Covert Exposure, a Nick Spinelli Mystery

by Valerie J. Clarizio

  “We must be under the abandoned warehouse across the street from the back entrance of the mall,” Spinelli whispered as he pressed onward down the narrow tunnel.

  With each step they took, the tunnel grew brighter, warmer, and dryer. Eventually, the tunnel dumped them into a small empty room with cement walls and a large metal door with a sliding peephole viewer about the size of Spinelli’s hand. The door appeared to be locked, bolted from the other side.

  Spinelli and Walker pressed their ears against the door. The sounds of at least two different muffled voices and the distinct sound of a low tone moan escaped through the doorway. Spinelli dropped to his knees and pressed his cheek to the cold cement floor. Peeking through the narrow crack under the door, he hoped to get a view of whom and what lie beyond the closed door.

  Metal shelving units lined the far wall of the dimly lit room except for the gap, which a metal door occupied. Small packages that held a white substance bound in clear plastic wrap filled the shelves.

  Spinelli lifted his head and looked at Walker, who met his gaze. He mouthed, “drugs,” before returning to the crack under the door. He heard the snick of knuckles hitting flesh followed by a groan and a loud raspy gasp for air. Spinelli tried to see what was happening from his position on the floor but it was difficult to make out. He could identify two sets of legs, toes pointed in the direction of the gasps for air, both subjects clothed in black jeans and black boots. He recognized them as the same style Loukas the Greek’s musclemen wore. Roughly, two feet in front of the musclemen he could see two more sets of legs bound by duct tape to the front legs of pale, yellow wooden chairs. One set was covered by green leggings with matching green shoes that curled up at the toes, with the other set covered in sheer pantyhose and small black shoes with a big gold buckle.

  Spinelli froze. His worst nightmare had come true; Shannon sat beyond the door.

  He willed himself to breathe. Snap out of it...think...think. He pulled himself up off the floor.

  “What’s going on?” Walker asked.

  Spinelli and Walker stepped back into the tunnel and Spinelli got Walker and Marsh up to speed on what he saw under the door. They quickly formulated their plan. While Spinelli and Walker found their way through the tunnel Marsh had called for backup and two uniformed officers now stood by his side. They decided that Marsh and the officers would sneak into the abandoned warehouse and try to find the entrance to the underground room. This way they could penetrate the room from both entrances with more presence and hopefully rescue Shannon and Miller without any more harm coming to them.

  It seemed like an eternity, the waiting game. It about killed Spinelli to leave Shannon in the hands of Loukas the Greek’s goons until Marsh and the officers could get into place. He and Walker listened to the sound of muffled voices beyond the door while they waited.

  “Marsh, where the hell are you?” Spinelli asked. “We got a little problem up here in the warehouse.”

  “What kind of problem?”

  “Well, it’s wired with cameras up here. And though it’s pitch black, for all I know they’re watching us right now and we’re having trouble finding the gateway to the underground,” Marsh replied.

  Suddenly Spinelli heard a loud screeching noise of metal being scraped across a cement floor. It sounded from the room in which Shannon and Miller sat in captivity. Spinelli dropped to his knees, and pressed his cheek against the floor, and peered under the door. He saw Loukas the Greek and one of his large musclemen dressed in black enter the room through the door located between the shelving units which housed the drugs. A light glowed behind them.

  Spinelli fought for a voice. “Marsh, get a move on. Loukas and another goon just entered the room. There’s a light shining from where they came. Look for the glow and you should find the entrance.”

  Spinelli watched as Loukas glanced in the direction of Shannon and Miller then toward the goons. His voice echoed throughout the room and made its way under the door and into Spinelli’s ear. “I told you to tie up the loose ends. We can’t afford any more mistakes like the kid lying in the hospital. Get rid of these two now and make them disappear. And hurry up because we’ve got company upstairs to take care of as well.”

  * * * *

  Tears burned in Shannon’s eyes. Did she really just hear her death sentence? A multitude of visions and thoughts bombarded her mind causing her to grow dizzy, or perhaps it was her throbbing head that caused the havoc. At this point, she didn’t know.

  A vivid picture of her nephews surfaced in her mind. She wondered if she would ever see them again. She thought of all the things her untimely death would prevent her from doing. She would never have the opportunity to marry and have a family of her own. She wondered who would take care of Mrs. Finch and Mrs. Night. And Spinelli, who would take care of him? He needed taking care of, he probably didn’t know it, but he did. Would she ever get to see him and feel the warmth of his arms around her again?

  Shannon gave herself a mental head slap. I had the gun in my hands.

  What the hell happened? How did I end up here?

  She blew out a sigh. Where is Spinelli? If only he were here this wouldn’t be happening, he’d know what to do, and he’d take care of us.

  * * * *

  With no good plan in mind, Spinelli sprang to his feet and pounded on the metal door. He knew he needed to create some sort of distraction to buy time until Marsh and the officers could make their way down.

  “Shit!” Walker cursed over the air. “Marsh, watch out; they know you’re up there and hurry up. Loukas the Greek just entered the room and ordered that Shannon and Miller be killed.”

  As Spinelli banged on the door, both he and Walker stepped to the sides hoping they wouldn’t be seen through the large sliding peephole. The peephole gate slid open for a moment, and then shut. “I don’t see anyone.” The muffled voice came from the opposite side of the door.

  Spinelli pounded on the door again and the peephole opened.

  Gunshots fired, echoing a floor above. Loukas the Greek’s voice penetrated throughout the underground, “Damn it! You idiots! Can’t you do anything right? Get rid of whoever it is.”

  Marsh’s hurried voice came over the air. “We’re on our way down.

  We’re just about there.”

  The metal door between Spinelli and Walker pushed open and a large-bodied man dressed in all black stepped through. He turned his head and eyed Spinelli standing there in his Santa suit. He appeared completely dumbfounded at the sight. Walker stepped out from the opposite side of the door and tasered the goon. He dropped like a rock.

  “Let her go! There’s no way out for you, let her go!” Marsh’s voice bounded from the other side of the room.

  Spinelli stepped into the doorway to find Loukas the Greek with his arm wrapped around Shannon’s waist. He was using her as a shield. Spinelli’s heart popped into his throat and cut off his oxygen supply.

  One of the goons stood to Loukas’ right, pointing his gun in Spinelli and Walker’s direction. Positioned between the goon and Shannon, Loukas stood secure.

  Spinelli studied the room, looking for anything, anything at all, to help them out of this situation safely. Other than the drug-stocked shelves lining the walls, only a few old rickety wooden chairs, and a table occupied the center of the room. One bare light bulb hung above the table dimly lighting the room.

  Spinelli shifted his glance in the direction of the muscleman who cowered behind Miller. Miller still sat slumped over and motionless and bound to his chair with duct tape. The muscleman kneeling behind him drew his gun and pointed at the doorway in which Marsh and one uniformed officer stood.

  All at once, Miller let out a loud groan and flung his head back catching the thug behind him square in the face. The crunching sound of the goon’s nose bones breaking sent a shiver up Spinelli’s spine. The goon immediately threw his free hand over his profusely bleeding nose. Then he pulled his hand back and stared at the pool of blood in his palm.
His eyes widened as if he’d just seen a ghost. The color drained from his face, his eyes rolled back and he dropped to the floor. Out cold, Spinelli thought. But for how long?

  The excitement drew the attention of the thug standing next to Loukas. Spinelli seized the opportunity and fired a round at the goon standing between him, and Loukas and Shannon. He caught him in the shoulder of his gun-arm causing him to drop his weapon and fall to his knees. Blood seeped out of his shoulder and soaked into his shirt.

  Spinelli’s eyes fixed on Loukas and with his gun pointed in that direction he edged toward Loukas and Shannon. He scanned him, looking for a weapon. He saw none. Loukas continued to use Shannon as a shield. Spinelli watched as Marsh moved in toward Loukas from the opposite side.

  Walker moved in toward the thug that lay on the floor next to Miller. He appeared motionless but suddenly, in one fluid movement, he reached for his weapon that lay only inches from his hand and quickly fired off a round at Spinelli catching him in his midsection.

  In the very next instant, Walker got off a shot and the thug that shot Spinelli lay permanently motionless on the cold cement floor.

  All eyes shifted to Spinelli.

  When the bullet struck him, Spinelli felt an odd sensation pass by his abdomen. The impact caused him to shift slightly to the left. He looked down at the right side of his body and noticed a black-rimmed hole in the red velvet coat he wore. Confusion filled him. He couldn’t feel pain yet he knew he’d been hit.

  Shannon let out a cry and Spinelli caught her frantic gaze. She looked as confused as he felt.

  Spinelli took a couple of more steps toward the goon he shot in the shoulder and he kicked the goon’s weapon out of his reach. He looked up and saw that Marsh and the uniformed officer had freed Shannon from Loukas the Greek’s hold and secured him.

  Spinelli glanced at the uniformed officer and pointed to the thug on the floor. “Cuff him.”

  Walker radioed for an ambulance for Miller and cut the duct tape loose, freeing Miller from the chair.

  Spinelli could hear Walker talking to Miller. “Is he okay?” Spinelli yelled over to Walker.

  “He’s conscious, but a bit out of it.”

  Spinelli took a moment to study the room then deemed the situation secure. Suddenly Spinelli remembered he’d been hit. He looked down at where the bullet entered him. No blood and no pain. He eyed the bullet hole and studied the black ring left behind on the red velvet material. He unfastened the big gold buckle on the wide black belt, which secured his coat and then he unbuttoned the black buttons and pulled the coat open to find that the bullet entered and wedged itself in the gut roll of his fat suit.

  Spinelli let out a hearty laugh and looked up to find the eyes of Shannon, Walker, Marsh, and Loukas on him. “Well, Merry Christmas to me.”

  Shannon leaped forward, threw her arms around Spinelli’s neck, and clung to him. Her voice shook, “Oh my God! I thought you’d been shot.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight as she sobbed into the crook of his neck.

  “Shh, Sweetheart, everything’s okay.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Spinelli strode into Captain Jackson’s office and took a seat in the chair across from her desk rather than on her two-drawer file cabinet where he usually took up residence.

  “Well, what’s the scoop on Loukas the Greek?” Jackson asked.

  Spinelli cleared his throat. “He had quite the drug trafficking operation going on right out of his restaurant in the mall with the help of an extensive underground tunnel system reaching as far as the campus. He preyed on college kids who worked at the mall to handle the distribution.”

  Jackson cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean? How did he get them to work for him?”

  “He would invite the kids to join in an after-hours card game in his restaurant. The drugs, alcohol, and women made it appealing to the kids. And when his card sharks would take the kids for all they were worth their options were either to cough up the cash to pay off their gambling debt or work off their debt by distributing drugs for Loukas. Most of the kids didn’t have any money so they were forced to distribute. If they didn’t comply, Loukas’ goons would help them come to terms with their destiny.”

  Jackson raised an eyebrow. “Hmm.”

  Spinelli pressed on. “Anyhow, at some point victim Reed apparently confided in victim Hudson about the operation and they both wound up dead. The kid in the hospital, Jarrod, got pounded by Loukas’ musclemen because they caught him talking to Miller. They’d discovered Miller’s a cop. As it turns out, Loukas has been running this operation for twenty plus years out of the mall, recruiting new college kids in as others left the operation.”

  “So, one minute these kids are partying and having the time of their lives and the next minute they find themselves deep in debt and desperate. Desperate enough to risk going to jail for drug distribution.”

  Spinelli nodded. “That about sums it up.”

  Spinelli lifted himself from his chair and headed toward the doorway.

  She called after him and he glanced back at her. She looked unusually puzzled.

  “Ah, Spinelli, why are you still dressing like Santa? You’ve solved the case, your undercover job as Santa is over.”

  Before he could answer Jackson, the sound of women’s heels clicking on the old hardwood floor echoed throughout the precinct. They both turned their heads in that direction to find Shannon crossing the precinct floor dressed in her little Santa helper outfit.

  Spinelli turned his head back in Jackson’s direction. He flashed his lady-killer smile, wiggled his eyebrows a couple of times, and finished off with a little wink. “That’s why,” he said as he pointed in Shannon’s direction.

  Jackson returned Spinelli’s sly smile with one of her own. “Lord help her!”

  ***

  Note to Readers

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for reading COVERT EXPOSURE, a Nick Spinelli Mystery! I hope you enjoyed Nick and Shannon's story. Nick Spinelli will always have a special place in my heart since he was my first. The first hero I published in a book, that is.

  The next book in the Nick Spinelli series is CRAVING VENGEANCE. If you thought Nick and Shannon’s Christmas crisis was something, you might want to check out their Valentine’s Day calamity...

  One-click CRAVING VENGEANCE, a Nick Spinelli Mystery. Don’t miss out!

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  Valerie

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  Valerie J. Clarizio's Other Titles:

  The Nick Spinelli Romance Mystery Series

  Covert Exposure, a Nick Spinelli Mystery, novella 1

  Craving Vengeance, a Nick Spinelli Mystery, novella 2

  Crazed Reckoning, a Nick Spinelli Mystery, novella 3

  Romantic Suspense Titles

  Taken by Surprise

  Unforeseen Obsessions

  Plan Interrupted

  Chandler County Series

  Missing the Crown Jewels />
  Missing out on Life

  Crime & Passion Stalk City Hall Series

  The Code Enforcer

  A Brush with Death

  Time Travel Romance Titles

  Time WARped

  Destiny Reclaimed

  Contemporary Romance Titles

  Family Forever

  Short Story Titles

  Love Thaws a Frozen Heart

  Love on the Door County Peninsula Series

  Talia & Ryan's Story

  Jess & Sam's Story

  Bonus Excerpt

  Enjoy this excerpt from CRAVING VENGEANCE, a Nick Spinelli Mystery.

  Chapter One

  Spinelli’s eyes popped open. He stared into the face of an angel. Was he still sleeping? How was it he had lured this beautiful creature into his life just a little over two months ago? He resisted the urge to run his fingers over her soft, milky white skin. She looked so peaceful when she slept. He would never be bored watching her sleep. Her slow even breaths mesmerized him. Was he dreaming? He almost went so far as to pinch his arm.

  Shannon stirred and flipped over. Her shiny red hair spread out over her pillow like wildfire. He didn’t need the nearby streetlight peeking through the window blinds to notice her fiery hair, but it certainly helped to illuminate its zest. Spinelli reached over and skimmed his hand over her soft hair. Silky strands sifted through his fingers sending an electrical current rippling throughout his body. He debated waking her, taking her again. He nearly chuckled at the thought. When they’d first met, they couldn’t stand to be with one another, now they couldn’t stand to be apart. Cupid’s arrow struck him, hard and fast, out of nowhere. He was done, toast.

  His cell phone vibrated on the nightstand. He reached over her to grab it before it woke her. Too late. Her beautiful emerald eyes fluttered open. He stared into the sea of green looking back at him, nearly forgetting about the call.