“Of course, I own a boat. A yacht. What kind of mob man do you think I am? I’m not poor, agents. I own a big ass one that we cruise on all of the time. It’s currently in Italy, waiting for us for when we go on vacation.”
Gene let that sink in.
He hoped he owned more than one.
“Any smaller boats? You know, like a dinghy? For the poors?” he asked.
The man sighed.
This was exhausting, and he had other things to do. His real estate plans were fucked due to Samuel dying, and now he had Feds up his ass.
It was a bad week for Rodrigo, and he just wanted off this ride.
“I was meeting with the gentlemen right outside the VIP area. They are investors, and now, I have to regroup after my money man got inconveniently offed.”
Okay, that made sense.
“I’m being one hundred percent honest with you. I swear to God, I don’t know what your problem is. We came to you, and we were upfront.”
Yeah, and that was theONLYreason he wasn’t busting all kinds of balls.
“One last time, Rodrigo, because I’m getting annoyed. Did you have anyone killed who is tied to this case?” he asked.
The man stared dead into his eyes.
“I didn’t have anyone killed tied to your case. I swear on my relationship with Essie. I’m innocent, and so is she. We’re being framed!”
That hung there.
“Okay,” he stated.
The two men stood up.
“That’s it?” Rodrigo asked.
Gene nodded.
“Like I said, we just had to ask. That’s our job. What I will say is that the killer is likely using your property to take people out. In the morning, I want to head there to wire it with cameras. Do you have a problem with that?” he asked. “Or do I have to jump through hoops and get a warrant?”
The man shook his head.
“I bought that property to diversify into real estate—which I told you earlier. I’ve been up front. That’s the property I had to bribe people about. It gets…soggy. You can wire it or move into it for all I care. If the FBI needs a bigger office, call me. I’m willing to sell it!”
Yeah, they could see that, but the FBI here was at a minimum, and the only one who needed a bigger space was the ME.
“Thanks,” Gene said, leaving it at that.
As they both headed past the bodyguards, Gene kept his voice down.
“Something still feels off,” he said. “I dropped the location, but I’m not sure if he’ll take the bait. I want to head there,” Gene said. “I want to head there to make sure that the killer is caught. I’m betting he’s going to make a move on someone else tonight, and I want to be in place if he does.”
Ethan looked at his watch.
“Okay, let’s eat, drop Corbin and Will off, and then head there. We can do some surveillance.”
Thankfully, his partner understood that when something had you by the balls, there was no way to shut it off. There would be no more fun tonight.
Gene had to get this under control.
