by Terra Kelly
Miles laughed. “Why would there be someone hiding around here?” He stood up and walked over to Finley, shock on his face. “Unless the assignment is next door? She’s not, right?”
Finley raised his eyebrows. “Wait till you hear this story.” He unlocked the door and headed inside. “You arrived sooner than expected. Why did they send you already? Something happen?” They walked into the living room and Fin offered Miles a seat on the couch while he went into the kitchen to grab two beers.
Miles was laughing as he waited for Finley’s return. “She doesn’t live next door, right? I mean, how did this fucking happen?”
Finley handed Miles a Molson beer. “Well, Cooper and I found this house for rent online and grabbed it right away. We researched who the neighbors were, but the names were nowhere near Magrino.” Then he shared the turn of events that had played out over the thirty-six hours. When he finished, Miles stared at him blankly.
“What?” He shook his head. “Are you shitting me? You had dinner at the assignment’s house. Well that’s an interesting turn of events.”
Finley took a drink of his beer. “Well, why not get to know them? Maybe they will trust me when the time comes. The Nesta family will find them. It’s just a question of when.” he sighed. “Now, why the hell are you here already?”
Miles sat his beer down on the coffee table. “Funny story there. Apparently from what we caught wind of, one of the Capos moved to the U.S. We’re struggling to pin-point where. We know they have several men scattered in different areas, and we also know the Letizia-case is a high priority for them. Our best guess is the Capo is heading to St. Cloud…or already here.”
Finley leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. “Fuck. I’m checking out everyone, but I have seen nothing out of the ordinary. Do they have any idea who this Capo is?”
“Nope. The only thing we know is that he’s in the U.S.” Miles grabbed his phone from his back pocket and pulled up a few emails. “Here, this is the message the technical analyst found in a chat room we’ve been monitoring. We know the time frame of when he left and where his first flight was heading. After that the trail runs cold.”
Finley stood up, walked over to a desk sitting by the front window, and grabbed his bag resting on top of the wood surface. “I’ve gone through all the files already, but let’s take another look now that we’ve added another piece to the puzzle.”
Miles nodded. “Yeah, we tried following this new lead from every angle back at the precinct. Whoever was assigned to her, the Nesta family is keeping it a complete secret. Hence why you’re finding me here tonight. The team agreed it made sense to have more than one person here protecting the assignment. Shit will go down, and we need to be at the top of the pile ready for action.”
Finley pulled a file out of his bag and handed it to Miles. “What’s your undercover story?”
Miles grabbed the folder. “Acting as your cousin who just lost his job and needs a place to crash.” Finley watched as Miles looked over the contents in his hands. “What’s this?”
Laughing, Finley pointed at two things on the front page. First, the name of Letizia’s parents, and second, the proof that Dani and Lando were in fact her family with the DNA evidence listed. “This story got more interesting while I was over there tonight. I heard Letizia call the older woman, Alessandra, mom. We know Letizia’s mom was killed point blank by the Nesta Mafia. The woman, Alessandra, must’ve altered Letizia’s memories of her mom and dad. There is a kid there, he’s maybe 12 and loves coming over here. Zia is the assignment’s nickname, and she thinks the kid, Cristiano, is her brother.”
Miles just stared at Finley. “You’re kidding, right?”
Finley shrugged. “I wish. Hopefully Letizia can handle the truth once it finally comes out.”
Miles stood up. “That’s fucking perfect. Is there a father or boyfriend in the picture?”
“No one there tonight, but there could be,” Fin explained, then he stood. “Cristiano has stopped over here a couple times already, so be ready for that encounter.”
He grabbed his beer and headed towards the kitchen, Miles following behind. “Well, my story is easy. We all agreed to keep it simple since it would be for a short time. We need to be ready. I have a feeling something will happen soon.”
Finley turned off the light in the kitchen. “Yeah, I wish you were wrong about that, but I know you’re not. Tomorrow I’ll scope out the area more and see if I can ask the guys I’m working with on the site questions.” He made his way down the hall. “You can have the bedroom at the end of the hall, but you may hate me in the morning.” They both stopped in the doorway, and Finley said sarcastically, “Doesn’t that futon look comfortable.”
Miles just shook his head. “Nice. I’ll be wishing for Gracie or Jack’s bed by the end of the night, and their beds are not comfortable, not even a little.”
Finley just slapped him on the back. “Sleep tight.”
Seven
“Come on, Cris, you need to get up.” Letizia stood in the doorway of Cristiano’s room with her hands on her hips. “Your doctor’s appointment is in twenty minutes.”
“I’m not sick anymore. Why do we have to go?” Cristiano just mumbled.
She sighed. “If you’re not sick, then why did you beg Ali to stay home today?” Suddenly another thought hit her, and she walked toward her brother’s bed, sitting on the edge of the mattress. “Cris, is there something else going on?”
Cris had his head buried under the covers but pushed them back to look up at Letizia. “What do you mean?”
Letizia felt worried for her brother now. “Cris, come on, did something happen at school? You know you can tell me anything. If someone is treating you poorly at school, we need to stop it from happening.”
Cristiano was leaning on his elbow, and with Letizia’s words, he plopped back against his pillow. “It’s no big deal.”
Letizia put her hand on his shoulder. “It must be a big deal if you are acting sick all the time. Come on, what is it?”
He leaned up and rested his back up against the wall. “We have a new history teacher. He seemed fine at first, but then he picked on me for different activities, called on me for most of the questions. I never raised my hand. He just calls on me. If I’m wrong, he laughs and the rest of the class laughs with him. I’ve had to stay back after class and he fusses at me for the questions I was answering wrong. The weird part is, there are other students answering the questions wrong, but he never talks to them.” He sighed. “I don’t like him.”
Letizia pulled out her phone and hit the icon for the doctor’s office. “Yes, hi, I need to cancel the appointment and will pay the late cancellation fee…yes. Thank you.” She then hit end and placed the phone in her lap. “I will head over to your school now. You need to get up and around though. I will talk to an administrator about putting you into a different class or pulling you from the class completely. Okay?” She tousled his hair. “We’ll figure this out. I need to go let mom know, we’ll probably go to school together.”
Cris just nodded. “Thanks.”
Frustration fueled her as she walked into the kitchen. Ali was sitting at the kitchen table typing away on her computer. “Want to take a ride with me? We need to go to Cris’ school.”
Ali leaned back in her chair, looking up at her. “Why? I thought you were heading to the doctor’s office?”
Letizia pulled out a chair and shared what Cris had just told her upstairs. By the time she was finished talking, Ali was red in the face. “Oh hell no, nobody messes with my boy and thinks they can get away with it.” Zia had to smile as Ali pushed her chair out and stood. “Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s go.”
Zia laughed softly. “Yes, ma’am. Should I call and warn the school you are on the way?”
Ali lightly pushed Z’s shoulder. “Funny, darling.”
Finley was walking on the sidewalk away from the job site. He had been trying to question co-workers and
even his boss all morning without sounding like he was interrogating them, which was not an easy feat. Sadly, he was coming up empty handed. During his lunch break he took a walk around the town to see if anything seemed out of the ordinary. As he made his way down a side street, he caught a glimpse of a man with a harsh voice trying to yell at someone with no one noticing. He was dressed in nice slacks and a button down light blue dress shirt. A little too dressed up for the area he was in. There were fast food restaurants on either side, a dumpster, and garbage bags around the area. Finley stepped back out of sight and pulled out his cell phone to grab a picture. He tried to zoom in and get a better shot of the guy, but it turned out grainy. As he clicked the picture his phone made a sound. Cursing, he moved away further and sent the image to Miles with a text that read, check on this.
There was a flower shop across the street, so trying to keep off the radar of the mystery guy, Fin walked over to the store. As the door to the shop closed behind him, he glanced back at the alley. The nicely dressed guy was standing on the sidewalk looking around. So much for keeping quiet. He pulled out his phone and put it on silent. There was a text that popped up as he was going through his settings. From Miles: “Um, that’s a Nesta family worker. Where the hell are you?”
Finley hastily wrote back: “How can you be sure?”
An answering picture popped up on his phone and he immediately went on high alert.
“Hi Stacy. How is everything?” Letizia walked into the bakery and crossed over to the counter, smiling at her co-worker.
Stacy seemed stressed. “I’m not sure. Did you spontaneously let Amy take the morning off?”
Stunned, Letizia looked around. “What? No. She didn’t show up this morning?” She grabbed her cell and hit Amy’s number. The phone rang several times before going to voicemail.
Hanging up, she looked at Stacy. “I will run over to her house and see if she’s okay. Will you be all right for a little while longer?”
Stacy nodded. “Yeah, Joseph was able to come in a little early to help me out.” Joseph was the afternoon help. He usually worked around fifteen hours a week. Letizia was happy that he’d been available for Stacy.
She headed toward the front door, then stopped and looked back at her friend. “Hey, I’m really sorry. Why didn’t you try to call me?”
Stacy shook her head. “I knew you were busy, so we figured it out on our own. I didn’t make everything, but the customers have been understanding.”
Zia smiled. “You’re the best. You know that, right?” Before Stacy could respond, she took the few steps out of the bakery toward her car.
Amy lived five miles away and on a good day she would ride her bike or walk to work. Zia had visited her several times, and they all had girls’ night at her house. Amy’s home was in an older neighborhood. The houses were close to each other, but most of the neighbors did not talk to one another. Amy had mentioned that several of the people around her were in their seventies or eighties, so basically not anyone she would hang out with on a Friday night.
As Zia pulled into the driveway, she noticed two things: The front door was ajar and a pink sweater lay on the sidewalk leading up to the door. Zia immediately felt unease. Reaching for her phone she dialed 911. A part of her wanted to go in and see if Amy was okay. Holding back on that thought out of fear, she stayed where she was. As the minutes ticked by dread took over and she found it harder and harder to wait for the police to arrive. Finally, she heard sirens in the distance. Letting out the breath she didn’t even know she was holding, Zia got out of her car and leaned against the door.
As the first cop car pulled up, it took a few minutes before the doors opened. Zia wanted to scream come on, seriously, but instead bit her tongue. As the cop stepped out, she noticed him look around and then in her direction. “Hi, I’m officer Smith.” He held out his hand in a greeting. “Are you Letizia Magrino, the one who made the call to 911?”
Zia nodded. “Yes.” She wanted to yell, hurry, help my friend, but instead just stayed calm while he asked questions.
She watched as the officer looked at the house. “Is this Amy Levine’s residence?”
Zia sighed. “Yes. I’m sorry, but can we go see if she’s okay, please?” Impatience crept into her voice and she hoped he’d react to it.
The officer nodded. “We’ll do everything we can to make sure your friend is safe.” He headed towards the front entrance but glanced back. “You stay here and I’ll go check out the inside. Two more marked cars will arrive shortly.” Letizia watched as he stepped inside the home.
Her mind was a like a washing machine on spin cycle: continuously running in circles. What had happened? She hired Amy a few years ago because they’d immediately hit it off. Amy had a quiet personality and knew her way around a kitchen. They had their moments, but overall, she loved working with Amy every day.
Just then two more marked cars pulled up alongside the road, and four uniformed officers stepped out. The only woman in the bunch walked up to Zia. “Is officer Smith inside already?”
Zia just nodded, glancing toward the home. “Yes. He headed in about three minutes ago.” She could see the look on each one of their faces and they didn’t seem happy.
The woman cursed under her breath and rushed toward the front door. Zia heard her yell at the other officers, “Come on boys, apparently, Smith forgot what wait means again.”
It felt like several hours had passed, but it had only been five minutes. The woman returned to Zia’s side, looking solemn. “Does Amy have a next of kin we can call?”
Zia sucked in a breath. “What? Is she alright?” She was feeling scared for her friend.
The woman sighed. “We’re unsure at the moment since she’s not in there. It looks like a struggle took place, but we need to piece together all the evidence first.” The woman pointed over her shoulder at the front door. “You never touched that door, right?”
Z shook her head. “No. When I arrived it was open, so I called 911 immediately.” Feeling the first wave of tears overtake her shaken body, she walked to her car for a place to sit down.
The officer followed her. “We don’t have any answers yet, it’s too early to tell. Do you have her family’s phone number available?”
“Uh…I have my employee’s information on a Google Drive, let me pull it up for you.” She found Amy’s file and went to the note area for the emergency number. Amy never gave a name of the contact. She’d just provided one phone number. She gave the number to the officer and excused herself.
On the way back to the bakery, she took it upon herself to call Amy’s family. As her phone rang, she looked down and noticed her hand shaking. How could she tell her family she was missing? And was Amy close with her family? Thinking back, Zia realized her friend rarely talked about anything personal.
Finally, the call connected, and a woman answered. “Hello.”
She took in a deep breath and let it out before speaking. “Hi, my name is Letizia Magrino and I run the bakery where Amy Levine works. Are you a family member of hers?”
The woman on the other line gasped. “Yes. Is Amy okay?”
Zia held back her tears. “Well, we’re not sure. She’s gone missing. We needed to make sure she has not called you.” She felt a tear stray from her eye and slide down her cheek.
“No. We haven’t heard from her in a few days. Are the police looking for her?”
She wiped the tear away. “Yes. They’re doing everything they can. Do you want me to keep in contact with you on this number? Or will you be heading over here?” It was weird. Zia had a feeling that the woman was too calm.
She sighed. “Yes, please keep me up to date for now?”
Zia scowled. “Um, okay, yes ma’am. I’ll talk to you soon.” Looking out the front window of her car she scowled. Her mind was reeling. No wonder Amy never talked about her family; they must not be close. Zia clasped her hands together to stop the tremors from consuming her body. Taking the keys out of the ignition, sh
e headed back into the bakery to see if they had heard from Amy. She was hoping that her friend would be okay.
Finley was just pulling up to his rental house when his phone rang. “This is Finley.”
The voice on the other line sounded nervous. “Hey, it’s Patty. We received an interesting call. Looks like your assignment just changed.”
Finley looked at the screen on his phone and then placed it back over his ear. “Patty? What happened?” He got out of his car and headed inside so Miles could hear the call, too.
Putting the phone on speaker he nodded at Miles to listen. “Well, the undercover agent assigned to Letizia Magrino has gone missing. The phone number the agent put down as an emergency contact was just dialed. It was called by your assignment, Letizia. Apparently, they are unsure where the agent is currently. There are police officers at the agent’s place looking for evidence to what may have happened.”
Finley looked at Miles and then back toward the phone. “Shit. Okay, we’re on it, Patty. Any word on the Nesta family and their whereabouts?”
Patty was the front desk worker at the precinct and had been there for years. The guys all thought of her as their second mom. “No. Cooper said he will keep you updated on anything that comes in from the intel the technical analyst is gathering now.”
“Okay. Tell Cooper we will look into this and get back to him.” Finley finished the call and glanced over at Miles. “The guy I saw today…I knew it had to be the second in command. Even from a distance it was easy to place the asshole. Now, with the agent missing and Giano’s Capo here, we may need more backup,” he pointed out.
Miles nodded. “Agreed. Where Dego is located, there’s always at least three or four associates not far behind.”
Eight
Finley tossed his keys in the air and they landed perfectly in the palm of his hand. Squeezing them tightly in his grasp, he mused, “Well, we may need to think about another action plan. First, let’s head over to the bakery where Letizia works and see if we can find anything out. I know we can’t talk to anyone, but let’s see if we can catch anyone gossiping, someone here in town must love to talk too much.”