“Hey.Are you at the villa?”
“On the road.Why?”
“Are you aware that I have until six this evening to give Stefano a name for the Liquid Blue situation?And that if I don’t, I’m getting booted?”
“Bullshit.I’ll talk to him.”
“No, no, I don’t want to be an issue between you two,” I say quickly.“Ihavesomething, but it’s not concrete.Do you think he’d accept a hunch?”
“No.He’d never go after his men based on a hunch.If you give him a name, you need to becertain.”
“Figured as much,” I muse.“Okay, I’ll find solid evidence.But I need your help.”
“Tell me.”
“Someone on the surveillance team has been tampering with footage from Liquid Blue.Specifically, the hallway leading to the lockers,” I say.“Every Saturday, between six and seven in the evening, the recordings are altered to erase whoever’s been leaving the packages.If I can get the ID of the team member responsible, Imightbe able to retrieve the deleted data.”
A pause, then… “I’ll look into it.Hang tight.”
~
LORENZO CALLS MEback an hour later, while I’m knee-deep in my search for concrete evidence.
“Rogers,” he says without preamble.“Peter Rogers.”
“Nicework, bossman.You got him to confess?”
“Nope.He’s not even in today.But the surveillance team knows I don’t have my brother’s patience,” he replies.“One of the juniors clocked him deleting footage but was too afraid to speak up.Rogers is the head.”
“Ah.Good to know.I’ll see what’s recoverable.Fingers crossed.”
“You do that.Gio’s heading to Rogers’ place to pick him up.I’ll keep you updated.”
A sudden eruption of gunfire crackles in the background.Like a raging shootout.
“Are thosegunshots?”I ask.“Where the hell are you?”
“Uh-huh.”He’s as cool as cucumber.“Don’t worry about it.”
Before I can tell him to be careful, the line goes dead.
~
TEN MINUTES LATER, Lorenzo calls back.“Rogers is dead.”
Of coursehe is.“Dead men can’t talk.”
“Yeah.Gio found him in his apartment with two slugs to the chest.Whoever was paying him off must’ve caught wind of something and silenced him.”
“Is Gio able to determine if the kill is fresh?”I ask.“Like, within the last hour or so?”
There’s a pause.
Rapid gunfire blazes in the background.
Lorenzo breathes sharply.“Alright, tell me.What’s your hunch?”
“Okay, don’t be mad at me,” I start with caution.“I know I’m not supposed to share anything with anyone outside of us, but given the time constraint Stefano put me under, I had to try a different angle.”
