Ring of Lies (85 page)

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Authors: Victoria Howard

BOOK: Ring of Lies
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I don’t think of myself as ‘
Mrs.
Elliott’ anymore, Mike. I guess you could say I’ve had the shit kicked out of me too.

 


She’s a tough woman, Jack. I like her. I always liked her, but there’s something different about her now.

 

Grace smiled and looked down at the sleeping baby.

I had
a reality check, you might say. I found out what’s really important in life too.

 


So,

Jack said, a little uneasily.

Is Chrissie going to keep you under lock and key for a while?

 


For a while, b
ut then we’re going to take a
cruise
.
I don’t know where yet. It doesn’t matter.
All that
matters is it’s another day and I’m breathing
,
and I’ve got a woman who loves me. God knows why…

 


I think I know why,

said Grace, looking first at Mike, then over at Jack.

 


Well,

said Mike.

So h
ow does it feel to
crack
one of the largest counterfeit
prescription drug operations
on record
?

 


I wish I could say it was because of my brilliance and intuition. Truth is,
I was lucky
.

 

Mike smiled grimly.

You’re a damned good
agent,
Jack, even if you do bend the rules.

 


Does that mean you’ve cut my transfer orders?

 

Mike laughed.

Hell, no.
They won’t let me near a computer
yet
.

 


I spoke to Anderson’s doctor
,

said Jack
.

The bullet missed the bone and passed right through his leg. He’ll
out of hospital in a few days
, but he won’t be back in action for a while
.

 


I’
m glad to
know he’s okay
.
He’s a good man.

 


And it t
urns out
Salazar
’s
been on Interpol’s radar for some time, mainly for
racketeering
.
Trafficking fake prescription drugs is a new
game for him
.

 


What do we know about him
apart from the fact he had a Swiss Bank account
?

asked Mike

 


He’s Eurasian. Chinese mother, Portuguese father. My guess is that the
narcotics
are
manufactured in
China. Before the
vessel
reaches
the U.S.
, the drugs
get
off loaded onto a smaller
ship
and taken to Salazar’s home on Marathon K
ey and distributed from there.

 


Sounds plausible. Have you notified the FDA?

 


Yeah, and the DEA.
T
he Swiss authorities have seized the contents of his bank account.

 


The lab extracted DNA off the cigarettes you found in the study.

Mike turned to Grace.

I’m sorry, but your sister
’s
is a perfect match
.
I understand you
found Elliott’s ATM card in her luggage.
Don’t blame yourself. Catherine’s an adult. She made her choices.

 

A momentary look of sadness crossed
Grace’s
face.

She made her choices. That’s true, she did. None of them included me.

 


She wanted everything in life and
she decided a life of
crime was the
solution
,

said Mike.

It’s not your fault.

 


It feels that way sometimes. A lot.

 

Jack squeezed
Grace’s
hand.

It’ll take time, baby. You’ll forgive yourself. You did everything you could. Even if you’d have done more, it wouldn’t have been enough.

 

Mike scratched at his IV drip.

These nurses. They can’t even put on a
Band-Aid
without messing it all up.

 


The results of the second autopsy on Elliott
cam
e through
,

said Jack.

 


And
?

 


His real name is Niall Del
oi
tte
. He’s the s
on of Christiano Del
oi
tte, a Mafia boss in New York
back
in the ‘50s. When
his father
was murdered, Niall’s mother, who was Irish, sent her son to live with relatives in
Dublin
.

 


So
,
why
the change of name
?

 


I guess
she
thought she was
saving her son from a life of crime
.

 


Pity it didn’t work out that way,

said Mike.

By the way, Jack. Did Diego tell you
the news
?

 


W
hat?

 


Hector Suárez
spilled
his guts. Turns out
hi
s older brother, Estefan, is serving time
for drug running
and murder
.

 


I know.
So?

 


Estefan
got
engaged
just before he got busted
. Two guesses
about his fiancée
.

 


Come on, you know I’m not good at this. I give up.

 


Rosa Nunuz.

 

Jack swallowed.

No shit.

 


None whatsoever. And she got
arrested this morning for attempted murder
of an FBI agent
.
You, Jack.

 

Grace
grasped his arm.

 


She must have been pretty pissed at you,

Mike said.

She
hired
Hector to follow you and kill you.

 

Jack shook his head.

I always knew she
used me. At first I thought it was for green cards, but now I can see she wanted revenge.

 


You
weren’t the
first to get suckered by a pretty face, son.
She’ll be doing some serious time. And when she gets out
t
here
isn’t
a judge
alive who’ll
grant her custody of Emilia
.

 

At the sound of her name
Emilia
’s eyes fluttered open
and she gurgled softly
.
Grace gently rocked her back and forth.

 


Well, Mike,
I thin
k it’s time we left you to rest
.

 


One more thing before you go, Jack.

 

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