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We are on our way. Rhett is going to ride with you. Drop him off a couple of blocks away so it will look like you are alone. Don’t argue about this, please.
I don’t bother messaging her back. They will be here in a few minutes.
“Do you need help, Dad?”
He shakes his head before banging the remote on the table. “Dead batteries. I’ll have to get new ones.”
He listens to what Alvin says while getting two new batteries out of the television stand drawer. He quickly changes the batteries before ending the call. “Alvin is pulling in now. He was already on his way here to do an update on the system.”
“Francesca and Rhett should be here in a few minutes.”
Dad doesn’t say anything. He sits down on the couch as if he’s carrying the weight of the entire world on his shoulders.
A few minutes later, the back door opens. Alvin, Francesca, and Rhett walk in.
“Let’s go.” I say, looking at Rhett. “The sooner we get there, the sooner we can eat dinner.”
“No complaints from me.”
Francesca wraps her arms around his waist. I leave the two alone to have their moment and head over to Alvin and Dad.
“I have two trackers, so don’t be alarmed when you get it up and running.”
Rhett and I get in my car and head to the fort. I circle the parking lot before parking along the tree edge and letting him out.
He leans through the open window. “I’ll keep to the edges and look out for any of his men. I’ll make sure I have eyes on you at all times. If shit hits the fan, just give the signal.”
When I first met him and the team, the signal they used to alert one another was always a loud whistle. The whistle always drew attention, so we switched to a bird call.
“Will do. Don’t get caught.”
He dips behind a row of trees as I drive off. I park next to Giuseppe’s car and slowly walk along the paved path to the footbridge that goes over the moat that’s surrounding the fort.
Giuseppe is standing on the bridge alone. “So the great Arturo Marino sends his son?”
“No. I came on my own. Why did you want to meet with my father?”
“I wanted to hash things out with him, man to man.”
“It’s a little too late for that, don’t you think?”
We stare at one another for a few moments before he turns away and walks deeper into the fort.
“It’s never too late to forgive. That’s a lesson you can take with you for the rest of your life.”
He seems weird and not like his usual self. Did something happen to Alexandra? Is regret sinking in?
“Would you like a glass of wine?” He picks up a picnic basket from one of the benches along the walkway.
“No, thank you. I need to stay in peak performance. I have back-to-back games coming up.”
That, and I don’t trust him not to poison me.
“Oh, that’s right. I forgot you have a career besides the criminal lifestyle. Your mother was proud of you. She talked about you and Francesca all the time.”
“What the fuck is going on?” I ask bluntly.
He glances my way. His expression is softer, almost kinder. “I told you, I came here to hash out old problems. It’s a stepping stone, so to speak.”