Untraceable (39 page)

The first mental explosion was over
the fact that Micah already revealed to him that Jonathan was Mafia
and, worst still, he worked for Leonard Caprizio. “No Nadia, baby
please listen to me. She’s not with her dad—these guys lie so
freaking good they could make a hooker believe she’s a
nun!”

“
I spoke to Lee. I know it
was him. It’s not a trick,” she tearfully added.

“
You don’t understand,
baby,” he stressed, hoping she’d listen to what he was telling her.
“This is what these guys do. They’ll research a person’s whole life
and make you believe anything they say to lure you in. You told me
Leese’s never met her dad. She’s—”

“
I told you; I spoke to
him on the phone. It was him. It—”

“
Nadia,” he practically
screamed at her, “you haven’t spoken to this guy in almost twenty
years!! What makes you think you’d know his voice from anyone else
out there?!
It’s a trap! Damn it, it’s a
trap and you and Kimmy are walking right into
it!
”

The line clicked and all went quiet.
He dialed her back, but it went straight to voicemail.

Nadia would have never hung up on him.
Someone had just taken her phone away.

~:~

“
I’m sorry, Ms. Winslett,”
the young man stated as he removed the battery from her phone and
placed it in his pocket. “Mr. Caprizio won’t allow any phone calls
once we’re in New York airspace.”

“
Why?” she asked, trying
to remain calm.

“
Phones are too easy to
track,” he stated unemotionally. “Relax. We’ll be landing in a
little bit and this will all be over with and you’ll be with your
daughter.”

She was so sure she had been right to
do this, but what if David knew what he was talking about? What if
she had just made the worst mistake of her and Kimmy’s lives? She
leaned her head against her sleeping child and began to
pray.

CHAPTER thirty

The newest boss of the Moretti clan
wasn’t careful, she was brassy. When Jerry called at seven in the
morning, frantic to tell about Botachelli’s murder, telling her all
that happened, what he heard, what he eventually saw, and what
Micah threatened to do to Rizzo to ensure cooperation, she was
impressed—and ready to show Micah exactly how impressed.

She hung up the phone as a devious
grin turned the corners of her lips, and she nibbled on her index
nail. Soon she would tell her men it was okay to let Giovanni leave
with Leese. Giovanni would show Leese the video, effectively
breaking her stupid little heart. Even if Micah made the decision
to go back to Leese, which she doubted, Leese herself would push
him away, and then she would be waiting; Micah would be hers. The
grin felt as if it went inside her all the way to her belly button.
She loved her wicked plan.

She was certain after her
last night with Micah that she had convinced him he was no good for
Leese. She didn’t think he’d actually be as easy to crack as he had
been over this issue, but she sensed how truly, deeply, and madly
Micah was in love with his wife. She also sensed that his love was
so strong that he would do anything—
anything
—to keep from hurting
her.

She didn’t like the idea of him being
so filled with emotion for that rich, rotten bitch. She’d rarely
experienced true jealousy in her lifetime, but she was desperately
jealous of Micah’s affections for Leese. The sensations and
feelings were foreign and uncomfortable. She wanted Micah to feel
that way about her, and she wanted it with a hunger that now
surpassed all her ambitions. If she could have his heart, and could
keep it all to herself forever, she would attain another foreign
emotion: joy.

She smiled as she took her fingertips
and brushed her lips, remembering the sensation of his mouth
covering hers, and the force of his tongue as he claimed her.
“Mmm,” she purred, the tingle from the memory rolled up from
somewhere deep inside. She wanted another kiss. She wanted him
taking ownership of her—and she wanted it now.

Micah said it was too soon to be seen
together and that Atlantic City was the wrong place for their next
meeting, but she didn’t care.

“
I want to show you your
new home,” she said as if he was a pet that she was about to
purchase.

“
I have a home—in
Louisiana.”

“
Fine. Then I’ll show you
your new home for when you’re running things here, and then we’ll
fly to Louisiana and you can show me your place.” She could hear
his frustration mounting in the silence. She smiled and continued,
sinking the hook deep in his skin, “You did want me to turn her
loose today, didn’t you? You’ve fulfilled your end of the bargain;
I want you to know that I intend to keep my end of it. You
did
promise to stay if I
didn’t cross you—you meant that, right? Or have you decided to ruin
the rest of her life? The game ends when you stop hurting
her.”

“
No more games. If
Giovanni does what you tell him—and he hasn’t hurt her—I’ll
stay.”

“
He’s promised me that she
is unharmed—he’s simply waiting on my phone call and then she’ll be
safe…forever. Without you in her life, the mafia has no interest in
her.”

“
Where do you want to
meet?”

“
Ocean Club condominium in
Atlantic City. Where are you? I’ll arrange a flight.”

“
Where I’m at is none of
your business. I’ll arrange my own flight and be there in four or
five hours.”

She sighed, but smiled, “Still
stubborn—you know that stubborn streak of yours is something I find
highly attractive.” He didn’t respond, so she continued, “Don’t
eat. We’ll have lunch, make the call and then spend the rest of the
day and night celebrating her release and our future Family
merger.”

“
Maybe.”

She didn’t like that remark. She
wasn’t about to come this far and have him change his mind. “You
know I’m not one to usually say this kind of thing, but you truly
have impressed me.”

“
Why? Because I made a
bloody mess out of both hits?”

“
No, of course not,” she
stated as if the hits were no longer of any importance. “I just
never figured you for the noble type, sacrificing what you so
selfishly wanted
and
took
,” she reminded him, “only to turn
around and give them a chance for a real life.” She wore a wicked
blissful smile as she finished, “I never thought you actually cared
enough about them to let go.”

He hung up on her.

She laughed; breaking a man was so
much fun!

Micah made it to ACY by noon, but not
because he was anxious to see Sharon; he wanted to hear her make
that call. He wanted Leese to be free. When she was completely out
of Giovanni’s grasp and truly safe, he’d call David and tell him
where to find her. He would ask his mother to arrange a new life
for Leese, and that new life would take her to Nova Scotia with
Nadia, Kimmy, and David.

Sharon was right: he needed to step
out of Leese’s life before any more disasters happened. As soon as
he knew she was out of the country and out of harm’s way, Micah was
going to settle all these problems, once and for all. Leese
wouldn’t be happy—not for a while anyway—but she and their son
would have a better life without him. And as for the plotting
little seductress who suddenly wanted to share her empire, she
would soon wish she’d never even heard the name Micah
Gavarreen.

Although Sharon called Atlantic City
home, he knew her actual sphere of mafia influence was thin in the
area. Her Families main influence was farther south. This was one
of those ‘overlapping’ areas where the Capo dei Capi controlled the
majority of the activity, but Sharon’s Family had a few business
interests in the area that they were permitted to
operate.

It was Vitale Moretti and his father
who had been the reason for the Capo dei Capi’s tolerance. They had
been friends long ago with Caprizio’s father and grandfather. When
the lower east coast began to grow, Caprizio’s Grandfather made a
deal with Moretti’s father which allowed the formation of a new
Family. Naturally, as did all the Families, percentages of income
were given to the Capo dei Capi to ensure their continued survival.
Most of the Families looked upon Caprizio as the Internal Revenue
Service of sorts within the mafia. As long as you paid what you
owed them, they were happy to allow you to work and earn. If you
tried to cheat them, they’d take more than just your assets, they’d
take your life—mafia audits were pure hell.

Micah was positive that Sharon didn’t
want Caprizio to know she ordered her father’s execution. She would
certainly say it was Micah’s means of ‘getting back at her’ for
taking Leese (which he doubted she told him who she was plotting to
kidnap in the first place). Even Botachelli’s assassination might
come into question if she played it right. She could say she had
been arranging a deal with Botachelli and that made him a target.
She could literally get away with two huge murders, but she
wouldn’t; Micah was going to make sure of that. When the time was
right, her dirty deeds would be fully exposed. Micah would be made
righteous or dead, both were a possibility.

He wasn’t positive, but he had a good
idea what Sharon might have promised Caprizio for helping with her
plan. He was still thinking about that puzzle. It had to be
monetary because he wouldn’t stoop to have sex with an old friend’s
daughter—that just wouldn’t be apropos. Sharon wouldn’t care of
course; Micah was pretty sure she had no qualms about sleeping with
anyone, but Caprizio would.

His thoughts paused briefly as he
pushed the button for the elevator to open. He didn’t like being
here on Moretti home turf. He didn’t like being with Sharon because
she constantly reminded him that he was the source of Leese’s
problems.

A grandmother and her four young
grandchildren approached to get on the elevator as well. It was
obvious that they had spent the morning on the beach. The children
were pink from a little too much sun and they had beach sand stuck
all over them. They noisily clamored around him as they waited for
the doors to open.

The littlest one was dragging his
soggy towel on the floor and telling his grandmother how hungry he
was. Micah guessed he was three or four. He had salt-water tousled
brown hair and beautiful green eyes. A sharp pain stabbed at his
chest as he realized that his own son would probably look similar
when he reached that age. In his oblivion while staring at the
child, he didn’t notice that the elevator doors opened. Suddenly,
without hesitation, the little boy reached up and took Micah’s
hand.

“
Come on,” he said in his
little voice, pulling Micah into the open space.

“
Daniel, leave that nice
man alone. He probably doesn’t want your sandy hand,” the
grandmother said rather sternly.

Micah felt a lump rise in his throat
as he allowed the child to lead him. “No, he’s fine,” he finally
managed to say. The woman chatted for four floors, but Micah wasn’t
paying attention as the little boy continued to hold his hand until
the doors opened and they were stepping out.

“
Come on,” the little boy
encouraged, tugging again on Micah’s hand, “Come home wiff us.” The
other children giggled as he tried to get the big stranger off the
elevator.

Micah put his free hand out so that
the door wouldn’t try to close, “I’m sorry, I can’t,” he said,
offering a soft smile to the child, “This isn’t where I belong. I
have to go somewhere else.”

“
Daniel let go,” his
grandmother said, and then apologized to Micah.

She pulled him and he reluctantly
allowed his hand to slip from Micah’s. Just before the doors
closed, he watched the little boy turn and wave goodbye.

He couldn’t stop thinking about what
he said to the little boy, ‘This isn’t where I belong. I have to go
somewhere else.’ He may have stepped into Leese’s world and
fathered a child, but it wasn’t where he belonged. Before the doors
opened on the thirty-third floor, he closed his eyes and prayed
that in a few minutes Leese and his son would be free from Sharon,
from Giovanni, and from him.

It was a magnificent view from the
outer corridor of the top floor. He paused on the walkway and let
the Atlantic breeze flood his senses. He needed a minute to
compose. He didn’t want her to see how thoroughly she had broken
his spirit. By the time he walked to her door, he was in control,
unemotional, and ready to get this over with.

She was, naturally, happy to see him.
Her condo was impressive even if he wasn’t in the mood to be
impressed. Hers was the top floor and the ceiling rose two stories
above him. There was a circular staircase that led to the upper
floor and miles and miles of ocean views from every grand window.
Most of the furnishings were white, but there were some
exceptionally pale blue cushions tossed here and there for a little
color, and clean lines were everywhere. The kitchen was an open
plan and the counters were classic white and gray marble. She had
her balcony doors open and a table set up for lunch
outside.

She smiled as she watched him take in
his surroundings, “So, do you like it?”