*
He’d heard about Ricky Balducci and his brothers. Word on the street was Sadie was marked. The Balducci Boys had an unspoken deal, win Sadie, win the throne.
It was insanity and it was talk. The Balducci brothers were known for being both insane and entirely full of bullshit.
He was surprised that Sadie had come to Lee and he knew when she asked for protection that she’d been getting pressure from the Balduccis. Why she didn’t share this information with Lee, he didn’t know but he didn’t care either.
He didn’t want Lee involved. He could take care of it on his own. When Sadie left he told Lee he’d look into it. By this he meant deal with the Balduccis and deal with Sadie.
Her time was up. He was done waiting.
That night, he followed her from her gallery to her apartment and waited outside in case she went out.
She stayed in.
He left her thinking she’d be safe in a high rise with security. He had an assignment with Luke that night and he decided he’d come back in the morning. He’d planned to return, make sure she got to work then he’d take Luke, Mace, Darius or Vance and go have a word with the Balducci Boys.
After that, he’d go to Sadie.
He didn’t have that chance.
*
“You waited?” Eddie asked.
Hector sat back, took another drink and leveled his eyes on his brother.
“She handed me her father.”
He heard and saw Eddie suck in breath.
Hector nodded. “Fed me info, not good info but she fed it to me all the same. You remember that situation out in Stapleton, I gave you the head’s up?” Hector asked.
Eddie’s eyes flared and Hector knew he remembered. It had been a big bust and the Denver Police Department had been fully informed ahead of time who would be there, when and what they would find. It was the only piece of decent intel that Sadie had passed him.
“Sadie?” Eddie asked.
“She wrote me a fuckin’ note,” Hector told him.
“Jesus Christ,” Eddie muttered. “She wrote you a note?”
This time Hector shook his head but not to Eddie’s question, in disbelief at the memory.
“She’s the worst fuckin’ informant I ever saw. Broad daylight, door open, she’s rifling through the safe. Christ, you wouldn’t believe it. Spent half my time building the case against Townsend, the other half keeping an eye on her.”
At this Eddie started laughing and although Hector wouldn’t have thought it possible, he smiled.
Then Eddie quit laughing and said, “Word was, she stood beside her father through the trial.”
Hector replied on a dying smile, “She played her part. She was good at it. She’d been doing it a long time. It was her final show. I pulled in a favor, checked the logs, she hasn’t visited him once.”
Eddie let this sink in then he started, “You know her mother –”
“I know,” Hector cut him off.
They stared at each other. They both knew the risks Sadie took and they both knew the guts she displayed by taking them even if she didn’t do it well.
“Does she know about her mother?” Eddie asked.
“Doubtful.”
Eddie stared at Hector a beat and then said on a sigh, “Townsend’s a piece of shit.”
Hector took another shot of Jack and didn’t reply. There was nothing to be said. Seth Townsend was definitely a piece of shit.
The silence stretched.
Then Hector said quietly, “Heard about Zano’s visit to Balducci.”
The air in the room went on alert.
“What’d you hear?” Eddie asked but he knew the answer, he’d heard about it too.
“I heard that Marcus called in a favor. Ren Zano went for a visit. Balducci tried to avoid him, Zano was persistent. Zano reported to Marcus that Ricky had a black eye, a broken nose and what looked like fingernail scratches from his brow down his cheek,” Hector answered.
Eddie waited.
Hector didn’t make him wait long. “Balducci told Zano he got in a bar fight.”
Eddie leaned forward. “Hector, you have to stay cool.”
Hector drained the glass again, bent forward and tagged the bottle for a refill. He emptied the bottle in his glass, returned it to the floor, leaned back and trained his eyes on his brother.
“This is not a situation where you stay cool,” he said it calmly, belying his words but there was no hidden meaning to what he’d said and it was clear just how much he meant it.
“What’s this woman to you?” Eddie asked.
“She’s mine,” Hector replied.
Eddie leaned back and tore his fingers through his hair then dropped his arm.
He knew what that meant; he’d felt it too about five minutes after he decided he’d stop at nothing to get Jet in his bed. Now he and Jet were getting married.
Eddie went on, “When you were there, did she give you more than information on her father?”
“Yes and no. She let the mask slip once. She let it slip again today so now I know who’s hidin’ behind it.”