“I know, neither of us did. But it wasn’t sitting well with me that every time I kept asking his name, he wouldn’t say it. So, I did a little digging, and sure enough, The Sandy Claws’ Carmine is the same as Marked Inc.’s Carmine. I just don’t understand, if he knew who you were last night, why didn’t he say anything? He left that out on purpose, Sienna, and I want to know why.”
“I don’t know, maybe he is just eccentric,” I deflect.
She looks at me, placing a hand on her hip. “Eccentric? Girl, please, Jack Sparrow is eccentric. This guy is a fucking sketchy chameleon.”
She has a point.
“The hand-delivered letter summoning you to work for him, the private dinner. All of it. You grew up in this life, don’t play naïve now. He wants something from you,” she warns.
I know he wants something from me, but for some reason, I don’t want Nessa to know that. I know she loves me like a sister, but that, coupled with her being a detective means she will no doubt insert herself into this, whatever this is with Carmine, and try to save me.
“You find what you were looking for yet?” I ask, trying to redirect the conversation.
“No, not yet,” she huffs, sifting through the draws by her small desk off the kitchen before she stops to look at me with serious eyes that remind me more of my concerned friend than an interrogating cop. “You know about the Morettis, don’t you?”
“Other than what I have learned today, honestly, no,” I reply
“Once I figured out who he was, I continued to do some digging. Apparently, the Morettis, specifically his father, Armando, have been on the department’s radar for a long time. There have been several disappearances over the years that the Morettis have been connected to.”
I raise my brow, confused. “Disappearances?”
“Yea, disappearances. I’m talking, untraceable, poof, gone out of nowhere, type of shit. It’s like anything or anyone they come in contact with is at risk of disappearing without a fucking trace. Anyway, Armando volunteered some valuable insights today when he showed up at the precinct. Now that I am in the detective unit, I borrowed the flash drive with all the suspected Moretti case files, and I need to find it so I can compare it with what Armando told me today.”
I shake my head, wondering why Carmine’s father would volunteer information to the cops if they were suspected of so many disappearances.
“Why would he volunteer information pertaining to their business or about his son?” I ask.
“He mentioned he is concerned the gala may be a target of something, but he didn’t elaborate beyond that. I want to find the flash drive because it can help me piece together things to look out for while I work security at the gala tonight.”
I decide to leave out that I will be at the gala as Carmine’s plus one, because I know she would try to stop me from going.
Nes’ search is cut short when the radio holstered to her work belt begins to make a scratching sound.
“Shit.” She rolls her eyes before taking the radio from her belt and pulling it up to her mouth. Pressing the button to talk, she clears her throat to speak. “Mendez, here.”
“Vanessa, Chief is starting to ask where you are. Get your ass back here,”the voice on the other line says tauntingly.
She takes a deep breath, hand off the talk button, she mutters, “Fucking prick,” under her breath.
The radio makes that God-awful scratching sound once more. “Yea, I copy Alex, 10-4,” she replies into her radio. Holstering her work radio back onto her belt, she sighs as I see her turn off the volume.
“That’s probably going to get me in trouble, but I don’t give a fuck right now,” she says with playful defiance.
She begins to head for the door, clearly giving up on finding her flash drive for the moment. “Sienna, listen to me. When someone like Carmine Moretti helps you, it’s because he wants something from you.”
I let out an exaggerated, playful sigh. “You sound just like your cousin.”
Her face turns cold, concern washing over her usually golden skin. “Be careful with him, too. Something’s off with him. He hasn’t been acting right since you came to the city,” she warns.
Before she heads for the door, she walks to me, placing her hand on my shoulder. Nes the cop is taking a backseat, while my friend moves back in, for the moment, at least.
“I have to go. Be careful, Sienna. I want you to text or call me if you need anything, please.” She pauses for a second, as if contemplating the next words out of her mouth. “Don’t be like your mama. If you smell trouble, runaway,” she warns.
Nes, knows I’m nothing like my mother. Where mama sensed danger and stayed because she was afraid of the consequences. I see danger and often, run towards it and that is what scares Nes. And, if I’m being honest, that’s what scares me, too.
Chapter24
Carmine
