An Unfinished Life (35 page)

This kid was going nowhere fast with the record he already had by seventeen. What made him think that he could ever cross a man like Carlucci and live to tell about it? He probably would have suffered the same fate as Michael St. Clair in prison had he not taken his own life instead.

With Marino still MIA, Wade released all his personal files to me to look into. This was how I discovered that they were split up as children and raised by only one parent each. Dante got the better parent out of the deal. He was older than Mikey and was given a better chance at a future. He graduated high school with honors. He then graduated in the top ten percent of his class from Boston University, then went on to receive his master’s in criminal justice. With his accomplishments, it was no wonder how he landed the position he held with the FBI. To head up an entire division was a big deal, but now with his disappearance, he had put all of that in jeopardy.

And for what…to even the score with Jack over what happened with his brother? It was a sad story, I didn’t disagree, but trying to blackmail me into being his bitch was not the way to get the justice he sought. I understood what it was to be loyal to your brothers—I had three of my own. I would do anything for them and knew they would return the favor. But this was different. Dante must have felt an incredible amount of guilt for leaving his brother and then eventually learning what had become of him. But to carry this heavy burden on his shoulders, no matter what he’d accomplished, seemed to be just a waste of time.

I meant what I said to Marino back on that beach. Nothing could ever bring his brother back, not even pinning a crime on Jack Vanelle that I’m pretty sure he did not do. It would take an incredible amount of effort to succeed in taking Michael out, and then making a clean escape from a secured prison without going unnoticed. This was clearly an inside job, a very orchestrated one. I would be a fool to believe Jack didn’t know about it completely, but for him to be the one to actually commit the crime? No way.

I wouldn’t blindside Jack this time. I would call him and ask to meet. If he refused, then he would have left me with no choice but to use my badge and position to get what I needed. After carefully going over my first encounter with him, I now know that was a mistake on my part.

I’d been fucked up in my brain since California. So much information had since been revealed to me, and I felt as if I had been backed into a corner with no escape. I had to gain the upper hand on Marino, but I needed to find him first.

I secured all my files in my room safe, then proceeded to call Jack, but was stopped with a knock at my door. With my gun in hand, I peered through the peep hole and saw no one there. I slowly opened the door to find an unmarked envelope. I dragged it into my room with my foot until I could put my gloves on, so my prints would not be on the mystery envelope.

I re-locked my door and secured my gun. It was just a plain yellow envelope with no writing on it. I lifted the clasp to see that it wasn’t sealed with the usual glue. I was hoping I could lift a print or DNA off this, but whoever left it for me probably covered their bases.

When I opened the envelope, I quickly realized that I didn’t have to search hard for Marino. He already knew where I was. And I also understood why I hadn’t received any texts or calls from Zoey.

He had her.

I was horrified with what I was seeing: graphic images of Zoey gagged and bound to a mattress. Her eyes were covered with a blindfold, but I could still recognize her beautiful face despite the mascara streaks running down.

That piece of shit had gone mad and taken Zoey to get to me. Why didn’t I figure this out sooner? This was why he’d been off the fucking grid, because he was holed up somewhere with my woman, and God knows what he was doing to her.

My woman?
Hell yeah, she’s mine! And I was going to get her back and make him pay for ever thinking that he could touch her and get away with it. I would not lose her like I did Minela.

Gripping the sides to the table, I wanted to scream out my fury, but I had to get myself in check and think.
Think, Jacob, think!

He must have been holding her where no one would ever consider looking. I examined the picture closely and saw nothing that stood out. Just a mattress in a corner with nothing around it but a fast food bag. If I could enlarge the picture somehow, maybe I could get a location of the restaurant and map out the area. I called Duffy right away.

“Come on, Duff, pick up.”

“Duffy.”

“Duff, he has her, man! He fucking grabbed her right from under me!”

“Slow down Jake, and tell me everything. Who are you talking about…Jack Vanelle?”

“Marino! Fucking Dante Marino has kidnapped my girlfriend, Zoey. I just received an envelope of pictures of her bound and gagged and sprawled out on a mattress. I have to find her.”

“Okay, Jake, calm down. We will get her back. What do you need me to do?”

“I’m going to send you the pictures he sent me. One has a fast food bag in the background. I need the name of the restaurant.”

“Okay, hang tight, and I will call you back.”

I was about to explode when my phone rang with Duffy calling me back.

“What do you have for me?” I practically shouted.

“It looks like it’s from a local place. It came up on the south side, Wallace Street.”

“Thanks, man. I’m on my way.”

“Jake! Listen to me.”

“What?”

“You’re not thinking clearly right now. Girlfriend? I didn’t even know you had one, and now you’re going to go in unprotected. Jake, you don’t know what you are going to find. Are you just assuming that this is Marino? It could be Jack and his mafia contacts. Let me call some agents in to help you.”

“No, Duff, they have a code against hurting women. I have a better idea, and now I know exactly who can help me. You keep this off the radar for now, okay?”

“For how long?”

“Until I call you back.”

“Jacob Paulson, you be Goddamned careful! You hear me?”

“Always.”

I quickly undressed, put on my bulletproof vest, and then retrieved my other guns. I held my shield in my hand and ran my fingers over my badge number. For so long, this piece of metal made me whole again. It was my saving grace after my football career ended. I was at a crossroads and wasn’t sure what path to take. Joining the force was almost a calling. It pulled me in, and I felt like I was home. I convinced myself it was all I had after Minela’s death, but I was wrong. I had so much more than I ever dreamed was possible. I had a devoted family that had never left my side, when at times I pushed them away. I found something again that I never thought this heart of mine would ever experience again…love. I found it with Zoey. I knew from the moment we met that she was the one that could save me. Now it was my turn to save her. Looking at her picture on my phone, my heart seized with emotion.

“I’m coming, baby, hang on.”

I made my way into Jack’s restaurant, looking around for him. I immediately took notice of a guy on crutches off to the side of the bar talking to a few of the customers. He saw me and gestured over to another who stepped out from the corner.
Not today, motherfuckers
. I gritted my teeth and bypassed him to get to the bar.

“I need to see, Jack, right now!”

“He’s not here, pig.”

I was already over this conversation. I pinned Tommy to the bar and shoved my gun in his mouth with my hand on the safety.

“Now listen to me very carefully. I need to see Jack, and if you don’t tell me where he is in the next five seconds, then you are not going to be happy with what I do next.”

“Jacob! What are you doing?” a woman’s voice called out to me, one that was familiar to me.

By now, most of the customers had run out and only Jack’s guys were surrounding me. I held onto Tommy and then looked over my shoulder to see Jack’s wife, Sara.

“I’m sorry, Sara, but I need to see Jack.”

“He’s not here, Jacob. I’m telling you the truth. But he should be back any minute. Please pull back your gun and let Tommy go.”

I immediately pulled my gun back and shoved him. He stumbled back and fell to the floor, causing him to cry out with his casted knee.

“You asshole! You did it again.”

I didn’t pay him any attention, and still holding my gun, I heard a very angry Jack enter the bar.

“What the hell is going on here? You!” he screamed as he dropped his bags and charged at me like a freaking bull. “What the fuck, Jacob? You come in my bar and pull a gun in front of my wife?”

Sara placed herself in-between us, stopping Jack with her hands to his chest.

“Jack, he didn’t hurt me. He came here to talk to you, and Tommy got into it with him. Please, Jack, look at me.”

He was shooting daggers toward me, and his eyes were enflamed with anger. It took him a minute to hear Sara’s pleas, and then he came back to her. He cupped her face, looked at her, and then pulled her to where she was in back of him, securing her in place. He walked over to Tommy next.

“Did you not hear me? Were my instructions not clear to you? This is not a fucking war zone, Tommy, but you’ve made it one with your hatred toward him,” Jack said, as he aimed his finger towards me. “You just can’t lose your shit every time a fucking cop walks through my door, and he’s just not anyone, he’s family. Now get the hell out of my sight before I break your other leg.”

I watched Tommy grab his crutches, scramble to his feet, and leave through the back. Jack let out a deep sigh and then held his head for a moment. Sara wrapped her arms around his waist to calm him down. They walked over to the side, where she whispered something in his ear. He looked more composed after that, and then he finally made his way back to me.

Jack once again called his staff to offer the patrons a free round on him, and then it was back to business as usual. The chaos that erupted in the bar a few moments earlier was already forgotten by the customers who remained at their tables. Clearly, by looking at Jack, he could quickly regain his control and command the room with a simple look.

“My office, downstairs,” he said as he walked by me, gesturing me to follow him.

I stayed behind to make my apologies to Sara, who dismissed me quickly. She patted my shoulder and walked back into her kitchen. Something told me that Sara had seen a lot being married to Jack.

He tore his coat and scarf off and tossed them both onto a chair. He was clearly pissed off at me for my actions upstairs in his bar. It was the pitbull inside him that once again came at me.

Running his fingers through his hair, he grabbed a bottle from his desk drawer and slammed two glasses down to his desk.

“Drink it this time. It looks like you need one.”

He downed his shot and dared me not to take it. I downed the bourbon, and surprisingly it did not burn my throat. He poured another and pushed it toward me.

“Got a warrant? Because I believe I asked you to have one the next time you wreak havoc in my bar. What the fuck were you thinking pulling a gun in my place?”

“Jack, that wasn’t my plan to do that, but if your guy Tommy didn’t come at me again, I wouldn’t have done that. I came here for you because I need your help, and I believe you are the only one that can.”

“Two days ago, I was your lead suspect in a murder case, and now what…I’m magically cleared? Come on, Jacob, what kind of game are you playing at?”

“No game, Jack, and for the record you are still a suspect in the Michael St. Clair investigation, but I’m not here as a cop. Please, Jack? I need your help. Don’t make me ask again.”

He swirled the amber liquid in his glass before downing his third shot.

“What do you need?”

I tossed a pair of gloves to Jack to put on, and then I handed him the photos of Zoey.

“Christ almighty,” he said as he examined the photos. His eyes told me that he knew what he was looking at.

“He’s taken her.”

“Marino?”

“Yes.”

“Your girl?”

“Yes.”

He handed me back the photos and leaned back into his chair.

“Jacob, before we take this any further, I need you to clarify some things for me, or all bets are off.”

“Go on.”

“You can’t choose what side you’re on just to suit your purpose. Two days ago, you came here as a cop, and now, you’re a man in love that will move heaven and earth to find his girl. Even asking his enemy for help to do it.”

“Jack…”

“Let me finish. I didn’t kill Michael St. Clair, and whatever evidence you have on me has probably been fabricated by a very clearly deranged Agent Marino. He’s sick and will have no problem going beyond his authority to bring me down. Clearly by these photos, he has now targeted you as well.”

“Jack, I can’t get into everything I could say right now. I need to find Zoey before he hurts her.”

“How do you know he hasn’t already?”

“He wouldn’t risk losing his leverage over me, not until I give him what he wants first.”

“And what would that be, Jacob…me? That’s not going to happen.”

“Jack, help me find Zoey, and once she is safe, we will continue this conversation.”

He hesitated at first, and then silently nodded in agreement. This case had gone beyond what I ever expected. The players were the same, but the game had definitely changed.

I was now joining forces with the man I was sent to build a case against. Marino played his card early, and now because I wouldn’t go along with what he had planned for Jack, he snapped and kidnapped Zoey.

I knew that once we walked out this door, there would be no coming back to where my life was yesterday. I was quite possibly making a career-ending decision by trusting Jack, but I had no choice.

Zoey had been taken. My girl was in danger. I was not going to allow history to repeat itself twice in one lifetime.