Page 56 of Cartel Rose (Jorge)

He knows Liesel means more to me than a passing acquaintance because I gave her a nickname. The men in the Four Families are far too much alike. If we didn’t want to murdereach other, we’d probably be one big happy commune since all the married couples live in the same two neighborhoods. If we could put aside our egos and join forces, we could rule the world. Since we’re so alike, the men in all the families have a habit of giving their woman a nickname. It’s usually some diminutive of their real name.

It’s possessive as fuck—and sweet as can be.

“How about we get through this and see whether she’s interested when her father’s life doesn’t depend upon me?”

“What about her boyfriend?”

“That’s not what I called to discuss.”

“But you want to.”

I mostly love how my brothers know my thoughts without me having to say them aloud. It’s kept us alive in deadly situations. It’s also rescued me when my anxiety flares, especially in large social settings.

Another tradition the Four Families have is to invite one another to wedding and baptism receptions. They’re excuses to mingle with wealthy guests who preen over their invitation and want to schmooze with each other. Most of all, they want access to the Four Families to score lucrative deals. Being around all those people a few times a year is excruciating.

“Later,mano.”

“Fine. I checked the usual forums and groups on the dark web to see if anyone put out a hit for him or kidnapping order. I found nothing. There’s nothing that hints at Germany. There are a few open jobs in Europe, including ours in the Czech Republic and Lithuania. Pablo just posted those last night. We’ll fuck over the Kutsenkos for giving you a hard time. The unclaimed jobs are along the Med and in Asia.”

We have an interesting network of colleagues. We contact some mercenaries directly when we have someone specific in mind. Other times, it’s an open casting call. We see who wantsthe job and decide from there. All the assignments are posted in codes law enforcement still haven’t figured out. The encryption changes constantly, and no one’s given up details as part of a plea bargain. They’ll take their chances with a government’s death penalty before they do a syndicate’s.

“I snooped around the others’ accounts and found nothing pointing in your direction.”

The ‘others’ are the Mancinellis and O’Rourkes since he’s already told me about the Kutsenkos.

“What about the lesser ones?”

“I checked Boston, Trenton, Chicago, and L.A. No internal communication within those families.”

“Triad?Yakuza?”

“Neither. There’s some conflict between Hong Kong and Tokyo, but nothing that stands out beyond their usual shipping wars.”

“Is this an oligarch?” It wouldn’t be a first, and Gunter’s done business with some.

“That’s what I’m thinking. Someone who’s way overreaching. They might be making a play to establish themselves as the head of a syndicate. Or they might want to start one.”

“That’s usually a doomed experiment.”

There are too many longstanding organized crime families and branches. Anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit rarely has the means to elbow their way in. Whoever they try to nudge out of the way already has the means to shut newcomers out. If they don’t, then that means the established syndicate has an overlord that’ll destroy the interloper. We don’t like new kids at school. They sit at a lunch table on their own.

“Do you think they’re Russian or from one of the Stans?”

“Possibly.”

Whoever this is knows I’m connected to Schlossbergs & Sons. Their insults implied I have a personal connection to Liesel. Ifthey involve me, that means taking on my entire family. We come as a package deal.

“Get me what you can on them. Dig more in Asia too. See if the pissing contest between Chinese and Japanese syndicates is spraying toward here.”

“I’m working on it as we speak. What’re you going to do?”

“I’ll comb through everything you send as it arrives. But I may need to take Liesel to her office. If you can’t find the Swiss account info, we’ll need her laptop and hopefully her father’s. His device is the only way into the accounts.”

“And her mom and sister?”

“They’ll stay here with some of the guys.”

“When does her boyfriend get there?”