Page 80 of Caught in the Crossfire

Leona turned so Lucchese could get a full glimpse of the scar running down her face. “I think you do, Guido. I think you knew a lot about what my father was doing. I think Orik Vokshi knew that, too.”

She raised her knife to his throat.

“Wait, wait, wait—” he stuttered, sweat dripping down his forehead. Blood pooled beneath his leg. “I’ll make a deal.”

Leona raised an eyebrow at me. “What kind of deal?”

“I’ll tell you where we took him. I’ll tell you about the safe houses I know about, but let me and my sons live.”

“Obi, what do you think?”

“Speak.”

He rattled off two cross-streets just at the edge of his territory. “He wanted us to drop him there. He stood on the corner of the street until my men left. I don’t know where he went after that.”

In my ear, Ciel spoke. “Looking up the feeds in that area now.”

“Why didn’t you take him back to Albanian territory?” I asked.

He grimaced in pain, his heavy body wedged up onto his elbows. “He didn’t want it. He paid us to drop him off, and that’s it.”

“And you took the money even though you knew he was running,” Leona said, frowning. “Did he tell you who he was running from?”

“He said Volpe. Volpe was trying to kill him.”

My grip on my gun tightened. Max’s men had been there that night at the marina, but we were there first.

“He was running from the Shadows, you imbecile,” Leona hissed. “Me and my men.”

Guido took a good look at me. His eyes went wide. “No, no, no?—”

“What about the safe houses?” I asked, interrupting his blubbering. “What do you know about their operations?”

He listed two more addresses in Trenton, New Jersey. “Those are the two places I’ve heard about. I know nothing else.”

“Hmm,” Leona said, tilting her head to the side. “I’m surprised you can’t tell us more.”

“I wasn’t involved like your father was,” he continued. “I swear. I only took his payments to use our streets periodically.”

“He paid you to turn your head, but you knew what he was doing.”

“We didn’t approve! We tried to talk him out of it.”

Leona barked a laugh. “Clearly, you thought the money was more important.”

Lucchese visibly gulped. “I’ll stop. From this moment forward, no more Albanians in Lucchese territory. I’ll tell my men immediately.”

She shook her head. “That’s not good enough, Guido.”

“Then what do you want?” His voice shook with fear before he cleared his throat. “You want the money? I’ll pay it back.”

“Nope. The Dons are done. New York belongs to us.”

The pained look on his face morphed into rage. “You fucking bitch! You have no idea what you’re dealing with?—”

She pressed the edge of her knife hard enough into his neck to draw blood. “You have no idea whatyou’redealing with.”

Ciel spoke into our comms, voice laced with frustration. “There are no cameras on those street corners where they dropped Vokshi. It’s a total dead zone.”