Off the Record (With Me in Seattle Mafia 3)
“What is this about?”
“First, why are you at the hospital?” Carmine asks, and Maceo narrows his eyes.
“You don’t know?”
“No, we’ve been on a plane most of the morning. Miami’s pretty far away from Seattle,” Rafe says.
“My father was killed this morning,” Maceo replies. “My mother is in intensive care with multiple stab wounds. My young sister is on the run with her Godfather because we don’t know who did this or what the motive is.”
I shake my head and turn to Ivie, who slips her hand into mine.
“Fucking hell,” Carmine growls. “Jesus, I’m sorry, Maceo. We hadn’t heard.”
“Ours is the fourth family targeted,” Maceo says.
“Fifth,” Shane says. “We have reason to believe this began more than a decade ago with Vinnie and Claudia Watkins.”
Shane briefly fills the other man in and then says, “Where is Lawrence Reyes? The man who goes by Santiago? And why was he working in our city?”
Maceo scowls. “My father’s brother?”
“That’s the one,” Carmine says.
“My family hasn’t had anything to do with that asshole in twenty years. He’s a traitor. He was feeding information back and forth to the Carlito family in Dallas. Working both sides.”
“But the Carlitos haven’t been active for many years,” Carmine says.
“If you think that family has been sleeping all these years, you’re an idiot,” Maceo says, cutting to the chase. “They’ve been quiet, but they’re not asleep. I don’t know what they had on my uncle or why he decided to start working for them. It was the biggest disgrace of my father’s life. Everyone told my father to kill Lawrence, but he couldn’t do it. He gave his brother an ultimatum. If he wouldn’t stop working for the Carlitos, he was no longer welcome here.
“He left the next day, and no one has heard from him since. I don’t know why he was working in Seattle.”
“He was the judge on the case of the man accused of killing Vinnie,” Rafe tells him.
“I’ve honestly told you everything I know.” Maceo stops and glances over at me, looking like he wants to say something, but then turns back to Rafe. “The Carlitos are dirty as hell, man. If they’re behind all of these assassinations, they need to be taken out.”
“I have a feeling we’ll be headed to Dallas in the morning,” Carmine says.
“I’d like to go with you,” Maceo says.
“You have your hands full here,” Shane points out. “With your father dead and your mother in the ICU. Not to mention, you’re now the boss of your organization, Maceo. Let us go take care of this. We will keep you informed every step of the way.”
“I don’t like sending someone else in to clean up my mess,” Maceo says.
“It’s our mess, too. Has been for a damn long time,” Carmine replies. “It’s going to be handled.”
Maceo nods and gestures to me as we turn to leave. “I’d like to talk to you.”
“Me?” I point at myself and then glance behind me.
“Yes, you.” He pins the others with dark brown eyes. “Alone.”
“Fuck that,” Rafe says, pushing me behind him. “If you have business with her, you have business with me.”
“Hey.” I pat Rafe’s shoulder and smile when he looks down at me. “Just wait right outside the door. You’re right here. Nothing’s going to happen.”
“No.”
“I only want to have a private word. I mean her no harm. I give you my word,” Maceo says.
Finally, Rafe nods once and steps outside the door but watches through the little window.
“He’s in love with you,” Maceo says.
“Yeah. What’s up?” I ask.
“I want you to know that I’ve received emails from an unknown source. They contained photos. Of you.”
I narrow my eyes as the blood leaves my face, and my heart hammers.
“I didn’t know you at all until you got out of that car. I only recognized you from the photos. Someone is trying to ruin your reputation, and the reputation of the Tarenkov family. What you do with this information is up to you.”
“What did you do with the photos?”
“I deleted them.” His eyes harden. “We don’t hurt women, Annika. I have no beef with you or your family. Therefore, I have no reason to keep them. But I can’t tell you where they were sent from.”
“Do you know if they were sent to other families?”
“No, I don’t know.”
I nod and offer him a small smile. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“Good luck to you.”
“Same to you. And I really am sorry for your loss.”
I slip out the door and join the others in the hallway.
“What the fuck did he want?” Rafe demands, but I just shake my head.
“Not here.”
“Let’s check into the hotel and decide what we want to do from there,” Carmine suggests.
* * *
“So, all this time, it’s been the Carlito family,” Nadia says as she kicks off her shoes and drops into a sofa in her suite.