Untraceable (28 page)

Micah listened to the remainder of the
conversation, but he was already making plans to foul up her
shipment. Now all he had to decide was to either tell Gwen and let
the police make the bust, or to tell Botachelli and let the Family
know what was happening right under their noses.

He called Botachelli.

Micah knew there was no need for
pleasantries; his boss knew his number very well.

“
Yes,” came the terse,
deep voice.

“
Sharon Moretti has a huge
cocaine shipment coming in through the Port of New Orleans, I’d
love to see it intercepted.”

There was a brief pause. “Does this
have anything to do with your wife’s murder?”

Micah knew why Botachelli was asking.
There is a code followed in the mafia, one part of the code is
reserved for the treatment of wives. To attack a man or woman who
works for the mob is one matter, but to attack the wife of a mafia
member is a dire sin. D’Angelo had broken that solemn rule on
multiple occasions, and had he not been dead when his deeds were
uncovered, Botachelli would have ensured him to suffer a slower and
more humiliating death. As it was, the only thing left to do was
give him a traitor’s funeral—his body had been taken to the
landfill and buried with the garbage, and his name was removed from
the time-honored Family roll.

“
It was staged by Sharon.
I discovered today, just before the service, my wife is alive, but
Sharon has her.”

“
Then we take out Ms.
Moretti,” he said without hesitation.

“
No sir,” came Micah’s
careful response, “She had her taken and hidden by a protégé of
Caprizio’s.”

“
Caprizio,
” he stated in surprise.
“That certainly complicates matters. He orders me to leave you
alone and then he allows someone to take your wife? What the hell
did you do to piss him off so badly?”

“
I wish I knew,” Micah
stated with the most sincerity of his life.

“
You know where this is
leading, don’t you? Caprizio must be planning to let the Families
go through a shakeup so he can change the structure of the
organization. A mafia war will wreak havoc on everyone—and it
appears to be starting with you. I know you said you made a
commitment to change, but I’ll need you if this is going to get
bloody.”

“
Oh, it’s going to get
bloody, sir, sooner than anyone thinks—but I need the financial
structure to come out from under her feet first. I understand if
you don’t want to start that war right now, but if you aren’t
planning to intercept this shipment, I’ll have my
sister—”

“
Let Gwen take this one,”
he answered. “I’d rather show our power, but perhaps it would be
best for your wife if it appears to be something the police
stumbled across. I’ll inform my men so they know what Gwen is
doing. And, Micah,” he paused.

The pause was different and Micah
sensed it. Botachelli never actually liked him, but there was
something in his superior’s voice he never heard before, “Yes,
sir.”

“
Is there anything I can
do, or offer to help you?”

Micah was honestly surprised by the
sincerity in Botachelli’s voice, “Yes sir, there is.” He would need
to craft this carefully, “When everything turns to chaos and you
think I’ve lost my mind, I need your word you won’t kill me—at
least not until all the cards are played.” Micah listened to the
long, deep sigh.

“
You have my
word.”

The blood bath was about to
begin.

The next day, traffic on Sharon’s
phone stopped completely. He wasn’t overly concerned, but he was
frustrated as he waited impatiently for her to contact Giovanni
again. He was certain that she was staying in the vicinity, so it
was likely that she was now using a landline instead of her cell.
She made a single call the next day to discuss an issue concerning
a business associate with her father, but nothing more.

CHAPTER eighteen

David knew something was terribly
wrong when Micah and Ryan didn’t re-appear for the service. The
pastor delayed the start for fifteen minutes, but it was obvious
that they were gone. The service was beautiful, but David couldn’t
concentrate. He texted Micah, but there was no reply. He tried
calling, but it went unanswered. He forced himself to comfort
Nadia, telling her and Kimmy both that everything was fine. He said
he felt neither Micah nor Ryan wanted to breakdown in front of a
crowd. It was too much for those two to handle and perhaps they
needed private time to talk.

She didn’t appear completely
convinced, but he could tell she mustered her composure and courage
for Kimmy’s sake. When the service ended, his parents and Gwen said
he needed to take Nadia, Candace, and Kimmy home; they would start
looking for Micah.

As soon as they made it back to
Nadia’s, he went straight for his bags and confirmed his worst
fear: his guns were missing. But why take Ryan with him? If he was
going after the ones who rigged her car, why not take him? He and
Micah were a team.

He had been prepared to convince Nadia
to slip away with him to Canada for a ‘vacation,’ but he knew she
wouldn’t agree to leave, not now, not until she discovered what
happened to Micah. Everything was unraveling too quickly, and when
he saw the police cruisers pull into the driveway, he lost all
hope. He was certain they were coming to deliver news that Micah
was dead, and perhaps Ryan, too. Once they were seated in the
living room, he asked the officers to give him a moment as he
ushered a reluctant Kimmy off to her room. He pacified her by
saying he might have a surprise for her in a while. He hoped going
to Canada would be something a child would like.

Once he returned to the room, he took
Nadia’s hand and braced her for whatever news was about to be
shared. Candace was being a rock, but he was certain that under her
steady façade, she was scared to death. They sat there in stunned
shock as the detective said that although DNA couldn’t be
performed, a painstaking dissection of the charred remains revealed
that no remnant of a child could be found. The female who died in
the inferno wasn’t pregnant; it couldn’t have been
Leese.

He thought Nadia might freak out, but
instead she simply closed her eyes as tears ran down her cheeks.
The police asked their precursory questions about Leese’s
whereabouts, possible enemies who might have taken her against her
will, and if anyone had contacted them about a ransom. When they
said the FBI was getting involved, David asked them to leave. He
knew what Micah was doing now, and the only reason he could foresee
him taking Ryan along was to have him fly him to wherever he
thought he’d find Leese.

Candace gathered her things and told
Nadia she would be praying for them. He walked her to the door, and
then she was gone.

He returned to find Nadia sitting on
the edge of the sofa, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees,
hands clinched into fists and her thumbs pressed to her lips. Her
eyes were red and glassy as she rocked slightly to and fro. David
had been immune to fear most of his life, but he was afraid as he
stared at the woman he loved. He knew Nadia’s previous breakdown
and apparent attempted suicide had been the result of Robert
drugging her and Jack’s dirty work, but this time he was honestly
afraid that she was on the verge of a real breakdown—this had been
too much on her—too much on anyone.

He knelt on the thick carpet and
pulled her clinched hands away from her face, “Nadia, look at me.
Please, baby, look at me.”

Her eyes slowly rose to meet his
gaze.

“
I’ve got to get you and
Kimmy out of here. I’ll do everything I can to find Micah, and to
help him find her, but I have to know you and Kimmy are going to be
safe. I have a place in Bear River, Nova Scotia with a—”

“
Canada?” she questioned.
“I can’t leave now. I can’t… My God, David, she wasn’t in the
car.
She wasn’t in the car. Where is my
daughter?”
she sobbed
.

He opened his arms, planning to lean
into her and embrace her, but she slid forward off the couch and
crumpled into his hold. He was shushing her, kissing her
tear-soaked cheeks and whispering how much he loved her, telling
her that he had to keep her safe, telling her he’d go out of his
mind if something happened to her or Kimmy.

God, he’d never loved anyone or
anything like he loved her; he’d do anything to give this beautiful
woman back her happiness—even if it cost him every possession or
even the breath in his lungs, he’d sacrifice anything to see her
smile. As he held her, he felt something warm and moist on his
cheeks; when he reached up and wiped it away, he realized he was
crying with her. He couldn’t remember a time in his adult life when
he actually shed a tear. He came close when he realized what Leese
had done to save him and his family from execution, and again when
he asked Nadia to marry him, but even then he managed to hold them
back.

He was looking at his fingertips in
amazement when he felt Nadia’s tender hand brushing his tears away.
That only opened the flood gate wider.

“
I love you, David,” she
said as she placed a kiss on his lips, “but even more than that, I
trust you completely. If you say Kimmy and I need to go to
Canada—or wherever you choose, we’ll go. I love you so much; don’t
cry—I’ll do what you ask.”

And then she did something that made
his heart elate: she smiled. He couldn’t believe something so
simple, something so tender, something he once thought was an
insignificant human trait could make him feel the way her smile
could.

“
I know she’s alive—she
just has to be, David.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and
squeezed, kissing his ear and murmuring that there was finally a
glimmer of hope.

He found himself smiling, too. He
pulled from her embrace, “I need to call my parents and Gwen and
let them know what’s going on, but I’ve got to tell you, baby, all
I really want to do right now is carry you upstairs and love on
you—and the way I’m feeling right now, I swear I could do you for
hours.”

“
You call your parents;
I’ll tell Kimmy we’re going on a trip and to start packing, then
I’ll wait for you in the bedroom—I want you, too,” she added with a
seductive edge to the smile she’d been wearing.

By eight p.m. they would be on a
flight to Halifax. They’d spend the night, and then leave in a
chartered plane to Digby-Annapolis airport, pick up a car and drive
to Bear River. His mother found this place for him only a few days
ago when he said he was getting Nadia and Kimmy the hell out of
West Palm. He hadn’t even seen it yet, but according to her it was
a beautiful 150 year-old home that had been a bed and breakfast at
one time. It was on a seven acre parcel right on the
river.

When his mother told him Nadia would
love it, he told her to close the deal and arrange their
‘paperwork.’ The arrangements for Frank and Glenda Stottlebrook and
their daughter, Breelyn to take ownership immediately was finished,
and he had their new birth certificates, passports, school records,
and drivers licenses in his bag. He personally didn’t think he
looked like a Frank, but if it kept Nadia and Kimmy safe he’d
change his name to Ali Baba—he didn’t care. Once he got them
settled in the new house, he’d be back in the States looking for
Micah and Leese, and killing any mother-fucker who tried to stand
in his way—even if it took him all the way to the Capo dei
Capi.

CHAPTER nineteen

Gwen was ready with officers and DEA
agents when the container ship Paloma reached the docks in New
Orleans. Tugs guided her in place, and as soon as all the mooring
lines were secured, they swarmed the ship. Every crew member was
detained. Agents and dogs descended into the hold and the search
began for the drugs. The dogs alerted to the scent of the cocaine,
but they whined and circled in frustration as they tried to locate
it. When the agents came up empty handed, Gwen knew something was
amiss. The crew consisted mostly of seasoned veterans of the
shipping trade, and, Gwen suspected, of the drug trade as well. She
made her choices prudently as she singled out the men who were
youthful and nervous.

Hours later, in a highly illegal, but
extremely effective, private interrogation in the back of a seedy
warehouse, one of the men cracked. The news wasn’t what Gwen wanted
to hear.

When Micah answered his phone, she
decided the direct path was the best, “We have a big
problem—Botachelli has a leak close to him.”

“
What?” came Micah’s
stunned response.

“
The drugs were off-loaded
to a smaller boat before they made port—they weren’t on the Paloma,
and Sharon’s men never showed to pick up the shipment; someone told
them what was getting ready to go down. I don’t know if Botachelli
used your name when he told his closest men to keep out of our way,
but Sharon knew we were ready for her. If she finds out it was
you….” She didn’t finish her sentence, she didn’t need to. She knew
Micah understood the severity of the situation. She heard the long,
deeply frustrated exhaled breath on the other end of the
call.