“Yeah. You know, from the knife you put in it.”
Brantley knew he would have to have a conversation with her at some point about Luca, but he couldn’t afford for it to be now.
“Understood,” he said. “We’ll talk about it later. What else you got?”
“You’re not gonna like it,” Luca said, his voice low.
“He’s a no-good bastard,” JJ announced.
For a second, Brantley thought she was talking about him, but he refrained from making a comment. Good thing, because she’d been talking about Dante.
“He did this, B. Dante set this whole thing in motion.”
“You’re sure of that?”
“Positive. For one, the call that came into the governor’s mansion came from the same burner phone that Dante called me on last night. I mean, seriously. What does he take me for?”
“JJ, stay on track.”
“Right.” She huffed. “But my first clue that somethin’ was wrong was when you said they called the governor’s mansion. Who calls that number? It’s a private line and I seriously doubt Gerard or Trina hand it out. They’ve both got cell phones.” She sighed. “Dante really is an idiot.”
Brantley couldn’t argue with that.
“If Gerard and Trina were thinkin’ clearly, they would’ve wondered the same thing,” JJ went on. “But I’m sure it’s natural to automatically worry about your kid, to give him the benefit of the doubt. Especially if someone claims they’re holdin’ him for ransom. What I wanna know is how much did he ask for? How much does Dante think his life’s worth to his parents?”
“It started at a mil, then went up to two mil by the end of the call.”
Luca whistled long and low. “He does think pretty highly of himself, huh?”
“It’s easy for us to sit here and talk shit,” Reese inserted, “but we do have to consider the fact that Dante’s finger was left at JJ’s. While he might be desperate, I don’t see him as the type to chop off his own finger to prove a point.”
“No,” JJ agreed, her tone smoothing out. “You’re right. He’s not.”
“The Greenwoods did get proof of life,” Brantley explained. “We heard Dante’s voice. He doesn’t sound good. I’d say he’s in tremendous pain and likely needs medical attention.”
“At least he’s not dead,” Charlie noted.
“Serves him right,” JJ admonished.
“JJ,” Brantley warned.
“Did his co-conspirator turn on him, maybe?” Charlie asked, coming to stand beside them. “They have an argument?”
Charlotte Miller, a.k.a. Charlie, was the newest member of the task force. She’d been referred to him by Baz, who’d had the pleasure of working with Charlie at some point over the years. Charlie had officially joined the task force the first week of December, and in the past few weeks, she was proving to be a valuable asset.
“It’s possible,” Brantley told her. “Certainly more feasible than thinkin’ Dante would cut off his own finger.”
“Our first priority is to get a bead on Dante before our four hours is up,” Reese stated. “But I think it’s important we figure out his motivation. It could be he was desperate for money and he came up with this plan. He obviously had help, and it wouldn’t be the first time someone’s greed got the best of them. Dante’ll be a small consolation if this person can get two mil out of it.”
Brantley considered that, then turned his attention to the phone. “JJ, do you know if Dante was involved in anything?”
“Like what?”
“Anything that might put him in debt,” Reese chimed in.
“Ah, that’s sweet of you, Reese. Thinkin’ he’d only rip off his own parents to pay off—”
“The mob,” Brantley said, remembering Reese’s original theory.
