Debby Giusti - Killer Headline

“The FBI in Chicago feel you’re in danger, Violet. You’ve been digging into Mafia business. The mob silences anyone who comes too close.”

A terrible visual flashed though Clay’s mind. Swallowing the bile that instantly filled his throat, Clay blinked twice, relieved to find a flesh-and-blood and very much unharmed Violet standing in front of him.

Clay noted her drawn drapes, needing to turn his focus back to security issues instead of the way his pulse quickened whenever he was near her.

PROTECTING THE WITNESSES:

New identities, looming danger and forever love in the Witness Protection Program.

Twin Targets—Marta Perry, January 2010

Killer Headline—Debby Giusti, February 2010

Cowboy Protector—Margaret Daley, March 2010

Deadly Vows—Shirlee McCoy, April 2010

Fatal Secrets—Barbara Phinney, May 2010

Risky Reunion—Lenora Worth, June 2010

is a medical technologist who loves working with test tubes and petri dishes almost as much as she loves to write. Growing up as an army brat, Debby met and married her husband—then a captain in the army—at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Together they traveled the world, raised three wonderful army brats of their own and have now settled in Atlanta, Georgia, where Debby spins tales of suspense that touch the heart and soul. Contact Debby through her Web site, www.DebbyGiusti.com, e-mail debby@debbygiusti.com, or write c/o Steeple Hill, 233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279.

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Special thanks and acknowledgment to Debby Giusti for her contribution to the Protecting the Witnesses miniseries.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains:

From where shall come my help?

My help shall come from the Lord

Who made heaven and earth.

—Psalms 121:1-2

To my precious family

For your love, support and encouragement

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

MEMO: TOP SECRET/TOP PRIORITY

To: FBI Organized Crime Division; U.S. Marshals Office

From: Jackson McGraw, Special Agent-in-Charge, Chicago Field Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Date: February 5, 2010

Re: Operation Black Veil

According to the FBI informant who wears a black veil and has recently come forward, the medical condition of the head of Chicago’s Martino crime family, Salvatore Martino, continues to decline. The family’s operation is now run by his son, Vincent Martino, currently out on bail and scheduled to stand trial for murder in June.

Activity within the family compound has increased significantly. Many of the major capos have visited Vincent at his Chicago home. Speculation on the street is that Vincent needs to prove himself to his father before the elder don dies. Whether the capos are paying allegiance to their new don or planning a change in their current operation is not known at this time.

The U.S. Marshals Office in Billings, Montana, notified the FBI concerning two women in Witness Protection murdered within the last month. Both had green eyes and ties to organized crime. Their deaths indicate growing Mafia activity in that state and may have been botched attempts to kill Eloise Hill, presumed to be in Montana. Hill has green eyes and testified against Salvatore Martino twenty-two years ago, resulting in his incarceration.

A Missoula news reporter contacted Detective Clay West, Chicago P.D., seeking information on the Martino family in reference to the murders. Action is now being taken to ensure the reporter focuses her interests elsewhere.

Law-enforcement personnel are instructed to notify SAC Jackson McGraw, FBI Chicago, with information pertinent to the Martino family, organized crime and/or the two murder cases.

Reporter Violet Kramer looked up from her laptop—relieved the drapes were drawn and the doors locked—as the car passed her house yet again. The sound of the souped-up engine and pounding bass cut through the otherwise still night.

A gang of rowdy troublemakers had moved into Missoula, prowling the streets and bringing a wave of crime that worried local residents, especially the older folks who lived in her neighborhood. Concerned though Violet was about the increased crime, her attention tonight was focused on her computer screen and the information she’d compiled over the last few weeks.

Violet could smell a good story, and this one was as strong as Limburger cheese. She just had to keep digging until she uncovered all the bits and pieces that would turn a good beginning into a great front-page spread, sure to improve her current odd-man-out status at the Missoula Daily News.

Even more important, the story would warn other women who might be in danger. Women who had somehow tangled with organized crime. Like Ruby Summers Maxwell and Carlie Donald, both murdered in Montana. Both young and attractive with the dubious distinction of having testified against the mob.

Another interesting similarity, both women had green eyes. An important clue or coincidence? Violet wasn’t sure.

She had little to go on concerning Ruby’s death, except a funeral announcement and an e-mail from a reporter friend who worked on the local rag in the town where Ruby had been killed. The full story never appeared in print. Women in Witness Protection didn’t make the headlines in the morning news.

Luckily, Violet’s diligent search of area newspapers had paid off with a photo of Jade Summers—the very-much-alive twin sister of the murder victim—standing next to her beau, Deputy U.S. Marshal Micah McGraw. In the forefront of the picture sat swarms of preschoolers watching a clown at the library where Jade worked. The kids were cute, but Violet was only interested in the woman at the marshal’s side. Slender frame, expressive eyes and a crown of russet hair that swept over her shoulders. At least now, Violet knew what Jade’s murdered twin—Ruby Summers—had looked like.

Inserting her flash drive into her home laptop, Violet pulled up the file containing Carlie Donald’s autopsy report—acquired through another contact.

…remains of a slender female…cause of death strangulation…abrasions and contusions of the anterior neck…no foreign materials evident beneath the fingernails…graphite noted on the right hand…froth in the trachea and bronchi…

Closing her eyes, Violet tried to block out the details playing through her mind. Her day had started early with a five-mile run before church. She had spent the afternoon working on the story, which had stretched the long day into an even longer night.