Chapter 45
Ipushed Luciano up the stairs through the darkness.
“You’re sure your parents don’t have a panic room in their bedroom?” I whispered.
“Because if you lied to me – ”
“The safe room’s on the first floor,” he whispered back. “If they tried to get down there, we would have seen them on the way up.”
“Where’s your sister?” Romeo whispered.
“You swore you wouldn’t do anything to her,” Luciano hissed.
“Which is why I’m going after her and not Ciro,” Romeo answered.
Ciro just chuckled.
It was true; if Ciro went to collect her, the bitch might ‘accidentally’ wind up on his dick.
Luciano glared at Romeo in the darkness. “…down the hallway… third door on the left.”
Romeo nodded, then hurried off to collect the sister.
“Take us to Don Amato’s room,” I said.
Luciano took us to a doorway at the very end of the hall.
I tried the doorknob. Locked.
“Tell them it’s you,” I whispered.
Luciano didn’t say anything.
“I can send Ciro after your sister, if you like,” I whispered. “And while he’s at it, he can tell Cicciobello to start shooting your kids.”
“Papa,” Luciano called out.
A muffled voice on the other side of the door called out in surprise, “Luciano?! What are you doing here?!”
“I came in late,” Luciano said. “The power’s gone out.”
There was no answer from the other side.
“Papa, can you open the door?” Luciano asked nervously.
No answer.
Don Amato wasn’t buying it.
Apparently he wasn’t as stupid as the rest of them.
“Amato,” I yelled, “I’ve got a gun at your son’s head. Open this fuckin’ door in the next ten seconds, or I blow his brains out.”
“W-what?!” Luciano whispered in terror.
In the bedroom, a woman’s voice cried out in terror. A man shushed her angrily.
Then it was silent again.
“Guess Daddy doesn’t care about you that much, huh?” I pulled Luciano to the right side of the doorway and nodded at Ciro. “Do it.”
Ciro pulled his shotgun off his shoulder, CLACKED a round into the chamber, and fired at the doorknob.
BLAM!
I kept watch behind us for any foot soldiers who might come running.
BLAM!
BLAM!
When the wood around the knob was Swiss cheese, Ciro gave it a good hard kick.
WHAM!
As the door flew open, Ciro ducked over to the left side.
The shooting started immediately.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
We’d assumed it would happen, which is why Ciro and I were standing on either side of the door.
Don Amato – or whoever had the gun – was firing blindly. No lights to see by.
The chance that he would hit us was pretty small, as long as we didn’t stand in the fuckin’ doorway.
Not to mention I had a nice human shield in front of me, just in case.
All we had to do was wait for the bullets to run out.
Which they did.
BANG! BANG –
Click.
The idiot must’ve had a revolver with only six bullets.
I pushed Luciano in front of me and forced him into the room.
Don Amato was standing at the far end of the bedroom, a revolver in his hand. An empty revolver.
He was a fat little fuck in silk pajamas, with a mostly bald head and a bad combover that was currently sticking up in all directions. In the night vision, the sickly green of his face matched his panicked look.
To my right was a big four-poster bed with rumpled sheets. I knew a woman was crouched down behind it on the opposite side from me, because I could see the curlers in her hair just over the top of the mattress.
“Hey Amato – I can see you because I’ve got night vision goggles on,” I snarled. “Now put down the revolver, or I’m gonna spray your son’s brains all over the fuckin’ room.”
The woman shrieked behind the bed.
“QUIET!” Amato shouted at her, then slowly bent his knees and eased the gun towards the ground. “I’m putting it down…”
There was a clunk as the gun hit the hardwood floor. Then he straightened back up, his hands in the air.
“Go over and get in bed,” I ordered. “And tell your wife to get in beside you.”
“Adelina, do what he says,” Amato said as he blindly felt his way over to the bedframe.
The woman hesitantly stood up and climbed up onto the mattress. She was a pudgy 50-something woman in a long nightgown, and she looked terrified.
I kicked Luciano in the back of one knee, forcing him to the ground. He collapsed with a grunt to the floor.
“Who are you?” Amato said as he crawled into bed.
“Cesare Caproni.”
The fat man’s expression turned hopeless, like he knew his fate was sealed. “You’re that young buck making trouble for the rest of the Camorra.”
“That’s me.”
“Is my son there?”
“He is.” I poked Luciano in the head with my gun. “Say hello.”
“Papa, I’m sorry!” he said frantically.
“Piezza di merda,” Amato snarled. “You sold us out?!”
“His men have Francesca and the kids!”
Amato’s wife started weeping.
“While you were out fucking one of your whores, no doubt,” Amato spat.
“They were going to kill them!” Luciano said angrily.
“What makes you think he won’t now, you fool? Why the hell would he keep them alive?”
“He promised! He swore!”
“You idiot – he’s Camorra! Their word is shit!”
I didn’t bother protesting. The old bastard was right.
“He said he only wanted information!” Luciano screamed.
“And you believed him? The Camorra have wanted us dead for 25 years! You think there’s even a chance he’ll let us go?!”
Luciano broke down weeping at my feet.
Fuckin’ pussy.
The old man looked in my general direction. He was blind as a bat in the darkness. “You killed all my men?”
“Most of them. We’ll get the rest.”
“Are we going to do this in the dark?”
“I can see just fine.”
Amato grunted. “Well? What are you waiting for? Get it over with.”
“Like your son said, I want some information first.”
“And why would I fucking give it to you?” Amato sneered.
“Because you can go fast and quick, or you can go slow and painful. Not to mention what I could do to your wife and daughter right in front of you. Speaking of which – ROMEO!” I shouted.
No answer.
“Go find him and bring the girl back here,” I told Ciro.
He immediately left the room.
“Leave my daughter out of this,” Amato said, “and I’ll tell you whatever you want.”
“Okay,” I said. “Tell me everything you know about Dario Rosolini.”
In the green night vision, Amato’s face looked utterly shocked. “…what?! Why him?”
“Because he killed my father.”
“…ah,” Amato said, finally understanding. “So this is about revenge.”
“Exactly.”
“Your father was killed, what – four years ago? That’s a long time to wait.”
“Yeah, so don’t piss me off any more than I already am.”
There were footsteps in the hallway.
I glanced over to see Ciro and Romeo – but no girl.
“Where the fuck is she?!” I demanded.
“I couldn’t find her,” Romeo said. He looked slightly nervous.
“What do you mean, you couldn’t find her?!”
“She wasn’t in her room.”
I pressed the barrel of my gun into Luciano’s temple. “You lying fuck – ”
“That was her room, I swear!” he pleaded.
“It was a woman’s bedroom,” Romeo said quickly, “but she wasn’t there.”
“Where the fuck IS she?!”
“I don’t know – out, maybe?”
“Amato,” I snapped. “Where’s the girl?”
“…out with friends.”
He was lying – I could smell it on him.
“Jesus fucking Christ – go search the rest of the house!” I yelled at Ciro and Romeo.
“The rest of our guys showed up a few minutes ago,” Ciro said. “Lucrezia’s downstairs.”
“Good – send her up.”
“We’ll need to turn on the lights, otherwise she won’t be able to see a thing.”
“Go ahead.”
They both left the room.
“Lucrezia,” Amato said. “Your sister?”
“Yup.”
“Was this your plan, or hers?”
“Hers, mostly.”
“She’s the brains, you’re the muscle?”
“Something like that.”
Suddenly, a bedside lamp came on.
The night vision goggles went from green to blinding white.
I flipped them up out of the way so I could see again.
Amato and his wife blinked in the sudden brightness.
As soon as the old man’s eyes adjusted, he glared down at Luciano on the floor. “You fucking idiot – you’ve doomed us all.”
Luciano just sat there in silent misery.
We heard high heels clacking down the hallway, and Lucrezia appeared.
As always, she wore her sunglasses.
“Anybody get hurt?” she asked me as she shut the door behind her.
“Not on our side.”
“Excellent. I have a dozen men out back, combing the grounds for any survivors.” She glanced around the bedroom. “Where’s the girl?”
“Romeo couldn’t find her,” I said. I gestured at Amato. “Her father says she’s out with friends, but I think he’s lying.”
“Huh.” Lucrezia stared at the old man through her sunglasses. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll either find her, or we’ll get her when she comes back. Did you ask him anything yet?”
“No, I was waiting for you.”
Lucrezia nodded, then pulled her phone out of her purse and tapped the screen. I knew she was recording.
“Alright,” she said as she stared at Amato. “Tell us everything you know about Dario Rosolini.”