Tough Justice: Ambushed (Part 6 of 8)
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Carol Ericson
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Harlequin
HarlequinChapter One
How could the DNA be a match for Moretti’s?
Not possible. Lara ground her palms into her temples in an effort to stop the spinning of her head. She doubled over, almost touching her forehead to her knees.
The others in the conference room were all talking at once, but their words washed over Lara in a confusing froth. She couldn’t even put two coherent thoughts together in her own head, let alone trying to process the exclamations from everyone else.
Suddenly, her head shot up. “The brother! Mei figured it out when she saw that photo from the sewer. Andrew Moretti’s identical twin, who was supposedly dead, burned beyond all recognition. It has to be. Damn. I should have put it together earlier. When Mei asked about dyslexia and I said no, she nodded, as if the final piece fit. She also had Moretti’s background file on her desk. She knew but never got the chance to tell us.”
“So unless Moretti is a magician, in two places at once—” Victoria drew two black circles on the whiteboard “—his twin, Mason, didn’t die in that fire.”
“Who did?” Xander dragged a hand through his hair, shaking his head as if trying to clear it.
Lara didn’t blame him. A definite fog had encompassed her brain, too. She took a gulp of coffee. “If the death in the fire was an accident, why would the brothers perpetuate the hoax that Mason died in the house?”
“And if it wasn’t an accident?” Ty snapped the tab on a can of soda, the liquid promptly fizzing over and down his hand. He didn’t seem to notice. Didn’t seem to care
“That would mean—” Victoria circled the black dots on the white board “—two seventeen-year-old boys plotted murder and deceit for some future goal.”
Lara gripped her upper arms. At seventeen, boys should be focused on saving money to buy a car, making first string on the football team, asking a girl to the prom.
Not cold-blooded murder and mayhem. Her gaze shifted to the black circles on the whiteboard, disconcertingly like Moretti’s own dark eyes.
“If the blond is Mason Moretti, and it appears that he must be—” Lara jumped up from her chair and paced the room “—where’s he been all these years? Has he been hiding out? Working behind the scenes for his brother? Running a parallel syndicate in another country?”
Xander snapped his fingers. “What if we have the wrong brother in prison? What if Mason was the Moretti when the bust went down?”
“Then we wouldn’t have the wrong brother, because there wouldn’t be a wrong brother.” Cass poked two fingers beneath her glasses and rubbed her eye. “If they both played at being the boss, then they’re both guilty of unspeakable crimes.”
Parking herself next to Nick holding up the wall, Lara chewed on her bottom lip. “Identical twins don’t have identical fingerprints. That’s why Mason’s prints from the glass weren’t in the system. He’d been booked a few times as a juvenile offender, but his records are missing.”
“I’m still working on recovering that deleted file, but nothing yet,” Cass added. “That hacker was good...but I’m better. I just need more time.”
Nick leveled a finger at Xander. “Following his line of thought, the fingerprints don’t matter. Andrew Moretti’s prints weren’t in the database, either, since the US Army’s records were also hacked and deleted. The only prints we have are from the syndicate bust.”
“Wait, wait.” Lara pushed off the wall. “So, the Moretti we have locked up could be either brother, and the same for the man walking the streets dating my sister.”
“That’s right.” Nick dipped his chin to his chest. “The brothers could’ve been switching identities whenever it suited them.”
Ty smacked a folder on the table. The papers fanned out, and a few drifted to the floor.
Lara shot a worried look at Ty. Ever since Mei’s death, he’d kept his anger and frustration bubbling just beneath his usually cool exterior. She didn’t want to be around when he exploded.
Cass tossed her glasses on the table next to her laptop. “I’m confused. Do you mean the man we have locked up might be Mason instead of Andrew?”
“You said it yourself.” Nick crossed his arms and drummed his fingers against his bicep. “It doesn’t matter, does it? We have at least one Moretti, thanks to Lara and the takedown team, and we’ll get the other son of a bitch so he can join his brother.”
Lara dropped back into a chair, extending her legs in front of her. Which brother had she gotten to know? Whoever had played the arms commander role in the syndicate had fooled her—and turned out to be Moretti, or at least the Moretti they’d nailed in the end.
Ty bent over to sweep up the papers he’d knocked to the floor. “This is all interesting, but we have two other issues to deal with here.”
Lara interrupted, her heart pounding. “Number one, what’s Moretti doing with my sister?”
Xander added. “And who’s the poor sap taking up space in Mason’s grave?”
Victoria dipped her head. “We’re going to have to order an exhumation of the Moretti body.”
A muscle jumped in Lara’s jaw as she clenched it. An exhumation? She’d have to be there, whether she wanted to be or not.
Cass looked up from the computer. “Wouldn’t law enforcement have ID’d the body after the fire?”
Nick perched on the edge of the conference table. “Absolutely, but with everything we’re learning about these two, it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that they planted DNA or did something to cover those bases. Poor Andrew Moretti was completely distraught and traumatized that his twin died in the fire, probably wailing and gnashing his teeth that he couldn’t save his brother. Why wouldn’t they believe him? The brother disappears and the deception is born.”
“At seventeen?” Xander leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms behind his head. “Shit, I was trying out for my prep school’s lacrosse team.”
“I was—” Nick’s gaze shifted toward the window as he dragged the pad of his thumb across his jawbone “—never mind.”
Victoria hovered over Cass’s shoulder. “I don’t want to overburden you here, Cass, but along with finding Mason’s juvenile records, can you look into putting together an order for the judge for an exhumation?”
“No problem.” Cass clicked the laptop buttons with a flourish. “Burial site would be The Evergreens Cemetery in Brooklyn? King’s County?”
“Yes, alongside their parents.” Victoria dusted her hands together as if knocking off tasks on a list. “Now we need to find out what the hell the other Moretti brother is up to with your sister, Lara.”
Lara pinched the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut for a second. “I’m going to have to talk to Meghan, find out what’s been going on.”
“Looks like you’re preparing for a root canal instead of a conversation with your sister.” Nick nudged her with his elbow. “Do you want some company?”
Crossing her arms, she hunched her shoulders to her ears. “This is something I’d better do alone. I can’t imagine Meghan is going to welcome the news that the man she’s been dating has an ulterior motive other than his overwhelming attraction to her.”
Xander whistled. “And the fact that the ulterior motive is you is really going to piss her off.”
Nick asked, “Are you sure you don’t want some backup?”
“Backup?” Lara pushed away from the conference table. “Meghan’s my sister, not a perp. I can handle Meghan.”
As Victoria started issuing orders to the team, Nick drew Lara close. “I know how difficult it is dealing with an uncooperative sibling. I’m there if you want some help.”
She squared her shoulders. “I don’t need help with Meghan.”
A veil dropped over Nick’s dark eyes, and pinpricks of guilt needled the back of her neck. The man had been through hell and back on this investigation. He deserved a better partner—one he could trust. He’d even been willing to open up to her.
“I appreciate the offer, Nick.” She cleared her throat. “I know you know what it’s like, but I have to do this by myself. I think having anyone else there to witness her embarrassment would drive Meghan even further into the abyss.”
“She has nothing to be embarrassed about. The Moretti brothers are master manipulators, and she got played.” He lifted one brow. “No shame in that—especially for a civilian.”
Lara’s stomach rolled. No shame for a civilian but plenty of shame for a seasoned law enforcement professional. Is that what he was implying?
Meghan wasn’t the first to be bamboozled by the twins—and wouldn’t be the last. Even behind bars, Andrew continued to pull strings that had far-reaching consequences—deadly consequences.
“I’d better go deliver the bad news before she heads to work tonight.”
“I suppose it’s a stretch to believe Mason will show up at the Hot Spot tonight.” Ty grabbed his jacket and stuffed his arms in the sleeves.
“Probably, but we’ll be there anyway if Lara’s sister is working.” Victoria pointed at his jacket. “You leaving early?”
“If something urgent comes up, call me on my cell.” He picked some lint from his jacket. “I gotta go home and check on Mei’s cat.”
Cass peered over the top of her laptop and blinked. “Take good care of that cat, Ty.”
Coughing, Xander rubbed his eye. “It sucks, man. Talk at me if you need to, although I’ll probably make things worse. Talk to Dr. Oliviero instead.”
Ty raised two fingers and saluted in the air as he walked out of the room.
Lara caught up with him at the elevator. They rode in silence to the ground floor, and then Lara put her hand on Ty’s arm as he exited the car. “We’ll bring them down, Ty. We’ll make them pay...for everything.”
He turned to her on the sidewalk. “I know that. I believe that, but right now I just need to take care of that heartbroken cat.”
