“I’m going to keep digging,” I reply. “They may have already found something else back home while I’ve been gone.”
“If you find any other reasons to believe that Danvers is innocent, you get the information to me,” Matt says. “And I’ll help get it to the people who can help him.”
“Will do.”
The flight back is uneventful and quiet, with Matt and I both lost in our thoughts. Once back at Gram’s place, I hurry in to check in with the others.
Carmine smashes a soda can in his hand after I recount the interview.
“Someone fucking set him up,” Carmine growls.
“I mean, that’s not shocking,” Nadia points out. “It happens.”
“Not like this,” Shane disagrees. “We don’t send innocent people to death row. We don’t involve civilians in organization business.”
“Sometimes, there are casualties,” Igor says, thinking it over. “But, no, it’s not something we like to do.”
“I want to know who the fuck set up that man for killing Vinnie,” Pop says, his eyes hard as steel. “Because I’m going to kill them with my own hands.”
“I might know something,” Ivie says, surprising us all. “Right before Rafe got home, I was doing some digging on the Danvers' trial. The judge was one Honorable Lawrence Santiago. He’d been a judge in Washington for only three years at the time. Relocated here from Florida.”
“Okay,” Pop says, frowning. “And?”
“Well, at first, it ended there. It’s pretty weird to only have three years’ history on a forty-something-year-old man. So, I peeled back some layers. Turns out, Lawrence P. Santiago is actually Santiago-Reyes. The brother of Phillipe Reyes. Of Miami.”
Pop’s eyes narrow. “Of the Reyes organization.”
“That’s right,” Ivie says. “He has ties to the mafia family in Miami.”
“Looks like we’re headed to Miami in the morning,” I say. “Get packed.”
Chapter 16
~Annika~
“I called ahead,” Shane says after we land in Miami. “And I just heard back from Maceo, Phillipe’s son. He said he’s at the hospital, and we can meet him there.”
Rafe and Carmine share a look.
“Why are they at the hospital?” I ask.
“Looks like we’re about to go find out,” Nadia says. “And I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
Because of traffic, it takes more than an hour to reach the hospital. When we all file out of the car, we find a dark-haired, dark-skinned man approaching with a grim look on his face. When he sees me, he does a double-take but then shakes his head and addresses Carmine.
“I have a waiting room set up for us inside,” he says by way of greeting. “I don’t want any trouble today.”
“You won’t get any trouble,” Carmine says to the other underboss. “We just have questions.”
Maceo nods and leads the six of us inside to a waiting room on the second floor, where three other men wait. When he closes the door, he turns to us.
“What is this about?”
“First, why are you at the hospital?” Carmine asks, and Maceo narrows his eyes.
“You don’t know?”
“No, we’ve been on a plane most of the morning. Miami’s pretty far away from Seattle,” Rafe says.
“My father was killed this morning,” Maceo replies. “My mother is in intensive care with multiple stab wounds. My young sister is on the run with her Godfather because we don’t know who did this or what the motive is.”
I shake my head and turn to Ivie, who slips her hand into mine.
“Fucking hell,” Carmine growls. “Jesus, I’m sorry, Maceo. We hadn’t heard.”
“Ours is the fourth family targeted,” Maceo says.
“Fifth,” Shane says. “We have reason to believe this began more than a decade ago with Vinnie and Claudia Watkins.”
Shane briefly fills the other man in and then says, “Where is Lawrence Reyes? The man who goes by Santiago? And why was he working in our city?”
Maceo scowls. “My father’s brother?”
“That’s the one,” Carmine says.
“My family hasn’t had anything to do with that asshole in twenty years. He’s a traitor. He was feeding information back and forth to the Carlito family in Dallas. Working both sides.”
“But the Carlitos haven’t been active for many years,” Carmine says.
“If you think that family has been sleeping all these years, you’re an idiot,” Maceo says, cutting to the chase. “They’ve been quiet, but they’re not asleep. I don’t know what they had on my uncle or why he decided to start working for them. It was the biggest disgrace of my father’s life. Everyone told my father to kill Lawrence, but he couldn’t do it. He gave his brother an ultimatum. If he wouldn’t stop working for the Carlitos, he was no longer welcome here.
“He left the next day, and no one has heard from him since. I don’t know why he was working in Seattle.”
“He was the judge on the case of the man accused of killing Vinnie,” Rafe tells him.
“I’ve honestly told you everything I know.” Maceo stops and glances over at me, looking like he wants to say something, but then turns back to Rafe. “The Carlitos are dirty as hell, man. If they’re behind all of these assassinations, they need to be taken out.”
“I have a feeling we’ll be headed to Dallas in the morning,” Carmine says.
“I’d like to go with you,” Maceo says.
“You have your hands full here,” Shane points out. “With your father dead and your mother in the ICU. Not to mention, you’re now the boss of your organization, Maceo. Let us go take care of this. We will keep you informed every step of the way.”
“I don’t like sending someone else in to clean up my mess,” Maceo says.
“It’s our mess, too. Has been for a damn long time,” Carmine replies. “It’s going to be handled.”
Maceo nods and gestures to me as we turn to leave. “I’d like to talk to you.”
“Me?” I point at myself and then glance behind me.
“Yes, you.” He pins the others with dark brown eyes. “Alone.”
“Fuck that,” Rafe says, pushing me behind him. “If you have business with her, you have business with me.”
“Hey.” I pat Rafe’s shoulder and smile when he looks down at me. “Just wait right outside the door. You’re right here. Nothing’s going to happen.”
“No.”
“I only want to have a private word. I mean her no harm. I give you my word,” Maceo says.
Finally, Rafe nods once and steps outside the door but watches through the little window.
“He’s in love with you,” Maceo says.
“Yeah. What’s up?” I ask.
“I want you to know that I’ve received emails from an unknown source. They contained photos. Of you.”