Page 75 of Letting Go
“Hmm. Just how much sugar did y’all bring to give our sweet babies tonight?” I tilt my head up at my brother. His rich laugh echoes off the walls.
“Apparently the perfect amount, now hustle up, you’re moving slower than molasses, girl. I refuse to be forced to only eat cheese pizza again because those hooligans ate all the pizzas with any meat on them.” He pulls me in closer just before we walk into the livingroom, kissing the top of my head and quietly telling me, “Love you, Viv. I’m always here, yeah?”
I smile at my big protector. “I know Jack, love you too. Now do me a favor and go distract Finn so I can steal that supreme pizza from his grubby hands.”
“Yes, ma’am, I am on it!” He rushes to grab Finn, forcing him into a loose headlock.
“What the hell, Jack? Get off me!” Finn tries to get away, but he was ill-prepared for Jack’s sneak attack.
“Sorry, but I am on a noble quest, young Finny. Now relinquish a supreme pizza to the lady or I will be forced to further mess up your perfect hair,” Jack threatens. As soon as his hair is mentioned, Finn stops fighting, drops the pizza box on the floor, and raises his hands in surrender. Moments later, I hand the box back to Jack after pulling a few slices out for myself.
“And that is why it’s important to always know your adversaries, young ladies. Take it from your Uncle Jack, if you know your enemy, you will know where to attack and get to enjoy the sweet taste of victory,” Jack tells the girls as they laugh at the two brothers.
“Tonight’s victory tastes like delicious supreme pizza,” I add.
Jack grabs his beer and leans over to cheers me. “Indeed it does, sweetheart.”
Chapter forty-two
Walker
The phone barely rings before Mason picks up. “I was just about to call you!”
“I’m just walking back up to my office after a coffee run to stretch my legs and I had a thought about something, but you first. What’s going on?” I ask, both of us bypassing a greeting and getting right to it.
“Even better, I’m on my way and will meet you there. In fact, we may want to pull the entire team in the conference room for this update. Walker, I think it’s what we have been looking for,” he says and I can tell he’s walking quickly on the other end of the call.
I pick up my pace as I reply, “Do it. I’ll have Christine round up anyone we don’t see on the way.” I pivot and head to our task force’s main conference room and text Christine to meet me there. She quickly arrives to take her iced tea from me and informs me that any task member in the building is on their way. I walk in the room and Mason is bouncing with excitement. I don’t know what he found, but I can tell it’s good. I wait a minute before nodding at Christine to shut the door, officially starting the meeting.
“Go ahead Mason, what did you find?” I ask.
“Yes, sir. I was reviewing our expanded deep dive into the lives of anyone involved with the victims as we have identified those connected to a variety of crime families. I started to look into the names we have compiled so far, just in case anything popped up.” I nod as hecontinues.
“The Bianchi family is connected to the murders of Diego Garcia, Nicole Robins, and Peter Hopkins.” Mason pauses to pull up an image on the screen of the leaders of the Bianchi family. “We already know that Nicole Robins’ murder was more than likely due to her affair with Rocco Rossi, whose brother-in-law is Bianchi underboss Gio Bruno, right? So, I started there and looked at Bruno, his family, and his associates to see if there was any crossover. I was looking through our various criminal databases as well as any associates mentioned in any media publications.”
Mason pulls up another photo of what looks like a young Gio Bruno standing next to a beautiful young bride surrounded by their wedding party. “In 1984, Gio Bruno married Angela Moretti in New York City. Their wedding was well attended by the mob elite at the time as Gio’s dad was the Bianchi underboss and Angela was the niece of a well-known capo for the same family.”
“This mafioso history lesson is fascinating, Mason, but what does this have to do with our sniper cases?” I ask, not sure where he’s going with this.
“Prior to marrying Gio Bruno, Angela had attended a well-known boarding school in New Jersey. Brighton Ellis Academy closed in 2010 but had been around for over one hundred years. It was a respected boarding school for young women from very wealthy families on the East Coast,” Mason proudly tells us, but I still don’t see what he’s so excited about.
“Am I the only one that doesn’t get what the connection is to our victims?” Tara asks the room. “I mean, don’t get me wrong Mason, I do love a great 80s wedding photo, and their hair is really just fantastic, but I don’t see the correlation to our cases.”
Mason laughs with the room and nods before responding, “If no one sees it yet, that’s fair. But I bet that’s about to change with this.” Mason pauses as he brings up another photo with a few clicks of his mouse. This photo is much more recent, in the lastdecade at least, and it shows a tropically dressed Gio and Angela Bruno at a beach resort with a group of other couples laughing at a table. “This photo was posted on a blog that follows known mafia associates, like a fan blog I guess it could be considered, which sounds like a dangerous hobby for someone. Anyway, does anyone find this photo interesting?” Mason looks directly at me with an eyebrow raised.
My mouth drops before my brain catches up to what I’m looking at on the screen. “Get the actual fuck out of here! What?” I whisper quietly, even though I want to yell but my stomach just completely dropped. I jump up and walk closer to the screen as the other agents look confused. “How the actual fuck is this possible?” I point at the screen and turn to ask Mason.
“Uh, guys? Can someone fill the rest of the class in, please?” Kelly asks.
“Gladly,” Mason responds. “In the photo, this woman was listed under her maiden name because Angela and Bruno’s wedding was six months prior to the maid of honor’s wedding. It looks like the former Brighton Ellis Academy roommates and best friends stayed in touch over the years, as you can see in this recent photo I found that was taken approximately four years ago in Bermuda. That’s Angela Bruno next to her husband Gio, and on her opposite side is her former roommate, maid of honor, best friend, and what I believe is our missing connection to Dr. Trent’s Stone murder.”
“Who the hell is that?” Tara asks. Mason looks at me and nods, letting me steal his thunder and tell the room who the connection is that we’ve been looking for to tie Dr. Stone’s murder case to one of the crime families involved with the other murders Matteo Galletti committed.
“That is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” I tell the room. Mason pulls up the woman’s driver’s license so the team can see a recent photo of her. I can’t believe it, I’ve seen this woman multiple times inForrest Falls; I even held the door for her the last time I was at the local coffee shop.
My stomach churns as I realize that if this information is a shock to me, no one in Forrest Falls will see this coming either. I turn to my team. “There is no way this is a coincidence. We need to get to Forrest Falls right fucking now. We may not know all the details as to how or why they are involved, but I sure as hell don’t think Vivian is aware that she personally knows the person connected to her husband’s murder. This allows us to connect the murder of Trent Stone to the Bianchi family, and we’ve already tied that same family to ordering other hits by the same sniper that killed Trent Stone. But why was Matteo Galletti hired to kill a heart surgeon in Chicago?”
Christine speaks up from the back of the room, “Sir, there is a helicopter ready to take you and four agents, the rest of you will need to go by car. It should get you to Forrest Falls in less than twenty-five minutes by helicopter. I’ll call ahead and have the Sheriff meet you at the local airport.”
