Deceiving Bella: Book Eleven In The Bodyguards Of L.A. County Series

by Beauman, Cate

Bella hurried to her feet. “Oh, my gosh. It’s okay. Shawna, right?”

  The woman bobbed her head as she stared at the weapon pointed at her. “Yes. I’m sorry. I just—Elliott said you were down—I thought you might like something to drink.”

  Bella walked over, her black pumps slapping on the hardwood floor in her haste to take the tray. Joey lowered his weapon but didn’t put it away. “Thank you so much for thinking of us.”

  She nodded again and stepped out. “I’m sorry.”

  Bella smiled reassuringly. “It’s okay.”

  “Jesus.” Joey shoved his gun back in his holster. “What the fuck was that?”

  “She just brought us some water.” Bella set the tray on the judge’s desk with less than steady hands.

  “No one’s supposed to know we’re here. And who opens a door like that, anyway?”

  “I think she had to because of the tray.” Bella grabbed their drinks, leaving the plate of pastries behind, and sat down, exhaling a shaky breath while her heart pounded a wild beat.

  Joey walked over to the door and locked it, then sat back down. “Sorry about that.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “You wanna finish our game or do something different? It looks like the judge has got himself a TV.”

  “Uh, how about you finish telling me about your plans for Mel.”

  He smiled. “If you want to hear them.”

  “Of course I do.” She handed him one of the bottled waters. “I’m a sucker for romance.”

  He grinned. “You’re all right, Bella.”

  She beamed. “Thank you.”

  “So, I’m thinking I’m gonna take her away for the weekend—rent us a place up in Vermont or something.”

  “What about going to a bed-and-breakfast?”

  He nodded, pointing at her. “Perfect. A fucking bed-and-breakfast. Why didn’t I think of that?”

  She chuckled, wondering if it was possible for Joey to go a full thirty minutes without dropping an f-bomb.

  “I’ll take her out for dinner. Maybe I can pay someone to put a whole bunch of flowers in the room—light some candles for when we get back—and I’ll ask her.”

  “That sounds lovely. Mel’s a very lucky woman.” And she meant it. Joe was Reed’s brother in all the ways that mattered, so he was hers now too.

  “She’s a—” Joey froze when they heard a thump in the main hallway and someone test the locked doorknob.

  Bella rushed to her feet as Joey did. “Who’s that?”

  He took out his gun and his eyes changed, turning from friendly to deadly in a blink like Reed’s had yesterday. “Lock yourself in the bathroom.”

  She shook her head, reaching out her hand to him. “What about you?”

  “Lock yourself in the bathroom, Bella. Go.”

  She turned to do what Joey said when both doors burst open with a sharp crack. Two men wearing janitorial outfits and dark gray caps rushed in from opposite sides, firing shots in four quick metallic clicks at Joey before he could get one off. Bella stared in horror as Joey jerked and fell back, breaking the table and solid wood chair with his impact. Turning, she ran for the bathroom and slammed the door, fumbling with the lock, then grabbed her phone and found Reed’s number. She listened to the incessant ringing as she gasped for each breath and tucked herself in the corner by the toilet. “Come on. Come on,” she shuddered out as tears poured down her cheeks. The door burst open and she screamed. “Help!”

  “Shut up.” The man walked over and smacked her over the head with the pistol he’d used to kill Joey.

  She felt a wretched pain radiate through her temple, then nothing else.

  ~~~~

  Reed occupied the same uncomfortable chair he’d sat in yesterday afternoon as he glanced at his watch—like he’d done several times over the last half hour. The DA’s endless questions were hitting the ninety-minute mark and he was getting restless. Typically he would have applauded DA Moore’s thoroughness—especially when they were talking about garnering an indictment for Alfeo Caparelli—but today he just wanted to get the hell out of there. He rubbed at his jaw and bobbed his leg up and down, fighting the urge to stand up and leave. For the last several minutes, he’d been unable to shake the feeling that something was wrong. It was tempting to grab his cell phone and send off a quick text—just to make sure things were going well—but he folded his hands on the table instead, struggling to pay attention.

  Everything was fine. Joe and Bella were locked in the judge’s chambers just downstairs. If he had to guess, Joe was stuffing his face full of bagels and sharing stories about the good old days Reed was never going to be able to live down. Yet even as he tried to convince himself that all was good, something felt off.

  “…Mr. McKinley for your testimony today.”

  He blinked, realizing the DA was talking to him. “I’m sorry. Can you repeat that?”

  “I said thank you for your testimony today.”

  “You’re welcome.” He sent the group of men and women sitting around the conference table a small smile as he stood, then walked out into the main hallway. Finally. Now they could go home. He started toward the elevators and grabbed his phone from his pocket, realizing that Bella had tried to get ahold of him eighteen minutes ago.

  “Hey,” Skylar called to him from behind.

  He paused, glancing over his shoulder as she jogged his way wearing one of her typical tailored suit-and-heel combinations.

  “I’m here. I made it,” she said, slightly out of breath as she sidled up next to him.

  “Hey.” He dialed Bella’s number back and brought the phone to his ear, absently listening to it ringing as he hit the button for the elevator. “So, are you a California chick now?”

  Skylar flared her nostrils. “Apparently so, but I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “You can have my place since—”

  “This is Bella. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you.”

  His blood ran cold and the hair stood up on the back of his neck when he heard her voicemail instead of Bella herself. Something was wrong. “Call Joe.” He booked it to the stairwell and shoved through the door, running down the stairs.

  Skylar followed with the phone at her ear. “What the hell’s going on?”

  “She’s not answering. She should be answering.”

  “I’m getting Joe’s voicemail.”

  “They’ve got her. I can feel it.” And the idea made him ill.

  “We don’t know that.”

  “They’re not answering.” He pushed through the door to the second floor and sprinted down the long, quiet hall to Judge Mathison’s chambers, noting that the old mahogany door was splintered and half-closed. “Oh, God. Oh, God,” he repeated, instantly living a thousand nightmares. Clenching his jaw, he drew his gun as Skylar did the same.

  She met his gaze and immediately moved to take her stance by the side of the doorway.

  Nodding, he kicked open the door and rushed in with Skylar covering him. He stopped, staring at the broken table and chair as Joey groaned and attempted to gain all fours while blood poured down the left side of his face. “Oh, Christ. Fuck! Bella!” Reed hurried into the bathroom, noting another splintered door and the two drops of blood on the white tile. “Where is she?” He moved over to Joey in three quick strides and crouched down. “Where is she, Joe? How long have you been out?”

  Joey groaned again, losing his balance, and fell back on his ass. “Fuckin’ pricks were dressed like janitors.”

  “How many?”

  “Two.”

  “How long ago do you think?”

  “I don’t know. Twenty minutes—twenty-five? Damn, the room’s spinning.”

  “Perimeter’s clear,” Skylar said as she came back in from the opposite hallway and shoved her gun away while still holding her phone to her ear. She crouched down and grabbed a wad of napkins from the bagel bag, then pressed them to Joey’s nasty head wound. “Don’t try to stand up. The ambulance is comin
g. What have we got?”

  Joey blinked several times. “Uh, two white males wearing gray caps and janitor’s clothing. Got off four shots—wet suppressors.”

  “Two white males, janitor’s clothing and gray caps,” Skylar repeated to someone on the other end of the line as she settled Joe’s hand over the saturated napkins and gained her feet. “I’m going to look at security footage and see what they’ve got there. More police are on the way. What’s Bella wearing today?”

  Reed jammed his hand through his hair, commanding himself to think. “Uh, blue jeans, black heels, and a white elastic-y tank top thing.”

  Skylar nodded. “We’re going to get her back.” She hurried off, shouting orders as her high heels echoed her frantic pace down the hall.

  Reed wanted to run after her, to go wherever he would find Bella, but at this point, he had no idea where that was. He focused on Joe and the next step, allowing himself to slip into the cool, detached place that had served him well for ten years. He needed to gather details and follow the clues; that was the only way he was ever going to hold Bella again. “What the hell happened?”

  “Cards.” Joey gestured to the upended table and deck scattered around the floor. “We were playing and talking about me proposing to Mel. There was a noise in the hall, then someone testing the doorknob. I told her to get in the bathroom. She was headed that way when the fuckers barged in and shot me in the chest. Lost my balance from the impact and hit my fucking head on the way down. Lights out.” Wincing, he rubbed at his chest where his vest had saved his life. “Broke some ribs, I think.”

  “You didn’t hear or see anything after you fell?”

  “Lights out,” he repeated with a shake of his head as he tried to stand. “We need to get her back.”

  Reed pressed his hand to Joey’s shoulder. “You need to stay down before you hurt yourself even more.”

  “Matty’s got her.”

  “Of course he does.” He stood, unable to be still any longer as the fear tried to sneak beneath his carefully composed armor. “Now we have to figure out where.” He scrubbed at his face with unsteady hands. “He’s going to torture her, Joe—like he did Bruno. He’s not going to make it quick.”

  “Don’t focus on that.” Joey turned his head and puked, moaning as he heaved. “Shit. My fuckin’ ribs.”

  Skylar hurried back in with the paramedics following.

  “Concussion and possible broken ribs,” Reed said to the medical team, then gave his attention to Skylar. Joe was talking and breathing, so he would worry about him later.

  “The cameras are out in this wing and down in the east alleyway. The surveillance crew started experiencing technical difficulties about thirty minutes ago, but we were able to roll through some footage out by the parking garage and found two men climbing out of a black Cadillac CTS wearing janitor’s clothing and gray hats. We’ve got some people in Transportation looking at the traffic cams, seeing if they can track them down. We know the vehicle took a right out by the garage. We’ll see if they can pick up their route from there.”

  He nodded.

  “One of the security guards just talked to a woman who witnessed two men in similar dress pushing a large recycling cart to the elevator a few minutes ago. The cart was found in the alley.” She touched his arm. “There was some blood residue, Reed.”

  He rubbed at the back of his neck, not wanting to hear any more—not wanting for any of this to be real. But it was. Bella was hurt and he couldn’t help her. “This is an inside job. Someone told them we were here—how to get around and make this happen.”

  “And we’ll find them, but let’s get Bella first.”

  He nodded again, pacing back and forth, certain he would lose his mind simply from feeling helpless. “No one heard anything in the surrounding rooms?”

  She shook her head. “At this point, we can’t find anyone. The judge’s assistant is on vacation, and the boiler room is directly below us. We’re working on getting Bella’s phone carrier to ping her cell phone.”

  He clenched his jaw, looking to the ceiling. “That could take hours with all the red tape. We don’t have hours.” He glanced at his watch. Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes had passed since they’d run into the judge’s chambers, yet it felt like a lifetime. They needed every second they could get. Matty wasn’t going to spare his cousin any pain. If anything, he would be more brutal.

  Skylar’s phone rang. “Yeah.” She nodded, looking at Reed. “Okay. That’s great. Excellent. Thanks.” She hung up.

  “What?” he asked, refusing to get his hopes up.

  “They’ve spotted the Cadillac on the parkway—found it on various traffic cameras throughout the city and have been able to trace its path. Footage shows the vehicle took exit 4 about five minutes ago. They lost them there, but we have a place to start.”

  Which wasn’t nearly good enough. “She could be anywhere.”

  “They’ve issued a city-wide BOLO. Everyone’s watching for her. They’re moving in to swarm the area.”

  He didn’t want the backup—they were risking some dirty asshole tipping off the Caparellis—but they couldn’t do this alone.

  “That’s down by Cropsey, Eighty-Sixth, and Bath Ave,” Joe said as the paramedics hoisted up the gurney. “Old stomping ground.”

  “Let’s go.” Reed booked it out of the room and down a flight of stairs, following Skylar to her car. He knew Bensonhurst like the back of his hand, but they were still miles from where they needed to be.

  “Buckle up,” Skylar said as she pulled out with a squeal of tires and her lights blazing.

  He watched the speedometer, fisting his hands on his lap as Skylar weaved her way in and out of traffic.

  “I’m going to cut across here. It’s faster.” She took a sharp, last-minute right.

  He moved with her turn. “Do whatever. Just get us there.” His phone rang, and he swore when it was Joe’s ringtone instead of Bella. He wanted nothing more than to hear her voice—for her to tell him that she’d gotten away and she was okay. “What the hell, Joe? You need to go to the hospital.”

  “I’m heading there now.”

  “So what are—”

  “She thought about me. When the shit was hitting the fan and I told her to go hide in the bathroom, she reached out for me. I’m going to help you find her even if it’s from the fucking ambulance.”

  He clenched his jaw, watching Skylar push her speed to ninety when they hit the parkway. “I can’t lose her. I just got her back.”

  “I know. We gotta get in his head,” Joe continued. “We gotta put on our sadistic bastard thinking caps and figure out Matty’s plan.”

  Reed put Joey on speaker for Skylar to hear too. “We know Matty has Nicoli’s daughter. If Matty hasn’t figured that out yet, he knows he has a rat.” And both were a punishing death sentence.

  “Let’s assume the worst,” Joey said. “Let’s go with the theory that Matty knows Bella’s Nicoli’s. They went to a lot of trouble for this, took a lot of risks to grab a snitch. So it makes sense to follow the path that he knows who she is.”

  Joe was one hundred percent right, but Reed didn’t like it.

  “What’s your gut telling you?” Skylar asked as she took exit 4, following the twist in the road around to Bay Eighth Street, and shut off her lights. “It’s never wrong.”

  If he’d listened to his instincts thirty minutes ago, he might have been able to stop this entire thing from happening. He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  Skylar took a right on Bath Avenue as a police cruiser moved their way, going as slowly as Skylar.

  Reed watched the cop shake his head and felt the rush of panic, no longer able to fight back the waves of terror. He reached for the door handle, needing to run, to sprint and yell for Bella until she answered. “I don’t know where she is. I don’t know.” He jammed his fingers through his hair as his heart pounded and his breath rushed in and out. “He’s hurting her. He’s hurting her and I can barely sta
nd it.”

  “Get it together, boss,” Joey snapped. “She needs you to keep it together. Focus on who they are. On what you know. No one knows these bastards better than you do. You’ve been studying them since you were a kid. What’s Matty thinking?”

  “I’m turning onto Bay Forty-Sixth Street and making a left on Cropsey,” Skylar said for Joey’s benefit.

  “Cropsey Avenue. Nicoli and Alfeo’s old turf,” Joey reminded him. “They ran that area for decades. Patrizio’s restaurant. Dino’s pawn shop. The bowling alley.”

  Reed racked his brain, trying to remember the numerous locations Vinny had mentioned he and Alfeo had hung out at while Skylar drove them past Patrizio Caparelli’s long-ago pizza place. He stared out at the area he knew well, the place where he’d spent seven years of his life with Joey, trying to infiltrate the worst of the worst. Which spot held the most meaning? Where would Alfeo want to give his little brother the finger? Because that’s exactly what this was about. “Elena.”

  Skylar looked at him.

  Reed came to attention as he stared farther down the road. “Elena. They killed Elena the next block up—the beginning of the end. Nicoli’s breaking point. Alfeo’s endgame after Nicoli turned him in.”

  “That’s good, boss. That’s real good.”

  “Matty wouldn’t be able to help himself. He would go for something symbolic.” He blew out a trembling breath as the realization brought about a new wave of bone-chilling fear. “He definitely knows Bella is Nicoli’s daughter. Speed up and go around the block. The old warehouse over there.” He pointed to his left. “That’s the bar Nicoli and Alfeo walked out of the night they spotted the capo they were contracted to kill.” His gaze wandered to the area across from it—the huge brick building. “Maybe there.” He unbuckled his seat belt and touched his gun.

  Skylar drove by. “Possible lookout car to my left.”

  Reed subtly looked that way and spotted two men sitting in a car, eating sandwiches. “Go up a block and come around. We’ll head to the back. This warehouse was the Caparellis’.”

  They turned again, and Skylar slowed as they passed the building. “There,” she said, hitting the brakes. “The car parked all the way in the back. By the farthest loading dock.”