The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.: Box Set (85 page)

“I hear you on that,” Gio finally spoke. “At least if he is with your sister, he is with family. I’m sure they will place him there, and I’ll get to see him.”

Now it was her turn to just nod. She cleared her throat and added, “I’m glad everything went well with your first visit. We didn’t get to talk much about it last night. Mary sent me the pictures, and a couple of videos.”

“A couple of videos?” he asked. He only remembered her recording that good bye video.

“She took some candid video when you two were sitting in the alcove.” She smiled at the note of enthusiasm and curiosity in his tone.

“Oh, okay. I’d love to see them, or if you could send them to my phone that would be even better. I can send them to my brothers. They would love to see him.”

His mood had brightened with talk of their son and Lisa found comfort in that. “Absolutely,” she agreed right away and fished out her phone which was in her purse on the seat next to her.

He watched her
send the video clips and noticed the sadness still there in her eyes. He understood her fear. She must be worried she wouldn’t be able to clear her name. “Lisa, I’m going to prove your innocence. I will. You’re not going to lose your son.”

Lisa sighed. “How can you be sure? I could go away for this.”

“I know the video surveillance looks bad, the receipts, but you have a good lawyer, it could be all circumstantial. You’ve got a lot going for you too. Albert is sick. The school knows what a neglectful bastard he is. The kid knows. You’ve got tapes, and pictures to prove it.” He emphasized all the positives of the case. They had plenty although they needed more.

“But he’s got a good lawyer too. He could say he has a fetish. I was willing. I am vengeful. You never know with a jury. It’s my word against his. We need more proof than we have now.”

“And we will get it. But remember, all’s we really need is reasonable doubt.” He captured her hand in his, the one that was nervously scrunching up her paper napkin. “You are gonna to be okay.”

“I hope so.”

“I got Nikko coming to tail him tomorrow. I got a surveillance van today. I’ve got guys bugging his house phone and office phone tonight. I’ve got a techie giving me daily reports on who he calls, and who calls him on his cell. I’ve got Andreas checking his credit card statement daily. I’m on this.” Her eyes lifted to his and he could see her mood was changing.

Lisa looked in surprise. “You did all that?” she questioned.

“Yeah today. And your lawyer is working on getting information too. Did you do your part? Get the birth certificate, the kid’s social security stuff.”

Lisa nodded. “I went to my parents this morning, and have everything here.” She indicated her purse and the large envelope inside what appeared to be a freezer bag. “I had it one of those fireproof, waterproof cases in the garage. They had doctors’ appointments this morning so they were out. I have the videos and pictures too on a flash drive.”

“Good girl.” He patted her hand and released it. “We can give that to your attorney tomorrow. We’re meeting him at 1:00 in his office. We’ll miss Nikko. Shoot.”

“No actually he called,” Lisa informed him. “Alex will come here, about noon. He’s bringing one of his investigators and wants to ask some questions.”

“Oh, perfect.” Gio was glad they were all coming here instead. They could get a lot taken care of. “Nikko should be in by then. We can all figure out our next steps.”

Lisa was feeling better. Gio had been busy today, and he had been true to his word. She picked her fork back up and took a bite of spinach while Gio finished eating as well.

“Oh, hey. That reminds me. Do you know a Connie Wheeler?” he asked when he pushed his plate away.

“The name doesn’t sound familiar. Why?” she asked pushing her own plate away.

“Albert called her yesterday. Just wondering. It was the only call to a woman as far as I could tell. And he spoke to her for quite some time.”

“I can’t place it. We could google her, see if anything comes up,” she suggested.

“Good idea. I’ll have Andreas check into it too.” He pulled out his phone and typed in the name. Right away he had several hits. He hit images and his eyes widened in shock. “Oooh, lookie, lookie,” he showed Lisa the image that popped up on his phone.

“A dancer?” Lisa asked. An exotic dancer, it seemed from the looks of the picture.

“Yeah, and from what I am reading here, she works at
The Scene
. You ever hear of it?”

“No.”

Gio did some more typing pulling up the night club’s webpage. “Whoa. Lisa! Jackpot.
The Scene
just opened up about four years ago. I remember the place now. It was just before we moved to Tampa. It’s a club where people can go and role play. You pay a fee, and they have all kinds of ‘entertainers’ that act it out for you. High priced drinks, and anything goes, it says. You pay to watch, more to actually be in The Scene. We were worried about the place adding to the work load of the sex crimes unit, but they had all the permits, the security in place. It was raided a few times, but nothing but consenting people each time. Does that sound like a place Albert might go?”

Lisa made an unpleasant sound. “You know it is. It sounds exactly like his kind of place. But he had his usual haunts, and that was not one my detectives knew about. But it is a newer club. He used to go to a place called
Beat
.” Lisa made a face and snorted once more. “He also never called anyone from his cell either that worked in those places. He paid for his memberships in cash. But role playing, acting out fantasy, well that is right up his alley. Do they do bondage there?” she asked.

Gio nodded as he scrolled through the photos on the websites events page. “Yeah, and then some.”

“How can that stuff be legal?” Lisa shook her head.

“I don’t judge. To each their own, as long as they consent, but I’m not into that. As long as no one is being forced, we can’t do a thing about it.”

Lisa nodded her understanding. “Yeah, well, I guess I am speaking out of personal experience. It’s not for me.” She picked up her glass and took a sip and then a thought struck her. “Hey, what if Albert’s been going there, to have some fantasies fulfilled. How would he get them to fulfill his? He would have to call, I guess, and tell them what he wanted, or email, or write instructions.”

“Good idea. Let’s have your lawyer look up that angle. Getting into his email accounts may need a court order. And the pics you got, might convince a judge for the need of one.”

“Great. True.” Lisa nodded.

Gio was typing on his phone once more. “Holy hell!”

“What?” Lisa asked trying to see what he was looking at. He turned the phone to her. It was Connie Wheeler’s Facebook page. “Shit!” she exclaimed.

“Yeah, she looks like you. Fuck, you know what this means? She could be the girl in the video surveillance images.”

“Oh my God, Gio. Do you think so?” Lisa held her breath and scrutinized the pictures more closely before he took the phone back.

“I do.” This could be the break they needed. He smiled at her excitedly and then continued scrolling through the woman’s other photos. “The red hair, she is about your height. I think if we print these out and give them to Alex he might be able to convince a judge. He’s got motive to frame you, and I’m sure the judge will allow some leeway here.”

“That would be great if he does.”

“And if we can find a money trail, shit, that will give you plenty of reasonable doubt.” Gio put his cell phone away as Lisa got up from the table to clear away the dishes. It was great having a new lead. He would be definitely digging up more on this Connie person. In the meantime, Gio got up and began to help Lisa.

He bumped into her as she stooped to open the dish washer, and once again he found himself rock hard. In an instant. Lisa laughed nervously noticing his erection on the way up.

“Gio, keep it down man. A girl needs a break,” she teased.

“Puh-lease. You did that on purpose.” He teased. He turned the tables on her and blamed her, but she gave him a dirty look while laughing. He made a grab for her.

She continued to laugh, as he reached for her and pulled her to his chest. His lips began to descend, but her words stopped him. “Where is this going, Gio?”

He let her go. “I don’t know, Lisa. It’s too soon for happy ever after. I thought I made that clear.”

She pressed her head against his chest and muttered into it. “I just want to know if it’s too late . . . or too soon. Can you at least give me that?” she asked afraid of the answer, but the question had been weighing on her all day.

“I think . . . I don’t know.” Again, he wanted to be honest. He kissed the top of her head softly before she raised her eyes to his.

Her look of disappointment flashed across her face, but disappeared in an instant and was replaced by anger as she pushed away from him.

Gio sighed in frustration and took a step back holding up his hands in resignation. His eyes narrowed while facing her. “Don’t be mad, Lisa. You have no right. I know you have been to hell and back, but god dammit, it was your choice.”

“I told you, I didn’t think I had one at the time,” she cried.

“But you did. And that is what I’m having the biggest problem with here. That you don’t see it that way. You chose your parents, your sisters over me, over Johnny.” Her head whipped up, and he could tell that last phrase had set her off. “That’s how I see it. I don’t think I can trust you again. Not to pick me. Us.”

“Gio, I didn’t think. . .” she held up her hands begging him to understand. But he was already gone. She heard the clanging of the door, and then his car roaring off into the night.

The Noose Tightens

G
io headed straight
to the park, and bypassed the bar all together. He needed to cool off. The last twenty four hours had been an emotional roller coaster for him. Meeting his son, working all day to clear Lisa’s name, then again she hits him with the future. The hell if he knew what the future held.

Fuck it all. Why had he slept with her? It confused the hell out of him. His attraction to her was powerful, one he could not deny. His life was turned upside down. He had a son to consider, and right now he could only think of one day at a time. Clear Lisa, get to know his son. The future, well, that wasn’t here yet. He hadn’t thought about that in a decade. It was one job at a time. That’s all.

Yes, he wanted his son in his life. And he planned on making the most of that, coming to New York to be with him on holidays, and bringing him to Florida in the summer, longer vacations, Christmas. Lisa owed him that. And if he didn’t clear her name, then his son was moving to Florida. Simple. He’d need a new apartment. He rented a one bedroom in one of the not so great neighborhoods in Tampa. But, that could be easily fixed. He had the money. Hell, he could get a condo in the Trump Towers and be close to Blaze. He wasn’t ready for a house, but a condo would do, and give him the time to be with his son when he had him.

But Lisa, for now it was sex. It’s all he could offer her. If she couldn’t understand the whys of that, then it was her problem. He couldn’t commit to anything beyond that. It was still a matter of trust. She had lied to him, and she hadn’t put him first. That was the crux of it.

He loved his brothers, his cousin, his aunt, his parents before they died, and he would lay down his life for any one of them, but when you commit to someone that meant something. If he had to make a choice between her or them back then, it would have been difficult, but he would have chosen her. They never would have asked him to choose in the first place. If his folks had needed something desperately, and he couldn’t do it because she needed it, they would have understood.

It was about the choice. And the lie. Not letting him know he had a son was still painful. He had missed so much. He understood her fear of losing him, but again he could have helped her fight it. Hell, the truth would have set her free.

He wandered the park aimlessly, walking down all the old paths, the concrete cracked and in need of repair. The park had been neglected these past few years. The neighborhood was looking a little run down. People weren’t tending it like they used to. The park, the neighborhood, the streets, all needed fixing up. No one was communicating it to the county, and it was left to decay. And that was kind of like him and Lisa as far as he was concerned. They hadn’t been able to communicate openly. Everything had been so volatile—fight, make-up, but never really talk their issues out.

He figured he needed to do that. But now wasn’t the time. Right now he could only focus on two things, clearing Lisa, and establishing a relationship with his son. He could tell her that at least. Maybe that was something she could understand.

*     *     *

Lisa cleaned the
kitchen, and then did some laundry in the basement. After a few hours of menial chores, she was at a loss for what to do. She pushed Gio too far again. It had always been that way between them. When she had something on her mind, and if he wasn’t on the same page, she kept bringing it up. But that was then and she had no right to push him now; her mind told her not to, but her heart was breaking. She’d blown it. Disgusted with herself, she headed upstairs to shower and crawl into bed to wait for him to return . . . if he did.