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“Sit here.” Vincent pulls out a chair and gestures for me to sit down.
“Is Giuseppe Rossi going to come talk to me? I don’t understand what’s going on? I thought I was just handing over the cash and he’d let my father go.”
The two men glance at each other before staring at me.
“We will let Mr. Rossi explain what is going on.” The other man says before turning around and leaving.
Vincent closes the door behind him, and I hear the distinct sound of a lock clicking into place.
“What the hell is going on?” I yell, but don’t receive an answer. Am I a prisoner? A hostage, or a bargaining chip? What did I do wrong?
I sit in the quiet room with nothing but my thoughts running wild. Is the excessive waiting part of the game? Are they trying to wear me down so I reveal my secrets?
I scoff. I don’t have any secrets. There’s nothing I can share with them that they probably don’t already know. Joseph cut meoff a week ago. Arturo and Joseph could have already altered every plan I knew about.
After what feels like fifteen minutes, the lock clicks and the door opens. Giuseppe Rossi stands in the doorway, taking up the entire space. He looks pissed. He presses his lips into a thin line and narrows his eyes at me.
Vincent tosses the duffle bags into the corner of the room and sits in the seat at the head of the table. Giuseppe takes the seat across from me.
He slams a folder on the table between us. I jump from the sudden loud noise. Before I can question what is in the folder, Giuseppe speaks.
“The shipment was a bunch of junk. It was nothing but couches, tables, and mattresses.”
“What shipment?” I ask, trying to act innocent.
“The one you led me to believe was full of drugs. The one you said was a special order for Arturo himself.”
He yanks open the folder and spreads pictures of the merchandise across the table. There are white tufted couches with matching ottomans, wooden end tables that look to have been hand carved, and pallets full of mattresses.
“It was supposed to be full of drugs. I overheard Arturo on the phone and he specifically said there was over a million dollars’ worth of cocaine.”
That’s the lie that Arturo and I came up with before I even told Rossi about the shipment.
“Then where is it? Because that shipment was nothing but what these pictures show. What’s worse is that the cops showed up and arrested my men. All for some pieces of shit. You set us up, and for that, you must pay.”
“I’m telling you what Arturo said. You wanted me to relay any and all information, and that is exactly what I did.”
“You are a horrible liar.”
I stare at the pictures as I try to come up with more lies that will help me get out of this mess.
“What if Arturo had the drugs hidden in the furniture? Where is the furniture from the cargo delivery? I can help you tear them apart and find what you are looking for.”
Giuseppe’s eyes widen as he thinks about the possibility. “Son of a bitch.”
He swipes the pictures off the table in a fit of rage. “Arturo Fucking Marino bested me once again, but I won’t let him have the upper hand. Not this time.”
Giuseppe turns his anger on me. “What is he planning? What has been going on this week since our last check in?”
I don’t want to tell him that Joseph knows everything, but I have to. It’s my only hope of being released.
“I was fired and blocked from every account and email that belongs to the Marinos because they found out I was talking to you. They have the text messages and phone logs. They had me followed, and they saw me meet up with you.”
“That’s inconvenient, but not the worst thing to happen to us. I have other plans because, like them, I also had you followed.”
My mouth falls open as I let out a gasp.
How much does he know?