“Oh,” I said, not sure what else to say.
“I’m going to lay it all on the table right now.” She seemed to sit up straighter. “Remy Mestengo is bad news. Always has been. I never hid my dislike of him.”
“You didn’t.” I smiled, remembering. When I’d come in for a hamburger and he followed me, or showed up out of nowhere, she always got his order wrong. Hehatedtomatoes on his burger, and she never set his plate down. She basically dropped it. When he’d look at her, she would just look at him like…what’re you going to do about it?He never said anything to me, but he never messed with Thandie.
“He’s into some real bad shit, Ari,” she said. “I hated that you even associated with him.”
“Do you think…that’s why he lost his hand?”
“You might look innocent, Aria Bella, but we both know who took his hand.”
“Who?”
She laughed. “Okay, you can play the game as long as you want, but I’m here to tell you something. I know who you’re married to. Rocco Piero Fausti is the next leader of the Faustifamiglia, which means…he’s the kingpin. The head lion. He blinks, and a man is ordered dead, if he doesn’t take the man’s life himself. Or in this case, a hand in honor of not just any woman, buthiswife.
“Remy’s lucky he didn’t lose more than a hand. He must have done something to even out the offense some. I know all there is to know about the Fausti family. There’s not an agency in this world that doesn’t have them on their radar—law enforcement, secret operations, and the opposite side of the spectrum, dangerous organizations.”
All I could do was stare at her.
“I told you I had something to tell you. I work, or worked, for The Port, but I’m not really who you think I am. I’ve been working undercover for ten years.”
I sat back in my seat. “Is Thandie not your real name then?”
“Out of all that, and that’s what you ask me?”
“Well, yeah, we’re friends. It wouldn’t feel right if I’ve been calling you a name that doesn’t belong to you.”
“You really don’t care, do you?”
“No,” I said. “Our friendship is real. I felt it.”
She sighed. “You’re right. The job was fake, but that was one truth that came out of it. Our friendship. And yeah, my grandmama used to call me Thandie. My middle name. My first name is Rue. Last name De Pradines.”
“Rue Thandie De Pradines,” I said. “I love it.”
She smiled, looking away from me for a second. Then she turned back and met my eyes. “Aria Amora Bella…Fausti. I always liked that your grandmama called you by your middle name too. That was the moment I knew we’d be friends. It felt real. And I loved your grandmama. She was fierce but a loving soul. She was as real as they come. You are too, Sci Fi.”
I sat closer to the table, lowering my voice. “Are you really from New Orleans?”
She shrugged. “What do you think?”
I stared at her, like a sign would appear on her forehead giving me the answer. But she was a blank canvas.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Is that your gut talking to you?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Your accent. No one gets it as right as you have. They try in movies all the time and…” I shivered, pretending to turn off the television. “It’s actually embarrassing.”
She laughed even louder. “Yeah, I’m from New Orleans. Seventh Ward. Same as you.”
I wasn’t sure what to say next. I had to be careful. This felt like standing on a ground that was suddenly separated by sides.One side—the law—and the side my husband’s family operated on—outlaws. Which made me an outlaw too.
“If you’re telling me youwereundercover that means…your work is done.”
She nodded. “There’s a bad drug out there now. Daze is what the kids are calling it. It’s killing a lot of people. Should have never got into the hands of greedy people. It’s almost unstoppable now. But—” she opened and closed her hands “—local law enforcement has been trying to stop it from coming into our port. They were unsuccessful, and so are we. I worked at the restaurant because a few distributors are regulars. One guy even sold. So did Remy. But we never had enough proof to catch ’em in the act. I wasn’t always after Daze. I was at The Port for another drug in the beginning. If it’s not one, it’s another. A constant war.”
“Oh? He who should not be named was in on it?”
