AUTHOR'S NOTE: So sorry for the extremely large delay between postings – work has been crazy, so I've just not had the time to get back to this. This was supposed to be the penultimate chapter, but it got so long that I've had to split it in half. Still, we are nearly there now I promise! Thanks for sticking with it and for the lovely reviews.
Seated in the passenger seat of Ross Cainen's Mercedes, Tanis Archer pushed the loose tendrils of blonde hair off her face and whistled at the news they'd just heard on her station radio.
'Steve's gonna flip when he finds out he hired one of the Elzeni family to work in his restaurant' she said.
Cainen nodded, gently easing the sleek black car out of the parking space and into the late afternoon traffic 'I'd sure like to be a fly on the wall for that conversation' he said.
Tanis shrugged 'I'm just glad I'm not the one that has to tell him'.
Cainen sniggered 'Me too, but my guess is that Ron Wagnor's broken the news by now'. He shrugged 'What's the betting Steve is already heading for that barbeque joint of his to check out the cash register?'
She nodded 'No kidding and if I know Steve he'll have dragged his father and Amanda Bentley there with him. The three of them will be having some kind of pow wow right about now '
Cainen smiled and then he turned to look at her 'So what's with you and Steve Sloan anyway? He asked. 'You two always seemed pretty tight'. His tone was light, but his eyes were watchful.
Tanis shifted uncomfortably 'There's nothing between me and Steve' she said.
'But there was?' he prompted gently.
She sighed 'I used to think so'.
'He seems like a good guy' Cainen said 'A little too straight may be, but a good guy'.
Tanis nodded 'He is a good guy, it's just …' she trailed off. She hadn't intended to say this much, but it was such a relief to have someone to talk to.
'Don't tell me' Cainen interrupted 'He just can't deal with you being on the task force'.
Tanis looked at him, her eyes wide with surprise 'How did you ..'
'How did I know?' he shrugged 'I know because I've been there. I was engaged once you know. Girl called Karen, she was in Uniform, 67th Division'.
'What happened?' Tanis asked
'The Task Force happened'. He shrugged 'I was away a lot, couldn't tell her where I'd been, who I'd been with. Doesn't make for a great relationship.'
She nodded 'So why do we do it?' she asked
'Because we have to' he said simply 'if we didn't organised crime would take over this city'.
Their eyes met and Tanis felt a connection she'd never felt before. Embarrassed she looked away.
Cainen cleared his throat awkwardly 'So what's our next move here?'
'What?' she said, wondering if he meant him and her, or her and Steve.
'The case' he said 'What's our next move with the case?'
'Right' She hesitated, watching the first few rain drops splatter on to the wind shield whilst she regained her composure. The storm had passed, but the sky was still grey. Tracking one rain drop, as gravity led it in a meandering dance down the glass; she forced her mind back to the case. Despite the blacked out windows, she was already taking one hell of a risk being in this car with him in the middle of the afternoon. He'd given his driver the afternoon off, which if not exactly unheard of, certainly broke protocol. It was a risk and they both knew it. Usually they worked together late at night or early in the morning, a secret rendezvous in a dead end street, a run down bar, or at the station when she pretended he was 'helping her with her enquiries'.
They couldn't afford to arouse too much suspicion, his cover depended on him acting as normal as possible. His life depended on it, hers too. But they had to move faster, the case was hotting up – three bodies so far and they didn't want a fourth.
She sucked in her breath. 'Well we've got the names of the three victims and we know from the chess pieces that they're connected'.
'Right' he replied, checking his mirrors as they moved on to the freeway. It was a habit long born from having to maintain a double identity. He was always paranoid that he was being followed, either by the cops or by someone much worse.
'We also know that the last two victims were both connected to the Elzeni family' Tanis continued, thinking aloud.
He looked at her, noting that she'd come to the same conclusion he had 'So what odds will ya give me that Sam Wallis was involved with the Elzeni's too?' he asked
She nodded 'I'll give you pretty short odds on that one'.
He rubbed at the bridge of his nose thoughtfully 'Ya know, I've had a few run ins with old Sol Elzeni in my time. He might be pushing seventy, but he's one of the shrewdest guys I know. He's also pretty well connected. Someone's got a vendetta out against him and his family he's gonna know something about it'.
'You think we should go pay our respects?' Tanis asked, noting he'd already taken a left and was heading off the freeway and towards the Italian end of town.
'I think I should go pay my respects' he corrected 'I'm guessing that a home visit from the LAPD might not be the best way to get Sol talking'.
She could see his point, but that didn't mean she was happy about it 'You'll be okay going in there alone?'
He smiled, allowing some of his old Ross Cainen arrogance to shine through 'Hey babe, I'm Ross Cainen, I'm the head honcho of organised crime. Sol Elzeni should be laying out the red carpet when I come a visiting'.
She appreciated his swagger; the man had guts that was for sure, but it was a dangerous situation and they both knew it 'As long as it's not you that's getting laid out' she said.
It was a poor joke and neither of them laughed. She put a hand on his arm 'Be careful okay?'
He nodded, his face grave 'Always am'. Then he looked at her, dark eyes burning into her very soul 'You stay in the car and keep your head down. Any sign of trouble you get out of here, you hear me? Don't wait for me; I can take care of myself'
'But ..' she began
He shook his head, trying to appeal to her rational side 'You get made and we're both dead'.
Pulling up outside the 'Paradiso' bar and restaurant, he looked at her once more and squeezed her hand briefly 'Lock the doors behind me and stay sharp' he said, and then he was turning away from her and climbing out of the car.
She felt the blast of cold air and heard the whistle of the wind and then the door shut behind him and she was alone. She watched him pull his coat more closely around him as he strode away from the car. And then he paused and took a deep breath. Straightening his gaudy tie, he reached out for the door of 'Paradiso's' and without a backward glance he stepped inside.
'Be careful' she whispered under her breath.
Propped up in his hospital bed, Jesse Travis frowned in concentration. The ball point pen slipped between his clumsy fingers and left a jagged line of ink across the piece of paper. He tossed it down in frustration. He'd been doing his rehab exercises religiously, but it was amazing how difficult even the simplest of movements were. His injured hands were stiff and unco-operative and although the plastic surgeons were convinced that eventually he'd retain his full range of movement, it was going to be a long process.
Having spent so many days in bed, he'd finally exhausted his science fiction weeklies, comic strips and surfing magazines. He was now reduced to flipping through Amanda's back issues of 'Celebrity magazine' or testing his intellect with Mark's puzzle books. Quickly tiring of the latest rumours about Ben and Jen, he'd actually been getting pretty good at the crosswords and word searches. Unfortunately, it took him so long to write in the answers, that he could only cope with about twenty minutes before he threw his pen to the floor in frustration. Today's twenty minutes were just about up.
Flopping back against his pillows he closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, willing himself to relax. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself looking up into the jovial face of Mark Sloan.
'I knew he'd wake up if we mentioned doughnuts' Amanda was saying from somewhere behind Mark.
Mark nodded 'Works like a charm on Steve too' he said.
Sitting up straighter, Jesse gave a weak smile. It was good to see them. Too much time alone meant too much time thinking and remembering. Right now he didn't want to remember, he wanted to forget. May be that was why he'd spent so much time on the puzzle books – kept his mind busy.
'Hi guys' he said, making an effort to be cheerful 'it's about time you got here, I've had about as many crossword puzzles as I can take today'.
Mark whistled 'You know you're getting pretty good at those'
Jesse shrugged 'I'd be better if I could actually write in the answers' he said.
Amanda laid a hand on his shoulder 'You'll get there' she said soothingly 'I know you will'.
'So how's Steve doing?' Jesse asked, not wanting to think about his own rehab any more. If truth be told, he'd been hoping that Steve would drop by tonight. He wanted to talk to him about the case, find out if there were anymore leads as to the identity of Nicky's killer.
Mark smiled 'He's still a little sore, but much better. In fact he would have been here tonight, but something came up. He's with Ron right now, checking out a lead'.
Jesse leant forward eagerly 'We've got a lead?' he said. There was a spark in his blue eyes that hadn't been there for a while.
Mark was aware of the young man's enthusiasm and he knew the reason for it. Whilst it was nice to see Jesse looking interested in life again, Mark was wary about encouraging an obsession. He also wasn't sure how Jesse would take the latest pieces of news he had to offer. Still he had to be told.
'We found another link between the victims' he said slowly, lowering himself into a seat by Jesse's bedside 'well two of them at any rate'.
Jesse looked at him enquiringly, waiting for him to go on.
'Two of them have links with the Elzeni family' Mark said finally.
'The Elzeni family?' Jesse said, raising an eyebrow quizzically.
'According to Steve and Ron they're big in organised crime' Amanda said helpfully.
'Oh!' Jesse's expression cleared 'Well that makes sense I guess'. He paused, so you said two of the victims are linked to the Elzenis?
Mark nodded 'That's right I did'
Jesse screwed up his face in concentration 'So that has to be Sam Wallis and Ernie Evans right?' He folded his arms, shaking his head in amazement 'Boy who would ever have thought that Ernie would be mixed up in organised crime?'
Mark and Amanda exchanged glances, wondering how best to broach the subject.
Mark took a deep breath 'Amazing isn't it?' he said, keeping his voice light. Then he looked at Jesse carefully, 'you know I guess you never really know people do you?'
Jesse nodded, still trying to piece together the potential implications of this latest finding 'I guess not, although I suppose we could have guessed that Sam Wallis would be mixed up in something dirty'
Mark swallowed hard 'Actually Jess we don't know for sure that Sam Wallis is mixed up with the Elzenis. In fact that's what Steve and Ron are checking out right now'.
'But you said that two of the victims had links with organised crime' Jesse said. He was having trouble following this; he guessed it must be his meds, making him slow.
'Yes I did say that' Mark said solemnly, his eyes flicking to Jesse's face.
Moving around to the side of the bed Amanda took Jesse's hand 'Jesse, Nickki Ellis was one of the Elzenis' she said gently. 'Her real name was Nicola Elzeni, she was the Grand daughter of Sol Elzeni, a man implicated in several dozen crimes including fraud and …' she paused 'murder'.
Jesse pulled his hand away 'I don't believe it' he said 'she was just a kid; she wasn't mixed up in organised crime'.
Mark nodded 'I don't think she was either' he agreed 'I think she changed her name to get away from all that, but sadly she couldn't escape her roots'. He sighed 'I think she got caught up in something much bigger'.
Jesse's face was pale and Amanda bit her lip worriedly 'She was still the same girl you knew Jesse' she said softly 'she just had a background she wanted to forget'.
'So that's why she was so uncomfortable around Steve' Jesse said quietly.
Mark nodded 'That's what we think'.
Jesse shook his head 'It's not fair'.
'No it's not' Mark replied 'but I promise you Jess that the people responsible are going to be brought to justice'.
Jesse nodded 'So what are we gonna do next Mark? Where do we go from here?'
Mark sighed 'Right now I don't know. This killer is clever, but it's someone we've met before. We've defeated him once so I know we can do it again'.
Jesse looked puzzled 'How do you know we've met him before? He asked.
Mark shifted awkwardly 'Well that's my other piece of news' he said 'We've figured out what the chess pieces mean'.
Parking the brown sedan in the alley parallel to the Paradiso bar and restaurant, Ron Wagnor turned to his companion 'You sure about this?' he asked.
Steve nodded 'I know it's a risk Ron, but Sol Elzeni is the best lead we got going for us right now'.
'So you met the guy before?'
Steve shook his head 'Not personally, but I've heard a lot about his handiwork, the guy's a real player'.
'So how we gonna play this?' Ron asked
'Carefully' Steve said with feeling 'the guy's scum but he has just lost his granddaughter. The Elzenis are real big on family, in fact I'm surprised this joint's even open today'.
'Okay' Ron agreed 'so we're not there to rile him, just to find out what he knows'.
'Right' Steve said 'so let's get this over with'
Ron was out of the car a lot quicker than Steve and he walked round to offer his colleague a hand. Steve waved him off 'I'm fine' he said irritably. He'd refused to take his father's cane with him on the grounds that it made him look weak – not an ideal look when meeting with the Godfather of organised crime. Still, without the cane he was a little slow on his feet and the strong gusts of wind that buffeted against him weren't helping.
Ron shrugged 'Suit yourself' he said easily 'but do me a favour and try not to fall over when we get in there will ya?'
'Ha, ha' Steve replied sardonically 'Now can we cut the comedy routine and get down to business? I don't wanna be in there any longer than I have to'.
From Ross Cainen's car, parked in the same alleyway Tanis Archer tensed. The bar at Paradisos was getting a little too crowded for comfort. It had been half an hour since Cainen had gone into the bar and she had no idea what was going down in there, what he was having to do, to maintain his cover. Steve and Ron's arrival just made the whole situation that much more explosive. But before she could react the door had swung shut behind them.
TO BE CONTINUED …..