Dirty Thief

“It was a good idea,” I say, musing our current status. “I still believe we’re right—Vega is our guy. He has to be, but something different happened. His demeanor changed when he saw that wallet.”

We’re sitting around the heavy wooden conference table waiting for our guards to arrive. We scheduled this meeting for the afternoon, since Freddie and André had to be up all night.

“Up all night watching nothing,” Cal grumbles.

“I’m glad I didn’t contact the police.”

That draws him up short. “You never contacted the police?” My eyes are fixed on my hand, but I can hear the suspicion in his voice. “Something you need to share with me, brother?”

“No.”

I don’t want him to know the dark plans pressing on my mind. Dwayne Vega is bad news. We might be having trouble setting a trap for him, but I’m not going to let him walk out of my kingdom alive. Not after what he did to Ava.

I’d like to catch him in the act of committing a crime, something that would give me an out should it come down to one versus the other, but I’m not waiting around for it to happen. If I do this, I’ll do it alone, and I won’t have Cal implicated.

My brother won’t let it go. “Why didn’t you contact the police?”

Sitting in my chair at the head of the table, under the massive flag bearing our family’s crest, I rub my fingers over my eyes. “Several reasons.”

“Give me two.”

“I didn’t want them storming in and tipping him off. The more people who know about a stakeout, the more chances our cover will be blown.”

My brother nods and takes the chair to my right, his seat in the hierarchy. “Okay, that’s one. What’s two?”

“Our evidence is thin. So we think Vega is the guy because he met us on the beach and started raving like a lunatic right before the first murder occurred?”

“He’s also a known felon and a suspected murderer.”

“It’s not enough.” I shake my head. “We don’t have him on record threatening Ava. It’s her word and her past experiences against his. I’m not putting her through that level of public scrutiny. I haven’t even told her we’re searching for him.”

My brother’s lips tighten, but he nods in agreement. “That was more like three reasons, but I take your point. Still…” Hazel eyes meet mine. “I want to know if you’re planning to do anything.”

How to answer this question? “I won’t back down from doing what needs to be done.”

The door opens, and our moment breaks. André and Freddie enter, going to their usual seats around the table. Freddie arrives in problem-solving mode.

“The bug worked all night, but he didn’t wear it all night. It was too warm, and it didn’t rain. Still, the good news is his phone also remained on my tracker the whole night.”

I lean back in my chair, thinking about this development. “So there could be moments when we can’t see him.”

“Long moments.” Freddie’s tone is ominous.

“Moments when someone is being killed,” André adds, as if we had

n’t already figured that out.

Cal jumps in at that. “How can we account for this?”

“More manpower.” Freddie looks around the room at each of us. “We all need to be out there, so if he moves, someone is watching every corner.”

“I had a feeling you were going to say that,” my brother replies.

“Do we have reason to believe he might strike tonight?” André asks.

“Hell, I’m out of the predictions game,” Cal says, leaning back in his chair.

The reality of what’s at stake weighs on me. “We have to involve the police this time. We can’t take a chance of him slipping through our fingers and another woman being hurt or killed.”