Off the Grid for Love

by Rena Koontz

  “Have you found out anything more about that money in her account?” Jake held out hope that there was another explanation for Mackenna’s healthy bank balance, although he couldn’t fathom one.

  “I don’t need to chase those dollars, Jake. I need to find the money that’s missing and the person who has it. I suggest you focus on the facts, agent, and for her sake, persuade her to turn herself in. She could be facing time in a federal prison for her role in all of this. I’m willing to back that down if she cooperates. But the clock is ticking.”

  Arguing that Mackenna was innocent was useless. “If I find her, I’ll try to do that.”

  “Better you find her than me, my friend. If I locate her first, I’m adding fugitive to my list.”

  Jake disconnected and dialed Mackenna’s phone again but it was no use. She wasn’t taking his calls. His gut told him something was off kilter. Instead of wasting time trying to find Mackenna, he should focus on proving her innocence. Where had the money come from that poured into her checking account? She hadn’t known it was in there. Jake recalled that night at dinner when she described herself as destitute. Who used a word like that unless they truly believed it?

  Back at his home office in Alabama, Jake was buddies with a computer analyst who could crack any code, hack any program, and trace any transmission. Asking Cody Wilson to examine the deposits transferred into Mackenna’s account without authorization would be an imposition and border on yet another transgression on Jake’s part. Not the first time for a reprimand. His personnel file bulged with disciplinary letters for acting on his own, failing to abide by the rules on two raids when he’d rushed in ahead of the go-ahead signal, and one three-day suspension for covering for an agent drunk on the job. He’d gained a reputation as a maverick but his track record for solving cases balanced the scale.

  The deposits might be a viable lead. Jake only hoped it didn’t lead right back to Kenna.

  He dialed his long-time ally. “Your ass could be in a sling if they catch on,” Jake told Cody after laying out the specifics of the case. “If you want to back off, I understand.”

  Cody’s Southern drawl oozed through the phone. “Let me make sure I understand. These are the bank records of the suspect teller?”

  “Yes.”

  “But this isn’t your case.”

  “No.”

  “So it’s an unauthorized analysis.”

  “Off the books, yes.”

  “Your eyes only.”

  “Yes.”

  Cody remained silent a full ten seconds. “Is she sweet?”

  It was a game they played going through training together as single men who partied hard on weekends. Jake couldn’t resist smiling and repeating the expected answer. “Sweet as sweet ’tater pie.”

  The sound of Cody tapping keys on his keyboard filtered through the phone. “I’ll get back to you.”

  It was a risk to both their careers but Cody was the best at what he did. He’d be able to step in and out of the bank’s records without leaving a footprint. The only thing that worried Jake was what he might find.

  With nothing to do but wait, Jake listened to Vinny’s messages. He invited Jake to dinner at the family compound, sounding excited at the proposition. It had to be tonight, Vinny said. He’d send a car so they could enjoy their meal and countless glasses of Cabacolli’s famous homemade wine. Jake dropped his head into his hands. Why tonight of all nights did Vinny open the door to the Cabacolli family when Jake needed to be available in case Mackenna called? How should he weigh a major break in the covert Cabacolli investigation against working to find the woman he couldn’t live without and helping prove her innocence?

  One was a given. He’d meet Old Man Cabacolli tonight and finally infiltrate that mob’s hierarchy. The case was a career-maker.

  The other was an unknown. Where was she? Was she innocent?

  While he pondered his dilemma, Courtney called.

  “Hey, partner, how does it feel to bring down a major corruption operation? Good, I bet. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

  He thanked her, his mind on Vinny and Mackenna.

  “I need one final report from you, Jake. I’m offering dinner and drinks to celebrate if you can complete that by tonight.” Crap. Another demand for his time.

  “That sounds good, Court, but I may have to delay our celebration by a day. Vinny wants me to attend a family dinner tonight and meet his Old Man. I haven’t confirmed yet but I bet the boss says that takes precedence over a night out celebrating with you. I was just about to call him. We’ll have to get our asses in gear fast to set all the precautions in place but I can’t imagine he’ll want me to pass up this chance. I’ll call you back.”

  Just because Courtney’s case was closed didn’t mean she wouldn’t still have his back. “No need. If you’re working tonight, I’ll have your six.”

  Chapter 25

  Meeting was dangerous. Up until now, they always communicated by text on burner phones that they tossed often. There was no need for a face-to-face but his partner was insistent. They’d amassed thousands of dollars from the robberies. Enough to keep them living the high life for months.

  He’d split the hauls evenly, aware that his partner had the capability of learning the amount each hold-up yielded to the exact penny. He’d wondered what the man did but never asked. He had to be on the inside, some kind of bank bigwig to possess the specifics about the banks that he detailed.

  From that first day, after the bank rejected his loan application and he stormed from the building at his wit’s end, he’d known this dude was smart. He’d sat in a coffee shop, the same one he waited in now, in despair. Without the loan, he’d be homeless.

  A deep voice from the seat behind him cut through his misery. “Don’t turn around. Just listen to me. I can help you out of your financial hole. It’s safe but not legal. Are you interested?”

  At that point, any solution was viable. And so their partnership began. He never saw his partner’s face, only the back of a tweed overcoat and a fedora worn low over his face. His partner dropped a burner phone in his lap, said “I’ll be in touch,” and disappeared.

  They split each haul fifty-fifty. That was their agreement from day one, although the thought occurred to him more than once that he took all the risks and should be entitled to a bigger percentage.

  But his partner was the brains of the operation and so far, his intel had been spot on. Three days after each robbery, he tucked a stuffed envelope into a post-office box at Brighton City’s main post office. The activity there was constant and he doubted anyone noticed a well-dressed man routinely checking his box. When his partner collected the package he didn’t know but it was always gone when he next looked inside. In its place was another phone and a number pre-programmed.

  After the last robbery, when the grandmother disguise worked flawlessly, they’d agreed to lay low for a while and he was fine with that. Time to sit back and reap the rewards of his work. Exactly why his partner wanted a meet was unclear but he acquiesced and now he waited at the same table where it all began.

  A text message vibrated his throwaway phone. ‘Out back, behind the building. Next to the dumpster. Red pickup.’

  Well, maybe he’d finally lay eyes on this guy. He strolled to the driver’s side of the vehicle where his partner sat, collar turned up, hat drawn low and sunglasses. He stared straight ahead when he spoke.

  “Get in. We’ve got a problem.”

  Nonchalantly so as not to attract attention, he walked around the front of the cab and stepped into the passenger seat. “The feds are smarter than we thought. Where do you keep your cache?”

  The recollection of the piles stacked neat against the baseboard of his bedroom made him smile. The bills spanned the circumference of the room.

  �
�My place. Why?”

  His partner turned and eased a handgun from the folds of his coat. A silencer was screwed to the front of it. “I’m going to need that money.”

  Chapter 26

  Vinny was impatient and called just as Jake hung up with Courtney. His persistence aggravated Jake. Without clearing it with his supervisors first, he couldn’t confirm a dinner with the Cabacolli family. Jake couldn’t simply waltz into the restaurant without backup. Striving to conceal his irritation, he accepted the call.

  “I got your message, Vinny, but I can’t commit yet. I might have plans tonight. You know the kind I mean.”

  Vinny should get the implication. He always thought with his dick.

  Vinny snickered into the phone. “You finally gonna tap that chick? What’s her name? Kenna?”

  Christ, the man was a pig. Instead of responding, Jake faked a laugh.

  “Well you waited this long, delay that piece for another night. My old man is hot to meet you. He saw you in your bracelets on TV. Let’s just say he’s interested in you working for us. The evening will be worth your time if for no other reason than it’s a free meal and his wine is the finest. And you won’t have to worry about getting laid. Misty will be there. She hasn’t forgiven you yet for disappearing on her. Where’d you go, anyway?”

  A headache started behind Jake’s eyes. He didn’t have time to play Vinny’s games. He needed to find Mackenna. But this was a chance to meet the mob boss and he couldn’t blow it.

  “My head was pounding, man. I think that piece of shit deputy gave me a concussion when he hit me. I wasn’t about to puke my guts out in your guest bedroom.”

  “Well, I’m sure Misty will let you make it up to her. I’ll send a car at seven that way we can drink as much as we like.” His laugh sent chills up Jake’s spine. Send a car where? He’d never shared his address with Vinny, never so much as mentioned his living arrangements. How did Vinny know where he lived? Jake stared at the words ‘Call ended’ when the connection went dead.

  Jake’s boss was ecstatic about the dinner invitation but uncomfortable about the immediacy of it. They’d have to hustle to lock the safeguards in place to protect Jake. But everyone knew when a mob boss agrees to a meeting, you don’t say no.

  “We can place a utility van outside and send a couple of agents inside to have drinks at the bar,” the boss said. “At this late date, they likely won’t get a table. Cabacolli’s right about one thing. His stepfather’s restaurant is quite popular. There’s always a waiting list for reservations. But a handful of agents inside and out is not enough shadowing, not with these people.”

  Jake wasn’t as concerned. “It’s just dinner, boss. I won’t leave the restaurant. If it makes you happy, I’ll wear the GPS watch too.”

  “It would make me happier if you wore your bullet-proof vest.”

  Jake laughed. “That might prove awkward since Vinny is fond of hugging me when he sees me.” The Agent in Charge shook his head.

  “C’mon, boss. There’s no indication he thinks I’m anything more than a small-time bagman. He could have my address from the news reports. Or if we’re right about a mole, some cop on his payroll might have provided it. I hope it was that little shit deputy at City Hall. I owe him one. But you’re over-thinking this. Vinny isn’t going to shoot me in the middle of his restaurant. Front for the family rackets or not, it’s too high profile.”

  “Make sure you wire up,” the boss ordered before issuing the green light for the meet. He’d wear a wire so all conversations were recorded to use later as evidence. But the excitement of breaking into the Cabacolli underworld was dulled by Mackenna’s evaporation. That’s essentially what it was because she’d disappeared without a trace. The search of The Hole yielded nothing, as Jake knew it would. But its emptiness lent credence to the theory that she was on the run. And that made her look guilty.

  Agents didn’t find anything suspicious or out of the ordinary at her home bank. But no one had seen or heard from her. She’d vanished without a trace, as if aliens had beamed her off the planet.

  Quite smart for the average bank teller, Demond had mused out loud after filling Jake in on the outcome of both searches.

  Still, in his heart, Jake knew it couldn’t be.

  ~ ~ ~

  Something wasn’t right. Vinny’s black BMW waited outside Jake’s apartment complex sixty minutes before their scheduled arrival. Jake eyed the car from his third-floor window and then listening to his gut, he walked down the fire exit steps and peeked out the back door of the building. An identical black car was parked outside. The tinted windows prevented Jake from seeing if it was occupied but his instinct told him it was. Vinny’s goons were surveilling him. But why?

  Jake checked his watch. Likely his backup agents were making their way to Cabacolli’s Casaria right about now but wouldn’t arrive for at least another thirty minutes. He eyed the tiny recorder disguised as a thin cigarette lighter that he’d slip into his pants pocket so the entire evening was on the record. Vinny smoked and knowing the mob’s fondness for cigars, Jake started carrying the lighter so he could offer a light as a sign of respect, even though he didn’t smoke. But having it on him, with the recording device hidden inside, was easier than concealing the microphone in his clothes or his phone.

  Protocol dictated he wear the wire for any undercover meeting and he had. Faithfully. But tonight, doubt gripped Jake’s insides. The vibes for this family dinner were off. The Cabacolli family dinners were usually an all-day event on Sundays. Today was Thursday. Why dinner tonight? So suddenly?

  He had no intentions of parting with his pants for Misty or anyone else who wanted the opportunity to search his pockets. But he’d learned to rely on his gut feelings and tonight they screamed at him. Something was wrong. Was it his concern for Mackenna screwing with his thoughts or a matter more immediate? He couldn’t sort it out.

  Ignoring the recording device, he buttoned his shirt. He’d leave it behind tonight and file a written account of the evening tomorrow. That was acceptable in an emergency and every nerve ending in his body told him tonight qualified. What was one more reprimand?

  Once he was dressed, Jake dialed Demond, deliberately delaying his exit to the waiting car. Demond confirmed what Jake already feared. Mackenna’s disappearance was flawless, which cemented Demond’s suspicions. He apologized while telling Jake that he now considered her a fugitive and had taken appropriate action. The local TV stations received press releases identifying her for the bank robberies as a primary suspect, likely making her the lead story on every newscast complete with a photo and physical description. Every police agency had the same information.

  Jake cursed when, once again, his call to her cell phone went unanswered.

  Finally, dressed in the suit he wore to testify in court, Jake emerged from his building thirty minutes late, mumbling a half-hearted apology when one of Vinny’s goons jumped out of the passenger’s seat and opened the rear door. The back seat was empty. The hairs on Jake’s neck edged up.

  “Yo, buddy,” he said as the passenger door slammed shut. “I expected Vinny to be here. Or at least Misty.”

  Looking straight ahead as the car rolled away from the curb, the goon said, “Something came up last minute for the boss. He’s meetin’ ya there.”

  Jake shrugged and tightened the clasp on his watch. “No problem.”

  Chapter 27

  Mackenna emerged from a foggy stupor in slow degrees. Her eyes felt as gritty as sandpaper, her tongue swollen and her mouth parched. She tried to wet her lips but she had no saliva. Muted piano music filled the room and she blinked at the unfamiliar surroundings. Two windows on a pale blue wall looked out over a lake. She lay on a bed with her right arm stretched over her head.

  When she attempted to sit up, cold metal cut into her wrist and she wrenched her head ba
ckward searching for the cause. What the hell? Silver handcuffs kept her arm locked to the post of a metal headboard. Using her left hand she propped herself up into a sitting position. The room was empty except for a wooden chair and folding table in one corner. A lighted bedside lamp glowed from atop the table.

  She scanned the floor for her purse and felt her pockets for her phone, finding neither.

  Mackenna shook her head to clear her vision and tried to recall how she got here. The last thing she remembered was the highway rest area. She strained to identify any sounds outside the room. Dead silence.

  “Hello?”

  Shuffling sounds from beyond the door drew her attention. “Hello? Is someone there?”

  The door swung open and a giant of a man poked his head inside. “Hang on, lady. I’ll get my boss.” Sweet Jesus! It was the behemoth who spied on her weeks ago at the discount store. Her pulse spiked and her mind raced. That giant had been with Jake’s friend, Vincent. Was Jake here? Why would he hold her captive like this?

  Footsteps sounded from the hallway and then Vincent entered the room. Gone was the polite air he’d assumed in the grocery store and the superior attitude she’d witnessed when he spoke to her and Jake from his back seat in the mall parking lot. He stormed toward her and she cowered in fear but not before he punched her on the side of the face, blurring her vision and drawing blood when her lip smashed against her teeth.

  Tears pooled in her eyes and she raised her free hand to her cheek.

  “That’s so you know who the boss is, Miss McElroy. It isn’t my plan to hurt you but I will if I have to. What can you tell me about your boyfriend?”