Page 75 of Above ’N’ Beyond

“Name it.”

“This will take some digging, but it’s important.” And Jamie would also owe the lieutenant an expensive steak dinner. The steak dinners he owed were stacking up fast. “I need you to check Ogdensburg, Plattsburgh, and Massena airports for three other men who arrived on connecting flights from Italy today.” He rattled off Marco’s, Sammy’s, Nicky’s, and Paulie’s full names. “Run these guys for registered vehicles, then look for them picking up a male passenger earlier this morning. Track those passengers back to the gates like you did for Tommaso Sala, then text me copies of their passport info and photos.”

“You’re right. This will take time to coordinate at the other airports. Could be a day or two.”

“Put a rush on it, will ya?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“You always do.” Jamie ended the call, deleting it from his call history, then punched in the number for Special Agent Jenkins.

While the phone rang, Jax paced along the seawall, sniffing the sea air. Jamie glanced up at the balcony overlooking the backyard a hundred feet away. A lone figure stood by the glass doors. Marco. The guy was a burr Jamie couldn’t peel off.

When the agent answered, Jamie didn’t waste any time. He quickly explained the events at Stewart Airport and the pickups at the three other locations. He didn’t tell Jenkins he’d given the necklace to Bella. There was no point unless the bug recorded anything useful. He’d check the device in his Tahoe right after the party.

“And you’re telling me all this now?” Jenkins bellowed. “We could have had agents stationed at all these airports documenting everything.”

Jamie could practically see and hear the fire spewing from the man’s mouth and the steam shooting from his ears. As he’d done once before, he said calmly, “I’m telling you now.” The last thing he needed were teams of green agents with accounting degrees who didn’t know the first thing about surveilling cutthroat mobsters. Surveillance wasn’t as easy as it looked on TV. If any of the teams had been spotted, he’d be the one paying the price. With his life.

“Try not to cry,” Jamie went on, glancing up at the balcony. Marco wasn’t there. “I’ve got my people working on tracing these men back to the planes they came in on. As soon as they’ve got IDs, I’ll pass them along. The guy who came into Stewart is Tommaso Sala, but I guarantee that’s not his real name. Stand by. Sending you his info now.” Jamie forwarded the photos to Jenkins, then deleted the texts from his phone.

“Got it,” Jenkins growled, his annoyance still evident. “I’ll order a complete background check on Tommaso Sala and run this video camera photo through facial recognition.”

“You might want to have your people in Rome check in on the real Tommaso Sala,” Jamie suggested. “If someone else is using his passport, there’s a good chance he’s dead.”

“Good idea.”

“There’s one more thing.” Jamie looked up at the house again and lowered his voice. “It’s only a theory, but I think Paola’s big event next week may have something to do with the Palumbos.”

“Oh yeah?” The sound of Jenkins’s antennas twitching screamed through the phone.

A low rumble came from the seawall as Jax lowered his head and growled. Hairs on the back of Jamie’s neck blasted upright. Soft swishing came to his ears. Someone was walking over the grass.

“Gotta go, Ma,” he said loud enough for anyone within ten feet to hear. “I love you, too.” Running the rest of his theory by Jenkins would have to wait. He ended the call and stuffed the phone into his pocket. He turned and came face to face with Marco. The smirk Jamie was seeing more and more lately was in full bloom.

Great balls of shit.

Inside his pocket, he fisted his hand. If Ianetti had heard anything, he was fully prepared to do battle and toss the guy in the river. “What do you want, Ianetti?”

Marco stepped closer. “Besides you dead?”

Jax stalked from the bushes, his head low, growling. Wisely, Marco retreated, eyeing Jax as he backed away.

“That wasn’t your mother on the phone.” Marco’s lips twisted into a sneer. “So who the fuck were you talking to?”

“My gynecologist.” Dickhead.

“Yeah, right.” Marco spat on the grass. “Dinner’s ready. Get your ass inside.” Without another word, he turned and headed back to the house.

Jamie really wished Marco would have taken a swing at him so he could be done with the man once and for all.

Luck wasn’t on his side. Neither was time.

He wondered just how much—if anything—Marco had actually heard. Either way, Ianetti was gunning for him, harder with each passing day, and he had no choice but to wait for the man’s first strike.

Never in his undercover life had he ever had the strongest feeling something bad was about to go down.

Chapter Twenty-Five