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“Maybe we will be a priority, now that the forensic anthropologist is here,” Lani suggested.
“Maybe,” André agreed doubtfully. In his experience, labs were overwhelmed and pestering them did nothing but irritate the message taker. “But other than that list, no one specific comes to mind. I haven’t had any anonymous death threats or bloody fingers sent through the mail.”
He thought back to the conversation they’d been having earlier before Dani had called about the intruders. It felt like days—not hours—ago.
“I’m supposed to testify in the Campos trial that’s been moved to April. He was my last apprehension as a marshal. I’m just one of many involved though, definitely not pivotal to the case, and I haven’t gotten word that anything’s weird on my end with that one. But I suppose whoever took a shot at me could be from my marshal days.”
“You helped bring Campos in?” Dante asked, lifting the ice pack to his chest again.
“Yep. That scum of a human trafficker who fancies himself the leader of a drug cartel. Seriously, did his mother not raise him better?” André wasn’t a fan of the death penalty, but Campos was someone he made an exception for.
“If she was anything like mine, the answer is no.”
The wind gusted powerfully outside, causing the lights to flicker, momentarily throwing the lobby in shadow.
“That’s who Hatch and rest of them think put the hit on Simone,” Dante said with remarkable calm. “She was the head prosecutor. Campos wasn’t her only case, but he was high visibility for sure.” That he could talk about Simone’s death dispassionately impressed André.
“Huh,” André mulled over this new-to-him information. He’d known the lead prosecutor had been killed. It had been all over the news when it happened, and they’d had to push the trial date back while they regrouped. He just hadn’t put Simone Maddison and Dante Castone together. Maybe he should have, but he hadn’t. In his defense, when he’d left the marshals, he’d put that life behind him and hadn’t even known Dante Castone had a sister. And he’d been preoccupied with getting shot at since he’d found out Simone had been murdered, not killed in some accident.
“They have no evidence, right? Nothing to connect Campos—what a vicious piece of work—to the murder?”
“Hatch won’t share everything with me. He can’t. But from what he has said, they’ve been working under the very strong assumption that the Campos organization was behind Simone’s death.”
Could it be that Campos was after André too? Trying to tie up loose ends before the trial? The idea seemed fantastic, ridiculous. But if that was the case, it explained an awful lot about what was going on. And assuming the shooter was sent by Campos didn’t make it any easier to stop them.
“So... This Campos guy is trying to kill two birds? Or in this case, two LEOs and a teen who witnessed her mother’s murder? From behind bars. This is very Mafia, by the way,” Lani mused. “Godfather-esque, even.”
André would have missed Dante’s reaction, only he hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off him. Dante’s shoulders stiffened.
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
A door slammed, making them all twitch. Seconds later, Morrison was standing at the end of the hallway.
“A Trojan, that’s what you guys need,” Morrison declared proudly.
SIXTEEN
Dante
“A Trojanhorse,” Morrison clarified. His eyes were wide and brimming with excitement as he glanced back and forth between them. “Not what you’re thinking.”
“What the actual fuck are you talking about? Why would we need a Trojan horse?” Dante demanded. His chest fucking hurt. He was exhausted. Heneededfive minutes alone with André. And Morrison was babbling about Trojan horses.
“Explain,” said Lani.
“It makes sense, right? Your hidey-hole has been blown. You need somewhere safe until this shit is sorted out. What safer place than exactly where the assholes think youwon’tbe?” He pointed a thick finger at Dante. “First thing tomorrow morning, we’ll make a big show of getting you and Daniella out of town—or, even better, in a few hours.” He tapped the landline sitting on Carol’s desk. “Give Hatch a call and have him send up a bunch of fed cars. Anyway. You’ll be seen leaving town, but you won’t actually leave. You’ll stay in Cooper Spring at your house. Which is a real piece of work if you want my opinion—”
“I don’t want your opinion,” Dante interjected.
“Give Hatch a call.”
Dante stared at Morrison, noting the confident air and the one slightly raised eyebrow.
“You already ran this harebrained idea past him, didn’t you?”
Which also meant that Hatch knew about the attempt on his life. It wasn’t as if Dante hadn’t planned on looping Hatch in, he’d just wanted to put his own spin on it.
Morrison shrugged. “Yep. You’ll still have to lie low until these guys are caught. They’ve got to be buzzing like pissed-off bees. There’s a reason they came after you now. Something’s afoot and we need to figure out what it is.”
