Page 77 of Disavowed

“And did he?”

“Yesterday.”

“Shit.” He shoved his hand through his hair. “With that statement and mine you have more than enough probable cause for a warrant.”

“No can do, partner. I already asked. The commissioner wants this to play out.”

“Play out?” He uttered a few choice expletives. “That hotel will be jammed with innocent people. Soft targets with no way to defend themselves.”

“The only target we know of is Shane, and he’s been warned. The PC is also notifying the mayor, but the mayor’s as much of a press-hound as Shane is and still plans to attend unless we have more.” Gray let out a loud breath. “Do you have any reason to believe that this is an all-out massacre?”

“No.” He sat on the bed and grabbed his boots. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “This is a credible threat, and you know as well as I do that Shane’s security team will be a bunch of inexperienced cop wannabees. They’ll be more of a liability than an asset.”

“Copy that,” Gray said. “But the way the commissioner sees this, we’ll never have the opportunity to take down the Pyramid’s leader again. He’s convinced that if we cut off the organization’s head, we put an end to them.”

“And if we stop now, we’ve got nothing.” He rolled his eyes to the ceiling. He understood the commissioner’s logic, but if anything went wrong others could be hurt or killed in the crossfire.

“Right now the only charge we can make stick,” Gray continued, “is on Jack for unlawful possession of those weapons we caught him with at the warehouse. He’d serve a few years at most.”

“And the Pyramid will still be in business.” He mentally reviewed everything else he’d learned, knowing it was futile. They had no proof Smith had brought guns inside the hotel. They were assuming they were in the uninspected crate, but no one had actually laid eyes on them. Worse, they didn’t even know Smith’s real name. He could be anyone.

He shook his head in disbelief. “We can’t prove a single overt act.” A necessary element of a conspiracy to commit murder charge. “We’ve got nothing on Smith and nothing on Marsden.”

“Unless we let this play out,” Gray said. “But we’ve got another potential problem. Customs just notified me Jimmy Gonzalez left the Bahamas and hopped a plane to New York. Even though he was red-flagged in the system, somehow he managed to slip through Customs at JFK. I’m on my way to look for him.”

“For fuck’s sake.” The phone vibrated with an incoming text. “Hold on.” He looked at the screen.

Room 225. Noon.

“I’m meeting Jack in Room 225 at noon.” Hopefully, Marsden would be there.

“I don’t like this,” Gray growled. “Fuck orders. If I can’t officially get a plainclothes team inside I’ll fly solo. You need backup.”

For once, he didn’t disagree. “Thanks, buddy.”

“One more thing.” Dom heard a car engine start. “The commissioner gave me a message. He said to tell you he has faith in you.”

“No pressure.” Dom snorted.

“You tell Daisy yet?”

“Yeah, everything.” He massaged the back of his neck.

“I take it didn’t go well,” Gray said.

“Understatement. Gotta go.”

“Ten-four, partner.”

He ended the call, then finished dressing and headed for his closet. The small safe tucked in the corner housed a number of handguns, some registered, some not. He punched in the code and cranked open the door. After grabbing an unregistered .40 caliber Smith and Wesson he rammed in a fully loaded magazine and racked in a round. As an afterthought, he reached for a spare detective shield and stuffed it into his pocket.

He slammed the safe door shut, feeling a growing sense of urgency. Never in a million years did he think he’d have to live through the same hell again. But as he grabbed his keys and bolted out the front door, he knew in his gut that his worst fear was about to play out.

Damn, but he should have gotten her out of this sooner. Now the woman he loved was right in the middle of a shitstorm that was spinning totally out of control.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Daisy pulled the deep red, full-length chiffon gown from her closet and draped it on the bed. It was nearly ten thirty and she had just enough time to change and get over to the hotel early to check on things.