“Info on extortion. It seemed that when an owner of an old warehouse or building resisted selling cheap to whatever buyer was coming along, they suddenly signed gladly or were eliminated.” Turning to the detectives, he continued, “You were getting wind of some of this, but by then we had been working for almost two years on trying to find the ties to Gibbons. When his father had their name changed, he did it in a way that really covered his tracks.”
Gabe stood up, fists on the table, leaning over toward Monty. “You fuckers knew about this Gambelini for two years. Knew the local detectives were working on the extortion without the resources you have. Knew that it was continuing so innocent people were getting hurt. And you fuckin’ did nothing about it?” he roared, veins standing out on his neck.
“Going in early without solid evidence would have done nothing to stop him,” Monty bit back. “I do my job just like you do yours.”
“The hell you do,” Gabe argued.
“You get a mission, you plan it out. Don’t fucking tell me that there isn’t collateral damage sometimes,” Monty yelled back.
Suddenly the eyes of the little boy standing in a room with explosives strapped to his waist flashed back into Gabe’s vision. The eyes that wanted to trust that someone would care enough to stop what was inevitable. And the eyes that stared at him as he turned, running away with their mission accomplished as the explosives detonated. His vision began to blur as he held his breath. Breathe, fuckin’ breathe bro, he heard in the distance.
Taking a ragged breath, his vision began to clear as he felt Vinny push him down into a chair. As his mind cleared of the memory, the dark eyes of another little boy filled his vision. Ross. Eyes that looked into his, trusting him to take care of him. And big blue eyes, trusting in his love. Pulling in a huge gulp of air, he looked around the table. Tony, Vinny, and Jobe all knew what was on his mind. Nodding, he stood staring Tony in the eyes.
“Not again. Not happening again, Captain.”
Tony nodded. “Then let’s do what we can to get those fuckers.”
Monty said, “We’ve been working on the link between the dirty politicians and Gibbons. One of them is State Senator Reno. He’s eyeing the White House in a couple of years and has been in Gibbons’ back pocket for a while.”
“He supports Jennifer. He’s always worked with her,” piped up Henry from behind the group.
Monty shook his head. “Only on the surface. Behind the closed budget sessions, he sabotages her cause.”
Gabe’s hand tightened into a fist once again. “So where do we begin?”
“My guess is that Gibbons wants this building and, since he’s been unable to persuade the owner to sell, he had him killed without knowing that it was willed to Ms. Lambert.”
Tony nodded as Matt said, “We figured that put a target on her back.”
“But it’s just a building,” Cora spoke up from the corner. “I don’t understand.”
“This is much bigger than just a building. It’s money. Greed. But more importantly, power and politics,” Monty said.
“Look, this building is on the corner of a busy street that will bring top dollar. If he has the rest of the block without this building, he’ll get maybe a million or less for the back part of the block. With this building, he could sell it for tens of millions. It’s also about power. He gives up on this, his reputation takes a hit. Right now, he has inroads to politicians who are up and coming. He wants Senator Reno in his back pocket so that when he helps him get to the White House, he’ll have a President literally under his thumb.
“None of his tactics worked on the former owner and now he’s desperate. Ms. Lambert inheriting this has made him act irrationally.” Looking right at Gabe, Monty continued, “That may be the break we need to get him.”
“At what cost, you bastard?” Gabe growled.
BJ looked up from quietly working on his laptop. “Tony? Pulling some shit together with Lily. There’s a news reporter that Jennifer talked with a couple of months ago who died in a mysterious house fire before the article could be printed.”
Gabe looked over sharply, his mind racing with things that Jennifer had told him since they had been together. “Look up some of her co-workers. She said some strange things had been happening. Especially her boss, Chip something. Hell, that’s gotta be a nickname. Try Charles.”
BJ went back to work on the laptop, with Lily coordinating. The others gathered around several maps of the city, looking at the possible places Ross and Jennifer could have been taken. No clues. Nothing. Gabe felt the claws of fear creep up this throat as the realization began to sink in that they had no way of knowing where she was.
Matt took a phone call, walking away so that he could hear over the clambering voices behind him. Disconnecting, he hurried back looking at Shane. “We’ve gotta go. Some woman just showed up at the station, claiming to have information that will take down Michael Gibbons.” As he gazed around at the incredulous expressions shooting his way, he grinned, “Disgruntled mistress.”
“Thank God for a pissed off fuck,” Shane responded, as the group disbanded.
“What can we do?” Henry asked as Gabe began to move out with the others. He turned, his large frame dwarfing the others. Touched by the ravaged look on the elderly man’s face, he then looked at the similar expressions on the other residents. “I don’t know right now, Henry. But pray. Just pray that I get to them in time.”
Cora approached, taking her husband’s arm. “That we can do, Gabriel. That we can do.”
CHAPTER 21
The darkness that Jennifer had descended into began to slowly recede. Nothing made sense. I just want to sleep. Just a few more minutes, Ross. Ross? Oh my God!
As the memories of earlier came crashing back into her mind, she struggled to open her eyes. Blinking at the harsh lights above, she lifted one heavy hand to shade her vision.
She was laying on a pallet and tried to sit up. Nausea rolled over her as a sickly sweet odor drifted by. It reminded her of the scent of the cloth held over her nose. Forcing herself to breathe in through her nose and out her mouth several times helped to quell her rolling stomach.
Pushing herself to a sitting position she noticed that she was actually on a cot with a thick blanket tossed over her. A quick glance downward sent relief through her consciousness. Thank God, I’m still dressed.
As the fog lifted slowly from her brain, she saw that Ross was not in the room with her. Oh Jesus. Where can he be? And where the hell am I? She rubbed her face with her hands trying to regain her focus. Standing on shaky legs, she grabbed at the wall to steady herself as she perused the room. Large, mostly empty except for the cot and a chair. The window was boarded up with plywood and the only door to the room was on the opposite side.
Exposed wiring and plumbing ran along the walls with drywall finished in some places. Wherever I am, it’s being renovated. Oh shit, that means probably no one is living here to help me.
Walking to the door, she first placed her ear on it to see if she could hear voices. Nothing. Taking the knob, she gently tried to turn it. Locked. Of course. She quietly slipped over to where the window was, trying to see through a crack between the plywood and frame. Other than a slight hint of air coming through she could not see anything. It seemed to be night time, but she could not be sure.
Frustrated, she looked around to see if there was something to pull the plywood out but there was nothing in the room.
By now her head was clear but that only served to make her fear sharper. I’ve got to find Ross. He must be so afraid. Oh Jesus, she prayed again. Please keep him safe.
*
Gabe followed the others into the police department as Matt and Shane gathered information from their chief. Matt turned and said, “Come on. She’s being questioned.”
Matt and Shane went into the interview room with Gabe and his co-workers going into the observation room.
“What can you tell us Ms. Marconi?”
Theresa tossed
her long, dark hair over her shoulder with a perfectly manicured finger. She eyed the handsome detectives in front of her, ever on the lookout for another fuck that might offer her something more. Detective’s pay would hardly keep her in the style she was accustomed to, so her eyes moved back to the table.
“I was recently in the company of Michael Gibbons. In fact, you could say that I was intimately involved if you know what I mean.”
“And this concerns us how?” Shane asked, not willing to play games with her.
She pursed her lips, not used to males ignoring her sexuality. “I know things. Things that you might be interested in.”
“You got something to say then say it. You got nothin’ then stop wasting our time.”
Narrowing her eyes, she retorted, “I can tell you that he buries his legitimate business behind so many companies that it’s almost impossible to connect them. I can tell you that he’s got Senator Reno in his pocket, and he’s not the only politician that owes him.”
“Still nothing we don’t know, darlin’. Seems like you’re just a pissed off ex-mistress who’s wanting to cause trouble for a man who moved on.”
Slapping her hands down on the table, Theresa leaned forward and bit out, “Yes, but did you know that I can prove it.” Pulling a thumb drive from her pocket, her lip curled in a smile. “I’m smarter than he ever thought. He thinks that when he’s finished with a woman, he can just put her away in a nice apartment and buy her silence with a few jewels. Well, not me. I made sure I had my own little insurance policy. He throws me over, I take him down.”
“What’s on that? Anything we can use?”
“See for yourself, detectives. I found some things on his desk one night when he was late getting back from a meeting with his right-hand man, Santo Mancello. Who, by the way, manages most of Michael’s dirty work. Well, he and Frederick Gibbons, his nephew. There’s stuff on there I didn’t know what was, but I saw the names of lots of companies.”
Shane took the thumb drive and walked to the door, handing it to BJ who immediately plugged it into his laptop. Tony and Jobe, along with another detective, stood looking over BJ’s shoulder as he pulled up company organizations and bank accounts.
BJ looked up saying, “Got plenty here to aid in the investigation, but for where Jennifer is?”, he shook his head.
“Figured that making a copy of things would be good if that bastard ever dumped me. If I tried to blackmail him, I’d have to fear for my life. But this,” she said while leaning back in the chair, crossing her arms over her ample chest, “would be my way of getting back.”
“Tell us about Santo,” Matt prodded.
Theresa shivered delicately. “He’s…vicious…hidden behind a calm persona. I always thought he could look right through me.”
“Did you ever see where they might take someone? Someone they wanted to hurt or question?”
For the first time since she decided to take her limited knowledge to the police, she had a momentary pause. Her mind went back to the times she was in Santo’s presence. He was always completely immune to her charms, giving her the impression that he knew she was temporary. Her lips pressed into a tight line as she remembered thinking that Michael would keep her always and not pass her on for the next fuck to keep his bed warm.
“Well, Ms. Marconi?”
“I…I don’t know. Michael had buildings all over the city.”
“It would need to be somewhere without a lot of people around. Somewhere private,” Matt prodded.
Gabe leaned in toward the glass separating his space from the interview room. His heart pounded as his knuckles turned white from gripping the window frame. Come on, bitch. Think. Give me something. Something to go on.
She turned her eyes toward the mirror as though Gabe’s thoughts had penetrated her consciousness. “One night when we were out in Michael’s limo, Santo was with us. I thought we were heading to a restaurant, but we detoured.” She licked her lips nervously as she sought her memories. “I wouldn’t have noticed, but Michael had ignored me while talking to Santo so I was pissed. The area of town was…scary. It was dark, with few lights around. I was giving Michael the cold shoulder to make him notice me when we dropped off Santo at a building I didn’t recognize.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know. Um…somewhere over the James River. I remember we drove over the Piedmont Bridge and wound around near some old empty factory buildings.”
Gabe turned toward BJ. “You get that?”
“Yeah. Pulling up the list of Gibbons’ holding on that side of the river. I’ve got Lily working on it as well.”
Tony moved up by Gabe, telling his men, “We need to head back to the office. Time to plan and suit up as soon as they give us a location.”
Matt walked out of the interview room, looking at his chief and Tony. “We’re finished in there. Heading out to Tony’s place to coordinate.”
The men filed out of the police headquarters and into their vehicles. Vinny clapped his hand on Gabe’s shoulder. “How’re you holdin’ up?”
“Better now that we’ve got a place to go and a mission to plan.” Stopping outside the SUV before getting inside, he looked his brother in the eyes, fear mixed with determination pouring off of him. “Bro…I—”
“I know, Gabe. I know. We’ll get them.”
I’m coming, babe, Gabe thought as they drove to Alvarez Security. Just hang on for me.
*
Once there, Lily met them in the main room, filled with computers and large screens on the walls. “Guys, I’ve got some more,” she said, the concern over Jennifer’s kidnapping overshadowing her excitement in her intel gathering. Looking over at Monty, she narrowed her eyes asking, “Who’s this?”
Monty moved toward the beautiful, petite blonde extending his hand. “I’m—”
Matt elbowed him out of the way as he put his arm around Lily. “He’s FBI.” Looking Monty in the eye, he said, “This is my wife, Lily.”
Monty smiled as he nodded, moving over to the table.
Lily’s eyes moved to Gabe, sympathy shining from them. “Gabe?” she said, unasked questions hanging in the air.
“Whatcha got, Lily?” he answered with a question, wanting to take the focus off of him and back on the mission at hand.
She nodded her understanding and turned back to the screen on the wall. “BJ and I’ve finally traced some of the dummy corporations back to Michael Gibbons. We’ve also managed to connect the dots between him and the Senator. The Senator’s wife is a relative of the elder Gambelini, grandniece or something like that. Anyway, that shows the initial inroads between Gibbons and the Senator’s wife. She likes expensive things and has quite a few gambling debts racked up. Cousin Gibbons steps in to help and he’s got the Senator now in his back pocket.”
Monty nodded, “With what you have and what I’ve gathered in the last six months, we’ve got enough to pull the Renos in as well as Gibbons.”
“What about Jennifer’s office? Chip? Or whoever the hell her boss is.”
Lily shook her head at Gabe. “There’s nothing there. I’ve looked into his bank accounts, family, cell phone records, nothing. I did find records of him calling a contact at the newspaper. When I checked into them, the reporter was planning on doing an article on Jennifer and the Center.” She looked into his confused eyes. “Gabe, it seems like her boss was on her side, trying to get support.”
BJ continued the findings. “Looked into Santo. Works for Gibbons, but his job at the real estate agency is nebulous at best. Not really security. Not really anything for him to be called Gibbons’ right-hand man. But if we look at Gibbons as a mob boss…then, yeah, Santo’s job makes sense. Santo’s name has been loosely tied into some of the smaller companies that come under Gibbons.”
Shane added, “When the investigative officers were looking into the possible extortion claims, a few gave descriptions that fit Santo but then clammed up quickly.”
Gabe’s nerves were stretched taut
and he could feel himself ready to blow with the descriptions of Santo. Vinny placed a calming hand on his brother, leaning into him. “You know the drill. We gotta have the whole picture, the whole intel to know what we’re dealing with.”
All Gabe wanted was to know where Jennifer and Ross were being held. That was it. Just where they were. Once safe, then the fuckers who took them will be dealt with. ’Cause they will be dead. At my hand.
He took a deep breath, forcing his mind to clear and focus on the intel coming in. Seeing the eyes of the group looking at him, he nodded. “I’m good. Go on,” he forced out.
Lily’s gaze landed on his face, understanding his fears. “Gabe, I think it was Santo who took her and as to where, well, Gibbons doesn’t have a holding where his ex-mistress said, but two subsidiary companies do. And one of them is owned by a company that’s a front and has a hidden owner…Santo.”
Gabe’s eyes snapped to hers. For the first time since the call from Henry, he felt as though he had a place to concentrate on.
“BJ,” Tony said and before he could finish, BJ answered, “I’m on it.”
With a few taps on his keyboard, the screen on the wall showed the building in question. Matt was on the phone with the chief as Monty coordinated with the Bureau. Night had fallen, but Gabe realized that it could give them cover. The building was an old warehouse, not large in size, that appeared to be undergoing restoration. Scaffolding on the outside, plastic and boards where some of the windows should be.
BJ looked at Gabe, concern knitting his brow. “I’ve pulled up the new plans filed with the city as to what it will look like when it’s finished and I have the original floor plans, but there’s no way of knowing what rooms are there now.”
Tony turned to his new hire, a tech equipment manager, and ordered, “Get us ready. Include the thermal imaging goggles.” Turning back to Matt and Shane he asked, “We goin’ in together or we rogue?”
“Chief says for us to meet him there.”
Monty looked confused at the men around suddenly moving into action. “You guys go in with the police?”
Gabe: The Alvarez Security Series Page 26