by PJ Fernor
I reached into my pocket with my other hand.
“You need to turn around right now,” I said. “Don’t think I won’t pull this trigger. For what you’ve done…”
“What I’ve done?” Giovanni asked. His eyes grew wide. “Do you think I’m The One?”
“You said something nobody else would know,” I said. “Now slowly put your hands on your head and turn around. This ends right now.”
“It ends when you finally catch him, Detective,” Giovanni said. “I am not The One.”
“Once again, I will not hesitate to do what I need to do,” I said. “Either listen to me or pay the price. Got it?”
Giovanni shook his head. “Why in the world would I come to you if I was The One.”
“Mind games,” I said. “I’m not falling for it. Turn around.”
“That, I won’t do,” Giovanni said. “And you need to put that phone away. So we can get down to business here. The reason why I’m here…”
“How did you know his name? And how did you know to say that?”
“Because like you, I got close, but not close enough.”
“Close enough… how?”
“Will you quit pointing that gun at me, please?”
“Not a chance.”
“What if I prove to you I’m not The One?”
“Prove it,” I said.
“I have to reach into my pocket to get a picture. Don’t shoot me.”
I carefully watched as Giovanni took a picture from out of his suit jacket.
He moved toward the back of my car and gently placed it down.
“Have a look,” he said.
It was a picture of a beautiful young woman. With thick curls in her black hair and maybe the biggest smile I’d ever seen on someone’s face. Golden brown eyes and eyebrows that even a woman like me would be jealous of.
She stood in front of a Christmas tree wearing tall boots over her tight, dark-blue jeans, with her hip thrust to her right side in a plaid flannel that screamed Christmas and cozy.
“Who is that?” I asked.
“My niece,” Giovanni said. “Annabel.”
“What does that prove to me?”
“He took her.”
“Excuse me?”
“He took her. The One.”
I swallowed hard. “Keep talking.”
“She was seventeen when she went missing,” Giovanni said. “One week shy of her eighteenth birthday. She was the wild one of the family. I’m not going to go too deep into my family’s history, but let’s just say Annabel had her reasons for being the way she was. That didn’t mean we didn’t love her any less. It did get tiring dealing with her troubles though. From sixteen until she was taken, we all distanced ourselves from her. If she wanted to be an adult, then so be it. We thought if she had a taste of life on the street it would help. You know, living the hard way…”
“She was his type,” I said. “The exact type he loves.”
“I know that know, Detective. Far too late though.”
“When did this happen?”
“A year ago.”
“A year?” I called out.
“We kept it in our family,” Giovanni said. “Something like this would reflect bad on all of us. Plus, we had to go through who could have done it. Retribution type thing. Got it?”
I nodded.
Oh, I got it.
He was basically a criminal himself.
Running his own version of the mob.
Knowing that going to the police would only end up hurting him because it would reveal more than a few of his illegal activities.
“My sister Gianna was devastated,” Giovanni said. “She came to me and begged me to fix it. To help her. To make this thing right. So I tried my best. I’ve exhausted every recourse possible, Detective.”
“And now you’re talking to me,” I said. “Why? How close did you get?”
“I got into one of his illegal poker games once,” Giovanni said. “It took me a long time to get that close, Detective. I was right there. I heard them all say it too. I realized who he was. The One. And they all said the same thing. We’re all his.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“I couldn’t get away from the table to make a move,” Giovanni said. “He was hiding something in a warehouse. I could feel him looking at me. Looking around. I had a feeling he was on to me. Somehow. Someway. I started to wonder if my guys had turned on me. He is powerful, Detective. Rich and powerful. He does what he wants. And while that wouldn’t bother me, he took my niece.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
“A friend of hers from the street,” Giovanni said. “I brought her in to talk. It took two days to get her to confess everything. The One chose Annabel and took her.”
“Give me the name of the friend…”
Giovanni shook his head. “I can’t do that. She’s dead.”
“Did you kill her?”
“The One did,” Giovanni said.
I knew what that was about. I had just lived through the entire ordeal.
“How did you know about me and The One?” I asked.
Giovanni grinned. “You’re not the only one who can do some detective work, Detective. Your previous case was laced with him. The woman murdered up on that ridge. Her identity and where she came from. Where she really came from. How you tracked it all down. You were getting there but you stopped. Because your niece was kidnapped. You got her back.”
“I did,” I said.
“Imagine if you didn’t.”
“I do that every night before I go to sleep, Giovanni. And then I check on her and make sure she’s safe. And if you bring her up one more time, I will pull this trigger.”
“I appreciate your anger,” he said. “I feel the same. For my niece. Annabel. She wasn’t meant for this. She was a lost girl and she did not deserve this as punishment for that.”
“Look, Giovanni, I did all I could with this case,” I said. “Everything has been handed off. It’s now being investigated on a federal level. Way out of my reach and pay grade.”
Giovanni shook his head. “You don’t give up, Detective. That’s one thing I can appreciate about you. You know when to fight back. You know when to skate along the line of causing your own kind of trouble. That’s why I’m here.”
“Giovanni…”
He slammed his hand down on the picture of his niece.
“Let me make my offer,” he said in a deep voice.
His eyes met mine.
“Offer?” I asked.
“Detective, I’m here to make a deal with you.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
“I don’t think you realize who I am,” I said to Giovanni.
“I don’t think you realize who I am,” Giovanni said back to me.
He wasn’t going to threaten me. Or make me uneasy. He had no idea of who I’d had to deal with in my career.
My mind flashed memories…
There’s another girl in that basement!
Coming back to Sandemor to track down a killer…
Making the decision to pull the trigger and end a man’s life to save another man’s life…
“If you’re so powerful, then keep going,” I said. “Why do you need me?”
“I look at it this way, Detective. It’s the best of both worlds. We both have resources the other does not.”
“Again, you’re being naive,” I said. “The case is no longer mine. I’m not working on it. And I won’t be, unless instructed.”
“I’m instructing you right now, Detective,” Giovanni said in a deep tone.
I laughed.
I reached for the picture of his niece and swallowed hard.
That was Lo.
She had been taken.
Lured away… locked in a cage…
My heart pounded in my chest but I held a straight face as I handed the picture back to Giovanni, shaking my head.
“You understand,” he said. “Your niece was kidna
pped. I know everything that happened. The man who took her worked for The One. He impersonated a psychologist to get close to you and your niece. His plan was to somehow convince you and your niece to be with him. He never wanted your niece to get hurt. But we both know it’s up to The One to make that decision. You let that man run free to save your niece. The house she was in had toxic chemicals released into the air, which almost killed her.”
“How…”
“As I mentioned, we both have our own resources,” Giovanni said. “The man who took your niece was found murdered. Did I miss any details?”
“Just the ones where the case was passed along,” I said. “I am not working on this case.”
“Yes, you are, Detective. If you’re bold enough to show up to my brother’s office twice and act the way you acted, there’s no way you aren’t working on finding The One. Even if it’s against orders given to you.”
Giovanni plucked the picture from my fingers and tucked it away.
We stared at each other in silence for a few seconds.
I shook my head. “You don’t know what you’re saying, Giovanni. You’re assuming. And I’m far from done with you or your brother. There are people being attacked out there. Murdered. Their hands cut off. That’s my focus. And one of those murders has direct ties to your company. Even if you didn’t kill Jessica, you still ordered someone to attack her. You wanted to bully her and scare her, knowing it would get back to Calvin.”
“That’s peanuts compared to The One,” Giovanni said. “We have enough lawyers and money to fight anything you throw our way. You know that. Your partner knows that. Your entire department knows it. You’ve had the chance for the last little while to call for someone to come back you up. But you haven’t. Because you’re intrigued, Detective. How did I find out what I did? How did I get so close? Did I actually see him?”
“You’re a criminal, Giovanni,” I said. “You and you brother run your business like you’re the mob.”
Giovanni showed his hands. “The mob? Far from that, Detective. I think you watch too many movies when you’re home at night. I’m in finance. I’m a finance guy.”
“Just like your muscle guys?” I asked.
“See, the judgement is what gets me,” Giovanni said. “I’m here to talk to you about…” Giovanni looked away. “One of my guys is dead, Detective. I’m containing my anger right now. You think you’ve seen me angry, but you haven’t. Because of you and your accusations, Victor is dead. Whoever is out there chopping off hands did this because of you.”
“We’re back to that story now?” I asked. “Fine by me. I’m going to go find out who killed Victor. And then I’ll be back to your office to arrest you and your brother for what you did to Jessica.”
I turned and Giovanni laughed.
I paused.
“Something funny?” I asked.
“I gave you Jerry upfront. Now I’m looking for a return.”
“Excuse me?” I looked back.
“Do you think Jerry would turn his back on me?” Giovanni asked. “Anthony and I could have had him taken care of by now. If you want to go this route, Detective, you should take a second to realize what you’re up against.”
I slowly turned. “Are you threatening me?”
“I’m reminding you,” he said. “Jerry got nervous after you left. I feared what he was going to do next. So I told Jerry to go talk to you. I gave him the approval to clear his soul a little. That was my payment to you, Detective. Now I want a return.”
“It doesn’t work that way, Giovanni,” I said. “You set yourself up.”
“Did I?”
Giovanni reached into his suit jacket one more time.
He produced two pictures this time.
Once again, he tossed them to the trunk of my car.
“You might want to see those,” he said.
The first picture was of a young boy. Maybe six years old. A big smile on his face as a pile of leaves rained down on him.
The second picture was of a woman.
In a blue hoodie with a ponytail, holding a cup of coffee.
“I don’t know who they are,” I said. “I can’t help you.”
“Oh, yes, you can,” Giovanni said. “Whether we like it or not, Calvin has not made his payments on time yet again. I understand he’s grieving the death of his girlfriend, but life goes on. Business goes on.”
“Who are those people in the pictures?”
“The woman is Lisa. Calvin’s sister. The boy is Lisa’s son. Calvin’s nephew, Tyler.”
I swallowed hard. “You’re showing me pictures of Calvin’s family? Do you really think this is going to work?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Detective. If you want to get right back to normal business, then so be it. You go solve your murder case. Find out who is cutting off hands. That would mean a great deal to me since Victor meant a lot to our company. As for me and my brother, well, we have a job to do too. As I said, Calvin needs to make his payments. One way or another.”
Giovanni slowly grinned.
I opened my mouth, almost ready to ask what he was going to do to Calvin’s sister and nephew.
But I already knew the answer to that, didn’t I?
Chapter Fifty
“And why shouldn’t I arrest you right now?” I asked Giovanni.
“That’s only a question you can answer, Detective,” he said. “But let me make the decision easier for you.”
Giovanni presented me with his wrists.
He smirked as he did. That indicated to me this wasn’t the first time he used the line or move. He thought he was untouchable, and maybe in many ways he was.
I thought about what arresting him would get me.
Nothing but a headache.
My theory of Anthony and Giovanni being connected to the murders faded by the second.
I wasn’t sure if I was trusting myself or buying into Giovanni’s story about his niece.
This wasn’t like me.
Giovanni moved his wrists after a minute of standing there, waiting for me to arrest him.
“For the record, Detective, anything that’s put into motion cannot be stopped,” he said. “When a decision is made, it’s final. Arresting me would not save Lisa and Tyler.”
I glanced at the pictures of Calvin’s sister and nephew.
My heart sank.
This was what Anthony and Giovanni did to people.
Those two innocent people were going to get caught up in a decision made by Calvin.
Anger overtook me and I stepped closer to Giovanni. “Give me your wrists. You’re done.”
“Are you really sure about that?” Giovanni asked. “I haven’t made the final call yet on Lisa and Tyler.”
“Even better,” I said. “Once you’re in cuffs, you won’t be able to do a thing.”
Giovanni let out a brief laugh. “Detective, you’re disappointing me. Maybe I should look elsewhere for assistance in finding The One.”
“Maybe you should,” I said.
“Detective. Please listen for a moment. All I need to do is signal to my driver. He’s in a position to make a phone call faster than you can arrest me and him. Once that phone call is placed, I can assure you the lives of Lisa and Tyler will never be the same.”
“You’re going to stand there and openly admit you’re about to hurt two people and you expect me to just stand here and do nothing about it?” I asked.
“We’re just talking at this point,” he said. “There’s been no action taken. And truthfully, if you must know, I don’t want to hurt anyone. I look at those pictures and it pains me.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I said. “Anthony could get away with saying that. Not you.”
“I’m the cruel one?”
“You both have no hearts. And you’re both going to be punished for what you’ve done.”
“But not yet,” Giovanni said. He took a step away from me. “Let’s run through it all one more time. So we ca
n be sure we’re on the same page.”
I couldn’t believe I was entertaining Giovanni as long as I was.
The only thing that kept me standing there was that he knew about The One. He knew the phrase - we’re all his - and he had reason to hate the man as much as I did.
“Calvin is scum,” Giovanni said. “The good looking man and the articles are not the truth of who he is. He set this in motion for himself. He knew the terms and we knew the risks. I regret working with him. Anthony thought it would look good for us to be part of a revitalization project. And now look where we are. Worst case, we take Calvin’s businesses. We sell everything off. Right down to the last fork that’s a little bit crooked. Then we get rid of the real estate, or we hold it, devalue it, then sweep in with a new plan and watch the money grow. That’s our side of the equation, Detective. We always win. We always get what we want. But we’re here to talk about my niece. Annabel is out there. I know it.”
“If we’re talking casually here, you need to think clearer, Giovanni,” I said. “I saw the cages. I know what happens. I met someone who…” My memory thought about Leslie. The girl who had different names. The girl who befriended Lo. My heart raced. “You know she may not be…”
“Alive?” Giovanni asked. “I’m not stupid, Detective. She could anywhere in the world in any condition. For the sake of my sister, I believe she’s alive and I’ll bring her home. In reality, my niece is gone. That’s why you’re going to bring me The One.”
“Excuse me?” I asked.
“As I said, I gave you Jerry as a good faith payment,” Giovanni said. “He confessed what he did to Jessica. Does that hurt our company? Maybe a little. But you’re smart enough to know there’s something bigger than that. We are innocent in these murders. We are not cutting off peoples’ hands and letting them die or whatever is going on. You and I both know that, Detective. We also know how powerful The One is. We know you can’t stop thinking about him. Just the same as I can’t. I told you I got close, but not close enough. I have a feeling you might know more than I do. So here’s the deal…”
“The deal?” I asked.
“Just listen. You’re going to find The One. And when you do, you’re going to bring him to me. You can work on the details of how to do that on your own. When you bring me The One, everything else is settled.”
