My mind drifted to Giuseppe’s screams—he’d only answered that under duress. “As part of a larger VIP group,” I demurred, preferring to bring up that asswipe behind closed doors with my siblings first.
“We need to up security?—”
“Already on it, Rory. I’ve conferred with Chad.”
“Good. I’ll speak with him too. See how we can handle more shifts to protect the VIP section.”
“We’ve dealt with the Albanians on an ‘as and when’ basis,”Luc inserted. “But if they’re concocting these more involved plots, their organization isn’t as much of a cowboy setup as we first thought.”
“Meaning they’re not individual gangs but have formed a unit?” Bruno queried.
“I think so, and considering the uptick in their numbers, I figure it’s happeningnationallytoo.”
Luc drummed his fingers on the table. “They confirmed that, Stan?”
I scanned my watch when a notification lit up the screen. “I extracted a name—Agon Prifti.”
“I’ve never heard of him. Any clue who he is?”
“No.”
The others around the table shook their heads, but Aurora scrawled something on a legal pad in front of her. “I’ve heard rumblings. He has a whorehouse in Nolita. But I didn’t think much of it.”
“To organize that ragtag bunch of fuckers, there has to be a leader. Could Prifti be that leader?”
“Doubtful,” Rory disregarded. “The brothel’s pretty high-end but nothing major. Nothing that speaks of a power playerorsomeone funding the regrouping of their organization. We know how costly an endeavor that is.
“Until now, I’ve only seen proof of them acting like two-bit gangsters playing at being mobsters.”
“The Albanians have been causing chaos in Vegas and LA too, right?” I prodded.
“Yes,” she admitted, her frown turning pensive. “Typically, the Albanians form clans and aKryeheads that clan. They, in turn, have underbosses. To form one larger clan is unheard of.”
“Doesn’t mean it can’t happen,” Caruso pointed out.
Flatly, I derided, “I don’t think they’re playing at anything.”
Rory clucked her tongue. In agreement or disagreement was anyone’s guess. “They’ve always been big into horses and racefixing. There’s a lot of money in that.” Mostly to herself, she asked, “Could that fund a movement as big as this one?”
She made a couple notes on her ever-present legal pad then slipped a folder on top of it. Retrieving several sheets of paper from it, she encouraged us to pass them around the table.
Recognizing the first image from theI Told You Soblog of Brackton Sr., Devere, and Korhonen with their coterie of escorts, I glanced at the second picture then did a double take. “The girls are dead?!”
Even Luc’s ever-calm expression cracked. “That means all three escorts from the first photograph were taken out.”
“Holy shit,” Bruno rasped. “How did you get these?”
“Someone in my homeless network found the bodies in an alley, just tossed there like trash.” Her hand smoothed over her belly. And I got it. Family was all. That these girls…Cristu.“I had the commissioner deal with the bodies. There’ll be an investigation into their murders.”
Luc’s mouth firmed. “Good.”
“Porca troia.” I studied the GSWs to the temples that had taken out both girls. “They really were kids.”
“Preliminary reports speculate their ages are between thirteen and fifteen,” Rory confirmed grimly. “Once the autopsies are complete, I’ll know for certain.”
Uneasiness hit me. “That brothel of theirs in Nolita…”
“What about it?” Luc rasped—he was a girl dad. Of course, this fucked with his head.
