Crossing Danger: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (17 page)

“No. I never said that,” he responded.

“Huh! Right...good one.” This was not going well, and I hoped he’d let it go. I closed my eyes as my brain automatically began singing,
let it go, let it go, can’t hold it back anymore.

Luckily, we pulled up in front of the club and Ramos jumped out to open the door. He had a lopsided grin on his face and was thinking that I just didn’t know when to shut up. His thoughts would have upset me if they weren’t so true.

He took my hand to help me out and noticed my stricken expression. As I came beside him, he leaned against my ear and whispered. “Cheer up...it’s not so bad.” He thought it was highly entertaining, and he loved it.

Well...at least someone thought it was funny, but I wasn’t so sure Uncle Joey would agree.

Uncle Joey came to my side and ushered me into the club while Ramos drove the car around back. The large man at the door lowered his head and greeted us. “Mr. Manetto. Good to see you. I have your private room ready. Your guest has already arrived.”

“Thank you,” he answered, not surprised in the least that Blake was already there.

I remembered how to get to Uncle Joey’s private room from the last time I’d been there, so I led the way. It brought back memories of how much fun I’d had winning all that money from Uncle Joey and his poker friends. “Do you still play poker with the guys?” I asked him.

He smiled. “Yes. In fact, the boys have asked about you and how well you did in Vegas.”

“Really? What did you tell them?”

“The truth. That you haven’t gone yet. We’ll have to remedy that sometime...if you’d like,” he added. “We could take my jet. It’d be fun and make us some good money.”

“Well...I do owe Chris a favor. Could he come?”

“Certainly.” He was thinking Ramos and Chris both looking out for me on a trip to Vegas would be extremely amusing.

“Um...maybe I’d better think about that.”

Uncle Joey chuckled, and we turned the corner to the back room. Inside, a waitress set a drink in front of Blake who glanced at us with a quick nod. She waited for us to join him and asked for our drink orders. After she left, Uncle Joey began. “It’s nice to see you Blake. It’s been a long time.”

“Yes, it has,” Blake answered. “I didn’t think we’d ever cross paths again, but things change. I take it you’re still in the business?” There was a definite undertone of disapproval in his voice.

“Of course,” Uncle Joey answered. “You knew that wasn’t going to change.”

Blake shrugged. “But things do change...all the time.”

“And some don’t,” Uncle Joey countered. “You still working for the government?”

Blake tilted his head. “Touché.” His thoughts turned to the past, and guilt struck again for what he’d done to Joe. After all this time, he realized they weren’t so different after all. In fact, he’d probably been the reason for more people’s deaths than Manetto ever was. Sure, he’d taken the high ground, but in the end he was a bigger bully than any crime lord. The fact that he did it on the side of the law was supposed to make it okay, but now he wasn’t so sure.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here in your life again,” Blake began, then glanced at me. “And I’m wondering why you keep Shelby so close.” He smiled apologetically, hoping Joe would explain his reasons for my proximity.

“I thought you wanted her here,” Uncle Joey countered. “That’s what Ramos told me.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said, pausing to give Uncle Joey a chance to respond. When he didn’t, Blake sighed dramatically. “Fine. Maybe someday you’ll tell me.”

Uncle Joey chuckled. “Don’t count on it.”

Blake nodded and took another sip of his drink. He’d checked up on me after breakfast, when he’d heard that I helped the police, and found my website. He’d also found out that the FBI had a file on me. It was small, but I’d helped them with a gang problem a while back. In big letters it said I was a psychic, or more accurately, that I had premonitions.

That came up in the police files he’d studied as well. So he concluded that there must be something to it, or Manetto wouldn’t value my services...and, more importantly, keep me so close. It also made perfect sense that Joe wouldn’t want him to know any of that.

His thoughts swirled with speculation about me, going from disbelief to hope that I was the real deal. If so...he could use someone like me and hoped there was a way he could work out a deal for my services. He thought there was a pretty good chance it could happen, given his investigation.

I swallowed and felt the blood drain from my head, making me a little dizzy. This guy had connections...and knew way too much about me. I took a sip of my drink with a wish that I’d never come. This was awful. Maybe he really was a spy.

Breathing a little too fast, I took a deep cleansing breath and let it out slowly to get under control. Now, more than ever in my life, I needed to keep my wits about me and not slip up. There was too much at stake if he ever found out my secret.

“I might as well get right to the point,” Blake said, thinking that with his silence and unruffled stare, Joe was a master at getting people to talk. “I heard some things about your trip to Mexico. From what I’ve gathered through the intelligence agency, I think I know why you were there and, as far as I’m concerned, you did nothing wrong. In fact, you defeated el puño de hierro, The Iron Fist. Not something many could do. Even Inspector Salazar was under his thumb...and...you almost got away with it.”

Oh crap! Did he say intelligence agency...meaning CIA? I’d had a visit from them while Uncle Joey was in Mexico. Did that mean they had a file on me too?

“What do you mean?” Uncle Joey asked.

“His father...he’s an old man now, but he vowed revenge on the man who killed his son and destroyed his family business. With his last penny, he sent an assassin after you. I was on my way to warn you when you “died” on that boat. I thought I was too late. In retrospect, that little stunt might have saved your life. I followed the assassin’s trail to Seattle, but lost him after your ‘death.’”

Uncle Joey raised his brows. He wasn’t sure he believed any of it. “So what brings you here now?”

“I got word that he’s back in the country.” Blake read the skepticism in Uncle Joey’s eyes and smiled. “I didn’t think you’d take my word for it, so I brought some proof.” He reached into his inside jacket pocket, and Ramos was on him in an instant. He huffed out a breath and raised his hands. “Go ahead and take it out yourself.”

Ramos reached into Blake’s pocket and pulled out a folded manila envelope, which he placed on the table, and stepped back. Blake opened it and drew out a few grainy photos of someone with black scraggly hair and a big mustache. With all that hair, it was hard to tell what he looked like. “That’s him arriving at the airport. See the date and time stamp?”

Uncle Joey frowned. “How can you tell it’s him?”

“Without the hair and mustache...the computer images fit the descriptions we have of him.” No one had ever taken a photograph of him without a disguise, but he’d had his computer experts work on this image for a possible match to other photos they had of him, and it had come back positive.

“That’s the same day you sent me that little package.”

“Yes,” Blake said. “I knew that if I left that package for you, you’d find me, thereby allowing me to keep our association under wraps. As I’m sure you know, there are some people who wouldn’t approve of my reaching out to you.”

He was thinking that he was also here for another reason entirely, but that was not something we needed to know. “I’m being upfront about this because of our past...and that unfortunate incident.”

Uncle Joey considered his sincerity. What Blake had done to him was bad, but he’d gotten his revenge and thought they were even. When I’d given him Blake’s note, he’d had a foolish hope that they could let bygones be bygones. But now he wasn’t so sure. Why did Blake bring it up now? Was there some other reason he was here, and this was just a front?

“So where’s this assassin?” Uncle Joey asked.

“I’m not sure,” Blake shrugged. “I know he’s here and I might be able to tell you more if you agree to help me with something.”

Uncle Joey smiled. “Now that’s more like the Blake I know. What do you want?”

Blake’s lips twisted into a smile as well. He knew Joe would see through this and, for some reason, it brought him immense satisfaction. He’d always admired Joe...hell, he still did. “Do you still have connections with PLM Investments?”

Uncle Joey’s smile fled, and his brows furrowed. “No. In fact, I dissolved that company a few years ago.”

“Hmm...well...it’s recently come up in something I’ve been looking into.” Blake thought, from Joe’s response, that he was telling the truth. Joe had no idea what was happening.

“You’re serious,” Uncle Joey said. “What’s going on?”

“If you don’t know...my guess is someone’s using your old company as a front, either to frame you, or as a safeguard for themselves if they ever get caught. Naturally, you’d be the first to get the blame for any illegal activity.”

“I don’t know anything about it. But I will certainly look into it. Is that what you wanted?”

“Yes,” Blake said.

“And what about this assassin? Is he real?”

“Oh yes, he’s very real, and he’s here. They call him the ‘chameleon’ because he’s good with disguises and blends in so well with his surroundings. We’ve been trying to track him down for years, but he’s always one step ahead of us. I hoped we could help each other and get rid of him once and for all.”

“How did you plan on doing that?” Uncle Joey asked. Blake didn’t answer right away, and Uncle Joey nodded. “I see...you want to use me as bait.”

Blake shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t know of any better way. He’s coming for you whether you like it or not but, this way, you’ll be prepared.”

“And how would you help me?”

“I can assign a couple of my men to keep tabs on your movements. Once they spot him, they can relay that information directly to you.”

“You mean they can follow me wherever I go? No. I don’t think so.” Uncle Joey was thinking there was no way he’d ever give an agent permission to follow him. That was like asking to be arrested.

“Just think about it,” Blake said. “And...as a show of good faith, we think he may have come to your building today as a delivery person with a package. Did you get a package today?”

“I...don’t know.” He turned to Ramos. “Did we?”

Ramos remembered how excited Jackie was over a delivery that came late this afternoon. “Yeah...we got a delivery...after you left for your meeting. It was a floral arrangement.”

“From whom?” Uncle Joey asked.

“Uh...I think Jackie said it was from you. There might have been a card...but I don’t know.”

Uncle Joey whipped out his cell phone and called Jackie. “Hi dear...did you get the flowers?” He listened to her response, then closed his eyes. “Good...I’ll be home in a little bit. Could you do me a favor and lock the doors and turn on the security system? I want to make sure it’s working when I get home. Good. I’ll see you soon.”

Uncle Joey slipped his cell phone into his pocket and glanced at Blake. “You think he might have killed me if I’d been there?”

Blake lifted a brow. “Maybe, but I doubt it. He might have put some kind of bug on the vase, so he’ll know when you’re in the office and what your schedule is like. It would give him a better opportunity to kill you while no one’s looking.”

Blake could tell that Uncle Joey still didn’t want his help. “Check the vase...if there’s a bug on it, then you’ll know I’m telling the truth, and you’ll let me help you.”

“All right, I’ll check it out, along with the investment company,” Uncle Joey agreed.

“Good. I just have one more request. If you do get a shot at the assassin, I would deem it a great favor if you could take him alive. I’d be happy to take him off your hands.”

“Is that all?”

I thought that was a great question and listened closely to Blake’s thoughts. He was thinking
not by a long shot,
but he smiled agreeably. “For now...yes, but I’m hoping that if our paths cross again in the future, we can become allies if conditions warrant it. You never know when you might need someone like me on your side.” He was thinking,
maybe even sooner than you think.

Uncle Joey raised a brow but knew he couldn’t turn down an offer like that. There were times in the past when he could have used Blake and his connections. Of course he’d be a fool to turn this opportunity down. But he knew he could never trust him again.

Blake took a card out of his pocket, wrote something on the back, and handed it to Uncle Joey. “Here’s a phone number you can use to reach me...it’s untraceable.”

He turned to Ramos. “Be sure and take extra precautions for Joe’s safety tonight. I wouldn’t want anything to spoil our agreement.”

Blake stood and glanced at me, holding out his hand for me to take. Naturally, I placed mine in his, and he raised it to his lips for a quick kiss. “My dear, it has been a pleasure. I hope you’ll warn Joe if you see anything threatening him in the near future.”

Wow. I couldn’t help being impressed, and a genuine smile came to my lips. He was a master at taking control of a situation, and he had the southern charm to show it. “Thanks Blake, but the only thing I see threatening him right now is you.”