by Ali Vali
“I had my staff start investigating after your call, and not only is she dead, she was killed exactly like Victor and his girlfriend. Only this time it was Caterina’s bodyguard who died with her. The only difference was he was on top of her but not intimately locked to her, and it doesn’t look like they actually had sex.”
“Shit.” She’d be lucky to live out the week. “Those cops came by the house and showed me these texts between that girl Victor was with and someone else. They blacked the names out, but if Caterina is dead, she was the other person,” she said, anxious to be alone to call her contractor. “Fuck.”
“The cops never divulge everything, but you’re going to have to talk to your father. Francesco Terzo isn’t someone who’ll be quick to forgive, and if he thinks you had something to do with this, I don’t have to explain what’ll happen.”
“I had no idea Caterina wanted me dead, so it makes no sense I was planning to return the favor. I’m not that stupid.” Fear was swamping her, and it pissed her off. “Why aren’t they talking to Benito Lucassi?”
“What does that geezer have to do with anything?”
She finally laughed. “Careful, Ezra, that’s like insulting the pope. London Emerson was Victor’s little fuck buddy and Lucassi’s granddaughter. If anyone might want Caterina dead, Benito is a better candidate as a suspect.”
“Interesting,” Ezra said, turning onto her street. “Interesting—like all the traces of Victor’s divorce discussions disappearing from our firm.”
So he’d made the connection. It didn’t matter. “Ezra, coy isn’t tolerated in my family—remember that. You keep that to yourself, and I’ll promise not to tell my father you forgot to mention that interesting fact when Victor died. Don’t forget your firm represented Victor, but the real client who paid your ridiculous fees was my father.”
Sofia picked at her cuticles, desperately trying to think of the right words, the right phrases, that would get her father to believe she had nothing to do with Caterina’s death, even if there was something satisfying about it, since the bitch had wanted her dead. She trembled as they made their way up to her home, a place that definitely didn’t feel safe anymore.
“Ezra,” Diego said when they entered the house. “Wait out here.”
Sofia followed him to the main office where Paolo was on the phone in an obviously serious conversation. “Caterina Terzo is dead,” she said.
“She is dead, and your contractor killed her,” Diego said, pointing at her as if she ordered the hit. “Those fucking Terzos are going to do everything they can to kill every one of us.”
“Francesco isn’t that stupid, Papa.”
“Cara, I love you, but get your head out of your ass.”
“Papa, I had nothing to do with Caterina, but the cops are my first concern. Obviously, Caterina was London Emerson’s mentor. She was the other person in those texts.” They’d finally confirmed what Mano Jatibon had said about her being Lucassi’s granddaughter when they’d read her totally bogus obituary in the paper. From what the family had written about her, anyone would swear she was a Girl Scout. “I didn’t have anything to do with it, but I’m not sad she’s dead. Not when she was trying to get Victor to have me killed.”
“Are you sure?” Paolo asked after ending his call.
“That old detective kept tapping on the printouts with the texts, then asked if I had anything to do with Caterina. I’m not an idiot, and I can put two and two together. Caterina was killed over what happened to Victor and London, and I’m not at all upset about Victor’s death, and I didn’t give a shit about any of the women he was with. Who does that leave?” Sofia was relieved when her father started nodding. “The upset party here is the little slut’s family. What I don’t get is, why me? What would Caterina gain by killing me?”
“She’d gain Victor’s undying loyalty,” Diego said. “That fucker was a coward who would’ve done anything to not only get rid of you, but to keep himself out of jail.”
“So what now?” After all this, she wished her contractor had spent the night cutting little pieces off Victor until he died in extreme pain.
“Paolo, call Lucan,” Diego said. “We’ll guarantee your sister’s safety and peace between our families through him.”
“Lucassi would’ve had the balls to do this?” Paolo asked.
“He blamed Victor, but someone told Benito it wasn’t an accident, and he managed to trace it back to Caterina. It was his chance to take revenge, and he obviously hired the same contractor to make a point,” Diego said. “To me it makes that fucking contractor not that hard to find.”
“You think Francesco will understand that?” Sofia asked.
“We need to do one more thing, and that’ll make him understand,” Diego said.
“What?” she and Paolo asked.
“We hire your contractor for one more job.”
* * *
“The police put Sofia and her family on the scent with that visit,” Oscar said as a waitress poured them some coffee. “The bread crumbs must’ve been good enough to follow, and now Caterina’s dead.”
“Either that or someone gave Lucassi a rundown of what happened. His granddaughter wasn’t exactly an innocent bystander, but she was Lucassi’s blood.” Reed stirred cream and sugar into her cup and shrugged. “We don’t know if it was Lucassi or the Morettis who did this. We just need to be careful and not have any of this blow back on us.”
“You think Caterina’s death is going to be a problem?”
“You play and lose sometimes. Caterina grew up knowing that.” The cars were starting to arrive at the church across the street, and Reed wondered who was bothering to pay their respects to such a big asshole.
“You don’t get it, Reed,” Oscar said, leaning in and whispering. “From what my contacts at LVMPD told me, Caterina and her bodyguard died in the same position you left Victor and London in, and I mean exactly.”
“What are you talking about?” She stared at Oscar and reviewed what he’d said.
“I’m telling you I was monitoring the scanner, and the cops got called back to the Bellagio last night. At first I thought it was because of your trip to Victor’s place. I stayed home to check it out just in case, but everything shut down over the scanners when they found the new bodies.”
“Where’d they find them?” If someone replicated her hit, then they were trying to set her up for something, and the only person who came to mind was Sofia. Was this her revenge for her not turning over the money? She’d put it off only because Sofia had shot her mouth off at her and it’d pissed her off. The lesson in civility she’d tried to teach Sofia might’ve backfired in spectacular fashion.
“The villa next door to where you were last night. Did you go anywhere after you searched that villa?”
The only way to answer his question would have to come with the explanation of why she was shaking Dean Jasper down. That was the truth, but she couldn’t say anything because she wanted to keep Brinley and Finn a secret as long as she could, even from her best friend. “I didn’t need to go out last night, Oscar. Stop looking at me like I did this, because I sure as hell didn’t.”
“I’m not accusing you, but the way Terzo died will definitely put us on her batshit crazy father’s radar.”
“The fact is, I’m not the only hired gun in Vegas, and the way I left Victor was strange enough to have caught someone’s attention. They might’ve copied me, but we need to know why.”
“I’m trying, buddy, but like I said—the cops shut down all radio communication once they found Caterina.” Reed’s phone dinged with an email, and she checked it since it was the work account. “What is it?”
She read the short note, and reread it to make sure she understood. “He must have sensed us talking about him. It’s from Francesco Terzo.”
“Caterina’s not even cold yet, so that’s fast,” Oscar said, nodding subtly as three black SUVs drove by and pulled up to the funeral home door. Sofia and her father had rid
den together, and her brother and the rest of their men had exited the other two. “What does he want?”
“He wants Benito Lucassi’s head on a pike,” she said, wondering why Benito would’ve taken the chance to move on the Terzo family. Lucassi had to know there was little room for forgiveness once Caterina was dead.
“Why?” Oscar said but pulled his laptop out and started typing as soon as it powered on.
“I haven’t understood anything in the last couple of days, but one lesson is always crystal clear. Revenge has a way of boomeranging on you, so you should keep your head and wait until the heat is off, so you don’t put a big flaming arrow over your head. Lucassi must’ve blamed Caterina for London’s death, and now it’s time to volley the ball back into Terzo’s court.”
“I guess Benito thought his granddaughter deserved justice, and you can’t really blame him.”
“You’re right,” she said, knowing she was in the middle of a shitstorm now, and it had nothing to do with Brinley. “Why would Terzo chance pissing off New York if all this started with Sofia Moretti, though?”
“We killed his granddaughter, and Benito obviously condemned Caterina for it. His message is loud and clear, right? I mean, in the way it was staged. Now it’s like a gangland shooting, and revenge plots will start popping up until everyone involved is dead.”
That sounded like a reasonable answer, but it was too easy. “Nothing in life comes together this snugly when no one knows anything for sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oscar, that night with Victor was all about making it look like an accident. The only person who could’ve said otherwise was Sofia, and from our bugs, we know the only people she told were her father and brother.” She stopped talking when the waitress came over and winked as she placed the plates down. “You heard Diego. He told her to shut up about it and do whatever it took to get me to turn over that money.”
“What are you saying?” Oscar poured way too much salt over everything on his plate.
“I’m saying I don’t know for sure, but none of this sounds right.”
“Are you going to do it?” The only answer was going to have to be yes, since Terzo wasn’t someone she wanted to piss off.
“I’m going to have to think about it. Terzo isn’t someone I want as an enemy, but Benito’s connected to some unrelenting guys. Let’s play this one smart, Oscar. Head to Reno. Just because we set up our business to stay invisible doesn’t mean we can’t be found.” She put thirty bucks on the table and touched his hand. “We need to be really careful.”
“At least let me know what you’re doing. I worry about you sometimes, and you’re all I’ve got.”
“I’m never leaving you behind, so go have fun. I got us into this and I’ll get us out.”
She walked out and read the email again before she started the car. No job came with such step-by-step instructions, but Terzo wrote that he wanted Benito to know who was responsible for his death. One more, and then maybe it’s time to quit. That was a pipe dream, since she’d go insane within a week without something other than her life to focus on. And it wasn’t like she was the settling-down-with-a-family type. An image of Brinley playing with Finn crossed her mind, and she pushed it away, but she couldn’t ignore the ache it left behind.
Chapter Twenty
“This isn’t something Terzo’s going to ignore,” Remi Jatibon said as she sat in her brother’s home office. Mano had built a life in Vegas developing the casino they owned through a surrogate partner. With their family’s reputation, there was no way the gaming commission would’ve granted them a license, so they’d found someone they trusted implicitly.
Mano took the pictures of Caterina’s crime scene and shook his head. “I guess Benito couldn’t ignore Caterina’s part in this either.”
“Are you sure Benito is going to keep quiet if someone squeezes him about where he got those text messages? Terzo thinks he’s the big fish here, and I’m not worried enough to try and explain things to him, but I also don’t want any unnecessary complications.”
“Benito admits to that, and he’ll have to follow it up with who’s responsible for Caterina.” Mano opened the locked drawer in his desk and placed the photos inside. She’d been impressed he’d gotten copies so fast, but Hugo had come through right after the images showed up at the station. He moved to sit next to her on the sofa that had a great view of the yard. “That’s not what we should be talking about.”
“What else is there?” Remi smiled when she saw Dallas heading out to the pool with Mano’s kids. After over a year together, Tres and Lilia loved their aunt Dallas as much as they loved her.
“Robert Wallace is becoming a problem, if my information is true.”
“Robert Wallace won’t be a problem for long because the cartels’ plans won’t turn out like they want. Granted, they’re obviously bringing their crap through here, but Vegas isn’t the kind of place to turn a blind eye forever, like they do in the border towns on the Mexican side.” She’d heard the rumors as well, and Wallace seemed to have crawled into business with a pack of animals. “The first time a bunch of headless bodies show up here, so will an army of law enforcement and FBI. What we need to do to avoid that is tip over Wallace’s cushy new life.”
“He’s pushing for Victor’s old spot, and if he gets that, he’ll shut down everyone else doing business on the Strip with the help of his new friends,” Mano said, and that was probably right.
“Let’s go and pay our respects to the Lucassi family, and then hopefully Benito will meet with us and tell us a story.” Remi stood and grabbed her jacket. They were attending the funeral service for the young woman, but they weren’t subjecting the rest of their family to the day. “Give me a minute.”
Remi stepped outside and found Dallas having lunch with the kids, and they were talking excitedly about what seemed like every single thing that had happened in their lives since they’d seen them last. She and Dallas had talked about having kids one day, and Remi couldn’t wait to share that with her. They’d had an interesting beginning, but they’d built a life together that made them both happy.
“You guys promise to take care of my girl while we’re out,” she said, and the kids got up and hugged her.
“She’ll be safe with us, Tía,” Tres said.
“Good man,” she said as Dallas joined the kids, putting her arms around her. “Keep her out of trouble and I’ll take everyone out for dinner.”
“Finish up, you two,” Dallas said, pressing closer to her when the kids sat back down. “I love you.”
“I love you too, and it’s killing me that I’m leaving you here in this bathing suit,” she said, smiling at the athletic bikini Dallas had on. “Don’t fall for any of Tres’s lines while I’m gone.”
Dallas laughed and slapped her side. “I’m a one-girl kind of girl, so you’re safe, but dinner had better be good if you don’t want me to run off with your charming nephew.”
“Our charming nephew, and you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” she said and kissed Dallas.
“You’re so sappy, baby, and I love it. Be careful, and make sure you don’t put off your talk with Mano about what you told me.” Dallas stood on her toes and kissed her again.
“I will, but help me out by buttering Sylvia up for me.”
She waved and joined Mano by the door where her guard Simon was waiting with Hugo. “Let’s go do our good deed for the day.”
“Do you think whoever killed Victor and London realized how old she was?” Mano asked as they sat in the back together.
“I’ve seen the pictures from the security cameras that were part of your police file. I’m not defending Victor, but there’s no way he would’ve pegged her at nineteen. What exactly did Caterina have in mind with all this?”
“You know what I know, and I can only speculate that she wanted Victor under her thumb. By using London Emerson to get Victor to kill Sofia, Caterina would have the ammunition to b
lackmail Victor to do whatever she wanted. There’s nothing like hanging a murder rap over you as a motivation to be a good boy.”
“There’s more to it than that, and one of the people who could tell us is dead,” Remi said as they stopped in front of St. Joseph’s church. “I’ll help you find the answers while I’m here, and then I’m looking forward to spending more time with you. I miss you, hermano.” She smiled. She doubted anyone actually realized Mano wasn’t his given name, but her childhood nickname for him because she couldn’t pronounce brother in Spanish.
“I miss you too.” He reached over and took her hand. Their relationship had always been close, and she really did miss him, but he’d volunteered for the Gemini assignment and he’d done a great job making it a powerhouse on the Strip. “Do you think I made a mistake with Benito?”
“The old guy deserved his revenge—if Lucassi was the one who killed Caterina. He might not be a good friend, but his family deserved better. That, and there’s no way he did the hit without some major blessing from someone able to give it.”
“What do you want to do?”
“The only real option is to finish what Benito started and put the Terzos back in their sandbox. We need to make sure the New York contingent here in Vegas won’t have a problem with us doing that, though. I’m not looking for a war, even if we have good friends that assure a win for us.”
“None of the Vegas players are exactly our biggest fans.”
“I’m not looking for friends,” she said, getting out and smiling at the row of vans across the street that weren’t full of mourners, but Feds. “We’re here to help them come to the same conclusions we do, and that’s that no one who can’t keep control over their business belongs in Vegas. Terzo has lost his way, and lost control. He’s ceded it to the drug cartels that are driving away business with the way they handle all their problems. Nothing drives away the tourists who keep us all in business like the streets running with blood. The big daddy in charge from New York has to know Wallace’s new friends will never be controlled.”