Deadly Little Secrets Page 0,125
doing?” she hissed, terrified that with his wounds, with his stubborn need to fix things, he would die too before she had a chance to talk to him, tell him she forgave him—loved him.
“He’s here, Ana,” he whispered. “Get your team down here, before Gandolpho’s men find him.”
He hung up.
“Damon!” Ana shouted. Everyone froze as she shouted orders to the driver. Even Pretzky jumped as she fired out directions to send them speeding down the highway. “Here’s the address,” she read it out to Damon. “How far?”
“Ten minutes.” The answer came from the NY state trooper. “I know that section. I’ll direct him.”
He opened his own phone, relayed the destination to the state troopers following them. One peeled off, took a ramp, and disappeared.
A few minutes later, they also took a curved ramp at speed, and all the blue-lights went dark, the sirens silent. How Pretzky had managed this much cooperation in this short a time, Ana couldn’t imagine. As she hung on to the car’s handholds, she decided instead just to be grateful.
Cars lined the entrance to the industrial park. A variety of men stood by or leaned on the cars. None of them looked happy, and none of them looked innocent.
“Gandolpho Family,” the trooper in the car with them murmured, puzzled. “But they’re just waiting.”
“Gates,” Dav said, understanding dawning on his face. He turned to Ana. “You said he called in a favor.”
The trooper looked at him warily. “What favor? With the Gandolphos?”
“Long story,” Ana said. “Here, we’re at the warehouse. What now?”
“Sir, you stay here,” Pretzky told Dav. “Looks like the locals have SWAT in place. Agent Burton and I will move closer. We’ll keep you posted.”
“Gates is down there,” Dav whispered to Ana. “He’s close, watching this guy. He’d feel like he needed to do this, be part of it, to make it up to you.”
She nodded, understanding what he was saying. Gates was his priority, not D’Onofrio or the art case. Dav was willing to let anything else go to keep Gates safe.
“I understand,” Ana said, knowing she felt the same way. Her loyalties were split now, between the job and Gates. Her heart might be torn up and scarred by the events of the day, but it knew what it wanted in the end: Gates.
“Be careful. He needs you,” Dav murmured, his voice layered with worry, pride, fear, and frustration. Ana knew how he felt, but could do nothing to help. Dav wasn’t trained for this and had to rely on her, on others, to protect his friend.
With a last squeeze of her hand, Dav released her, and closed the limo door quietly behind her. Within minutes Damon had eased the big car back, not quite joining the Gandolpho lineup, but away from the potential firefight.
The warehouse sat in a tree-lined dip, hidden from view of the main road, and the highway to the right. A phalanx of police cars blocked the drive and, Ana presumed, any other entrances and exits.
Their trooper took up a position with the SWAT team, talking in a low, hurried shorthand to fill the SWAT commander in as Ana and Pretzky joined them at the blockade of two unmarked cars. Beyond them, the wide concrete driveway to the warehouse lay empty. FOR LEASE signs blocked part of the view of the building, but the trucks were silent, the lights dark. The building was almost eerily quiet.
“I’ve got two men moving up on the near side,” the commander filled them in after they’d shaken hands, introduced themselves. “Three going round the back.” He looked over to where another heavily armed, dark-clad woman stood. “Elsa,” he called. The woman nodded, banged on her black helmet, adjusted her mic, and gave a thumbs-up. “Take the roof.” He pointed up, pantomiming the climb and perch of a sniper, just in case her mic wasn’t working. She nodded, banged on the side of the helmet a couple more times as she trotted off. Within minutes, Ana could see her climbing the fire stair to the roof, a dark spot on the gray-white stone of the warehouse.
“So, we’ve got everyone in position. What’s the word? We after this guy alive at all costs, or what?”
Pretzky shrugged. “It’s gonna be a pissin’ match to see who gets him. Our case is nine years old, but he’s been running two different businesses with two different names, maybe three out of this warehouse, so the locals and state are going to want a shot too. Probably good for