Chương 9
Lorenzo had answered by changing the subject.
“We recover her first,” he said.
Donnelly shook her head. “We need an agreement.”
“You need time. Every minute we negotiate is time Matteo uses to move her again.”
“You are asking me to trust a mafia boss during an operation involving his kidnapped infant.”
“I am asking you not to trust me. Put agents on me. Track my phone. Take my weapons. Watch Marco. But move.”
Price whispered to Donnelly. She listened, then looked at Lorenzo.
“We can begin emergency measures based on the child-abduction allegation,” she said. “Traffic camera access, phone analysis, surveillance. That does not guarantee any immunity or plea arrangement.”
“I did not ask for immunity.”
“You will.”
“Probably.”
“If you interfere with the operation, contact the suspects, deploy armed men, or withhold the location of the witnesses, the cooperation ends.”
Lorenzo nodded.
Marco did not.
Donnelly noticed. “Mr. Bellini?”
Marco looked at Lorenzo rather than her.
“This puts every person in the organization at risk,” he said.
“They were already at risk,” Lorenzo replied.
“Not from you.”
Lorenzo closed his hand around the necklace.
“My daughter was taken because men believed I would protect the organization before I protected her.”
Marco’s face remained controlled, but hurt entered his eyes.
“You believe that is why I said nothing about the fire report.”
“I believe you protected me from information because you thought the structure mattered more than the truth.”
“I protected a grieving man from starting a war without proof.”
“And if Emma had stayed quiet?”
Marco had no answer.
Donnelly slid a written authorization across the table. “We need the witness and her child moved to federal protection.”
“Sophia will decide,” Lorenzo said.
“She is a material witness.”
“She is also a mother whose child was threatened. You will explain, and she will decide.”
Donnelly’s mouth tightened. “You are not in charge here.”
“No,” Lorenzo said. “That is the point.”
At four twenty-two, Enzo entered the Long Island City warehouse carrying no weapon. A recorder supplied by Donnelly’s team was stitched into the lining of his jacket. He had objected to wearing it until Lorenzo reminded him that listening without proof would leave everyone dependent on his word.
“You trust my word when you want trucks moved,” Enzo had said.
“This is not trucks.”
“It is always trucks eventually.”
The warehouse meeting included Dominic DeLuca, Matteo Russo, four captains, two attorneys, and a retired accountant who handled internal votes. Two chairs remained empty. Marco’s contact outside relayed the arrivals while federal agents watched from an unmarked utility van three blocks away.
Lorenzo listened through an earpiece in Donnelly’s command vehicle.
Dominic opened the meeting by speaking about stability.
His voice was warm, paternal, and familiar. He described Lorenzo’s grief as a private tragedy with public consequences. He listed missed obligations, lost contracts, delayed decisions, and dangerous emotional behavior. He said no man should be ashamed of temporary weakness.
Matteo spoke next.
“Lorenzo needs time,” he said. “We give it to him. Six months. A year. Whatever it takes. But the rest of us have families too.”
Enzo interrupted. “Then why the rush?”
“There is no rush.”
“You called the vote before the child’s funeral ended.”
A pause followed.
Dominic said, “The funeral ended this morning.”
“Was supposed to.”
Another pause.
Lorenzo felt Donnelly turn toward him.
Matteo’s voice sharpened. “What does that mean?”
“It means the burial was postponed.”
“Why?”
“Ask Paulie. He was there.”
Someone shifted a chair.
Dominic said, “Paulie is not answering.”
Enzo replied, “Maybe he’s grieving.”
The captains laughed nervously.
Even in the command vehicle, Marco closed his eyes for a second. “He thinks he is funny.”
“He is sometimes,” Lorenzo said.
Marco looked offended by the admission.
Inside the warehouse, Matteo proposed a temporary transfer of authority. He claimed the ports were exposed and rival groups were testing boundaries. One captain asked whether Lorenzo had been consulted. Dominic answered that consultation was impossible while Lorenzo remained emotionally incapacitated.
Enzo said, “He looked capable this morning.”
“You saw him?” Matteo asked.
“At the cemetery.”
“Did he speak to you?”
“No.”
“Then what did you see?”
“A man who noticed who reached for their phone.”
Silence.
Matteo spoke carefully. “What happened to Paulie?”
“I don’t know.”
The recorder picked up footsteps.
Donnelly’s technician whispered, “Someone’s moving near Bellini.”
Lorenzo leaned forward.
Dominic’s voice came closer to Enzo. “Your brother has always been loyal to Lorenzo.”
“My brother is loyal to being disappointed in me. Lorenzo is just where he keeps the disappointment.”
This time no one laughed.
Dominic asked, “Where is Marco now?”
“Probably ironing a tie.”
Marco muttered something under his breath.
Then Matteo’s phone rang.
The sound in the command vehicle became painfully clear.
Matteo answered without speaking.
A distorted voice said, “We have the mother.”
Lorenzo stood.
Donnelly raised one hand. “Wait.”
The voice continued. “She’s not at the rectory. The child is.”
Lorenzo turned toward Marco.
Marco was already calling the protection detail.
No answer.
Sophia had agreed to meet federal agents at the rectory, but the transfer was scheduled for five. Until then, two of Marco’s people remained outside, and Isabella’s cousins were with Emma inside.
Marco’s second call connected.
A woman screamed through the speaker, “They took Sophia!”
The command vehicle erupted into controlled motion. Donnelly ordered units toward Greenwood Cemetery and the rectory. Another agent pulled up street cameras.
“What happened?” Marco demanded.
“They had uniforms,” the woman cried. “They said federal agents. Sophia went downstairs. There was a van. Emma ran after her, but I grabbed her. They took Sophia.”
Donnelly looked at Lorenzo. “Who knew the location?”
“Marco’s two men. The chaplain. Two relatives.”
“And everyone at the cemetery saw her go toward the chapel,” Marco said. “They could have watched.”
Inside the warehouse, Matteo left the meeting without explanation.
Enzo said, “Where are you going?”
Matteo did not answer.
May you like
Dominic called for the vote to continue.
Donnelly spoke into her radio. “Mobile team follows Russo. Do not engage unless a child is present or life is in immediate danger.”
