Hearts on Fire 5: Loving Frankie (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  She shook her head and felt the tears roll down her cheeks.

  “Kill the bitch and get me my fucking money. He upped the interest on our loan. We’re fucked, Gloria, absolutely fucked, and you’re a liability.”

  The SUV stopped, and Gloria looked at Gino. He moved his jacket to the side, revealing his gun. “Don’t try to run. Just accept your fate. When Louie Carlotto issues an order, there’s no negotiating.”

  * * * *

  Deputy Turbo Hawkins was on the scene along with Detective Buddy Landers and Sheriff Jake McCurran. It didn’t take a seasoned detective to see that someone had tried to get rid of a body in the bay near the inlet that led to the ocean. Treasure Island did have its share of homicides over the years. People got crazy or even violent when they were drinking all day or night, but rarely did people try to dump bodies in the ocean from the shoreline.

  As he approached the scene, he heard Buddy say that the body hadn’t been in the water long. But when Turbo glanced at the body as the forensics team did their thing, he noticed the black T-shirt immediately.

  “Oh shit.” He stated took a closer look. The letters spelling out Prestige were nearly masqueraded in blood.

  “You know her?” Jake asked him.

  “Not personally. She works at Prestige. She was fired three nights ago after she was caught selling drugs and then attacking one of the other women who work there.”

  “You know this how?” Jake asked.

  “That must have been a hell of a bachelor party for the Parker boys. I heard something about it getting rowdy and some hot little platinum-blonde that turned everyone down,” Buddy said as he stood back up.

  Turbo knew exactly whom Buddy had heard about. Frankie. She’d turned him and his brothers down, too, and refused to exchange numbers or let them drive her home. They’d all thought about her for the last several days and were planning on hitting Prestige this Friday just to see her.

  “Not sure who you mean. But I can tell you that this woman was pissed off. We were all there when she raged through the room and struck Frankie.”

  “Frankie? A guy?” Jake asked.

  Turbo shook his head. “No, a woman. Her name is Frankie.”

  “That’s it. That’s the name of the woman the guys have been talking about. A woman with a guy’s name. Said she was a knockout.”

  “We’ll need to go talk to her and the owners of the place,” Jake told them.

  Turbo felt his gut clench. Was Jake thinking that Frankie, Charlie, or Lure could have done this?

  “I doubt Frankie had anything to do with this. She was shocked by the attack and insulted by it. Plus, she’s like five foot three and a tiny little thing. Real sweet.”

  “Heard that, too,” Buddy said and chuckled as he winked at Jake. Jake kept a serious expression.

  “If you have some sort of relationship with this woman, tell me now. It may be better if Buddy and I go to talk with her.”

  “We just met her that night. As Buddy said, she wasn’t showing any interest in anyone.”

  “Turned the Hawkins men down flat, too, huh? Damn, I can’t wait to meet her. Smart girl.” Buddy started walking away so the coroner could do his thing. Jake chuckled.

  “Why do I get the feeling that this is going to get complicated?”

  Turbo tried to laugh off the conversation and teasing, but he couldn’t. What if the woman they were all attracted to wound up being involved with this or a killer? Damn, my life sucks.

  Thirty minutes later, he, Buddy, and Jake had located Frankie’s apartment in the downtown area of Bayline. It was a shitty, crime-infested neighborhood.

  “Are you sure about this address?” Turbo asked Jake as Jake pulled the sheriff patrol truck alongside the curb by the front of the building.

  It was an apartment complex, ten stories high and huge. He saw garbage all around as they got out and headed toward the building where she supposedly lived. Some homeless people, or maybe just drunks, sat on benches or against the side of the building. There were even some along the dark, narrow sidewalks between the units.

  “This is a very unsafe area. Who is this woman?” Jake asked as he searched for her name on the list of residents. The board was behind broken glass, and names were all screwed up.

  “I think the door isn’t locked. She should be on the fifth floor. Apartment 5B,” Buddy said as he glanced at his notes. Jake pulled the door open, and they headed inside.

  The place needed everything from new paint to new doors. It wouldn’t take much to bust through one of these doors and break in. He felt sick.

  As they got to 5B, he saw a guy sitting on the ground a few doors down.

  “Don’t bother. That bitch has a gun,” he told them, and Jake looked at Buddy and then at Turbo.

  Jake knocked on the door. “Frankie, this is Sheriff McCurran. We’d like a word with you please.”

  “Who?” she asked through the door, and Jake identified himself again.

  Frankie asked for ID, and Jake held the badge up to the eyehole so she could see it. Then they heard a series of locks and what sounded like dead bolts being opened.

  She creaked the door open slightly, and Jake smiled and showed her his badge and ID.

  She slowly opened the door. The moment she looked at Turbo, she gasped. She looked over his uniform and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.

  “What’s going on? What are you doing here?” she asked.

  But Jake had noticed her holding a revolver in her hand.

  “Maybe you’d like to put the gun away?” Jake asked, his hand on the butt of his gun.

  “Oh, sorry. Force of habit.” She let them in. She walked over toward her purse and placed the gun inside but not before she clicked on the safety.

  “You have a license for that firearm?” Jake asked.

  “Of course.”

  “Do you always answer the door with a gun?” Buddy asked.

  She eyed him over. “You saw the neighborhood. What do you think?” she countered.

  Turbo took in the sight of her and of her apartment. It was the complete opposite of the neighborhood. It was neat, beautifully decorated, and feminine like her. Even now she wore a pretty sundress, her breasts well hidden but accentuated by the tight bodice.

  “We sure did. We have some questions for you in regards to what happened a few nights ago at Prestige,” Jake told her.

  “Is that bruising still remnants of the assault?” Buddy asked.

  She reached up and ran her finger along it.

  “Afraid so.” She glanced at Turbo.

  “Looks a lot better. You iced it like Nate suggested.”

  “I iced it like Lure and Charlie suggested,” she countered, and he squinted at her.

  It seemed as if she was still putting up a wall and fighting the attraction.

  Jake cleared his throat.

  “Turbo told us about the assault and how Gloria came out of nowhere,” Buddy began to explain.

  Turbo listened, and Frankie explained what happened and what Charlie and Lure had told her about the drugs, the sex, and the confrontation.

  “Your gun is a 38? Do you own others?” Buddy asked her. She looked taken aback by the question.

  “I think one is sufficient. Yes, it’s my only gun.”

  “What’s with the suitcase?” Jake asked and nodded toward the sidewall by the door. Turbo hadn’t even noticed it. He was preoccupied with Frankie.

  She turned away as she replied, indicating to him that she was hiding something. Turbo put aside his attraction and began to ask his own questions.

  “The suitcase?” he pushed.

  She looked at him with a firm expression. “My emergency bag. In case I need to leave quickly. You know, fire, bomb threat, a riot. Why are you asking me all these questions? Is this normal protocol for pressing assault charges?”

  Jake looked at Buddy and then exhaled.

  “Gloria’s body washed up along the shoreline near Treasure Town. Our town,” Jake told
her.

  She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

  “What? Her body? You mean she’s dead? How? What happened?”

  “It appears she was shot and then someone tried to dump the body,” Buddy told her.

  She looked at him. Her eyes darted to each of them, and then she lost the coloring in her face.

  “You came here because you think I killed her?” she asked, sounding insulted and angry.

  “We came here because of the incident the other night at Prestige, and it’s part of doing this investigation. This is what we do, Frankie,” Jake told her.

  “Well, that’s wonderful. I get assaulted, and suddenly I’m the first one you look at as a suspect? How about the many guys she sleeps with? Or maybe the drug dealers and her connections to the goods? How about these people? The criminals and repeat offenders have more rights than I do? Are you kidding me? I mind my own business and work my butt off, and I’m a suspect in a murder investigation? You want to take my gun and check to see if it has been fired? You want to search my apartment for weapons, evidence, blood-stained clothing, forensic stuff?”

  “Frankie calm down,” Turbo said to her as he placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked at him with such fear and terror he felt his gut clench with some sort of reaction.

  “No one is accusing you of anything. We’re following our leads and determining where to go next. Just cooperate, and it will be fine,” Buddy told her.

  “Do you need to take my gun?” she asked him.

  He shook his head. “The victim was killed with a Glock, not a 38,” Buddy told her.

  She sighed and looked relieved. Turbo felt as though she was really scared living in this place, and the fact that she carried a firearm upset him.

  He pulled away. “Why do you live here?”

  She widened her eyes and then looked panicked.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “The place is unsafe. You have it nicely decorated, but you carry a gun and have a suitcase packed and ready to go.”

  She didn’t say a word, and Jake and Buddy didn’t add any comments. Her lack of response concerned him, and then she looked at him.

  “I don’t know why you’re interrogating me. I haven’t done anything wrong. I told you if you need to take my gun to ensure I haven’t used it you can. Why I live here is none of your business, deputy.”

  She called him deputy with such disgust and disrespect.

  “We may need to talk to you again. Do you have a cell number we can reach you at or a home phone?” Buddy asked her.

  She shook her head.

  “I work at Prestige Friday and Saturday nights. But I’ve been job-hunting for something else for during the day. Lure lets me use his cell phone number as a contact number. If you need to contact me, I suppose you could try there. You said you were going to talk with Charlie and Lure? They know me well and watch over me.” She looked at Turbo as she continued. “I was with them all day and night Saturday and Sunday, if that helps to know.”

  Turbo clenched his teeth. Was she sleeping with Charlie and Lure? Fuck!

  Buddy cleared his throat then pulled out a business card.

  “Here’s my number. You call us if you think of anything else or if you need to contact us for any reason.”

  “Okay.” She took the card and then headed toward the door. She opened it, and Turbo let Buddy and Jake head out first.

  “Be sure to lock up,” Turbo told her.

  “I always do.”

  She closed the door, and they all headed down the hallway and out of the building.

  “What do you think?” Jake asked Buddy.

  “I think Turbo’s girl is hiding something, but I don’t think she killed Gloria.”

  “You don’t?” Turbo asked.

  “Hell no. She is sweet and only seemed to get on the defensive with you, Turbo. I think you need to work on your angle,” Buddy teased him.

  “Sounds more like she’s involved with the owners of Prestige. They know Nate, don’t they?” Jake asked.

  “They do. But I don’t think she’s involved with them. I think she’s trying to piss me off to keep me at bay. But seeing where she lives, and knowing that Gloria was killed more than likely the night she attacked Frankie, has my gut twisted with concern. Something isn’t right.”

  “Well, what do you know? Deputy Hawkins has a bit of investigative skills a brewing. Should we keep him in the loop?” Buddy asked Jake, and Jake chuckled as he started the truck.

  “Only if he promises to not start a fight with Charlie and Lure over Frankie.” Buddy chuckled.

  “He’s a Hawkins. Good fucking luck with that.”

  Turbo shook his head as Jake and Buddy chuckled.

  Turbo felt pissed and disappointed. He’d really hoped he and his brothers had a chance with Frankie. But if she was banging her bosses, sloppy seconds weren’t the Hawkins’ style.

  * * * *

  Buddy Landers walked out of the interrogation room with more questions than answers.

  Lux, as he liked to be called, was a drug dealer, a little fish in a large pond with useless information. Lux was with Gloria the night she got busted by Charlie and Lure for selling drugs. She’d been having sex with Lux in the back room of the club. Buddy, Jake, and Turbo got a lot of information from Lure and Charlie, who were more than happy to assist with the investigation. Buddy was starting to think that Lux would be his only tool in figuring out who’d killed Gloria. As far as he was concerned, Frankie wasn’t a suspect but a victim in the case.

  Frankie had not only gained the attention and concern of Lure and Charlie, but also of Turbo and his brothers. Buddy had great instincts, too, and he believed that Frankie was definitely hiding something. It might not be illegal since she’d been more than willing to help in the investigation and even give up her gun to prove her innocence. But when Buddy called her and asked for some more personal information, she’d asked him to not invade her privacy and her past. That things had happened she didn’t want to rehash, and nothing was illegal, was just as upsetting.

  He was curious, but he respected her wishes. She wasn’t a suspect, after all. But he wouldn’t be too sure about Turbo and his brothers. They liked Frankie, and it seemed the more she tried blowing them off, the more interested they became.

  “Hey, did you get anything more out of him?” Detective Bryce Moore asked Buddy as he joined him outside of the interrogation room.

  Buddy pulled out his notes.

  “Not much but that he’s on the bottom of the totem pole. Looks like Gloria was the contact for their distributor and operator. Lux isn’t budging on any names. He’d didn’t bat an eye when I suggested he would be charged as a suspect in her murder. He just said he wasn’t talking anymore and wanted his lawyer.”

  “Well, maybe he’ll reconsider. Here’s a list of all the contacts and recent text messages and calls from his cell phone. I looked into the numbers. Lux is very friendly with Sal Baletti.” Bryce smirked.

  “Sal Baletti? That scumbag. Holy shit, he’s probably their supplier for the club. That’s one bad-ass group of men. His brother Gino and the rest of the family have ties to New York and Chicago. This is definitely something we can work with.”

  “Sure is, and get this, there’s some sort of investigation going on into Baletti through the Special Crimes Unit.” Bryce handed Buddy a note.

  “This is the number of the main investigator. As soon as we started digging into Baletti, we got a call.”

  “Shit. I knew this wasn’t going to be a cut-and-dried case. Looks like some heavy shit is about to go down.”

  “Sure does.”

  Buddy glanced at the interrogation room.

  “Looks like I’m going to be at this awhile. Let me know when his attorney comes.”

  Bryce smirked.

  “Considering the evidence on his cell phone alone, I’d say he’ll be talking to you instead.”

  Buddy nodded and prepared to enter the room again. He
wanted answers, and he wanted Gloria to be the only body to pop up in Treasure Town, but something told him things were going to get worse before they got better. The Baletti family was nothing but trouble, and they always seemed to be able to keep their hands clean. But based on the facts that they were connected to Gloria’s murder and they were known criminals, Buddy wasn’t taking any chances and letting them make their way into Treasure Town. When he was done here, he would call Jake and talk to his superiors. They needed to handle this accordingly, and knowing how large their organization was, he knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

  Chapter 4

  Frankie was glad that Cassidy had called her to go shopping and grab some lunch today. It took her mind off of the fact that Gloria had been murdered and that Frankie had been initially questioned as a suspect. She had to go to work at Prestige tomorrow night and wasn’t looking forward to the third degree Charlie and Lure were going to give her. She’d already received a text message that they wanted to talk and to come early.

  They had just sat down when Cassidy’s phone began vibrating again. Cassidy exhaled in annoyance.

  “What’s wrong? Is that Keith again?” Frankie asked her.

  “Sure is. He is not taking me breaking up with him too well at all.”

  Frankie took a sip of her iced tea.

  “He hit you. There’s no way you should take him back or accept his apologies again. You went through this before with him,” Frankie reminded Cassidy, although she didn’t have to. Keith was a big guy with a bad temper. He was also abusive, and Cassidy was trying to resist his tactics of charm, apologies, and professions of love. It wasn’t easy.

  “I know. It just doesn’t seem real. I mean that he hit me and lost his cool over some other guy asking me out. I mean, we’re not even boyfriend and girlfriend anymore.”

  “But you decided to meet him for lunch and talk. He took it as a sign that you were forgiving him and you were working things out.”

  “I know that. You were right. I was stupid, and I guess you know I missed having a boyfriend and going out places. Now it’s like I have to worry about every guy I meet or flirt with. Maybe I was just being lazy.”