A BOLO alert was sent out for the crooked art dealer’s white Mercedes-Benz GLE 350 4MATIC SUV. Simultaneously, FBI agents were raiding Pimentel’s local art galleries and his gated luxury estate on Cedarwood Lane in Columbia.
As Landon drove down the street in his Chevy Tahoe, he thought about Raquelle and wanting to put it all out there about how much he still loved her and wanted them to make this work—the second time around. Did she feel the same way? Would she be just as committed to meeting him midway, while doing whatever they needed to mitigate—if not get past altogether—the issues that worked against them previously?
I’ll just have to go for it, Landon told himself, feeling reasonably confident that they were meant to be. Even if Eddie’s circumstances continued to be in flux, Landon believed that he and Raquelle were on solid enough ground to be able to withstand anything that might present itself as they navigated the road ahead.
When a call came in from Katie, Landon put his cell phone on speaker and set it in the dashboard phone holder. “Yeah,” he said.
“Abercrombie was somehow able to give the agent tailinghim the slip,” Katie said sorrowfully, “before he could be taken into custody. We put out a BOLO alert for his BMW X5 M SUV that appeared, at last sighting, to be headed toward Knotter Marina Drive.”
Landon sighed, wishing he’d gone with the strong circumstantial evidence they had to keep Abercrombie off the streets as a serious person of interest. “I’m not far from there,” he told her. “We’ll get him—and Pimentel—before they can do more damage.”
“We’d better,” she cautioned. “As if there’s any other choice…”
“There are no other choices,” he concurred, eager to see this investigation come to a head one way or the other.
After Landon disconnected, he opened the voicemail Raquelle had left him while he was talking to Katie. He listened with interest as Raquelle spoke tensely:
“Landon, I got a call from Eddie. He wants to meet me at Knotter Marina and asked me to come alone. I agreed out of fear that he might bolt again if he saw you—other FBI agents or law enforcement… I’m on my way there right now. I’ll do my best to keep him there—till you arrive…to help Eddie and hopefully he’ll be able to help you in return—to make all this worthwhile for both of you—”
Landon muttered under his breath, rattled by this turn of events. He would have preferred that Raquelle had given him a heads-up before she went to meet her brother rather than on her way. But knowing how much Eddie’s predicament and absence had unnerved her, could he really blame Raquelle for jumping at the opportunity to do what she felt was right in helping her brother?
At least she let me know what’s happening, Landontold himself,and is counting on me getting there to save the day for her and Eddie.
Problem was Raquelle might have placed Eddie—and herself—in more danger.
Landon considered that Yusef Abercrombie also seemed to be headed on a beeline toward the marina. Had he been following Raquelle? Or perhaps put a GPS tracker on her car in hopes of being led right to Eddie—so he could finish him off once and for all?
Landon called Raquelle to warn her about the impending threat posed by Abercrombie, but it went straight to voicemail, where he left a message. This did little to ease his own discomfort that she was about to be put in harm’s way. The thought that he might never get the chance to convey his true feelings about her and them shook Landon to the core.
He passed the information to Katie and Zach, directing them to get a SWAT team and other law enforcement to the marina ASAP.
In the meantime, Landon pressed down on the accelerator as he sped toward Knotter Marina, knowing full well that every second counted with two lives very much hanging in the balance.
* * *
EDDIE STOOD ONthe dock walkway, tilting his cap lower to cover his face more, while wondering if Raquelle would show up. Admittedly, he had a lot of explaining to do and probably not much time to do so. But what could he say, really? And how? That he’d gotten in over his head in selling counterfeit art to make ends meet? Or had tried to turn the page by being Landon’s CI?
Everything he had tried had ended in disaster. Or closeto it. Including being targeted by the crooked art dealer and galleries owner Ivan Pimentel as a snitch, in paying a ruthless hit man to blow up him and his boat.
This brush with death freaked Eddie out like no one would believe. Seeing his life flash before him as though it were someone else’s had forced him to go into hiding, knowing his future was very much in jeopardy—were it up to Pimentel and his lap dog, Yusef Abercrombie, to decide whether or not he lived or died.
If given another opportunity, Eddie hoped he could somehow make amends for his missteps. Pay his debt to society without spending time behind bars. Or was it too late for that, now that he had violated the conditions Landon had set in being his confidential human source?
Eddie fidgeted as he waited for Raquelle, his gaze through sunglasses searching the area for any sign of her. He hoped she did as he asked and came alone. Now was not the time to have to deal with Landon, whom Eddie was certain had reentered his sister’s life during his disappearance. This was probably a good thing. Raquelle hadn’t really been herself since their divorce. If his ex-brother-in-law could make her happy, then so be it.
At the moment, though, Eddie had more pressing concerns and was growing increasingly uneasy about coming out of hiding and exposing himself to further danger.
Chapter Seventeen
Raquelle was a bundle of nerves as she reached Knotter Marina and found a place to park. She wondered if Eddie had stayed put or if he’d been scared off by real or imagined threats and bolted away, leaving her in the lurch.
I can’t miss out on the chance to communicate with Eddie and convince him to work with the FBI again for his own protection, Raquelle told herself. She left the car and headed for the pier.He has to be here, she thought, moving briskly down the dock walkway and scanning past the boats lining it, while noting that another boat was now in place where Eddie’s Crest Savannah 250 SLSC pontoon had been. The image of it bursting into flames before her very eyes flashed in Raquelle’s head like a bad dream. As horrible as it was, the fact that Eddie had escaped made it somehow bearable. Except that she sensed he still had an X on his back and, as such, was not out of the woods yet.
She took out her cell phone and saw the voicemail from Landon, who undoubtedly would not have approved of her going solo to meet her brother. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, with Eddie wanted by both the FBI (as a CHS vulnerable to the whims of some bad actors) and those wanting to silence him for good.
But I had to go with my gut instincts on this one,Raquelle mused, sure Landon would understand and respect that. She listened to the voicemail:
“Raquelle, thanks for letting me know that Eddie’s alive and well—and wants to meet you at the marina. I’d strongly advise that you wait till I get there. I think someone may have put a GPS tracker on your car, hoping to be led to your brother. If so, it could place you both in danger. Call me when you get this message. I’m on my way there. Please, be careful…”
