Ring of Lies (85 page)

‘
I don’t think of myself as ‘
Mrs.
Elliott’ anymore, Mike. I guess you could say I’ve had the shit kicked out of me too.
’

‘
She’s a tough woman, Jack. I like her. I always liked her, but there’s something different about her now.
’

Grace smiled and looked down at the sleeping baby.
‘
I had
a reality check, you might say. I found out what’s really important in life too.
’

‘
So,
’
Jack said, a little uneasily.
‘
Is Chrissie going to keep you under lock and key for a while?
’

‘
For a while, b
ut then we’re going to take a
cruise
.
I don’t know where yet. It doesn’t matter.
All that
matters is it’s another day and I’m breathing
,
and I’ve got a woman who loves me. God knows why…
’

‘
I think I know why,
‘
said Grace, looking first at Mike, then over at Jack.

‘
Well,
’
said Mike.
‘
So h
ow does it feel to
crack
one of the largest counterfeit
prescription drug operations
on record
?
’

‘
I wish I could say it was because of my brilliance and intuition. Truth is,
I was lucky
.
’

Mike smiled grimly.
‘
You’re a damned good
agent,
Jack, even if you do bend the rules.
’

‘
Does that mean you’ve cut my transfer orders?
’

Mike laughed.
‘
Hell, no.
They won’t let me near a computer
yet
.
’

‘
I spoke to Anderson’s doctor
,
’
said Jack
.
‘
The bullet missed the bone and passed right through his leg. He’ll
out of hospital in a few days
, but he won’t be back in action for a while
.
’

‘
I’
m glad to
know he’s okay
.
He’s a good man.
’

‘
And it t
urns out
Salazar
’s
been on Interpol’s radar for some time, mainly for
racketeering
.
Trafficking fake prescription drugs is a new
game for him
.
’

‘
What do we know about him
apart from the fact he had a Swiss Bank account
?
’
asked Mike

‘
He’s Eurasian. Chinese mother, Portuguese father. My guess is that the
narcotics
are
manufactured in
China. Before the
vessel
reaches
the U.S.
, the drugs
get
off loaded onto a smaller
ship
and taken to Salazar’s home on Marathon K
ey and distributed from there.
’

‘
Sounds plausible. Have you notified the FDA?
’

‘
Yeah, and the DEA.
T
he Swiss authorities have seized the contents of his bank account.
’

‘
The lab extracted DNA off the cigarettes you found in the study.
’
Mike turned to Grace.
‘
I’m sorry, but your sister
’s
is a perfect match
.
I understand you
found Elliott’s ATM card in her luggage.
Don’t blame yourself. Catherine’s an adult. She made her choices.
’

A momentary look of sadness crossed
Grace’s
face.
‘
She made her choices. That’s true, she did. None of them included me.
’

‘
She wanted everything in life and
she decided a life of
crime was the
solution
,
’
said Mike.
‘
It’s not your fault.
’

‘
It feels that way sometimes. A lot.
’

Jack squeezed
Grace’s
hand.
‘
It’ll take time, baby. You’ll forgive yourself. You did everything you could. Even if you’d have done more, it wouldn’t have been enough.
’

Mike scratched at his IV drip.
‘
These nurses. They can’t even put on a
Band-Aid
without messing it all up.
’

‘
The results of the second autopsy on Elliott
cam
e through
,
’
said Jack.

‘
And
?
’

‘
His real name is Niall Del
oi
tte
. He’s the s
on of Christiano Del
oi
tte, a Mafia boss in New York
back
in the ‘50s. When
his father
was murdered, Niall’s mother, who was Irish, sent her son to live with relatives in
Dublin
.
’

‘
So
,
why
the change of name
?
’

‘
I guess
she
thought she was
saving her son from a life of crime
.
’

‘
Pity it didn’t work out that way,
’
said Mike.
‘
By the way, Jack. Did Diego tell you
the news
?
’

‘
W
hat?
’

‘
Hector Suárez
spilled
his guts. Turns out
hi
s older brother, Estefan, is serving time
for drug running
and murder
.
’

‘
I know.
So?
’

‘
Estefan
got
engaged
just before he got busted
. Two guesses
about his fiancée
.
’

‘
Come on, you know I’m not good at this. I give up.
’

‘
Rosa Nunuz.
’

Jack swallowed.
‘
No shit.
’

‘
None whatsoever. And she got
arrested this morning for attempted murder
of an FBI agent
.
You, Jack.
’

Grace
grasped his arm.

‘
She must have been pretty pissed at you,
’
Mike said.
‘
She
hired
Hector to follow you and kill you.
’

Jack shook his head.
‘
I always knew she
used me. At first I thought it was for green cards, but now I can see she wanted revenge.
’

‘
You
weren’t the
first to get suckered by a pretty face, son.
She’ll be doing some serious time. And when she gets out
t
here
isn’t
a judge
alive who’ll
grant her custody of Emilia
.
’

At the sound of her name
Emilia
’s eyes fluttered open
and she gurgled softly
.
Grace gently rocked her back and forth.

‘
Well, Mike,
I thin
k it’s time we left you to rest
.
’

‘
One more thing before you go, Jack.
’