Читать книгу Forced Alliance - Lenora Worth - Страница 12

THREE

Josie checked her gun and got out of the unmarked car, then took in her surroundings. The big antebellum house stood stately and quiet in the moonlight. It was beautiful, but tonight it held a sinister aura of death and destruction.

Nice digs, Mr. Armond. Sure that the original owners of this gracious old mansion would turn over in their graves at the sight of several armed guards with snarling dogs and three blacked-out luxury SUVs and the new name of Armond Gardens, she wondered exactly how much money it took to own such a showplace.

And how much of that money had been ill-gotten?

She ignored the shiver of unease that chased down her spine. She hadn’t seen anyone following her since she’d left the main road, so she needed to relax and get on with this. But she had a bad feeling, a kind of fluttering in her stomach that indicated this whole setup felt wrong. Shaking it off, she did one more visual and prepared to get on with her work.

As she approached the wraparound porch, a man stepped out of the shadows, causing her to also wonder why she’d agreed to come out here to help someone she’d only met a few days ago. She was glad she’d reported her whereabouts back to the New Orleans bureau in spite of Connor telling her to keep quiet, and that she’d warned Sherwood that things might get dicey.

“Bring him in, Gilbert. Nothing dicey about that.”

Did he mean Louis Armond or Connor Randall? Sherwood didn’t care for the charming informant. But Joseph Sherwood didn’t seem to care for anyone around him, for that matter.

“Sir, I can’t do that.” She explained on the way out what Connor had told her. “Armond refuses to let him leave. So he’s set me up to help with the situation. Alone. Armond doesn’t want the feds anywhere around this estate. Let me go in and see what I can find. Randall and I will figure out how to handle this, and I’ll try to keep you posted. But I need your permission to go dark if necessary.”

Sherwood had reluctantly agreed. Now she had to show him she knew her stuff. Her boss already gave off an air of disdain whenever she spoke to him. Maybe he resented having to take on an agent who’d messed things up in her last assignment.

Just one more reason for Josie to make this one work.

Connor Randall met her at the low steps onto the brick-floored porch. Glancing toward the two-ton guard at the door, he pulled Josie aside. “You did come alone, right?”

She wanted to say, “No, actually, I brought the whole New Orleans bureau with me.” But she was too intrigued and too hopeful that she could corner two rats at once. Tonight’s operation had her rattled. She was out here on her own, with no backup, making this up as she went. She wouldn’t admit that part of the shake-up inside her soul had to do with this man, who sure looked good in a tux.

“I’m alone,” she replied. Then she lowered her voice. “But I did report in, since my SAC told me to bring you both back to town, so I can’t hold them off for too long. The news of a dead woman near the opera house has already hit the airwaves.”

She didn’t need to explain that the FBI and the NOPD already had forensic teams on-site at the crime scene. The locals would take the lead, then turn things over to the FBI.

Connor’s expression turned dark and hard to read. “Has Armond’s name come up?”

“Not yet to the public. But I’m to get you both to a safe house immediately.”

Connor’s surprised look changed to a resolved one. “And you managed to hold Sherwood off for a while?”

“Yes, but he wasn’t happy. He wants to go by the book on this one so Armond won’t bolt.”

“Any mention of a black sports car on the scene?”

She shook her head. “Only a dark car. That’s the official word.” Tired of the interrogation, she said, “I need to be briefed, and don’t leave anything out.”

“I’ll explain everything,” he said.

“You’d better. I’m risking a lot, coming here on my own.”

Too late, she realized she was also locked in. The high iron fences and the army of guards told the tale of illegal comings and goings. What if Armond refused to let either of them leave? She’d read dossiers about torture tactics and worse, especially regarding agents who’d been caught. And she knew firsthand what could happen to informants who got caught. Putting those images out of her mind, Josie gathered her thoughts.

“Armond might pretend to be ready to cooperate, but someone scared him silly tonight. He’s desperate and that can be dangerous.” The threat of death made people do desperate things.

Connor cleared his throat and whispered close, “But we’ve got him right where we want him. He believes you’re here to help us. And...he’s kind of holding this over my head, if you get my drift.”

“How did you get involved, anyway?” she asked while she did another visual of the well-lit gardens and the too-dark tree line. Even with guard dogs, someone with criminal intent could get in here. “He and you should have been inside, finishing up with what we hope is the information we’ve all been waiting for.”

“I was on my way in when this happened. I’d just turned into the parking garage.” He glanced back at the double front doors. “I saw Armond standing there with his mistress. Which was so not like Armond. Then I saw the woman fall to the ground. I backed out of the garage and floored it to Armond. He was leaning over her in shock, a gun in his hand.”

“You saw him shoot her?”

“No. I saw him leaning over her with a gun. But when he looked around and glanced up to the rooftop above them, I figured a sniper had done it.”

“So you stopped to chat?”

“I stopped and called out to him to get in my car. His guards hurried to surround him, but he turned and came around my car and jumped inside. Told me to drive.”

“Why did you take that chance?” she asked, wondering if he’d thought this through. “You should have called me right away.”

“He seemed especially grateful to have a getaway car, and his guards scattered, so I had to do something. Then he held a gun to my head,” Connor replied. He shrugged as if this whole affair was nothing much. “Two thoughts entered my mind. One, he wanted me to get him out of there, and two, he was so erratic, he might decide to shoot me if I didn’t do his bidding.”

Ignoring his cool explanation, she asked, “And you didn’t think to call this in to 911?”

“Look, I’ve been tailing him when I could. I know I’m supposed to stay out of sight but I was so close to getting him for good last year. And tonight, well, I thought this would finally be over. This was supposed to be the last time I had to deal with the man.”

He put a hand against one of the colossal columns and gave her a blue-eyed stare. “I didn’t think. I just went after him before he got shot, too. If he gets himself killed, we’ll never get the information and evidence we need to get to the real power behind his empire.”

“Great. So now I’m an unofficial accomplice to two of my informants leaving the scene of a murder?”

“He didn’t kill her,” Connor replied. “He was with her, but he didn’t kill her. The kill shot hit her clean and right between the eyes, and I didn’t hear the shot. That means it came from a distance and it was silenced. He did pull out his gun, so someone could have seen that and misinterpreted it.”

She doubted him already. She wasn’t confident in the plan to come out here, since Connor had been the one to mastermind it. Josie liked to be in control, so her first few weeks on the job at her new assignment were not going as she’d planned. She couldn’t afford to mess up another big case with a wanted suspect. And yet, she’d gone way beyond the call of duty by convincing her boss that she needed to see this through. Now, why was that?

Maybe it had been the hard-edged request from Connor over the phone, or it could now be the serious glint in Connor’s storm-blue eyes. Why did they seem so much darker in the moonlight? And why in the world should she trust this man?

Well, the higher-ups—excluding Sherwood, of course—seemed to dote on him and praised his services, assuring her that Connor Randall had turned over a new leaf. Since she didn’t always believe in second chances or quick change-of-heart turnovers, she found that hard to swallow. She was about to test that theory.

Could she be sure? Lord, grant me wisdom.

“What do you expect me to do, besides haul you both in?”

Connor gave her that steady, level stare that worked on most other women. “I expect you to do your job. We have one of the most notorious mobsters in this country in there waiting for us to help him out of a sticky situation. And we don’t have much of a choice, the way I see it.” He leaned close, his smile as enticing as the moonlight. “And we could both use a break, don’t you think?”

Josie pushed at her hair, rattled that he knew her history about as well as she knew his. Okay, so they both had trust issues. And the need to clear a few bad marks. “Yeah, there is that.”

He must have sensed her doubts. “Look, I appreciate this. You’re with me. You’re safe.”

“I don’t need you to keep me safe,” she retorted, touching the gun strapped to her belt. Her whisper was for his ears only. “I’m a big girl, Mr. Randall. I was top of my class at Quantico.”

He held her arm. “Before we go in there, you need to understand something. Being top of your class at anything doesn’t matter to these people. They are the worst kind of scum, and they would sooner butcher you than look at you.”

Blood-soaked images flashed through her head. She’d been undercover during a drug raid in Dallas and...she’d messed up big-time. Her informant, a young female recovering junkie, had been tortured and left for dead because of one slipup. Josie’s slipup. She couldn’t let bad information be her guide ever again.

Somewhere off in the bug-infested woods, an owl hooted. Then she heard the flutter of powerful wings.

Another shiver of apprehension went down Josie’s spine, but she shook it off. “Got it. I’m good.” She stared over at him, took a breath. “I’ll do whatever it takes to bring this man down. If we help him tonight, we’ll have leverage, and hopefully, that will convince him to give us the goods on his operation.”

“Exactly,” Connor said as he ushered her to the big front doors. “He hasn’t executed me yet because I’m the only witness and my testimony can save him. And he’s kind of blackmailing me into helping to save his hide. See, we do think alike.”

“For now,” she replied, thinking a jury wouldn’t trust either the Mafia don or the good-looking man in the tux. She sure didn’t, now that he’d told her he was doing this to save himself. What a noble concept. “But, Randall...don’t take me for granted, ever.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

* * *

Once they were inside, the elegant warmth of the old mansion shimmered in hues of tasteful art, glittering crystal and aged bone china. The place looked untouched, like something out of another century. But the creepy factor echoed in the garish glowing yellow lights and the scent of too much aftershave.

“Swag,” she whispered to Connor. “By the way, let’s start with first names only unless I have to tell him I’m also FBI.”

It still smarted that her new supervisor had kept her so out of the loop on a lot of things regarding Louis Armond that she’d been forced to tug information out of Connor instead. She was surprised Sherwood had let her take point on a one-woman stakeout tonight. But Sherwood had warned her he’d also have a team of other agents out and about, too.

Fat lot of good that had done Armond.

Before he could respond, two big men came up the hall. “We need to check for wires or weapons,” one of them growled.

“I have one gun,” Josie offered, lifting her jacket to show her weapon. “And if you expect me to help with this little problem, I’m keeping it.”

Connor gave a slight nod to the men. After patting her down and checking the gun, they seemed satisfied. But they also followed on her heels.

He turned her to the left and motioned her inside the big, antique-filled drawing room, then closed the aged pocket doors. “Mr. Armond, this is my friend...Josie.”

“Does your friend Josie have a last name?” Armond asked, clearly in control of himself now that help had arrived.

“Just Josie for now,” she replied before Connor could come up with a name. “You only need to remember that.”

“I see, Just Josie.”

Armond sat in a brocade high-backed antique chair, a cup of coffee steaming on the table beside him. His salt-and-pepper hair was crisp with some sort of pomade but his olive-colored skin was pale against his white tuxedo shirt. Did everyone around here wear tuxedos?

Armond gave her a thorough once-over. “So, Connor has briefed you on the situation and...you can take care of this?”

Ah, there was that bit of fear and doubt she’d expected. “Yes, he did, and I can, sir. The good news is that no one has come forward stating they saw you with the girl. So far Connor is your only witness and he can vouch for you. The bad news is that, yes, she’s dead and, yes, the NOPD is all over this.”

“So my name hasn’t come up?”

“Not so far. The only news right now is that there’s been a shooting near the Quarter.” She pulled out her cell. “I’m checking any trending right now.”

“Trending?” Armond looked confused.

Connor stepped forward. “Why don’t we sit down?”

Josie sat beside him on an exquisite butter-yellow brocade sofa. “Trending—it means news of your mishap might be all over the internet or evening news by now. We’ll check for any witnesses, any mentions of your name, any videos streaming about a woman being murdered.”

Armond’s face twisted. “Lewanna. That’s the woman.” Then he changed his tune. “Isn’t that dangerous, checking on your phone?”

She shook her head. “It’s a burner.”

“Of course,” Connor said on a reassuring note. “I told you Josie knows her stuff.”

Armond didn’t look convinced. “So...what should I do now?”

“I’d say we wait,” Josie replied, her fingers tapping on her phone. It really was a burner. She’d hidden her secure work cell in her car, where his men couldn’t find it when they went out to do a search. She’d fill the burner with what she needed and send it to the fake email account she used as Josie Grant. Then she’d hide the phone in her lockbox in her apartment. If she got out of here alive, of course.

“Look, Mr. Armond, your girlfriend got shot on a city street and there’s bound to be other witnesses who will come forward and tell what they saw.” She leaned forward, her dark bangs covering her face in what she hoped was an intimidating, mysterious way. “Some of them could lie, so it’s a good thing Connor came along when he did. He knows the truth.”

Glancing over at Connor, she caught a whiff of admiration before his eyes went dark again. Then she turned back to Armond and did her tough-girl act. “Did you see the shooter?”

Armond shook his head. “No. I was too busy telling Lewanna to leave. We could never be seen together.” He held his hand to his head as if he had a bad headache. “I can’t believe she’s dead. If my wife hears this...”

Connor got up and poured coffee for Josie and then got himself a cup. “So why did she show up at the opera?”

“She was frightened,” Armond replied, his hand shaking when he tried to take a sip from his cup. He finally gave up and grabbed a silver flask off the table. Opening it, he poured what looked like whiskey into his coffee. “I’ve never seen Lewanna like that. Someone had left a nasty note on her porch, along with a dead rat.”

“Do you think she ratted someone out?” Josie asked.

“No, but someone thinks she did. And that means they also think I ratted them out. Lewanna showed me the note.”

Connor glanced over at Josie and then turned back to Armond. “Do you have that note?”

Armond looked shocked, as if he’d forgotten. “I tucked it into my pocket.” He pulled the crushed paper out and stared down at it, then began reading.

“Your boyfriend has been playing outside the boundaries. Tell Armond he’s a dead man if he crosses that line again.”

He threw the letter down and stared at Connor. “They know something. They musta found out I was meeting you tonight to give you information.”

“You can still give us information,” Connor replied, his gaze full of resolve.

“Did you read that note?” Armond asked in a shout.

Josie took her napkin and reached for the paper, careful to keep her fingerprints off it. “Cutouts from magazines. How juvenile.”

“How serious,” Armond replied. “It might look like I killed her, but I didn’t. I was standing there trying to talk her into leaving. I had dismissed my guards for the sake of privacy.” He rubbed a hand down the bald spot on top of his head. “Happened so fast. Had to be a sniper. It’s a terrible thing, her being shot. But I’m a target, and someone wants me to be aware of that.”

He finished his spiked coffee, back to being the boss he thought he was. “I need you two to get to the bottom of this. Right away. And you need to tell the feds all deals are off.”

Connor gave Josie another glance. “You don’t trust your own people, so that means you think this is an inside job?”

Armond nodded, shrugged. “I’ve made many enemies. Some of my close associates have betrayed me.” His keen stare indicated that Connor was one of those.

Josie did an eye lift to show her displeasure. “Let’s start at the beginning,” she said. “We’ll need a list of anyone you might have inadvertently offended, especially recently. And we need to check all your personal weapons to see if anything is missing.” She tapped notes into her phone.

“Maybe they made it seem like a sniper, but someone else with a closer aim could have done it with a different weapon and a silencer.” She tapped notes into her phone. “The forensic team and medical examiner can determine that if they can find any bullets to compare. Based on the angle and where the bullet entered, the type of weapon, all of that will come into play.”

“The shot could have come from the building directly right behind us.” Armond nodded, snapped his fingers to bring a guard running. After he’d ordered sandwiches, paper and pen, he turned back to Josie and Connor. “You’ll stay here at Armond Gardens as my guests while you’re doing the legwork, understand.”

“That wasn’t a question,” Connor said low to Josie.

“Connor is a very smart man,” Armond said, his demeanor calm now. “He owes me his life, and right now, the only thing keeping him and you alive is my need for expediency on this pressing matter. Do you understand what I’m saying, Josie?”

“Clear as a bell, Mr. Armond. We’re going on a quest of sorts. If we succeed, we live. If we don’t, we die. Am I right?”

Armond’s chuckle was low and sure. “I like this woman.”

She understood the command. Giving Connor a frustrated glare, she turned back to the man sitting like a king across from them. “Okay, then. We’ll start with your immediate staff and work our way out. And I can promise you both, I’ll take care of whoever is behind this.”

And you, too. She would definitely take care of business with Louis Armond. But right now, she was playing a dangerous game. She wasn’t sure if she could help convince Armond to seek immunity and protective custody or try to save him from someone even more dangerous. But Josie did know she had to make sure she kept herself and Connor alive, because they had one thing in common. They both wanted this man out of commission.