“I had business with your father.”
“My father?”
“Yeah. Something that needed cleaned up.”
“Why? You hate my father.”
Nunzio scratched at the stubble on his chin.
“We’ve been talking lately. I do him a favor, he does a favor for me.”
Knox stared at Nunzio with an unreadable expression on his face.
“A favor… This wouldn’t have anything to do with Giancarlo Rigatti, would it?” Knox asked coolly.
Nunzio stared back at Knox with a blank expression on his face. Even at the mention of his murdered grandson’s name, Nunzio didn’t flinch.
“You’re not as dumb as you look,” Nunzio said with a cool smile.
“You have got to be the dumbest boss I’ve ever laid eyes on. You’re showy, and that’s why you’re facing racketeering charges.”
“You know, you ain’t gonna be able to hoodwink everyone forever. Everything always comes full circle. Your true allegiances will eventually show.”
Knox stared at the man and nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. “So be it. I will die with a clear conscience. What business did you have with my father?”
“I needed to talk to the acting boss.”
“Hmmm…” Knox said as he nodded at Nunzio. “His days in that role are numbered.”
“Shut the fuck up!”
“He’s not a well man. The cancer is killing him and his mind is wrecked. What little sanity my father had has long left his body.”
“Part of the reason why I wanted to talk to him. See, I don’t give a fuck who the boss is… This holy war between the families will still rage on… and your father gave me some pertinent information.”
Knox smiled. He had Nunzio hook, line and sinker. Clearly Michael Capadonno was up to his old tricks and had pulled a fast one on Nunzio. Knowing that he wouldn’t get any information from Nunzio on what the favor was, Knox decided not to press matters.
“You know he’s playing you like a fiddle, right?” Knox said with a smirk.
“What do you mean?”
Wiggling his eyebrows at Nunzio as he buried his hands in his suit pockets, Knox smiled and said, “Oh, you’ll find out soon enough.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
MILES AND LETTY DROVE back to Juan’s house to pick up Corina. Her anxiety, still sky-high from the execution attempt on Miles’s life, Letty was reeling from what she had witnessed. Now, with a child involved, the stakes were higher than ever before. Letty’s father’s house was just minutes from the diner. Miles wasted no time driving a frantic Letty and an upset G to Juan’s house. Quickly, Miles loaded everyone into Corina, looking around cautiously to make sure they weren’t being watched. Although Dante was in police custody, there was no guarantee that there wasn’t another hit already being mapped out. In fact, Miles thought that it was a certainty that another plot was being hatched as he inserted his keys into the ignition. Hardly waiting for Letty’s seatbelt to click in the harness, Miles hit the gas pedal, ready to leave Carrion, New Jersey behind them, even if it was just for a few hours. Miles looked to Letty every few minutes or so, not saying a word, but just looking to make sure she was all right. Letty tended to be the type that put on a face. She was the type of woman who if you ask how she is, she’ll say fine, even if it’s not necessarily true. It’s not to deceive. Letty is used to taking care of other people, and part of that is keeping people from worrying about her, too. Miles knew that she tended to lock pieces of herself away from prying eyes. He knew all too well how tender her heart was. Letty hated to show this side of her, though. So she hid it, only allowing certain people in. She was an oyster. A hard, impenetrable exterior, but at the heart of her, Miles knew Letty was a rare pearl—a pearl that could be hurt, and could be broken. Clearing his throat as he nervously glanced back to the road, the sheer fact that Letty was nervous by the situation made Miles nervous. As Corina ripped across the county line, Miles heard Letty release a breath of relief.
Miles kept driving for about forty-five minutes until he hit the coast. Pulling into Wildwood, New Jersey, he parked the car at the boardwalk, and helped Letty out of the car. The salty sea air breezed across the beach, and the sound of the waves crashing against the sand caught G’s attention. The boardwalk was deserted, and there was not another soul in sight. They walked down the boardwalk and down the steps of the pier. As his feet met the beach, G kicked the sand, sending it flying over Miles’s boots.
“Aye, watch the boots, man!” Miles said with a faint smile, not even bothering to brush them off. Instead he scooped the child up, and walked towards a playground that was situated on the beach. The playground was comprised of a few swings, a seesaw, and a sliding board, and there were a few benches for parents to sit at while their children played. As they approached the swing set, Miles let G down. Laughing, Letty and Miles watched as the toddler ran off towards the sliding board. Slowly, the smile faded from Letty’s face as she placed her hand in Miles’s.
In a voice so full of inflection and worry, Letty questioned the situation at hand. “Miles, what are we going to do?”
“I’m going to need you to trust me, Letty. I need you and G to go about your lives like normal until the storm passes. Go to work. Take G to day care.”
Letty had an alarmed look on her face. Miles read the expression on her face like a book, and he quickly elaborated. “No, you don’t understand. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Jesus!” Letty said as she whacked Miles hard on the arm. “You were talking like you were going on the lam or something!”
Bringing a finger to his mouth, Miles whispered, “Sssh. Don’t talk so loud when we’re out. We need to be careful.”
Letty wasn’t sure what Miles was eluding to, but as Miles stared back up at the boardwalk, Letty saw that a man was looking out at the beach. She thought nothing of it until Miles whispered in her ear, “The man in the leather jacket is my distant cousin, Ray. He’s aligned with my father.”
Letty stood frozen in place as she stared up at the man. Miles, noticing how rigidly Letty was standing, nudged her in the arm.
“Relax, Letty. Stop looking at him. They’ll eventually get bored.”
“Miles, they want you dead, and with Dante and Fish coming after me, they might want me dead, too.”
“Which is why you need to keep going through the motions of life. Don’t show them a shred of fear. Don’t even give them the satisfaction.”
Letty took a deep breath as her eyes snapped off the man. Letting Miles’s words sink in, she seemed to relax a bit. Reaching into her purse, Letty pulled out a professional grade camera. Bending down to get G in her frame, Letty snapped photo after photo, eventually smiling when she viewed the photographs she shot on the display screen. Miles watched closely as she caught her son’s likeness with the lens of her camera. Snapping quickly, Letty captured a toothy smile as G rocked back and forth on the swing set.
“You’re pretty comfortable behind the lens, aren’t you?”
Letty smiled at Miles sheepishly and replied, “I guess so. I like being able to capture a moment. He’s growing up so fast. I can’t stop him from growing, but I can keep a reminder of him at this age.”
The gears in Miles’s head churned as he watched Letty snap more photographs. She snuck in one of Miles, too. It was a serious shot. Miles was looking down, deep in thought, not even realizing he was captured in the frame of her shot.
“You know we could use this to our advantage right? Your camera hobby?” Miles asked with a troublesome glint in his eyes.
Letty shifted uncomfortably. “The camera… It’s just a hobby, Miles.”
“Maybe,” Miles said with a shrug. “But you have the perfect vantage point to get me the information I need to shut all this down. To get the men that are trying to kill me.”
“It’s dangerous, Miles…” Letty said firmly. There was a hard edge to her gaze as she stared at Miles. She seemed horrified by the sheer thought of ta
king a camera into the Capadonno compound.
“I’m dangerous, too, Letty,” Miles said with a look of turmoil in his eyes. “Since when have you been afraid of a little danger?”
Letty’s lips curled up in a delicious smile. “When it comes to you, Miles. Never.”
“That’s what I thought,” Miles said with a self-assured look upon his face.
“But we have more than just ourselves to worry about,” Letty pressed as she gave a nervous glance back at her son.
“Why do you think I’m being so careful about this? We have to plan strategically. G deserves a family and my father is not going to wreck another kid’s childhood.”
Miles’s words struck Letty. It couldn’t have been easy for Miles to grow up under Michael’s control, raising his sons up like soldiers. The reality was, they were Michael’s soldiers, and he planned to recruit them into his own personal army.
“What is this for, Miles? The cops? I never pegged you for an informant,” Letty asked, her suspicions clearly piqued.
“Fuck that. I’m not a rat. No cops. I’m the master of my own plan,” Miles said bluntly.
Letty nodded in understanding and as soon as she did, Miles walked away, going to G’s side to push him on the swing.
“You have to know that… Letty.”
“What, Miles?”
“Everything I do now, is for you and G.”
Standing there silently watching Miles gently push G on the swing, a swift breath of air rushed between Letty’s open lips. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Letty couldn’t help but smile.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
A SWIFT BREEZE BLEW across the seascape as Big Bang Mancini shoved his plump hands deep into the pockets of his black leather jacket. With a cigar hanging off his lip, he crossed the boardwalk, the pale, aging planks creaking beneath his feet. The skeleton of Morey’s Pier stood in the background as the man approached an associate who sat in the shadows of Sam’s Pizza Shop.
“What’s he up to?” Big Bang asked as he approached Ray Capadonno who was leaning against the far ledge of the boardwalk. Ray was peering down on the tide that clapped upon the sand just feet from where Miles and Letty stood with her young son. The men watched as Letty snapped photographs of her son, and Miles pushed the young tyke on his swing.
“Don’t look like he’s up to nothin’ to be honest,” Ray replied as he blew a cloud of cigarette smoke from his mouth.
Big Bang dropped his heavy frame onto a worn wooden bench that overlooked the beach.
“Whatcha mean nothin’?” Big Bang asked, sounding disgruntled at the lack of action that was happening.
“I mean nothin’. He’s a family man. Look at ’em!” Ray spat.
“He’s been out a day. It’s a fuckin’ honeymoon period. Give it time, he’ll be comin’ right for our necks. Look what he did to Dante and the Fish…” Big Bang reproached.
“Dante and Fish were a couple of retards. They got what was comin’ to them! You don’t mess with a made guy’s girl!” Ray spat.
“Watch your mouth! My nephew’s got a health condition…” Big Bang spat. “You intolerant fuck!”
“Say no more. My bad,” Ray said, waving Big Bang off, erasing his misdeed with a swipe of his hand.
“Michael wants us to handle this swiftly…” Big Bang whispered.
“I guess I don’t really understand. Butchy just made him boss. If there’s a hit out on him, why would Butchy make him acting boss?”
Big Bang cracked his knuckles as he sat quietly on the bench glaring up at Ray.
“New York has a target on Michael’s head… but they ain’t the only ones gunning for him. If anyone has retribution to claim, it’s Miles.”
“Think he’s gonna try to get revenge?” Ray asked. “He was at the house yesterday and didn’t do shit.”
“Wouldn’t you?” Big Bang asked with a grilling stare.
“If my old man framed me? Yeah, I’m pretty sure I would.”
“You wouldn’t have the balls. Not if your old man was the Butcher of Carrion.”
“Anyway, New York is only gunning for Michael because he’s in charge. Put somebody else in charge, and let them take the fall,” Big Bang explained.
Ray looked down upon the beach, his eyes following Miles’s movements.
“He sure ain’t acting like an underboss…” Ray mentioned.
“That’s ’cause he don’t know yet…”
“How’s this gonna play out?” Ray asked as his brow furrowed with stress.
“My guess? Miles is playing nice right now. It’s easy to draw out the pitbull in a man. Just take away something that’s important to ’em,” Big Bang said as he took another puff of his cigar. As he blew the smoke from his lips, Big Bang motioned for Ray to look Miles’s way.
“It’s all very simple, really. I don’t know why I gotta explain everythin’ to you.”
“’Cause I’m not a twisted fuck like you, that’s why.”
“C’mon. We gotta get back to Carrion.”
“What about him?” Ray asked, referring to Miles who was still happily pushing G on his swing.
“Frig ’em. He’ll eventually make his way back home, and when he does… Bang!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
MILES DROVE THE FORTY-SEVEN miles back to Carrion. The radio hummed at a low decibel as Letty sat quietly beside Miles in the passenger seat. The mood was somber as they drove back to Carrion—everyone still very much traumatized by the execution attempt on Miles’s life. There was a strange sense of déjà vu about the situation. Letty had a sick feeling in her stomach that she couldn’t shake no matter what she did. It could only be summed up as dread. A storm was coming, and no matter which way they turned, their newly reunited family seemed to be in the path of destruction.
The silence in the car was loud, and Miles didn’t have the words to ease Letty’s fears. Instead, Miles reached for Letty’s left hand, not daring to take his eyes off of the road. At a few minutes to two in the afternoon, Miles pulled into the driveway of Letty’s father’s house, honking the car’s horn loudly. Letty leaned over and kissed Miles sweetly on his cheek.
“I’ll be right back. I just need to drop G off to my father.”
“I’ll be right here,” Miles said, giving Letty an assured expression.
Letty pulled her sleeping son from the backseat of the car, and carried him, along with his diaper bag to the house. After a few knocks at the door, Juan answered, looking happy to see his grandson. He leaned in to give Letty a smooch on her cheek. With a smile on his face, Juan waved to Miles in the car, before turning around to go back in the house with G clasping tightly onto his arm.
“‘Bye, Dad…. I’ll be back around dinnertime to pick him up,” Letty called.
“Why don’t you go out? Me and G are good. We have lots of that chicken stuff you made. We’re going to watch the game. You deserve a night to yourself.”
“Are you sure?” Letty asked, clearly stunned at her father’s offer.
“Positive,” Juan said as he waved his daughter away. “Be careful, baby.”
Before Letty could say anything further, the front door slammed shut and Juan left Letty standing there in silent but happy surprise. Miles climbed out of the car. He approached Letty and with a concerned look on his face, placed a hand on the small of her back.
“Everything okay?” Miles asked her, his brow furrowing with uncertainty.
“Yeah,” Letty said in a pleasant voice. “It seems my father has given us a kid-free evening.
“Hmmm…” Miles said as a smile creased his face. “Let’s go see what kind of trouble we can find.”
“I think we’re in enough trouble, don’t you?” Letty said with a half-smile.
Miles shrugged. “Same shit, a different day. We’ll get through it. You’ll see.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I am. Stop worrying.”
Just then, as Letty’s nerves were getting worked up again, her
cell phone began to vibrate. Pulling it out of her purse, Letty brought her phone to her ear.
“Hello?” Letty asked.
She was met by Landon’s deep voice.
“Hey. Are you on your way?” Landon asked in a voice that was so pained with worry that it struck Letty like a lead pipe.
“I’m on my way now. Is everything all right?”
“You have Miles with you, right?” Landon asked, the trepidation in his voice raising a red flag for Letty.
“Yeah, he’s right here. What’s going on?”
“The weekend nurse quit. My father,” Landon said as he released a heavy sigh. “My father snapped. He got violent. Dustin and I had to hold him down.”
“He needs to go inpatient, Landon…”
“You know as well as me that he’s never going to buy that shit…”
“He needs to go inpatient before anyone else gets hurt.”
“What?”
There was a lull in the conversation as Letty’s heart hammered.
Shit. Shit. Shit!
Finally, after a moment of complete silence, Letty spoke.
“You said he was violent, I assumed the weekend nurse got injured.”
“He threw a glass of orange juice at her. The glass shattered against the wall, and she got a fragment in her eye. I tried to help her, but she ran off screaming down the driveway.”
“Landon, this is more than I can handle.”
“What can we do, though? You can’t apply any force. You know what happens.”
Letty sighed deeply as her right hand covered her eyes.
“I know. I know. I’m going to have to think of a way to handle this.”
“Well, let me know. You know I’ll back you up as best as I can.”
“All right, Landon.”
“Hey Letty?”
“Yeah, hun.”
“Is the big guy all right?”
Letty laughed as the gears in her head began to churn.
Landon always was different from the other Capadonno men. Sweet, vulnerable, and very observant, Letty thought.
Miles Away (Carrion #1) Page 19