"Already have protocols in place."
My phone buzzes. Antonio texts from the airport: "Subjects have landed. Baggage claim now."
"They're here," I tell Emilio. "Confirm all positions."
While Emilio coordinates with our people, I review the deeper intelligence that came through after the initial background checks. Sarah Phillips's firm doesn't just handle corporate mergers, they've worked on three cases involving RICO. She knows what organized crime looks like, at least on paper.
Even more concerning, she clerked for a federal judge who specialized in international money laundering cases. Her training makes her the kind of person who could recognize patterns in my operations.
"She might try to connect the properties you own," Emilio says, reading the same file.
"Not if she only sees what we show her."
"And if she digs deeper?" he asks.
"Then we remind her that her friend's safety depends on her discretion."
"That's a dangerous game to play with a lawyer."
"A lawyer from America,” I remind him. “Not Sicily. And everything involving Madison is dangerous."
Another text from Antonio: "Subjects at rental counter. Arguing about the cancellation fee."
Of course they are. Sarah Phillips doesn't accept inconvenience without questioning it.
"How long before Madison calls you to check in?" Emilio asks.
"Any moment."
As if on cue, my phone rings. It’s Madison.
"They're at the rental counter," she says. "Sarah's giving them hell about charging her a cancellation fee."
"Tell her it must be a language issue and Antonio will handle it."
"She's already suspicious. This is going to be a disaster."
"Only if we let it become one. Call her now. Insist on the driver."
I hear her sigh before she ends the call. "Done," Madison says when she calls back. "They accepted the driver."
"Good news. Be ready in thirty minutes."
"For what?" she asks.
"Dinner. We need to establish the narrative immediately before things get out of control."
"What narrative are we pitching?"
"That you're safe, happy, and here by choice,” I tell her.
"I am here by choice,” she says. “And as far as I know, I’m safe.”
"Then it should be easy to convince them."
The pause tells me she's not as certain as she wants to be.
The restaurant I've chosen for dinner is one of my legitimate businesses, but Sarah Phillips doesn't need to know that.
