Page 28

ERO

W e case the dock front several hours before the meet time. By the time the sun rises, we’re ready.

All signs point to this guy being a cop, or a fed. At least that’s what my gut says, and the placement of Adriano’s note with the guy’s number—under a long list of security risks and leaks—followed by a scribbled-out message that might read E.R. send G to J .

So he’s either a confidante of my brother’s, or he’s someone who could get Gloria to a safe place if things went south. Or I’m reading way too much into a consigliere’s scrapbook.

Fog drifts across the water, obscuring the long walk out over the water. A man in a long coat sits on the bench at the end of the pier.

We check our six again, and I almost feel disappointed to find nothing. No tails. No SWAT, no snipers. It’s just…some guy.

Just to be safe, Circe posts up atop a warehouse, scoping our target and keeping a bullet ready. For all we know, this dude hates me and my family and wants to send me to the bottom of the river.

“Weller?” I step up beside the bench from my hiding spot hanging from the side of the pier.

“Holy shi—” The middle-aged man jerks, glaring up at me. His hand slides back off of the grip of his pistol.

He recognizes me.

And he’s definitely a fed. Cheap suit. Tan coat. Geez.

But I’ll give the guy credit, he’s calm. Stoic. At ease in an uncertain scenario.

“Fiero Diamante. Wasn’t sure which one of you was going to show up. Figured it had to be Adriano. He’s the only one who would have that number.”

Fiero. Adriano.

“I found it in his notebook. Seemed like it might be important if he bothered to write it down.”

“Important enough that I told him to forget it when he went underground.”

“You still kept the burner phone though.”

“Old habits.” Weller sniffs, stretching his arms over the back of the bench.

“I wouldn’t know about those. You still with the bureau?”

“Forced retirement. I still keep tabs on a lot of things.”

“Right. Old habits. Maybe you can help me, then.”

“Why would I?”

“Because you didn’t come here to arrest me. Or whoever you thought might show up. You respect my brother. Maybe even helped him.”

“You’re fishing. Why do I get the impression that any one of your kin would be in serious danger if you found out where they were?”

“That’s why I’m not here to ask you about them.” And because I don’t want to know if they are actually dead or alive. Not ready to face any of those facts.

“What could a dead man need from an old dog like me?”

“Let’s just say I rose from the grave with a bone to pick. I need an old dog who never let go of that bone.”

“Do you even listen to yourself talk? You’re worse than your brothers.” He chuckles, his eyes tracking a boat through the gloom. “You want Dom Vipera.”

“He has answers I want.”

“He has a federal detail. No one knows where he’s been kept for the past five years.”

“I can tell enough about you to know that doesn’t apply to you. You know me too. What I am capable of.”

“But do you?” he mutters, side-eyeing me.

“Irrelevant.”

“Hm. Someone did a number on you, kid.”

“They’ll get what’s coming to them. And I will get my memories back, one way or another. Or I’ll get revenge.” I’m oversharing. Slipping. “What do I need to know?”

“Let’s assume you don’t know the basics.

Diamante empire collapsed nearly five years ago.

Started with Dom making a play for your eldest brother’s throne.

He turned every street thug and any other criminal organization against you.

Made wild promises. Had the money to back it up for a while.

No one knows where he got that cash. There’s a lot about that takeover I don’t know, but the end result was Alessandro taking the fall to save as many of his people as he could. ”

“Sounds like a hero.”

“Some people still think so. I know for a fact he faked it. Went into hiding. Doesn’t diminish the sacrifice he made in a bad spot.”

“Adriano?”

“Came back here as Dom’s consigliere. Didn’t really make sense, except to cull his nemesis’s little brothers.

Probably thought having the three of you under thumb legitimized him in the eyes of the Diamante family elders.

Looked like he was trying to expand the new Vipera name across borders.

Huge moves. Big buys. Upset the status quo in a big way. ”

“Amateur. Stupid even.”

“Dom was anything but stupid. I still haven’t figured it out. But everything he did was deliberate. I think he would have pinned the collapse on Adriano in the end if we hadn’t interfered.”

“What happened to my brother?”

“Long story long, Dom forced his daughter to move here too. Made her cook his books, forced her to marry your brother. Seems like they wound up making the best of that. I was at their wedding. Beautiful right up to the shoot-out and hostage situation. I arrested Dom. Reunited Gloria with her sister. Then the three of them…”

“The less we know, the better.”

“Bingo. That leaves you and Ciro. I know Adriano tried to send you both away. Get you far from the fallout of Dom’s arrest.”

“That fallout was a lot bigger than anyone could run from.” I think of Circe’s family. Other criminals I’ve met along the way. There are few gangs worldwide that weren’t affected.

“Part of the reason I got sidelined and eventually all but canned. Higher-ups wanted that golden goose for themselves. Dom set the whole goddamn world on fire.”

“For what?”

“Revenge. Or a longer game. He still has connections. I keep finding clues with his name on them. Influences. He’s working with someone on the outside. Pulling strings from behind bars.”

“There’s always somebody pulling the strings.”

“Doesn’t have to be. Someone like you? You could cut them.”

“I just want my life back.”

“A good start. But you could do so much more.”

“How do you know? Why do you care ?”

“I knew your great uncle, Giancarlo. I knew your family. There used to be a truce, peace between the agency, between the big players. Nobody overstepped. At least that’s where Giancarlo got it to.

He played it safe. Your eldest brother, he played it safe too.

He was a good leader, even if he was a fucking criminal.

“But he didn’t kill needlessly. He didn’t throw people under the bus. He didn’t slaughter innocents. And that’s all that seems to be going on nowadays. Everyone who’s in charge, whoever’s taken over in the power vacuum…no one’s safe.”

“That sounds like someone else’s problem.” I cross my arms.

“Fair. Even so, I’d trade my left leg for Diamantes back in power. Always hindsight, greener grass.”

“Why are you telling me all this, Weller?”

“Because the world’s gone insane. Because somebody’s got to do something, and I can’t.” He shrugs. “What I can do is tell you where to find Dom.”

“A lot of lead up to just spill the beans, old dog.”

“Old habits,” we say at the same time.

“Source says they’re moving Dom to a new location. Caravan will pass through Nevada in three days.”

“Load out?”

“Armored vehicles. Full tactical escort. Have to be nuts to try.” Weller smirks, rising to his feet. “But they always said you were the insane brother.”

“Well, they got one thing right.”

“Maybe that’s what we need to bring it all down. Fight fire with fire.”

“And even better if all of us villains go down in flames.”

Jim turns, offers me his hand. “Fiero, if I could offer one piece of advice? Don’t do it alone. Not if you can help it. Don’t wind up like me.”

“I’m not alone.”

“Yeah, I gathered that. Be real nice if she’d quit aiming that gun at the back of my head.”

Las Vegas, Nevada.

Just the kind of place two wayward assassins could cut loose. Too bad we’re on a clock.

We hitch a ride out of town, then another into the desert. I’m covered in dust and sweating by the time our ride drops us off at a rusty old gas station in the middle of fucking nowhere.

“Why.”

“Best way for us to stay under the radar. Travel incognito.” Circe digs a new burner cell out of her pack. “And it’s the only way we’re going to get the gear we need.”

“Out here?”

“Our there. I got a guy.”

“Oh yeah? What’s your Sancho’s name?” I tease.

“Gumbo.”

“What.”

“That’s his name and he’ll probably make us some when we’re done doing business.

” An old beat-up pickup grinds to a halt right in front of us, honking twice.

Circe hops in the bed without hesitation.

I toss my bag in, glancing at the driver.

The grizzled old man grins, showing off his gums. Well.

At least he has both eyes to see the road with.

“Great. Hillbilly date night.”

We’re just pulling up to an old trailer parked in front of a massive scrapyard. My ass is sore, my teeth still rattling from the ride.

A phone rings in my bag. Digging it out, I wait, staring at it with wide eyes. Circe bites her lip, glancing up at me.

It’s Ananke.