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Sarah looks a little overwhelmed when everyone turns their attention to her. I stay beside her while Dante runs down the plan. I can tell she’s interested based on her reaction, but when Dante wraps up, she doesn’t look very impressed by what she’s heard.

I give her a nudge for encouragement, motioning for her to speak up. She’s got the floor now, whether she wants it or not.

“If it’s the real Mafia Prince Killer, he’ll never be predictable enough for you to figure out where he will strike next,” Sarah explains, walking to the front of the room.

“They tried that in Chicago and it didn’t work, even though he was going after other families the first one did business with.

Plus, he broke from that pattern last night unless the Moreno family was secretly doing business with the Bratva. ”

“Damn sure better not have been,” Massimo snarls.

“And I hate to say this, but if you do happen to stake out the location he’s targeting, it won’t necessarily work.

In New Jersey, the cops were staking out targets, and he took them out first. He didn’t kill them, of course, but he gassed them,” Sarah continues.

“The cops think he uses a drone to scout out the location before he strikes.”

“Yeah, we’re aware,” Dante sighs. “But there are too many drones flying around Las Vegas for us to follow them all.”

“Radar won’t work either,” Sarah adds. “Not if he’s using the same kind of drone. They had one in New Jersey, and nothing ever registered, so it’s probably one of those stealth drones the military uses.”

“Not just the military,” I mutter. “We have them, too. They’ve been in the air since this started.”

I glance over at one of the tech guys who nods and confirms they haven’t spotted anything.

“Then what do we do?” Massimo asks. “We’re not getting anywhere shaking people down, and sitting on our asses sure as hell isn’t getting us any closer to this motherfucker.”

Sarah looks like she wants to say something, but she hesitates. She glances nervously at me, and I nod, indicating she should continue. There’s something going on in her head. I can see it in her eyes.

“Gas sensors,” Sarah spits out. “That’s what I would do.

We know he uses nerve gas, but by the time anyone realizes they’re being gassed, it’s too late.

If there was a way to detect that ahead of time, it might not stop him, but it would let you guys know where he is.

You might make it there before he gets away. ”

“Hmm,” Massimo says, pondering it and tapping the table with his fingers. “We would need a lot of them.”

“Military grade, too,” Sarah adds. “Especially if it’s a new nerve gas.

He usually starts with a sniper rifle and tranquilizer darts outside.

Then he gasses the house. Nobody really knows how long he stays after that, but he’s at least there long enough to carry out the murder, write on the wall, and leave a flash drive for the cops with the evidence. ”

“Fuck,” Dante says. “This may actually work. Massimo, I’ll reach out to my defense contractor contacts. I’m sure they can get us the sensors.”

“They need to transmit via satellite,” Sarah adds. “He uses something that blocks cell signals.”

“That just leaves one thing to worry about,” Massimo muses. “The dead man’s switch.”

“I’m no expert on those, but generally a dead man’s switch requires some sort of trigger,” Sarah says. “It’s always been assumed that Arthur Dykstra’s switch was set up to monitor the news. As soon as the story broke with confirmation of his death, it would trigger.”

“But if he doesn’t have anything to do with this, then that might not be the case,” I put in. “If we’re dealing with the real killer, then it could have all been bullshit. He may not even have one.”

“I’m not comfortable taking a risk like that.” Massimo shakes his head. “If we can get our hands on him, we can make sure he doesn’t trigger it.”

“How?” Sarah asks innocently and I can’t help but laugh under my breath.

“Don’t worry about that,” I say. “But that means we need to try and take this fucker alive.”

“Then do what he does,” Sarah suggests. “Darts instead of bullets.”

“We’ve got plenty of those,” Massimo says. “Alright, thank you, Sarah. Dante, work up a new plan.”

“You got it, boss.” Dante nods in agreement.

“Everyone else, back on the streets. I’ll let you know once we’re ready to start distributing the gas sensors to the other families,” Massimo orders. “But work in shifts. We need everyone well rested when the time comes.”

I motion to Sarah, and she follows me out of the room. The rest of the Morandi family isn’t far behind, but I get her to the elevators before they get there.

“I guess this means you’re going to leave me again,” she sighs, looking up with a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

“Nah, you heard the boss,” I chuckle. “Work in shifts. I’ve been out there all day. I need to get some fucking rest.”

“I like the sound of that,” she says, stepping onto the elevator and rubbing my dick through my pants. “But I’m not sure how much rest you’ll actually get.”

Neither do I, but I don’t give a fuck.

Being with her is better than the best night of sleep I could ever get.