A Face to Die For (Forensic Instincts 6)

/> “I… Okay.” Gabe did as he was told.

“Yeah?” A harsh, threatening voice answered. “And it better be good.”

“It is,” Gabe assured him.

Marc and Claire listened to the terse exchange between men. Carp was a bastard. But there was no doubt he was pleased as hell with the breakthrough.

“Get details out of her,” he demanded. “And call me as soon as you do.”

“I will, Mr. Carp.”

The phone line went dead.

“We’ll have a guy waiting for you at La Guardia,” Marc told Gabe. “You’ll be going straight to Gia’s townhouse. You’ll have your reunion there.”

CHAPTER 27

Gia’s townhouse

Rye, New York

The next afternoon

“Marc just got here,” Gia said, handing Dani a glass of wine as her sister stood at the townhouse window, gazing out at nothing in particular. “He parked at the other end of the development and came in through the patio slider. So his visit went undetected.” She pressed her lips together, determined to keep her hatred of Gabe in check. Dani didn’t need any more negativity piled onto her. “And Patrick’s guy will be bringing Gabe back in fifteen.”

“I can hardly wait,” Dani replied dryly. “As if last night wasn’t enough.” Gabe had been delivered to the townhouse door fresh from his flight. He’d been broken, pleading, and pathetic. Claire had called hours before that and prepared Dani for the visit. But she couldn’t prepare her for the hurt or the furious sense of betrayal that still gnawed at her.

“You okay?” Gia asked, touching her sister’s arm.

“Yeah. Great.” Dani gave Gia’s hand a squeeze to soften her biting reply. “Sorry. I don’t mean to be bitchy, especially not to you. I didn’t get much sleep last night. And I guess I’m still pretty much a wreck.”

“Don’t apologize. Finding out what Gabe was doing was a major blow.”

Frowning, Gia sipped at her own Pinot Grigio. She was worried about Dani. She’d taken this whole Gabe thing very hard. From what Dani had told her, the initial confrontation had been more of a pained confession and a plea for understanding from Gabe than a knock-down-drag-out fight between two furious lovers.

Like Gia, Dani was stubborn and proud. She’d heard Gabe out, accepted the pretense they’d have to put on, but the real relationship? That she’d ended firmly and finally. There’d be no forgiveness—not for something of this magnitude. Dani had informed Gia that Gabe badly needed a therapist, and she wasn’t playing that role. As for pressing charges, that wasn’t something she was ready to do, not with the investigation on the line. But later? That decision was up for grabs.

Dani had been stoic. But Gia had heard her weeping far into the night.

And now she had to contend with yet another visit from the scumbag just so Gabe’s sicko boss believed that she and Gabe were bonding and that she was spilling her guts to him.

Forensic Instincts had gotten Gabe a room—which he shared with his assigned security detail—at the local inn. They’d instructed him to inform Carp that he’d made these arrangements so that he and Dani could have the privacy he needed to get her talking. He sure as hell couldn’t do that at her sister’s place.

What a crock of shit. And what a heavy weight for Dani to carry.

“I’ll be fine, Gia,” Dani said now, turning to give her sister a stoic smile. “But I’m glad Marc is here. Otherwise, this room would be deadly silent. Plus, there’s something calming about his presence.” “Glad to hear that,” Marc said as he walked into the room. “I’ll keep things under control. Meanwhile, I wanted to let you know that the car just arrived. This way you can steel yourself.” Marc was clearly trying to ease Dani’s way. “Gabe will stay only an hour or so, just enough to keep up the pretense of him meeting your sister. The hard part will come later when you have to go to the inn. But I’ll be there, too.”

Dani turned to face him. “How much longer does this whole charade have to go on?”

“Hopefully, today will be it. Once you’ve had your alleged bleeding-heart visit, Gabe can call Carp and relay the story we conjured up. You’re cracking under the pressure. Yours and Gia’s parents are shattered. Everyone is terrified. All you want is to be safe and to go back to your normal, secure life. You and Gia are twins, so you’ll stay in touch, but from your respective cities. Anything more than that—including this investigation—isn’t worth the risk. You’ll be spending this weekend with Gia and then heading home. Once Gabe reports all that to Carp, he’ll be appeased and the immediate danger will be held at bay. Meanwhile, it’ll give Ryan enough time to trace the phone number for Carp that Gabe gave us. That’s a giant step closer to our answers. It’s almost over, Dani. You’ve got this. And so do we.”

Dani nodded. “What happens to Gabe after that?”

“He’ll go back to Cleveland to keep up pretenses. But we’ll have full-time security on him, not only to keep him from running but to see if Carp shows up in person. We’re going to get this guy any way we have to and find out the name of his boss—the son of a bitch who’s threatening your lives.”

Green Hills Cemetery

Brooklyn, New York