Deadly Target: SCVC Taskforce Series, Book 9 (SCVC Taskforce Romantic Suspense Series)

by Misty Evans

  Alfonso Barone lived in Oceanside, but chose a meeting place several blocks from the harbor. As Victor sat in his car fifty feet away from the shack of a bar, listening to Olivia’s conversation with the mobster, he could imagine the smell of stale beer and fried clams. The background noise consisted of multiple conversations, raucous laughter, and the clink and bang of glasses and silverware, even though they were meeting in a private backroom.

  Olivia claimed this was one of Barone’s favorite hangouts, a place he and his wife visited many times before her death. The two-story building held an apartment upstairs, and Olivia believed Alfie used it for certain business dealings. She suspected he was running his own criminal enterprise here, way outside of DeStefano’s territory.

  The place had seen better days, and most likely the owners needed Alfie’s help with finances to stay open. Restaurants like this were good spots for money laundering, drug sales, and back door deals.

  Taz sat in the passenger seat, head out the window, panting. The day was growing warmer and Victor shrugged off his jacket, tossing it in the back. He’d insisted Olivia wear a wire, so he could hear the conversation and record it. She hadn’t liked the idea but went along with it when he threatened to come in with her if she didn’t.

  He got the feeling she was slightly protective of her CI. That wasn’t unusual in his world. Most of his agents were as well. She’d told him it had taken months to groom Alfie and she didn’t want to blow it. She was closer now than she had ever been to getting an insider to testify against Gino DeStefano, one who had enough evidence against the mafia leader to make sure he went away for good.

  “Hey, doll.” Alfie must have arrived, Olivia’s mic picking up his voice.

  Olivia didn’t mess around. “What can you give me on Frankie and yesterday’s hit?”

  Alfie took his time responding, and Victor imagined him sliding into the booth, getting comfortable, and buying time before he spilled whatever he had, if anything. “You look a little rough there, deputy marshal. You sure you’re okay?”

  “Two men died in front of me yesterday, and my partner is in critical condition. Of course, I’m not okay. I should be at the hospital right now, hanging out with Danny, but I’m here because I need justice and we both need to stop Frankie.”

  “I’m sorry about what happened to your partner.”

  “You tried to warn me, and I appreciate that.”

  They made creaking noises as if one or both of them were fidgeting in their seat.

  “Do you have the evidence?” Olivia asked.

  “Whoa, there, sweetheart. Can I at least order a drink?”

  Some people nearby grew loud, cheering and yelling, drowning out whatever Liv said. Victor was pretty sure it was a curse word.

  “I wanna say for the record again that I had no idea you were one of the cops handling Valiant yesterday,” Alfie said.

  A waitress must have appeared because Victor heard a chipper young female voice. “Hi, Alfie. About time you came around. What can I get you, hon?”

  “Ah, Suzie. Looking beautiful as ever. I’ll have the porterhouse special. Keep it rare. And a beer,” Alfie added. “Whatever my friend here wants too, put it on my bill.”

  “Nothing for me,” came Olivia’s reply.

  Alfie huffed loud enough the microphone picked it up. “Come on, now. At least have something to drink. You’re not eating enough, I can see it. Your face is too skinny, you’re losing your nice figure.”

  “No thanks.”

  “I’ll get this order right in,” the waitress said.

  The wooden booth creaked again and Victor could see Liv leaning across the table with a threatening look on her face as she spoke. “You keep your damn eyes off my figure and stop worrying about my diet. Once I have Gino behind bars, I’ll celebrate with a big plate of pasta, okay?”

  “Okay, okay. Like I said, if I’d had known you were escorting that dumbass, I would’ve showed up at the courthouse to protect you myself.”

  “Right.”

  “I was trying to warn you so you could catch those idiots and make them confess.”

  There was a drumming sound, like Liv was thumping her knife on the tabletop. “That would’ve made things easier for you, wouldn’t it, if a couple gang members turned against Frankie? But that’s where you’re wrong. The Justice Department will still want your testimony, and I want hard evidence about Frankie’s involvement in the shooting of DEA agent Cooper Harris. Either you have it or you don’t, Alfie, and I’m getting tired of being jerked around.”

  “You’re giving me indigestion and my food hasn’t even arrived. Ease up, Liv. I have the information, but you need to be careful with it.”

  Like most professional criminals, the guy was good at deflecting. Victor didn’t know who to feel sorrier for—Olivia, for having to deal with this asshole, or Alfie, for the hell known as Olivia’s anger about to rain down on him if he didn’t come through.

  “I don’t want to do this,” she said, the thumping growing louder, “but I will bring charges against you for impeding an investigation if you don’t cooperate.”

  “Whoa, whoa. Slow down. You are always pushy, but today, you’re really over-the-top, you know that? Is this about your old man? I heard he got cut loose today.”

  There was a damning pause. Victor held his breath.

  Alfie was saved as the waitress returned, apparently with the beer. “There you go, hon. Your food should be out shortly.”

  “Thanks,” he said. A few seconds passed, and he spoke again to Olivia. “Would you put that knife away? You’re making me nervous.”

  The thumping stopped, but Victor knew she was probably thinking about sticking it in Alfie’s eye. “This has nothing to do with my father,” Olivia said.

  “All right, whatever.” The mobster must’ve taken a drink of beer, before clearing his throat. “Nobody likes Frankie, least of all the Suarez Kings, but he can get them access to large quantities of pseudoephedrine.”

  “The cold medicine? For meth manufacturing?”

  “He’s in good with one of the owners of a large-scale pharmaceutical company. Once a month, the guy makes a certain truck disappear from the books, so no one realizes it’s gone missing down in Mexico. It delivers a large quantity of pseudoephedrine at a Kings’ lab. Their American counterparts benefit from the product they make, and in turn, they do certain jobs for Gino.”

  “Why would this guy work with Gino?”

  A disgusting sigh. “He’s got a thing for young girls.”

  “Gino supplies girls to him in exchange for the meth ingredient.”

  “The guy’s disgusting.” Did Alfie have a conscience? Interesting. Olivia said he had a daughter, so maybe trafficking young girls hit too close to home. “I have some pictures that might help you take him down too.”

  “I’ll be happy to arrest the scumbag. Now, what about the proof on the six Kings who showed up yesterday and nearly killed me? Two got shot, but we haven’t been able to find them yet. Do you know who they are? Where they are?”

  There was a pause and Victor heard the crinkling of paper. “This is one of their hiding spots. And this…” Background noise filtered in, and Victor wondered if Alfie was holding up something for Olivia to see. “This is gold. You’ll find a phone conversation on here of Frankie giving the instructions to take out Valiant, by any means necessary.”

  “You bugged Frankie’s phone?”

  No answer—at least not a verbal one—but Victor wasn’t surprised.

  “What about the DEA agent? Where’s the proof Frankie ordered that hit?”

  Once again, the waitress interrupted and Victor heard the sound of a plate hitting the tabletop. “One porterhouse steak, rare, and I threw in extra fries.” She giggled and lowered her voice. “Don’t tell George, okay?”

  Unbelievable. The waitress was hitting on the mob guy while he was sitting with Olivia. The thumping of her knife started up again, making Victor smile.

  The soun
d of clinking silverware came through the wire as Alfie dug in. “You find the goons in the hit squad and you’ll find the one who shot your DEA agent. Put the right kind of pressure on that person, and they’ll testify that Frankie ordered the hit.”

  “There were six, Alfie. Can you be more specific about which one I should focus on?”

  Alfie’s reply was slightly muffled as he chewed. “Actually, from what I know, one is a woman. Served in the Army as a sniper, I believe. You might want to start with her.”

  The thumping stopped. “What’s her name?”

  “Sure you don’t want to share this steak with me? It’s excellent. That’s why I come here. Good food and nice service. Here, have a fry.”

  “Why won’t you give me the name? You got a thing for her or something?”

  “Try a fry. They’re homemade.”

  “You don’t want to betray her, why?”

  Another heavy sigh, and loud chewing. “I have no loyalty to any of the Suarez Kings.”

  “And I’m Mother Teresa. If you’re not loyal to her, why won’t you share her name?”

  Silence.

  Olivia tried again. “She’s part of the family, isn’t she?”

  “Was.”

  Meaning what? This woman had been part of the DeStefano family? Victor sent a text to Thomas, asking him to look into potential candidates who had Army sniper experience and any link to the DeStefano syndicate. She could be tied to them because of a relative.

  Olivia’s voice lowered. “When I find her, I’ll keep your name out of it, deal?”

  For some reason, that seemed to do the trick. “You might check with Frankie’s ex-girlfriend, Marquita Lomas. She can give you details.”

  “Marquita? She knows the sniper?”

  “Calls her ‘sister.’”

  “Why that little…” Olivia’s voice trailed off. “You’re not sending me on a wild goose chase here, are you?”

  There was a strained silence. “Marquita and her sister have both been in deep with Frankie. One slept with him, and the other—a member of the Kings—works for him.”

  “Marquita was protecting her sister.”

  That was said more to herself than Alfie.

  “Family takes care of family,” Alfie said.

  “Save the lecture.” It sounded like Olivia stood. “I’ll be in touch.”

  “Don’t forget the good wine next time.”

  When Olivia got into Victor’s car, she had to move Taz to sit down. Although she’d only been gone a few minutes, the dog acted like it’d been days, possibly because she smelled like charred meat and fried food. As she tried to get him into the backseat, he was busy licking her face and trying to stay in her lap.

  “Looks like we need to pay Marquita another visit,” Liv said.

  Victor put the car in gear and pulled out of the parking spot. “Her sister’s name is Marisol Riva. Same mother, different fathers. She spent four years in the Army and failed sniper training.”

  “How did you get that already?”

  He gave her a rugged grin. “I have my ways.”

  She smiled back. “Yes, you do, Director Dupé, and they are quite impressive.”

  13

  Neither Marquita Lomas or Marisol Riva could be found. Victor took the taped phone conversation of Frankie putting out the hit on Henry Valiant to a Federal judge and was waiting for the arrest warrant to come through. He didn’t want to move on any of the potential Suarez members until he had Frankie in his clutches.

  While Olivia understood the strategy and knew it was solid, she itched to hunt down the shooters from the previous evening. That being said, Frankie was the ultimate goal, along with Gino, and taking them by surprise was the only way to make sure they put them out of business for good. If they got wind that the FBI or marshal service was onto them, either could be across the border in no time.

  As night fell, Olivia paced the hospital waiting room. Danny was only allowed one visitor at a time, and his wife was keeping vigil. Part of Olivia felt guilty because she hadn’t answered Alfonso’s calls. She could have prevented the whole thing, but she’d been too wrapped up in her own issues.

  Her boss, Navarro, was breathing down her neck, her father had indeed been paroled, and she still hadn’t talked to Victor about her JD investigation. She’d had plenty of excuses since things kept getting in the way, but she wasn’t letting herself off the hook. It was easy to fall back on those crutches to buy time and avoid the issue, but bottom line, she was just too damn scared to lose him.

  Am I in love with him? Her mind kept raising the question, and her heart always sent back the same answer. Yes.

  Listening to her heart was as scary as admitting the truth to Victor. She wished she could call her mother and get advice, but Mina Fiorelli would be the first person her father would go see. Olivia wasn’t taking the chance he’d answer the phone. The very idea made her palms sweat and her heart skip erratically.

  “Olivia?” Danny’s wife, Carol, stood in the doorway. “He wants to talk to you.”

  Carol headed for the vending machines as Liv entered Danny’s room.

  He was hooked up to various monitors, his skin a dull ashen color. “Here I figured you’d have the guys who did this to me rounded up and in jail by now, Tinker Bell,” he said from the sterile, white bed.

  She let the nickname slide. “Working on it. I have solid intel on where they’re hiding out. Just waiting on some red tape and an arrest warrant.”

  He looked at her through half-lidded eyes. “You know who shot me and you haven’t arrested them yet?”

  “They’re members of the Kings and tied into the Fifty-seven Gang. If we play our cards right, we can nail all of them, including Frankie Molina and Gino DeStefano.”

  “Fuck that. You’re more worried about those gangsters than getting revenge for me? I knew you were a hardass, Tinker Bell, but I didn’t realize how bad of a team player you really are. No wonder no one wants to be your partner.”

  Low blow. Don’t take it personally. “I know you’ve been through a lot, but you don’t mean that, do you? We’re law enforcement agents, we don’t take revenge. I promise, I will make sure they pay for what they did yesterday, but we have the opportunity to shut down the Fifty-seven Gang. Regardless of our personal feelings, we have to look at the big picture.”

  He ran a freckled hand through his hair. “That’s all you think about, isn’t it? Paying back your old man? Proving how you’re so much better than those guys in the mob?” He made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. “For all I know, they were sent to kill you, and I got in the line of fire.”

  It was growing more challenging to chalk up his attitude to the painkillers. “I’m sorry about what happened, but I have proof they were after Henry Valiant, so you can stop with the victim mentality and quit blaming me for this. I’ll make sure you stay updated on the latest, and if you or Carol need anything, you have my number.”

  Out in the hallway, she stopped for a moment to draw a deep breath. She checked her phone, but there were no messages from Victor about the search warrant. She waited until she was in her car to call him.

  “No luck?” she asked when he answered.

  “I normally deal with Judge Hardwick, but she’s off sick, so I ended up with Ortiz. He thinks there’s some legal issues with the recording and now has the district attorney involved. It may be a while.”

  Damn. The longer they waited, the more likely things were to go south. “Can you put pressure on him from higher up? Maybe ask Director Allen to get involved?”

  “Already did. He’s working on it.”

  The tone in Victor’s voice suggested that wasn’t going to accomplish much. She knew the feeling, having Navarro for a boss.

  “What’s next? Is there anything we can do?”

  “Not tonight. Everything is hinging on this, but we’re all on standby to help when the warrant comes through.”

  And if it didn’t? They would lose Homeland’s help
, and maybe their best opportunity to wrap up this case. She sighed, feeling more than tired and extremely frustrated. “Okay, my place or yours?”

  He chuckled, but there was a strain to his voice. “Mine is closer. Meet you there, in say, two hours? I have a couple things to look into, some paperwork to handle.”

  He had other issues to deal with, being head of the West Coast FBI. Plenty of other cases that needed attention.

  So why did it feel like he was blowing her off?

  “Um, sure. Do you need me to watch the dog? I am packing it in for the day, so I’m happy to pick him up and head to your house.”

  “He’s already there. I dropped him off earlier.”

  She didn’t have a key, or she’d pick up food and get to Victor’s early. “I can head over now and hang out with him until you’re done. I’ll just swing by for your key, then go feed him, and maybe take him for a walk. He’s earned it and I need to clear my head.”

  “He’ll be okay. Look, I got to go. See you in a while.”

  That was definitely a blow-off and she stared at the phone for a second after he hung up. So, he didn’t want her to swing by and pick up his key. Okay, no problem. Message received.

  Her stomach growled, and she realized she hadn’t eaten since that morning. She tapped the avatar for her browser to look for a nearby restaurant that had a drive-thru.

  Except the first thing that popped up on her screen was the picture from the Red Star Report of Victor and Tracee Tyson. She hadn’t cleared her browsing history.

  Her stomach lurched. Why? She was acting like a silly teenager instead of a grown woman. Victor had assured her there was nothing going on between them, but Olivia couldn’t help but compare herself to the starlet. What normal woman wouldn’t? Tracee was model tall, thin, perfect hair, natural beauty, and had a charisma the camera loved.

  Yet, she told herself, Victor is with me.

  But for how long?

  She scanned the picture of the two of them together one more time, trying to see Victor’s face. But she couldn’t see his features well enough to tell if he still had feelings for the beautiful woman in front of him.