*
Tawny watched as her youngest son left the security room. And her heart broke for him. He’d always been sensitive, caring. Trusting. Like his father. And like his father, she also knew he would do the right thing even if his heart was breaking. For his people, for his family, he would deny his heart and risk losing the love of his life.
Sadly, she swallowed past the lump forming in her throat, knowing the apple did not fall far from the tree. Her Joseph would have his heart broken, again, it seemed. No. Not seemed. His heart would be broken. He had already fallen hard for the girl. She could tell that by his grim expression when he’d left. And right now, it looked to her that he suspected the girl might be neck deep in this crime spree. She hoped it wasn’t the case. For Joseph.
Chapter 18
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On Sunday morning, Joseph sat in his office with Tom, Jonathan and two massive men. Their names were Gio and Nikko Marino.
And it seemed that Tom was not the only one who knew them. Jonathan, after being informed of their last name, knew of them fairly well. It seemed their eldest brother, Andreas, a former NYPD detective, had once been engaged to his new wife, Aliya.
Introductions were made, and they quickly got down to business.
Gio spoke. “Nikko here is our tech expert. We rented a surveillance van and had it waiting for us at the airport. Once you get us an ID on the fourth suspect, we can get his information and track him via his GPS on his cell phone.”
“We can also listen in if we want to,” Nikko smiled charmingly. “We will help you get to the bottom of this.”
Jonathan spoke next. “We have to keep this under wraps. If wind gets out about this to the press, it could really hurt the casino.”
“Don’t worry. This isn’t our first rodeo, and we all were former police officers, but this, well, we have been doing this kind of thing for five years now.”
Jonathan nodded curtly. Yes, he knew of these men from his wife. Her ex fiancé, Andreas, ran the company.
“I’m meeting Jewel in about an hour,” Joseph glanced at his watch. “I’m having lunch with her and the boys.”
“Feel like wearing a wire? It might help,” the younger of the two men suggested.
He didn’t want to, but he also didn’t feel like he could say no either. Acid coiled like a snake in his stomach. “Sure. Why the hell not,” he stated trying to keep the bitterness from his voice. He avoided Jonathan’s sympathetic glance.
Nikko got up from his chair and picked up the brief case beside him. He placed it on Joseph’s desk. An array of technical equipment and a gun lay in the recesses of the container.
“Is a gun necessary?” he asked.
“In our line of work, it’s good to have. I won’t carry it unless I think I need it. We have the permits to do so,” he informed Joseph.
Joseph remained mute. But looked confused when Nikko held out a simple pen to him.
“That the wire?” he asked thinking he had stepped into some kind of cop drama.
Nikko nodded. “Just keep it in your pocket in your shirt if you can.”
“No problem.” He accepted the pen and slipped it into his pocket as directed. Only the top silver clicker could be seen. It was pretty innocuous.
“Where are you headed with the girl? We can head straight there.” Gio stood getting ready to head into position.
“Brunch at the diner in town. Her brothers may be coming too. They are moving today and I promised to give them a hand with the bigger stuff.”
Tom piped in. “I’ll give you the directions.”
“Very good.” Gio reached for Joseph’s hand and shook it, as Tom clapped him on the back. Then the big man turned to face Jonathan, clearing his throat before speaking. “Jonathan, please wish Aliya well for all of us. Andreas wanted to come himself, but his wife is expecting and he didn’t want to leave. But he sends his regards. Said tell her to be happy.”
Jonathan accepted the well wishes. He knew Aliya would appreciate the message. When he told her later who they inadvertently hired to help with these robberies, it would do wonders for her feelings of guilt over how that relationship had ended. “Aliya and I are expecting too, and I know she would want me to send her regards. She’s told me about her past and she does have regrets.”
Gio nodded solemnly.
“That was a tough time for all of us, but we understand the whys of it now. Tell her there are no hard feelings from any of us.” That was Nikko.
“Thank you. I’ll tell her that. And thank you for coming up here and helping us.”
Nikko chuckled softly. “Well, my wife is downstairs in the casino with Lisa, Gio’s wife. I’m afraid if we don’t figure this out soon, they may just spend any money we make on this case before we leave.”
Jonathan laughed in return. “The rooms are already comped, but we will add the meals too. It’s the least we can do.”