Retaliatory Justice (The Talionic Files #1)

by Tawa M. Witko

  “Dimitri helped me, Valentino. He tried to protect me. If it weren’t for him I would be dead. At first, I wasn’t sure why he did it, but seeing you let him go makes me believe he was helping you,” she says with tears.

  “He gave me this place. He told me about Mubarak. He led me in the right direction so that I could find you.”

  She looks towards the exit that Dimitri left from. “Are you going to get in trouble for letting him go?”

  I shrug. “Maybe, but I don’t care. I owe him for helping me find you.”

  “I killed Marshall,” she offers, looking down again and I can see that she is crying.

  I grab her and hold her tight. “I’m sure you had too.”

  “He was going to rape me,” she says, swallowing thickly, and my entire being is set ablaze in anger and rage.

  “Did he hurt you,” I grit out.

  “No, he tried though. After I shot him, I was able to escape, at least for a little bit,” she looks up at me. “I heard you at the restaurant. I knew you would find me. I did whatever I could to stay alive.”

  “You are incredibly brave, Dominique. I was going mad not knowing where you were,” I touch her cheek tenderly.

  “Boss,” Jeff shouts and I turn to him, he motions for me to come over.

  “Go, I’m okay,” Dominique says and then takes a seat on one of the unopened crates.

  I watch her momentarily until Jeff calls me again. Focus on the job, Masterson, she’s safe and surrounded by federal agents. I give her a small smile before heading over to Jeff. He directs me outside and around the corner where I see the bodies of Aryana and Gino. They both have single gunshot wounds to the head, execution style. I kneel next to them and turn Gino’s head slightly.

  “This was close range,” I say, looking up at Jeff.

  He nods and kneels next to Aryana. He looks at me seriously before rolling her to the side. Underneath her lifeless hand is a small eagle charm, similar to the one that Michelle had, wait, it looks just like the one Michelle had.

  “Michelle?” I say softly.

  “I think so. I heard two shots and ran towards it, but when I got here there was no one around.”

  I look at the bodies again and pick up the charm, letting it twirl in my fingers. She left this for us. Anyone else wouldn’t have known that the eagle was her and Tony’s thing. She wanted me, us, to know that she had done this, that she had got her revenge. The ball’s in our court as to what we do with the information.

  “What do you want to do?” Jeff asks concerned. He looks up and sees people coming, including Anderson.

  “What do we have?” Anderson asks.

  I pocket the charm. “It looks like Gino and Aryana got what they deserved.”

  I stand and motion to Jeff, who rises to his feet as well.

  “This looks like a hit,” Anderson says, inspecting the scene.

  “Like I said, they got what they deserved,” I say, walking away.

  Jeff and I look at each other, nodding slightly. I know I should tell Anderson our suspicion but, the reality is, Michelle got screwed in this whole thing. I’m kind of happy knowing that she is alive. Who am I to deny her revenge? If they had killed Dominique, I would have killed them without hesitation. An eye for an eye! We meet Clayton and Zach at the door.

  “Are they dead?” Zach asks and I nod.

  “Yeah, it was close range and this was at the scene.” I pull out the charm.

  Zach glances towards Anderson and moves closer. “Did you tell Anderson?”

  I shake my head. “If she hadn’t done it, they would have gotten away. I don’t want that on my consciousness. Do any of you?”

  Everyone shakes their heads, all contemplating whether they would have done as Michelle had done and I would also assume whether they agree with me about withholding this information from Area Director Anderson.

  “If they had killed Kailee, I would have stopped at nothing. We owe Michelle this,” Clayton exclaims passionately.

  Zach glances back at Gino and Aryana and then to us.

  “Are you okay with this, O’Neal?” I ask, slightly concerned with his by-the-books mentality.

  “Yeah, I am. I just wish...” he shrugs and then sighs. “I wish she could have been here with us.”

  I tap his shoulder and smile. “She clearly was.”

  He nods and Jeff laughs. “And kicked some ass!”

  “Hell yeah, she did,” Clayton jokes.

  We all laugh. I think we all wish we could have seen Michelle in action, seen her get her revenge on the people who destroyed not only her life but so many others as well. I pocket the charm just as Anderson approaches us. He stares at the four of us curiously.

  “I just got a call from the Bureau and apparently, Agent Jones ditched her detail. You guys wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” he asks, looking between the four of us.

  “How would we know? We are not ‘in the loop’,” Jeff answers sarcastically with an added eye roll for emphasis.

  Anderson eyes us all speculatively. “Well, it sounds like it’s a Bureau problem to me.”

  “I hope wherever she is, she is free from all their lies and deception. She deserved better,” I say.

  He nods. “Agreed. Now what’s the situation with Komarovski? Why is he not in handcuffs?”

  “He gave us this address,” I state simply. “And he helped Dominique, he looked out for her. Suspend me if you need to, but I owed him for his help.”

  Anderson starts to say something and looks around, seeing the FBI agents that were at our office earlier this morning walking inside the warehouse. He pushes past us and marches over to them. We can hear him from here.

  “No way in hell you’re taking credit for this bust. My men did this, without your help,” Anderson yells.

  “This involved organized crime, we can take precedence.”

  “There are guns and explosives in those crates, we have jurisdiction,” Anderson fires back.

  I rub my fingers against my temple. That’s just perfect! Those jerks are going to come in here and try to act like they were the ones who figured this whole thing out. If they had their way they wouldn’t even mention us. What a freaking mess.

  “Anderson is gonna have a heart attack,” Jeff says with a chuckle, watching Anderson go off.

  “All right, we are going to need to try to identify people,” I begin, trying to get their attention away from Anderson and the FBI agents. “Dominique said Marshall, Carmine, and Luka are dead. I took out Enrico and Michelle took out Gino and Aryana. Adams is knocked out but he needs medical attention and to be handcuffed.”

  “I’ll cuff him and let the authorities know he is a suspect,” Zach states with a grin.

  “Good. I didn’t see Mubarak anywhere. Was he arrested? Is he dead?” I continue.

  “I don’t know,” Clayton responds, looking over the carnage on the warehouse floor.

  We all look inside. There are crates open and people taking pictures of everything. This has to be one of the biggest busts in Chicago history. In addition, there are dead bodies lying covered all over the place. I glance at Dominique, who is observing everything that’s going on. She is so smart and beautiful and brave. I need to find a way to keep her here, in Chicago, with me.

  “Is Dominique okay?” Zach asks, noticing my gaze.

  “Yeah, I think so,” I say with an unsure shrug.

  “We better get over there and interview her before the FBI does,” Clayton suggests.

  I nod and we head over to her. On the way, Zach steps up to Adams, who is starting to come to, crying and moaning about being in pain. I grin at Zach’s reaction because he leans down and I hear him tell him that this is nothing like the pain he will experience in prison. I laugh, he’s got that right. Hopefully he doesn’t go in protective custody. When we reach Dominique, she looks up and smiles at me.

  “Dominique, we need to talk to you about what happened.”

  “I know,” she glances at the men
Anderson is arguing with. “I don’t want to talk to them though. Only you guys.”

  “Of course, whatever makes you comfortable, baby.” She smiles at my endearment.

  She spends the next hour going into detail about what transpired, from being taken by Adams and Marshall, to her killing Marshall, to hearing us outside. Clayton huffs angrily at that, knowing we were so close to her but didn’t know. Zach gets things settled with Adams and gets back to us as Dominique starts talking about Enrico coming in and what she said to him, which everyone had a big laugh about, that is, until she said that he hit her and then my team was prepared to kill him again. She told us what went down in the office and how Dimitri had helped her without letting them know and what Carmine had done to lead to his death.

  “Please, don’t tell that man it was Dimitri,” she motions to Anderson, who is no longer yelling but walking with the FBI agents to examine some of the crates. “I don’t want him in trouble with you guys. I know he’s a bad man, but he isn’t a ‘bad’ man like Enrico and the others were.”

  “Baby, don’t worry. I can’t protect him from other things he might do, but this I can, this was his one get out of jail free card.”

  She nods. “Valentino, I know what happened to your father.”

  “What?” I stutter.

  “Enrico said that they were trying to get the girl.”

  “Khaleel?” Zach questions.

  “I guess, is she the one that died in the fire?” she asks and he nods. “Then yes, her. She wouldn’t talk to them so Carmine killed her and then Enrico, along with those two demons he had with him today, set the place on fire to cover it up,” she turns to me. “Enrico forgot to take the pendant and when they went back for it, it was gone. Carmine freaked out when he found out your dad had it. He knew your dad would figure it out and he couldn’t afford to have the Egyptians know what he did. Apparently, he blamed another family for it.”

  I blow out a soft breath and feel a sense of easiness wash over me. Somehow, knowing who ordered it, and why it was ordered, makes me feel at peace. That, and knowing the people involved are dead. I knew my father wasn’t dirty, he respected the badge too much, and so do I. There was no way he would have done anything to tarnish it. Now, I have the truth, and my father can finally rest in peace because justice has be fulfilled.

  “Thank you, baby,” I say, taking her hand in mine. “I’m glad I know. Is there anything else you can tell us?”

  “Mubarak has some huge weapons vault with experimental things in it. I don’t know what exactly or where it is or even how to get in it, but that’s what this was about. Carmine and Enrico wanted it. They thought I knew because of the pendant.”

  “Yes, in Mubarak’s family, the women who carry the pendant know everything about the family,” Zach interjects.

  “Oh, that explains a lot,” she pauses as she chews on her bottom lip. “Enrico said he wanted his brother dead. He said that he wanted in the vault so he could rule everything. He’s evil. He really is,” she looks down.

  “He’s dead, Dominique, and the two demons, as you called them, are as well. No one can hurt you now,” I tell her assuredly.

  She looks up and I stroke her cheek tenderly before she scrunches her brow. “Is Joseph okay?”

  I look down. “I’m not really sure on that one. The last we heard he was in surgery.”

  “I’d like to go see him,” she says meekly.

  “Of course. I need to go back to the office to do the report…”

  “No,” Zach asserts, stopping me. “You and Clayton go and check on Joseph. Jeff and I will do the report,” he looks at Jeff, who nods.

  “Hell yeah, you guys take care of your family. We,” he motions between him and Zach, “got this.”

  I nod and smile. Who would have thought that they would become such good friends, considering how opposite they are and how much they fought in the beginning? Clayton hugs both of them, thanking them. He really hates the paperwork but, more so, he hates not being with Kailee, knowing she needs him.

  “Can I use your phone?” I hear Dominique say, drawing my attention away from the guys. “I don’t know what happened to mine. I need to call Santiago,” she has tears streaking her face again, “and my dad.”

  I pull out my phone and hand it to her. “I’ll give you some privacy.”

  She nods but then grabs my hand. “Don’t go far, okay?”

  I smile and kiss her lightly on the forehead. “I’ll never be far away from you.”

  She cries and nods before dialing a number. I step away with the team and we decide to start identifying people. But before I do that, I head over to Anderson. He is checking an inventory list that one of the agents has made. He glances at me and, for the first time in a long time, he is smiling, genuinely grinning from ear to ear. Yes, a big bust always puts a smile on his face.

  “Clayton and I will be going to the hospital with Dominique. I am taking tomorrow off, maybe the next day as well.”

  He chuckles. “You will miss out on all the fun.”

  I glance at Dominique. “I guess that depends on what your definition of fun is.”

  Now he really laughs. “Very true, Agent Masterson, very true.”

  “Are you playing nice with our FBI brethren?” I ask, shoving my hands in my pocket.

  “Oh, let’s just say they were not willing to have it leaked that they refused to help us and that they treated one of their own so poorly.”

  “What did they say?” I ask generally curious.

  “They asked what I wanted. I told them to clear Michelle’s record, let her be free to do what she wants and I said our department gets top billing.”

  I nod. “That’s great.”

  “I know that it was Agent Jones who took out Gino and his daughter,” he says, eyeing me for a response.

  “Is that so,” I state casually, not giving him anything.

  He smirks and looks back at his inventory list. “I can’t prove it though, so I guess I’ll have to let it go,” he glances up from his list to see my reaction.

  “Guess so,” I reply relieved.

  He turns to me. “You and your team will get all the credit for this bust.”

  “Thank you, sir. I would like to ask something of you.”

  He lets the clipboard dangle from his hand.

  “In New Orleans, a local cop really helped us on this investigation. If it weren’t for him we would not have made it to this point.”

  “And what would you like me to do about that.”

  “Call his Captain; tell him that you want to commend this officer for his help with us in this investigation. Include his name in the press conference. I want it known that he was of great service to our team. His name is Jackson LeBlanc; write it down so you won’t forget. And I want it known that this was an investigation that was started by my father and godfather. My dad found a link to Mubarak and Carmine. He was killed because of it.”

  Anderson is looking at me and then starts grinning.

  “What?” I ask confused.

  “For an agent who wouldn’t work with anyone you sure do have a lot of people you seem to be looking after,” he says with a knowing smile.

  I open my mouth to say something but nothing comes out. He is right. I fought with everyone, didn’t trust anyone. I didn’t want a partner, feeling that I worked better alone. I glance at my team, who are laughing and joking with one another, riding the high of finally getting ahead of Enrico, of us, a bunch of ATF agents bringing down the Sicignano family, one of the most powerful families in both Chicago and New York. A family that the bureau couldn’t touch and I realize how much more fulfilling it is that I am sharing this victory with them, my team, and my friends. I hear Anderson chuckle before his hand lands on my shoulder.

  “You are one hell of an agent, Masterson. Now get out of here, and take your team with you. All of you take a few days off.”

  “Yes, sir,” I say with a huge smile.

  ~*~

  A
fter talking with Clayton, we all decided to go get Joseph’s car before heading to the hospital, so Clayton is driving that one while Dominique and I ride in mine. She has been real quiet, but every time I look at her she is smiling, so whatever she is thinking about is not bad. Thank God! I still can’t believe the day we both had. My mind immediately drifts back to finding her at the warehouse. If it weren’t for Clayton I would have just barged right in there.

  “What are you thinking about?” she asks, drawing me out of my thoughts.

  “I was thinking about finding you in the warehouse.”

  “I was so scared, I thought I was going to die but then I heard your voice and I knew, no matter what, I was okay.”

  I grab her hand and bring it to my lips. “I was afraid I wasn’t going to get to you in time.”

  “I had faith in you.”

  I smile as we pull into the parking lot behind Clayton. “I saw you say something to Mubarak. What did you tell him?”

  She grins. “I told them what Enrico said about the girl who died in the fire.”

  “Clever,” I say with a laugh and kiss her hand again.

  “I figured if they all started fighting, I could sneak out unnoticed,” she replies with a shrug.

  “It was smart, Dominique. Everything you did was smart.”

  She smiles brightly and nods, clearly proud of herself. Clayton meets us at the car and we head upstairs. The minute we enter the waiting room we are embraced by Kailee and Lynelle. They tell us that Joseph is in recovery and that the doctors were able to repair his wound. Thank God! We tell them about what happened, at least what we could, and soon the atmosphere in the waiting room is more relaxed and upbeat.

  Breaking News: According to local authorities, a shipment of weapons totaling over 25 million dollars was confiscated this evening. Please stand by for ATF Area Director John Anderson.

  We all look at each other and then the television screen as Anderson walks up to a podium, holding a sheet of paper. Clayton quickly jumps up and turns the volume up as we all stare at the screen.

  “Today, under the leadership of Agent Valentino Masterson and his team, Agent’s Clayton Hoffman, Zachary O’Neal, Jeff Paulson, and Michelle Jones, we were able to uncover one of the largest gun shipments in Chicago history. This case began over a decade ago with the tireless work and dedication of two former Chicago detectives, Valentino Masterson, Sr. and Joseph Thompson who never gave up on this case. We are deeply indebted to them.”