Hunter and Derek approached Antonio, and Hunter pulled out zip ties, yanking Antonio’s arms behind his back. I wasn’t sure how I felt about my brother being restrained. I knew it was the logical choice. He had killed my brother, even if it was because he was being manipulated.
I stared at my brother as he stared back at me. Something like shame crossed his face, but he didn’t say anything, just dropped his eyes to the ground.
Josh came running over to me, his hand cupping my face as his eyes searched mine. “Are you alright?”
I opened my mouth to say something, but I wasn’t sure what to say. It all seemed so surreal. Could this really be over? Derek walked up and grinned, cupping Josh on the shoulder.
“See, I told you everything would be fine.”
“And Alessa? And everyone else?”
“They’re fine, just like I told you. Your uncle only wanted you to think that he had your daughter.”
I glanced over at Antonio, feeling really sad for him. “He played my brother, and made everyone think that he was a terrible person. He was just doing what my uncle wanted because he trusted him.”
“Hey,” Derek said, drawing my attention. “It’s over now. As long as Antonio cooperates with us, we can make sure that we’ve taken out everyone. You’ll be safe.”
I nodded, but it didn’t feel like enough. All of us had been manipulated by one man’s greed, and now my last remaining sibling was paying the price. I slowly looked over to where my uncle had stood, but he was on the floor, blood spilling out of the massive hole at the back of his head. I thought maybe I should feel something, but there was nothing there as I stared at his lifeless body.
Then my gaze moved to Levi, who was still passed out in the chair. I immediately ran over to him, checking his pulse. I breathed a sigh of relief when I felt it beating steadily under my fingertips. “Thank God,” I whispered.
He groaned and shifted slightly, but he was in no position to be moving around.
“Hey, you’re okay,” I whispered, tears filling my eyes. I felt so damn guilty. All these people around me that never should have been involved, but got wrapped up in my mess and were paying the price.
“You okay?” he mumbled.
“I’m fine,” I whispered, sniffling as tears spilled down my face. “I’m so sorry for what they did to you.”
He peeled his eyes open and a small grin tilted his lips. “Don’t you know by now that I’d do anything for you?”
My smile faltered, but I was saved by Hunter coming over to check him out. I stood and stepped away, but his hand shot out to grip mine. Not knowing what to do, I squeezed it back and gave him a smile.
Josh
“Am I missing something here?” Derek asked me as we both watched Carly fawning over Levi. “Is she involved with him in some way?”
“She used to be engaged to him,” I said, confused as hell as to why she was acting like they were still engaged.
“Are you sure there’s nothing between them? She looks pretty concerned for someone that just had a baby with you.”
I glared at him. “Thanks, man. I appreciate your commentary.”
“Hey, I’m just saying, unless you’re looking to have a three-way, this isn’t looking too good for you.”
I sighed and watched as Hunter and Knight helped Levi out of the chair and up the stairs. She didn’t even look back at me as she followed them out of the house. My head dropped and a heaviness settled in my chest. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We were supposed to finish this and then go back to our lives. But I had other things to think about right now. I needed to make sure that Alessa was really okay and this wouldn’t touch her. I’d think about Carly later.
“Are you sure Alessa’s okay?”
“It’s like I told you, our team never left her side. They were always safe. I’m guessing that Carly’s uncle knew he couldn’t just grab your daughter without causing a big mess. It was an easy way to draw you out. He just assumed you wouldn’t have anyone to stand beside you.”
“But how did they find out about her?”
“I’m guessing they tracked you to Idaho. Facial recognition is hard to avoid these days.”
I blew out a breath, running my hand through my hair. “So, it’s over?”
“Not quite. We still have to figure out what to do about Antonio. And there’s always the possibility that there are still others out there. It’s inconceivable that everyone was here today.”
“Won’t there be retaliation?”
“It looks like most of the higher-ups were in the room. Some of them died, and others…we’ll see. Without a clear leader, I’m guessing those that aren’t caught will make a run for it.”
“So, what do I do now? Is it safe for us to come home?”
“Us?” He glanced at the door and then back to me, shaking his head. “Does that include the ex?” he asked with a grin.
I glared at him and he held up his hands. “Sorry, it was a joke.”
“Hilarious.”
“Look, we’ll be sticking around for a while, so I’d say you’re safe for now. Just keep your heads down.”
“Don’t you have to get back to work?”
He shrugged. “Don’t I get some time off to spend with my brother that returned from the dead? Besides…” He dropped his head and sighed. “My team is broken up right now. We’ve just got small jobs until we figure out how to put our team back together.”
I shook my head, smiling slightly. “It’s going to be weird going home. I wonder if Rusty will still have a job for me.”
“Rusty retired two years ago.”
“Really? I didn’t think he’d ever retire.”
He shrugged. “Everything kind of went to shit after you went missing. But hey, let’s just focus on getting everything settled before we talk about what job you’re going to take when you go home.”
“You’re right.”
“Come on. Let’s go to the hospital. We’ll check on Levi and get Carly. Hopefully, we can put all this shit behind us.”
“What the hell am I supposed to do about Antonio?”
“What does Carly want?” I shrugged. “Maybe don’t kill him just yet.”
“Are you Josh Cortell?” a man asked. I had been at the hospital for the better part of the day, waiting for Carly to come out and talk with me. She was still with Levi.
“Who wants to know?” I asked warily.
He pulled out a badge. An FBI badge. I kept calm and held out my hand. “Yeah, that’s me. How can I help you?”
“We have reason to believe that you were at the Scavuzzo family estate today, where we found dozens of dead bodies after reports of gunfire.”
“And why would you think I was there?”
“Someone identified you as leaving the scene.”
“You know,” Derek said, stepping forward, “my brother would be happy to talk to you down at the FBI building.” The guy grinned. “With his lawyer present,” Derek added. “Why don’t you let us get ahold of his lawyer and we’ll meet you down there in two hours.”
The man didn’t look too happy about it, but nodded. “I’ll be waiting, but if I don’t see you in two hours, I’m coming for you.”
“I don’t doubt it,” I said, giving him a curt nod.
He walked away and I turned to Derek. “Happy to talk to him? Are you insane?”
“Look, he says he has someone that witnessed you leaving the building. It’s better if we go in and cooperate. I’ll call Robert.”
“Isn’t he a divorce lawyer?”
“It’ll be fine. He can handle this.”
An hour later, Robert was walking through the hospital doors, his best suit making him look like a high profile lawyer.
“Thanks for coming.”
He nodded. “So, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know. Someone saw me.”
“It’s unlikely anyone recognized you,” Robert said. “More likely, someone sat down with a sketch artist and it pinged on your missing
persons report.”
“What do I say? I can’t implicate Carly in any way.”
“You’re the one the feds want right now. You need to protect yourself first.”
“As long as that doesn’t include throwing Carly under the bus.”
Robert sighed. “Alright, we’ll work it out on the way over.”
We drove over to the FBI building and I filled Robert in on all that happened. We went over the plan and what I should or should not say, and then we headed inside. I was directed to a room where I sat waiting with Robert for about a half hour. Finally, the agent I spoke with earlier came in.
“Are you sure you can handle this?” I leaned over and asked him.
“It’ll be fine.”
“But, have you ever dealt with anything like this before?”
He shook his head. “Usually, the feds don’t get involved in divorce cases.”
“A divorce lawyer?” The fed laughed slightly and took his seat. “Son, you’re involved with the mafia and you brought a divorce lawyer?”
“I recently set up a practice in town to deal with a range of legal issues,” Robert said, dusting something off his suit.
“And you want to put your life in his hands,” the fed said, eyeing me like I was an idiot.
“Well, I figure, what can be worse than divorce. Am I right?” I asked Robert.
He blew out a breath. “I’ve seen some pretty nasty divorce cases. A battle over assets, kids, hell, even a car. It can get pretty crazy,” he nodded with a grin. “I don’t think I have to tell you just how entangled those cases can become.”
“But have you ever dealt with anything as serious as this?” the fed asked. “Because I have to be honest, your client could be facing some serious charges.”
Robert leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially. “Last week, I took a guy to court that was facing a $150 fine for speeding. I argued that case until the judge gave up just to get me out of the courtroom. It was pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.”
Robert sat back with a grin on his face, and it took everything I had not to burst out laughing. Of course I knew this was serious, but I wasn’t about to deny Robert his fun.
The fed didn’t look amused, just flipped open his folder and started looking over his documents.
“It says here that a missing persons report was filed seven years ago for you.”
“I didn’t do that,” I confessed.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I know you didn’t do that. The report was filed by the sheriff. There were a lot of man hours wasted trying to find you. In fact, everyone assumed you were dead.”
“Well, you know what they say about assumptions,” I grinned.
His face turned red and he narrowed his eyes at me. “Do you have any idea what kind of charges you’re facing for filing a false report.”
“Again,” I pointed out, “I didn’t actually file the report.”
“The city could sue you for repayment of man-hours in the search for you.”
“I didn’t realize it was illegal to leave town.”
“Usually, people don’t leave town without saying anything to anyone, especially their family.”
“Well, what can I say? I can’t be as amazing as my other brothers.”
He looked back down at his folder and then back up to me. “Do you want to tell me why you were on the Scavuzzo property?”
I shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I was walking down the street, and the next thing I know, I’m waking up inside the house. They hit me pretty hard on the back of the head. You can check with the hospital. That’s why I was there, to get checked out.”
“Why would members of the Italian mafia knock a guy out that’s just walking down the street?”
I shrugged again. “Maybe they didn’t like the way I was walking, but if you find out, I would love to know. Maybe they can pay my hospital bill.”
“You seem to think this is some kind of joke.”
“Actually,” Robert interjected. “It seems that you brought him in here for no reason other than to coerce him into saying something. He already told you what happened. What more do you want?”
“I want to know how you walked out of there,” the fed said.
“Like I said, I was unconscious. When I woke up, there were all these dead bodies around me. I had been tied to a chair, but I managed to get out of the rope. I walked out the door and headed to the hospital.”
“And you didn’t think to call the police?”
“I was disoriented.”
“And since the police showed up,” Robert said, “and you found him in the hospital, and he came here to fully cooperate, I’m not sure what you intend to charge him with.”
“Who said anything about charging him?”
“Well, you wouldn’t grill him like this unless you think he’s involved.”
“Is that what I’m doing?” the fed asked, leaning back in his chair.
The fed was obviously getting frustrated. He grilled me for what felt like hours, trying to trip me up in any way I could. I told him basically the truth, that I had been moving from town to town and living off what I earned while taking jobs where I could. There was nothing illegal about not having a credit card or using a bank. In fact, the only way they would catch me is if they knew what towns I was in when those shootings occurred, and I wasn’t about to tell them about those.
“And you say that you didn’t see anything that happened in the house?”
“I was unconscious,” I reminded him. “It’s a little hard to know what’s going on around you when you’re not awake.”
“Look,” Robert said, buttoning his jacket as he stood. “This has been fun, but going over the same information over and over again isn’t getting either of us anywhere. As far as I can tell, the only thing you have on him is that he was missing for seven years. If you have something you would like to charge my client with, do it now or we’re walking out of here.”
The agent stood and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Don’t disappear for another seven years. We may have more questions for you.”
I smiled at him and walked out with Robert. We were both silent as we exited the federal building. When we were finally in the car, I let out a deep breath.
“Do you think that worked?”
He shrugged. “It should keep them chasing their tails for a while. The only thing we have to worry about now is Antonio, and until we decide what to do with him, he’s a wildcard.”
After leaving the federal building, we headed to the hospital where Levi had been admitted. From what Derek told me, Carly hadn’t left his side since she was allowed back into his room. I had to see for myself just how close they were.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Derek asked. “She hasn’t left his side. Maybe it’s better to wait.”
“Wait for what?” I huffed out. “I don’t believe that she wants him. I think she just feels guilty for dragging him into this.”
“He dragged himself into this,” Derek said. “Look, you need to be prepared for the fact that she might decide to go back to him. He risked everything to get your daughter back.”
“My daughter was never taken.”
“But he didn’t know that, and in her eyes, that’s a huge sacrifice.”
“So, everything that happened between us doesn’t matter?” I asked incredulously. “We had seven years together, where we only relied on each other. We made a baby together.”
He sighed and ran a hand across his jaw in frustration. “I know, man. And I’m not saying it makes sense. But they have a different kind of history. They come from similar worlds. Now that everything is done and over with…”
“You think she’ll choose him over me.”
“I don’t know, man. Can you see her settling down and living the country life? Being the wife of a mechanic?”
I thought about it for a moment, but the answer didn’t immediately come. “I don’t know. We’ve been running for so lon
g, I’m not even sure what our lives would look like if we were just us. We only know how to keep running. Settling down…” I sighed. What I had craved for years now seemed nearly impossible. I wasn’t sure of anything anymore. But I knew I needed to see her and find out where we went from here. The only problem was Levi stood between us.
“I could take you down to the farm. You could spend some time with Alessa, maybe give her some time to figure things out. Remember, she’s been on the run a lot longer than you have.”
“No,” I shook my head. “I need to see her.”
I turned and headed for his room, steeling myself for seeing her with him. I was probably making this all up in my head. She was probably grateful for all he had done for us, and she wanted to make sure he was okay. She had told me herself that he had cheated on her regularly when they were just teenagers. She wouldn’t actually take a man like that back. It would never work, especially when we had a little girl in the picture.
Pushing aside my doubts, I stood outside Levi’s room and prepared myself for playing nice with him. After all, he had warned us about Alessa. I should be grateful to the man. I pushed the door open with a smile on my face, but the last thing I was prepared for was to see Carly bent over, kissing him with his hand wrapped around her neck, holding her to him. I stood there for a minute, sure I was seeing an innocent kiss. They were old friends after all. But the kiss continued for way too long, and after a moment, it became clear to me that the only thing I was walking in on was her getting reacquainted with an old lover.
Stepping back, I let the door swing shut and then stood there staring at it for a moment. I couldn’t believe this. After everything we had been through, she just went back to him. She didn’t even talk about any of it with me. I had been cast aside for the man she really wanted, someone that was more like her.
Closing my eyes, I refused to let the pain wash over me. What had I been expecting? I was never supposed to end up with her. Meeting her that day had been by accident and had changed the course of my life forever. But now that part of my life was over, and if she was going back to him, I was going to have to find a new life, one that didn’t include her.
Wanted Dead or In Love: A Small Town Romance (The Cortell Brothers Book 3) Page 20