I nodded. He slowly removed his hand before he turned me around to face him. “Ray!”
“Vinnie, not Ray,” he said. “Ray is just a cover name I use.”
I slapped him. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“How did you even know I was coming here?”
“I didn’t, actually. But I’ve done my homework, and I know the owner is a friend of yours. I was waiting for the place to open so I could talk to her.”
I wasn’t sure I totally believed him. “I’m surprised you didn’t go to the café first.”
“Actually, I did, but the sheriff was in there, so I thought it was wise to go somewhere else.”
“What do you want?”
“I need to find your aunt.”
“Which one?”
“Nice try,” he said. “I know you only have one – the lunatic.”
“What do you want with her?”
“It’s business.”
“If it’s business, then you must want to discuss your next hit.”
“That is such an ugly phrase - ‘your next hit’.”
“What would you call it?”
“A business transaction.”
I snorted. “Killing people is not a ‘business transaction’. It’s murder.”
“Semantics,” he shrugged.
“Well, I’m afraid I can’t help you. I don’t know where she is,” I said, turning to walk away.
Vinnie grabbed my arm and yanked me back. “Nice try, Lizzie. Just tell me where she is.”
“I’m not lying to you,” I said, trying to jerk my arm away from him. He just tightened his grip. “I don’t know where she is. I haven’t heard from her.”
He reached behind his back and pulled out a gun. “You know, I really hate it when people withhold information from me.”
“I’m telling you the truth. I don’t know where she is!” I said, my eyes glued to the gun he held at his side.
He stared at me for a minute. “Against my better judgment, I’ll believe you…for now. But if I find out that you have been holding out on me,” he said, putting the barrel of the gun against my side, “I will find you, and the ending will be quite different.” He put the gun back and released my arm. He took out his wallet, pulled out a card and handed it to me. “When you hear from her, and I am sure you will, call me.” He turned and started walking off.
“Don’t hold your breath,” I muttered.
Vinnie looked back at me. “You’re a nice lady, Lizzie Crenshaw. You have guts to say that to a man with a loaded gun. I like that. But it would be a shame if something happened to you.” He walked around the corner and disappeared.
My heart was pounding in my chest. Half of me wanted to run after him and get his license plate. The other half of me wanted to go inside and have a crying fit.
That probably explains my reaction when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped, slid my purse off my shoulder, spun around and swung it as hard as I could.
Chapter 12
“What the heck?!”
I felt bad when I realized it was Jake I hit. I won’t mention where I hit him; I’m pretty sure you can guess. “I am so sorry. Are you alright?”
“Do I look alright?” he replied through gritted teeth.
I don’t think he really wanted me to answer that, so I just stood there silently until he could walk again.
“What are you doing back here anyway?” he asked as we walked to the side entrance.
“You won’t believe it when I tell you.”
It took a moment for our eyes to adjust to the dim lighting inside the club. Jake looked around, visibly impressed. “This is not what I expected at all.”
“What did you think it would look like?” I said, leading the way to Trixie’s office.
“More like one of Vegas’ strip club joints.”
“We’re a bit classier than that,” Trixie said as we entered her office. “If you’re looking for a place like that, go to Dallas.”
Jake gingerly sat down in a red leather chair in front of the desk. “I didn’t mean to insult you or your club. I just thought ‘Gentlemen’s Club’ was a polite way of saying ‘strip club’.”
Trixie watched him with a bemused look on her face. “Got a hitch in the ol’ giddy up, Jake?”
“Your friend here hit me with her purse.”
“You shouldn’t sneak up on people.”
“I didn’t sneak up on you! And what were you doing back there in the first place?”
“It wasn’t voluntary, I assure you!”
“Whoa! Hold it!” Trixie said. “What are you two talking about?”
Sighing, I dropped into the other leather chair. “I came here to put something in your safe. I saw someone going through the leftovers; at least I thought he was. Next thing I know, I got dragged to the back of your building.”
“Did he hurt you? Are you alright?” Jake said, sliding forward carefully to the edge of his chair.
“I’m fine, just a bit freaked out. But I know who is after Debra.”
“Who?” they both said at the same time.
“Vinnie Amato.”
“You mean that guy who tried to kill Diana Winston?” I nodded. “Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure,” I replied, thinking of the gun he had jammed into my side.
“Um, hello,” Trixie said. “Clueless person in the room here. Someone want to fill me in. What has been going on this morning?”
I told her about the things I had found in the safe deposit box, and what the letter said. “I’m guessing she left all this stuff here the last time she was in town.”
“Give me the gun; I’ll put it in the safe,” Trixie said. I handed her the case. “Be back in a minute.”
As she left, Jake turned to me, placing his left hand on my right arm. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
I patted his hand. “He squeezed my arm a little too hard, but I’m fine. Did you find out anything about T.J.’s father yet?”
“Not yet. My friend in D.C. doesn’t work that fast. What exactly did Amato say to you?”
“He wanted to know where Debra was. I told him I didn’t know. Needless to say, he didn’t believe me.”
“What makes you think that?”
“The gun he shoved into my side might have been my first clue. Then again, he could have been asking me out on a date.”
“Who’s asking you out on a date?” Trixie said as she walked in.
“No one.”
“She’s cracking jokes about someone pulling a gun on her. She doesn’t take anything seriously.”
“Who pulled a gun on you?”
“Vinnie.”
“What makes him think that Debra is headed here?” Jake said.
I shrugged. “No clue. He said he had some business to discuss with her.”
“Doesn’t sound like someone with plans to kill her,” Trixie said.
“Would you come right out and say you were looking for someone because you planned to kill them?” I pointed out.
“Amato is a known hit man for the mob!” Jake replied.” Do you think he’s looking for her to get her recipe for rum cake?!”
“Now who’s cracking bad jokes?”
“Time out!” Trixie said. “Good grief! You two fight like an old married couple! Frankly, I think you’re both missing something here. If he thinks she’s here, then she’s either on her way or she’s already here.”
“Maybe that’s why T.J. was in town yesterday,” Jake said.
“If she was in town, I’m sure she would have let me know by now,” I said.
“Have you tried using the cell phone yet?” Trixie said. I shook my head. “I think you need to tell T.J. about Amato being in town.”
Jake nodded. “I agree. He’ll be able to protect you.”
“Protect me? From what? I’m not the one being hunted by hit men!”
“No, but whenever she’s in town, the hospital gets rich
er because you usually end up there,” Trixie said.
“One time! I ended up there one time!”
“Right, because she shot you!”
“Accidentally!”
“Doesn’t matter,” Trixie replied. “Still counts.”
“The point is,” Jake interrupted, “you usually end up in danger whenever she is in town. So you have two choices: a) you can talk to T.J. and tell him what we’ve learned this morning, or b) Trixie can give you back the Sig, and you can learn to shoot.”
I didn’t see either one as a viable option, but my aversion to guns was greater than the contempt I felt for T.J.
“Fine,” I said reluctantly, “I’ll call him.”
Chapter 13
Two hours later, Jake and I were sitting in Owen’s office, waiting for T.J. “You’re sure it was Amato?” Owen asked me.
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“I can issue an APB for him. What was he wearing? What kind of car was he driving?”
“He was dressed like a bum, but you can bet he’s already ditched those clothes and cleaned up.”
“What about the car?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t see it.”
“You didn’t go after him to get a look?” he said.
“He stuck a gun in my ribs and threatened me! What did you expect me to do? Find out where he was so we could hold a repeat performance?”
“Who stuck a gun in your ribs?” T.J. asked as he came into the office. “Good to see you again, Owen.”
“Glad you could make it,” Owen replied. “Have a seat.”
“Hello, Lizzie,” T.J. said as he sat down next to me. I nodded at him. “You were saying someone threatened you with a gun?”
“Yes, I believe that is what I was saying when you came in.”
“Who was it?”
Sighing, I said, “Vinnie Amato.”
“I see,” T.J. said thoughtfully.
“You don’t seem surprised to hear his name,” Owen said.
“I’m not,” T.J. said. “There have been some rumblings that Amato’s boss, Peter Greco, told him to find Cosgrove.”
“Why?” Owen said.
“He seems to think she’s gone soft on him.”
“What do you mean, ‘soft’?” I said.
“From what we’ve heard through the wiretaps, Greco ordered a hit on a rival three months ago. He gave the job to Cosgrove. After doing surveillance for a couple of weeks, she was ready to move in for the kill. She told him the job was complete, and he wired her usual payment to an offshore account. Imagine his surprise when a contact in Los Angeles said the target was alive and well.”
“Wow, not a wise thing to do,” Jake replied.
“Not to a man like Peter Greco,” T.J. said. “He is one man you should never double cross. He’s got a very short fuse. Look at him cross-eyed on a bad day, and you will more than likely be run over in front of your house by the end of that same day. We’ve been trying to shut him down for a while. He might have a hair trigger, but he is very, very smart, and very careful.”
“So you want to bring her in because you want her to help you nail Greco?” I said.
He nodded. “Exactly. I’m not sure what kind of deal they will offer her, but if she can help us take him down, it will certainly help her case.”
I wanted to ask him about his father and the connection to Debra, but decided to wait. If he was trying to bring her in, then it wasn’t personal; just business.
“Amato could be anywhere by now,” Owen said. “It’s been over two hours since he accosted Lizzie at Trixie’s club.”
“I’ll make a call to the office, get them to start a search in area hotels for him. They’ve got his list of aliases, so it should make things go a bit quicker.” He looked at me. “Is there anything else I should know?”
I looked at Jake, who nodded. “She opened a safe deposit box in my name at the Brookdale Bank. There was a phone, some money, a gun case and a letter inside.”
“Sounds like you are her contingency plan.” I looked at him, puzzled. “Given her profession, she had to know that, at some point, she would need to make a fast getaway. She is depending on you to do the right thing.”
“So this comes down to the old ‘should I help her or turn her in’ conundrum I usually fall into with her.”
“Looks that way,” Jake said.
We all sat quietly for a couple of minutes. “What are you going to do?” T.J. said.
I stood up. “You are going to come with me and answer some questions. Then I’ll decide what to do.”
“What kind of questions?” T.J. said as he followed me into the hallway.
“For starters,” I replied, turning to look at him, “did Debra kill your father?”
Chapter 14
After getting some sweet tea from the café, we walked over to the town square park and sat down on a bench near the swing set. “Why are you asking about my father?”
I pulled the letter out of my purse and handed it to him. “Read this.”
Taking the letter, he quickly read it. “I’m not sure I would call it a personal vendetta,” he said. “I’m just doing my job.”
“She doesn’t seem to think so.”
“What makes you think Debra killed my father?”
“A shot in the dark.”
T.J. sighed. “She didn’t kill him, per se. I’m sure she feels responsible for what happened to him, though.”
“Tell me.”
“About twenty years ago, Debra Cosgrove was a rookie agent, fresh off the Farm. Top of her class, crack shot, smart as a whip. They partnered her with my father, who was the special agent in charge in Chicago. They were doing surveillance one night for a case they were working on when there was a robbery at a liquor store. It was right down the street from where they were sitting. Dad heard shots being fired, jumped out of the car and ran toward the store. Cosgrove went with him to provide backup. The store was being robbed by two stupid kids looking for quick money. Dad went in through the front, while Cosgrove stayed outside and off to one side. Two more shots were fired, and one of the kids ran out the front door and right into her. He was a big kid, about 6’2”, 250 lbs, twice her size, but she managed to take him down, at least briefly. In the struggle, she lost her gun. The kid grabbed it just as his accomplice ran out of the store, with Dad right behind him. The first kid used Cosgrove’s gun and shot my father twice, before turning around and shooting her.”
“Did they catch the two kids?”
He nodded. “Two Chicago cops showed up just as the kid shot her. They took him out, while another unit managed to catch the second kid as they came around the corner at the end of the block.”
“What about your father?”
“The first shot hit him in the leg; the second one severed his spine. He was left paralyzed from the waist down. The kid shot Cosgrove three times: one in the leg, one in the arm, and the last one in the head. She was in a coma for two months. Dad said she was a real nice kid before the shooting, but when she came out of the coma, she was bitter, angry, and almost hostile at times. The doctors called it post-traumatic stress syndrome. Despite counseling and medication, nothing helped, and the FBI forced her to resign. They deemed her a threat to herself and fellow agents.”
“I can see where she feels responsible for what happened to your father,” I said quietly.
“Dad never blamed her. He told her that many times, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“And in her warped, twisted thinking, she believes you’re after her because of what happened.”
He shrugged. “I guess so. But I’m not. I’m trying to save her life.”
“So what happens now?”
“Well, obviously Amato believes she is coming here, so he’s one step ahead of her.”
“Unless she’s already here.”
“Do you think she is?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I’m just guessing. If she’s here, then she’s probably been watchi
ng me, so she knows I went to the bank this morning.”
“So she’ll be getting in touch with you soon. We need to let her know Amato is here.”
“I think you need to lay low.”
“Me? Why?”
“You’re FBI! If Amato sees you, he’s going to know you’re trying to get to her before he does. You’re a bigger target than I am.”
“I don’t want you involved in this,” T.J. said.
“A wee bit late, don’t you think?”
“Maybe, but your involvement stops right here.”
“Really? How do you plan on getting a hold of Debra?”
“I’ll figure something out.”
I reached into my purse and pulled out the cell phone from the deposit box. “I’m the one with the way to get in touch with her. Do you really think she’s going to talk to you?” He tried to snatch the phone out of my hand, but I jerked my arm back. “Nice try.”
“I could order you to give it to me.”
“You could, but what makes you think I would listen?”
“You’re a stubborn woman.”
“Your point?”
“Fine, you contact her, but that’s it. You tell her exactly what I tell you to say and nothing more.”
As I started to agree with him, a small red dot appeared on his shirt. I had seen enough cop shows to know what it meant. “Get down!” I said as I shoved him off the bench just as a shot rang out. A hole went through a bench board where T.J. had been sitting. He reached up and pulled me down to the ground as another shot from the opposite direction zipped overhead. “Why is it every time you’re around, someone shoots at me?”
“Very funny,” he said, looking around.
“Do you think it was Debra?” I said as I heard sirens coming this way.
“I think it was both of them,” he replied. “Two shots, from two different directions.”
“Then I’d say it’s a safe bet they each know the other is in town.”
“Yeah, I’d say that was a safe bet.” He helped me to my feet as Owen’s car stopped in the street. “Never a dull moment around you, is it?”
Chapter 15
“Why is the town square being turned into ‘Gunfight at the O.K. Corral?” Owen said as he walked up to us.
5 Death Catches A Killer Page 4