Dom slides smoothly into the booth beside Agent Ricci, effectively trapping her against the wall.
His smile doesn't reach his eyes as he introduces himself, though she clearly knows exactly who he is.
I hesitate, my gaze shifting between Luca's urgent expression and Dom's predatory posture.
Something doesn't feel right.
I take Rocco back into my arms.
"Agent Ricci was just explaining what happened to Rocco," I say, not moving from my seat. "She says she got ananonymoustip."
Luca's jaw tightens. "We can discuss this at home."
"The man who took me wasn't the real Santa," Rocco pipes up, seemingly oblivious to the tension. "He made me go with another man in a black car."
Luca's eyes flash dangerously. "What man? Who was he?"
Agent Ricci clears her throat. "That's what we're trying to determine. I received a tip about a child matching Rocco's description in Brooklyn."
Dom leans forward, his voice deceptively casual. "How convenient that an FBI informant just happened to be there at the right moment."
I catch the implication in his tone. That the FBI might have orchestrated this whole thing.
“How did you even know Rocco was missing?” Dom asks.
"Come now, Don Vitale. We both know I'm aware of much that happens within your family's operation." Her confidence sends a chill down my spine. How much does she know about us? About La Corona?
Dom scoffs. "Including where the child was taken, but not who took him?” He shakes his head. “The FBI is slipping. Or, more likely, reverting to unsavory tactics. Sort of reminds me of something we might do, except of course, we’d never use children. That makes us better than you."
Something flickers across Ricci's face. It seems like uncertainty. She glances at Rocco, then back to Dom.
"I'll admit something feels off about this situation," she finally says.
"Normal patterns of child abduction?" Luca's voice is deadly quiet. "Is that something you study, Agent Ricci?"
I place my hand on Luca's arm, feeling the tension coiled there.
“I’m not able to divulge specific info about the case?—”
“But you’re happy to pick our brains?” I snap.
“I can tell you that Rocco was alone when I found him at the rental in Brooklyn.”
Dom and Luca glance at each other, but I don’t get a sense that either has any specific connection to a rental in Brooklyn.
"Convenient," Dom remarks. “I’d bet my right nut that whoever took him watched you show up after your informant’s call.”
“What’s a right nut?” Rocco asks.
I give Dom a chastising glare.
"I've already determined the property owner had no knowledge their place was being used," Ricci continues on, ignoring Rocco’s question. "Paid in cash through a third party. No cameras."
I exchange glances with Luca.
"So what you're telling us," I say, finding my voice, "is that someone took our son, then abandoned him where he could be found by the FBI, who then tried to use him as bait to get information from me?"
Ricci's expression hardens. "That's not?—"
