Page 92 of Perfect Vengeance

Jack crouched and picked up one of the buttons, turning it over in his hand. It could have come from her coat, but he couldn’t be sure. He clenched his hand around the button and stood, searching in all directions. Fear and panic drilled him with enough force he nearly fell to his knees. There was absolutely no proof, but he knew with unerring certainty what had happened.

Tino had Gina.

“You want to file a missing persons report?” one of the uniforms asked.

What he wanted was to tear the island apart until he found her. “Yeah. Gina Perot.” He gave a quick description, then indicated to his brothers he needed to speak with them privately, out of earshot of the uniforms.

Kyle’s dark brows lowered. “What’s really going on, Jack?”

In the interest of time, he hadn’t told his brothers much over the phone. Keeping them in the dark was no longer an option. “It’s a long story. I found out Gina and her friends are the ones who’ve been ripping off the Falzones. In exchange for not arresting her, they helped me get one of those bugs planted. Their last break-in was at Tino Falzone’s shore house. Gina got away with a hundred grand.” Deke whistled. “Yeah, and Maria Falzone caught her in the act. She was beat up badly, so Gina gave Maria her number. Maria arranged to meet Gina here so she could leave the bastard. My guess is Maria never had any intention of leaving, and that it was a setup to get Gina here. Either that, or Tino convinced Maria to call Gina.”

Kyle nodded in understanding. “Meaning he beat her and forced her to make the call.”

“Yeah.” Jack nodded. His brother had witnessed the horrors firsthand of what a domestic abuser would do to a woman. “He’ll punish Gina for having the audacity to try to take his wife away and for stealing from him.”

“Jesus.” Deke shook his head. “She’s got guts. I’ll give her that.”

Too much, and Jack was afraid it would get her killed.

“Where would he take her?” Kyle asked.

They were standing not half a mile from the Falzone compound. Would Tino be so stupid as to take her there? Bringing business into Franco’s home was a violation of the code. Don’t shit where you eat. Franco would shit a brick if Tino pulled a stunt like that. But why else would the meet be arranged here?

“Bro?” Deke threw him a look of concern. “Talk to us. Whatever you want us to do, we’re in. You know that.”

“I do know that.” He was more thankful for family than he’d ever been in his life. For what he was about to do, he could kiss his career good bye. He hadn’t known how this would go down. Now that he did, he couldn’t risk his brothers’ careers along with his own. He shook his head.

Kyle held up his hand. “Don’t. Don’t say it.”

“I can’t ask you to do this.”

“You don’t have to.” Deke rested a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Do you love her?”

“Yeah. I do.”

Kyle rested his hand on Jack’s other shoulder. “That’s all we need to know. Just tell us the plan.”

He gave his brothers a grateful nod. They’d always been there for him, good times and bad. Today was no exception, and today was exceptionally bad. Jack looked over his shoulder at the two cops standing by the patrol car, one of whom was on the radio. He had one shot at this. Calling in a marker of this magnitude might lose him one of the best informants he ever had because it would repay a debt owed to him. None of it mattered if he couldn’t save Gina.

He called his informant, and it went right to voicemail. He left a brief message about Gina. “C’mon,” he said in a low voice to his brothers. “I think I know where she is. First we need to lose these guys.” He’d done more off the books in the last two weeks than in his entire career. What he was about to do now would trump it all. “Let’s roll.”

He and his brothers ran for the Expedition.

“Hey!” one of the cops shouted. “Where are you going?”

“False alarm.” Jack got in and slammed the door shut in the cop’s face. The guy pounded on the window, but Jack ignored him and gunned the SUV down the hill. Kyle sat to his right with Deke in the rear seat.

Jack redialed the last number he’d called. “Pick up, pick up!” Voicemail kicked on again. “Dammit!” He dropped his cell into the console and pounded the wheel with his bad hand. Pain shot up his arm, and he welcomed it.

“You headed where I think you’re headed?” Kyle asked in a deceptively calm voice.

He glanced at Kyle, then caught Deke’s face in the rearview mirror. “Yeah.”

“Well, then,” Deke muttered. “Looks like we’re going to war.”

Beside him, Kyle nodded.

The address he was heading to was one he knew by heart. Twelve Oceanview Lane—the Falzone compound. If he had to storm the place by force, he’d do it.