Читать книгу Dangerous Testimony - Dana Mentink - Страница 15

SIX

Marco finally got Candace and Tracy into his truck and on the road. Tracy fell asleep almost immediately with her arm curled around Bear in the backseat. He rewound the tape in his memory.

My girls. He’d actually said that and noticed the startled flicker in Candace’s eyes.

It’s a mission, he reminded himself, like all the others. During the course of his career, he’d gone on too many missions to count, from counter narcotics operations in South America to dismantling enemy compounds in the Hamrin Mountains in Iraq. He’d stood side by side with brave men in sniper squadrons and assault teams, and his resolve to succeed and keep his military family safe had never wavered. The same determination flooded him now. That was it—resolve, nothing more.

He blinked back to the present at Candace’s question.

“Where are we headed?”

“To a beach house. Buddy of mine owns it.”

“A beach house where?”

“Angel Vista, a village up the coast. North of Long Beach. Angela’s coming, too, to help with Tracy. Brent and Donna are staying with your mom to run the office and keep an eye on her, since the first threat was delivered there.”

“And how many SEALs will be joining us?”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “How many would you guess?”

“I don’t know, twenty?”

“Doesn’t take twenty SEALs to get a job done.”

“Oh, right,” she said. “I forgot you are all invincible.”

“I prefer to think of it as well trained and outrageously skilled.”

She laughed and he was thrilled to hear it. It’s what they needed to do, keep the conversation casual, light, away from his earlier remark in front of Ridley.

“Lon will stay and protect my mom?”

“Yes, and he’s going to eat well, for sure.”

Candace nodded thoughtfully, peeking behind her to check on the sleeping Tracy. “Marco,” she said.

He knew what was coming and kept his gaze riveted out the front window. “Yes?”

“We love you, Tracy and I—you know that, don’t you? I mean,” she added quickly, “you’ve been amazing to us, through Dad’s death and with my mom and sisters. All of the Gallaghers love you.”

He nodded, breath held.

“But I need Tracy to remember Rick as her father and I need...” She twisted a finger in the hem of her shirt. “Well, that’s just the way it is. Do you understand? I don’t want her to be confused.”

He nodded. “I did not mean to overstep. I’m going to take care of you, that’s all I meant.”

She seemed to relax a fraction. “Thank you.”

Since he didn’t want to deal with the pang of embarrassment, he focused on the road. They aren’t your girls, Quidel. Don’t get it confused. Candace was a spirited, stubborn, intelligent woman who needed him only for protection and nothing more.

So why did his skin prickle when her arm brushed against his? And what was the reason he wanted to run his fingers through her curly hair and feel the weight of it?

He blinked. You had that once, remember? Marco believed marriage was a forever commitment, and he’d had his one chance with the love of his life. It ended in disaster because he had failed Gwen.

But he wasn’t going to fail Candace.

Checking the rearview for the dozenth time, he reassured himself that Rico’s men had not followed them. There had been a car some three miles back, but nothing further.

His Bluetooth signaled a call.

“Chief.”

“Retired, Dev. You can call me Marco.”

“Once a chief, always a chief.”

Marco smiled. “Got something for me?”

“Yes, sir. Waiting at the Party Palace to brief you.”

“See you in ten.”

“The Party Palace?” Candace said, when he disconnected. “Isn’t it more like a safe house?”

“Dev has a keen wit.”

“Keener than yours?”

“You always say I have no sense of humor whatsoever.”

“Could be I’m wrong about you.”

“Could be.” He was pleased that she could still smile, even after the grenade incident. Candace Gallagher was an incredible woman.

They rolled up the steep drive and he noted the beach house was all but hidden from the road by a grove of enormous trees that had been left to grow without the benefit of trimming. It was a two-story structure, with a basement, and a covered garage so full of his buddy Pete’s boats and Jet Skis that there was no way to get Marco’s truck inside. He didn’t see any sign of Dev’s vehicle, but that did not surprise him. Dev rode a fast motorcycle and it was undoubtedly concealed somewhere nearby.

Tracy had awakened and she and Bear catapulted from the car.

“Where’s the beach? Can we go find shells?”

He laughed. “Let’s get you settled in right now, okay? We’ll talk about the beach tomorrow when it’s daylight.”

Tracy raced Bear to the front door and Dev let them in. Marco introduced them. Tracy went wide-eyed at the sight of Dev, a tall African American with a monstrous beard and a set of shoulders almost as wide as Marco’s.

He greeted them with hearty handshakes. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Gallagher and other Ms. Gallagher.”

Tracy giggled.

Candace smiled. “You can call me Candace.”

“Sure thing, Ms. Gallagher,” he said, still grinning.

“I haven’t had any luck, either,” Angela said. “I’ve talked him down from Captain. Now he calls me Captain Ma’am.”

Dev nodded, eyes shifting to Marco. “Chief, message from Ms. Donna Gallagher at the detective office.”

“What is it?”

“DA needs to go over Ms. Gallagher’s testimony Monday at ten. He’ll be at the county courthouse in Long Beach.”

“All right,” Marco said. “Thoughts?”

“You lead, I’ll follow and check for tails.”

“Recon?”

“Conference room is on the ground floor, six exits. Metal detectors and security checkpoint in the lobby.”

“Got all that already?”

He shrugged. “I’m good. What can I say?”

“Don’t let it go to your head. Tracy?”

“Will stay put with Captain Ma’am. Coastie’s arriving soon. Can he handle himself?”

Marco recalled how Brent had survived a beating and a hostile surf that would have killed most men, long enough to save his sister’s life and probably Donna’s. “Yeah, he can handle himself.”

“I’ll put him on a radio.”

“And Angela can take care of herself, too. She’s navy, after all,” Marco said.

Angela sighed. “A chaplain, but I had the obligatory combat training. I’m probably best at calling for help.”

“Don’t let her fool you, Dev. All the Gallagher sisters are made of tough stuff.”

“I don’t doubt it, Chief. They put up with you, after all.”

“Funny,” Marco said, as Candace and Angela laughed.

“What’s the code name for Ms. Gallagher?” Dev said.

“It should be Gumdrop,” Angela said promptly. “That was her nickname as a kid.”

Candace groaned. “You know how many years it took to get everyone to forget that nickname?”

“Gumdrop,” Dev said. “Got it.”

Candace glared at her sister.

“It’s better than mine,” Angela said. “Behind my back, they called me Giraffe when I was deployed. Something about my height.”

“Gonna tell them your nickname, Chief?” Dev said, eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Negative, and if you’d like to keep breathing, you won’t, either.”

Dev laughed. “You’re the boss.”

To preempt the question from coming out of Candace’s mouth, Marco said, “How about I cook up some spaghetti for dinner? I have some supplies in the truck.”

“Men who can cook, not bad,” Candace said. “We’ll go set the table.” She shot him a sly look. “But don’t think I’m going to forget about that nickname. I’ll get it out of Dev yet.”

“You’ll get no such intel from me.” Dev zipped his lips, turned an imaginary key and mimed throwing it away before he departed to the kitchen.

Marco watched them go. As he headed for his truck, he tried to breathe away the tension. Candace was safe for the moment, secured in a place where no one could get the jump on them. JeanBeth was under watch and he’d trust Dev and Lon to meet any kind of threat that Rico could toss at them.

So why did he have the tingling feeling, deep down in his gut, that something was about to go very wrong?

* * *

Candace helped Dev with the dishes while Marco did a check of the exterior of the old beach house. When the last dish was dried and put away in the worn wooden cupboards, Dev gave her a sweeping bow and disappeared somewhere. He and Marco would be bunking on sofas in the small downstairs room connected to a dark-paneled den that smelled of old cigars.

Candace, Angela and Tracy would be installed in the bedrooms upstairs, complete with a tiny bathroom and shower where Angela had just taken Tracy for her bedtime preparations.

Candace sighed. She would have to break the news to Tracy very soon that she would not be returning to school for a while. She didn’t look forward to the upset that would ensue. Thank you, Jay Rico, the man responsible for turning our lives upside down.

Fuming, she paced around the living room, perusing dusty bookshelves that held information on every kind of boat imaginable, plus a stack of tattered sailing magazines, while she formulated a plan of her own. She wasn’t about to sit around waiting for her sisters and Marco to figure out how to bring down Jay Rico. As long as she had her laptop, she was fully capable of doing some of her own sleuthing. Pulling a plaid-cushioned chair up to the sturdy table, she began firing up her computer just as Marco came in.

“Working?” he asked.

“Just starting.”

“Goal?”

“I want to know more about Kevin Tooley.”

“Our jailed gas station shooter?” He raised an eyebrow. “Thought our focus was Rico.”

“Rico’s interest in keeping Tooley out of prison seems unusual to me.”

Marco sat next to her, arms folded across the tabletop. “Not to me—he’s a ruthless thug protecting his interests. But I trust your instincts.”

She felt her cheeks warm at the compliment. “Thank you.”

“So tell me what you’re thinking.”

“Rico’s people have been jailed before. One has been in prison for six years. There’s no evidence that I can see that Rico started a campaign of terror to keep any of his other gang family out of prison, yet he’s heavily invested in Kevin Tooley. Don’t you find that strange?”

Marco lifted a shoulder. “Maybe, but I don’t think he’s the most rational guy. He uses intimidation and coercion when he feels the need.”

“Sure, in more important situations. But why in this case? Kevin Tooley is a kid, only eighteen, so he’s obviously not in a position of power in the Pack. Why go to all the trouble to prevent me from testifying against a young kid?

Marco was silent, staring at her, considering. He was weighing her reasons with calm deliberation and the respect gave her confidence to continue. “I want to understand more about Tooley, something to explain why Rico’s interested in this case.”

He nodded. “Okay. I’ll leave the ‘why’ to you. I’m more concerned with how he intends to go about stopping your testimony.”

“It’s not just mine. There are two other witnesses, remember?”

Dev knocked on the door frame with a knuckle. His face was grave and Angela stood next to him.

“Just got some bad news,” she said.

Marco straightened. “Let’s hear it.”

Candace steeled herself for whatever was going to come next.

“Donna heard from Barnes that one of the other witnesses has disappeared,” she said. “They’ve got people out looking, but they think he might have gotten a message from Rico and decided to get out of Dodge.”

Dev rubbed a hand over his thick beard. “Seems like it’s down to one other witness and Gumdrop.”

And then there were two...

Candace fought down the shiver of fear. She would not let him win.

“All right,” she said, forcing her chin high and trying to show her tiger stripes. “So be it.”