Page 39 of Chaos Luck Wrath

Vince may have looked like a minivan-driving soccer dad who went camping with his kids every weekend, but that didn’t preclude him from being drawn into more sinister methods to get the results he wanted.

Idly swirling the remaining bourbon in his glass, the commissioner took Joey’s words under his consideration. “Alright, I’ll bite. What are you looking for?”

Trying to play it cool, Joey shrugged before laying it out there, “Where does Liam O’Reilly fall on your radar?”

The sudden laughter from Vince filled the massive space of a living room they were currently occupying. “Your brother-in-law?! Oh man, shit.” His hand came to settle on his chest as he tried to gather his composure with a few more chuckles. “Fuck, if you were coming here to talk about anybody, I figured it’d be your wife.” There were very few professional contacts who knew the unmasked version of Joey, and Vince was one of them.

Commissioner Saito snickered before he drew another sip of the bourbon into his mouth. Licking the flavor from his lips, he shook his head. “The O’Reillys have been on the NYPD’s radar for some time. I’m pretty sure the Bureau even has their eyes on them.”

It wasn’t news that Joey was particularly happy to hear, but that’s why he was here, wasn’t it?

“Your wife is a real piece of work, ya know that?” He whistled in amazement. “The body count she’s racked up over the past few years is astounding–according to my sources, anyways.” Vince grinned as he sank back into the sofa.

Joey stared at the man who was drunk on power, the power that Joey had helped him achieve. “I’m well aware of my wife’s indiscretions. I’m more interested in why the fuck Liam is still on the streets.”

Tossing back the remainder of the alcohol in his glass, the commish finally engaged in the more serious side of the matter at hand. “Liam O’Reilly isn’t enough of a headline-worthy perp to be focusing the NYPD’s resources on. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not a saint, but from a political standpoint, he’s nothing. Layne, on the other hand…”

Dropping his foot from his knee onto the ground, Joey leaned forward with a deadly threat looming in his eyes and a crushing grip on his glass. “You and I had a deal.”

Before Joey got too carried away, Vince lifted a hand to halt him right then and there. “Relax. I’m not going back on my word. While nailing Layne would make for headlines of the century, she’s not in any danger from my precincts.” The press would have a field day with an attractive young woman in charge of an organized crime unit so violent that it made grown men shiver with either desire or fear.

There was no falling back into a sense of ease for Joey before Vince tacked on one little caveat, “But, I am not the only authority. As I’m sure you’ve heard, the FBI has helped us get the Unwind and Unorganize Program off the ground. It’s only a matter of time before they realize she’s not just a pretty face.”

Joey consumed his entire serving of the oaky notes of booze in one go. He leaned over and set the glass on the coffee table in front of him. “Liam needs to quickly become one of New York’s finest’s top priorities.”

“And just how do you propose I go about that without zeroing in on Layne, hm? They’re from the same family. As you well know, where there is one family member with black blood, there are always more. Apples never fall far from the tree, you get what I’m saying?” The commissioner examined the empty glass hanging from his fingers as the sunlight shone through it in an array of refracted colors.

The hint of frustration reached Joey’s voice as he made his point, “That sounds like it’s your problem to figure out, not mine. Liam is his own person and responsible for his own actions. There’s no reason you can’t perform a sting operation focused on someone who shouldn’t have left prison in the first place.”

Chuckling at the irony, he pointed out to Joey, “Sounds like someone else I know.” The commissioner’s eyes looked pointedly at Joey before mulling over the idea of a sole sting op on Liam.

Vincent shifted his head from side to side, weighing every alternative. “I could. However, this seems like a hell of a favor to be asking.”

Forcing to swallow his growl, Joey’s eyes darkened with a glare. “Your biggest opponents to you taking up your current position have been silenced. Do I need to remind you what lengths I had to go to?”

Commissioner Saito leaned forward before laying out his counteroffer, “Here’s the best I can do: I can look into it. Get his file reopened and turn it into an active case. It’s not a quick turnaround time though, these things need to be carefully curated.” He motioned a finger at Joey’s chest. “You know what would speed things up? If you suddenly recalled who put the bullet in your chest.”

Well, that wasn’t going to fucking happen. He wasn’t about to get roped into a fucking political nightmare and put Layne in a position where her allies questioned her ability to keep her mouth shut. Openly working with the police wouldn’t accomplish anything but put a strain on her business and both their livelihoods.

Joey stood and approached the man who sat comfortably in his politically powerful position with an air of arrogance wrapped around him. “If I hear the faintest whispers of Layne getting pulled into the scope of things, I guarantee you’ll be waking up to a skull in your face in the middle of the fucking night.”

Vince stood, nowhere close to matching Joey’s towering height. “Tread carefully, De Luca. Do you think you’re the only one who can execute favors at my request?”

Narrowing his brown eyes, Joey chose his words carefully as he grasped the commissioner’s hand in a firm handshake while laying his other hand on his shoulder and whispering into his ear, “Do you think I give a flying fuck about the sloppy assholes who pretend to be bumps in the night? They’re pups trying to play amongst the wolves.”

He patted the back of the commissioner’s shoulder before pulling back and releasing his grip on the man’s hand. “I’ll be in touch.”

Heading out of the room, he heard Vince shout out after him, “If the Feds get involved, it’s out of my hands and all deals are off!”

Joey prayed that it didn’t come to that; he’d hate to try and take down the entire damn Government, but for Layne, he’d thrive in all the chaos.

Chapter Eighteen

LUCK

Using a small step stool, she pulled another box from the top shelf of a hallway closet where she kept some of her dad’s belongings. She plunked it down on the floor with a huff. Layne sat down next to the box to see if there was anything in there that was useful in trying to predict Liam’s next moves.

She lifted the lid of the box and was surprised to find nothing work-related. Instead, she found family photo albums from an era long before cameras were on phones, one where rolls of film had to be processed.

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