But if the Vitale family blamed Luca for Umberto’s incarceration and death, then was the outcome for Gio to kill Luca?
If so, that seems like something Dom might arrange for revenge. He could have easily arranged Rocco’s kidnapping to set the whole thing in motion.
I shake my head. Dom does many bad things, but I don’t see him kidnapping his cousin’s son. And it doesn’t make since that he’d chastise me over the lack of justice Rocco has received if he was behind it.
So maybe Luca was supposed to kill Gio and when that didn’t happen, someone took care of it. But who? And why would Dom suspect it was me or someone in the FBI? What possible motive would we have?
I stare at my notes, frustration building with each page I turn. The fragments don't connect. There's something here, but I can't see it.
My eyes catch on a notation I'd made after interviewing Elena Vitale: "You and your kind spend a lot of time trying to manipulate us into doing your job for you."
I pause, reading it again.
At the time, I'd dismissed it as typical anti-law enforcement sentiment, the kind I hear from family members all the time. But now...
What if Elena wasn't just being defensive? What if she was speaking from experience?
The FBI runs operations all the time. Sting operations, undercover work, confidential informants.
We manipulate situations to catch criminals in the act. It's part of the job. My boss currently runs one to catch La Corona.
But to kidnap a child? Use an informant to kill a don’s wife? That’s not what we do.
“…manipulate us into doing your job for you.” It’s those words I find odd. Is there something about Blackwood’s operation that is outside the norm? Pushing the boundaries of what is legal?
I pull out a fresh legal pad and start mapping a timeline, working backward from last night.
Dom's accusations about Rocco's kidnapping.
The mysterious death of Gio Sarto.
Isabella Ferraza's forced marriage to Roman Ginetti after her mother's murder.
Ernie Abruzzo's death.
Mrs. Ferraza's murder.
And before all that Umberto Vitale's arrest and prison murder.
La Corona peddles in crime, so it’s not unusual to have so many deaths, but I wonder if instead of being individual incidents if they are all somehow related. “…Manipulating us…”
I flip open my laptop and access the Bureau's archives, pulling up the Umberto Vitale case file.
The agent in charge was Thomas Malone, now dead from an accident.
I can’t help but wonder if it really was an accident.
His team included Agent Thompson and Agent Blackwood before he was put in charge of the unit in part due to the success of Umberto Vitale’s arrest and conviction.
I scroll through the file, scanning interview transcripts, surveillance logs, evidence lists. Something catches my eye, a note about the initial tip that led to Umberto's arrest.
The source is redacted, but there's a reference number that links to another file. A file I don't have access to.
I make a note to get the file as I wonder if this source is the same one who called me about Rocco.
I have no reason to think so, unless all this is related. If someone is out to bring La Corona down and trying to make it happen from the inside out.
And I was made a part of the game they’re playing when they sent me to get Rocco.
