Deadly Lode (Trace Brandon Book 1) (51 page)

“
Yes,
sir
, I understand.
I already told the other agent what I
’
d heard about the Chemist doing wet work for the
Pantelli
s.
”

“
Yeah, well
,
the Chemist is dead. I
’
ll
need you to agree to testify as to your knowledge of
his association with the
Pantelli
family.
”

“
Jesus, they
’
ll kill me.
”

“
No
,
they won
’
t. We
’
ll put you in the witness protection program
,
after you testify. You
’
ll get out of this place and get a fresh start. It
’
s up to you
, a
nd
I need your answer right now.
”

Bugati clasped his hands between his thighs and looked down at his prison
-
issue shoes for nearly a minute.

“
Okay,
I
’
ll do it. But
,
you
’
ve got to get me out of here
,
a
nd I mean fast. Word will get out I
’
ve been talking to the feds. Hell, I won
’
t last long enough to testify.
”

“
I
’
ll get the paper
-
work drawn up for you to sign. You
’
ll be out of here in a couple of days. Just
sit tight and
don
’
t do or say anything out of the ordinary. Got it?
”

“
I got it. Just don
’
t take to
o
fuckin
’
long. The
Pantelli
s
have
big ears and
long
arms
.
”

Bugati was right to be worried.
Pino
Pantelli
closed his cell phone and walked down the
hall
to his brother
’
s office.
He knocked twice and opened the door.

“
Got a sec, Al?
”

“
You bet
,
”
Al replied, looking up at Pino
.
“
Jesus, y
ou look
like death warmed over. What
’
s up?
”

“
Yeah, well, you remember when I told you a guard we have on the pad up at Pollack
said
the feds had visited with Vince Bugati?
”

Al thought for a moment
.
“
Yeah, I do. They were asking him questions about the Chemist?
”

“
Yep, well they came back
. Only this
time
they sent a big
-
gun agent by the name of
Monroe.
”

“
Our guy on the inside
is a senior officer.
He says
Bugati
is going to
be transferred to FBI
protective
c
ustody.
”

“
Holy shit,
”
Al said, shaking his head.
“
The little prick
’
s going to
rat us out, isn
’
t he?
”

“
Looks that way.
T
he fuckin
’
Chemist is pushing daisies
, bu
t Bugati may know enough to implicate us in a couple of hits.
”

“
How long have we got?
”

“
The guard says a couple of days
,
at most.
”

“
Jesus, it
’
s piss
-
poor timing
,
b
ut we
’
ve got no choice.

“
Agreed.
I
’
ll take care of it
,
”
Pino replied.
“
I know just the man for the job.
”

Pino
arranged for a woman to be at the prison
visitors area
the next day
. She was to meet
with
an inmate
named Anthony Delucia
,
and pass on Pino
’
s
instructions
.

Delucia was doing
twenty
years
for
manslaughter
after a
drug
deal
went south, a
Pantelli
drug deal
.
H
e
took the
bust
and refused any deal to testify against the
Pantelli
s. In return for his loyalty, the
Pantelli
s made sure his wife and two kids wanted for nothing.

Delucia would do the hit on Bugati.

C
hapter
5
7

W
hen I got back
from the Sullivan Mine, I
’d
received
an
e-mail,
with a
n
attach
ed photo
,
from Special Agent Monroe. H
is
e-mail
said
the fellow in the photo was a person of interest in Malcolm
’
s plane crash.
He also listed
a number of aliases. I opened the attachment but didn
’
t recognize the man
,
or any of the names listed. I forwarded the
e-mail
on to Cyrus and Wally.

Wally
e-mailed
me back within fifteen minutes
. He
’
d never seen or heard of the individual in the photo. Cyrus called a few minutes later.

“
Trace, it
’
s Cyrus. I looked at the photo and names
,
but neither ring
s
any bells with me.
”

“
Yeah
,
same here.
”

“
Listen, I
’
ll f
or
w
ar
d the photo on to some of my pals who run more in the
shadows
and see if I get any hits.
”

I chuckled
.
“
O
kay, Cyrus. Let me know if you turn up anything
.
”

Sean Flannigan needed to find more permanent quarters. The
Colonial
was great but too expensive
,
and too high profile
,
for a long stay. He decided to look for a condo he could rent on a monthly basis.
After a few days of looking
,
he found a nice building on the beach with a great pool. The property manager said there was only one vacant condo
in
the
building. The
owner was from Spokane, Washington
,
and occasionally let friends and business associates use the condo. She said she
’
d check about the possibility of a month
-
to
-
month rental.

***
**

Cyrus got the call
a day later
.

“
Mr. McSweeny, this is Doris Wright in George Town. Have you got a minute?
”

“
Sure, Doris. Everything okay with the condo?
”

“
Yes,
sir
, it
’
s just fine.
I
’
m calling because
I
’
ve had an inquiry from a gentlem
a
n who
’
d like to rent it on a monthly basis
,
for a few months.
Would you have
an interest in doing that?
”

Cyrus thought about it for a few moments
.
“
A
s a matter of fact, I
’m
not planning on using it for some months.
So, yes, I would be interested. What
’
s the going rate for a monthly rental?
”

“
I think three thousand a month with a seven
-
hundred
-
fifty
-
dollar deposit would be in line.
”

“
Okay, go ahead and rent it
, b
ut make it a maximum of three months. I may be coming down for a bit
,
after that.
”

“
Okay, I
’
ll contact the renter. He
’
s staying at the
Colonial
, a
nd I
’
ll
e-mail
you a copy of the lease. Do you want me to hold the funds in our account until you come down
,
or
set up something else?
”

“
No, that
’
ll be fine. It
’
ll give me some spending money when I come down,
”
Cyrus
said with
a laugh.
“
By the way, is it just one person or a couple?
”

“
Just one man. He seems very nice
,
and h
as a wonderful Irish accent. I believe he said his name
is
William O
’
Connell.
”

“
William O
’
Connell
?
Boy, that name seems familiar to me.
”

“
Well
,
I
’
ll get everything taken care of and send you the documents.
”

Cyrus hung up
,
still
trying to remember where he
’
d seen or heard that name before. Then it came to him
. He quickly re-opened Trace
’
s
e-mail
and scrolled down
.
William O
’
Connell was t
he third name on the list of aliases
.

Cyrus h
it Trace
’
s number on speed dial.

“
Trace, it
’
s Cyrus. You
’
re not going to believe this.
”

“
Hell, Cyrus
,
I
’
ve got the commies trying to take over my company
.
I just got back from having supper with
the
Pantelli
crime family
,
and I
’
m on a first
-
name basis with the fucking big Indians. I
’
ll believe damn near anything.
”

Cyrus laughed
.
“
F
ucking big Indians?
”

“
When I was working on my masters
,
I was mapping along the Yakima River
,
and I wanted to cross a suspension bridge over the river. I sent one of the undergrad students over to see if it was okay
to cross
.
The kid
came back and said the FBI was on the other side
,
and
told him
we couldn
’
t use the bridge. I said
,
‘T
he
FBI?
’
And he replied,
‘Y
ep
,
a fucking big Indian.
’
”

Cyrus laughed
.
“
W
ell
this is even better
. My property manager in the Caymans just called to see if I
’
d consider renting my condo out for a couple of months. I don
’
t have any plans to use it
, so
I told her sure. Guess who the renter is
?
”

“
Jimmy Hoffa
?
”

“
Very funny
, b
ut not too far off.
Try
,
William O
’
Connell.
”

“
William O
’
Connell? Where do I know that name from?
”

“
Check
the
e-mail
from the fucking big Indian
s
.
”

“
Holy shit, you
’
re right. It was one of the names
in the
e-mail
from Agent Monroe.
”

“
Exactly right
, and
it gets better.
The guy
’
s got
an Irish accent. I am going to send his picture to my property manager and see if it
’
s our man.
”

“
Ah, I
’
d hold off on doing that,
Cyrus
. You could be putting her in harm
’
s way. And
,
two,
if
your
manager
starts acting differently around
him
, he may get suspicious and disappear.
”

“
Yeah, you
’
re right, Trace. It
’
s just I want to get this son
of
a
bitch for
killing
Malcolm.
”

“
So do I. But I think our best course of action is to get Agent Monroe on the phone. Can you hold while
I
try and conference him in
?
”

“
Sure
.
”

I pulled Special Agent Monroe
’
s card from my desk and called his cell number.

“
Hello, Trace,
”
Monroe answered, seeing my name on his caller ID.
“
Did you get the
e-mail
I sent?
”

“
Morning, Agent Monroe. Yes
I
did
,
and
I forwarded it to Cyrus McSweeny to see if he recognized the photo.
I
’
ve got Cyrus on the line with us.
”

“
Mr. McSweeny, Special Agent Beau Monroe here. What have you fellows got for me?
”

“
We think we
’
ve located Sean Flannigan,
aka
,
William O
’
Conne
l
l,
”
I replied.

“
Did you recognize him from the photo?
”
Agent Monroe asked.

“
You tell him
,
Cyrus,
”
I replied.

“
Okay. No
,
not from the photo,
”
Cyrus said
,
“
b
ut from one of the aliases on the list.
”

“
Which name?
”
Monroe asked.

“
William O
’
Connell,
”
Cyrus replied.

“
I see,
”
Monroe said
.
“
A
nd how do you know where he is?
”

Cyrus snickered
.
“
H
e just rented my condo in George Town, Grand Cayman.
”

“
Are you sure?
”
Monroe asked
, his voice deadly serious
.

“
Pretty sure
, Agent Monroe,
”
Cyrus replied.
“
My property manager confirmed the name and mentioned the fellow had an Irish accent. I was going to send her his picture to confirm, but Trace thought we should contact you first.
”

“
You thought right. This guy is an IRA killer. He
’
d likely kill your property manager and skip the
i
sland
,
if he thought his cover was blown.
”