“Thanks for letting me know,” Uncle Joey said. “I have my own personal guards, but you should know that if he comes after me, they won’t hesitate to kill him.”
Dimples sighed. His department had the same instructions to bring him in dead or alive, so he couldn’t tell Uncle Joey not to use deadly force. “I understand.”
“Good. I’ll walk you out.”
I let out a breath, grateful that Uncle Joey ushered them out before they had a chance to find me. After they left, I slid out from under the table and sat in my chair while I waited for Uncle Joey to come back.
He came inside, with Jackie following closely behind. She’d been eavesdropping in the hall and had picked up everything, but she had no idea who Leo Tedesco was.
“Did you get anything on why Leo was at the hospital?” he asked me. With Jackie standing there, I couldn’t exactly tell him what I’d heard unless I made it sound like a premonition. Jackie didn’t know the truth about me, and I wanted to keep it that way.
“Um…maybe. If you tell me more about this guy, it might help.” I knew he wasn’t thinking straight, so I tilted my head toward Jackie, hoping he’d pick it up. “Why would he be after you?”
“Yes,” Jackie agreed. “That’s something I’d certainly like to know.”
“I’ll explain, but first I need to call Ramos and make sure he’s coming back here.”
That made the threat more real, and we didn’t mind waiting for him to make the call. After Uncle Joey disconnected, he told us that Ramos was in the parking garage and on his way up. Still, we all breathed a sigh of relief when Ramos walked into the room.
He glanced at each of us, taking in our worried frowns, and his brows drew together. “What’s going on?”
“Sit down and I’ll tell you all about it,” Uncle Joey answered.
Ramos’s brows rose, but he stepped across the room and sat down next to me, thinking I looked a little more rattled than normal, so it had to be bad. I nodded my head in agreement and gave my attention to Uncle Joey, not wanting to miss a word of his explanation.
“An old enemy, Leo Tedesco, escaped from custody today,” he began. “The police were just here to let me know.” He let out a troubled sigh and glanced at each of us. “Leo went to prison about thirty years ago, and I’m the one who put him there.” He was thinking he should have just killed the bastard, but then he’d be the one in prison and not Leo. Damn. Why did Leo have to escape?
“What did he do?” I asked.
“He’s a con man, one of the worst, and he weaseled his way into my father’s organization. He gained my father’s trust and set up an important deal. Then he double-crossed us, taking the profit, and leaving us holding the bag.
“He ruined my father’s hard-fought reputation. I couldn’t let that go unanswered, so I tracked him down. I was going to kill him, but I decided to set him up first, so everyone would know what a sleazebag he was. Everything went according to plan, and I accomplished my goal of ruining his reputation.
“I should have killed him then, but I wanted him to suffer. I knew he would come after me, and I thought I was prepared. But he managed to surprise me at a public event, killing several of my friends before aiming the gun at my head. That’s when my bodyguard pushed me aside. He took the bullet intended for me, and managed to get a shot off, hitting Leo in the stomach.
“My bodyguard died that night, and I hoped Leo would die too, but he surprised everyone and pulled through. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. And now he’s escaped.”
Uncle Joey shook his head, thinking that he’d done what he could to have Leo killed while he was in prison, but Leo was like a cat with nine lives. He always managed to survive. Now he was out. This time, Uncle Joey wouldn’t hold back. He’d never let Leo hurt anyone he cared about again.
“What do you want me to do?” Ramos asked.
“We’re going find him and kill the son-of-a-bitch.”
I must have made a sound, because Uncle Joey glanced my way. His right brow lifted, and he realized that he’d kept nothing from me. His mind was an open book, including the memory of that fateful night when the woman he intended to marry had died, along with his bodyguard and two other good friends.
He took it personally that he’d failed. Leo had lived, and they had all died. It was the one thing that he’d regretted more than anything else in his life. It had taught him that justice was never truly served, even in death. But this time, he’d make sure Leo paid with his life.
“I might need to let Blake Beauchaine know,” Uncle Joey said. “He stopped me from killing Leo the last time with his promises of letting the system handle it. We could probably use his resources now, and I think he’d be more inclined to shoot first and ask questions later.” He was also thinking that Blake owed him a favor, and if Blake knew Leo was out, he’d take it personally and come to Uncle Joey’s aid.
That sort of shocked me. Then I wondered if now was a good time to mention that Blake had called me a few weeks ago to warn me that his boss might want a private chat with me. After my exploits in Paris with Blake, he’d tried to keep me out of his boss’s crosshairs, but apparently there was enough about me in his report that now his boss wanted to meet me. Damn! Could this day get any worse?
“I think that’s a good idea,” I said, surprising everyone but Uncle Joey.
I picked up that Ramos didn’t want Blake anywhere near this. He hated getting involved with the feds for any reason. Then he thought of Sloan. She was a federal agent whom he’d helped a couple of times. He’d nearly died in the process. He never wanted to be involved with her again.
“Hmm…well,” I continued, hoping to placate Ramos. “As long as Blake is the only federal agent involved…it would probably work. You could specify that, right?” Now everyone glanced at me like I was bonkers. Well, not Ramos. He just shook his head and sucked in a breath.
“Also,” I continued, “Now that my premonitions have had a chance to go to work, I have a pretty good idea why Leo visited the hospital.”
“What’s that?” Uncle Joey asked.
“I think he might have a terminal disease. Like lung cancer or something.” I was trying to be vague for Jackie’s benefit, but honestly, at this point, did it really matter if she knew the truth that I could read minds?
Uncle Joey sucked in a breath and then shook his head, thinking that was bad because it meant that Leo had nothing to lose. He might even want to go out with a bang. I caught the same sorts of thoughts from Ramos and Jackie, and I had to agree that this just went from bad to worse.
“Hey,” I said, trying to make the best of the situation. “I think it would be pretty hard for him to get his hands on a bomb, don’t you? So realistically speaking, we’ll probably get him long before he has a chance to do that. I mean…he doesn’t even have any money. Who’s going to give him stuff like that without getting paid? Right?”
“Did you just get a premonition that he’s going to make a bomb?” Jackie asked, her eyes wide.
“Oh no…not at all. It just crossed my mind, like it probably crossed yours. You know, because he might have a death wish?”
“Oh…okay.” It had crossed her mind, so she couldn’t argue with that.
Ramos tried hard not to smile and sent me a measured look thinking that I shouldn’t try so hard to please everyone. My lips twisted into a small grimace since he was right, but I’d like to see him with my ability. He’d soon find out that hearing thoughts and not responding to them is a lot harder than it looks.
“This is what we’re going to do,” Uncle Joey began. “We’re going to put the word out on the streets that an enemy of mine just busted out of prison. I’ll offer a ten-thousand-dollar reward for any information that proves valuable in finding him. We’ll also have to make sure they know that anyone giving him any kind of help will have to answer to me, and it won’t be pretty.”
We all nodded our heads, and I tried not to listen too closely to Uncle Joey??
?s thoughts about how he would make them pay.
“Jackie, call the boys. I want them here within the hour. Ramos, meet with your contacts on the street and spread the word.” Next, he turned to me. “Shelby, I want you to talk to your detective friend and find out what they know. If he wants you to help him, then do it.”
“Okay.”
“After that, I think you and Ramos need to talk to any of Leo’s family members or old friends. It would also be nice to find out if he had any prison buddies that are on the outside. Maybe you should snoop around at the police station first to find those tidbits.”
I nodded and let out a breath. This was getting complicated. Ramos was thinking the police might already be talking to Leo’s relatives but, since they didn’t have my super-power, we’d have more success. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to talk with any of Leo’s ex-con friends, but if Ramos was with me, I shouldn’t worry too much.
“What about Blake?” I asked.
“I’m calling him.” Uncle Joey was thinking that a U.S. Marshall was sure to be involved, and Blake would have more information about that and could pass it along.
Wow. I’d never even thought of that, but it reminded me of the movie about the one-armed man and what a chase that had turned out to be. I hoped this was nothing like that.
“Any questions?” Uncle Joey asked. None of us said anything, so he continued. “Then get going. When you’re done, come back here to report on your progress.”
I nodded and understood why Uncle Joey was so successful. He was giving orders like a general, and everyone jumped to obey him. I followed Ramos and Jackie out the door, then got on the elevator with Ramos.
“This might put my meeting with Javier on the back-burner for the time being,” he said. “Did you talk to him?”
“I sent him an email. Let me check to see if he’s replied.” I took out my phone and checked my email account. “Yeah, here it is. I’ll read it to you. He says, ‘Thanks Shelby. I’d love to meet. Saturday works great. Let me know.’” I glanced at Ramos. “What should I tell him?”
“Just say that something’s come up and you’ll have to re-schedule another day.”
“Okay.” I typed up the email and sent it before the elevator stopped, and we both got out. “I guess I’ll see you in a little while. Good luck.”
“You too.”
Chapter 3
I hurried to my car, but turned to watch Ramos leave on his motorcycle before I got in. Just hearing the bike start-up was enough to make me sigh. Then watching him drive off made me wish I was on the back going with him. Instead, I had to drive to the police station.
What was I going to say to Dimples? He’d wanted Uncle Joey to know about Leo’s escape to protect me, and here I was trying to get information from him about the case. I didn’t know if he’d be happy or upset to see me. Either way, I was sure to find out soon.
After parking, I slipped my special lanyard with my official ID card around my neck and hurried inside. The station was a lot more crowded than normal, so it was easy to slip through the main office and back to the detectives’ desks.
I stopped short to find the place empty, but noticed a crowd gathered in and around the chief’s office. I picked up a few stray thoughts from those standing outside the office and knew they were discussing the escape.
The meeting broke up, and I caught Dimples’s gaze. He hurried toward me with his brows drawn together, thinking that I shouldn’t be there. Before I could utter a word, a tall man with a strong jaw and creased skin stepped out, flanked by a man and a woman. All wore special lanyards and badges indicating they were from the U.S. Marshall’s office.
I picked up from Dimples that they were taking over the manhunt, and were setting up in the conference room down the hall. Dimples tried to shield me from their gazes, but the Marshall noticed me and stopped, wondering who I was and why I wasn’t in the meeting with the rest of the detectives. With more pressing matters on his mind, he dismissed me and turned toward the hall.
Just then, Chief Winder spotted me and had the bright idea that, with my premonitions, I might be a big help in finding the escaped criminal. My breath caught, and I almost swore out loud.
“Uh…Deputy Gerard, hold up a minute, there’s someone here who might help.”
The chief glanced at me with a gleam in his eyes, and my heart sank. Crap! Before I could run, he motioned me over. “Shelby, come and meet Deputy Gerard.”
As I shuffled toward him, I caught Dimples’s gasp of dread in his mind, along with the deputy’s thoughts that he didn’t have time to meet a detective who was late to the meeting, even if I did have a pretty face.
He took a breath to tell Chief Winder that, but changed his mind, thinking that desperate times called for desperate measures, and he couldn’t be picky about where he got his help. He motioned with his head to follow him down the hall and into the conference room.
Inside, we found at least ten people organizing the space into a command center. They worked at several tables setting up computers and screens. At the front of the room, a dry-erase board for pin-pointing Leo’s sightings and possible movements caught my attention.
“Time is of the essence people,” Deputy Gerard began, including everyone in the room. “Let’s move.” We followed him to a desk in the corner, and he turned to the chief, leveling a pointed gaze at him. “Who is she, and how can she help?”
Under Gerard’s scrutiny, the chief began to question his judgment about introducing me, but he plunged ahead anyway. “She’s a valuable asset to our department because of her…uh…premonitions. I know it’s unorthodox, but she’s helped us many times. Under these special circumstances, I thought it would be prudent to use all the assets we have at our disposal.”
Gerard’s brows rose with surprise, then drew together. He slipped a peppermint into his mouth, wondering how the chief could be serious. He glanced at me with both curiosity and suspicion. How could I have fooled them? Maybe there was something to it, but he’d rather not waste his time.
“Shelby is it?” he asked. At my nod, he continued. “Do you have anything to offer at this time?”
“Uh…no.” I glanced at the chief. “Sorry.”
Gerard twisted his lips, thinking he had far more important things to do than talk to me. “Let me know if you do.” Just like that, he dismissed me, glancing at the chief with annoyance. “How about you work that angle with her and see what you can come up with? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got an escaped murderer to catch.” He turned his back on both of us and began barking orders to his team.
I felt the chief’s mortification and quickly hurried out the door. As we exited the room, there was a lot of swearing coming from the chief’s mind. Then he began thinking that he’d show the SOB deputy how effective I was by catching the guy first. Then he could eat it. How would he like that?
Dimples sat at his desk but jumped to his feet, taking in the chief’s red face and my wide eyes, and correctly surmised that the meeting hadn’t gone well.
The chief went straight to Dimples’s desk. “Harris, I want you and Shelby to find this guy before they do. Whatever it takes. Just do it.”
“But what about…” Dimples stuttered to a stop, knowing this was not up for debate. “Yes sir.”
“Update me with anything you find. I’ll let the deputy know.”
Dimples nodded, but the chief didn’t stick around long enough to see it, storming off to his office with thoughts of righteous rage clouding his mind. As soon as his office door shut, I let out a relieved breath.
“Holy hell, Shelby. What were you thinking coming here like that?”
My breath caught with surprise at his stinging rebuke. It brought out my defensive side. “Well, for starters, I didn’t think you’d be yelling at me.” I sank down in the chair beside him, grateful to give my trembling legs a break.
He sighed. “I know…I just…I’m sorry you got involved. I have to know. Did Manetto send you?”
I
wrinkled my brow, feigning indignation and hoping he’d fall for it. “What? No.”
He didn’t buy it. “Then how did you know?”
“Hey, sometimes I just show up here, right?”
“Not lately. Usually, it’s only if I ask for your help, or if you have a case. So why did you show up if he didn’t ask you to?”
I didn’t like lying to Dimples. He was a friend and my partner. What could it hurt if he knew the truth? He knew I occasionally worked for Uncle Joey, just not how much, and I was tired of lying. “He might have said something.”
Dimples shook his head with disgust, and his lips turned down. “Well, at least you told me. I guess I should be grateful for that.”
“Hey, it’s not like I have a choice.” That came out before I could stop it, and I realized my mistake. This was not something I’d ever wanted to discuss with him, especially not as an officer of the law.
Dimples’s gaze caught mine, and concern darkened his eyes. “Are you sure about that?” He was thinking that if I wanted to bring Manetto down, and get out from under him once and for all, he’d be happy to help me do it.
I shook my head. “I’m not going there. It’s too dangerous for me and my family.”
He pursed his lips, and the muscles around his eyes tightened. “Maybe. But don’t rule it out, okay?”
Grateful he was letting it drop, I nodded my agreement. “Sure. So…what’s next? How can I help with the investigation?”
He sat back in his chair, thinking he had no idea, and he didn’t really want me involved, mostly because I’d probably go straight back to Manetto and tell him everything.
It kind of hurt my feelings. But he was right. It’s exactly what I was supposed to do, and guilt that I was a snitch for the mob sent a stab of remorse through my chest.
“You know you could just let things take their course.” Dimples spoke slowly, wanting me to consider his idea. “If the guy wants Manetto dead, maybe you shouldn’t stand in his way.”