Page 81 of Taking Care of the Target

“Yeah, he’ll either give us what we need, or destroy our whole case.” Jim lifted the coordinates Vince gave him. He couldn’t wait to call it in and see what the dogs and CSI could find, and despite trying to keep himself from putting too much stock in this tip, he’d already started seeing visions of arrest warrants dancing in his head.

***

Carlo was out back enjoying one of his cigars, when Vince stepped out the back door. “I thought you were gonna take a few days off.”

“Hard to relax when there’s a pig parked outside my house,” Vince said. “So I stayed away and then got rid of your tail. Told them it was harassment when they didn’t have anything on you, and that we’d call our lawyer if we needed to.”

“And what did they say to that?”

Vince shrugged. “Bunch of bullshit cop stuff, but I could tell I hit a nerve. I doubt they’ll be following you anymore.”

“Did they ask you about Cassie?”

“Yeah. I wish your sniper hadn’t made such a fucking mess. I told them she and I had dated a bit, but it was nothing serious and I hadn’t heard from her in a while. They ever-so-predictably asked me if I wanted to finish the conversation at the station. I told them I’d love a free ride, but I’d be calling the same lawyer I was going to have look into their harassment, and they backed off. They might poke around a bit more, but they won’t find anything, and with no body, they’ll never be able to prove anything. I’m not worried.”

Carlo studied his nephew in the fading afternoon light. Last night when Vince had first burst in, he didn’t know what to think. But as he talked about carrying out the hit on Cassie…He knew that haunted look. It was the look you got when you’d done something you’d hated to do and you weren’t sure how exactly to live with it yet. Most of his men would deny it, but they’d all had hard hits that shook them up like that. It came along with the territory, and Vince had done well, carrying things out despite the hiccup.

Carlo also peeked out the window as Vince drove away. His tires and the bottom of Jeep were both coated in dried mud, more evidence confirming his story.

Trigger must’ve gotten a little trigger-happy. Or maybe Sal thought he’d pay Vince back and take a cheap shot at him while he could get away with it. I should’ve known to take care of the call myself.

If the heat hadn’t been so high, he would’ve.

“Anyway, just thought I’d update you,” Vince said. “If they don’t back off, let me know and we’ll come up with a new plan of attack. Maybe even sic that overpriced lawyer you’ve got on retainer on them and make them dizzy with paperwork.” One corner of his mouth twisted up. “That’d be fun.”

“Yeah, I never thought of the harassment angle. Even if it doesn’t stick, we can at least make them chase their curly little tails a while. Fucking pigs.”

“Fucking pigs,” Vince echoed. “Anyway, I’m going to see if I can go back to my house now. If not, I might let them take me down to the station just so I can get a nap.” He gave a short laugh, clapped Carlo on the back, and then headed back inside of Rossi’s.

As Carlo took the last few puffs of his cigar, he wondered how many of his men would have the balls to walk up to a tail like that. And to think, Vince wasn’t sure if he was made for this. It was in his blood, and he was already better than men who’d been at it for years.

He’d still have to watch him, because he knew there was some bitterness left over from everything that happened with Bobby, and it’d probably increased when Vince found out Carlo had given the order to take him out if necessary. But he could always use Bobby again if Vince needed extra motivation, and clearly his nephew had realized who was in charge and decided he might as well come over to the winning side.

He might not be completely out of the woods, but the pieces were all starting to come together. And if anything or anyone got in the way, he’d take care of it. Just like he always did.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Jim stood in the middle of the wooded area, shivering despite his thick coat. November nights could be unforgiving, and from the feel of it, the snow they’d gotten earlier this week was going to look like a joke when tomorrow’s storm hit.

It raised the stakes, weather and time teaming up against him and the rest of the search team. They’d been at it since first thing this morning, and with the sun all but down, morale was waning.Of course, this whole thing could just be a wild goose chase, and Vince and Carlo could be disposing of evidence right now.

Jim shoved that thought away, because it wouldn’t help anything. Not the search or his frustration or frozen toes. He liked to think he read people pretty well, and while he didn’t think Vince was completely honest about what happened to Cassandra, he was certain he cared for her. Mancini agreed, citing his first run-in with Vince as proof he took her safety seriously.

Was a woman really enough to get him to turn on his own uncle?

He hoped so.

A loud bark broke the silence, and Jim rushed in the direction it came from. The rest of the crew gradually made their way over. They stood in a large circle, waiting to see what the cadaver dog had found.

A freezing eternity later, the team prepared to pull the body out of the ground. Jim set aside the cup of coffee that stopped warming his hands and insides long ago and moved as close as the forensic team would allow.

As horrible as it was to feel relief over a dead body, Jim couldn’t help it. This could be the smoking gun they needed to arrest Carlo Rossi for murder. With what Vince already gave them on the racketeering side of the business, they could throw the RICO Act at him and his boys—and they would—but the sentences were often bargained down to lesser ones, and he wanted Carlo put away for life.

Mancini’s need to do just that practically vibrated off him. The Styrofoam cup in his hand was now a mangled mess.

Jim clapped him on the back. “This is going to sink him. We’re going to get the bastard.” He thought about telling him that his dad would be proud, but he didn’t know if that was too mushy.

Two CSI guys lifted the body onto the nearby tarp. Bile rose up as Jim took in the size of the exit wound in the back of the man’s skull. What features he could see matched the picture from Eduardo Alvares’s driver’s license. Of course, they matched a lot of people, especially after this much time in the ground.

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