Dead to the World (Cold Case Psychic Book 10) Read online

  “Let’s get in there and get Dragonni.” Clemente was bouncing on the balls of his feet.

  “You already got shot once today. Are you so anxious for another bullet?” Ronan rolled his eyes. Obsession with revenge did this to people. It made them sloppy and impulsive. “We have no idea how many men are in there with Dragonni. We could be walking into an ambush.”

  Clemente shook his head. “You think I’m obsessed, Ronan? Dragonni’s got me beat by leaps and bounds. All he cares about right now is killing Tony Abruzzi. He broke out of federal custody to do it, when all he needed to do was use his influence from the inside. Someone could have very easily gotten to this Crandall and paid him off to do the deed, but Dragonni needs to see this through in person.”

  Ronan knew he had a point.

  Clemente looked around. “There aren’t any other cars here but ours and that van. I’m betting there’s a black Cadillac inside the building and that’s it. Vito probably has his best couple of men with him. It will be their job to cap Crandall when he’s delivered the package. Then it will just be Vito and Tony.”

  “We should move, Ronan.” Faulkner pulled out his gun. “Clemente is right.”

  “Why don’t the two of you go around the back side and see if you can find a way in on the water side of the building.”

  “Got it.” Faulkner and a one-armed Clemente took off down the front of the building.

  Ronan led the way toward the side door to the warehouse. There was a large bay door which was closed. Ronan tried the doorknob, which turned easily in his hand. Ronan was about to ask Tennyson if he was getting any information about which way he should go, but like Cope said, Vito’s signature Cadillac was parked in front of the bay door as if it had just been driven into the building. Parked like this, it provided perfect cover.

  Motioning everyone forward, Ronan ducked down in front of it. The room they were in was large and open. It was also empty. He could hear raised voices coming from somewhere deeper inside the building.

  “You want to bet that’s Crandall begging Dragonni not to shoot him?” Fitzgibbon whispered.

  Two gunshots rang out. “Sounds like you’re right, Cap,” Ronan agreed. “Looks like we need to go through that door.”

  “I’m betting that’s the main floor of the warehouse,” Jude said.” The harbor is that way which means anything that came in via cargo ship would have come into the facility through that side of the building.”

  “Dragonni seems to be a circle-of-life kind of guy,” Ronan added for Fitzgibbon’s benefit.

  The captain didn’t look impressed. “Let’s move around the edges of the warehouse toward the door leading to the main floor.” Kevin pointed.

  Ronan nodded. It was the best plan they were going to get at the moment. He said a silent prayer that everyone would walk away from this confrontation unharmed.

  30

  Tennyson

  All of Tennyson’s focus was on Vito Dragonni and the other men on the main warehouse floor. He already knew Tony Abruzzi was still alive. He was bringing up the rear of the convoy as they walked toward the set of doors leading toward the floor.

  Ronan had halted their progress just outside the door. “What have you got, Ten?”

  “There are three men in there. Vito and two others. Tony is down on the floor on his knees. Vito’s in front of him, while the other two men are flanking him. Thankfully, all three men only have handguns.”

  “What about you, Copeland? Are you seeing anything else?” Jude asked quietly.

  “Dragonni is feeling victorious, like nothing can stop him now, but the men with him are wishing he’d get this the hell over with so they can get out of here.” The look in Cope’s blue eyes was scared. It was obvious the psychic wasn’t thrilled about being here.

  “When we go in there The Dragon’s gonna go nuclear and the goons are going to be trigger happy because they’re nervous. Fucking perfect.” Fitzgibbon muttered.

  “Ten, you and Cope stay back here until we give the all-clear.” Ronan set a hand against the side of Tennyson’s face. “I love you, babe.” Ronan leaned in to brush a kiss against Tennyson’s lips.

  “This had better not be goodbye, Ronan,” Ten whispered. His gift wasn’t giving him any inclination about how this standoff was going to end.

  “I’ll always find a way to make it back to you.” Ronan kissed him again. “Ready, Cap?”

  “Thank, Christ. I thought the two of you were going to do this whole thing like in one of those Lifetime movies.” Kevin rolled his eyes. He turned back to the door.

  “Don’t knock Lifetime.” Jude grinned. “They have some pretty good movies on that channel.”

  Cope snorted. “Try not to get yourself shot. We’ve got some interesting cases coming up.”

  “Aw, I didn’t know you cared.” Jude wrinkled his nose at his partner.

  Cope rolled his eyes. “If anything happens to you, it means I have to do your job and mine.”

  “Nice.” Jude grimaced. “Can we go face the mob boss now? I’ll get more love from him than my own partner.”

  “Be safe, Jude.” Copeland said quietly.

  Ronan had his phone in his hand. “Faulkner and Clemente found a breach position on the other side of the building. They’re ready to go.”

  “Tell them to wait until they hear us go in. We don’t want any friendly fire incidents.” Fitzgibbon eyed Ronan and Jude. “Let’s do this.” Fitzgibbon peeked around the corner and gave the signal to Ronan and Jude. “This is the Boston Police Department! Drop your weapons! Hands in the air!”

  All three men rushed into the room. Ten watched as they moved on Dragonni and his men with military precision. Fitzgibbon had his weapon trained on Dragonni while Jude and Ronan were each focused on one of Dragonni’s men.

  All hell broke loose. Dragonni’s men started firing. Ten watched in horror as Ronan shot back. He saw Clemente and Faulkner rush in from the side door. Everyone was shouting.

  Ten saw Ronan shoot the closer of Dragonni’s two goons in the leg. He charged toward the man kicking his gun away from him and quickly flipping him over onto his stomach to put handcuffs on him. Ronan turned from the position he was in to see Dragonni’s other man shoot Jude in the chest.

  “Jude!” Copeland shouted. He took off running toward his fallen partner.

  “Cope, no!” Tennyson tackled the other psychic to the floor, throwing his body on top of him.

  Gunfire erupted all around them. Ten did his best to keep his head down and protect Cope at the same time. He looked up in time to see Ronan shoot that man in the head.

  “Drop the gun, Dragonni!” Fitzgibbon was shouting. “Drop it now!” He’d positioned himself in between the mob boss and Tony Abruzzi, who was now back on his feet.

  “Fuck you, Fitzgibbon!” Dragonni snarled.

  Ten managed to look up. He could see Dragonni was hiding behind some old piece of machinery. He was pointing his gun at Kevin, but his shoulder was stained with blood.

  “Look at the situation. You’re surrounded. You’ve got nowhere to go and you’re bleeding.” Fitzgibbon’s voice had softened. Faulkner and Clemente were standing to his sides with their guns raised. “Put the gun down and let us take you back in to custody.”

  “Abruzzi has to pay for betraying me!” Dragonni shouted.

  “What! You don’t think I’ve paid all these years?” Tony pushed past Fitzgibbon to confront Dragonni.

  “Fuck you! You paid? You had a wife, a house, a family! How the fuck was that paying for anything?” Dragonni shouted. His enraged voice bounced off the cavernous ceiling.

  “I spent all these years living with what I’d done. Knowing that I’d betrayed my badge and the Boston Police Department. I swore an oath to serve and protect and the minute I turned the other cheek on the shit that I saw going on in your family, I was a rat to this one.”

  “You think that’s paying a price?” Vito sounded incredulous.

  “Not every price is paid in blood
, Vito, under six feet of dirt.” Tony shook his head. “That’s the one thing Italians never seem to understand. They talk about revenge being a dish best served cold, but have no idea what that fucking means. Eighteen years I’ve been living with this secret. I lied to my parents, my wife, the department, my partner. Everyone. And you still don’t fucking get it!” Tony shouted those last words.

  “Don’t fucking get what? That you’re a rat who needs to die?” Vito readjusted the hold on his gun. Blood was dripping down his hand to land in a puddle on the floor in front of him.

  “Jesus Christ are you fucking stupid!” Tony shouted back. “You’ve been free for the last eighteen years because of me!” Tony’s voice broke on that word. “I had all the evidence I needed to bring back to my captain to send you away for life. Then you came to me with gun running and the money.” Tony’s head sank to his chin.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” The Dragon sounded truly puzzled.

  “I was with you the night you killed Bennie Ricci. I got it all on tape. You would have gone to prison for life, Vito! The whole organization would have crumbled. I had you on murder, weapons charges, RICO violations. The only way you would have left prison would have been in a pine box.” Tony sucked in a ragged breath. “I was two days from filing my report. There’s so much fucking paperwork. Crossing T’s and dotting I’s. Making sure everything is in order for warrants to be issued. On what was supposed to be my last day before I was going to ask to be pulled out, you came to me with the gun idea. It was a fucking offer I couldn’t refuse.” His face burned with shame.

  Tennyson felt his heart break. He could feel Tony’s pain through his gift. He knew every word out of his mouth was genuine. That didn’t mitigate the fact that he’d let all of Vito Dragonni’s crimes pass him by for a huge pay day.

  “What are you saying, Tony? That you destroyed evidence, let a criminal off the hook so that you could earn extra money for your family?” Fitzgibbon never took his eyes off Dragonni.

  “My father had cancer. We couldn’t afford the money for his treatments. I figured I’d use the money to help pay for the chemo. I never destroyed the evidence though. There’s no statute of limitations on murder. I kept it all in a safe place. Only one trusted person knows where it is.”

  “What?” Vito roared. “Fucking O’Mara! I knew you had a hand in this thing somewhere!”

  Ten’s attention shifted to Ronan who was kneeling at Jude’s side. “My hands are clean, Vito! I don’t know what the hell Tony’s talking about.”

  “Ronan’s telling the truth. He doesn’t know any of this. I knew a day would come when I might need the evidence again. It was insurance of a sort. It’s in a safe hidden in the walls of my house. Not even Carlie knows the safe is there. I’m sure as hell not telling you who the other person is who knows about this evidence.” Tony shook his head. “All these years you were free, Vito. All because of me. There were times when the guilt just about ate me up inside.”

  Reading Tony Abruzzi now, Tennyson could believe that. He could feel all of the guilt and remorse pouring off him. He supposed none of that really mattered now, especially to all of the families who’d been affected in one way or another by the Dragonni family’s criminal enterprises.

  “Drop the gun and push it into the middle of the floor, Vito. It’s over.” Fitzgibbon motioned to Faulkner to move around toward the back of the machine Dragonni was crouched behind.

  Tennyson was surprised to see the gun skitter toward the middle of the floor. Faulkner was behind him in an instant, hauling Dragonni to his feet and moving him into the middle of the floor. Now that he was out in the open, Ten could see his shirt was soaked in blood. Dragonni stumbled, collapsing to his knees and bringing Faulk down with him. As the cop was trying to pull the mobster back to his feet, Ten saw Dragonni reaching for something at his ankle. “Gun!” Ten shouted.

  Vito pulled the weapon from his concealed ankle holster. As he was raising it toward Tony, a lone gunshot rang out. Vito fell to the floor, along with the unfired handgun.

  Cruz Clemente took a step back, his wobbly legs giving out. He hit his knees on the concrete floor, his own gun clattering to floor next to him. “Rest in peace, Rodrigo,” he whispered. “Para ti, hermano. For you, brother.”

  “He’s dead,” Faulkner announced, standing over Dragonni’s body.

  “Jude?” Cope shouted, trying to buck Tennyson off his back.

  Not wanting to move, Tennyson stayed where he was. He could see Ronan kneeling at Jude’s side. After all they’d been through over the last few months. He couldn’t handle one more piece of awful news.

  31

  Ronan

  “Are you just about finished with your swoon?” Ronan raised an eyebrow at Jude.

  “Eat…A…Dick!” Jude gasped for breath.

  Ronan started to laugh. “He’s fine, guys. “Took a round to the chest but the Kevlar caught it. He’s gonna have a nasty bruise and he’s having trouble catching his breath, but other than that, he’s fine.”

  Copeland skidded to a stop in front of Jude. “You’re okay?” He yanked his partner into a sitting position. “You’re really okay?” Cope hugged him tight.

  “Can’t…Breathe.” Jude managed to pat Copeland on the back.

  “If you two have got things here…” Ronan climbed back to his feet. He set a still shaking hand on Jude’s shoulder. He wasn’t going to get over watching the man catch a round to the chest any time soon.

  His eyes roamed the room until they landed on Tennyson who was still down on the warehouse floor. His husband was looking a little shell-shocked, but none the worse for wear. “Ten, are you okay?” He held his hands down and pulled Ten back to his feet.

  “I don’t know.” Ten’s mouth was hanging open. “All of the gunfire and watching Jude get shot. Then Copeland just took off running toward him. I had to tackle him. It’s a good thing we watch football together. I knew exactly how to stop him.” Ten’s entire body was shaking.

  “Come here.” Ronan wrapped his arms around Tennyson and held him tight. “I’m taking you to the hospital. You need to get checked out for that concussion and now I think you’re going into shock.”

  “I just want to go home, Ronan. These last few days have been awful. My nerves are in shreds and I just need some rest.” Ten’s voice was just above a whisper.

  Ronan held on to Tennyson tighter. “I promise, we’ll go home as soon as we can.”

  “Are the two of you okay?” Fitzgibbon asked.

  “Yeah, but Ten needs to see a doctor. Marco and Paulie hit him in the head a couple of times. He probably has a concussion.”

  “Jude’s going with you. Those shots to the chest can cause all kinds of problems. He’s going to bitch something fierce, but I want him checked out. Clemente needs to go back too. He never should have left the hospital in the first place, but I’m damn glad he did. Make sure this all happens, Ronan.” Fitzgibbon set a hand on his shoulder.

  Ronan nodded. “I’ll take them over there now.”

  “I hate to say this, Ronan, but everyone’s going to need to come back to the station later. We need statements from all of you. Tennyson especially since he was kidnapped and was there when Tony was taken and Marco was murdered.” There was sympathy in the captain’s green eyes.

  “Understood, Cap.” Ronan knew that was how procedure worked. The last thing he wanted was to have to take Tennyson back to the precinct house after getting him checked out at the hospital, but there were regulations that needed to be followed. “I’ll keep you updated.”

  Fitzgibbon shook his head. “I’m just glad we all got through this one with everyone standing.”

  “Me too, Cap.” Ronan agreed. He left Tennyson where he was with Fitzgibbon and approached Clemente who was standing over Dragonni’s body. The dead mobster was lying on his face in a pool of his own blood. “Hey, you okay?”

  Clemente looked up a Ronan. A ghost of a smile crossed his lips before he shook his head no.
“I thought there would be a sense of relief, Ronan. A feeling like this nightmare was finally over, but I don’t feel like that at all.”

  “How do you feel?” Ronan was curious to hear the FBI Agent’s answer. He sure as hell was feeling relieved.

  “Strangely empty. Rodrigo is still dead. My mother will never again have both of her sons sitting around her dinner table. I’ve spent the last twelve years of my life eating, breathing, and sleeping my own personal vendetta against Dragonni.” Clemente sighed. “I shot him because he was going to kill Tony Abruzzi, not because of my own personal feelings for him, Ronan. This doesn’t feel good. I feel hollow.” Cruz tapped his chest. “The things I did in pursuit of justice for my brother were ugly. Look what I did to your husband. I threatened him with your unborn child. What kind of a monster does that?”

  As much as Ronan wanted to go off on Clemente, he held his tongue. “Grief does strange things to all of us, Cruz. There’s no one way to get over it. You did the best you could. What matters now is what you do going forward.”

  “What do you mean?” Clemente turned away from the dead mob boss to look up at Ronan.

  “Dragonni’s dead. The vendetta ends here. Now.” Ronan looked into his dark eyes. “After your body heals from what happened today, you need to heal your mind. See a good therapist. I know you know what to say to the bureau shrink to get cleared for duty, but see someone else on your own time. Take a vacation, walk on a sandy beach or prop your feet up in front of a roaring fire in a cozy cabin. Then, when it’s time to come back to work, you can be the agent you’ve always wanted to be.”

  Cruz nodded. “You might have a point.”

  “Take it from the man who’s been shot four times. I know I’m right.” Ronan grinned.

  “Four times?” Cruz cracked a smile.

  Ronan shrugged. “Come on, let’s get you back to the hospital. You look like you’re ready to drop. I’m sure as hell not carrying your ass to my car.” He headed back toward Tennyson who was standing with Jude and Copeland with his back turned to Dragonni’s body.