Page 44 of Special Agent Joseph

“That’s been covered, and the answer’s the same. Now let me get this straight. You need me to find out the address beforehand, so you can pretend to have a task force set up and ready to strike. Only when I tell him that, he’ll change to another location on my say-so and that’s where you’ll actually plan the assault.”

“Exactly. And remember, once you give Vinnie a false report about our plans, there’s no turning back. Right? He’ll know you’re the snitch.”

“I’m fully aware of my involvement. And I’m good.” After they sussed out their ideas for when the truck showed up and suggestions for what they wanted him to share with Vinnie, they let him leave.

Knowing they still had doubts bothered him; yet he didn’t have any himself. He’d show them he could be trusted. After all, as an FBI agent hadn’t he pledged allegiance to the constitution? Which in his mind meant keeping his country safe. As well as the people. Somehow, he knew that vow meant the world to him and why he’d trampled over it in the past still rankled.

Just then his phone buzzed. When he checked to see an incoming call from Megan, he stopped in his tracks. Automatically, he wondered why she’d be calling him. With hisheart speeding up, he answered. Something had happened, he just knew it.

***

By the time they had the body cleared away and the coroner’s office pronouncing a likely heart attack as the cause of death… back at the office, Joe had all the paper work finished for Lucia. Having trouble filling in the forms, he had Tom work with him, and they had her processed in no time. Once they heard back from the medical examiner that there would be no charges and therefore no arrest, she would be free to leave. As the hours dragged by, unstable and needing a hit, Lucia became more unruly. “Where’s my pills? I want them. Megan had no right to take them.”

“Sorry, I don’t know anything about that, kid.”

Peering up at him, beseeching for understanding, she continued, “They’re just to relax my nerves you know. They’re good for me. Like stress pills. Raphael said so.”

Promising to help, Joe said gently, “I’ll get you something else to calm you.” He brought her a coffee, a couple of Tylenol, and a cigarette one of the men passed over to him, thinking it might help settle the girl. Accepting his bribes, Lucia puffed away on the smoke and guzzled the coffee. Then begged them again to let her go, but Joe had promised Megan he wouldn’t do that.

Eventually, the girl slept but soon woke in distress… so much so that he sat with her, talking about all kinds of things. Mostly, he told her about Jack and how he’d gotten close to the dog. What it meant to him that the German Shephard now looked to him for leadership. She listened to his voice and soon her head relaxed against his shoulder. He didn’t move finding it nice to have a girl do that again. Suddenly, he had a picture of another young teen cuddling up to him this way, leaning on him in aloving, sister-like way. His whole body reacted to the image and warmth flooded, stirring a feeling of love that meant the world to him.

Eventually, Megan arrived to pick up Lucia with the details for the exclusive Treatment Center that Vinnie had chosen. Of course, Lucia didn’t want to go. But as Megan explained more than once, still being underage, her grandfather had authority over her therapy.

“I won’t go.”

“Oh, yes, my sweet little ladybug, you will. We need to get these drugs out of your system so you’re thinking clearly.”

“No. I don’t want to think clearly. I want Raphael.”

“He’s moved on, baby. He doesn’t give a fiddler’s fart about you. So just accept that this is what the prick does. He finds young homeless runaways and turns them into stoners. Once he gets them hooked on drugs, they rely on him to provide them with their so-called medicine, and then he pimps them out to get money for his own addiction. When they burn out, he drops them and moves on.”

“It’s not like that with me. He loves me.”

“If he loved you, he wouldn’t want another man near you. No, he loves opioids, heroin, and fentanyl. Your grandfather loves you.”

“Well I hate him. I don’t want to see him ever again.” Screaming, Lucia continued to let Megan know her feelings about both her grandfather and their choice of placement. While en route, she tried to open the car door, and Megan had to slow down and pull over to the right hand lane. “Cut that out, Lucia. Or I’ll cuff you.”

Paying no attention, Lucia reached to grab at the wheel, forcing Megan to hit the brake hard. That’s when she whipped out the cuffs she’d brought along just in case this might happen. Struggling with the weakened girl, she had them on Lucia in notime. Then she reached over and secured her to the handle above the car door before continuing on their way. Thankful they were almost there, she looked at her charge.

Forced to ignore the slouched body of a weeping mess, Megan had trouble believing Lucia had gone so far down the rabbit hole in such a short time. From being a normal, albeit angry teenager to this distraught, stinky, unwashed tragedy, one who’d lost enough weight to be a worry, saddened Megan’s usual belief in the goodness of humanity.

Obliged to remind herself of the truth she saw in Lucia, she sighed with a deep sorrow. These goddamn drugs washed away all a person’s goodness, turning them into craving disasters where only the next hit mattered. That was the truth. And another truth she faced was the thankfulness that they’d caught up to Lucia as soon as they did.

Because they had to face the fact that many of the addicts died from this shit. And those numbers were increasing in a never-ending upward spiral. According to the information passed out to the different law enforcement agencies about these new potentially lethal drugs, Isotonitazene (aka Nitazene or street name "ISO”), they could be forty times stronger than fentanyl and up to 500 times more powerful than heroin. Shuddering, she prayed they’d found Lucia in time so she could be pulled back from the brink.

Driving to the facility entrance, they were met by three caretakers ready to deal with the angry teenager who she willingly handed over to them. But before a relieved Megan could get away, screams brought her rushing back, only to see Vinnie appear in the middle of what could only be called bedlam.

Once Lucia had seen him, all hell broke loose. Before they could maintain their hold on the girl, she yanked away from the guards and rushed her grandfather, clinging to his body, begging, “Please, Nonno, I’ll be good. Take me home. I don’twant to be here. I’m sick. I need my medicine, and they won’t give me my pills.” Hysterically, she whipped her head around, pointing at Megan. “She took them away from me. They’re mine. I want them back… now.”

Obviously repulsed by Lucia’s dirty, sickly image and bizarre behavior, Vinnie forced her to let go and pushed her away so he could look at her. “My God. What have they done to you. I’m sorry, Lucia mia. You must stay and let these people look after you here.” Revolted and horrified, his expression showed the shock he couldn’t hide. “Nipotina, granddaughter, it’s a special place, and the people know how to deal with this. Baby, stop.” He thrust away her clinging, grasping hands. “I can’t help you at home. You must remain here.”

Megan watched the old man’s expression change from one of shock to incredible sadness. While talking, he again tried to hold the girl in place so she would listen to him, but staying still for Lucia had become impossible. Shaking viciously, she couldn’t stop her body’s constant shudders. And when he didn’t immediately agree to her demands, she lost control, screaming obscenities and hateful abuse at the crushed man.

In a voice whispery with emotion, she spit nastiness at him, cruel words that were meant to inflict pain. “I detest you. You’re a horrible, mean old man. I never want to see you again.” As the guards forced her to walk inside, she whipped away from them, clutching again at the old man’s reaching hand. “I didn’t mean that Nonno, I’m sorry. Help me. Take me home. Ple-ease.”

Megan watched Vinnie’s physique shrink in front of her. Noting how his back and shoulders sagged, defeat written across his features like he’d taken the worst hit a man can suffer, made her almost feel sorry for him. She watched as he finally gave up trying to talk Lucia down and instead nodded at the watchful guardians to forcibly take her away, still screaming and then begging and finally sobbing.

Once the girl disappeared, Vinnie roughly grabbed Megan’s arm and hauled her over to a quiet area where they would be alone and could talk. “What the fuck happened to my granddaughter?”

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