The Dark Side: A Mafia Romance Thriller (Morozov Mafia Series Book 1)

5. FBI

Jolie shivered from the cold sting of the metal chair as she sat at a table in an interrogation room. A mirror revealed her reflection, a detestable sight that proved she wasn”t as fearless as she hoped she looked. She took her fingers away from her mouth, sneering at the broken, chewed nails. She could hear the chastisement from her mother since she was in seventh grade.

Jolie watched the clock tick by minute after minute. Her body shivered from the cold and emotional turmoil she was going through. It hadn”t even been twenty-four hours, and it felt like a week. More and more images from the shootout were attacking her. She replayed the event over a dozen times. Most of her actions were survival mode, so she didn”t hate on herself for hiding cowardly in a candy shelf. What she did chastise herself about was how she spoke to the mobsters.

They could have killed me at any moment.

Jolie didn”t know where the attitude came from. She was typically sweet and a friendly person. But in the middle of ”fight or flight,” she lost her consideration for others.

The door popped open, and she flinched. She hated how every sound since the shootout resonated like ground-shaking thunder.

”Miss Bell. I”m Special Agent Mally with the FBI.” The fifty-year-old black woman in a gray suit stretched out her hand. Jolie shook it with a forced tight smile, trying not to let the woman”s superior title whittle away her courage. ”You are the last of my interviews for today,” she announced happily, sitting in the stiff chair like it was a throne.

”I”m happy for you,” Jolie sweetly said.

Mally opened her folder, sifting through papers, trying to decide where she wanted to start. ”I”m sorry that you were involved in this terrible situation. I”m glad you weren”t hurt. Many can”t say the same.” She plopped three photos in front of Jolie. Three dead people were covered in bullet wounds and blood.

Jolie slapped a hand over her mouth and looked away.

Mally sat back and watched, taking in every reaction, trying to assess the truth behind each flinch and emotion. She felt guilty for a moment, but that went away as it usually does. ”This was caused by a blood feud between opposing gang members. Do you know which gang members they are?”

Jolie shook her head, wiping a tear from her cheek while she refused to look back at the table.

”These people shouldn”t have died.” Mally leaned in, pointing. ”Xander, 24, buying formula for his newborn baby. Ginger, 33, paying for gas after working at the hospital as an ER nurse. And Paul. A homeless guy who”s been a friend of mine for a while. So, I”m personally invested in finding out who did this.”

”I”m sorry. I don”t know.”

Mally hated it when they lied. It was annoying, and it wasted time. ”You”re a good girl, Jolie. You pay your taxes, obey traffic laws, and you even turned in your boyfriend for robbing a bank. I”m sure he didn”t like that. Did you guys break up?”

Jolie didn”t want to feed into it, but that situation had escalated and stuck with her for years afterward. It was another reason why she had to get out of that town. ”Snitch” was pinned to the back of her head everywhere she went. No one would have cared if her boyfriend had been anyone else but the star quarterback.

Jolie nodded.

Mally shifted back in her chair with a smug little smirk. ”Heard he got eight years. And it looks like parole”s coming up.”

Jolie didn”t understand why the agent was talking about this. Jolie knew about her ex-boyfriend”s parole. She was recently contacted to come in to testify against it.

Mally placed another photo on the table. It was a picture of Jolie holding Helina. ”That”s the daughter of Adrik Yakov Morozov. He will be the next head of a very powerful mafia family that stations here. I”ve been trying to destroy their illegal corporation for years.”

Jolie latched onto anger. She was angry at the woman for bringing up her ex, putting horrible photos in front of her face, and acting like she was guilty. Jolie crossed her arms and met her gaze. ”If you know who he is, why can”t you go after him?”

”Because, like his father, Adrik does not get his hands dirty. They are untouchables.” Mally shifted, sitting with her arms on the table, staring straight at Jolie. ”Do you know how the original Five Family Italian Mafia was taken down in New York?”

Jolie shook her head.

”The tiniest listening bug placed on their phones.” She placed one on the table. It was no bigger than a thumbtack. ”So simple, right? It would be easy to slip one of these into their pocket or drop it in their car. But Adrik, Yakov, and their wives do not go anywhere without an escort. They do not talk to the lower soldiers that do all their dirty work. They are very, very good at staying off the radar. Plus, the county doesn”t give us—” Mally took a deep breath, swallowing her words. ”It”s just impossible.”

”Why are you telling me this?”

”You saw him, didn”t you?”

”No.”

”You held his daughter.”

”To keep her from dying. I didn”t know who she was.”

”He”ll thank you. One thing about the Morozovs is their generosity. You see, that”s how they reel you in. They go to the poor sections of cities and give out money. They just hand people a thousand dollars. People who have never seen more than twenty bucks in their pocket. They lure them in with promises and then snag them for life.” Mally chewed her lip, watching. ”Have you gotten money for what you did?”

The untouched wad of cash tucked in a box under her bed flashed across Jolie”s mind.

”No.”

”Why are you lying for them? Did they threaten you?”

”No.”

Yes.

”Then, why not tell me the truth?”

Jolie wasn”t stupid. She saw Scarface. She knew what the Mafia did to snitches.

”I can get you in protective custody.”

Jolie chewed on her fingernails. Why didn”t I call my mom?

She wished she had her mother”s words to guide her because she was confused. Why didn”t she reveal Adrik? She didn”t owe these people anything. She hadn”t done anything wrong, yet why was she feeling punished? Should she have just left the little girl to her fate? It felt like everything was building into a giant ball, rolling unstoppable down a hill.

”Take my generosity and my advice,” Adrik said. ”Repeat your story, and all will be well.”

”I don”t need protective custody. I saved the little girl, gave her back to her family, and walked away.”

”Who walks away from a shootout?”

”I was confused and in shock. I think I still am. I just wanted to go home.”

”You said you saved the little girl.” Mally straightened, pulling in all her pictures till she only had one: Jolie holding Helina. ”Was she the target?”

Jolie”s heart pounded in her throat. She tossed a hand, pretending bewilderment, hoping she hadn”t just destroyed her life from something she couldn”t possibly understand.

Mally stood up and pounded on the door. Another person came and opened it, and Mally whispered, ”What if Adrik”s control is slipping? What if the other families are going after him?”

The other person leaned into her ear. ”Word is Yakov came home from Africa.”

”Oh, shit,” she cursed. Quickly, Mally swung around and returned to the table, slapping her hands on the metal. ”Tell me what you know, or the next shoot-out—and I have a feeling it”s going to be big—is going to be your fault.”

Jolie sat back and crossed her arms.