Chapter One
Leon sat down hard in his chair. He looked at John as he replied to Willow over the phone, “Slow down la dolcezza and tell me what happened. Are you safe?”
Willow sobbed on the other end of the phone, “Yes, I’m safe.
.. at least, I think I am? I-I have Jordy with me.
Calderone left with Senor Lucas and then a little while later their car was found and both men were gone and Leon,” she paused.
“Lucas’ men found blood in the vehicle. The car had been run off the road and the driver was killed, not in the accident but by a bullet to his head.
” She cried. “I don’t know who took him or if I’ll ever see him again. ”
“Child,” Leon replied but his voice broke a little.
“Listen to me. I need you to listen carefully to my words. Calderone would never willingly leave you, not if he ever had a choice. After Lousia died, he feared he would never find love again, but he found a second chance with you. So, believe me when I say he would never give up that chance. So I need you to do something for me, can you do that?”
Willow was silent for a moment then she whispered, “Yes, I can do that.”
“I need you to believe in my son,” Leon whispered gently.
“I’ll work things on my end and see if I can figure out who is behind this but you have to believe in Calderone.
He’s been in this situation before and he’s got his own tricks up his sleeve.
But there is one thing he knows and that is how to stay alive.
He knows who he can trust there and if there is a way to escape and get back to you, he will find it.
I will call in every single marker I have to help him get away.
In fact, I have a couple of things I can do here as well.
So, you need to have some faith, Mia cara.
Stop crying and look for his return soon. ”
“Okay Leon,” she replied in a shaky voice.
“Grazie, cara. Let me speak to Jordy, I’ll tell him where to take you and you’ll be safe.” Leon heard her pass the phone over and when Jordy let him know he was there, Leon growled, “Have you heard anything about where they took Calderone or Lucas?”
“No, Mr. Vincinti,” Jordy told him. “But someone has been watching Calderone’s every move since we got here. They never got close enough for us to identify them but we always knew they were there.”
“Si, I know that feeling,” Leon admitted.
“We’ve been having trouble here as well.
Some very dangerous men were sprung from prison and were told the cause a distraction here in Boston.
A distraction that was meant to conceal a hit on me, I’m sure.
It’s a good thing I can trust my security team.
They never would have gotten close to me but they thought they could.
Have you heard anything that might tell us who is behind this threat? ”
Jordy hesitated then sighed over the phone, “Mr. Lucas has been in talks with Calderone about some concerning rumors around Italy. There are rumbles of another family that is ready to step up and take their rightful place in the hierarchy. Something about being shut out for too long. I have no idea who that might be but they said their time was coming sooner rather than later, even if they had to cheat to get there.”
Leon raised his finger to his lip as he sat there and stared at the desk for a moment.
“Sir, are you still there?” Jordy asked.
“Si Jordy, I am still here.” Leon sighed.
“I was trying to think of anyone that I know who thinks like that. But listen to me, I need you to escort Willow to a safe house there. And I need you to watch over her. Take Lincoln with you and one of you watch over her while the other one sleeps. I want someone with her all the time. Meanwhile, I’ll try to figure out who is trying to kill us. ’
“But sir, if we leave here, how will Calderone know where we are?” Jordy asked.
“Do not worry, my son will know where you have taken her. We have spoken of this and he knows where to go if something ever happens,” Leon assured him. “You just keep Willow safe.”
“Yes, sir.” Jordy then listened to Leon’s instructions and soon the call ended.
Leon put his phone down.
John cleared his throat and asked, “What exactly happened?”
“It looks like someone snatched Calderone and Lucas,” he told him, then he raised his cell phone again and tapped a number.
John sat back in his chair and remained silent.
Leon greeted the man who answered, “Ciao, Angelo.” Then he listened for a full minute as the man ranted over the phone in Italian. “Si, si.” Then he listened to the loud voice that went on before he spoke again, “Lo so e li prenderemo. Non abbiate paura. Non temere, Angelo. Si, si. Arrivederci.”
John shook his head. “He was upset, I gather?”
“You gather right,” Leon said with a sigh. “The man is livid. He wants heads on a platter.” Leon paused and added, “And I do not mean that figuratively. He wants real heads.”
John nodded. “I assumed that.”
Leon steepled his fingers together on his desk. “We need to find out whose head it will be.”
John growled. “Well, we brought in one man that the girls caught in the cave and he’s on his way here now. And we have the other two available as well. They are injured but available.” He shrugged. “They might not want to talk though as they are afraid of dying if they do.”
Leon smiled but it never made it to his eyes.
“And they shall die if they don’t talk. Bene.
I want to talk to this idiot.” Then he shrugged.
“They will die either way, but if they come clean they will die clean. I need to find out who is behind this assassination attempt before it happens. The Familia will not be pleased by this attempt by someone who is not in position to be there. I just hope Calderone remembers everything we spoke about and can get out of the mess he is in now.”
John snorted. “Don’t worry about Calderone. He won’t give up until he’s back with Willow and they are both safe. He’s got more balls than a golf course.”
“Si, I know this but he’s up against someone who has nothing left to lose, that’s the worry here.
” Leon sighed. “Someone who has already gone too far to back up. He thinks he can use violence to get what he wants. Make a strike against the Familia and win. They are stupid and they have just signed their family’s death warrants by doing what they are doing. ”
John shook his head. “Do they really think the Familia will forgive and forget?”
Leon shrugged. “This is no longer Al Capone’s mafia. We have grown since his time. The Familia has changed in some ways but remained strong in many others. But this is not something they would forget and forgive, no. This is something the Familia will make an example out of.”
John nodded. “First, the kidnappings then a bloody coup. They tempted fates. The kind that bite back.”
“Oh, yes. I shall not have to be part of the punishment for whoever ordered this idiocy. The Italia in the old country will be doing that, according to Angelo.” Leon stood from his chair.
“Let us go and speak to the men under our control. I think they need to learn that Orlan Grant and Walter Greer led them straight into hell.”
They walked down to the cell area and they found the three men each locked in his cell.
Two the men were in bad shape as both had been beaten severely when they had been taken.
The one they had found in the cave Peaches and Cassie had a bit of dirt and blood on his cheek but he looked mostly uninjured.
He had exchanged his belt for a pair of metal handcuffs.
Leon went to him first and glared at him.
Finally, the other man began to sweat.
“This man is Julius Wayland,” John informed him. “According to Peaches, that is his name.”
“So you are the man that my granddaughter outsmarted, eh? She told me about what happened in that cave. Do you know why she was able to get away then trap you?”
Julius shook his head. “She got lucky?”
Leon scoffed. “NO! You dumbass simpleton of a kidnapper. She is a Vincinti! She is my granddaughter and that is why.”
The room went silent.