyes, and looked at Reno.

“On
the video, just before the shooting started, Grace leaned down as if she was
picking something off of the floor.
 
She
ducked.
 
And then the shooting began.
 
She stayed down, and was never in danger of
getting hit.
 
When we first looked at the
video, it happened so fast that it looked as if she was ducking after the
gunfire erupted.
 
But I slowed that shit
down.
 
She ducked before any gun was
fired.”

Tommy
looked forward.
 
He didn’t say a
word.
 
Sal looked at his brother through
the rearview mirror.

“Sal
also called Trammel to see if he really worked there,” Reno continued.
 
“And that was true too.”

“He’s
a trucker there, Tommy,” Sal interjected.
 
“One of their most experienced, the woman told me on the phone.”

Tommy
closed his eyes with a frown.

“How
do you want to play this, Tommy?” Reno asked him.
 
“We’ve got to talk to Grace.”

But
Tommy shook his head.
 
“You aren’t
talking to my wife,” he said.

“We
know how you’re hurting, Tommy,” Sal said, “but we can’t overlook these facts.”

“We
have nothing else,” Reno said.
 
“The
names of those killers, yeah, but those are probably false names to begin
with.
 
We got nothing else.”

“You
aren’t talking to my wife,” Tommy said again.
 
Then he frowned, because he knew how devastated Grace was going to
be.
 
“But I will,” he added.

Then
Tommy looked at him.
 
“She’s there with
Trina.
 
According to Joe, she wanted to
take Trina out.
 
Aren’t you concerned?”

Reno
stared at Tommy.
 
“A part of me is very concerned,”
he said.
 
“I’m not going to lie to
you.
 
But it’s your wife.
 
And I trust you and I trust your judgment.
 
I always have.
 
But I also love my wife and children, and
until there is zero percent chance of any of that shit Joe Nathan spewed is
true, then I have to do what I have to do to protect them.
 
I called Jimmy.
 
He has Trina and the children under
guard.
 
I hope that doesn’t offend your
wife, and if it does, I’m sorry.
 
But I
would rather offend your wife for a little while, than regret not offending her
for a lifetime.”

Tommy
exhaled and nodded.
 
“A hellava position
we find ourselves in, Reno.”

“But
you understand?”

“I
understand that Joe Nathan filled our heads with a lot of bullshit, and I’ve
got to disprove that bullshit for the sake of my wife.
 
I also understand what you did.
 
I don’t like it, but if Grace’s safety was
questioned, then yes, I would have done the same thing.”

Reno
nodded.
 
And squeezed Tommy’s
shoulder.
 
“Hellava position, Tommy,” he
said.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“Where’s
my wife?” Tommy asked Jimmy and Val as soon as he entered the penthouse.
 
They were in the living room, both answering
text messages on their phones, when he walked in.

“She’s
in the Nursery with the baby,” Jimmy responded.

“Does
she know what’s going on?”

“No,
sir,” Jimmy responded.
 
“I don’t even
know what’s going on.”

“Okay,”
Tommy said, and then headed, not to the Nursery, but straight to Reno’s
office.
 
He closed and locked the door.

Val
looked at Jimmy.
 
“What was that all
about?” she asked.

But
then Reno and Sal entered the penthouse, and neither one of them seemed in a
talking mood either.

“Hey,
Pop,” Jimmy said as they entered.
 
“What’s up?”

But
Reno only shook his head.
 
“Don’t ask,”
he said as if that said it all.
 
“Mom
awake?”

“She’s
awake,” Jimmy responded, and Reno headed for the master suite.

Jimmy
looked at Sal.
 
“What happened, Uncle
Sal?”

“What
did your father tell you when he phoned you?”

“He
didn’t tell me anything.
 
At least not
the details.
 
You know how he is.
 
He won’t tell me any of the juicy details
until he’s good and ready.”

“Who
am I to go against your old man?”

“You’re
Sal, that’s who.
 
You always go again my
old man.
 
Now please tell me what’s going
on.
 
What’s up, Unc?”

But,
again, Sal only shook his head.
 
“Don’t
ask,” he said, and went searching for Gemma.

Jimmy
was flustered.
 
He looked at Val.
 
But Val had no answers either.
 
“Don’t ask,” she said, and Jimmy couldn’t
help but laugh.

An
hour later, Reno and his family were hanging out with Trina in the master bedroom.
 
Reno propped her up on pillows as she sat up
in bed, and she sipped tea in the quiet afternoon.
  
Reno was fully dressed in his suit, with his
dress shoes off, as he sat on top of the covers beside her.
 
He was holding her hand and baby Sophia was
asleep on his lap.
 
Dommi was on the
opposite side of the bed, beside his mother, with his arms around her
waist.
 
And Jimmy was lying across the
foot of the bed, on his side.
 
The
doctors Reno hired allowed Trina to remain up with visitors for no more than half
an hour at a time.
 
It had already been
over an hour.

“Why
is Grandma and Grandpa asleep?” Dommi asked his parents.

“Because
they’re old,” Jimmy said with a grin.

“Don’t
listen to him,” Trina said.
 
“This has been
a trying time for them, and they need their rest.”

“But
they rest all the time,” Dommi said.
 
“You don’t rest all the time, and you were sick.
 
And you’re old too.”

Trina
and Reno laughed.
 
“Don’t call my wife
old,” he told his young son.

“But
she is old,” Dommi said.
 
Jimmy laughed.

“No,
she’s not,” Reno said.
 
“She’s not even
forty yet. So watch it, buster.”

“Forty,”
Dommi said.
 
“I don’t know if I can count
that many.
 
That would take me forever.”

“And
ever and ever,” Jimmy said.

“But
she’s okay now,” Dommi said.
 
“Aren’t
you, mommy? Aren’t you okay now?”

“I’m
getting there, Dommi, yes.
 
Every hour it
feels as if I’m slowly becoming my old self again.”

“Why
don’t you want your new self?” Dommi asked.

Jimmy
grinned.
 
“Good question,” he said.

“Don’t
encourage him,” Reno responded.

“It’s
a figure of speech, sweetie,” Trina said to her young son.
 

“Speech
can figure?” Dommi asked, but just as he did, Tommy and Grace appeared at the
door.

Reno
was relieved.
 
He had been thinking about
nothing but Grace’s situation since he returned home.

“Uncle
Tommy,” Jimmy said as he sat up on the bed.

“Jimmy,
take Sophia into the Nursery to play with Destiny.
 
I need to talk to your parents for a few
minutes.”

“Yes,
sir,” Jimmy said, as he took his baby sister out of his father’s arms.

“Dominic,
you go with him,” Tommy ordered.

“Ah,
Uncle Tommy!” Dommi said.
 
“Do I have
to?”

“Yes,”
Tommy, Reno, and Trina said in unison.

Dommi
was reluctant, but he followed Jimmy out of the room.
 
Tommy closed the door.

Trina
looked at Tom.
 
He was Mister Cool when
he wanted to be, but he wasn’t fooling her.
 
He had a problem.
 
“Tommy, what’s
wrong?” she asked him.

“Reno
told you about Joe Nathan, right?”

Trina
frowned.
 
“About who?”

“No,”
Reno said.
 
“I wasn’t telling her about
that nonsense until I had more information.”

“What’s
going on?” Grace asked.
 
“I want to know
what’s wrong too.”

Tommy
escorted Grace to a chair in the room.
 
She sat down.
 
Trina looked at
Reno.
 
He squeezed her hand.

Tommy
looked at Grace.
 
“One of the men involved
in the shooting claimed that you were the mastermind.”

Grace
frowned.
 
“The mastermind?
 
Me
?”

“Grace?”
Trina asked.

“He
said you were a threat,” Tommy continued.

“I
don’t understand,” Grace said.
 
“A threat
to what?”

“To
Trina,” Tommy said.

It
was Trina’s time to be stunned.
 
“To
me?
 
Why would Grace be a threat to me?”

“It’s
bullshit,” Tommy said.
 
“But it’s
bullshit I have to disprove.”

Grace
shook her head.
 
Her heart was
pounding.
 
“I don’t understand,” she
said.

“Do
you know a guy name Joe Nathan?”

Grace
thought about it.
 
“No.
 
At least not by name.”

Tommy
handed her the folder he had in his hands.
 

Grace
began thumbing through the series of printed photographs.
 
“Where did you get these?”

“From
surveillance cameras at Trammel.
 
They
faxed them over.”

Grace
looked at pictures of Joe Nathan in the lobby of Trammel Trucking, on the
loading dock at Trammel, in the warehouse at Trammel.
 
He was standing beside Grace in every
picture.
 
“He seems to have made a point
of being filmed near me on numerous occasions.”
 

“And
you don’t recognize him?” Tommy asked.

Grace
looked through the photos again.
 
“No.
 
I mean, he obviously has
some connection to Trammel, but I don’t know him.”

“What
about Mort Carson and Brendan Ashfordland?”

Grace
shook her head.
 
“Who are they?”

“The
shooters you supposedly hired,” Tommy said.

Grace
couldn’t believe it.
 
She looked at
Tommy.
 
“I don’t know these people.
 
I don’t know any Mort Carson.
 
I don’t know any Brendan Ashfordland.
 
I don’t know this Joe Nathan.”
 
She looked at the photos again.
 
“And he’s the one who’s claiming that I’m a
threat to Tree?”

“Yes.”

“But
what kind of threat?” Grace asked.

“He
says you’re jealous of our marriage,” Reno said to Grace, “and because of it,
you wanted Tree to suffer.”

“He
claims you hired those two hit men, Carson and Ashfordland, to do the job,”
Tommy added.

Grace
frowned.
 
“I hired them?
 
He’s claiming
I
hired hit men?”

“That’s
what he claimed,” Tommy said.

“But
that’s ridiculous!” Grace proclaimed.

“I’m
saying,” Trina said.
 
“Why would he think
anybody would believe that nonsense?”

Tommy
moved toward Reno.
 
“Let me see the
video, Reno,” he said, and Reno pulled out
 
his phone, pulled up the video on his phone, and handed it to Tommy.

“Video
of what?”
 
Trina asked Reno.

Reno
hesitated as Tommy fast-forwarded the video.

“Video
of what, Reno?” Trina asked again.

“Of
the shooting,” Reno said.

“Oh,”
Trina said, and didn’t inquire about it any further.

“There,”
Tommy said, handing Grace the phone.
 

“What?”
Grace asked.

“You
ducked.”

“I
bent down.
 
So?”

“Joe
Nathan, the guy in those photos, claimed that your bending down was the cue for
them to start shooting.”

Grace
frowned. “I was bending down because I dropped my napkin.
 
That was the only reason I did it!”

Tommy
and Reno both stared at her.
 

“It
was a coincidence,” Grace said.
 
“I
didn’t have anything to do with that shooting!”

Tommy
nodded.
 
“I know.
 
And I hate to have to even bring this up, but
that prick left us no choice.”

“What
I don’t get,” Reno said, “is how would Nathan know that you bent down just
before the shooting started?
 
How would
he know that?”

Grace
shook her head.
 
“Why are you asking me
that, Reno?
 
I have no idea.”

“It’s
just adds to the craziness,” Reno said.

“But
who is this guy?” Trina asked.
 
“Maybe he
doesn’t work for Trammel.
 
Maybe he was
just hanging out there trying to get intel on Grace.”

“Sal
called Trammel,” Reno said.
 
“They told
Sal that he not only works there, but that he’s one of their most experienced
truck drivers.
 
So he not
 
only works for Trammel, Grace, but he’s been
employed there apparently for years.”

“For
two weeks,” Tommy said.

Reno
looked at him.
 
“Two weeks?”

“He’s
been with Trammel for only two weeks.”

“But
that HR Director told Sal that he was their most experienced trucker.”

“And he
is.
 
He’s a highly experienced truck
driver.
 
That’s why Trammel hired him
without hesitation because of his years of experience.
 
But he’s only been there for two weeks.”

“Damn,”
Reno said.
 
“That changes the
calculations.”
 

“Right,”
Tommy agreed.

“Now
we’ve got to go back, to two weeks ago, a month ago, and determine what
happened.
 
Who did we piss off to such an
extent that it would make him suddenly turn from successful truck driver, to
the man who’s trying to bring down Tommy Gabrini’s wife.”
 
Then Reno squeezed Trina’s hand tighter.
 
“Not to mention mine.”

Tommy
looked at his wife.
 
The flustered look
on her face killed him.
 
“I’ll find out
the truth, Grace.
 
Joe Nathan was just
trying to play head games with us.
 
He
figure if we fall for his lies, we’d let him live until we could check it all
out.
 
And by then he was hoping he could
get away again.
 
He figured we would have
so much doubt that you’d be our target.
 
That you’d be fucked.
  
But he
figured wrong.
 
You will not be fucked.”