Page 46 of Deadly Target
They made out while the coffee brewed. When it was done, Victor broke away and grabbed two mugs, filling each to the top. The smell was full-bodied and strong, just the way Olivia liked it, although the Cuban blend was different than her normal morning sustenance.
“Your confidential informant?” Victor leaned on the counter across from her. “I need to talk to him and find out exactly what he has on Frankie. Getting to Frankie will be challenging. I don’t want to give all our intel away until we have an arrest warrant, but I need to be sure I have something damning before I talk to him.”
She blew on the hot liquid. “Do you think it’s wise to tip our hand to Frankie before we’re ready to arrest him?”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take to put pressure on him. I want him to know I’m coming for him, and the sooner the better, since we don’t have much time officially for our special taskforce to make progress on this case. Right now, we have extra resources and some leeway with the rules, but that ends by tomorrow morning.”
She admired his shoot-from-the-hip style. She’d always approached her targets in the opposite manner, sneaking around and digging up evidence against them before blindsiding them with arrest warrants and handcuffs. “I can set something up with Alfie, but he may only talk to me. He’s not exactly friendly with FBI agents, and I don’t want him to clam up completely.”
Victor nodded. “I don’t want to step on your toes, so if you can obtain the evidence on your own, go for it. This guy cares for you, doesn’t he?”
All her conflicted feelings about her father and Alfie came rushing to the surface like acid on the back of her tongue. “It’s a complicated situation because of my family background. This guy seems to think we have some kind of bond because of the mafia connection, but I’m sure he would throw me under the bus without hesitation. I’ve only pretended to be friendly because of the information he’s been feeding me.”And his sauce is pretty good.“Half the time, I’m not sure the intel is legit, but enough has proved out that I tend to believe him. He hates Frankie as much as I do, and I’m sure he would love to get him and Gino out of the way so he could take over.”
“So Marquita was right? Alfie thinks he can run the syndicate on his own? With all the intelligence he’s given you, he doesn’t think you’ll throw him in prison?”
“He knows I’ll never let him become king of the hill. The Justice Department has already agreed to put him and his daughter in the witness protection program if he testifies against Gino when this all goes down. Maybe at one point, he wanted to take over, but he’s smart enough to know that’s never going to happen.”
“What kind of proof do you think he has in relation to yesterday’s shooting?”
“He wouldn’t tell me over the phone, but I will get it for you, and then we can go pay a visit to Frankie.”
“I’d prefer you sit that one out and let me handle him.”
“No dice.” She took the cup and headed for the stairs to take a shower. “If you want to use my CI to get your evidence,” she said over her shoulder, “you get me as a sidekick when you talk to Frankie.”
“Package deal, huh?” he called after her, following her up the stairs.
It was kind of like the coffee and the coffee maker. “Yep. You can’t have one without the other.”
He caught up to her and smacked her playfully on the ass. “You drive a hard bargain, but I guess I have no choice.”
No, he didn’t. She needed Alfie to come through and she planned to help Victor solve the shooting and bombing. It was the only way she could counter the truth about her secret investigation and hope he would forgive her.
Regardless, she was definitely putting an end to her investigation for the JD, and if they wanted her to take down the Fifty-seven Gang, they better get happy about it.
Package deal, she told herself. One way or the other, she was getting exactly what she wanted—Victor, and the demise of the West Coast mafia once and for all.
* * *
Alfonso Barone lived in Oceanside,but chose a meeting place several blocks from the harbor. As Victor sat in his car fifty feet away from the shack of a bar, listening to Olivia’s conversation with the mobster, he could imagine the smell of stale beer and fried clams. The background noise consisted of multiple conversations, raucous laughter, and the clink and bang of glasses and silverware, even though they were meeting in a private backroom.
Olivia claimed this was one of Barone’s favorite hangouts, a place he and his wife visited many times before her death. The two-story building held an apartment upstairs, and Olivia believed Alfie used it for certain business dealings. She suspected he was running his own criminal enterprise here, way outside of DeStefano’s territory.
The place had seen better days, and most likely the owners needed Alfie’s help with finances to stay open. Restaurants like this were good spots for money laundering, drug sales, and back door deals.
Taz sat in the passenger seat, head out the window, panting. The day was growing warmer and Victor shrugged off his jacket, tossing it in the back. He’d insisted Olivia wear a wire, so he could hear the conversation and record it. She hadn’t liked the idea but went along with it when he threatened to come in with her if she didn’t.
He got the feeling she was slightly protective of her CI. That wasn’t unusual in his world. Most of his agents were as well. She’d told him it had taken months to groom Alfie and she didn’t want to blow it. She was closer now than she had ever been to getting an insider to testify against Gino DeStefano, one who had enough evidence against the mafia leader to make sure he went away for good.
“Hey, doll.” Alfie must have arrived, Olivia’s mic picking up his voice.
Olivia didn’t mess around. “What can you give me on Frankie and yesterday’s hit?”
Alfie took his time responding, and Victor imagined him sliding into the booth, getting comfortable, and buying time before he spilled whatever he had, if anything. “You look a little rough there, deputy marshal. You sure you’re okay?”
“Two men died in front of me yesterday, and my partner is in critical condition. Of course, I’m not okay. I should be at the hospital right now, hanging out with Danny, but I’m here because I need justice and we both need to stop Frankie.”
“I’m sorry about what happened to your partner.”
