It’s inhumane to leave a woman hanging like that. I always get like this when I don’t get laid. It’s been over a week—almost two. Twelve long, lonely, agonizing days, and now I can’t stop fantasizing about the first man I’ve been attracted to since Robert left.
Get your shit together, Eriksson. You have a job to do. Put your libido away until you get home and can spend some time with BOB or find someone else who can take your mind off Savage.
“I’m fine, Caroline, relax. I’m just distracted thinking about this story.” It isn’t a complete lie. I’ve been trying to nail Domenico Abello since I started this job almost four years ago, but all I’ve managed to do is meet with brick walls of silence.
Abello is dirty—the kind of dirty that makes Tony Soprano look like Mr. Clean.
Everyone knows his reputation, but I only recently got wind of some very unsettling information. Paul, my source, a low-ranking henchman of Abello’s, heard I had been asking around, trying to tie Abello to anything that could actually get him sent away. When he first approached me outside my apartment, I’ll admit, I thought I’d end up with a bullet in my head, but it turns out Paul wants out of the organization and he’s smart enough to know Abello won’t let him just walk away.
Paul confirmed something I’ve long suspected and feared—Abello doesn’t just control New Orleans’ underworld. He controls the government, too, through a seedy connection to Mayor Dunne.
Many of the people who stood in the way of Brian Dunne’s political advancement over the years have disappeared or been in questionable accidents. Once he reached office, a lot of his opposition seemed to back off quite unexpectedly from vehement resistance to certain projects. Quite a few contracts have also ended up going to businesses with hidden connections to Abello.
According to Paul, Dunne’s success is, in large part, due to this “assistance” from Abello. The only question is, can I prove it?
If I can verify and document that the head of the biggest crime syndicate in New Orleans has unsavory ties to the mayor, and has not only been receiving special consideration on projects in exchange for not even remotely legal favors, but may be going so far as to commit murder for Dunne, my career will be made.
“You still trying to get that source to get some documentation for you?”
“Yeah,” I say, spinning around to check my email, “he keeps hedging. I’ve only been able to get him to tell me about the shit he’s heard or seen, but no actual hard evidence of anything yet. No way I’m publishing this story until I have iron-clad documentation and the source’s allegations are backed up.”
Diligence is important in this business, and I won’t risk losing my job, or my reputation, on someone who may just have an axe to grind. Not that I really think that in this case.
“You don’t believe his story?”
Spinning back around to face her, I shake my head. “That’s just it, I do believe his story but there is no way I am putting my neck out there and exposing the people I plan to until I have everything I need.” It would be career suicide to publish a story like this without one hundred percent confirmation. It wouldn’t be fair to my source, either. I know he’s putting his neck on the line for me, with no benefit to him other than the potential opportunity to get out from under Abello’s thumb. I can’t risk his safety.
Caroline drops down into the chair opposite my desk and frowns. “You still won’t tell me what this is all about?”
I sigh and run my hands back through my hair, which only reminds me of a hair-pulling Savage fantasy I had earlier this afternoon. Shit. I release my hair and let out a deep breath. Caroline is my best friend, and I would love to be able to share my Abello story with her, but I refuse to spill anything until I have the story wrapped up with a pretty bow around it—it’s just too dangerous.
“No, Caroline, but it has nothing to do with you, or me not trusting you. It’s just better if no one else knows this information. It’s safer that way.”
She gives me a leery look. “You know, when you talk that way, it makes me hella nervous, girl.”
I wave her off and bend to grab my purse and briefcase. I toss them over my shoulder, and she follows me out of my office. “You don’t have to worry about me, Caroline. My dad taught me how to take care of myself.”