Shot Through the Heart

by Diane Benefiel

  He nodded. “He was protecting you. That’s what dads do.”

  ***

  John locked gazes with Denton. “What the hell?”

  The smell of rotting garbage came through the open window of the unmarked police car where they sat in an alley a block from the hospital. Denton leaned back in the passenger seat, a frown creasing his forehead, sipping coffee. “We need to get back to the station and look up the bust that sent DiNardo to prison. There’s something there beyond Doug Smith being part of the takedown that sent him away. We need to see exactly what happened.” He cocked his head. “This getting personal between you and Rane Smith?”

  Drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, John leaned back in his seat. “Yeah, it’s personal.”

  When he was pissed, Denton had a way of looking at a man that just about cut him in half. “If you can’t be objective, I’m pulling you. I won’t risk what this team has been working on for so long if you can’t handle it.”

  “I’ll handle it.”

  “You’d better. And Johnny? I hate to say it, but it looks like your girl is hiding something.”

  Chapter Nine

  After a couple of hours of serious digging and talking with a cop who’d been involved in the case, John figured he knew what Rane was hiding. He rubbed just above his brows where a headache had taken up residence with a pounding that felt like hammer blows. He pulled out his cell phone and punched number one on speed dial. She should have been home from work by now, but wasn’t picking up. The husky voice he found incredibly sexy asked him to leave a message. “Rane, call me.”

  He ended the call and sat back at his desk, fingers tapping a beat on his knee. The police station was quiet for eight-thirty in the evening. Like they’d expected, the tip Rane had given Kyle had been passed on, and the DiNardos had cleared the stash house by the time the team arrived. As a precaution, they’d sent in a robot to check for explosives. It had detected a bomb rigged with a tripwire. The construction had been slipshod and the device quickly defused. It all seemed too simple. That and the fact that Rane should have answered her cell made him uneasy.

  He made another call, this time using speed dial two.

  “What?” A lot of irritation was packed into that one word.

  “Crappy mood?”

  “Johnny, thank God. Mom keeps calling to see how I’m doing. I’m going crazy here. Tell me what’s going on.”

  John gave a brief rundown of the team’s direction.

  Nathan’s tone evened out as they talked about the case. “So you think Douglas Smith framed DiNardo? That’s a pretty serious charge against a cop who had a long and spotless record.”

  “Yeah, it’s fucked, but that’s what I think.”

  “Explain.”

  John had to admire his brother’s capacity to cut to the chase. “DiNardo went to prison for possession with intent to distribute. Two pounds of black tar were found under the backseat of his car.” Arranging the information in his head to tell Nathan helped him see it more clearly. “At the time, DiNardo was trafficking heroin sourced from Afghanistan and shipped through Europe.”

  “That’s the pretty white stuff. And black tar comes up from Mexico.”

  “Yeah. And guess what? Two kilos of black tar went missing from the evidence room of a precinct across town.”

  “What makes you think it was Smith? Anyone could have planted it.”

  He sat back with a sigh, his chair making a squeaking sound that arrowed straight to where the hammers pounded. “I planted a bug on Rane so I could hear the conversation with Kyle.”

  Nathan laughed. “She’s going to roast your balls when she finds out.”

  “She won’t find out.”

  “The hell she won’t. You won’t be able to keep that from her. You’re honest to a fault, Johnny. You’ll tell her.” He paused. “So what did you hear?”

  Trying to think past the throbbing, he went on. “She told Kyle she was sorry about what her old man had done. DiNardo seems to have dealt with it. He was more concerned about keeping her safe from his sociopathic brother. Says Simon means to kill her. He wanted her to leave town with her dad, and he’d join up with them later.”

  “And she didn’t jump at the chance?”

  John didn’t bother responding. He pulled open his desk drawer and found a bottle of Tylenol. He put the phone on speaker and set it on his desk so he could wrestle with the childproof lid. He thought about Kyle telling Rane they could still be together. She’d nixed that idea, but their history grated on him. She’d obviously cared about Kyle; what if she still had a thing for him? First loves were the hardest to get over, weren’t they? Finally getting off the cap, he shook out a couple of pills and tossed them in his mouth, chasing them down with a swallow of cold coffee.

  Nathan’s voice sounded tinny over the phone. “You know this means she could be prosecuted for withholding evidence. How are we going to keep her out of it?”

  John leaned back in the chair and silently thanked God for his brother. No matter how much Nathan tried to goad him, he always had his back. “Yeah, I know, and I’ll do whatever is necessary to keep her in the clear. I just hope all this ends with every member of the DiNardo family charged with drug crimes. If the DA can use Rane to testify against them then he’ll likely waive charges against her.”

  “What was Smith’s motive? To get Kyle away from Rane?”

  “That’s what I’m guessing. Smith had to know the DiNardos were bad business, that hanging with Kyle put Rane in danger. I don’t know if I’d do anything different if it was my daughter.”

  “You would, John. Because you’re just not built to frame someone. Me, on the other hand? If it protected someone I loved, I would do it and damn the consequences.”

  He gave a humorless laugh. “You feel up to a drive?”

  “Hell, yeah.”

  “I’ll pick you up in ten.”

  ***

  Glad to be home after a shift that had gone into overtime, Rane pushed open the kitchen door. She flipped on the light and hung her keys on the hook before setting her lunch box on the counter.

  “Cooper?” She looked around. Her dog always greeted her at the door. She opened the door to the backyard. “Cooper!” Nothing.

  Uneasy, she crossed the kitchen to the living room then climbed the stairs. Cooper could be feeling sick and lying in his bed. She rushed into her room. The dog’s bed was empty. She felt a sudden chill. Simon. Simon had her dog. Dread tightened her chest, and she turned to her closet. She’d get the .45 from the lockbox and search more thoroughly. And she’d call John.

  “Hello, Rane.”

  A frisson of alarm skated up her spine. She turned to face Simon DiNardo. He stood in the shadowed corner behind the bedroom door, the light glinting dully off the gun pointed squarely at her heart. As always, he looked bland, nondescript. Except for those pale eyes. It was his eyes that gave her nightmares.

  She held herself motionless; with that gun pointed at her, she didn’t want to do anything he could perceive as a threat. “Simon. What do you want? What did you do to my dog?”

  “The dog is fine. He’s just taking a little nap. It would have been easy to make it so he would never wake up, but I didn’t.” He gave his thin-lipped smile. “I’m not happy with you, Rane, but I’m still willing to let you live. To let those you care about live. Meet with Kyle again, and I will decide differently. Give me your cell phone.”

  Reluctantly, she pulled it from her pocket. She made sure her fingers didn’t brush his when she gave it to him. “John will be back any minute now.”

  “You sure went above and beyond there, didn’t you? I told you to get close to him, and now you’re sleeping with him. Just remember where your loyalties lie.”

  “I remember.”

  “Your loyalties should be with your family, with your father. With your friend, Lily. Not with some two-bit cop with a hero complex who thinks I don’t know the real reason he and his brother have been after me all t
hese years.”

  “What are you talking about?” She couldn’t stop staring at the muzzle of the gun held steady in Simon’s hand.

  “I’ll let you know those details about the Garretson brothers when it’s appropriate. For now, I want you to come with me.”

  “I want to see Cooper.” She refused to appear cowed.

  “You don’t have much leverage at this point, but very well. The dog is downstairs.”

  Simon’s dark presence followed her to the first floor.

  “It’s there by the couch.”

  When she would have turned on the lamp, he stopped her. “No light.”

  So he didn’t want to be seen from the street. She spotted Cooper lying next to the couch and rushed forward. When she ran her hands over him, her fear eased. She felt the steady rise and fall of his chest. “What did you give him?”

  “Nothing that will cause permanent damage.” Simon’s eyes glowed in the light coming from the kitchen.

  Her phone vibrated, the muted sound carrying from the pocket of his tan overcoat. He pulled out the phone and looked at the display. “Ah. John Garretson. The boyfriend’s checking to make sure you made it home from work okay.” He tossed the phone onto the couch. “Let’s go.”

  “Where do you want to go? How do I know you won’t hurt me?” She tried to keep her voice from betraying her anxiety.

  “We’re just taking a drive around the city. No need to be alarmed. You’ll be back safe and sound within the hour.”

  Could she get away from him? Make a break for it as they exited the house? She caught her breath, waiting for the opportunity, but as she stepped across the threshold, he gripped her elbow. He’d shoved the gun into his pocket so he could push her in front of him, directing her to his car a half-block down the street. Rane scanned the neighborhood. She couldn’t risk trying to get away. There was just too great a chance a neighbor would come outside to hear what was going on, and then they’d be in danger, too. Or a child could be playing in their yard. She would have to do as he ordered. He’d said they’d be back within the hour. She would hold onto that and endure whatever he had in mind.

  Rane sat in the passenger seat, pulling the seatbelt across her body to buckle it. She knew it gave her a false sense of security, but she would take what she could get. Simon got in on the driver’s side and pulled the gun from his pocket to shove under the seat before he started the engine. “This little adventure we’re going on tonight, Rane? It’s to help you understand clearly that I’m in charge, and you are to follow my orders.”

  “I know you’re in charge, Simon.” She would tell him what he wanted to hear, anything to return home unharmed. “I’ve been doing what you told me to. I’ve even been included in meetings with the task force. I passed Kyle the tip about the stash house.”

  Simon drove just under the speed limit through the darkened streets, using his blinkers at every turn. “Which is why you’re still useful to me.” He slowed when they approached St. Augustine’s and turned into the employee parking lot. He pulled into an unmarked space and let the engine idle.

  “What are we doing here?”

  He pointed to the parking garage across the street. “Hardly anybody parks on the top two levels. I was up there this afternoon, watching you through the scope of my rifle. Not a soul came by. I had you in the crosshairs from the moment you stepped out of the hospital door and all the time you were eating and talking to Kyle. I could have squeezed off a round so easily and been gone before the cops figured out where the shot had come from. I decided to let you live.”

  A chill snaked down her spine. His voice was toneless as he described her murder.

  She said nothing and sat frozen with a cold the car’s heater could do nothing to touch.

  Simon put the car in gear and backed out of the space. They next stopped at her father’s care facility. He parked on the street outside the fenced area where residents often sat on sunny days. “Killing your father here would be so easy it’s almost embarrassing.” He continued on as if relating a grocery list. “I could poison him, slip something in with his daily meds. Or set up over there.” He motioned across the street to a multi-story apartment complex, “The third or fourth floors would give the best angle. Just shoot him in the back of the head. It would be doing him a favor, really.”

  She nodded, desperately wishing she’d brought a heavier coat and gloves. “I get it, Simon. You could kill me or my dad or my dog. At your whim.” Her voice sounded dull to her own ears. “I’ll keep doing what you want me to do.”

  “Good. Listen carefully. First off, you’re not to meet with Kyle again. I want him to concentrate on the business. ”

  She nodded.

  He turned those cold, pale eyes on her. “He might have given you the impression that you have a choice about reporting what the task force is doing, that there’s a way out for you. You don’t, and there isn’t. That is, if you want to stay alive.” He paused, and Rane wished he would drive so he wouldn’t be able to look at her. “Is that clear, Rane?”

  “Perfectly.”

  “Good. Next, you’re going to tell the Garretson brothers I want to meet with them.”

  “I’ll tell them. But I can’t make them agree to meet.”

  “My guess is they never told the task force about their real motive for hunting me down. Tell them I want to talk with them about Savannah.”

  “What are you talking about? Who’s Savannah?”

  “Why don’t you ask them? She’s the reason they’ve been dogging my heels all these years. It’s time they realized that their little secret might not stay a secret. Tell them it’ll just be me and them, that I have information that will allow them to put away the kingpins of major drug smuggling organizations from Canada to Mexico and to seize enough product to make world news. I’ll let you know the time and place. And Rane? Make it clear they come alone, no wires, no backup, or they get nothing.” He started the car and drove back toward her house.

  “They won’t believe it. They won’t believe you’d give up your empire. Why would you?”

  “Let’s just say I’m rethinking the family business. I want immunity for my people. I want immunity for me, for Kyle, and for the other members of my family who are in the business.”

  “I’ll tell them.”

  He pulled to a stop a block from her house and looked at her in the glow of the dash lights. Again, Rane had the mental image of a coiled snake waiting to strike. “When we talk, they’ll see that I mean it. They’ll come off as heroes.” He shrugged. “That can’t be helped, but it’ll keep my family safe.”

  ***

  John sat in his truck with the engine idling, waiting outside Nathan’s apartment building, glad the headache had receded. He tried Rane’s phone again. Nothing. Okay, now he was getting worried. He switched to a tracking app. After some convincing, she had finally agreed to download it onto her phone on the condition he only use it if he thought she was in danger. It pulled up a map and a little blinking red dot showed her location. She was at home. His worry leveled marginally.

  Nathan pulled open the truck door and climbed into the passenger seat. “I thought you’d never get here.”

  John grinned. “Going stir crazy?”

  “You have no idea. It was all I could do to convince Mom she didn’t need to fly up here. I finally had to talk to Dad. Lindy expecting to deliver within the month helped matters because no way would Mom miss that.”

  “Hard to believe little sister is having her second kid.”

  “Isn’t she still fifteen?”

  “Feels like she should be.” He joined the traffic on the boulevard, passing St. Augustine’s. “Has the beautiful Lily been making you all better?”

  “She made me all better yesterday, but had to work today. I couldn’t convince her to play hooky.” Nathan raised a brow. “We going to your girlfriend’s place? Or should I say your place since you’re shacked up?”

  “Fuck you.” John kept his tone mild.
r />   Nathan gave a short laugh. “Well?”

  “Yeah, we’re going to Rane’s place. She’s not answering her cell, but the locator shows she’s there. I want to make sure she’s okay then we’re meeting Eddie. It’s late, but he says he’s got something for us, and I don’t want to chance he’ll go on a bender and forget whatever he thinks he has.”

  At Nathan’s nod, he drove up to the house that was beginning to feel like home. As always, he scanned the neighborhood for anything out of place. Eddie, their informant, wasn’t the most reliable of sources, but he’d said he had something on Simon, and John didn’t like putting him off. But he felt an urgency to see Rane, to touch her, to know she was safe. He wouldn’t relax until he had actual physical contact. He also wanted to talk to her about what she’d said to Kyle, about what he’d found out about her father, but Denton had told him to wait. Denton figured it was a possibility Rane was playing both sides, that she was telling Simon more than what they wanted her to. John wanted to believe she was being straight with them, and he certainly didn’t want to believe his judgment was clouded by emotion. He needed to talk to her. That she hadn’t told him from the get-go bothered him, but he figured if there was a risk she or her father could be prosecuted, he couldn’t blame her.

  He parked in the driveway. Lights were on in the kitchen and upstairs. They got out of the truck and he pulled out his key to open the side door. Nathan followed him into the kitchen. Guessing she was upstairs, he called out, “Rane, it’s me. Nathan’s here, too.”

  Silence answered him. He crossed the dining room to the base of the stairs. “Rane?” Maybe she was in the shower. He glanced at his brother. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

  He took the stairs two at a time, fear goading him to move faster. He checked her bedroom where the overhead light blazed brightly then the master bath. No Rane. Where the hell was she? And the dog. Where was Cooper?

  “John, you’d better get down here.”