42. Walker
Chapter forty-two
Walker
The phone barely rings before Mason picks up. “I was just about to call you!”
“I’m just walking back up to my office after a coffee run to stretch my legs and I had a thought about something, but you first. What’s going on?” I ask, both of us bypassing a greeting and getting right to it.
“Even better, I’m on my way and will meet you there. In fact, we may want to pull the entire team in the conference room for this update. Walker, I think it’s what we have been looking for,” he says and I can tell he’s walking quickly on the other end of the call.
I pick up my pace as I reply, “Do it. I’ll have Christine round up anyone we don’t see on the way.” I pivot and head to our task force’s main conference room and text Christine to meet me there. She quickly arrives to take her iced tea from me and informs me that any task member in the building is on their way. I walk in the room and Mason is bouncing with excitement. I don’t know what he found, but I can tell it’s good. I wait a minute before nodding at Christine to shut the door, officially starting the meeting.
“Go ahead Mason, what did you find?” I ask.
“Yes, sir. I was reviewing our expanded deep dive into the lives of anyone involved with the victims as we have identified those connected to a variety of crime families. I started to look into the names we have compiled so far, just in case anything popped up.” I nod as he continues.
“The Bianchi family is connected to the murders of Diego Garcia, Nicole Robins, and Peter Hopkins.” Mason pauses to pull up an image on the screen of the leaders of the Bianchi family. “We already know that Nicole Robins’ murder was more than likely due to her affair with Rocco Rossi, whose brother-in-law is Bianchi underboss Gio Bruno, right? So, I started there and looked at Bruno, his family, and his associates to see if there was any crossover. I was looking through our various criminal databases as well as any associates mentioned in any media publications.”
Mason pulls up another photo of what looks like a young Gio Bruno standing next to a beautiful young bride surrounded by their wedding party. “In 1984, Gio Bruno married Angela Moretti in New York City. Their wedding was well attended by the mob elite at the time as Gio’s dad was the Bianchi underboss and Angela was the niece of a well-known capo for the same family.”
“This mafioso history lesson is fascinating, Mason, but what does this have to do with our sniper cases?” I ask, not sure where he’s going with this.
“Prior to marrying Gio Bruno, Angela had attended a well-known boarding school in New Jersey. Brighton Ellis Academy closed in 2010 but had been around for over one hundred years. It was a respected boarding school for young women from very wealthy families on the East Coast,” Mason proudly tells us, but I still don’t see what he’s so excited about.
“Am I the only one that doesn’t get what the connection is to our victims?” Tara asks the room. “I mean, don’t get me wrong Mason, I do love a great 80s wedding photo, and their hair is really just fantastic, but I don’t see the correlation to our cases.”
Mason laughs with the room and nods before responding, “If no one sees it yet, that’s fair. But I bet that’s about to change with this.” Mason pauses as he brings up another photo with a few clicks of his mouse. This photo is much more recent, in the last decade at least, and it shows a tropically dressed Gio and Angela Bruno at a beach resort with a group of other couples laughing at a table. “This photo was posted on a blog that follows known mafia associates, like a fan blog I guess it could be considered, which sounds like a dangerous hobby for someone. Anyway, does anyone find this photo interesting?” Mason looks directly at me with an eyebrow raised.
My mouth drops before my brain catches up to what I’m looking at on the screen. “Get the actual fuck out of here! What?” I whisper quietly, even though I want to yell but my stomach just completely dropped. I jump up and walk closer to the screen as the other agents look confused. “How the actual fuck is this possible?” I point at the screen and turn to ask Mason.
“Uh, guys? Can someone fill the rest of the class in, please?” Kelly asks.
“Gladly,” Mason responds. “In the photo, this woman was listed under her maiden name because Angela and Bruno’s wedding was six months prior to the maid of honor’s wedding. It looks like the former Brighton Ellis Academy roommates and best friends stayed in touch over the years, as you can see in this recent photo I found that was taken approximately four years ago in Bermuda. That’s Angela Bruno next to her husband Gio, and on her opposite side is her former roommate, maid of honor, best friend, and what I believe is our missing connection to Dr. Trent’s Stone murder.”
“Who the hell is that?” Tara asks. Mason looks at me and nods, letting me steal his thunder and tell the room who the connection is that we’ve been looking for to tie Dr. Stone’s murder case to one of the crime families involved with the other murders Matteo Galletti committed.
“That is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” I tell the room. Mason pulls up the woman’s driver’s license so the team can see a recent photo of her. I can’t believe it, I’ve seen this woman multiple times in Forrest Falls; I even held the door for her the last time I was at the local coffee shop.
My stomach churns as I realize that if this information is a shock to me, no one in Forrest Falls will see this coming either. I turn to my team. “There is no way this is a coincidence. We need to get to Forrest Falls right fucking now. We may not know all the details as to how or why they are involved, but I sure as hell don’t think Vivian is aware that she personally knows the person connected to her husband’s murder. This allows us to connect the murder of Trent Stone to the Bianchi family, and we’ve already tied that same family to ordering other hits by the same sniper that killed Trent Stone. But why was Matteo Galletti hired to kill a heart surgeon in Chicago?”
Christine speaks up from the back of the room, “Sir, there is a helicopter ready to take you and four agents, the rest of you will need to go by car. It should get you to Forrest Falls in less than twenty-five minutes by helicopter. I’ll call ahead and have the Sheriff meet you at the local airport.”
“Thanks, Christine. Tell the Sheriff we’re coming in hot, but I want it kept under fucking wraps because gossip travels faster than fire in that town,” I say as I walk out of the conference room and stride into my office. I slide on my bullet proof vest and grab my extra service weapon from my safe. I grab my phone to send another text.
Me
Liam, what bodyguard is watching Vivian today? I need their contact info ASAP.
“Have the Sheriff meet us with at least one of his deputies so we have enough cars, we may need to call in the local SWAT response and have them on standby,” I tell Christine. “Agents Dunn, Shannon, and White with me, the rest of you haul ass and get to Forrest Falls. I want all hands on deck,” I bark at my team as I enter the stairway to go up to the helicopter’s landing pad, and my phone vibrates with a response from Liam.
Liam
The schedule says Tony. Sending you his number. What’s going on? Do I need to get to Forrest Falls?
Me
Yes.
I try to call Vivian but her phone rings until her voicemail picks up. I try a second time, and she still doesn’t answer. Frustrated, I call her sister, who picks up on the second ring. My hand grabs the back of my neck as I pray Viv is home with her sister and just has her phone on silent.
“Hello, this is Savannah,” she sounds so much like her sister on the phone it’s unnerving.
“Hey Savannah, it’s Walker. I’m trying to reach your sister, do you know where she is right now?” I ask, trying to keep my tone calm as I stand next to the doors that lead to the helicopter pad. Once I open the doors to the helipad, she won’t be able to hear me over the noise of the blades.
“Hey there Walker, sorry you just missed her by maybe ten minutes. She has to run some errands after she meets someone for tea,” Savannah replies. “But she shouldn’t be gone more than an hour or two though. Can I give her a message? Or you could text her, she might see that before she can call you back if you tried her cell already.”
I stop in my tracks as I go over what she just said. “Sorry, Savannah, did you say Vivian just left to meet someone for tea? Do you know who she was meeting?” I hold my breath and close my eyes waiting for her response.
No, no, no. Please don’t let her be with the last person I want her anywhere near right now.
“I’m surprised she wasn’t complaining about it to you, but she finally gave in and agreed to meet with Marcie Claire Riley again. Have you met that clucking hen? She is the worst.”
Fuck! Vivian’s sister has no idea how accurate that statement is but it won’t do any good to worry Savannah right now, so I keep my cool as she continues, “I know Viv didn’t want to go but Marcie Claire was like a dog with a bone about Vivian coming over for tea, but we all know she just wants to get any good gossip out of my sister,” Savannah responds with a laugh, not knowing the amount of panic she just released in my veins.
“Absolutely. Do you know where they were meeting by any chance?” I try to play it cool and hope they’re meeting in a public setting. Please let them meet at Java Jive or the local diner.
“She headed over to the Riley’s house on the south side of town about fifteen minutes ago, and I’m sure she’s counting down the minutes to get out of there,” she informs me.
I look at my watch and see it’s 3:05 p.m. so I assume Vivian was meeting Marcie Claire at three o’clock. “Thanks, Savannah, I’ll talk to you soon,” I say as I hang up. “Let’s go! This just escalated in urgency. Vivian is with Marcie Claire Riley right fucking now!” I yell to my team as we load into the helicopter. I text Vivian quickly as we take off.
Me
Hey sweetheart, I need to talk to you. Can you please call me as soon as possible?
Don’t rock the boat, Vivian. Hang on baby, I’m coming. I’m coming as fast as I fucking can.