Shadows of Deceit (A Series of Shadows)

by Mell Corcoran

  “But how did the Rojas family get involved other than Ernesto being married to Salvatore’s daughter?” Abby asked but Lou was wondering the same thing.

  “From what we can piece together, Cameron got into trouble a while back for keeping a harem of sorts. He drugged up some local girls and kept them as slaves he fed on whenever he wanted. Mind you, right under his parent’s roof.”

  “They didn’t know or didn’t bother to give a shit?” Lou was angry.

  “The best I can describe, it is as a combination of Sanguinostri elitist and white supremist arrogance. The girls were all colored so the only objection Alma Timms had was that they were dirty and being kept under her pristine roof. That is how Cameron got caught, actually.”

  “I remember hearing about that!” Abby’s face lit up. “It gave her something to do, building a separate house for her son on the property, with a basement where he could keep the girls. One of the security staff was Sanguinostri and one night he saw the girls all chained together, barely able to walk on their own. They were being moved to the new building and he tipped the Aegis Council off to what was going on.”

  “Correct.” Max confirmed. “The entire African Aegis Council paid a visit to the Timms and insisted they be given access to Cameron’s new residence. Seven girls were found, dressed like harem girls, drugged out of their minds with multiple bite wounds all over their bodies. They found wine bottles with hand written labels chronicling who the blood belonged to, when it was harvested and how the host had perished.”

  “Why wasn’t he terminated then and there? Like Salvatore Rojas was?” Lou asked.

  “Because of his family, his young age and because he was a blood born.” Max said with shame lacing his words. “Moshe confronted the entire family and the parents begged for mercy. They blamed themselves for not teaching Cameron the laws about that sort of thing. When I talked to him earlier, Moshe said he remembered like it was yesterday, taking pity on the boy who was sobbing at his feet. He claimed he had no idea he was breaking any laws and even when the women were questioned, they were so drugged out of their minds and addicted to whatever he had been feeding them that they each said they were there willingly.”

  “How pathetic.” Lou grumbled.

  “Well, now we know that Moshe suspected Cameron was behind this and that was why he wanted things kept in house. He felt guilty for letting the kid off and wanted to clean things up himself.” Abby laid it out. “Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t seen Cameron for what he truly was and he got out of Cape Town before Moshe got wise to him.”

  “Is it sick that I’m not all that upset he whacked his parents now that I know what a pair of royal asshats they were?”

  “It’s not sick.” Max gave a weak smile. “I felt the same way when the picture came into focus.”

  “So, Cameron got back in the blood game when he crossed paths with Manuel.” Lou got back to the matter at hand. “He must have run a check on Manuel and that’s how he learned about who his father was and how he was executed for running blood back in the day. Sparked that old blood slavery interest in him and he saw a chance for connecting with a kindred spirit? Or at least the offspring of a kindred spirit.”

  “Right.” Max nodded. “Some time ago, Cameron conned his parents into a family trip to Costa Rica of which he arranged to coincide with Ernesto’s family trip. This was at the early stages and before the bargain was struck between Cameron and the cartel. I believe the drug operation was a cover for his true passion, the blood trade. Him flipping the finger at the whole of the Sanguinostri, exploiting the week ones with his seductive blood supply.”

  “Black blood.” Lou was thinking aloud.

  “What?” Max looked at her with confusion.

  “My little term I came up with today.” Lou shrugged. “Black blood, black market blood.”

  “Ah.” He understood now. “Rather appropriate. That lead you had Frank look into on Gilroy, my former agent in charge here. That panned out.”

  “Really?” Lou wasn’t exactly surprised, it fit.

  “Yes. Apparently Gilroy had encrypted files from Cameron on his computer which lead us to learning Gilroy did in fact help get the shipments out of port.” Max finished off the last of his tea before he spoke again. “Removing Gilroy and his merry band of scumbags from their positions put a definite hitch in the operations here. That explains why Ernesto was looking for a more stable shipping route.”

  “That makes sense.” Lou agreed. “But he still has to have people helping him. What about the people buying the crap? They have strong motivation for making sure their drug of choice keeps flowing in.”

  “Connor and Finn are going through Juan Rojas’ computers now.” Max looked at his watch. “We figure there will be some names but whoever is doing the books on this end is going to have all the data we need.”

  “I’m betting that’s Carlos Vargas.” Lou narrowed her gaze. “His last surprise visit to his brother in Colombia had to have something to do with Gilroy and his network being taken out of the picture. Carlos having ties to Los Angeles, it makes sense that Ernesto would turn to him to get things back on track out here. Hell, the man pimped out his own daughter so I wouldn’t put anything past him.”

  Max furrowed his brow. “That’s a lot of pressure. Cameron wants Arcano shipping used as a pipeline so he recruits Ernesto to get his brother on board. Then they want Carlos to pick up local distribution here? That’s a little out of Carlos’ depth don’t you think?”

  “Very.” Lou answered as she was thinking it through. “Maybe all those murders were tying up lose ends and sending messages to him at the same time? But what the hell? Taking all of Arcano’s furniture out of the house? The bodies? Then the fire at the beach house? It all seems so dramatic.”

  “Well, it would be just like Cameron, if I am reading him right. To be arrogant enough to issue his own Bring me the Head order.” Abby tossed out her own theory. “Perhaps Esterhuizen and the Salazar brothers were not too hip on the black blood operation and wanted to peel off and take over the drug end themselves? That was a shitload of heroin, worth a shitload of money. One good run and they could retire.”

  “It could even be as simple as the Salazars and Esterhuizen not giving the black blood operation the focus Cameron wanted.” Lou modified Abby’s thought. “They were focusing on the heroin and slacking on the blood which is where Cameron and the Rojas brothers heart were.”

  “That makes sense too.” Abby agreed.

  “The only way we are going to find out for sure is by finding Manuel Rojas and Ernesto Vargas and beating the truth out of them.” Lou looked Max straight in the eyes before she continued. “Cameron Timms is a little too big a fish for me. The boys are going to have to get that prick.”

  “That goes without saying.” Max nodded. “We’re going to have to finesse all of this a good deal. The Vargas brothers can be the focus of your homicide investigation with the drugs being the motive. The Rojas’ and Cameron Timms however, they need to be surgically removed from the equation. We will need to get a hold of the Vargas brothers before you take them into custody to make sure their memories fall in line with the public version of things.”

  “Dillon and I both expect the fall out from the warehouse will get tossed back to us around mid-day tomorrow.” Lou looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly 3:00 a.m. “Crap, poor Dillon is going to be exhausted.”

  “Dillon? What about you?” Abby frowned at Lou but she just shrugged.

  “Ah, we do have a bit of luck there actually.” Max smiled. “Even though you are knee deep in this investigation, Vinny’s wife is making him go to a doctor’s appointment in the morning. They are having a sonogram. We learned this through our excellent new agent, your uncle Seamus. He was having dinner with them this evening when Vinny tried calling you several times with no success.”

  “My phone got killed.” Lou pouted.

  “Oh! I forgot to give you your replacement!” Abby shot up from the floor
and ran to the guest room.

  “No matter, Seamus said that he would pass along the message, which he has done through me.” Max grinned. “I spoke to your captain earlier and he is aware of what went on today so he is going to cover and say that you and Dillon were going through phone records until very late so he ordered you to take an early weekend. He’s using having to deal with red tape with Homeland Security as well.” He rolled his eyes. “Bottom line is that you two are excused from class tomorrow. Frank told Dillon while he was finding him clean clothes.”

  “Until they make the connection on the warehouse to Arcano. Then it will be back to us.” Lou reminded him.

  “You will deal with that when the time comes.” Max got up from the chair and stretched. “Until then, I suggest you get some rest. Abby is going to check on you through the night what with your concussion and all.” He gave her a disapproving look. “I am not going to even bother scolding you on that, especially since you made me a nice little sum over it.”

  “Hey! Yeah!” Lou attempted to look insulted. “What’s up with you betting on my misfortune?”

  Max chuckled. “What’s that saying? If you can’t beat them, join them?”

  “Very funny.” Lou tried not to grin. “How much did you win anyway?”

  “It was twenty bucks to get into the pool.” He waggled his eyebrows. “I made out with almost a grand!”

  “What?” Lou’s eyes almost popped out of her head.

  “That’s right. Nine-hundred dollars in my pocket. Marta was the bank so she paid out after Abby told us what had happened tonight. Right before I went to meet the boys.”

  “Marta was in on it?” Lou pouted.

  “My dear, given the opportunity, I am certain the entire Sheriff’s Department would have gotten in on it.” He smiled at her and smoothed her hair back behind her ear, taking a good look at her facial injuries. He could see that by tomorrow the left side of her face would most certainly be solid black and blue. “I just wish it had been a hangnail or a sprained toe rather then this extreme.” He sighed, his eyes softening as he gazed into her eyes. “I know that you are a tough, impossibly capable woman. I admire that strength and tenacity in you, it’s what makes you so exceptional. I just...” He cut himself off, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

  “You just what?” Lou was entranced by his tenderness.

  He hesitated to finish his thought. “I wish that I had some way of keeping you safe. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

  Lou’s breath caught and her heart nearly stopped dead in her chest. It was another one of those vague statements he made every now and then that made Lou think it might be possible he actually had feelings for her. The last time he did this she swore if there ever was a next time, she was going to push the issue so she could know for sure.

  “I’m sure you would find a suitable replacement in no time.” She chuckled, her nervous humor kicking in, foiling her previous plan.

  Max sat down on the edge of the coffee table, right in front of her and gathered her hands in his. He noticed how impossibly small they were compared to his and it made him smile. He looked at her intently and took a deep breath before he responded to her blase’ retort. He felt her hands trembling and that made his heart skip a beat. It was inevitable that he was going to have to bare his heart to her eventually, he just was not ready for that to be now. There was too much at stake for him to handle it poorly.

  “Lou, you need to know that you are irreplaceable to me.” He made sure she was looking him in the eyes as he spoke, hoping she would understand. “One day without being able to see your beautiful face, bruises and all, is an eternity too long for me.” Before she could think of some sarcastic come back he lifted her knuckles to his lips and kissed them tenderly. He gave her a soft smile then stood up just as Abby to came flying into the room waving Lou’s new phone in the air.

  “All charged and everything!” Abby announced but stopped short, seeing that she had interrupted something.

  Lou could barely tear her gaze from Max but finally she did. She struggled for something to say, clearly flustered and overwhelmed by his tenderness. “I’ll need to program it.”

  “It’s already done.” Abby smiled. “Your old phone backed up automatically so I just uploaded the data to this one. It’s like nothing ever happened.”

  Max walked to the door, patting Abby on the head as he passed her. “Our little miracle worker.” He winked at her and walked out of the room. “Sweet dreams ladies. See you in the morning.”

  “Night!” Abby shouted after him before he disappeared down the hall.

  “Good night.” Lou finally croaked, still overwhelmed by his previous words.

  “You really should get some rest.” Abby wanted to pry and ask what happened while she was gone but she thought the better of it. Instead, she headed over to Lou’s bed and pulled the covers back for her. “Don’t freak out if you see me wandering in during the night OK? I know it’s supposedly not true but I’m old school with head injuries and concussions. We were always taught not to go to sleep for a while afterward.”

  “Yeah I was old school too but the medic set me straight this evening.” Lou grinned at her.

  “Benny?” Abby asked. “Benny Pierce was your medic, right?”

  “Yeah, you know him?” Lou shouldn’t have been surprised.

  “He is such a sweetie!” Abby helped Lou get out of the chair and hobble over to the bed. “He worked at Walter Reed in D.C, for a while. We met when I volunteered, reading to the wounded soldiers.”

  “That is so wonderful of you Abby.” Lou knew that Abby had found Dillon at Walter Reed but she hadn’t really thought about it since Dillon told her his story. “One of these days you’re going to have to give me the full dish on Dillon. I know he’s your special project.”

  Abby smiled. “Yeah, he yanked on my heartstrings pretty good. I kinda think of him as my favorite nephew, ya know?”

  “I guess.” Lou collapsed on the bed, feeling her body’s dead weight give way. “Man I hurt.”

  Abby frowned. “Let me get you another pain pill before you crash.” She scrambled to get Lou her medicine and her cup of tea to wash it down with.

  “I’d try to argue with you but I’m too tired.” Lou snorted.

  Abby returned and handed Lou her pill then helped her sit up so she could wash it down with the tea. “There ya go. That should take the edge off so you can get some rest.”

  “Thank you for everything Abby. You are a rock star.” Lou held her ribs tightly as she slowly laid back down.

  “Nah, I’m just good at taking care of my family.” She smiled down at Lou and adjusted her pillow carefully. “Rest now. I’ll see you in the morning. Holler if you need me though. I can hear you no problem from down the hall.”

  “Thanks again.” Lou’s eyelids were already drooping. “Sweet dreams.”

  “You too, sweet pea.” Abby leaned down and kissed Lou’s forehead, as her mother often did. It made Lou smile only briefly because she was sound asleep in the next second. When she immediately started snoring, Abby had to cover her mouth not to laugh out loud.

  It had been a long hard day for Lou. One that only a select group would ever know the true story of. Dawn was only a few hours off but thanks to Max, Lou and Dillon were going to be able to sleep in a little longer and recuperate a little bit before they had to be at full speed again. Once Vinny got the call about the warehouse, the drugs and the Arcano coffee sacks, they would have their probable cause for warrants on Carlos Vargas. Both warrants for his Malibu home and his office would need to be carefully orchestrated. He would be brought in for questioning at the same time and Lou didn’t want the man tipped off that they were coming for him until they hit his door. Carlos Vargas had to know where his brother Ernesto was and Ernesto had to know where Manual Rojas was. If they were not together that is. It was a safe bet that they were with Cameron Timms or at least knew how to get to him. Until Vinny got the call, it was a w
aiting game once again. Fortunately for Lou, she could sleep while she waited.

  Niko arrived at the rental house just before dawn. The place was dark and silent save for the faint sound of Yuri snoring in the distance. He walked straight to the laundry room, slipped off his shoulder harness, setting his guns on the dryer then stripped off his clothes, socks and all then tossed them in the washer. He set the machine to heavy duty, picked up his guns then padded out and down the hall, stark naked. The plastic poncho had kept his clothes free of any blood spatter but they had dust and grime from two countries and thirty-six hours on them. He had burned his boots earlier, along with Juan Rojas’ shoes and clothing. Rojas no longer needed shoes, clothing, or air. He no longer existed. Just as Max had ordered, Juan Rojas was made dead, divided up into several easy to handle pieces, reduced to ash, then dumped in several different Andy Gumps around the valley. It seemed a fitting disposal for the good doctor, at least to Niko’s mind.

  When he finally reached his designated room on the first floor, Niko tossed his harness and guns on the bed and headed straight to his bathroom shower, not even bothering to wait until the temperature was right before getting in. He scrubbed himself down then just stood there, letting the now scalding hot water sink deep into his bones. After several minutes of stillness and quiet, he lathered up once more and began scrubbing away again. When he felt sufficiently cleansed of the night’s transgressions, he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, finding fresh fluffy towels waiting for him along with a large glass of scotch. A paper napkin was placed over the glass, apparently to keep it fresh. He smiled as he reached for the scotch before the towel. He savored the first draw of the amber elixir and noticed there was writing on the napkin.

  “There is a fresh bottle in the refrigerator that was gifted to you earlier this evening. I don’t mean scotch. Drink it all. You have had a rough twenty-four hours and I need you sharp this morning.