The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.: Box Set (67 page)

*     *     *

The cabin was
quiet, deadly quiet when Rocco and Jimmy entered. It was dark too. They knew their targets were here. The rental car was in the driveway. Jimmy picked the lock and made quick work of the door. The light on in the kitchen under the microwave was just enough for them to make out the layout of the place, and their eyes quickly adjusted. They had done this before. Rocco indicated the open door to the bedroom and they saw the form of a man lying on the bed. That had to be Blaze Marino. They also saw the brown hair splayed across the pillow.

Both of the hit men, one in his thirties, and the other in his late forties drew their weapons with silencers already in place. Not knowing they were being recorded, Jimmy mouthed silently, “I’ll get the guy. You hit the girl.”

Rocco nodded, and moved ahead of Jimmy to get into the room first. Rocco whispered softly, “Vincent sent the first payment, and tomorrow we get the rest.”

Jimmy looked angry but nodded, and indicated for Rocco to go on ahead. This was Rocco’s first hit, and he was training him to rise to capo. But he’d remind him later, no words were to be spoken. The fucking idiot.

As soon as Rocco passed through the door, his gun held up, lights flooded the condo and Jimmy was dazed for a moment. He looked to the bed to see both their targets slide over the side, and he pushed Rocco forward, but it wasn’t quick enough.

The doors to the closet burst open, and two men in combat gear emerged with guns drawn. Another cop was coming from the bathroom.

Rocco’s hands went up, and his gun slipped from his hands and landed on the carpet; Jimmy whirled around to try to get out, but a man was running towards him, and he saw two more people coming down the ladder from the loft. He aimed his weapon, and before he could get off a round, he collapsed onto the carpet. The guy in front had shot him in the knee cap, and had rushed him, taking him down.

The pain was excruciating. He twisted to try to get the man off, but then someone else was stepping on his wrist in heavy boots. “Let go of the gun, asshole. We have your partner, we don’t really need you.” A woman with wild red hair was glaring down at him with menace in her eyes.

His fingers released the gun. Vincent was going to be pissed. They screwed this one up badly. He knew it was over when he saw Rocco being pushed through the door hands already cuffed behind his back. Following behind him were two men in full combat gear, and then the mark, Blaze Marino, and lastly a woman in a night gown, but that woman wasn’t Bella Chase. What the fuck! It was a sting operation, and Jimmy knew it was all over.

One Month Later . . .

B
ella held Blaze’s
hand as they left the Court House. Behind them were three other men, all very similar in appearance to Blaze Marino, the man who had helped take down Vincent Roman, one of Tampa’s most notorious club owners who used his legitimate businesses to launder his more illegal activities, including prostitution, drug dealing, and loan sharking. Bella had just been fully exonerated. The press snapped pictures and called out questions to her, and her attorney, a man by the name of Ronald Stimson. He made a statement to the press.

“Bella Chase is a very brave woman. She’s been through the wringer recently, and I’m asking you all to respect her privacy. She has just been cleared in the case of the bank robbery that occurred six months ago, and the prosecution has dropped all charges. As to Vincent Roman, and Anthony and Vito Roman, you’ll have to ask their attorneys any questions you may have about their pending trials. But Bella has asked me to say this, to all of you have expressed your support, and concern, she wants to thank you for your condolences and again, asks that you respect her wishes to be allowed to grieve for her mother, and move on with her life. Thank you.”

Several more pictures were snapped as they made their way down the Court House steps, the press parting like the Red Sea before the well-respected attorney, but still following as pictures were continuously snapped as she, then Blaze and the other Marino brothers got into the waiting limo. Ronald Stimson waved them off then proceeded to his own car parked directly behind them.

*     *     *

It had been
a month since the sting operation had concluded. The ride to the Marino Bros. offices was a short one. Three men got out. Gio was headed back to New York. He had a lot to take care of there.

“What do you want to do now, baby?” Blaze asked, pulling Bella into his arms after the door closed on the vehicle and the driver looked in the rearview mirror waiting for directions.

“Can we go to the cemetery?” she asked, squeezing Blaze’s hand.

“Of course,” he muttered and then nodded at the driver.

The driver put up the privacy window in the car and sped along Nebraska Avenue on its way to the highway.

Bella hadn’t gone yet, to say goodbye to her mother, even though it had been a month since she’d come back. Upon her return to Florida, they’d all gone directly to the police station so Bella could turn herself in.

She’d been there only a few hours and then released after they all gave their statements to the Tampa Police Department and prosecutor’s office. The prosecutor’s office had already received a report from Alex Simmons, the prosecutor in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Bella was in the clear except for a few other interviews and a lot of paperwork.

She spent the next few days cleaning her mother’s apartment and putting the things she wanted to keep in storage. Blaze had been by her side the whole time.

Then he took her to his apartment where she’d been ever since on Bayshore Dr., Trump Towers. Before she said her final goodbyes to her mother though, she wanted everything going on these past six months to be completely behind her. She hadn’t been ready to say goodbye too, but now she was, and she was also ready to introduce her mother to Blaze.

*     *     *

When the limo
pulled into Grace Memorial Cemetery, Blaze squeezed Bella’s hand for support. The drive had been a quiet one for both of them. They had a lot on their minds.

They still had a lot to discuss and the future now lie before them. Blaze knew she just had to put this one last thing behind her.

Pulling right up to the mausoleum, the driver stopped and Blaze opened the door and got out. He gave Bella his hand to help her step out of the limo. She took a deep breath and then began to walk. Blaze trailed behind her.

Walking through the open archway, Bella made her way down the corridor, her heels clacking on the marble floor. At the very end she turned left. This was where her aunt had been laid to rest, cremated and then placed. She knew this was where her mother wanted to be as well—with her sister and her father’s remains that she’d kept all these years so they could be together.

Right away she saw the flowers around the marker. Her friends and coworkers had sent them, knowing she would be coming here soon. She was touched by the massive ring of tulips sent by Blaze’s brothers, and the potted plant sent by Louisa, her former co-worker and Ronnie’s mother.

Bella reached up to stroke the letters of her mother’s name on the marker. She cleared her throat already thick with emotion. Saying goodbye was harder than she ever thought it would be, even with Blaze by her side.

“Hi Mama, I finally made it. I’m here. I’m home.”

Blaze heard her voice choking up. He stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She reached up to take hold of one of his hands.

“I have a surprise for you,” she cried, tears streaming down her face. “I want you to meet Blaze Marino. He saved me, and he cleared my name . . . but not only that, Mama, I’m in love with him, and he loves me too. I want you to know that I did what you said, Mama, I trusted my heart.” She paused and Blaze heard her taking several deep breaths. “Keep watching over us, Momma. We’re going to be very happy together and give you lots of grandbabies.”

Blaze felt the tears in his own eyes. They hadn’t talked about babies, but he most certainly wanted to have children with Bella.

A warm end of summer breeze came in through the mausoleum and floated around them. It was like a sign from Bella’s mom that she approved.

Blaze spoke up for the first time. “I do love your daughter ma’am, and I promise I’ll take care of her and love her forever.”

Bella turned into Blaze’s open arms. It is where she belonged after all. And all was finally right with their world.

The
End

Book 3 of The Bounty Hunters (The Marino Bros.)

By
MJ Nightingale

For my dad. I never stop thinking about you.

I miss you.

I regret not visiting more.

The Past Comes Back to Haunt You

G
io Marino walked
steadily into the very familiar prison. He’d been here many times before when he’d been a detective for the Manhattan Police Department. Too numerous to count. The last time was three years ago. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

Then, he’d been there to question criminals, but this time it was different. Very different. Not only was he no longer a detective, now he was here to bail someone out. Well, listen to someone who wanted to be bailed out. He still wasn’t sure if he would be helping this person.

Even though a lot of years, eight of them, had passed since he’d seen Mrs. Lisa Rasmussen, there was still a lot of bad blood between them as far as he was concerned. The incident that caused the bad blood happened ten years ago, so even longer. Even a decade later, he knew he couldn’t forgive this woman for what she’d done to him. She’d nearly destroyed him.

Lisa Raphael, then, left him high and dry. She’d broken his heart by eloping with another man, a very rich man. A hard working policeman, Gio was on his way to being a detective, hadn’t been good enough for her apparently. That and the fact that he wasn’t Jewish, he supposed. Her family never approved of him, wanted her to marry within their faith even though they had been neighbors and childhood sweethearts. At sixteen he’d finally worked up the courage to take her to the junior prom, and afterwards it had been a rocky tumultuous whirlwind romance. They’d weathered high school drama, her parents objections in the beginning, him going to the police academy, she college, and just when it seemed they could start a life together, she’d gone away on a family trip and come back Mrs. Lisa Rasmussen, married to one Albert Rasmussen, heir to the Rasmussen antique car dealership empire. The richest family in their zip code.