Page 60 of Deadly Target
“Why don’t I go to the apartment while you and Roman check out the address and find the shooters?” And while she was at it, she was going to hunt down Alfie and threaten his balls to see if she could get the truth from him. Had he been the man who shot Tracee? If not, he still might know who had. It was a stretch, but Olivia still held hope he wasn’t orchestrating all of this. “That way, we can cover two places at once.”
He dipped his chin. “I do not want you meeting with Barone in person anymore.”
Had he read her mind? “I need to find out exactly what his involvement in this is. If he’s the man behind yesterday’s firing squad, and Tracee’s shooting, I’m arresting him as soon as I get my hands on him.”
“I have no doubts he’s behind everything that has happened this week, which means he’s extremely dangerous, Liv. You are not to engage until I have the official arrest warrant, and then he is mine.”
She understood his desire to catch the person responsible for everything, but if anyone was arresting Alfie, it was her. “If he’s guilty,” she said, “then he’s been playing me all along. He used me to get to you, just like he used Tracee. Plus, he was totally leading me on about testifying against Gino and Frankie. That means I have no case against them. Months and months of investigating, and all I have is circumstantial evidence that will not put them in prison for life. If Alfie has been betraying me all along, I will be the one slapping the cuffs on him.”
Victor started to argue, but before he could, her father cleared his throat loudly, catching their attention. A doctor stood in the doorway.
The look on the man’s face told Olivia all she needed to know, and her heart sank.
“Mr. Dupé? I’m sorry,” the doctor said. “We did everything we could, and she was a fighter, but in the end, she couldn’t overcome the damage done by the bullet. It struck one of her ribs, sending shrapnel into her heart along with pieces of bone, puncturing it in multiple places.”
Victor’s face was impassive except for the nerve that jumped in his jaw. His voice was barely above a murmur as he said, “Thank you, doctor.”
A sympathetic nod. “I’ve already alerted her agent who is informing her family.”
The doctor left, and Victor turned away from all of them, his grief and anger taking him back to the window.
Olivia joined him, wanting to comfort him, but sensing his need to stay contained and controlled. One touch could set him off, make him lose it. “I’m so, so sorry.”
Down below, local news vans gathered, along with paparazzi. Many of Tracee’s fans who’d heard the news had started filing onto the sidewalks and into the parking lot closest to the front entrance. “This is my fault,” he said. “I should have taken it more seriously the first time she called me.”
“You looked into it, but there was no evidence she had a stalker. She wasn’t being honest, Victor, and put herself in this position. If she’s the woman Alfie met, she was buying drugs from him. Earlier that evening, I overheard him talking to her on the phone, and he told her to do whatever it took to get close to some guy. Originally, I thought it was Frankie, like I told you, but it wasyou. I’ve been sitting here thinking, going over all of these different scenarios, and whatever Alfie’s end goal, he’s attacking those you feel responsible for. If I were you, I’d get protection on your mother and sisters.”
Victor’s gaze snapped to hers. “You don’t think…?”
But he didn’t wait for her response, digging out his phone and dialing.
Olivia resumed her seat next to her dad as Victor ordered police protection for his family. “Tell me you did not kill Victor’s father,” she said softly under her breath.
“Nah, not me. I never met the guy, but I heard about him. He was murdered on Mother’s Day. Can you believe it? That generation that came up during the 80s turned everything on its head. A bunch of reckless kids, trying to be big shots. Showing up their elders, reducing friendship and respect to nothing more than dust under my shoe.”
She did not know if it still held true, but it used to be that the mafia did not work on Mother’s Day. It was one more irony of syndicated crime. Her father was a killer, but he came from a world that still valued a warped sense of honor within the family, and would rather die than break the code of silence surrounding their criminal activities when questioned by law enforcement.
“Do you know who killed him?”
Her dad tossed the magazine on the side table. “Eh, I can probably find out. Why? Is it that important to you?”
Olivia glanced at Victor, still standing by the window, one hand massaging his temples as he called his family members to explain the situation. She had never seen him look scared, not even during the hostage situation at the hospital when she met him. But now? His body practically vibrated with the need to protect his family. “Yeah, it is.”
“I’ll put out some feelers, see what I can find out.”
If she could give Victor closure on his father’s murder when this was all done, it’d be worth whatever price she had to pay, even asking her dad for a favor. “Thank you.”
Her dad raised a brow but shrugged as if it was no big deal. “Anything else I can help you with?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I think there is.”
The slightest tremor of his lips suggested a smile. “Name it, Livvy.”
“Come on.” She stood and pulled him up by his shirt sleeve. “You’re going to help me double cross a certain mafia gangster.”
* * *
Yep,it was hell raising a kid these days, especially a girl. Even worse, raising her without a mother.
