Page 82 of Taking Care of the Target

Which meant they had to do more waiting.

***

Carlo sat in his office at the restaurant, thinking how nice it was to have his freedoms back. The feds hadn’t tailed him for a couple of days, Allegra was content to shop and greet him with a kiss at the end of the day, and he could finally just sit back, relax, and enjoy a plate of cannoli, uninterrupted.

Tomorrow he’d put the squeeze on a few of his businesses that’d taken advantage of his recent distractions. Killing Eduardo was supposed to send a message to the other merchants to fall into place. Instead, several of them thought it would be a good idea to form a neighborhood watch program and take care of their own protection.

He’d take Sal, Dante, and some of the other boys with him to make sure the neighborhood watch members wouldn’t be able to watch anything for a week or so. A couple of swollen black eyes should do it. That’d be their warning, and he had no doubt people would fall in again.

Carlo’s cell phone rang, and Dante’s name popped up on the screen.

“What’s up?” Carlo answered.

“While I was sweating it out in jail, one of our dealers ran off with a few kilos of cocaine. Don’t worry, I’ll find him and let you know once he’s taken care of. But I wanted you to hear it from me.”

“Just take care of it. Jeez, one fucking week and the people start revolting. Where’s the loyalty?” He licked cream off his fingers. “What about Sanji’s Market? He pay?”

“Took a little roughing up, but I got it.”

“Good. We’ll hit a few more places tomorrow.” He’d automatically skipped Vince out of habit, but now was as good a time as any to get him into the swing of things. “I’m sending Vince with you tomorrow. Keep an eye on him for me. Tell me if you notice him going too soft on the merchants. Just between me and you,capisce?”

“You got it, Boss.”

Noise erupted from the dining area, and Carlo disconnected the call. Occasionally Rossi’s got a loud party of people that got louder the more they drank, but the roar sounded like three rowdy parties at once.

With a scowl, Carlo pushed away from his desk. He headed toward the heart of the restaurant to see what was going on.

“Freeze!” A voice yelled. “Carlo Rossi, you’re under arrest for—”

Carlo darted into the hall, planning on ducking out the back alley. A couple of pigs cut him off, guns aimed at his chest. One of them looked familiar. It took him a moment to realize he’d seen him in McCarthy’s restaurant the day he went to check on Cassie. Obviously he wasn’t as paranoid that day as he’d thought.

“Hands where I can see them,” the pig said. “If you choose to run, my partner would be glad to add resisting arrest to your rap sheet. You wanna try it?”

Smug bastard—he’d make him pay. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been arrested before. “Sure, boys. Care to tell me why I’m being arrested today?”

“Racketeering to start with, conspiracy to commit murder, and murder to top it off. We’ll get to the officials in a moment, but let’s just say, I’m confident you’ll never see the outside of a prison cell again.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

A little over two weeks after being dumped off in a Greyhound station, Katie Jones had a job, an apartment, and a roommate who also worked at the Front Range Steakhouse.

Cassie tried to celebrate her success at managing all three so quickly. She put on a good front around other people, but when she retreated to her bedroom alone at night, everything she held at bay during the day rushed her at once.

Vince’s absence glared at her, this big empty space that should be filled with a big rugged guy. Before falling asleep, she relived every moment they had together and let her heartache wash over her. Probably counterproductive to truly moving on, but as someone who’d lost memories, the thought of having those stripped from her made her hold on that much tighter.

Unfortunately, bad memories leaked into her dreams, turning them into nightmares where she watched Eduardo Alvarez’s murder again and again. Occasionally, Vince’s face would replace Eduardo’s right before Carlo pulled the trigger.

Then she’d wake up in a cold sweat, thrashing at the sheets binding her legs. More than once she wondered if she was being ridiculously stubborn for staying in Oklahoma and not doing more to hide. She considered dyeing her hair, but she’d already met everyone as a blond and figured she might as well stay that way. A search on the Kate Joneses in the area came up with over seventy listings, which made her feel better about her odds.

So she’d tried to stop second-and-triple guessing her decisions, forced herself to pretend her way through starting over, and told herself that eventually, her heartbreak would lessen and her new life wouldn’t feel so…black and white. That she’d go a night without nightmares. That she’d learn to walk down the sidewalk without flinching at passing cars. That one day color and full feeling would return.

At the knock on her bedroom door, she propped the corners of her mouth into a smile and called out, “Yeah?”

Her roommate, Deanne, poked her head inside and flashed her a wide grin—she was one of the sunny spots in her new life. High energy and as bright as the red appliances in her kitchen and the boots on her feet, her enthusiasm helped keep Cassie from crashing. “Ready to go?”

Cassie reached into her closet and skimmed her hand down the sleeve of Vince’s army jacket.It’ll just remind Maude she still hasn’t gotten the full story.With a sigh, she grabbed the black coat she recently bought instead. Maude insisted she and Deanne come over for Sunday dinner. Apparently it was tradition, and Cassie—or Katie, as it were—was now going to be part of it.

At the front door, Deanne bent over and shook out her dark hair, the way she always did before they left the house. Then she flipped up her head, her waves now twice their usual size. She applied a layer of pinkish gold lip-gloss that complemented her bronze skin tone, and they were officially ready for their grand exit.

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