22. Nicki
"Can I use your laptop?" I ask, carrying the USB stick through to the living room where Danny is working. He looks up at me, and I lift my hand to show him what I am holding.
"Uh, sure, what have you got?"
"I found this USB stick taped to the inside of the file I took from the Vitali warehouse. It was so tiny I never noticed it before, but I've been looking more closely at all of the documents in there and discovered this. There wasn't anything to suggest what was on it. So, I need a laptop - "
Danny pushes his laptop across the table towards me and I take a seat in front of it.
I slip the USB device into the side of the laptop.
A folder pops up on the desktop, so I double-click it. It opens, filled with unnamed images and documents.
I click to change the view to larger thumbnails to try and get an idea of what it is about.
My heart shudders to a stop.
"Is that Luca?" I ask in shock, peering at the screen.
Danny stands up and walks around the table to peer over my shoulder. I click on one of the images to open it wider.
"Yes - that is definitely Luca - and that woman with him is - "
"Sasha," I whisper.
It is a grainy image, taken from outside the window, obviously snapped by a private investigator or someone spying on them. They are lying on the bed, naked, very intimately engaged in things that I never expected to see them doing together.
"But she was dating Diego," I mutter, still stunned by this discovery.
"Apparently she was dating Luca as well."
I click through a couple more images and it becomes more and more apparent how close Sasha and Luca were. They seem completely unaware of someone outside their window watching them and photographing their activities.
"Did you know about this?" I turn to face Danny.
"I had no idea. Nothing in our investigation led us to even suspect that they were involved with each other."
"I don't get it. She was dating Diego and Luca, and she is my father's sister. How is she coming up at every turn we make? Everything seems to involve her."
"Perhaps this murder investigation had less to do with business and more to do with personal revenge?"
"That doesn't explain how my father ended up being the one who was killed. A love triangle murder would make sense between Luca and his dad, but my father dying because of this just doesn't fit."
"I'm going to make you a coffee, then I'll come sit with you and help. We need to go through all of those documents as well. There has to be more on this device to help us understand." Danny says, turning towards the kitchen. I am already clicking on the other files, and skim reading through them.
By the time Danny returns I have found an entire backup of Sasha's phone, all of her messages and call logs, and the truth is becoming a dark, twisted slap in the face.
"Sasha is not the victim," I say as he places the coffee down on the table next to me.
"What's that?" Danny asks, taking a seat and examining the screen. "Is that Sasha's message log?"
"Yes, dated around the time of my dad's disappearance."
"She disappeared at the same time. I guess she left her phone behind, and someone got hold of it."
"Look at this." I point at the screen.
He goes quiet as he reads the exchange between Sasha and a friend of hers. It details Sasha's annoyance at how Diego is not interested in investing in the human trafficking business despite the wealth he could build. She tells her friend she is going to start seeing if Luca will be an easier target to manipulate.
Danny leans back in his chair.
"She was just hungry for power and money and was willing to do anything to get it."
"It seems that way. She just wanted to date whoever was going to make the most money, regardless of how they made it."
I click on a different window and open a chat between Sasha and Luca.
Most of it is pretty graphic, and not images I want to keep in my thoughts, so I scroll through until I see Sasha starting to entice Luca with ideas of a new business opportunity.
For hours I read through their conversations and discovered exactly how they worked together.
She was the lure.
She would prey on young women, draw them in, and then those women would disappear, sold off to the highest bidder.
I feel sick to my stomach.
Luca has been doing this for years. Sasha was the one who convinced him to start.
According to Sasha's messages, Diego was not interested in being involved with human trafficking at all - which goes along with what Vitorio said about his family being dead against such a disgusting business practice.
I update Danny on my discoveries as I read.
"So, why did Sasha and Luca stop working together?" He asks.
"I can't quite figure out if it was maybe because Diego caught them cheating, or if it was because Luca broke up with her. But to be honest, I don't think Luca ever stopped that line of work. I think he is still running the same business now. I mean there are so many rumors about him being involved in human trafficking - and he has even threatened me with it a few times."
There is a long moment of silence, and my thoughts are flaring off in every direction as I try to process the new information.
"What if Sasha was the one who killed my father?" I ponder out loud.
"That wouldn't explain why the bounty is signed by a Vitali?"
I bite my lip. "I don't know. It just seems as though she played a huge role in all of this, and we never really considered her a threat before. She is willing to date someone just for power and money - and she is willing to lure girls into such a horrible situation, knowing their fates - just for money. What kind of a sick and twisted person is she?"
"We need to approach this differently now," Danny says, leaning forward over the table, resting his elbows on the surface, and rubbing his hand across his jaw. He hasn't shaved in two days and the dark shadow of stubble on his face looks good on him. It makes him look less boyish.
"We have a lot of new evidence here, but it doesn't answer everything. We have to use this evidence to lure the truth out of Luca. We need to make him believe that we know everything and get him to talk about it."
"I say we take this to the head of the Vitali family - the person who has the strongest influence." Danny nods thoughtfully.
"Who?" I ask, tilting my head to the side. I only know Vitorio and Luca. I have not had any other interactions with their family.
"Their uncle, Marco. He is technically retired from the business, but he still holds a huge amount of respect and power within their world. If we show him what we have here, he can use his influence over Luca to force the rest of the truth out of him."
"Do you know Marco?"
"I've never met him in person, but I'd say that he seems like a reasonable man."
Getting hold of Marco Vitali was not the difficult part but convincing him to meet with us was a challenge. Right away I could tell that he is a very guarded man, yet unafraid to speak his mind. He demanded to know what everything was in connection with, and I was so reluctant to tell him the whole story over the phone as it ended up becoming a tense standoff between us.
Finally, I gave in and told him it involved the safety of both of his nephews, Vitorio and Luca. And he agreed to meet me if I came alone to his house tonight.
Now Danny is pacing up and down the living room of the safe house in an absolute rage.
"Not a fucking chance, Nicki. There is no way I am letting you go there alone. You could be walking into a trap."
"I'll wear a wire. You can listen in. You can be somewhere nearby and if I need you, you'll be able to come and help me. We can have a code word or something. Isn't that how they do it?"
"It doesn't matter if I am parked right outside the front of the house. If they decide to take you out… unless I am in the room with you, I can't help you quickly enough, Nicki. You cannot go alone."
I am starting to get annoyed because this conversation is actually a waste of my time and I have a lot to do before tonight. I stand up, facing him defiantly, my hands resting on the table in front of me and my eyes piercing into him.
"Danny, I am going alone. That's the end of it. This is our only option for finding out what happened and putting a stop to Luca's disgusting antics. It has to happen. Me putting myself at risk to save hundreds of women - I don't see the issue here. Our other options all involve violent attacks against Luca to try and overpower him and get the truth out of him that way. We have to stop all of this bloodshed and try the diplomatic route."
I am determined, and Danny can hear it in my voice. This is not something I am willing to discuss anymore.
He throws his hands in the air in frustration. "You are impossible." He snaps, storming out of the room. I don't have time to deal with his moods right now. I need to put together enough evidence to show Marco something convincing without overwhelming him with hours of reading or images to look at. I need to choose the most incriminating pieces and put them together in a way that makes sense - I have to focus. I only get one shot at this. And Marco has to believe me if I want to walk out of there alive.
I make a backup of the USB drive, stashing the original one in my room at the safe house, and slipping the copied one into my pocket. At least if Marco wants to look further into it, I can give him all of the information.
When I am done, I place the pages I have printed out into a folder. My hands are shaking slightly with nerves or adrenalin. I can't tell at this point.
"Danny?" I call down the passage. "I am ready to go."
Danny comes towards me looking sulky. He is holding a black box in his hand.
"Sit." He demands. "Up on the table." I lift the side of my mouth in confusion, but I slide my butt onto the table anyway.
He opens the box and removes a small earpiece and a microphone.
"We need to clip this to your bra, um, somewhere out of sight. This goes inside your ear. It's really small so no one can see it. I will also be wearing one of these headphones so I will be able to hear everything you say into the microphone. It's pretty sensitive, but still try to make sure your body is facing the person you want me to listen to."
At this moment I am so fucking thankful that I found a sports bra in the closet this morning.
I take the microphone from his hand, and reach under my own top, clipping it onto the edge of the bra.
He switches the receiver on, and we do a few test words.
"Alright. If you are in any danger at all - I mean at all Nicki - then say, 'You have a lovely home.' That's all. It's simple enough to slip into conversation, and off-topic enough that you can't say it by accident."
I nod. "Danny, it's going to be ok."
He shakes his head. "I am not happy about this."