Chapter Fifteen
Danica
As always, we had to eat before we could talk like paella and fruit salads had the power to strengthen us, enlarge our brains. Schilling had an ally now on the eating front. Maria piled a mountain of fluffy golden rice onto my plate. Leo’s too. We both needed fattening up.
I tried to suppress my grin when she bulked my father’s plate out with salad, muttering about his heart. His hand caught the back of the serving spoon when he reached for more rice. Maria glared at him. He dropped the rice, tucking reluctantly into his salad and the meagre portion of paella Maria had allowed him.
“Lucy will help,” Leo announced. Everyone but me shook their heads at him. There’s a time for the case, a time for eating, this was the latter.
Only when the plates were cleared away, did Schilling allow us to discuss the case.
We sat around the fire, Schilling and my father nursing tumblers of brandy, Leo curled on the sofa with me wrapped in his arms. Maria sat opposite my father, by my side, smiling adoringly at Leo, insisting on stroking my hair, no matter how many times I shrugged her away. Every time I pressed closer to Leo, she shuffled across the sofa until she was on top of us again.
Leo went over everything, replaying every detail of his conversation with Lucy. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kill her or comfort her. Her father was every bit as evil as my own and yet the weak-minded doctor craved the safety of his company. I would happily see mine rot in a cell, it’s no less than they both deserve. Maria’s mind was clear on the matter.
“That poor little girl,” she sniffed, smoothing down my hair.
“She’s a grown ass woman.”
“It’s her dad, Dani, family,” Leo sighed.
“Not all family is deserving of the name,” I spat. My father bristled, taking a long sip of his brandy. Maria opened her mouth, closing it again when he shook his head at her.
“She’s worried he’ll hurt her, so am I, to be truthful. If she does this, she doesn’t go in alone. I want someone with her.”
“I’ll do it,” I offered.
Everyone spoke at once. The strong woman I’d fought to become didn’t exist in their eyes. To them I was broken, fragile, in need of protection.
“I said I will do it,” I snapped. “Who else could? There’s no viable reason for Schilling, Maria or my dad to be anywhere his precious Lucy. She could pass me off as a girlfriend.”
“And if he knows who you are?”
“I carry a weapon, one I’m trained to use.”
It took an hour to convince them. My father insisted on contacting men in the cartel, having them stationed around the building, all armed to the teeth. Leo and Schilling would wait in a van out front, listening in on everything, ready to call for backup if we needed it.
Leo called Lucy with the plan. Her snivelling echoed over the line. Maria shuffled on the sofa, feeling every iota of Lucy’s pain. I still hadn’t decided whether I wanted to kill her or not. She’d suspected her dad was involved in this from the start, she let Leo rot in prison, thinking he was going to die for a crime he didn’t commit.
Schilling drained the rest of Brandy, before heading home to Emma. Maria insisted we all head to bed, so we were fresh for the morning.
◆◆◆
The cabin bustled with activity the next morning. Schilling and I had to at least show our faces at work. We’d planned to meet up with Lucy at lunch. Schilling had managed to pilfer a wire and recording equipment from his contact in the feds. They still weren’t watching Lucy or her dad. He’d ordered protective detail for Lucy, to start once we were done with her. It seems Leo wasn’t the only one who believed her dad capable of causing her harm. How could she love such a beast?
Maria sent us to work weighed down with quesadillas and fresh fruit. Lunch time didn’t come soon enough. The quesadillas sat cold in my bag. I made my way into Lucy’s building. A petite blonde jumped up to meet me, her blue eyes rimmed red, her face pallid and drawn. She had to pull herself together, her father would take one look at her and shoot us both.
My eyes roamed over the tiny, falling apart woman. She was attractive, slim. Give her a bikini and a volleyball and she’d fit right into Leo’s life, at least the one he had before her dad snatched it away from him. From us.
“You must be Dani?”
“I must be.”
“I’m Lucy, Leo’s friend.”
My blood boiled when she fell into Leo’s arms as soon as she stepped into the van. She’d been willing to see him die and there she was fawning over him. Schilling peeled her off him, fitting the wire under her shirt.
By the time we pulled up at her dad’s office she was a hot mess, her body shaking, tears streaming her face, soaking into her shirt.
“This isn’t going to work,” I snapped.
The urge to grab her quivering shoulders and shake her grew with every second that passed.
“Sure it is,” Leo smiled, “you’ll do great, Luce, promise.”
He brushed her long, golden hair behind her ears, smiling at her. She sniffed, nodding her head.
Ugh.
“Dan, she’s asking her dad if he’s a cold blooded killer, that would upset most people.”
Not people who’d been raised by out and proud cold blooded killers.
“Whatever,” I shrugged.
Schilling agreed with Leo, assuring Lucy she was doing fine, she’d be safe.
She grabbed my hand as we stepped out of the van. Her shirt fluttered with the pounding of her heart, her palm slick in my hand. She rested her weight against my side. I dragged her towards the towering, glass fronted office block. She followed blindly.
Men in suits rushed past us, ignoring the poor weeping woman at my side. Lucy stepped slowly towards the bank of silver fronted elevators.
“Which floor?”
“Penthouse.”
I pressed the button.
She had to be forced from the elevator when it stopped on her father’s floor.
A lithe, barely dressed blonde manned the reception desk.
“Lucy,” she smiled, painting on a thin veneer of concern. “Is everything okay?”
“Bad break up,” I smiled. “Is her dad here? Lucy needs some retail therapy.”
“He’s in his office,” the icy blonde replied, her eyes running disapprovingly over my frumpy slacks and blouse. Even soaked in tears, her button nose glowing red, her hair piled on her head, the designer clothes Lucy wore, the microbladed eyebrows and eyelash extensions, put her in a different league to me. One I’d thought Leo wasn't interested in.
I grabbed Lucy’s sweaty hand, pulling her towards the office.
“Leo needs this,” I hissed, kicking open the high gloss black door.
Mr Attwood sat behind a glossy, midnight black desk. His suit matched the monochrome decor. He sported the same tattooed on eyebrows his daughter did.
“Lucy,” he gasped, running quickly around his desk, pulling Lucy from my grip into his arms. “What’s happened?”
My own father never hugged me that way. Maria did. She’d fussed over me every chance she got. My dad was too busy running his drug empire to give two hoots about spending time with me.
“Leo, Daddy, he’s on the run. I can’t stop thinking about him.”
Attwood pulled his daughter to the black leather sofa, holding her in his arms, her body encased in his, the sound from her wire muffled by his expensive Italian suit. Idiot, this doctor, daughter of a billionaire, graduate from an Ivy League college was a goddamn idiot.
“I can’t understand it,” she sniffed. I guessed there was a lot Lucy didn’t understand, like how wire transmitters work. “When he was in prison, it was hard, like really hard. He wouldn’t do those things, not Leo, daddy, I know he wouldn’t. Now he’s running I feel so helpless. He must be so frightened, daddy and I can’t help him.”
“Oh, Lucy,” Attwood sighed, pulling her away from him. “It’s all his own doing. How well can you really know a man? You weren’t together, were you?”
“He was a good man, daddy.”
“There was a side to him you didn’t see, Luce. He had a temper. That woman he killed was a junkie, my money’s on her bringing home more trouble than he was willing to put up with.”
“Leo wasn’t bad tempered.”
“Oh, believe me, he was. That man was a tragedy waiting to happen. I only hope they catch him before he hurts someone else.”
Lucy slid across the sofa, inching closer to me.
“If you thought he was dangerous why did you ask me to get close to him?”
“Excuse me?” Attwood blinked at his daughter before turning his gaze to me.
“That’s Ella, my friend from work, she won’t talk daddy, she’s a good friend, she knows everything, the Ferrari, you telling me to bring Leo home, when you came round the next day. She’s known for months and she hasn’t told. I need the truth, daddy.”
“You’re a doctor?” He sneered, running his gaze up and down my off the rack work slacks and jacket. When this was over, I was kicking this man where it hurts. Hard. And I’d enjoy every second.
“I’m a nurse,” I replied through gritted teeth, placing my hand on Lucy’s shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze.
“I see.”
“The Ferrari, daddy,” Lucy pressed on, drying her tears. “If Leo was a dangerous man why did you pay me to sleep with him?”
“This conversation is over, Lucy.”
“Daddy, please.”
“Sir, Lucy needs to know if the man she loved is a monster, that’s all. She’s been beating herself up over this for months. Her work is suffering, she’s this close to losing her job. She’s broken, Sir. She needs answers.”
“He killed a child, of course he is a monster.”
This was getting us nowhere. Leo needed a confession.
“Then why did you pay her to fuck him?”
If he confessed to that at least we’d have grounds for a warrant, a reason to look further into him and his shady dealings. It might not be enough to save Leo but it was more than we had now.
“I didn’t pay my daughter to fuck anyone, Ella,” Attwood snapped, narrowing his eyes at me, his fists clenched, his lips pulled tight. Make a move, Sir, I beg of you. I moved forward, squaring my shoulders.
“You gifted her a Ferrari to sleep with him, same thing. And why was it important that she take him back to her place?”
“I did no such thing.”
“You did, daddy. You told me if I got close to Leo, brought him home, slept with him, you’d buy me a car, any car I wanted. You came round the next day, acting all odd and then the condom we’d used vanished from my bedroom trashcan.”
“Lucy, you’re confused.”
“I am not confused,” she hissed. “I wrote down every detail in my diary, I want the truth daddy or I go to the Police and tell them everything.”
The colour drained from Attwood’s face. He jumped off the sofa, glowering at his daughter.
“Get out of my office, Lucy. Now. I’m not sure what it is you are accusing me of but you’re playing a dangerous game. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to you, would we?”
Lucy scrambled from the sofa, pressing herself behind me. Attwood paced the office, his eyes locked on me.
“Get out of there, Milano,” Schilling hissed into my ear. Not a fucking chance. This man had a dark side and I intended to force him into revealing it. Men like this were all I’d known for years. He had buttons and I was about to start pressing them.
“You used your daughter as a whore, Sir. You turned her into a cheap, nasty slut all so you could frame Leo before he exposed you for the monster you truly are. You’re willing to risk the lives of thousands to make a quick buck, Leo was onto you, so you took him out and you used your own daughter to get to him. You make me sick.”
Lucy’s hand wrapped around my arm, urging me to back off, pulling me away from her father. Schilling was erupting in my ear. Leo was begging me to back down, stay safe. My father was spouting bile, muttering all kinds of threats. It all played out in my earpiece. None of it sank in.
Attwood turned puce, his fists balled tightly at his side, you could almost see the steam pouring from his ears.
“You’re making a mistake, little girl,” he hissed, squaring up to me.
“And why is that, Sir?” I spat, “what will happen to me if I press you? Will you frame me too? Will I end up raped and murdered like Stacey and Maia?”
“If only you knew what could happen to you, Ella.”
My heart raced.
“Tell me, Sir.”
“Did my daughter ever tell you what happened to Leo's one true love?”
I was done playing nice with this guy. The Hell we’d get a confession playing by the book. I moved closer, shrugging Lucy’s hand away, stepping out of earshot of her wire.
“She doesn’t need to,” I hissed. “I was there. Leo ever tell you who is one true love really was?”
“Some Mexican slut.”
“If only that were true, Sir. Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Detective Danica Milano, formerly Danielle Ramirez, daughter of José Ramirez, Leo’s one true love and I will make you pay for what you did, one way or the other.”
I grabbed Lucy and stalked out of the office, leaving Attwood flailing and pale, his sneering mouth flapping like a fish out of water. I’d meant every damn word. One way or the other, that man would pay for what he’d done.
I’d put Lucy in the firing line and if we were doing this the right way, the non-lethal way, that’s exactly where she needed to be. Attwood didn’t care for her, he’d meant every bit of the threat he made towards her. I’d given him reason to act on it, revealing myself as a Detective. That I was a Ramirez would have them all vying to throw someone under the bus, sacrifice one to my father to save the rest. Divide and conquer. All we had to do was sit back and wait for their tower of cards to tumble.