Page 55 of Her Guardian
Sarah whimpers her dissatisfaction and keeps her hand on me until I’m out of the bed. I adjust her until she’s on the pillow and kiss her cheek before turning away to get dressed.
I get as far as the door before my phone lights up.
The Mafia Prince Killer has struck again.
“Fuck!” I yell, turning around and stomping back to the bed. “Get up. He hit the Spaniards. Moreno’s oldest kid. Police just got the call.”
Sarah sits up with a confused look on her face.
“Get dressed. Come on.” I kick the bed with my foot. “You want content, right?”
Sarah rubs her eyes and blinks them into focus. “Wait, you’re serious? He killed someone last night? That’s—he never moves this fast!”
“Bring all your shit,” I snap. “You can do your podcast on the road after we see the scene if you want to go live before anyone else breaks the story.”
Sarah is wide awake in no time once she realizes I’m taking her to another crime scene. She quickly gets dressed and piles some stuff in a bag. So much for swinging by my place for a shower. I’ll play it off as being out all night looking for the son of a bitch if anyone asks. Not that it’s their business. I told the only one who needs to know what is really going on.
“Too late to break the story,” Sarah mutters, scrolling through her phone as she follows me. “But nobody knows what is written on the wall, so that’ll be an exclusive, just like last time.”
“Good,” I say, hitting the button to call the elevator.
I don’t have to bring her with me. I’ve fixed her phone so that it has the same untraceable app for texts that is on mine. I could go to the scene, text her the information, and get on with my day.
But any excuse to spend more time with Sarah is a good one. I lead her to the SUV and open the door, then walk around to my side.
“The Moreno family?” Sarah asks. “I don’t have much information on them.”
“You shouldn’t,” I answer. “Nobody should. They are… don’t put this on your podcast. They’re mostly mercenaries. They do a lot of business with the Brennan family.”
“That’s a pattern then,” Sarah says. “In Chicago, after he hit the first family, he went through their network, taking out others that did business with them. He’s probably doing the same thing in Las Vegas.”
“What about New Jersey and New York?” I ask, glancing over at her.
“No real pattern there,” she replies. “Well, none that was as easy to follow as the one in Chicago. The last murder in New Jersey seemed totally random. It was a brand-new group that was just getting started. The Mafia Prince Killer didn’t even have much dirt on them.”
“Hmm.” I light a cigarette as I ponder it. “Alright, after we go by the scene, I’ll look into Brennan’s network.”
Sarah keeps giving me updates as she finds them. The story has broken, and the true crime world is waking up, but Las Vegas never sleeps. There are plenty of people around who are still partying from the night before, and others who are getting an early start on their day.
I maneuver around the cars and pedestrians until I get to the Moreno family’s territory.
The Moreno family is pretty small-time, especially compared to some of other families in Las Vegas. Mercenaries. Hitmen. They’re the ones you’d usually call if you need someone eliminated without doing it yourself or using someone in your own family. Erica hired a Moreno hitman to kill Massimo. If it wasn’t for our relationship with the Moreno family, the boss would have never gotten a chance to take his father’s throne.
“Same thing as last time,” I mutter as I pull up to the gate outside Lorenzo Moreno’s residence. “Let me do all the talking.”
“Sure thing,” Sarah replies.
Lorenzo Moreno’s oldest son’s name is—was—Miguel. He wasn’t a kid like Liam Brennan. He was supposed to be gettingmarried in a few months. I have the wedding invitation on my table at home. You understand there are risks in this line of work, but getting murdered in your bedroom by a serial killer isn’t usually one of them.
Moreno’s residence is more heavily guarded than Brennan’s was. It takes me longer to convince the guys at the front gate to let me in, but they eventually cave. The police are still here in force. Lots of patrol cars and the forensics team are still gathering evidence.
“Lot livelier than the last crime scene,” Sarah remarks, glancing out the window as I park the SUV.
“Yeah, stay behind me. There are so many cops here it might not be so easy to get in,” I say, getting out of the vehicle.
Sarah does as I ask. I talk to an officer I recognize, then find a detective I saw at the last crime scene. He’s not excited about us walking around, but since I’m with the Morandi family, he finally caves. He gives us an escort to make sure we don’t step on anything important, and I lead Sarah up the stairs to the bedroom where the murder took place.
“Oh, no, the body is still there,” Sarah groans.
