Checkmate (The Cassano Series Book 5)

by Scarlet Wolfe

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Victoria

  “Uh, come in,” Theo says after I’ve knocked on his office door. I open it up and discover he’s not alone. A woman is standing rather close to him at the front of his desk.

  “Oh, excuse me. I can speak to you later,” I say.

  “Wait, Victoria. Actually, I want to introduce you to Ms. Kim D’Angelo. She’s our contact at the Bureau and will be working with you, so I’m glad you stopped by.”

  Stepping inside, I stretch out my hand to shake hers. She smiles and returns a firm grip. I feel out of place in my casual attire of blue jeans and a t-shirt.

  My hair is in a ponytail, strands having fallen around my face. Both of them are dressed impeccably, and Ms. D’Angelo’s hair is short and sophisticated.

  I’ve heard all about her from Adrian, and I could even say she played a role in me losing my job.

  “Hi, I’m Victoria Hart.”

  “Nice to meet you.”

  I glance to Theo. “I wanted to let you know there will be a lot of commotion in the hallway today while furniture is being delivered. Reggie and I are busy setting up our new office.”

  “That’s no problem. I was about to take Kim to lunch.” My eyebrows lift in amusement, but I swiftly hide my expression. Since when are they so chummy? Adrian wouldn’t find this as humorous.

  “Ms. D’Angelo, would you have time this week to meet with me? I already have some developing news to report in the Carl Edward case. My partner and I have been following him, as well as some of his students from the university.”

  “I could meet with you after lunch today if that will work. The sooner we get this resolved the better.”

  “Theo, can we use the conference room since my office isn’t in order yet?”

  “That’s no problem.”

  “OK, just call me when you return from lunch,” I say before treading back to the door. I glance over my shoulder and smirk. “Oh, and enjoy yourselves.”

  ***

  “I can’t believe my office is now in Hotel Submission and Casino,” Reggie says from his new desk. The room Adrian insisted we occupy is more than enough space. We have two desks set up, but we could easily add a few more. The emptiness looks strange.

  “I told you it was too big,” Reggie says.

  “That’s what she said,” I reply, snickering.

  A throat is cleared, so I spin around and find Ms. D’Angelo at our open door. Good thing Reggie’s skin is so dark, or I imagine Ms. D would see him blushing behind me.

  “Oh, hi,” I say.

  “I’m ready for that meeting if you have time.”

  “Sure. Let me grab my notebook and pen.”

  I debate on inviting Reggie to our meeting, but he already made it clear he’d prefer to do only fieldwork on this case, and I can’t blame him. This situation with the Cassano brothers and the FBI is a sticky one.

  Ms. D follows me to the conference room, and once I’ve shut the door, we take a seat across from each other. She’s sitting up straight, chin lifted, with her fingers entwined on the table. Confidence is oozing from her, so we’re either going to hit it off great or butt heads. Let’s see which.

  “I apologize for my appearance,” I say as I tuck a wayward strand of hair behind my ear. “It’s move-in day for my partner and me.”

  “Theo filled me in on your new business venture and how you’ll soon be marrying his brother Adrian.”

  “Wow, he told you that much over lunch?”

  “Yes, uh, well, we’ve had to speak about this case on multiple occasions, so while making conversation, he shared bits and pieces.” As she fumbles to open a manila folder, her skin glows with a fiery shade of red.

  Her light brown eyes clearly don’t want to be found, and hot damn, something is definitely going on between her and Theo.

  “Adrian and I are marrying late December, so we’d love nothing more than to have this situation resolved and put behind us.”

  Seeing I’m not going to pry further about Theo, she exhales and smiles.

  “Yes, I imagine both of you do want that, and I can speak for all of the FBI when I say we’re on the same page.” She slants her head and studies me. “I’m going to break protocol here and share with you our early findings on Professor Carl Edward.

  “However, after today your help will be fairly one-sided. You will relay information to me, and the FBI and DEA will determine what to do with it.”

  As much as I hate what she’s implying, I understand this is not a case where I’ll get to be in on the action. If enough evidence is gathered to make an arrest, the FBI, DEA, and local law enforcement will handle it. The rest of us will have to simply sit back and pray it’s enough to end this nightmare.

  “I understand.”

  She flips through a few papers inside her folder.

  “We’ve completed an extensive check on Professor Carl Edward and discovered something interesting. He was raised by his single mother in Texas. She never remarried, and it appears she had an on-again, off-again relationship with Carl’s father.

  “The intriguing part is his father is an American citizen but is half Hispanic and has resided in Mexico most of his life. He would pop across the border and spend time with Carl and his mother whenever it suited him.

  “Although Carl’s father is elderly now, Carl has two younger half brothers residing in Mexico. Needless to say, they’ve become part of our investigation.”

  I consider all she has shared.

  “Carl has a relationship with his brothers, who are part of a cartel, and they’re supplying drugs to the professor,” I say.

  She shrugs. “It’s too early to say.”

  I cock my head as I ponder something.

  “You could’ve kept me in the dark on this. Why are you sharing top secret information with me?”

  “I was once proud to be a part of the FBI and followed everything by the book. Then, I was asked to protect certain criminals, the Cassano family included.

  “My loyalty and trust within the FBI was broken, and my superiors are not going to pick and choose when they want me to obey the law. I’m calling those shots now.

  “But with that said, I’ve since learned things are not always black and white, and now I want to help the Cassano brothers.

  “It’s my job to bust someone other than the owners of this hotel and casino, so that’s what I’m striving to do, and Theo believes the more you know the quicker we can make that happen.”

  I smirk. “I like you, Ms. D’Angelo. We share similar philosophies and traits.”

  “Please, call me Kim.”

  “OK, Kim. Thank you for sharing that with me. I’ll now fill you in on what my partner and I have discovered.…”

  Victoria

  “So, are you going to tell me what happened with Agatha?” I ask Reggie as we scope out Carl Edward’s home. We’re parked down the street in Reg’s Charger.

  “There’s not much to tell. I tried to start something with her, and she told me she was already dating someone else.”

  “You wouldn’t have gotten so upset and drunk that night when you crashed at Cicely’s if it was that simple.”

  He sighs and turns his head to look out the driver’s side.

  “We had already messed around a little, so I felt blindsided. I thought things were in motion for us to be together.”

  “Damn, Reg. I’m sorry.”

  He looks over and scrunches his forehead.

  “Do you think Cicely would ever be open to a relationship? Particularly one with me?”

  My eyes grow round. “You like Cicely?”

  He shrugs. “I realized recently that I do, but I don’t know how she would feel about it.”

  I think back to times Cicely and I have conversed about Reggie.

  “Damn. She has mentioned you a lot over the years. She also mentioned frequently how you liked me. Maybe she had wished you were into her instead.”

  Reg smiles. “I don’t know.
She’s pretty wild. Do you think she’s capable of settling down?”

  “She’s only dated around because she’s extremely outgoing and was trying to find that special connection with someone. Maybe she was trying to take her mind off of you.” I point at him. “You should ask her out, and be clear it’s a date.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “Do it, Reggie. You both deserve happiness, and you’re already really good friends. Now that I’ve thought about it, I can truly see the two of you together.”

  Reg suddenly leans forward, his eyes narrowed toward the front windshield. “What the fuck is Tucker doing here?” he asks.

  “Dammit. The station must have him undercover. How the hell did he find out about this?”

  Reg grips his hair and leans back against the seat.

  “Shit, Vic. There’s something I have to tell you.”

  “Have you been keeping another secret from me?” My tone is terse as my defenses go up. My fists clench. I’m sick of all the betrayal.

  “Look, Vic. This wasn’t my secret to tell. I told Adrian that he or Theo should tell you.”

  “What do they have to do with this?”

  “Tucker has been Theo’s contact in the department for a few years now.”

  My hands slap down onto the seat at each side of me.

  “What? How could you keep that from me?”

  “Before you knew I was an informant, there was no way I could tell you. You would’ve turned him in. Once you found out about me, I wasn’t sure how you’d react to the news. You don’t exactly like the guy. I felt like Adrian or Theo should’ve told you.”

  “Tucker turned me in to Sarge. He told him about my involvement with Adrian. Why would he do that if he’s working for them, too?” My lips purse. “He even rambled off that shit before you hit him about how I fraternize with the criminals ... What an asshole!”

  “I know. It didn’t make sense to me. All I could guess was he was jealous and worried you might find a way to end the good thing he had going with Theo.”

  “Shit, that explains all the expensive cars he drives and the money he has at his disposal. The little weasel,” I sneer.

  “I’ve barely spoken to him since the day you were fired,” Reg says, “but Adrian said he’s still working with Theo. Of course, I haven’t told Adrian that Tucker’s responsible for you losing your job. I’ve been worried what he’ll do once he knows. He doesn’t need to get himself in trouble with the cops in addition to the FBI.”

  I nod. “Yes, Adrian would most definitely want to murder Tucker. I bet Theo confided in him about Carl Edward and about the trouble there in again with the Bureau. I can’t believe the asshole is working both sides of the system.”

  “Think about it … He’ll look good on the force if he can bust this professor first, but then he can play dumb with Theo, acting like he knew nothing about it going down.”

  “I knew never to trust him.” Crossing my arms, I shoot Reggie a glare. “This is exactly why I told you never to tell him shit.”

  He hangs his head. “I know, but he was supposed to be my friend.”

  We wait in silence once Tucker enters Carl’s house. Reggie knows not to talk to me while I’m pissed, and I’m super pissed at him.

  I’m also angry at Adrian for not telling me this. Although, he probably didn’t feel it was his place to, either. It is Theo’s private business, so I guess it’s best I let it go.

  After about twenty minutes, Tucker returns to his car empty-handed. We carefully follow him, and he drives to his home.

  “Go back to Carl’s place. Maybe more drug couriers will show up for the goods, and we can follow them. We’ve got to relay new information to Ms. D’Angelo so they can make this bust before Tucker does.

  “I refuse to let Adrian go to prison, and I swear I’ll cut off Tucker’s tiny balls and feed them to him if that happens.”

  Reg snickers as he drives out of Tucker’s subdivision.

  “You’re going to forgive me, right?”

  I shake my head over what I’m about to say. I’m getting soft.

  “Yes, Reg. I know you’re one of the good guys, but the secrets stop here. If there are any more, you better spill them while we sit bored in your car.”

  “I promise there’s nothing else I’m keeping from you, and there never will be.”

  ***

  I’m in my office the next morning when Theo strolls by.

  “Good morning, Victoria.”

  “Good morning. I know you’re just getting in, but do you have a minute?”

  “Sure. Come on down to my office.” I follow him, and we pass Tara in the hallway. She’s in a gorgeous charcoal pantsuit, with a white blouse beneath, and her blond hair is wavy today and draped over her chest.

  “Good morning. I’m making coffee. Would you both like a cup?”

  Theo and I answer yes in unison. Once we’re in his office, I shut the door behind me and sit across from his desk. He removes his suit jacket and sits down.

  “I’m sorry. I should’ve at least waited until you had a cup of coffee first.”

  He waves toward me. “I had a cup at home. What’s up?”

  “I know about your informant, Tucker. Reggie had to tell me because we spotted him at Carl Edward’s residence last night.”

  Theo leans back in his executive chair and scrunches his brow.

  “What was he doing there?”

  “He’s trying to do the same thing we are-bust Mr. Edward.” I give Theo a moment to ponder. “I hate to pry, but did you share with Tucker about the case and the FBI?”

  He hooks his fingers together behind his head and blows out a breath. “Yes, and I feel like an idiot for doing that. I didn’t tell him everything, but I should’ve known this could happen. We pay him so well that I thought his loyalty was to me first, not the police force.”

  “I’m sorry. I guess he’s working both sides, and if I had to guess, he’s hoping he’ll bust Carl first. But like you, I don't see how that benefits him.”

  “I don’t either, but it’s time I cut him loose. The unfortunate thing is the damage is already done. He already knows some of our secrets.”

  “Look, we can’t afford to piss him off before we make this bust. Could you string him along until then?”

  “Sure. I’d really like to tell the asshole off, but I know now is not the time. I won’t share with him anything else about the case.”

  I stand and smile. “I’m glad we saw him last night. Now, we have to ensure the FBI busts Carl first. I better get to work to make that happen.”

  “Thank you, Victoria. For everything. You’re the best thing to ever happen to my brother.”

  “We’re a team. All of us.” I smile one last time and leave his office.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Aggie

  Poking my head out of Kruse’s makeshift home, his hotel room, I see the hallway is empty. I step a heel out onto the carpet, but he snags my arm and spins me around.

  One last passionate kiss is fed to my bruised lips, and much like the other times, it feels like a thank you for the secretive and sinful sex we’ve shared for the last couple of months.

  With a snicker, I pull away, and when my eyes meet his, he’s gazing over my head, wearing a state of dread like a crown over his panicked eyes.

  “What–the–actual–fuck?” Zev snarls. His low voice is one deep cut through my skin rather than a shrapnel of fury exploding from his mouth.

  I spin around, wedged inside a funnel of fury from him and the anxiety I feel from Kruse. It’s obvious Zev’s been in their private gym from the sweat giving off a glistening mirage on his skin.

  “Zev, it’s none of your business,” I snap. His towel from his workout is snapped out in front of us next, right off of his shoulder.

  “Like hell it isn’t.” He’s still snarly, like the shock hasn’t quite awakened his lungs yet.

  “Zev, she’s right. She’s not a child.”

  “But
she’s my fucking sister!” His eyes frantically bounce between us. “Aggie, what is this?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  He groans wildly. “What’s going on between you two?!”

  His roaring lungs cause me to flinch.

  “Don’t bark at me, and I don’t have to tell you!” I don’t have to disclose to him that I’m so far deep in love, every part of me owned by Kruse.

  “OK …” His gaze targets in on Kruse. “Answer me this, asshole. Is this only you fucking my sister, nothing more?”

  Aside from our breaths and pounding hearts, the air is a soundboard for silence.

  One second …

  Two seconds …

  Three—

  “Yes.” The three letters tangle in Kruse’s throat yet escape none the less. There’s no hiding the pain my brother must see in my tear-soaked eyes. My lips quiver as I’m overcome with heartache.

  Pressing my heels against the carpet to balance my shaky body, I turn around and slap Kruse with all the strength I can muster.

  “How?” An agonizing sob is the question mark at the end. “How can you still call it that?”

  He flinches and reaches for me, but I jerk away. Pain, regret, panic, it’s all there, but he doesn’t take back his gut-wrenching three letter word as I stare into his blue eyes that are no longer vibrant with affection like they were only five minutes ago.

  “You think you’re protecting your heart by acting like you don’t have one, but that won’t stop it from aching for me. I hope it hurts like hell.”

  I hurry away, my feet trying to catch up. The thump I hear has me glancing over my shoulder. Kruse is doubled over after Zev’s fist collided with his abs. For once, I welcome my brother’s temper.

  Simon

  Making the final loop of my tie, I pull it through and straighten it. I’m staring at the mirror in our foyer when the doorbell rings. Without looking through the peephole, I swing open the door.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?”