Lorenzo #3
Good. I move to the next item. "The Waterfront supplier?"
Ciro's expression darkens. "I looked into it."
"And?"
"The delay isn't the problem."
Of course it isn't. "What is?"
"They've had a better offer."
I stare at him. "From who?"
He gives me the name. I recognize it immediately.
Small operation, not important enough to matter, stupid enough to be irritating.
I lean back in my chair. "Our supplier has a contract."
Ciro’s eyes light up. "He does."
"Then he has a week to remember that."
Ciro's mouth twitches. "I'll let him know."
"If he doesn't honor the agreement, we find someone else."
"And him?"
I look at him. "What about him?"
The grin that appears on Ciro's face is brief. "I'll make sure people know he's not reliable."
Good. Word travels fast in this city, especially when we help it along.
Ciro makes a note. "Last thing."
I already know what it's going to be.
"The restaurant."
The property near the pier, the one we should already own, the one somebody stepped in front of us to buy.
"What do we have?" I ask.
"Not much," he sighs.
I don't like that answer. "But?"
"I've got a lead on who placed the competing bid."
That gets my attention, I sit forward slightly. "Who?"
"Marco’s still confirming."
Annoying. "Then work with him and confirm faster."
Ciro huffs a laugh. "I knew you'd say that."
I ignore him. "Find out who they are."
"I will."
"Who they're connected to, and whether they're connected to the leak."
The amusement disappears from his face. "That's what I was thinking too."
The room falls quiet, because neither of us believes in coincidences, not anymore. The restaurant was too specific, too convenient. Someone knew we wanted it; the question is how.
Ciro closes the folder. "I'll get answers."
"You'd better."
He grins and I groan as my door opens. Not a fucking moment of peace today. I look up and see Marco, he walks in carrying a thin folder. Not good. The thin folders are always worse than the thick ones.
Ciro notices it too and his grin disappears.
"What now?" he asks.
Marco closes the door behind him. "I found something."
I sit back in my chair. "Go on."
Marco drops the folder onto my desk. "A name."
I open it. Nico Romano, my eyes narrow. "Sal's brother?"
Marco nods. "Nico's worked distribution for seven years," Marco says. "Mostly transportation. Moving product between the Waterfront handoff points and the Seaport facilities."
I skim the file. I see that Nico has a clean record, he’s reliable, with no disciplinary issues, no missing money, nothing obvious. Which means nothing.
"What am I looking at?"
Marco folds his arms across his chest. "Timing."
The word hangs in the air, and I continue reading. Two incidents, two separate leaks, two separate operations. Nico appears in the overlap both times.
I look up.
"How long have you been sitting on this?"
"Two weeks."
That gets a raised brow from Ciro. Marco ignores him. "It wasn't enough."
I would've said the same thing, still might.
"What changed?"
"The pattern."
I glance back down at the file, it happened twice, that’s the pattern.
"Proof?" I ask.
Marco shakes his head. "No."
That's what I expected. "What we have is proximity, timing, and access."
Not enough, not yet.
The room falls quiet. I know what we're all thinking.
Ciro says it first. "Sal steals from us. Now his brother might be feeding information out."
"Might," Marco corrects.
Ciro ignores him. "If we leave him in place and he's the leak, we keep taking losses."
He's right. "And if he's innocent?" I ask.
Neither of them answers immediately, because they know the answer. If we're wrong, we destroy a loyal man for doing nothing except being related to the wrong person.
I look at Marco. "How confident are you?"
He takes his time answering. Good, because anything else would concern me. "I'm confident in the pattern, but I'm not confident enough to call it proof."
That's what I thought. I close the file. "Keep watching him, tightly. No sensitive information goes anywhere near him."
Marco nods. "Understood."
"If something moves through an operation Nico touches, I want to know about it before he does."
Marco nods again. The plan is simple. If Nico is the leak, cutting him away from information will force him to react. If he's innocent, the leaks will continue.
Either way, we get an answer. Eventually. "Make it happen."
Marco picks up the folder. "Consider it done."
The two of them leave a few minutes later. I stare at the empty doorway for a moment. Still no proof, but the picture is beginning to take shape.
By the time I finish up the last file, darkness has settled outside.
The Seaport acquisition is moving. The Waterfront issue is being handled. Marco is digging into Orla. Nico Romano is being watched. Everything is moving. Everything is under control.
I close the file and close my eyes. My mind lingers on Quinn who's somewhere in Southie, the thought staying longer than it should.
I still don't know if I judged her too quickly.
I get to my feet and leave the office. That’s a thought for another day.