Cut and Run

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Book: Cut and Run Read Free
Author: Jeff Abbott
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Bellinis caught and killed them both but dumped her body elsewhere.’
    ‘And a woman who looks like her happens to leave Bozeman the same day?’ Claudia said gently. ‘Let’s say she took the money.
     She killed Powell, or guilt or fear ate him up and he killed himself, and so she ran with the money.’
    ‘Yes,’ Harry said. ‘Great minds, Claudia. She had a few choices. One, come home.’
    ‘She didn’t do that,’ Whit said.
    ‘Two, run. Always waiting for the Bellinis to catch up with her.’
    ‘That seems the logical choice,’ Claudia said.
    ‘Yeah, and y’all might never find her again,’ Harry said. ‘Or three. She went to the Bellinis to return the money, to take
     the heat off of her, to cut a deal.’
    ‘Huge risk,’ Claudia said.
    Harry slipped another set of stapled papers from a file. ‘Yes. Tony Largo was a loan shark in Dallas who’d been close to James
     Powell. He turned to the Feds about ten years after Powell died. Said word on the street was the Bellinis were looking for
     Powell but never found him. And the Bellinis fell from power a few years back.’ Harry opened another file. ‘The Feds could
     never get the hard financial evidence against them for racketeering charges. Big Tommy Bellini, the head of the ring, cleans
     up after himself better than an anal-retentive maid. The meanest,baddest, most vicious SOB in Detroit crime circles, but the one who maintained the lowest profile. Until two years ago. Then
     he kills another boss without permission, books himself on freaking
Good Morning Detroit
and disclaims any knowledge about the killings. Grabs way too much attention. So he basically gets kicked out of the mob.
     The other families can’t whack him, but they can’t work with him any further because he’s damaged goods. His wife used to
     be a Texas debutante, came from old money, so they head back to her home turf in Houston. He sets himself up as an importer
     of fine textiles, rugs, art, and so on. Totally legit, and he was being watched very carefully. He’s probably importing white
     powder and hash, but what do I know? Houston police roughed him up once, and he sued their asses into the ground, and he won
     a million-dollar settlement, and so I don’t know how hard they looked at him afterwards.’ Harry pulled out a newspaper clipping.
     ‘A month ago he had a stroke at the wheel of his Jaguar on the Gulf freeway and crashed. Badly. Two of his buddies were killed.
     Tommy Bellini’s been in a coma ever since.’
    Whit tore the wet napkin under his beer in strips.
    Harry leaned back. ‘Eve Michaels’ car ends up in Des Moines. It’s on the way to Detroit from Denver. She wasn’t running away,
     she was running
toward
something.’
    ‘Or the Bellinis caught up with her and killed her,’ Whit said. His voice was hoarse.
    ‘And she’s long dead. Or they might be grateful to her. And possibly she wanted something from them,’ Harry said.
    ‘What?’ Whit said.
    ‘A new life,’ Harry said. ‘You want me to see if there’s a connection between Eve Michaels and the Bellinis? It’s a thin chance,
     but it’s about all I got left to check.’
    ‘This could be worse than Pandora’s box,’ Whit said. ‘The mob. Jesus.’
    ‘I’m not afraid of these people, Judge,’ Harry said. ‘Okay, well maybe a little. Because I’m not foolish. I can go to Detroit
     tonight.’
    ‘Detroit? What about Houston?’
    ‘She might have stayed in Detroit once his organization fell apart there. But I’ll try Houston as well.’
    Whit nodded at Harry. ‘Find her. Please.’
    On the way back to Port Leo, they stopped at the Nueces County morgue for Whit to pick up autopsy results on a drowning victim
     who had been pulled from St Leo Bay. As justice of the peace for Encina County, Whit also performed coroner’s duties, ruling
     on cause of death and conducting death inquests, but the autopsies were performed by the pros in nearby Nueces County. Whit
     read the report as

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