Badge of Honor (The Town of Pearl 9)

“Jasper was the informant?” Mace asked.

“If Frankie used his phone then Storm has that in his possession. They could trace the calls, get in touch with Jasper, and hunt him down,” Gus told them.

“Do it. Send a message to Storm,” Galvin told Orin and Orin texted the message.

Orin’s heart was racing. They needed to know all the players. They needed to find a way to take attention away from Lauren and put it on Maxwell and the gang members.

Lauren continued to describe what happened next, how the gang members didn’t even react to her and Frankie pointing guns at them and asking them to freeze. They listened as she described watching Frankie get shot, his shocked expression, and how he fell to the ground.

“They didn’t seem concerned or respectful at all by you and Frankie drawing guns on them?” Harper asked her.

“No. But these men have no respect for the law. They make their own

rules and laws. The police mean nothing. That’s why I wanted to wait for backup,” Lauren told them.

“Frankie went down right away. Did you know that his wounds weren’t life threatening? That he wore a bulletproof vest and took the hits to his chest and abdomen?” Orin asked her. “He was also shot in both arms, but that was it.” She seemed shocked.

“I saw his head go back. I saw the blood and then his body jerk multiple times before he fell to the ground. He looked like he was dead.”

“He was in better condition than you were, from what I read in the reports. Dmitri rescued him as well and got him to a secure location,” Gus told her.

“Where is that?” she asked.

“Suburbs of New York. Dmitri and Storm have men questioning him now. They’ll get more out of him. But I don’t think it will matter. He helped Maxwell and set you up to save his own ass. You need to understand that,” Mace told her firmly. She nodded her head and then Orin asked her to continue talking. With every detail of her escape, and the fear as she was shot and thought she would die, he felt compelled to never let her leave their side again. But as she gave more details and mentioned the attempt on her life in the hospital, Orin had more questions.

“How does Mary fit into all of this? I mean I understand that she’s friends with your Aunt May and that she is close with Dmitri, but why bring you to Pearl and to her own home?” Orin asked.

“I think there’s a connection to Mary and Lauren’s parents besides being close friends with her Aunt May. Storm said Dmitri wasn’t willing to divulge that information because it wasn’t relevant to this situation, however, it could help us,” Galvin said.

“Then call her. Ask her to come here and explain it,” Lauren said and Harper pulled out his cell phone and called Mary. In the meantime, Storm called Galvin.

* * * *

Galvin listened as Storm explained where they were in the investigation and that they located the informant Jasper.

“He’s not an informant. He’s one of Maxwell’s main guys. Winter picked him up an hour ago. Seems you guys are not far behind in your questioning Lauren,” Storm told Galvin.

“So what did Winter get out of the guy?”

“It took some manipulating but it seems Jasper is more fearful of Dmitri than of Maxwell. Jasper gave up a lot of information. Maxwell not only wants to take over the company Dmitri and others have investments in, but he also planned on falsifying documents to state that Lauren’s father gave over all his shares in her father’s company to Maxwell. He would own a monopoly in New York and wipe out Dmitri and our own investments. Apparently he had made plans with Aces to be partners. Aces would provide the muscle, the guns and protection. That’s what the talk was from Miklos and his brothers in regards to asking Stephan to join them in taking over the locations in New York.”

“Damn, it sounds so complicated. But how did they find out about Lauren and her sisters owning the shares?” Galvin asked.

“Unfortunately someone made a call asking about having the funds transferred to Lauren’s account and making her and her sisters aware of their inheritance. Maxwell still has people working on the inside and he is a shareholder in the company so they made him aware of the call and the person. A little digging and there you go. We also believe that Frankie set Lauren up to be used as bait and go undercover at Phaze that night.”

“Why do you believe that, Storm?” Galvin asked.

“Frankie wasn’t the only dirty cop. Roach and Federal Agent Burk were on Maxwell’s payroll as well,”

“Shit. So when Lauren went in undercover and the operation, which was legit as far as the detectives from her department and the state police knew, Frankie’s plan worked. He knew she would do a great job undercover and that she would wind up wanted by Ace and his crew,” Galvin said aloud as the others listened in.

“It sure did work out as planned except Frankie didn’t give Lauren enough credit. He probably never expected her to take out eight guys and Aces, plus live. Throw in her being rescued by Dmitri and Mary, and Frankie’s and Maxwell’s plan failed. But these men marked Lauren for death. How the hell are we going to put a stop to all of this?” Galvin asked.

“Dmitri is issuing a family protection over Lauren. No one can touch her. Frankie is being charged with the murders of the agents and detectives working the case, and all other corrupt officers will be arrested and charged as well. Roach was the only other detective we found to be dirty. We’re working on bringing down Maxwell with Stephan’s help as we speak. The Tenth Street gang will be handled by myself and my team.”

“Can we be of assistance?” Galvin asked. “Lauren is our woman and we’d like to ensure her safety.”

“Let us handle this part. Lauren will more than likely need to head back to New York to claim her and her sisters’ inheritance by selling off the shares of the company to someone.”