Tough Justice Box Set

by Carla Cassidy

  Lara watched Victoria’s face, waiting for her to crack at the thought of her daughter murdered and stamped, as Xander so delicately put it.

  Instead, Victoria nodded, her mouth tight. “Makes sense.”

  Encouraged, Xander continued. “Of course, it does. They want something in return for her—money, information—and we’re going to give it to them. Whatever it takes, boss.”

  “Thanks for that, Xander. You’re right. Moretti wants something in exchange for Anna...and I’m going to move heaven and earth to get it for him.”

  A feather of fear brushed the back of Lara’s neck as she and Victoria locked eyes across the table. Would Victoria really provide Moretti with anything he wanted?

  CHAPTER THREE

  Lara’s invitation to dinner surprised him. Must be a pity invitation since he got shot this morning. He’d take it. Maybe she’d open up more about her visit to Moretti today.

  She snapped on her seat belt and faced him in the car. “Chinatown? Mei told me about a great place—Han Ting.”

  “I know it.”

  On the drive over, they talked about Anna’s kidnapping and the witnesses’ statements. Lara was back to all business, and that’s the way he wanted it—as long as that business included a discussion of Moretti and her time on the inside of his organization.

  They grabbed a table by the window, and Lara dropped into her chair. “What a day.”

  “You’re telling me.” Nick shrugged out of his jacket and winced at the twinge in his arm. “Getting shot must increase your appetite because I’m starving. Order whatever you want, but I gotta have the kung pao chicken.”

  She ran her finger down the plastic menu. “How’s your arm? Don’t think I didn’t notice the way your face twitched when you removed your jacket.”

  “It’s fine. Nothing a little kung pao can’t cure.”

  “You probably need a beer. I know I do. I’m so wound up about Anna’s disappearance.” She held up the teapot. “Unless you’re on some antibiotics that you’re not supposed to mix with alcohol.”

  He studied the list of beers on the menu. “I think the doc actually prescribed beer.”

  “All right, then.”

  Nick gestured to the waiter, and they ordered their beers and the food.

  Once the waiter delivered their drinks, Lara raised her beer to him, and they clinked necks. “Here’s to getting Anna back safe and sound.”

  Nick took a swig of beer. “I think Xander was right. If they were going to kill Anna, they would’ve done so already. These people don’t mess around.”

  “Although I cringed when he said it, or rather at the way he said it, I think Victoria appreciated his bluntness. Anna’s a bargaining chip, or she’s going to be used in some way. She’s too important to just kill off.”

  “I’m sure that’s some comfort to Victoria, even though her daughter is still in the hands of some cold characters.”

  Lara swept up her cell phone and tapped the display. “Do you think it made the news?”

  “Victoria was very specifically keeping it off the radar, even though she had a team papering the city with Anna’s likeness. I don’t think any news organizations got even a whiff. Lots of girls go missing in this city every day.”

  “That’s probably for the best that her kidnapping isn’t all over the news. Bad enough the media got wind of Nadia.” She still tapped her phone, probably checking news sources.

  He tilted his bottle toward her. “Anything come up?”

  “No.” She placed the phone at the edge of the table and folded her hands. “I’m actually glad that sniper is so good at his job.”

  “Maybe he was trying to kill me, and he’s just a bad shot.” He patted his arm.

  “Somehow, I don’t think so.” She scratched at the moist label on the bottle with her fingernail, her eyebrows creating a V over her nose. “I was so pissed off when I went to the prison. I wish I’d come in with a little more control. It’s so much more effective with prisoners.”

  Prisoners or that prisoner?

  “Yeah, I hear ya, but at least Moretti gave you a heads-up about Anna.”

  “Just wish he’d given us more.” She took another swig of beer and another.

  That visit really had rattled her. Of course, Moretti had a score to settle with her. What else? Why did Lara always leave her visits with Moretti so shaken up? Shaken up and secretive. She never wanted to discuss her meetings with him or even how she’d managed to take him down during the undercover sting.

  By the time the waiter delivered their food, his stomach was grumbling.

  Lara held up a pair of chopsticks. “Fork or chopsticks?”

  “I’m too hungry to screw around with chopsticks.” He glanced at the empty plate on the table. “I may be too hungry to screw around with plates.”

  “Settle down there, hungry man.” She picked up an egg roll with her chopsticks and dropped it on his plate.

  As his teeth crunched into the greasy goodness, he closed his eyes. “Awesome.”

  They filled their plates and dug into the savory meal.

  Lara clicked her chopsticks together. “I feel guilty enjoying this feast. I hope the people holding Anna are taking good care of her. I hope she has something to eat and that she’s not terrified.”

  “She’s Victoria’s daughter. I think she inherited some of that ice water that runs through her mom’s veins.”

  “I know she’s a tough kid.” Lara tipped a bottle of soy sauce over her plate and dribbled some on her rice. “But this has to be a scary situation for her. You saw how much it rattled Victoria.”

  Her chopsticks forgotten, Lara’s eyes took on a distracted quality as she stared past his shoulder. “There are certain situations that can rattle the best of us.”

  “Yeah, and I think kids are at the top of that list. At least you and I don’t have that particular concern. I can’t even imagine what Victoria’s going through right now.”

  “Neither can I.” Shaking her head, Lara took a sip of beer.

  “Eat up.” He pointed his fork at her half-full plate. “We all need our energy for whatever comes next.”

  “I hope that’s Anna’s release.” She dug into her food, wielding her chopsticks with an efficiency he’d never mastered.

  They exchanged small talk for the next several minutes, until Lara had almost cleaned her plate.

  Nick wiped his mouth with his napkin and planted his elbows on either side of his empty plate. “What do you think he wants?”

  “Who?” Lara kept her eyes downcast as she chased a grain of rice across her plate with the tips of her chopsticks.

  He paused, crumpling the napkin in his fist. Why did she do that? She knew damned well who he meant.

  “Moretti.”

  “I don’t know.”

  He tossed his mangled napkin onto his plate. “He’s behind Anna’s kidnapping. How would he know otherwise that Anna was a special target, as he called her?”

  “I agree, but I don’t have a clue what he has planned for her.”

  “No clue? Really?”

  Pushing back from the table, she shrugged and smoothed her thumb down her bottle. “That’s all he told me—nothing more, nothing less.”

  “But you knew the man’s character from your undercover work, Lara. You must’ve gotten some insight into his twisted mind.” The familiar tightness bunched the muscles between his shoulders, and his wound throbbed.

  The waiter approached the table, saving Lara from his questions. “Do you want anything else? Dessert? Another drink?”

  “We’re fine.” Nick waved him off and then skewered Lara with his gaze. “Well? Any insight?”

  “That’s just it—he has a twisted mind. It’s hard to follow reasoning like his unless you’re coming from the same darkness.”

  He rubbed the stubble on his chin. “What happened during that undercover assignment?”

  “Happened? You already know what happened. I infiltrated his organization an
d helped bring him down.” She held up the plate. “Do you want the last egg roll?”

  “How closely did you work with him? You must’ve gotten to know him personally on some level. Every time you come back from seeing him, you’re on edge.”

  “He’s a monster.” She shook her finger at him. “And all that information is classified. You know that.”

  “I have clearance. You know that.” Her evasion had his hands curling into fists as he tried to keep the edge out of his voice. He failed.

  “This is different.” She plucked her napkin from her lap and started folding it into a small square. “This was an undercover operation. The higher-ups want me to keep quiet about every aspect of it.”

  “Oh, yeah? Because you didn’t keep quiet to Moretti about how we got onto his trail.” His gotcha sounded juvenile even to his own ears, but he wanted to pin her down. He wanted...no, needed transparency from his partner.

  “I had to give him that info in exchange for information about Anna.”

  “Yeah, and we got so much for that, didn’t we?”

  Had he lost his interrogation skills, or was she incredibly adept at dancing around the subject? And why? They were on the case together now.

  He blew out a breath. “Why can’t you tell me what happened during the operation?”

  “I—it’s classified.” She sat back in her chair, as if putting a million miles between them.

  His frustration gnawed at his gut. What did that say about their partnership, their friendship, that she couldn’t come clean to him? He tried again. “We’re partners. Do you think Mei and Ty keep anything from each other?”

  “If one of them had been in the same situation as I was, they just might.”

  “And what situation was that?” He held his breath, the tension vibrating through his body.

  Lara picked up her beer bottle and swirled the remaining liquid in the glass.

  “For God’s sake, Lara, we’re more than partners. We’re—” he waved his hands “—whatever this is between us. You can trust me. You can trust me with anything.”

  She kept her hands wrapped around the bottle, her knuckles white. The silence hung so heavily between them, he could hear the bubbles in the beer popping.

  “Or maybe not.” He dug the keys to the car from his pocket, along with enough cash to cover their dinner, and dropped it on the table. “Maybe you can’t trust me...and I can’t trust you. Helluva way to run a partnership.”

  When he pushed back his chair, she said, “I’m sorry, Nick. I don’t know what to think or feel anymore. I just want to get Anna back, safe and sound.”

  Grabbing his jacket, he stood up. “I want that, too. We all do, but don’t you think the more I know about what went on with Moretti, the faster that’s going to happen? Maybe an outside perspective would shed some light on Moretti’s motives. Tell me the truth, Lara.”

  “I can’t. I just can’t.”

  “You mean you won’t.”

  He strode out of the restaurant, almost knocking over a waiter carrying a tray of food. Once outside in the cool air, he braced his hands against the side of the building.

  Lara refused to tell him what had gone on between her and that madman, and the sick feeling in his stomach told him maybe he didn’t want to know.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  She’d spent a sleepless night running through all the reasons she couldn’t tell Nick about her undercover assignment with Moretti.

  Trust. Nick thought she’d tell him if she trusted him, but her reluctance had to do with so much more than trust. Didn’t it?

  She hadn’t known him very long, but something changed inside her, and she now trusted Nick with her life. He was her partner. They had each other’s backs, no question. But everything that had happened with Moretti when she’d been working for the syndicate? Nick didn’t need to know all of that. Hell, she didn’t even understand half of it herself.

  Heading out the front door, she tapped her phone for Victoria’s number. Her boss picked up halfway through the first ring.

  “Are you on your way in?”

  “After I make a stop for coffee.” She walked down the hall and called the elevator. “How are you doing this morning, Victoria?”

  “As well as can be expected, knowing Anna just spent the night with some stone-cold killers.”

  Lara stepped into the elevator and wedged her shoulder against one wall. “We don’t know that.”

  “Cut the crap, Lara. My God, I never thought I’d find it more refreshing talking to Xander than anyone else on the team, but there you have it. Anna’s in trouble. I know it, you know it, everyone knows it, but a few leads came in overnight from the missing person’s poster.”

  Lara’s pulse ticked up a notch. “That’s great. Anything promising?”

  “We’d been papering the city with pictures of Anna, and we got a few hits.”

  “That’s a start. Is everyone in yet?” She really meant Nick, but she didn’t want to broadcast their...disagreement.

  “Waiting for you, Mei and Nick. Cass is working from home this morning.” Victoria cleared her throat. “Once you all get here, I’ll divvy up these leads and see if they amount to anything.”

  “Do you want me to pick up a coffee for you on my way in?” Lara waved to Ron the doorman and ducked onto the sidewalk.

  “I’ve been living on the stuff and have a full pot in the office.”

  “Then, I’ll see you soon.”

  Victoria ended the call, and Lara stuffed her phone into her pocket, after making sure for about the hundredth time that morning that Nick hadn’t left any messages. She strode toward her local coffee place, ordered a large and a breakfast sandwich, which the barista kindly microwaved for her, and headed for the subway.

  She’d wolfed down half the sandwich by the time she got to her stop and then tossed the rest in the trash can in the lobby of 26 Federal Plaza. Brushing her hands together she rounded the corner for the elevator bank and headed upstairs.

  A quick survey of the room told her she’d beat both Mei and Nick into the office. Had Nick’s night been as restless as her own?

  Two minutes later Mei and Nick burst into the office together. They must’ve touched base with Victoria before coming in, because as soon as Nick stepped into the room, he asked, “What do you have for us?”

  Victoria waved a file folder in the air. “Four leads, four possible sightings of Anna from last night and this morning. We’re going to talk to these people in person and check them out.”

  “Who’s going where, boss?” Xander slipped into his designer jacket.

  Pulling one piece of paper from the folder, Victoria thrust it toward Xander. “You and I are going to check out a lead at a club in Chelsea. There’s another student at Columbia who might’ve seen something, a coffee house at South Street Seaport and a ticket-taker in Battery Park.”

  Nick raised a finger. “I’m going to accompany the sketch artist when he meets with the students we talked to yesterday at Columbia, so I’ll take that lead. I already arranged it with him.”

  Lara blinked. And just like that, Nick had split them up for the day. Of course, Mei and Ty would take one of the other leads together because they were partners—who trusted each other.

  “I need some coffee, anyway.” Mei sniffed in the direction of the half-full coffeepot in the office. “Some good stuff, so Ty and I will take South Street.”

  Victoria pressed the fourth slip of paper into Lara’s hands. “I guess that leaves you with Battery Park. Anyone gets a hit, message it in on a group chat.”

  The room erupted with activity as everyone gathered their belongings and negotiated for cars.

  “Wait up,” Lara called, as Nick folded the lead slip and shoved it into the pocket of his leather jacket. He jerked his head to the side, raising his eyebrows.

  “You can take the car since you’re going with the sketch artist and can get some parking on campus. I’ll take a taxi down to Battery Park.”

&nb
sp; “Sounds good. Victoria looks frazzled. I hope one of us turns up something.” He lowered his voice.

  She puffed out a breath. At least he didn’t plan to cut her out completely, even though he’d jumped at the chance to work alone, and his conversation had just veered toward the impersonal.

  “I hope so, too.” She crossed her fingers and held them up.

  Then the team scattered, and Lara trooped back down to the sidewalk and snagged a taxi. “Battery Park, please.”

  In the backseat of the taxi, she shook out the piece of paper and squinted at Victoria’s chicken scratch—another sign of the boss’s distraction. She usually typed up these lead slips on the computer and printed them out.

  But Victoria had held it together enough to get herself to work and give orders. Lara rested her head against the cool glass of the window.

  She flattened the lead slip in her lap and ran a fingertip along the words to get the name of the potential witness.

  The taxi jerked to a stop, and the driver shouted as if commanding a bus. “Battery Park.”

  She exchanged some bills for a receipt, stuffed the receipt and lead slip into her pocket and hopped out of the taxi.

  Joining a few tourists, she walked down a path through the park that led to the ferry dock. She stood in line at the ticket booth, and when she got to the window she asked, “Is George Fernandez around?”

  The ticket booth clerk jerked her thumb to the right. “He’s taking tickets for the ferry.”

  “Thanks.” Lara pulled her phone, which contained a picture of Anna, out of her pocket and hovered outside the line of people getting on the ferry. When the last person boarded, she approached a middle-aged Latino as he rolled the gate across the entrance to the dock.

  “Excuse me. Mr. Fernandez?”

  He tipped his cap back on his head. “Yes.”

  She flashed her badge. “I’m Special Agent Grant with the FBI. You called in about a missing person’s poster?”

  The lines between his eyebrows smoothed out. “I did.”

  “Can we talk over here for a minute? I’d like to show you a few more pictures and ask you a couple of questions.”

  “Is the bench okay?” He pointed to a green bench behind the ticket booth.