I’d been around Chase long enough to know when he was hiding something or using information as a grandstanding method of cheating at poker. With no cards and no bag of change tossed on the scarred table he used for game night, I sensed whatever was on his mind he knew would annoy me even further.
“Spit it out, Chase.”
“That’s why you’re a damn good judge. Nothing gets by you,” he teased, but his uncomfortableness continued.
“Keep going,” I pressed.
“After doing some digging, I found some valuable information. You already knew Bruno was a drug addict, which is partially the reason he has nothing to do with his daughter Bella.”
For some reason, an entirely different emotion popped to the surface. I was noted for being levelheaded. Maybe I was reacting after hearing the goon’s plans on what they wanted to do with her, but I snapped. “Please tell me you’re not trying to insinuate Valentina is a part of this.”
Chase scrubbed his jaw. “As with every case, all sides need to be gone over with a fine-tooth comb. You know that better than anyone, Hudson.”
While he was correct, they didn’t know Valentina. She was truly innocent in all of this.
Still furious, I took a deep breath realizing what an ass I’d just been. “The men Jones hired had a bag full of weapons and rope. I overheard them talking about their plans for her. From what I heard, they planned on killing her, but only after they used her body. Over and over again. That will never happen.”
The room was bristling with tension.
Chase sucked in and held his breath. When he released it, he whistled. “I’m sorry, man. I really am. I wasn’t insinuating anything. Her ex, Bruno Carvelli is a bad dude. From New York as is Ms. Sciascia, and from what I can tell, he was a foot soldier for the Sanchez Cartel while there. I have no idea how Valentina got hooked up with him, but she ended up following him to Miami. There are a few reports he had a few legit jobs, including as a yacht salesman, not making bad money either. I didn’t find much on their relationship except that she filed a police report a few years ago.”
“For what?” Kendrick asked.
“Abuse. He threw her across the room and beat her pretty badly. There was a restraining order, which he violated at least once. Then he disappeared for like two years. There’s no record of him.”
“She was pregnant.” I’d already seen that coming.
Chase looked at me with a sense of sadness in his eyes, which was entirely out of place.
“So he’s an asshole and she learned the hard way to keep him out of her life.”
“Well, that might be impossible,” he added. “Bruno is working for Delgado. In talking with a trustworthy snitch, that’s something I learned started only in the last couple of months.”
The coincidence wasn’t something I bought. “Fascinating.”
“Very much so. It might not mean anything, but I thought you should know. At least she has full custody of Bella.”
If he believed that under any circumstances Valentina had used me, that was crap. However, if there was one thing I knew about men who abused women, it was that they felt possessive. Especially since the child was his. It was entirely possible at some point he’d want her back. “Noted.”
There was a strange sense of tension in the room, something we’d almost never experienced in the years we’d been friends. Perhaps that was because what we were doing was entirely different.
“Where is this shipment coming from?” Maverick decided to be the one who broke the tension.
Chase glanced toward Maverick. “From what we know right now, intel provided us with credible information Delgado has plans on hijacking a ship bound for Cuba. Now, none of you heard this. Very top secret, but the DEA just got the word that Delgado developed a hit list of his enemies.”
“How the fuck did the DEA manage that?”
My buddy’s grin as he glanced at me was positively evil. “People talk. We listen.”
“That’s why Jones was released,” I mused.
“What do you want to bet Delgado’s enemies are Worthington’s as well?”
“Let’s just say the conclusion has been mentioned by more than one DEA officer.” Chase raised his eyebrows.
“Unless Worthington is brought down, Delgado gets a free pass.” My words seemed to hit home with everyone.
“But your team is all over it,” Kendrick said to Chase.
