Page 67 of Perfect Vengeance

“Y-yes. How did you know?”

“I have eyes and ears on the street. Anything that involves the Falzones, I get a call.”

“Oh. Right.” She wiped her face. “Informants.”

He nodded. “I waited outside your apartment, but you never came home. I was worried. Turns out the local PD received a report from the hospital of a gunshot wound.” Since she hadn’t come home, he really had thought it was Gina. He cleared his throat. “I need you to tell me everything that happened. Okay?”

“Okay.” Sighing, she closed her eyes, then described what had gone down, including her run-in with Maria and the fact there was at least a hundred grand locked up in the trunk of their rental car.

After what Gina had orchestrated tonight, getting any probable cause to arrest Tino or Franco Falzone before the Commission met was about as likely as either of them strolling into FBI headquarters and confessing to murder. Gina’s actions would most assuredly result in the Falzones and their soldiers clamming up entirely, relegating all the bugs he’d planted to expensive, worthless hardware from this point forward.

He should be furious. He should be railing into her. She’d been reckless with her life and the lives of her friends, but she already knew that. Guilt would haunt her over this for the rest of her life. He, better than anyone, understood what it was like to be responsible for someone’s death. For her sake, he prayed Kinsey survived.

“I need to ask you a few more questions.” First and foremost… “Did Tino see you?”

“No. I don’t think so.” She frowned.

“You don’t think so?” He wasn’t convinced. “I thought you said the lights were on.”

“Yes.” She nodded. “But I dropped to the ground just before he came into the room, and that side of the house was pretty dark.”

“What makes you think Maria Falzone won’t rat you out?” The woman was as much one of Tino’s victims as anyone. That didn’t mean she would keep Gina’s secret.

“I guess I don’t know for sure,” she admitted. “But she wants to get away from him. I could see it in her eyes. I gave her my cell number.” She grabbed his arm, her red-rimmed eyes lighting with hope. “I think she’ll call me, Jack. When she does, I want to help her.”

“We all want to help her,” Margo said firmly.

Annabelle nodded.

“No.” Gina shook her head. “After what happened tonight, I won’t involve either of you in any of this ever again. This is on me. If she calls, I’ll handle it.”

“Not happening.” He pressed his lips together. It was bad enough that Gina had handed over her personal cell number to a Falzone capo’s wife. No way would he let her handle this on her own. “If she calls, you’ll tell me, and the FBI will handle it.”

Her eyes flared hotly. “Promise me you’ll help her.”

“I promise.” He seriously doubted the woman would ever call.

Booted feet echoed down the hall. Two uniforms came into view, one wearing a Sea Bright PD patch and the other that of the state police.

“Stay here while I talk to them.” He stood, taking Gina with him before setting her back on the chair.

She grabbed his hand. “What will you tell them?”

I have no idea. “As little as possible.” Even though Tino was the worst kind of criminal, the truth would land Gina and her friends in jail. What he was about to do was beyond stupid, but he owed these women.

As of four hours ago, the FBI now knew the Commission meeting was set for this Saturday. That intel came from the bug he’d planted in Psycho’s house. The only missing piece was the exact location of the meeting. If it weren’t for Gina and her friends, the FBI would still be completely in the dark.

Jack whipped out his creds and flashed his badge at the cops. “Special Agent Jack Gates, FBI.”

The Sea Bright cop, Officer Schwartz, according to his name tag, frowned. The state trooper, Patrolman Hernandez, arched a brow. Most departments didn’t like it when the great and powerful FBI swooped in on their territory, and neither of these guys was baby-faced and fresh out of the academy. No doubt they’d both had run-ins with feds before. Jack shook hands with Schwartz, then extended his hand to Hernandez.

The state trooper narrowed his eyes but shook Jack’s hand anyway. “What’s this got to do with the FBI?”

Jack tipped his head to the waiting area. “These women are my informants, and I’d sure like to keep this incident quiet. Blowing their cover would kill a major federal investigation. Any backup you can give me in making that happen would be greatly appreciated. I can’t do this without you. The success of this case depends on your cooperation.” Most of what he’d just said was true. Along with a little BS and a big serving of ego grease.

Officer Schwartz scratched his chin. “You gotta give us some idea of what happened. The hospital reported a GSW. We need to put something down in our incident logs.”

He didn’t really think he’d get off that easy. Time to pile on more BS. “They were working on something for me when they were shot at by an unknown assailant in a blue sedan on Main Street in Long Branch.” Another town five miles south of Tino’s house. “Wrong place, wrong time, and purely coincidental. You might want to notify Long Branch PD.”