“Deputy Hawkins, we understand the distress you’re under, and we’re doing our best here. Carlotto is already under arrest in Chicago. We have the surveillance tapes, recorded evidence, and ultimately your girlfriend’s statement as a witness to Kevin Lang and Carlotto’s involvement in the murder of Officer Oscar Finery.”
“Whoa, slow down there. When did this happen?” Nate asked, interrupting.
The federal agent gave Nate the once-over, and Nate held his ground. Nate was definitely in his zone here dealing with government officials. The moment the federal agents saw him and got his name, they stayed clear.
“Back in Chicago, about two weeks before Francesca took off, she was involved in a confrontation between Carlotto’s men and her boyfriend at the time, Kevin Lang. We listened to recordings of the interrogation of three of Carlotto’s men we arrested, and from the gist of them, it seems Kevin screwed over Carlotto and he wanted some kind of payback. Men came in and confronted Kevin, and Francesca was stabbed.
“What?” Rye asked.
Turbo immediately thought about the scar on her hip and groin. It was very light but still noticeable.
“Carlotto’s men took her to some private facility, and within a week, Kevin was behind bars for a slap-on-the-wrist crime. He was caught with some drugs, but with his lawyer, he got six months with early parole. He was fired from the police department, stripped of his badge and gun, and got out early, as I mentioned. We believe that Francesca found out that Kevin and Carlotto killed Police Officer Finery. He was a friend of her family. She attended the wake then disappeared. Even we lost sight of her and had no idea where she went to,” the federal agent told them.
“These men you interrogated, they didn’t provide enough evidence to put Carlotto behind bars and to keep Kevin there?” Nate asked them.
The agent looked at the other agents then at the detectives.
“We were waiting on this big deal, a shipment coming in from the Atlantic. We only have drips and drabs of details.”
“So you were holding out, and now this fucking psycho who just shot two guys in the head and tossed them on the street in the center of town has our girlfriend, a witness and woman you all should have been protecting.” Nate pointed at the federal agents.
“She wasn’t a witness for our case yet. Just a person of interest to question,” the agent told Nate.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Rye raised his voice. “And you think we’re going to trust you with saving our girlfriend from getting killed by these people?”
* * * *
Nate placed his hand in front of Rye as Rye stepped toward the agents. Even Nate was losing his patience. He understood how these men worked. They were out for one thing—the big bust.
“I think we need to step back here and look at the big picture. We have Carlotto in custody. We have the wiretaps and recordings and the three guys who ratted him out on enough crimes to put him away for quite some time. Kevin is a cop killer. But he also may be a main connection to international drug cartels shipping drugs here to the U.S. In fact, we believe these connections Carlotto had selling drugs in clubs is just touching the surface of a major operation across New Jersey. This is huge.”
“So looking at the big picture, you couldn’t give a shit whether our girlfriend lives or not. This was an opportunity to snag Kevin and try to intercept the import of drugs to the state?” Turbo asked.
“Fucking great. We see where your focus is. Well, we have ours. What’s your plan to save Francesca from this guy?” Nate asked.
The agents were silent.
“You’re not privy to our plans. We’re just providing professional courtesy to the local law enforcements. We’ll need everyone’s assistance because you all know this area better than we do. As far as the ultimate plan, you’re all on a need-to-know basis.”
“Is that really how you want to play this?” Buddy asked the agent.
“We’re in charge. You all take orders from us. Now we need to get back to work. All non-law enforcement personnel directly associated with this case can leave,” the agent said, dismissing them, basically telling them they were not going to be kept abreast of the situation and they were being shut out.
“You can’t do this. She’s our girlfriend. It’s not right,” Rye yelled.
Mike grabbed his arm. “Screw these guys. Turbo can stay. Let’s go.”
“Are you sure that’s how you want to play this? Are you certain you don’t want us involved in helping to locate them?” Nate asked as he started thinking of what he needed to do next to save Francesca. He was the oldest. He was the one responsible for them, and apparently he and his brothers were all Francesca had as hope to survive.
“As I said, all non-law enforcement can leave. Now please do,” the agent said with attitude and then he began speaking to some of the other officers and giving orders.
Turbo followed his brothers out of the room. Jake and Buddy stayed in there as they all discussed their next move.
“What a bunch of control-freak dicks. They’re going to get her killed,” Rye stated then paced in front of the desks.
“We see what their agenda is. It’s about the big bust. She’ll fall under collateral damage,” Nate told them.
“Fuck, I’m not standing here and doing nothing. There has to be a way to help find her. She has to be so fucking scared,” Rye said, and Nate could tell his brother was freaking out. Rye always paced when he felt out of control about something.
“I wonder why she lied about the scar and didn’t tell us about hearing the confession of murder?” Mike asked.
“Because she was protecting us from him and Carlotto. Just like she probably went willingly with Kevin today so he wouldn’t hurt Cassidy. The man’s a monster. He killed two men in front of her and shoved them out of a car. He’d think nothing of hurting her,” Nate told them.
“Then we need to do something. God knows what he’s done to her already,” Rye said with his fists by his sides.
“Well, those assholes in there have their own agenda. They’re looking for the big bust and couldn’t care less if Frankie lives or dies. We can’t stand here with our thumbs up our asses and let them decide her fate,” Turbo told his brothers.
Mike ran his hands over his mouth and locked gazes with Nate. “Nate, we need you. You’ve got the connections. You did shit for the government. She’ll die if we leave her rescue up to those agents.”
Nate held his brother’s gaze. The tightness in his chest was overwhelming. His brothers were strong men. Never had any of them asked for help. They were always there for one another. A family, a team, brothers in every aspect. They shared Francesca. They’d fallen in love with her together, made love to her together, and bound their hearts with hers together. It was up to them to save her life.
He stepped closer to them, and his brothers gathered around.
“We can’t talk here, but we need to keep abreast of what’s going on. Turbo, we need ears here. We’ll need to know what the feds’ plans are and when they’ll make a move so we can be steps ahead of them,” Nate told Turbo.
“So you want me to stay here while you guys make a plan and go rescue her?”
“No, you need someone you can trust,” Nate told Turbo.
Nate looked around the room, his eyes landing on plenty of people before he saw Detective Bryce Moore on his cell phone and heading toward the back hallway.
“Hold that thought. I think I have something even better.” Nate watched Turbo walk away.
“I don’t know what he’s up to, but we catch up with him elsewhere. Mike, Rye, we need eyes and ears out there. Anyone within the vicinity that may have seen that SUV or perhaps something suspicious going on. As the federal agents mentioned, they believed Kevin was involved with importing and exporting drugs, possibly supplying the local dealers with product across New Jersey. The only way in and out internationally would be by boat. I’m going to call Jinx and Raphael. They run the crews for the patrols on water and are connected with the Coast Guard for any potential foreign boats and barges coming into the ports to the south. If something is up, if they get the heads-up on a possible situation for backup, they would be the ones these federal agents would contact.”
“That’s great. You really think this guy would still let a shipment come through here with the feds and local police hunting him down?” Rye asked.
“It’s all about the money. He couldn’t care less about who he kills in the process. Look at what Kevin has done so far,” Mike said.
Just then Buddy walked out of the office, looking really pissed off. Jake was with him and barking out orders for deputies to gather in the main part of the office.
“Hey, Buddy, what’s going on?” Rye asked him.
Buddy shook his head. “It’s fucking crazy. They got insight on a location for Kevin and Frankie. They also have a boat five miles from here that came in from out of the country. They think it contains the product that’s being smuggled in. They’re going to raid the boat and the warehouse they think Kevin and Frankie are in. I’m sorry. It’s a fucking mess.”