Page 75 of Night Prey
Ian didn’t like having to grill the kid after what he’d gone through, but after peppering Olivo with a string of questions, the father didn’t confess to killing Junior. That would’ve been too easy. So, Ian was going to take the kid down to the precinct and separate him from his dad to see what they could learn. Ian would then interview Olivo. Except Olivo called his attorney as they stepped out the door. Ian figured the lawyer would tell them both to clam up. Didn’t matter. Ian would still try.
He gritted his teeth and escorted the pair down the sidewalk. Nearing Ian’s car, a woman popped up from behind the bushes that lined the far side of the driveway.
She raised a gun and fired.
Olivo dropped to the concrete.
Ian grabbed the kid and tugged him to the ground behind the car. Londyn dove in after them and quickly called for backup.
“My dad.” Carlo struggled to get up.
“Too dangerous.” Ian held him down. “If you promise me you’ll stay here, I’ll go after him.”
“I promise,” he cried out. “Go! Go!”
“No additional gunshots.” Ian looked at Londyn. “Ready to move?”
She nodded.
They popped up above the hood. The woman, who Ian could now identity as Karen Flagg, stood over Olivo. He lay on his back, his eyes open. Blood gushed from three chest wounds. Looked like there was nothing they could do for Olivo.
But they did need to take Karen into custody without anyone else getting hurt. The gun dangled from her hand, and her focus was on Olivo.
Ian raised his gun. “Put the gun down, Karen.”
She looked up at him, her eyes glazed with pain.
“Put it down slowly,” Ian directed when she didn’t move. “On the ground right beside you.”
Her gaze fixed on Olivo again, she set the weapon on the concrete. She never took her gaze off Olivo when she stood back up, her eyes almost as fixed and lifeless as Olivo’s.
Ian and Londyn made their way around the car slowly, carefully. Ian reached Karen first, and he kicked the gun out of the way. “On your knees, Karen.”
She dropped down silently, continuing to stare at Olivo.
“Now on your face, hands behind your back,” Ian said, following protocol, though he likely didn’t need to be so cautious with her. She’d done what she wanted to do and was more than finished emotionally.
She complied, lowering her body and bringing her face-to-face with Olivo. “You deserved it. You killed my son.”
She started weeping, and her pain saturated the air. Ian felt bad having to cuff her, but murder was murder, no matter a person’s motive.
He secured cuffs on her wrists with a quick snap and signaled for Londyn to search the woman. Londyn took control of Karen, and Ian felt for a pulse on Olivo. Nothing. No surprise.
The door to the house opened, and a woman Ian assumed was Olivo’s wife came out. She took one look at Olivo and screamed.
“Tirone!” she called out. “No. No.”
Carlo ran to her, and she swept him into her arms, covering his eyes to keep him from looking at his father.
Despite Olivo’s criminal behavior, Ian’s heart broke for his family. He had no idea if they knew about his criminal ways, but regardless, they were grieving.
Ian stepped up to them. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but he’s gone.”
She screamed again, the anguish piercing Ian’s heart and bringing the teenage daughter outside too. She looked at her dad.
“No!” she cried. “No.” She turned to her mother. “First Carlo’s finger, now this. What’s happening?”
Was it really possible that these people didn’t know who Olivo really was? What he did? Maybe the kids had been protected, but Ian figured after all these years that the wife knew or, at least, suspected Olivo was a drug kingpin. If she did, it didn’t lessen her grief.
