Chapter 40
CHAPTER FORTY
NICO
The drive from the airport to our hotel in Ft. Lauderdale took about fifteen minutes. The previous five hours I’d spent at the airport and on the airplane had made me want to crawl out of my skin. I hadn’t been on an airplane since high school. And although I was a lot better about crowds, going through security at Newark Airport nearly sent me into a panic attack. Thankfully, Gabe had been right there, giving up his TSA Pre-Check privilege to stay with me while the rest of the team sailed through security. The assholes even waved at us from the other side.
By the time we got to our room, I felt exhausted, even though it wasn’t even noon. I threw myself onto the king-size bed and groaned. “I don’t know how you do this on a near-weekly basis.”
Gabe chuckled. “You might be exaggerating just a little. To be fair, most of the time, we take chartered planes. The process is a lot shorter. No security lines.”
“Fine. Next time your bougie ass is going to charter a plane for me.”
Gabe crawled onto the bed and settled himself above me, resting on his knees and elbows. “Is that so?” he rumbled, low and sexy.
I slipped my hand behind his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. “Yes, that’s so.”
Gabe lowered his body so I could wrap my legs around his waist and deepen the kiss. Our hips had just gotten into a very satisfying rhythm when someone pounded on our hotel door. Dante’s voice came through the door. “No fucking, you two. We have work to do.”
We groaned in unison, and Gabe rolled off me. I pressed down on my rigid cock, trying to will it into submission. “I swear they do that on purpose,” I groused.
“Probably. Definitely,” he replied with a smirk.
“I’m going to get some of the airplane ick off me.” I got off the bed and made my way into the bathroom to wash my face and take care of business. Gabe did the same and then we went to meet the rest of the team in the bar downstairs.
Dante, Pete, Andrea, and Michael were seated at a large table and had already ordered their drinks by the time we arrived. Michael had his laptop open and was busily typing. “What have we got?” I asked after we ordered our drinks.
“As you know,” Michael began, “Tony hired a private investigator to tail Scott until we could get down here. She said he’s been hitting up the big bars and nightclubs in the evenings, trying to get with the college girls on spring break.”
“That’s why there’s so many people down here,” I said. “I forgot about that.”
Gabe shook his head. “I don’t want to make a scene in a crowded club. Too much can go wrong.”
“Agreed,” Dante said.
“Why can’t we just go to where he’s staying?” I asked. “Wouldn’t that be easier?”
“Yes and no,” Gabe replied. “Remember, this guy has lots of money. If there are no witnesses to us picking him up, he can say anything, and then it’s our word against his. We don’t want a crowded club because there are too many people. But a small place would give us the witnesses we need so he can’t say we beat the shit out of him. Even though we all want to.”
“Damn right,” I growled.
Michael nodded. “With that in mind, the PI told me Scott hangs around the beaches in the morning, and in the early afternoon, he goes to one of three different places to eat and have a few drinks. All of them are small hole-in-wall pubs more popular with the locals than the college students.
“So that’s right about now,” I said. “How are we supposed to find out which one he’s in? Has the PI seen him today?”
Michael nodded. “He left the beach a few minutes ago. She lost him in traffic, but he usually immediately heads to one of the pubs after the beach.”
I stood. “So we should go.”
Gabe put a hand on my arm. “Slow down. We’ll have to split up into three teams. Each team will take one pub and report to the others if he shows up.”
“Luckily, they’re all within a block of each other,” Michael said. We gathered behind him, and he pointed out the addresses on the satellite map on his screen.
Gabe started pointing out locations. “Pete and Andrea take this one. Michael and Dante go here. Nico and I will take the one by the Winn Dixie. If you see him, do not engage. Call me and Nico, and I will get there ASAP. Stick to the plan.”
“Roger that,” they all said.
I was practically vibrating by the time we left the hotel. Gabe and I walked quickly toward our destination. It was tough because the sidewalks were full of tourists who were in no hurry and, at times, clueless that other people were trying to get around them.
When we finally got to the pub, I was pretty aggravated. Gabe pulled me aside. “You need to calm down. We’re working with law enforcement. We cannot lose our cool here, or this whole thing will blow up in our faces.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Yeah, you’re right.”
He smirked. “I know.” His brow furrowed and I could see his eyes were tracking something. “Don’t turn around,” he said quietly. “He’s walking into the bar now. You call Dante and Michael. I’ll call Andrea and Pete.”
It didn’t take long for our team members to join us. We entered the pub in pairs, just casual customers coming in for a burger and a beer. I spotted Scott Bradley right away. He was sitting at the bar, and the bartender had just given him a mug of beer. Gabe took a seat at a small table by the door. He squeezed my hand once. “Stick to the plan.”
I gave him a quick kiss and whispered, “Yes, Chief.”
I sat next to Scott at the bar. Up close, I could see blond roots along the edges of his dyed hair. His skin was tan, no doubt from all the time he’d spent on tropical islands. I decided orange would look good on him. He seemed twitchy, as well he should. But he had no idea what was about to hit him.
I finally got the bartender’s attention and ordered a beer. He gave me the once-over and smiled. “Nice tattoos.”
I smiled back. “Thanks.”
Scott looked over at me after the bartender left, presumably to look at the tattoos the bartender had admired.
“That’s a lot of tattoos,” he said.
I detected an undercurrent of judgment in his voice. I shrugged. “Got ’em in prison.”
His lips twisted in a sneer. “Why none on your face? Isn’t that popular with you gang bangers?”
Oh, honey, you are about to find out . “Depends, I suppose. I didn’t want any on my face because I wanted my son to recognize me when I got out of prison.” I unlocked my phone and showed him a picture of Cody. “That’s him. He’s four. His mother, Allison, was run down in the middle of the street by her abusive ex-boyfriend.”
Even under his tan, his face went deathly pale. “That…That’s a shame,” he stuttered.
He moved to get up from his barstool, but I grabbed his arm. “It sure is a shame, Scott. Because that little boy misses his mom every fucking day. And the only reason I won’t break your motherfucking cowardly neck right now is because he needs his dad, and I’m not going to fail him again.”
Scott tried to wrest his arm from my grip, but I held tight. He slid off his stool, trying to pull me with him. When that didn’t work, he grabbed his half-empty beer mug and swung it at me. I had to let go of him to avoid getting hit. He dropped the mug and drew back his fist but was stopped cold by Gabe’s iron grip on his shoulder.
Gabe made a tsking sound. “Now, Scott, let’s not make a scene. These nice police officers are here to escort you to your proper place.”
I glanced over Gabe’s shoulder at the four police officers standing at the ready. Scott was most definitely a flight risk, and they weren’t taking any chances. Gabe stepped back to allow the officers to take Scott into custody. He struggled and shouted, “You have the wrong man! I didn’t do anything!”
“Yeah, yeah,” one of the officers said. “You’re so innocent you left the country so no one could find you.”
They handcuffed Scott and led him, still protesting, out of the bar and into a waiting patrol car. I walked up to Gabe and wrapped my arms around his waist. With a trembling sigh, I leaned my head against his chest and said, “It’s over. We did it. We got justice for Allie. And for Cody.”
He leaned down to kiss me. “We sure did, baby.”
“Let’s go home.”