Page 35

CHAPTER 35

L ea

Too much time has passed.

I haven’t heard from Massimo, which means something is wrong, and I’m supposed to flee Las Vegas as fast as humanly possible.

It’s the smart thing to do. I’m in way over my head. I’m still shell-shocked from stabbing the hitman. My emotions have been on a roller coaster for days, and that roller coaster ran off the tracks long before I had to pull a knife out of my purse.

But I don’t regret it. Massimo couldn’t die without knowing the truth. Except now that he does, I still want him to live. We may have a chance together, if he forgives me for starting a Mafia civil war to save his life and let him know what Cadence found out about his wife.

So, the smart thing goes out the window. I tap my phone and take a deep breath as I wait for an answer. It’s a video call. I’m not crying right now. I think I’ve cried every tear my body can produce.

“Sarah!” I say, staring at my screen. “Are you still in Las Vegas?”

“Yes, thank god you finally called!” Sarah replies. “I was worried sick! What happened? I’m still with Cadence.”

I’m done keeping secrets and I’ve already shared so many with Sarah, a few more aren’t going to hurt. At this point, even she will understand this is the kind of stuff she can’t put on her podcast unless she wants to get murdered.

Cadence—I don’t know her, but we wouldn’t have made it this far without her. I catch the two of them up on the latest developments, even though I’m not entirely sure what is going on now.

“Okay, so Massimo went to confront his brother?” Cadence asks and Sarah turns her phone so I can see the hacker. “How long has he been gone?”

“Hours,” I mutter. “He said he would text me, so I know there’s a problem. But I have no idea where to start.”

“I do,” Cadence says, opening her laptop. “What kind of car was Massimo driving when he left?”

“A rental… uh, California plates. Silver Mercedes,” I reply, giving her all the information I know.

I chew my bottom lip while Cadence types away. I don’t know what she’s doing, but I mutter a silent prayer to anyone who is listening that she can figure this out. I just need to know Massimo is alive. If he’s too busy to text, or dealing with his brother, I’ll follow his instructions. If not… I have no idea what I’m going to do.

“Okay, I got something,” Cadence says, finally breaking the silence. “I found Massimo’s car on a traffic cam. The footage is a few hours old, but if I can follow him…”

“There!” Sarah points at the screen.

“Yep, that’s him,” Cadence confirms. “But this still doesn’t help.”

It’s a painstaking process, or at least it feels like one. Cadence switches between security cameras and traffic cameras, combing them all for a glimpse of Massimo’s car. Every time she locates it, I feel a surge of hope, but when it disappears without an answer, the hope dissipates.

“There’s nothing after this,” Cadence says.

All the hope vanishes. My heart sinks into my stomach. If this is a dead end, then I’m out of options. My only choice is to flee Las Vegas and mourn him—again. I’m not sure I can go through it a second time. The first time nearly tore my heart to shreds.

“Hold on!” Sarah opens her laptop. “I have a map of everything registered to the Dirty Vegas Mafia. What I could find, at least.”

“It won’t be much,” Cadence sighs. “They hide everything in shell corporations except their personal property and a few legitimate businesses.”

“This is where Massimo’s car disappeared, right?” Sarah asks, turning the laptop to Cadence, who confirms with a nod. “The only place he could be going is Emilio’s house.”

“Okay, let me find all the cameras in that area,” Cadence says, furiously tapping on her keyboard.

I sink to the carpet and stare at my phone. The money Massimo left for me is on the desk behind me, along with the business card, and directions to the next safehouse. That’s where I’m supposed to be. Not sitting here playing hero, like he told me not to do.

He can punish me later for disobeying him—if he’s still alive. I mutter a few more prayers, but it doesn’t do anything to slow my racing heart or quell the concern that has my stomach twisted into a knot.

“Is that the same static from the night Massimo’s wife was killed?” Sarah asks, leaning forward.

“Yeah, it looks like it is,” Cadence confirms. “It’s recent, too. I’ll have to download the footage to isolate the frequency. This is going to take a few minutes.”

More time. Time we don’t have. Time Massimo doesn’t have.

“Oh, shit,” Cadence says. “That’s a Bratva vehicle.”

“They’re involved?” I question. “I thought Massimo took them all out.”

“Not everyone, it seems,” Cadence says. “The vehicle is registered to a company in Russia, just like the others. Different company, but they don’t hide stuff as well as the Dirty Vegas Mafia. It’s the same parent company.”

“Which means Emilio and his wife are working with them,” I sigh. “Any sign of Massimo?”

“No, hold on. I’m still trying to find angles that give me a better view.” Cadence keeps typing, downloading, and decrypting the masked footage. Every second feels like an eternity. “There’s two people in the back seat. That’s Emilio!”

“Is he… unconscious?” Sarah asks, leaning forward.

“I think so,” Cadence says. “And look, from this angle, we can see Erica in the front seat. The guy who is driving… I don’t recognize him, do you?”

“No, he’s not on my Mafia true crime wall,” Sarah replies.

I put the pieces together in my head. Erica is the one who did this. She has to be. If Emilio is unconscious in the back seat of the car, then he wasn’t involved. Or he was, and his wife turned on him, too. Either way, if there’s any chance of saving Massimo, time is of the essence.

“This is the last image I can get,” Cadence says. “There are no cameras after this that I can access from here. All I see is warehouses, so those security cameras are likely only accessible if you’re on their network.”

“That has to be where they took Massimo and Emilio,” Sarah mutters. “I’m checking the properties, but nothing is registered… well, there are a couple registered to corporations that aren’t based in the United States.”

“I bet those are the ones they have hidden behind shell corporations,” Cadence says. “But we can’t exactly go search them ourselves.”

“No,” Sarah admits with a sigh. “Even if we found Massimo and Emilio, there’s no way we could help them considering how many guys were in those vehicles. We’d be throwing our lives away, too.”

Sarah’s right. I know it, but I can’t accept it. If there’s a way to save Massimo, I have to try. I close my eyes and shake my head. I know what I have to do, and this is a really, really bad idea, but I don’t have a choice.

“I need an address,” I say, standing up and running to the door.

“To where?” Sarah asks.

“Salvatore Morandi’s h-house,” I stammer. “Or wherever he might be. Cadence, see if you can figure out where he is from the cameras.”

“Lea, no!” Sarah shakes her head. “Are you crazy? If you start talking about hitmen and accusing his daughter-in-law of murder, you’re not walking out of there!”

“I know,” I reply, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Find him. Text me the address.”

I end the call, grab the keys from the wall, and rush into the garage.

I’ll risk anything for Massimo.

Even my life.