She covered the phone with her hand and whispered, “She wants to connect me to the phone in his room.” He frowned, but before he could respond, Cait continued, “Yes, that would be great. Thank you.” She said quickly, “She’s putting me through...”
Cait’s face twisted and suddenly she sounded upset and almost hysterical when she cried into the phone, “Nate! Thank God. I... I... I need some help... Yes... Yes, I’m okay... I just need somewhere to go until Malcolm calms down a little...” Her voice was shaky and she sniffled. “He... He... I’m so sorry to bother you. I... don’t... Please... Yes, just for a little while until... Where? No, no, I can find it. I’ll come to you.” She put the handset back on the receiver.
And shot Magnum a wide smile.
But that quickly disappeared as he launched himself out of bed.
Magnum pounded on the door.
The smile Gallo was wearing—not full of concern, of course, that Cait might be afraid of her boyfriend and was coming to him for help—quickly slipped and fear rose into those shit brown eyes.
They should. But not for the reason the man thought.
“She said she needed help!” he yelled and tried to slam the door on him, but Magnum shoved it open, making Gallo stumble back and almost fall on his ass.
Magnum had the cottage door slammed shut and locked before the man could catch his balance. He also blocked that door, hoping there wasn’t another way for him to escape. Besides the windows.
“C-C-Cait’s not here,” Gallo stuttered.
“No shit.”
“Then why are you here?” The man was only wearing boxers and a flush rushed up his pale chest into his face.
“Was only gonna wear that when she came to you for help?” he growled.
“I didn’t have time to get dressed.”
“Bullshit.”
“Where’s Cait? What did you do to her?”
“Cait’s fine and in my bed where she belongs. Now, gonna ask you the same shit. What did you do to her?”
Gallo’s Adam’s apple jumped. “Nothing. I already told you that. That’s not me in that video.”
“Finally got a hold of the security video from her apartment complex,” he lied.
Magnum’s frown deepened when relief passed over Gallo’s face.
“Then you saw that I helped her inside and left immediately. I told you that.”
Fuck.
“My only mistake was not locking her door behind me. I feel partially responsible for what happened to her because of that.”
Fuck.
He pulled his cell phone from the back pocket of his jeans. “Gonna watch the video again, Gallo. You say it’s not you, need your help figurin’ out who it is.” He pulled up the video and shoved the phone into Gallo’s face. “Pay the fuck attention.”
Gallo scrambled back and Magnum snaked out his hand, grabbing the man’s neck to yank him closer. “You feel guilty? Wanna help Cait? Then you’re gonna listen to what I gotta say and watch the video again.”
“I don’t know who it is,” Gallo squeaked.
“Yeah, you do.” He pressed play, once again covering Cait’s naked body with his fingers as best as he could. Gallo was not getting a free show out of it. “Look closer at him. Asked if he looked familiar. You said no. Take a good fuckin’ look, Gallo. A good look. Don’t look at Cait, look at him. At any marks on his body. They look familiar?”
“It’s not me.”
“Ain’t sayin’ it’s you, asshole. Look!” he roared in Gallo’s face, making the fucker wince and try to take a step back, only stopping short because Magnum tightened his hand on the man’s throat. It moved beneath his fingers as he tried to swallow.
It wouldn’t take much to crush it, but he needed the fucker’s help. “We’re gonna watch this goddamn video frame by fuckin’ frame until you study every fuckin’ part of that motherfucker. You get me?”
“I don’t want to see him... doing that to Cait.”
“Think I wanna see it?” Magnum shouted. “Think Cait wanted to see it?”
“N-no.”
“Gonna get whoever this is.”
“I—”
Magnum kept the video playing in front of Gallo’s face when he said, “Your brother said it’s you.”
Gallo’s eyes flipped up to him.
“Keep watchin’,” Magnum barked.
“Why? Why would he say that?”
“You tell me.”
“He’s...” Gallo shook his head, his face now even whiter, the flush long gone. He whispered, “I’d never hurt Caitie.”
“Why would your brother want me to think it’s you? Sort of looks like your body, your hair. See that? Right there? Dark brown hair just like you.”
“It’s not...”
“Check out that mark. Right there. Raise your right arm. Lemme see if you got that mark.”
“I don’t. I... Oh my God... Oh my God!” Nate covered his face with his hands.
“Who is it?”
“Drew said it was me?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s proof it isn’t me. Look.” Gallo raised his right arm and pointed to the same area where the mark was on the man in the video. He didn’t have one there. It wasn’t huge, but more like a small birthmark or a freckle that was easy to see if you were looking for it.
The youngest Gallo was innocent. At least on this one thing. “You drug her? D’you work with him?”
“No.”
“Better not be lyin’ to me. Fuckin’ swear I find out you’re lyin’...”
“I’m not!” Gallo yelled. “I swear it. I love Caitie. I wouldn’t hurt her.”
“That your brother?”
“Y-yes. It looks like him. He has that freckle on his arm. He...” Gallo sucked in a breath. “He also has a tiny scar on his thigh.” He pointed at the video. “Do you see it? It’s barely there because it’s old. When he was five, he tripped holding a butter knife and when he fell on it, it punctured the skin.”
Magnum released Gallo’s throat and turned the phone to look carefully. He wouldn’t have noticed it until Gallo pointed it out. It was maybe an inch long and faded.
“You didn’t see that shit before?”
“Unlike my brother, I wouldn’t have assumed it was Drew. Why did he blame me? Was he setting me up? Did he want me to be the scapegoat? Why?”
“He wants you to go down for this for some reason.”
“He’s jealous,” Gallo hissed.
“Yeah,” Magnum grunted.
“He’s always been jealous. Dad gave me his name. Dad has always favored me. I have no idea why, but that’s not my fault.”
Magnum didn’t give a fuck about their family issues.
“Now what?”
Magnum stared at the youngest Gallo. Now what was a good question. Now Nate Gallo knew his brother was guilty. Now Gallo knew Drew was Magnum’s target. How was Magnum going to handle the oldest Gallo?
He had no fucking clue. The only smart thing to do would be to take both Gallo’s out. The one who did the deed and the one who could point out Magnum as the guilty party once Drew Gallo went mysteriously missing.
“What do you think, Gallo?” Magnum asked, curious to see what he would say.
“I would suggest informing the authorities.”
Informing the authorities. “You’d turn your brother in?”
Gallo’s face twisted in confusion. “What else should be done?”
Christ, that wasn’t fucking helpful.
“He set you up this time to take the fall. Think he won’t do it again? He wanted you arrested. Wanted you kicked out of the agency and the family for whatever reason. Doesn’t give a shit about you.” He emphasized the next point, hoping it opened Gallo’s eyes. “He drugged and fucked the woman you say you love against her fuckin’ will.”
Gallo took a step back and rubbed a hand over his forehead before drawing it down his face, whispering, “He needs help.”
No shit. “I can help him...”
Stop breathing. “And you’re gonna help me.”
Gallo’s mouth gaped open. “How?”
“Caitie doesn’t want anyone knowin’ what your brother did. We go to the authorities then it’s gonna come out. Want the woman you love to go through all that?” Fuck, he hated saying that shit about Gallo loving Cait.
Which was bullshit anyway. It was an obsession or lust, not fucking love. He knew the damn difference.
He froze. Fuck.
Was he any different from Gallo? He’d watched Caitie for years. He’d lusted after her, too. And now?
Fuck no, the difference was, if it wasn’t for this situation, he would have kept her at arm’s length. Which meant, she wouldn’t be in his bed.
Or burrowing into his life. And head. And... his goddamn heart.
And... fuck him...
Fuck him.
Goddamn it.
He pushed that problem aside to study the one who stood in front of him. He needed to come up with a plan and needed to do it fast.
His fingers itched to call Diesel’s head Shadow, Mercy. A man who was merciless when it came to dishing out revenge and justice. Merciless when it came to torturing someone who deserved it. He didn’t have to tell the former Delta Force operator it involved Dawg’s daughter.
“Need to step outside and make a call. You don’t let me back in, I’ll bust the fuckin’ door in, you got me?”
Gallo nodded.
“It’ll be to your benefit to help me stop your brother from settin’ you up. Now and in the future.”
Gallo said nothing as Magnum went back outside into the dark but out of ear shot. He hoped Mercy picked up even though it wasn’t even dawn yet.
That fucker probably slept with one eye open and a machete in his hand.
He scrolled through his contacts, found the one he was searching for and pressed Send.
“Go,” was Mercy’s terse greeting.
Jesus fuck. “Got an issue. Need advice. Also need you to keep it to yourself.”
Magnum took the grunt on the other end of the phone as an agreement.
“Need to take out two brothers but keep clear of any shit splashin’ back on me.” That should be a given, but he still felt the need to say it.
A long silence greeted him on the other end. Magnum struggled to wait it out, but he did. He figured Mercy needed to process the situation, even though Magnum hadn’t given him much to go on. He’d let the expert ask the important questions.
“Two brothers,” Mercy said slowly. “They like each other?”
“Thinkin’ at this point, not too much. One’s tryin’ to fuck the other without a drop of lube.”
Another pause. “Can you ramp the dislike up to hatred?”
“Possibly.”
“Either got a gun? Make it look like murder-suicide?”
“Not sure about a gun. Both are pretty much fuckin’ douchebags. Be surprised if either touched anything but a golf club and their own fuckin’ dicks.” And Caitie.
Another deep grunt. “Still can make it look like it without one.”
“How?”
“Knife.”
“Jesus,” Magnum muttered.
“Poison.”
A light bulb went off. Fucking poison. That got his own brain switched into gear. “Got it, brother. Thanks.”
“Yeah. Good luck. Need us to do a job, just fucking shout.”
“Handlin’ this one.”
He got an answering grunt before the man hung up.
Magnum wasn’t scared of much, but that dead-eyed motherfucker with the icy exterior was someone he thought twice about.
Another reason he needed to keep the fact he was with Cait on the down low. It would just take one word from Diesel to his crew and Magnum would be begging to die quickly to escape a drawn-out torture.
He paced back and forth through the dark, not venturing far from Gallo’s cottage, which was in a cluster of other cottages. He figured all the Gallos were occupying them. They were more upscale and private than the rooms like the one he and Caitie were staying in.
He knew rohypnol paralyzed the person who took it, which was why they couldn’t fight back. And it also made them not remember a damn thing. He could use that to his benefit, but only if the older Gallo son had brought some with him on the retreat.
If he could convince Drew to roofie Nate and do the dirty deed to his younger brother, he would keep his hands clean on that one. Then he’d only have Drew to deal with.
Maybe not a murder-suicide. But a murder and an accident.
He turned and stared out at the calm water of Lake George.
A boating accident? A drowning? A man paralyzed by a tranquilizer would drown quickly and without a fight.
Problem was, where his mind, and his plan, was leading him involved water and a deep fucking lake.
The biggest handicap in his plan was he couldn’t fucking swim. And the fuck if he was getting Caitie involved.
He never got the chance to learn to swim at the local Y because he was too busy taking care of his baby sister while his mother busted her ass for them. He had done his part to help. Which meant he missed out on a lot of shit. Swimming was one of them.
He didn’t care at the time. Now he did.
But it was too late to change that. He’d need to figure out how to get around that problem. Boats had those floating bumpers like Cait said.
Christ, that didn’t give him the warm fucking fuzzies.
But he needed a solid plan and to do it in the dark. And the way color was tinging the sky at this point, it was too late to do anything about it that morning. But then, everything needed to be well thought out first. He needed a way to cover his ass. He needed to make sure Cait didn’t get caught up in any of it, either. At worst, she would have to be his alibi, if needed.
He headed back to Gallo’s cottage and found the door unlocked. Thank fuck. Because him kicking it the fuck in would’ve woken up a lot of people.
The asshole was now dressed and looking worried.
He should be.
“Here’s how it’s gonna go,” he began.
Chapter Fourteen
Cait knew Magnum was feeling the time pinch of finding out who was on the video. But something was up.
He had shot out of bed that morning and then returned about an hour later, climbed back into bed with her and held her tight, his face buried in her hair, like he tended to do. She wasn’t sure if he felt comfort in that or just liked the smell of her shampoo. She didn’t ask because she didn’t want to make him self-conscious about it or for him to stop. She liked when he did it, too.
He never said where he went before the crack of dawn. She had a good idea since he’d wanted Nate’s room number and when she asked him, he said he wouldn’t discuss it with her to keep her “hands clean.”
That did not settle her worry. In fact, it ramped it up.
She’d gotten him into this mess. And if he ended up in prison for doing whatever he was planning on doing, she’d never forgive herself.
But she also wanted to know what the hell was going on.
All he told her was, that night after dinner, after whatever the final retreat activity was, he needed to disappear for a bit. She wasn’t to follow him, ask who he was with or where he was going.
That night’s dinner had ended with a closing speech from Hank, thanking all of his employees for being team players, for being hard workers and for being family.
While all of that should sound good, it turned her stomach.
Because the man sitting next to her at the time, who had his fingers laced tightly with hers, who’d sacrificed all week for her, who’d brought her pleasure like she’d never experienced before, who wanted to selflessly protect her... The man who she’d fallen deeper in love with every day and every night while in New York, was going to do something that night which could risk his future. Maybe even his life.
But he was doing what she had asked of him.
It was her fault by being
careless that she’d been drugged. And in the end, it would be her fault if something happened to him because of that.
After dinner, almost everyone had gone to the bar to play trivia. Cait sat there unable to concentrate, unable to stop wringing her hands and her leg bouncing nervously under the small table they sat at.
She also couldn’t keep her eyes off Magnum, who sat there calmly, trying to ignore her freak-out, and constantly touching her to try to settle her down. By curling his fingers around the back of her neck and giving it a light squeeze, touching her hair, kissing her temple, holding her hand, sliding his fingers down her arm, her thigh, her cheek...
“Caitie,” he murmured under his breath. “Gotta calm the fuck down.”
“I can’t,” she whispered back. “I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what you’re going to do. I’m worried about you.”
“Gonna handle the problem like you asked.”
“And I know what that means,” she hissed. “Because of that, I’m worried.”
“Baby,” he breathed, his lips now against her ear. “If you didn’t want me to handle it, shouldn’t have come to me. You did. I’m here. Handlin’ it the best I can.”
“I’m sorry that I did. I put you in a spot I shouldn’t have. It’s all my fault—”
“Stop,” he said sharply, pulling away from her. “Ain’t your fault. It’s the fucker’s fault who drugged you. You didn’t ask for that shit.”
He could say that all he wanted, she still felt responsible. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, trying to stop her spinning thoughts. “It’s our last night together.” Which didn’t help her anxiety at all. It only compounded it.
“Yeah, baby. I’ll be back before the night’s over. Promise.”
He thought it had to do with sex. It didn’t. It had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with the possibility of things going sideways and her never seeing him again. Never being with him again.
Her eyes began to well up and sting. She was not going to start crying in front of her co-workers. She gripped his hand tighter and raised it to her mouth, pressing her lips firmly against the dark, warm skin of his fingers.
Magnum: A Dark Knights MC/Dirty Angels MC Crossover Page 19
