Chapter 31
Zeno
I’d followed Jet from the hospital to one of our safe houses, only to find the small apartment packed when we walked in the door.
With the exception of Santini, Jet’s crew was all there, along with Jael David and her three-man crew.
If I hadn’t been on so many operations with the two teams in the past year, I would have felt out of place being thrown in with the lot of them.
Jet gave a brief rundown on what we’d learned at the hospital, and I could tell he and I felt the same way—we didn’t know enough.
“I don’t like not knowing who’s behind this,” Jet said, pacing the room. “I want eyes on the lieutenants and their families until we can figure out a better plan.”
“You think someone’s coming after the Syndicate?” Nick Marconi asked.
Jet scrubbed a hand down his face, and his haunted eyes met mine. In that gray gaze, I saw something I never thought I’d see: Fear.
Fear of the unknown.
Fear of losing a man who’d been like a father to the both of us.
Fear of history repeating itself, of a bloodbath tearing families apart while the future of the D’Angelo Syndicate was at stake.
“I don’t know.” The man shook his head, not tearing his attention from me. “But that’s a risk I’m not willing to take.”
He turned then, pacing once more.
“Jael, I want you back at the hospital. Stay by Queenie’s side, and keep an eye on Lorenzo, Carmen, and this Nadia woman.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I want—” Before Jet could say more, my cell phone rang. Jet pursed his lips, but gave me a nod, and I pulled the device out of my pocket and put it on speaker.
“This is Zee.”
“Zee, it’s Sarah. I think something’s wrong.”
“Is it Chaya?”
“It’s— No, she’s doing better. It’s Arik. He left home over an hour ago to grab some ibuprofen from the pharmacy down the street, and he hasn’t come home. I can’t get ahold of him, and he knows Chaya’s due for more.”
Jet was in front of me before the woman even stopped talking. He snagged the phone from my hand and brought it to his ear. “Sarah? It’s Jet. Get Chaya and get to your safe room. I’m sending Lev and Abe there now. Do not open the door for anyone but them, understand?”
He tossed my phone back at me as he motioned toward the two men to go. They turned without a word, stopping only because Jael stood in their way.
“Don’t let anything happen to them.”
Lev punched the woman on the arm. “Don’t worry, Major. We’re on it.”
Jet continued, “Haukelid, I want you to go to my parents' house. Let them know what’s happened and tell my brothers to start the plan. They’ll know what to do and tell you what’s next.”
“On it, boss.”
“Fontana, Marconi, I want you on the Vincis. Berto and Daphne were at the hospital. Check their home first. I want Daphne secured, and if Berto’s not there, one of you will find him and stay at his side.”
“We’ll let you know.” The two started for the door but it swung open before Marconi could grab the knob. Lev burst back in, chest heaving and eyes wild.
“Shaw said there was an explosion at Giordano’s office!”
“Fuck!”
Jet stopped me with a hand to the chest as I tried to race to the door. “Lorenzo’s at the hospital with Carmen.”
“I know that!” I yelled, tearing his hands from my chest. “But there are other people there!”
Jet grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to stay put.
“There are. And I know it’s your first reaction to want to help.
But think about this, Zee. Paulo’s been shot.
Arik is missing. And now there’s an explosion at Lorenzo’s office?
Something’s going on here, and I’m not risking you for the men and women who may or may not be hurt.
I’m not the only one who knows you’re the first to go racing into a situation like this. ”
“They need help!”
“And they’ll get it. If it’s an explosion, there’s nothing you can do on your own. The paramedics will be onsite, making sure everyone gets the help they need. And we need you here.”
“Here? Doing what, standing around talking?”
If looks alone could kill, I’d have been left maimed on the floor at Jet’s feet. “Gallo,” he said, not bothering to look at the last two men on his crew. “Please take Zeno here and make sure Cosimo and his family are safe.”
Cosimo.
Clara’s lie flitted around inside my head.
I think it was Cosimo.
The girl had been obsessed with that chart I’d made her since the moment she saw it, pouring over it at all hours of the day. When she’d dragged the damn thing out of her purse at the hospital, blood-soaked and falling apart, I’d had a moment where stark terror pulsed through me.
I haven’t done enough. All my attention, all the meds, everything I’ve done hasn’t been enough.
I didn’t have time to take her back to the psychiatrist, to have her evaluated the way I was beginning to think was needed. There was too much going on, and I had to hope that the two pills I gave her would tide her over until this was all over.
“Come on, Nazario, you’re with me.” Jet left me standing there, blinking at him as he and Nazario walked out the door.
Benny Gallo cleared his throat, motioning to the door with a jerk of his head. “You ready, Doctor?”
I think it was Cosimo.
I sucked in a deep breath, then followed him out the door.
Benny was quiet in the car beside me as I drove through the busy evening traffic to Cosimo’s side of town.
While my mind was spinning, I’d forgotten he was there.
It wasn’t until the kid cleared his throat, jolting me out of my head and almost causing me to get in a wreck, that I remembered Jet had sent him with me.
As if I couldn’t check on Cosimo on my own.
As if I needed help looking in on the old man.
“You were around back then?” The question stumped me, and I glared at him out of the corner of my eye. “Back when Benito and his lieutenants were killed?”
I pulled to a stop at a light and turned to look at him. “You know about that?”
“Of course, I do,” he said with a shrug. “My parents always said, ‘Those who fail to learn about history are doomed to repeat it.’”
“That’s Winston Churchill.”
“Doesn’t make it any less true.”
The car in front of me took off, and I turned my attention back to the road. “You’re right.” I sucked in a deep breath and let it out. “You know all about Big Tony then, huh?”
“That he was found at the bottom of the pile of bodies? Or that he was a loud, obnoxious man who had a habit of making enemies out of friends?”
My breath left me in a huff. The kid hit the nail on the head.
“You always knew when he was around.”
“Like Berto Vinci?”
I nodded. “You could say that.” But why’d he have to say that?
I wanted to throttle the man for the way he treated Clara, for thinking he had the right to take her away from me. Not after ignoring her like he did. Not talking to her, walking away from her, treating her like she was nothing but a kid that didn’t know what she was talking about.
I think it was Cosimo.
It wasn’t the same. That’s what I kept telling myself over and over again. Me not believing Clara came from a long history of her lying to get a reaction, to get what she wanted out of me and the people around her.
This wasn’t history repeating itself. It was me making sure the lieutenants were safe so we could focus on finding whoever was responsible for shooting Paulo.
“You and your mom survived it?”
Once again, the kid’s voice jolted me out of my head. I scrubbed a hand down my face, already feeling how the events of the day were weighing me down.
“Yeah. Yeah, they… Paulo…” I swallowed down the lump in my throat. “The guy shot my dad, but Paulo showed up and he got scared. Ended up shooting my mom’s arm instead of her heart.”
“And he didn’t hurt you?”
Another breath huffed out of me, because I was left with nothing but hurt. Watching your father kneeling before his killer before his brains were blown out? Believing your mother and you were next?
There was nothing about that night that hadn’t hurt.
“I was fine,” I choked out. But I was anything but. “I owe my life to Paulo.”
“I heard about that. That he and Lorenzo saved you.”
What was there to say to that?
Nothing. Absolutely fucking nothing.
And thankfully, I didn’t have to. I pulled into Cosimo’s circle driveway, stopping just past the door. Benny and I were greeted by none other than Cosimo, his wife Ida, and his oldest sons, Raoul and Piero.
Perfectly fucking healthy.
Not a single threat in sight.
“Everything okay here?” Benny asked.
Cosimo lifted his head, looking down his nose at the kid like he was dog shit on the sidewalk. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“You hear about Paulo?” I asked, trying to ease the massive amount of tension that emanated from the old man.
“He was gunned down in front of his apartment. Doctors aren’t sure if he’s going to make it.
And there was an explosion at Lorenzo’s office, and Sarah said Arik’s missing.
We’re just here to make sure you and your family are okay. ”
While Ida sucked in a sharp breath, Cosimo turned a sneer my way. “You’re forgetting someone.”
“What do you mean?”
Raoul shifted behind Cosimo, closer to his mother and brother and out of my sight.
“You’re forgetting Berto. Haven’t you heard? He’s gone missing too.”
“What are you—”
In the space of a heartbeat, Cosimo raised his gun. The sound of it going off reverberated in my ears, and I watched in horror as his bullet pierced Benny’s brain and the kid fell to the ground.
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t blink. I couldn’t do anything but stand there, frozen in my spot, knowing I’d made the biggest mistake.
I think it was Cosimo.
“And now”—the old man said, turning his gun on me—“you’ve gone missing too.”
That was the last thing I heard before the lights went out.