Chapter 30

 

Carla

 

Six Months Later

 

Carla tucked the last few personal items from her desk into the cardboard box, then taped it up.

 

Since Mario's death, she'd been very busy. Even while in the hospital recovering from her injury, she'd meticulously gone through every page of every journal. Gio translated the code the notes were written in, then worked her way backward through hundreds of open case files—local, state, and federal—to connect the notes to the crimes they referenced. She used this information to build staggering cases against the remaining members of the Mancini family, as well as two other major crime organizations in Chicago and one in Indianapolis.

 

Dozens of murder charges. Hundreds of charges of bribery and judicial tampering. Thousands of charges of theft and racketeering, all accompanied by airtight evidence and a star witness.

 

It was the largest, most successful organized crime crack-down the Bureau had undertaken in almost thirty years. Almost three hundred hardened criminals had been arrested and were awaiting trial, half of whom were willing to roll over on the other half in return for reduced sentences.

 

And she'd received the FBI Medal of Valor. The same medal they'd awarded Patty Kurtz.

 

“You know, you don't have to do this,” Don said, sidling up to the cleared-out desk. “No one knows what you did while you were undercover 'cept us, an' I certainly ain't blabbin' anytime soon.”

 

Carla smiled. “I know.”

 

“An' you kissin' Gio like that,” Don continued, “well, heck, it was damn strange, no doubt about it. But most folks'll just chalk it up to the heat of the moment.”

 

“Uh-huh,” Carla agreed.

 

Redness started to creep into Don's face as he kept going. “An' I mean, what with your medal an' all, everyone's sayin' the sky's the limit for you now. Shoot, the ways things're goin', I'll probably be workin' for you in less than a year.”

 

“Probably,” she said.

 

Don's voice softened. “An' he'll be fine without you, y'know. Them Witness Protection boys'll take good care of 'im an' make sure he stays outta trouble, so you can get on with your life.”

 

Carla put her hand on Don's shoulder and looked into his eyes tenderly. “I'll miss you too, Don. But this is what I want. If private consulting for law enforcement was good enough for Patty, it'll be good enough for me, too. Especially when I'm working with someone like Gio, who grew up inside a mob family. Who better to help me keep taking them down?”

 

Don smiled gently, leaned over, and kissed Carla on the forehead. “That Patty, she was a real hero, y'know? 'Cept she wasn't one-tenth the hero you are, darlin'. Never forget that.”

 

“I won't,” Carla promised. “Take care of yourself, Don.”

 

“You too, Carla,” Don answered.

 

Carla hefted her cardboard box and carried it to the parking garage of the FBI field office, where a silver 1978 Corvette and a lifetime of passion and adventure awaited her.

 

THE END

 

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