Page 9 of Deadly Target
That was always part of the problem. These guys were monsters on one hand, but they were also family men who fiercely loved and protected those around them. Her father loved her and her mother with deep conviction. She had never doubted that. But what he did to others…
Liv shuddered. The Hook had been a brutal killer.
She found an extra blanket in the hall closet and made a bed for Taz on her bedroom floor. Alfie would call when he could. She had plenty of work she could do to keep her mind off his warning about law enforcement being targeted by Frankie. Instead, she grabbed her laptop and logged in to several national databases. She started with Cooper Harris and began crosschecking him against the Fifty-seven Gang syndicate.
An hour later, the only hit she had was with Roman Walsh and the Domestic Terrorism Taskforce. They had brought down Uri Zion, a Russian mob leader, with the help of one Dr. Brooke Heaton, last fall. Part of the file was marked classified, but Olivia had no problem accessing the high clearance information with her code. She had to read one paragraph two times. It stated that Dr. Heaton was actually a relative of the Zion family. Who knew?
Apparently, Heaton hadn’t known the connection before working on the case. Liv could guess her reaction when she found out, and felt a natural bond to the woman, even though she didn’t know her. It wasn’t every day you discovered you were a mob princess.
These days, the Russian mafia was virtually incestuous with its American counterpart, the former enemies finding an uneasy truce as they worked together to increase their power and control in all parts of the world. Everyone vying for the same resources, right along with the terrorists, and the street and biker gangs.
While Dr. Heaton had assisted the SCVC Taskforce on occasion, she was not considered part of the team. Nothing else in the file suggested an overlap between Cooper and anyone associated with the Chicago Fifty-seven gang and their empire that had stretched into Vegas and California.
Next, she ran a check between Gino DeStefano and the Zions. Maybe there was some small connection that could be teased out and lead her to a potential suspect in the shooting. It was farfetched, but she had nothing else.
Eventually, she gave up. She couldn’t find any connection, not even a thin one. She washed up, found Taz curled on her bedroom floor, and read a text from Victor saying Cooper was out of surgery and in recovery. The operation had taken nearly four hours. Exhausted, she lay down on top of the covers and didn’t bother turning off the light.
Hearing the click of nails on the hardwood floor, she opened her eyes to find the dog sitting in the shadows beside her. “What’s up, Taz?”
Maybe he had to pee again. She’d never had a pet, although she’d toyed with the idea many times. She didn’t mind being independent, but she hated being alone at night.
She took him out once more, standing under a partial moon while the dog sniffed around and marked the yard in several places. Back inside, he went right to the spot next to the bed again and gave her the same look.
Too polite to jump onto the bed, he was well-trained. Probably by Victor.
Laying down once more, she patted the space next to her. “You’re not my first choice for a bed partner, but what the hell.”
Some time later, her burner rang, waking her from a dead sleep. She snatched it up and fumbled to answer it. “About time,” she yawned into the speaker.
“Hey,” Alfonso said, totally indignant. “I took my daughter to the movies. I’ve been through enough hell tonight with pink ponies and talking unicorns. Don’t give me grief.”
There it was…that humanness about him that made him less gangster and more normal. “You were right,” she played on his ego. “A law enforcement officer was targeted this afternoon.”
“No kidding? Somebody you knew?”
Knew. As in dead. She swung her feet off the bed and scratched Taz’s belly when he rolled over. “He’s still alive, and yes, I know him in passing.”
Alfie sounded surprised. “They didn’t kill him?”
“Missed his heart by a few centimeters from what I understand.”
“Huh.”
“Any idea who did it?”
“You sure it was a hit? Nobody I know would miss. Maybe it wasn’t one of us.”
And she was the Holy Virgin. “It was a hit, all right, occurred right in front of his wife and daughter. Seems like a pretty clear message.”
Alfie grunted. “We ain’t the only ones to send those, doll, but if the shooter belongs to our group, he wouldn’t miss.”
It might not be related to the Fifty-seven Gang and DeStefano’s syndicate. All the evidence pointed to someone else. Sometimes, however, evidence could be cloudy. “You think it’s just a coincidence that you heard about a hit being put out on law enforcement shortly before one was shot by an unknown assailant?”
“Cops get shot every day.”
She paced to her bedroom window, containing her annoyance at his flippant attitude. “Have you heard anything more about Frankie’s plan?”
“All I know is that he’s got a boner for taking over the Suarez cartel and Gino’s given him the green light to do whatever he wants to either wipe them out or overthrow them. Fastest growing enterprise inside California at the moment, you know.”
