Chapter 50
Alessandro
F our weeks. Four excruciatingly long fucking weeks since Luci left with my baby. This hunt to find Luci is taking longer than it should. Marco is the best in his field and he can’t find an ex-bodyguard and his family?
I’ve made use of the office between our bar and gambling room for the last few weeks. While I’d rather work from home, I haven’t gotten a chance to fix and replace everything after trashing it. Ironically, working outside of my home has helped me get more done. I hoped that being out of the house would help Marco achieve more since I’m not yelling at him. And in return, Geno would get off my back about letting Luci get away. Plot twist, it hasn’t.
A video call from none other than Geno pops up. The last thing I want is to be berated by him. I know if I keep ignoring him though, he’ll find the time to fly here and that would be worse. I groan with my head back, preparing myself to take whatever he has for me.
“What do I owe the pleasure, Geno?”
“Don’t throw attitude at me. You know I have no issues flying to you and beating it out of you.” As I’ve mentioned, he would.
I bite back the words I’d like to say, knowing I need to have a productive conversation with him. “Okay. Continue.”
“What update do you have on finding Luciana?”
“This should be a conversation you have with Marco. The last time I checked in with him, he saw their cars go into Amish country, then he lost them. They probably changed plates and left through a back road. He also found some excellent information through Aldo’s email. Emails that show they’re probably staying with someone out of state, and one from Luci saying she wanted to go home after we fought one night. Trust me, I’m most likely as pissed as you are.” His expression changes as his eyes widen and his jaw clenches. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’ll talk to you later; I have to go.” That was fucking weird.
At the same time my computer dings, notifying me that I have a new email. In the email, Marco states that there were no private airplanes that took off in Pennsylvania that night or the next. He’s threatened most small airports in the area that if they have information they’re not telling us, they’ll lose the ability to fly. He’s also put facial recognition in larger airports around the country without any success.
This should be helpful, and I guess it technically is, but that still narrows it down to most of North and South America. That’s still too wide of a space. Luci should be my wife right now. I can’t get it out of my head that she’s pregnant and not here. The moment I saw that pregnancy test, I knew that I would slaughter anyone who prevents me from raising my own child, even Luci’s family. Anger rushes through me at this whole situation as I call Marco.
“What’s up, grumpy pants?” I can almost see him propping his feet up at his desk, crossing his ankles, and putting his hands behind his head. As long as he’s not doing that at my desk I don’t care. Scratch that, he can do whatever he wants in my office until it’s clean.
“You sound like El.” He grunts when I mention her, and his tone changes, covered in annoyance.
“You didn’t call for that.”
“You’re right. I called to ask you why the fuck it’s taking you this long to figure out anything. Nepotism isn’t the reason why I brought you with me. You know that, right?”
“I do know that. You brought me with you because you love me.” He makes kissing noises and I wish I could reach out and ring his neck through the phone.
“No, actually. I brought you here because I believed you were the best. You have been outsmarted by a man who hasn’t worked for my family in decades, a man who was brand new at that. How have you let him outsmart you?”
“Damnit, Alessandro, I’m trying. Other than the email thing he’s covered his bases. Their bank accounts are drained and closed and there’s no record of any purchases on credit cards. The plates on their car haven’t been seen on any cameras, or Pennsylvania plates in general on their car. Their house is void of clothes, sentimental items, and other necessities. If I didn’t know them, I’d assume they went on a long vacation. They’ve completely vanished, dude. Poof. Gone. I want to say they’re in Pennsylvania still—shit maybe with the Amish—but if they were, there wouldn’t be that email. You know why?”
“I’m not fucking stupid, Marco. It’s because the Amish don’t use technology.” Maybe I punched Marco too hard when we fought as kids.
“Exactly! You’re getting smarter every day! I think I contribute to that.”
“You contribute to the likelihood of me needing to dispose of your body. Tell me something useful.”
“Okay, fine. I decided to focus on the deleted emails he missed after finding the one from Luci. There’s an email that talks about some northern midwestern state and we know it’s an isolated spot which leads us to the Midwest, mountains, and west. I’m guessing anything north of Kansas and west of Iowa. I know it’s still a lot of land, but I’ll get it narrowed down, dude.”
He’s right that is a lot of land. “What’s your plan?”
“I think we should pull facial recognition out of airports and put it on the roads, including her family. Stella, Caterina, and Aldo are likely with her and whoever this mystery email person is.”
“Do it. Do anything you need to get Luci back here, whether she wants to or not.” The email she sent to Aldo saying she wanted to go home burns in my brain. I want to believe everyone when they say she was emotional and acted irrationally, but there will always be doubt in my head until she tells me otherwise.
“I’ll keep you updated, man. I’ll find her, Alessandro, I promise.”
I hang up the phone, preventing myself from saying what I’d prefer to say. Promises aren’t worth shit unless you have something to show for it. I don’t know what I’ll do if we can’t find Luci. If I have a child out there somewhere. Most importantly, if a man other than me is raising that child—especially a lesser man.