by DD Prince
“I called him,” Zack replied, “He’s knowledgeable and I hit a dead end. It was pointing one way and I had no idea at first that he not only knew who Holly was, but that he had her.”
Dare shook his head at me and kept talking, “What the fuck, man? We can’t let him keep Holly in exchange for Tessa.”
“Get Tessa back first. Then set up a meeting,” Zack suggested, “Try to negotiate.”
“We’re going nowhere near that fucker,” I bit off. “We’re supposed to believe he’ll hand our sister over without retaliation for what he thinks we did?” I wasn’t about to admit it, not knowing who else was privy to the conversation with Zack, Zack the fuckin’ fed.
Only a fool doesn’t try to think like someone who should be an enemy. No way would I negotiate with anyone who’d killed my brother. I might pretend for a heartbeat to get them in my sights and then I’d end them. How could Zack or Romero think we were this gullible?
“I’ll go,” Zack offered, “I’ll pick up your sister and see if it’s open for negotiation about Holly.”
“What the fuck?” I bit off, “Why would you go?”
“I have a strategic relationship with him. He’s not a good guy. But he’s an ally of mine. Nothing will happen to me if I go down there. I can get your sister back safe. Speaking of which, I need to meet with you both, today, have you sign non-disclosure agreements. In the meantime, I know you both know that this conversation is privileged.”
“He know you’re working with the Feds?” Dare asked.
I was grinding my teeth down so hard my jaw was beginning to ache.
“I hope that’s not a threat, Dario,” Zack said.
Dare laughed. There was a threatening edge to his laughter. Even though he was playing ball with Zack, he wasn’t happy about what’d gone down and I knew my brother, he wasn’t about to be anybody’s bitch.
“He has Angel’s sister for sure, then?” I cut in.
“For sure,” Zack replied, “But Romero insists she’s non-negotiable.”
“How dangerous is he?” Dare asked.
“You don’t wanna fuck with this guy,” Zack replied.
In the time we’d worked with him, we’d put him in a number of rocky scenarios with some bad motherfuckers and he had never cautioned us against fucking with someone before.
“All right. Go down there. Call us after you’ve got a read on this situation,” Dare ordered.
My eyes met my brother’s and I shook my head in dismay. What a fuckin’ mess.
I was gonna be heading back to Vegas to get my sister, who Zack was bringing. I’d be taking Tia with me, no way would she be that far away from me while all this was going down. And I decided that I wanted to be seen in public with Tessa by Leo’s people and that might flush him out. And then I was going to fucking kill him.
After Zack got Tessa to Vegas, he’d head to Thailand to rendezvous with his people about bringing down Kruna.
Dare was gonna be heading to Thailand the night we arrived in Vegas. I was skipping the partner summit for the sex slave resort but Dare needed to go. I didn’t envy my brother.
He had to tell Angel that not only did he need to go to Thailand for the Kruna partner meeting but that he needed to bring her with him, also. And Zack was suggesting Angel be the one with the wire. Dare was havin’ a problem with this. Understandably.
I didn’t know whether or not she knew the latest news about her sister or not. My brother and I were butting heads a bit, both of us feeling the strain of everything happening, so we were talking but it was minimal.
“Maybe it’s better that you skip this summit and we go after Fete opens together for a meeting with them.”
Dare shook his head, “They got a better chance of people implicating themselves at the summit. Stan sent me information with the loose itinerary. If I gotta go, this is the time. How’s this gonna pan out though, man? These fuckers get arrested and we don’t? That’ll go over well. They’re being tight-lipped about how it’s all gonna shake out.”
“No,” I told him, “We approach it all with caution, bro. You go, get information or whatever, and then when you’re back, you and I meet before anything is handed over. No way will we put our trust in these guys. They’ll use you and Angel as pawns.”
Dare nodded, “Zack’s given me assurances about getting out of all of this but can’t promise we won’t have to change our identities.”
To shave Tommy Ferrano off and be something else? I tried, briefly, to be Thomas Caruso in Costa Rica but it didn’t feel like me. I was me. I didn’t think I could be anyone else. My brother wanted to live clean. I’m not saying I didn’t. I just didn’t know how much I’d be able to put my fate into the hands of others, particularly people like Zack who’d betrayed my trust, who’d played me.
You know that saying, once bitten, twice shy? Well, for me it was you even try to bite me and I’ll rip your goddamn teeth out.
Dare
I met with Zack to sign his non-disclosure agreement and talk more about shit. We were in his office.
“Your brother on his way?” Zack asked. His associate and right hand man Hal, a forty-something private eye and another dude named Randall, who was the fed with the special task force Zack worked with, witnessed the signing.
I told them Tommy wasn’t able to make it for the meeting and Randall tried to pull a heavy on me saying he couldn’t guarantee Tommy’s immunity unless he came in and went through everything with them.
“My brother is busy.”
“Jacobs has updated us on the situation with your missing sister. We still need him to sign these documents. We’ll still need to interview him regarding several matters.”
“That’s gonna have to wait,” I said, not sure if Tommy would play ball at all and not liking that they knew about Tessa. I didn’t know how much they knew so I wasn’t gonna even address it with these guys.
“We have evidence pointing to your brother being the one who murdered your father and if we---”
I got to my feet, “Shut this fucker up, Zack. Get him out of here or I bail. You can work without my help.”
The little fucking puke.
“Everybody,” Zack pushed his hands down in a calming gesture and reached into a cupboard above his desk and pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels. He fetched a couple glasses and put them down.
“Have a drink, Dario.”
I didn’t want a drink. I wanted a cigarette. And to smash Randall, the motherfucker’s, nose. I was still wearing a fuckin’ nicotine patch but I was ready to either rip it off and light up or rip someone’s head off.
Randall said, “We’ll circle back to your brother later. For now, I’ll say we may or may not require testimony from you. Your wife, we will, but we are hoping it can be done in such a way to protect her identity. We already have testimony from Jason Frost. He’s still in custody and cutting a deal. We need one more thing from him in order to clinch the deal and we’ve got people working on that. We also have testimony from someone else and this is something we need to discuss, as well. We’d have preferred that your brother be in attendance for this part.”
“What testimony?” I asked.
The guy regarded me a second and then made his decision to tell me what he was talking about. “Your father’s widow.”
“What?” When had they talked to Lisa?
“As part of our investigation, I employed some tactics,” Zack began, pouring me some whisky. I shook my head, refusing it.
He pushed it closer and gave me a look.
“Randall’s team directed me to set Tommy up with Oliver as a counselor. Oliver also does work for Randall’s department.”
“Fuck,” I bit off. And then I drank down the contents of the glass and immediately poured myself another.
“Tommy got Oliver talking to Lisa when she had her breakdown after the miscarriage. While she was away on her retreat, she was with Oliver and more of Randall’s people. I spoke to her as well. They have a lot of information
from her and it’s gonna help, Dario. Immensely.”
I blew out a breath. My brother was going to lose his fuckin’ mind. He was either gonna kill or ruin that guy. He’d be enraged.
Randall got up, his phone ringing, and he left the room.
“You’d best tell Oliver to change his face and get a new identity,” I advised Zack, “And what the fuck on Jason Frost? He’s getting away with his part in this?”
“Don’t know what the deal is for him, that’s out of scope for me, but lesser of evils, Dario. Maybe Lisa should go with you to Thailand as well. Bring them both?”
I shook my head, “I told Joseph Lucas that I took Jason Frost out. Because you fuckin’ asked me to trust you and that’s what you told me to do, Zack. He surfaces, it’s gonna put me in a very fuckin’ uncomfortable situation. And Lisa? No. Lisa’s too fragile.”
But in my head I wished she wasn’t. She could help Angel through this.
I was not looking forward to telling my angel that she had to go with me. She hadn’t brought the place up at all lately. We didn’t discuss it even once while we were in Italy. On our honeymoon, other than seeing Ma and her husband in rough shape, Angel had seemed like she was trying to have a good time.
We’d gone for nice meals, fucked two or three times a day like honeymooners were supposed to do, and did a bunch of sightseeing. I was glad we were gonna have the rest of it once everything was done, though. She’d need it.
Randall was back, “We think Lisa should also go. Is there a way to finesse that with Gan Chen?”
I shook my head, “Not likely. And Lisa isn’t ready for that.”
“Lisa is stronger than you think. Her therapy has been helpful,” Randall said, “And of course we will need to interview Angelica. Soon.”
I figured Angel would want to help put those fuckers away but I needed to protect her from this, keep her safe not only physically but mentally.
“I do not think Lisa’s a good idea. At all. Regards to my wife, I’m there for any meetings or interviews. She’s extremely traumatized and she won’t be without me for any of this.”
“If all goes a certain way, she’ll have to sit on the witness stand alone, though, Dario. We’re gonna try to plea. The more information we have, the better that’ll go and the more chances we won’t have to reveal the identities of any of the witnesses, including Frost,” Zack put his hand on my shoulder. The look in his eyes reminded me of why I’d considered this guy a friend.
“I know. But if she takes the stand, she’ll have me there in the courtroom. She’ll know she’s safe if she can lay eyes on me, if I’m in the room.”
As much as I detested all she had endured, I had zero problem being her touchstone, her strength.
They wanted to wire her, though, and that didn’t sit well.
“My woman is not your sacrificial lamb,” I’d repeated, pissed at the very idea of it being brought up again.
They retorted that since she was considered my property no one at Kruna would touch her. They had special devices that would fly under radar by typical bug detecting devices. They recommended I avoid the wire if at all possible because if there was any suspicion whatsoever it would be more likely that they’d check me for bugs and her bra would be made of some material that would mask it, whereas if I wore the bug in my pocket or whatever, it could be detected. If I got stuck, I should snip that section out, leaving it in the bra fabric, before planting it on myself somewhere.
We discussed logistics, they badgered me about trying to get Tommy more on board, and Randall tried to get pushy again.
“My brother can’t help you with Kruna. My brother hasn’t yet met any of these fuckers, we’ve had one conference call where Tommy was present but you already know that shit because Zack recorded that call so my guess is that you’ve heard the tape. Tommy does not play in that world. He’s focusing on getting Contessa back right now.”
“We know he was privy to some of your father’s dealings in human trafficking…”
“Tommy knew my father knew people and knew Pop frequented an overseas sex resort. That was the extent of his knowledge. Tommy didn’t even know Lisa was bought and had no day-to-day dealings with that trade. Knowledge and participation are two different things and Tommy’s knowledge was minimal, participation: nil.”
They had to know this, if they’d spent effort building a case against my father. They also had Tommy’s head shrink on staff so whatever my brother had copped to with him in his efforts to clear his conscience or whatever the fuck he was trying to do, clearly they didn’t have all that much. I hoped.
Randall and Hal left and me and Zack were alone again. I had a lot to chew on. Certain things happening might make witness protection better for all of us. Getting through all of this without the Ferrano name being mud was possible but would be tricky. I’d already given a lot of requirements that had to be worked into my written ‘deal’.
We were gonna have another meet before I left for Thailand to discuss the revised terms.
Of course I didn’t want to go into witness protection. But I wanted to carve out at least a few options so I could pick the best of them when this all shook out.
“I got a number. You can speak to your sister. All right?”
That got my attention and settled me down for a minute because I’d lost a lot of fuckin’ sleep worrying about her in the past week.
He plucked a phone out of his jeans pocket and fiddled a minute and then put it on the table between us on hands-free.
“Hello.” A male voice greeted, finally, on the fourth ring.
“Lex? Jacobs here. I have Dario with me and you’re on speaker.”
Silence.
Zack gestured to me and looked at the phone.
“Where’s Tess?” I didn’t bother with useless greetings.
“She’s safe here,” the voice answered, “She has been safe since she came to me. She’s comfortable and well. She’ll be sent home with our mutual acquaintance when he arrives tomorrow.”
The guy didn’t have a Mexican accent. If anything, he sounded like he could’ve been brought up here in our neighborhood.
“And you have my sister-in-law?” I ventured.
“I do.”
“I’d appreciate it if you would send her back with Tess. I will make it worth your while,” I tried.
“She’s not for sale.”
“Her sister---”
The guy cut me off, “I’m aware of the situation. I’m telling you, she is not negotiable. I said this to Zack Jacobs. I went to great expense to acquire your sister. She is the peace offering.”
“I’m aware and I’m appreciative. This is my wife’s sister we’re talking about right now. Do you know the backstory?”
“I do. Show your appreciation for my saving your sister from what we both know would have been a horrific end by dropping your hunt for your wife’s sister. You now know who has her and it’s me. She’s staying put.”
I looked to Zack. Zack gave me a pointed look.
“You know all of it?” I tried to confirm. “Know they’ve been apart for two years, not knowing where the other was?”
“I do know,” he replied, “I know more than you know. Take your sister and drop it.”
“What condition is Holly in?”
“She’s mine.”
I sucked on my teeth at that answer, which was delivered slowly and with a tone that couldn’t be mistaken. It meant ‘none of your fuckin’ business’.
“This about revenge against us? For what you may assume was our involvement in the deaths of two of your family members? Because ---”
“No. If that were the case you wouldn’t be getting your sister back. You and your brother did me a favor. Between you and I. Do not repeat that; I will deny it and I’ll seek to ensure there are consequences if you do. This is about her being mine, which she’s been for a lot longer than the few months you’ve known her sister. I’m merely making this peace offering to show you there’s nothing
unresolved between our families. I did you a favor by rescuing your sister. You return that favor by backing off where your sister-in-law is concerned.”
“I don’t think you understand my position. My wife spent two years enslaved and Holly is---”
“I warn you, you do not wanna attempt to take her from me. You do not.” I heard a noise with his ‘not’, as if he’d slammed his fist down with that word.
Zack put his hand on my shoulder. I shrugged him off and got to my feet out of frustration.
Fuck!
He considered Holly his property, without a doubt, and he wasn’t about to voluntarily part with that property. This would have to get dirty.
“What condition is she in?” I pushed, learning toward the phone.
He didn’t answer. I wasn’t surprised.
“Let me rephrase,” I bit off, losing the thin thread of control I still had, but he cut me off again.
“I will allow Tessa to see her briefly so that you may put your wife’s mind at ease.”
“What about allowing Holly and her sister to meet?” Zack offered.
“We can discuss that at a later time. After your business in the East with our other acquaintance is done.”
Did Romero know that we were about to take Kruna down? Who did he know there? I looked at Zack. I couldn’t read him.
“Can Dario speak to Tessa briefly? It’ll put minds at ease,” Zack requested.
“All right. A minute.”
We waited for at least five minutes.
“Hello?” Tess called, her voice trembling.
“Tessa?” I asked.
She started to whimper, “Dare?”
“You okay?”
“I wanna come home.”
“Zack is coming for you tomorrow. He’ll bring you to Tommy. I gotta go out of town but Tommy’ll be there. You ever meet Zack?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, everything’s fine. The girls are all looking after your boys. They miss you but they’re not frightened. They’re getting spoiled by all their aunties. Okay? They’ll be there when you get to Tommy. Everything’s gonna be okay, sweetheart. This guy’s got you safe and comfortable?”