6,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: Valley Publishing Ltd.
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Sprache: Englisch
Sheriff Angela Zimmerman is not what Bonaparte expects when he arrives in her district. But he was here to help her out at Levi’s request. A little matchmaking by Levi was going on too but didn’t change the fact that she was in trouble.
When Levi said he was sending a man over, she didn’t realize he meant this gentle mountain of a man. Still Bonaparte was confident and capable, and that’s what mattered. Something rotten was happening in her town, and getting to the bottom of it alone was nearly impossible. Especially when all her deputies had been coerced to quit.
Sensing something much bigger was going on is one thing, but proving it is another. So the two set out to get the proof they need—no matter the danger. No one expected what they found …
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
Ähnliche
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
About This Book
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue
About Noah’s Nemesis
Excerpt from Ryland’s Reach
Excerpt from Damon’s Deal
Author’s Note
Complimentary Download
About the Author
Copyright Page
About This Book
Sheriff Angela Zimmerman is not what Bonaparte expects when he arrives in her district. But he was here to help her out at Levi’s request. A little matchmaking by Levi was going on too but didn’t change the fact that she was in trouble.
When Levi said he was sending a man over, she didn’t realize he meant this gentle mountain of a man. Still Bonaparte was confident and capable, and that’s what mattered. Something rotten was happening in her town, and getting to the bottom of it alone was nearly impossible. Especially when all her deputies had been coerced to quit.
Sensing something much bigger was going on is one thing, but proving it is another. So the two set out to get the proof they need—no matter the danger. No one expected what they found …
Sign up to be notified of all Dale’s releaseshere!
Prologue
Bonaparte Gasparde was happy for Zack and Zadie. It’s not what he had expected when they’d started this mission, but, once he’d seen the sparks flying between the two of them, he knew there would be no other way for this to end. Zack looked like he had a whole new lease on life, and Bonaparte was happy for his friend.
Bonaparte had returned to the United States with them and had spent a few weeks lost, until Levi suggested he stay and do a couple jobs, at least until he figured out what he wanted to do, now that he hadn’t upped again in the navy.
Being here was hard in a way. His introspection into his prior relationship was brutal. Yet he’d seen so many beautiful couples at Levi’s place that Bonaparte wondered if he was half inclined to stick around in case some of that pixie dust might fall his way.
Just then Levi walked into the kitchen. “Hey, how are you doing? Everything okay?”
“I’m good,” Bonaparte said.
“So how do you feel about heading outside of Denver to help out a friend?”
“What’s going on there?” he asked.
“Another case gone wrong.” Levi sighed, as he sat beside Bonaparte. “Actually a favor for the sheriff of a small town.”
“What kind of a problem? Need a bodyguard or what?”
“Oh no, nothing like that,” he said. “The sheriff just needs someone to deputize for the short-term, having told the town that new staff was on the way, so they’re expecting somebody, yet nobody is actually coming.”
“What, so I’d be like a relief deputy for what? A week or two?” He shrugged. “I’ve never been in that role before, but how hard can it be? I’m game.”
“Yeah, but you’re walking into a trap,” Levi said. “It was one of reasons for saying backup was coming, but it’s also the reason it hasn’t happened. It’s a dangerous situation, and anybody the sheriff brings in could have their hands full.”
“Great,” Bonaparte said, straightening up with a big grin. “Sounds like my kind of job. Who’s the sheriff?”
“Her name is Angela Zimmerman,” Levi said. “She’s hell on wheels and happens to be an old friend, so do what you can to keep her alive.”
“A female sheriff, sounds like fun.”
“Angela is good people. She comes down on the side of right every time.”
Bonaparte pursed his lips. He had no reason not to go. In fact, it would be better than sitting here and reviewing his failed relationships.
“Listen. Don’t let one poisonous nutcase spoil you for all the beautiful flowers out there.”
Bonaparte laughed at that. “I doubt that Ice would appreciate being called a flower, and I sure don’t see my ex-wife like that.”
“So true,” Levi said, with a grin. “And good on the ex. Now go give Angela a hand.” He stood, and they shook hands. “At the bare minimum, this job should keep you busy, and I know you always love helping the underdog. I can guarantee you that Angela needs help.”
“Well, when you put it that way, how can I refuse?”
Chapter 1
Bonaparte followed Levi’s directions, including picking up a special truck, suitable for the would-be deputy, waiting for him at the airport. Once he left the city limits of Denver, he headed for the small town to meet Sheriff Angela Zimmerman. It was a heck of a name. He wanted to call her Angel or Angie, but Levi had warned him that she wasn’t a nickname kind of person.
On the whole trip, Bonaparte had been wondering if that meant she wasn’t the warm or cuddly type. He didn’t know why the hell he was even thinking along those lines anyway. Deb, his ex, had been very cuddly. She was the kind of small bundle who liked to sit in his lap and just curl up and snuggle. But she hadn’t been all that great at getting up when work was to be done. She had been all about being the little princess, not so much about being a partner. But they had two wonderful kids, and he enjoyed every freaking minute he had with them.
They would be coming in another few weeks for the summer holidays, and that was something he had to figure out too. Having left the navy, he found a house not too far from the compound that he would share with his kids. But, so far, Bonaparte had just been enjoying time with Levi and his crew. And now Bonaparte was heading to this job, where he would be deputized, … whatever the hell that would mean.
When he pulled into town and found the sheriff’s office just on the side of the street, he turned and parked, then hopped from his truck. A black half-ton pickup, it was dusty as hell. He shook his head. He would wash it very soon. It wasn’t good for a vehicle to be covered like it was. He normally took really good care of his equipment, and he hated to see something like this sit around dirty.
He hitched up his jeans and took a slow look around. There was a problem all right, but he hadn’t been given too many details, just that Angela needed help and somebody she could trust. Well, he was trustworthy; she could count on that. If Angela came down hard on the side of right, then he would be right there with her. He kicked a rock out of the way and walked slowly up the long wooden steps to the big veranda out front. There was a very western look to the area, which surprised him. He walked into the office and stood there at the entrance. Not a soul to be found. He took a few steps forward, surprised that the door was even unlocked when empty, when a thirtysomething woman rushed out of the back, a beaming smile on her face.
“Sir, may I help you?”
“I’m here to see the sheriff,” he said, in a slow drawl, his hands on his hips as he studied her.
“Angela,” she said, with a nod. “Hang on a moment.” She disappeared into an office down at the end of the hallway. A few minutes later she rushed back out and smiled at him.
“She’ll be out in a minute.” She motioned at the hard bench along the front window. “Feel free to take a seat.”
He looked at her and nodded.
He didn’t move; he just stood here, studying his surroundings. He was a big man, which was an understatement, and he had a tendency to dwarf everything around him. However, this office was mostly empty, with just the odd desk here and there, so it felt spacious and comfortable. Its old worn hardwood floor had seen more than a few people tread its wooden surface.
When the sound of a long-legged clip came toward him, he raised his head, and one eyebrow shot up. Angela had to be at least six feet tall. Long, lean, with an almost raw-boned look. But her skin was fresh, the look in her eyes direct and level. And, if she had long hair, it was hard to see because it was kept back in a clip at her neck.
He smiled at her and said, “Bonaparte. At your service.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Wow,” she said, “follow me, please.” Angela ignored the curious gaze from the woman sitting at the front desk, watching their every move. Angela immediately pivoted on her heel and walked back to her office. He followed the jean-clad figure, wondering what would put a woman like her in the office of county sheriff in the first place and, more important, what kind of trouble she could be in.
As she walked into her office, she held the door open for him. When he stepped in, she pointed at the visitor’s chair and closed the door with a sharp click behind him. Then she walked around her desk, sat down, and pushed a button on a small machine to her side.
He looked at it, then at her, his gaze hardened. “A frequency jammer? Are you really expecting that level of trouble?”
Her gaze was equally hard, and she gave a clipped nod. “Yes.”
As soon as the buzzer on the machine stopped, she nodded, pushed it off to the side, then settled back and interlocked her fingers, while she studied him.
He waited. If she wanted to play that game, he could too.
“Did Levi tell you what’s going on here?”
“Not exactly, no. Levi said that you were in trouble, that you were an old friend, and that you were somebody who firmly came down on the side of right,” he said, paraphrasing. “I do too. So, if you need help, I’m here.”
“And just you?”
He gave her a wolf of a smile. “Just me.”
Her grin was almost as feral, as she looked at him and nodded. “Okay,” she said, “in that case, I’ll accept it gratefully.”
“Where are your deputies?”
“Run off,” she said. “Every one of them threatened, their families threatened as well.”
He stared at her in shock.
She nodded. “I’ve contacted the sheriffs in two neighboring counties. Both of them told me to lay low and to not cause any trouble. And that they’d been threatened as well.”
“Did you go above them?”
“No,” she said. “Nobody here likes a woman sheriff to begin with.”
He settled back with a nod. “So you don’t want to give in.”
“Would you?”
“Well, it would never have happened to me,” he said.
Her gaze narrowed, and then she gave a nod again. “It’s sexist, but that’s true. It wouldn’t,” she announced. “But I don’t think you’re the kind who would let anybody run you out of town either.”
“No, not likely. What kind of trouble?”
“What kind of trouble do you want?” she said bluntly. “It’s all here.”
“It looks like such a small sleepy town,” he said, with a drawl.
She laughed. “Actually it is. Or it was. Until some wannabe badasses moved in and started terrorizing everybody.”
“And you can’t throw them in jail?”
“Well, I would if I could get some actual evidence, but these two have a lot of friends and access to a lot of money. So the town is terrified of them, and I’ve been warned to just get up and leave or else.”
“But that’s not your style.”
“Not mine, not yours, not Levi’s.”
“Good enough,” he said. “Okay, what do we need to do to get evidence, so we can pick up these guys and toss them in the clink?”
“If we toss them in the clink, we better have enough evidence to hold them because they’ll be lawyered up and shouting for bail within minutes.”
“And what kind of bail are we talking about here?”
“If they’ve done what I think they’ve done, I’d like to see it go as high as one million dollars.”
He let out a slow whistle. “So, murder?”
“Yes,” she said, her voice gentling. “Murder.”
“Of whom?”
She opened a drawer on the side and pulled out a file about one-quarter-inch thick. She flipped it open and handed him the clipped papers from the top. “Here’s a copy of the notes I have so far,” she said. “These are cases involving people I can connect to them, … in theory at least. Two are my best bets. This operation has been going on locally for over a year.”
“But no proof?”
“Not enough,” she corrected. “This has to be a locked-down airtight case.”
“And these are all …” He looked at the photos and said, “They’re all old people.”
“They are, indeed, and, in all cases, these are people who stood in the way in some fashion.”
“These guys wanted their properties?”
“I don’t know whether they are after the properties, the businesses, or the land. It’s not as if they’re talking. But they’ve done this before. They’ve gone into various towns, bought up a lot of land, razed a lot of old homesteads, and put in modern facilities.”
“And is your town against that?”
“Not at all,” she said, “except that most of the people involved weren’t interested in selling. One was and he’s alive still, in a nursing home.” She nodded at the faces in photos he held. “None of the others wanted to. Not a one.”
He frowned, as he continued to look at the photos. “Money usually talks, and, if these assholes have money, why wouldn’t they have tried that?”
“All of the deceased were born here,” she said, “and spent their whole lives in those homes.”
“So couldn’t these guys just have outwaited them?”
“Did I tell you that they were young? Like, I mean, they’re young. As in, they have absolutely no intention on waiting for anybody to die of natural causes before they can implement their plans.”
“And I suppose young and wealthy goes along with cocky and arrogant?”
“Absolutely,” she said, and she laughed. “Sounds like you understand the problem already.”
“Oh, hell yeah,” he said. “We’ve seen guys like this before. Generally they’re not as well organized though, and don’t move from town to town.”
“I think they work on a premise of fear and intimidation,” she said. “What I haven’t figured out yet is what they want to do with these properties. Because, so far, nothing’s happening, other than a direct geographical connection to three parcels.”
“Same thing in the previous towns?”
“I don’t know that the previous properties were geographically connected. Need to check that out. Their MO has been to buy up all the properties they could, and, some of which they’re just sitting on. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, except that it’s all really prime real estate. Some are off the highway just out of town, like a place you’d see a large diesel gas station or something like that. But that takes money too.”
“But you said they have money?”
“Sure. They certainly seem to, but I don’t know whether they have millions, billions, or trillions at this point in time,” she said, with a wave of her hand.
“I’ll look into their portfolio and see just where they’re at,” he said, pulling out the sheet with the list of the names. “Brothers?”
“Yes,” she said. “And their father was Marcus Gapone.” At that, Bonaparte lifted his gaze and stared at her in shock. She nodded. “Yeah, one of the notorious crime bosses. These two cut their teeth on that shit, and now they’re here in my town.”
“Wow,” he said, settling back. “When you bite into trouble, you really take a big bite, don’t you?”
“I’ve never been one to walk a fine line of niceties,” she said, “but I’ve always been fair. These people make my skin crawl. And make me pissed off and angry.”
“You know that they won’t go down easy, right?”
“Of course I do. And I also know that they’ll do everything possible to slide their way out of it. So we either get that evidence we need, or it’s a lost cause.”
“Even with the evidence,” he said, “don’t count on any witnesses because they’ll pressure them into not testifying.”
“I know,” she said. “I have my suspicions that they have experience with witness intimidation in the past. Potentially with deaths occurring.”
He whistled. “Are you working with anybody else on this?”
She shook her head. “I’ve kept it very close to the vest, up to this point.”
“Is that because you don’t want anybody else to know because you’re afraid somebody will do something to you or because you don’t know who to trust?”
She laughed, but it was a bitter sound. “All of the above.”
*
Angela studied the man in front of her. The photo Levi had sent her one year ago didn’t do him justice. He was a monster of a man—but with a sense of purpose, a sense of assurance that he could handle whatever went wrong in his world. A part of her wished she had the same sense. But something about being targeted and having her entire staff walk out definitely left her sitting here, realizing just how vulnerable she really was. But instead of making her even more afraid, it just pissed her off so much more.
When she had finally broken down and told Levi what the hell was going on here, he had suggested that Bonaparte come and give her a hand. She wasn’t sure why he had been chosen, but, as she saw the mountain of a man in front of her, she wasn’t at all unhappy with Levi’s choice. She should have let Levi introduce them a long time ago, when he’d first brought it up, but she’d put it down to Levi’s matchmaking.
Now she needed this man for a whole different purpose. The man looked like he hated all kinds of injustice and would go to bat for any underdog. If she needed one thing right now, it was somebody strong at her side. A set of brains to give her a hand to figure this out was nice too.
“I really didn’t know what to do,” she said. “And, when you don’t have a way forward, you flail around, standing in place.”
“Or you stand your ground,” he said gently, “until you figure it out.”
“Sure, until suddenly you don’t have enough time to figure it out because they’ve already come after you.”
“In that case,” he said, “if you think an attack is imminent, how prepared are you to defend this location?”
“They won’t come in a frontal attack,” she said, leaning back in her big office chair. She picked up a pen and flipped it through her fingers. “The deputies were each contacted at home. By somebody who doesn’t live here, offering money to stay quiet or punishment if they didn’t. But the punishment wasn’t to be done to them directly, it was directed to family members with a promise of more, forcing the deputies to understand just what would be done.”
“Of course, attack where it hurts the most. Target the loved ones.”
She said, “Doing it that way makes people far more malleable than if they were roughed up themselves.”
“And do you have the same weakness?”
She looked at him in surprise. “Weakness?”
“Is there somebody you love—they can manipulate, kidnap, or torture—in order to force you into doing what they want?”
“No,” she said shortly. “There isn’t, and that’s causing them some trouble.”
“Well then, the really simple answer for them is just to remove you from the issue altogether.”
“Indeed,” she said, with a hard smile. “And, as long as I’m in the sheriff’s office, that’s a little hard to do.” He looked around and saw the bedroll on the floor in the corner and a small bag on top of it. “You’re sleeping here?”
“My vehicle had a brake issue,” she said shortly. “It’s taking a while to get fixed. And I’m not sure I’ll trust it then.”
“Shit,” he said. “What about your house? Where is it, and what does it look like?”
“It’s a rancher on some acreage about ten miles from here,” she said.
“Nice,” he said. “No parents living with you, no children, no siblings?”
She shook her head. “No, no, and no.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to defend your own home?”
“Maybe, but the brakes didn’t get me home,” she said. “They only got me to here.”
“I didn’t see a vehicle out front, did I?”
“It’s in the shop.”
“Right. When’s it due to be ready?”
“Supposedly this afternoon.”
“Plan of action?”
“I’m working on it,” she said. Then she shook her head and tossed down the pen. “But I’m not getting very far.”
“Sounds to me like we have some work to do,” he said and pulled his chair closer, dropping the file on her desk from his side and reaching across for an empty pad of paper sitting off to her side. Snagging it, he said, “Now let’s get some of this shit figured out.”
He couldn’t even believe what he had heard so far, and a slow burn had started in his belly. “What threats have you had?”
“Notes left under the door, here at work, at my home, and in my vehicle,” she said. Opening a drawer to the left of her, she pulled out an envelope and quickly upended it.
He grabbed a pencil, and, using the eraser end, he quickly shuffled them back and forth. “Did you get them checked for fingerprints?”
“I did,” she said. “Nothing.”
He read them slowly. “Get out of town, bitch. Being a sheriff isn’t a woman’s position! So … threats, but not too-too bad.”
“No,” she said. “Just bad enough.”
“Exactly.” He frowned. “Anything else?”
“A couple of dead rats on the front step.”
He raised an eyebrow at that. “So that could be related or maybe not.”
“Exactly.”
“But nobody’s tossed any dead pets at you or anything else like that?”
“No,” she said, settling back. “I have three dogs at home though, and that’s a concern.”
“Watchdogs?”
“One, the other two are wannabes,” she said, with a crooked smile.
“Good. And what about your receptionist out there?”
“Lana? She’s been here for over a decade, and she doesn’t believe there’s any threat at all.”
“Is that credible?”
“Not in my book,” she said, “but nobody really believes me, and the other deputies won’t even admit to it.”
“Anything else?” he asked, looking at her.
She shrugged. “No. I don’t think so.”
“You don’t think so?” he said, with emphasis. “What about on your phone? Anything there?”
She shrugged. “Yeah, definitely had a few odd calls.”
“Anybody you know?”
“No. Most people in town know me, and I know most of them,” she said. “I was born and raised here, so most of them are … most have been reasonable.”
“But some of them haven’t been,” he pounced.
“Some of them haven’t been,” she said, with a nod.
“I’ll need the names of everybody who hasn’t been.”
“What will you do?” she asked. “Threaten them?”
“Of course not,” he said, giving her a bland stare. “Obviously we need to do something. And they need to know that you’re not alone.”
“What? Will you pull that big macho man thing on me?”
“You want me to?” he asked instantly.
She burst out laughing. “No, I sure don’t,” she said. “I’m pretty used to handling things myself.”
“We all need help sometimes,” he said, “even Levi and me.”
She tilted her head to the side. “Do you now?”
“Of course.”
“In what way?”
He instantly said, “Well, I’ve got two kids coming for the summer, and they’ll be at my place in about three weeks. I haven’t got a clue what to do with them.” He studied her for a long moment, but her gaze was steady, right back at him. He really liked that. As a matter of fact, he was liking a whole lot about her. Damn Levi for even bringing up that angle.
“Kids can be fun,” she said quietly. “Are they yours?”
He nodded. “A boy and a girl.” And he mentioned their ages. “But that’s not today’s issue.”
“Maybe it is,” she said suddenly. “I don’t want any innocent children brought into this.”
“Well, we’ll have it well handled before that time,” he said, “and I have a place close to Levi, where I would take them to anyway.”
“Good enough.” she said. “But if anybody knows about them, chances are they could still be used as pawns.”
He had to respect that she was concerned about his children—or any children caught up in this nightmare for that matter. “Thank you for thinking of them,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll be safe enough. We just need to get this dealt with and fast.”
“Nothing’s ever fast,” she said. “These two have tentacles that seem to be really far-reaching.”
“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean, when something happens to them, and they’re made an example of, the rest of the family won’t cut their losses. They’re only popular while they’re making money for the family.”
“That’s true enough,” she muttered. “They also don’t have any children of their own.”
“That’s a good thing,” he said. “Then we won’t be leaving any children fatherless.” His hard tone left absolutely nothing for her to misunderstand.
“Are you really planning on killing them?”
He gave her a flat stare. “No,” he said, frowning. “Absolutely not. I’m not planning anything. Yet. But, believe me, if they’re looking to pressure me, threaten me, or take out any more old folks who happen to own property, that’s something they’ll have to go through me for.”
“I don’t imagine very much gets through you,” she said, with a laugh.
“Not in a very long time,” he said, with a smile. “But then my size can be a bit of a deterrent.”
“You think?” she said. “I’m six foot. How tall are you?”
“Six-seven,” he said, with a broad smile.
She smiled. “Not too many guys your height around here.”
“Nope,” he said, “you could even wear heels, and I’d still tower over you.”
She laughed at that. “I love to wear heels on a date,” she said. “But my dates don’t usually like it because it puts me over their heads.”
“Just guys who are insecure,” he said comfortably.
She smiled. “And that’s not you, is it?”
“Nope,” he said. “I had one marriage that was great, until it wasn’t, and it took me a long time to work off the anger and frustration I was left with. I don’t necessarily consider myself a prize, just a good person who, as Levi would say, always tries to land on the side of right.”
“And that’s pretty hard to argue with,” she said, as she smiled. “But back to this. I’m not exactly sure what you can do for a week or two. I was just hoping for a bit of backup to see how we can get through this.”
“But do you have some deadline here?” he asked.
She looked at him in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you said for a week or two.”
“Right, and of course you have other things you need to do too, right?”
He frowned. “That’s not why I’m asking,” he said. “I won’t leave to go off and do something else without taking care of your problem here. I’m just trying to see if some deadline is involved, from the bad guys’ perspective or yours. Do you have any reason to think you’ll see an end to this in the next week or two?” He watched as she frowned, looked down at her papers, and shuffled them around aimlessly.
“No,” she said, finally looking up. “I don’t have an end plan because I don’t really have a game plan at all.”
“Well, first let’s gather information.”
“Okay, what information would you like?” she asked, with a ghost of a smile.
“Have you done any tracking on their bank accounts?”
One eyebrow twitched, and she smiled. “A little,” she said. “I’m not as tech-savvy as a lot of Levi’s crew, but I haven’t been in this job without learning something.”
“Can I?”
“Can you what?”
“Take that part over?”
“If you know how, then please, yes, jump right in.”
“Let’s track down the bank accounts first,” he said, “and tax records, although legally we’d need something to drive that investigation—although it might be better to get Levi to look into that. We’ll take a peek at what we might be looking at and do a full run on their banking. If we can get the feds involved,” he said, “that’ll change things entirely.”
She settled back and said, “What do you need to do in order to dig out that information?”
He gave her a ghost of a smile. “Well, if I don’t have to tell you, then you can’t be held liable later.”
She rolled her eyes. “Is it legal? Will it stand up in court?”
“If Levi or I find something,” he said, “then we can track down proof that will stand up in court.”
She nodded slowly. “I guess I don’t have much choice really, do I?”
“Not a lot, no,” he said. “But, first, I want you to take a ride with me and show me where these properties are. I’ll have a better feel of the area, once I actually see it.”
She looked at him in surprise but willingly stood up. “Okay. Most of them are scattered about. But the two deaths that hold the most promise for pinning this on these brothers involves three tracts that connect. Still, I don’t know what that’ll show you,” she said slowly.
“It’ll tell me a lot about who they are,” he said. “Come on. It will do you some good to get out of here.”
“That’s true,” she said, with a wistful smile. She walked out to the front and said, “Lana, we’re heading out for a drive. I’ll be back in a little bit.”
The friendly receptionist looked up, smiled, and nodded.
As they walked out, he said, “Does Lana do much to lighten your load?”
Immediately Angela shook her head. “Nope, she doesn’t. But she’s almost as iconic at the place as I am.”
“In other words, she’s part of the status quo, and you don’t mess with it.”
“Yep,” she said. “She greets the people, handles the routine administrative tasks, the phones, the mail, some filing, simple stuff like that.”
“Well, we all need that too,” he said. He unlocked the truck and opened up the passenger door for her, then walked around to the driver’s side. When she still hadn’t gotten in, he looked over the roof at her and asked, “What’s wrong? What’s the matter?”
She gave a headshake, hopped in, and slammed the door shut.
He got in himself and looked at her. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” she said, but a puzzled note was in her voice.
“That no sounded an awful lot like a yes.”
“I just wasn’t expecting the southern courtesy.”
“The door, you mean?” She nodded. He shrugged. “You still have to be who you are, even in the midst of adversity,” he said. “I will always open a door for a lady.”
She burst out laughing. “It’s been a hell of a long time since anybody saw me as a lady.”
“It doesn’t matter what shield you wear on your shoulders,” he said. “You’re still female at heart.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
He turned on the engine, backed out of the parking lot, and asked, “Which way?”
“Take a left,” she said and watched as he expertly maneuvered the big truck onto the road.
“Well, for better or for worse,” he said, “here we go.”
“I’m not sure what you mean by that, but it doesn’t sound exactly how I expect this to go.”
“Not to worry,” he said, with a laugh. “We’ve got this.”
Chapter 2
Angela watched as Bonaparte followed her directions to the location of the first property. As they drove slowly past the huge wrought iron gates, she looked at it and frowned.
“What’s the frown about?”
“Wondering what the heavy security is for,” she countered. She studied the gate and realized that it had been boosted since she had seen it last. “That fencing and gate wasn’t quite this substantial before,” she said.
“They’re gaining enemies,” he said, “and they’re aware of it.”
“Doesn’t make a lot of difference,” she said. “Enemies come and go, but these guys seem to keep winning.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” he said. He drove past, hoping to go around the block but realized that they had quite a large acreage. “Do you have any details on what they own?”
“Just basic data,” she said. “It’s a twenty-acre parcel.”
“What are they doing with the twenty acres?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t have any right to pry. All I have here is public information.”
He snorted at that. “When people are after you,” he said, “you have the right to do anything you need to do in order to make sure you’re safe.”
“Well, I wasn’t really thinking of it in that way,” she said.
“That’s because you were being defensive and not offensive,” he said. “It’s well past time to get offensive.”
She frowned but had to agree that he was correct. She just hadn’t seen it. She had been so busy trying to protect her staff and everybody else, while figuring out what she could do, that she hadn’t actually decided to step ahead and do it. “I get that,” she said, “but what difference does it make what they have for property?”
“It depends on if they’re doing something illegal with it,” he said. “Remember. We want to get as much intel as we can. We don’t want to take them down for something minor. We want to take them down for something major.”
“Is murder not major enough?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” he said, “that’s as big as it gets. But you also know that sentences and proof can vary a lot.”
“Too much,” she said. “I’d just as soon have them disappear forever, but I don’t want us to put that out there.”
“No, but, if we can get the brothers for money laundering, which is likely if their father is part of the crime family,” he said, “that’s a whole different story.”
“And how will we find evidence of that?” she said.
“Well, let’s figure out what their income is, let’s figure out what they spend their money on, and put a case together.”
“I was focused on the properties they bought. I wasn’t thinking of the whole money angle.”
“It’s always about money,” he said quietly.
“Unless it’s about power,” she said.
He laughed. “And that’s usually about money too.”
“And what about jealousy and rage?”
“I’ll give you that one,” he said. “When it comes to love gone wrong, it becomes something else entirely. It’s still a power trip, taking control away from somebody though.”
“I guess. It’s hard to look at our fellow man that way. I went into law enforcement because I wanted to help.”
“You still want to help,” he said, with a smile. “But don’t worry about it too much. People are still just people.”
“Always, it’s just that now we’ve got a couple really ugly assholes in town.”
