Page 25 of Forgotten Comeback (Parisi Family #5)
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Gavin
My foot taps the boardwalk impatiently as I check my phone. Sal’s fifteen minutes late. I consider the possibility that I’ve been stood up, but he rounds the corner, his gait unhurried, like he’s taking a leisurely stroll down the boardwalk.
“Gavin.” He greets me without apology, and I bite my tongue. He’s the only in we have right now with the Parisi family, and I don’t want to burn this bridge.
“Whatcha got for me?” I hand Sal an envelope, and he counts through the cash before pocketing it.
“The family’s pretty tight-lipped about what’s going on with the John Davis situation. After us lowly soldiers watched hours of the security footage from Ace’s Wild, our fucking eyeballs were bleeding,” he bitches.
“How did the family get that footage?”
“Dunno.”
“Have you seen this man?” I scroll through my photos, pulling up a picture of Russell. If the family swiped the footage from the gym, guarantee they swiped my trainer.
“Maybe. He might have been on the videos, but I can’t swear to it.”
Like I would trust an oath from this rat. “What was on the security footage?”
“Somebody was running an underground casino, but what got everyone’s panties in a twist was Kat Stefanos dealing at one of those parties.”
“Who’s Kat Stefanos?” I play dumb about Taylor’s friend.
“Cousin of Darius Angelos.” This time, I can no longer hide my surprise. Kat is related to the Parisi family’s hit man.
“You’ve heard of him, I take it. The rumors are true; that man’s a fucking psychopath.”
I have to stop myself from laughing. He thinks that label intimidates me?
“Anyway, after all this went down, Fabio hires Kat as pit boss for the family’s underground casino operations. Makes zero sense.”
Remembering the way Kat pressed me about Inferno, it makes perfect sense.
“What about Taylor McKenna?” My pulse gallops at the thought of her playing me.
“Never heard the name. Who is she?”
I pull up a picture of Taylor from her social media page. “Her.”
Sal whistles, making an hourglass shape in the air with his hands. “Don’t know her, but I’d be happy to get to know her.”
To avoid the temptation of breaking his nose, I shove my hands in my pockets. “Anything else?”
“Yeah, Mia’s on my ass about you. Wants to know why you ghosted her.” He points at me.
I pull out another hundred from my pocket. Sal goes to reach for it, but I jerk the bill away. “Hope Mia’s not going to fuck up our business arrangement.”
“I’ll take care of my cousin, don’t worry,” he assures me, and I hand him the cash.
“Good. Then I’ll see you next week.”
He nods, walking off.
Patting my pocket for my cigarette and lighter, I curse softly, remembering I quit. I return to my car and call John, but he doesn’t answer.
Irritation seeps into my bloodstream as I call Inferno. “I have new information from Sal, but John’s not answering his phone.”
“That’s a theme here lately.”
“Any idea what’s going on with him?” I ask.
“Meet me at my office.” The line goes dead.
“Yeah, sure. Sounds great. Because God forbid I have a life outside of this revenge plot,” I grumble.
I drive to the club and use my key, entering the building. Making my way through the maze of hallways, I reach my brother’s office and knock.
Inferno answers the door and ushers me inside before taking a seat behind his desk.
I sit and relay the information from Sal. “Kat is who we should be focusing on,” I conclude.
“Agreed. Do you have her number?” Inferno asks.
“I do.” I forward him Kat’s contact, and he types on his phone.
“I’ve sent her a message about dealing at my upcoming poker party,” Inferno says.
“What party? I thought those were on pause since Russell disappeared,” I remind him.
“They are.”
“Spell it out for me.” Both John and Inferno love being all cryptic.
“Kat will pass this ‘tip’ along to her boss, and while the family’s on a wild goose chase, we’re at the docks raiding their warehouse. But we’re keeping John out of the loop on this one,” he warns me.
“Why?” I raise an eyebrow.
Inferno slides his phone across the desk, and I grab it. “What am I looking at here?” It’s a picture of John entering a dump of a motel room.
“Keep swiping.”
The next picture is of the soldier, Enzo, entering the same room.
My eyes go wide. “But John said the Enzo angle was a dead end.”
“He did.” Inferno leans back in his chair.
“Maybe this was John’s initial contact with Enzo, and as he told us, he didn’t make any headway with the soldier.”
“Keep swiping.”
Picture after picture of Enzo and John meeting up at the motel; different days, different clothes, different times.
“What does this mean?”
“I don’t know,” he admits.
“Can’t you use your spidey-twin-senses or something?” I ask, sliding his phone across his desk.
Inferno tents his scarred fingers. “Things have been off with John for weeks now.”
“Yeah, I got that feeling too. But there’s zero chance he would betray us,” I argue.
“Can you think of another reason why he would continue to meet this soldier and not tell us?” Inferno challenges.
“Maybe John’s got a plan in motion we don’t know about yet, and he’s waiting for the right time to tell us,” I argue.
Inferno doesn’t look convinced.
I fall back in my chair. “Then what do you suggest?”
“We keep John out of the loop until this gets sorted.” His phone buzzes, and he grabs it. “Kat’s taken the bait. Tomorrow night we hit the Parisi warehouse. I’ll get our crew ready. Remember, John isn’t to know about any of this.”
“Alright, but I don’t fucking like it,” I tell him, walking to the door.
“You think I do?” he calls after me.