I sighed as I watched him go.
Just great.
Another cockroach we gotta stomp on.
If a low-level gang was selling drugs this far from their territory, they were getting pretty bold.
I sighed…
Kicked the switchblade into the nearest gutter…
And trudged back to my car.
Shit… ANOTHER piece of bad news I have to tell Adriano.
8
At 6 o’clock sharp, I pulled up outside Adriano’s apartment building. It was one of the most spectacular residential buildings in the Historic Quarter – a 600-year-old building that had been completely renovated inside just a few years ago. Adriano and Bianca had the entire top floor for their penthouse apartment.
I called Adriano’s cell. When he answered, I said, “I’m here.”
“How’d it go? You get any takers?”
He meant if any of the women had accepted the 5000 euros.
“No,” I said in a neutral voice, “but one of them said some things you probably need to hear.”
I could practically hear him frowning over the phone.“What kind of things?”
I gave him a quick rundown of everything Luna had told me.
When I was finished, Adriano sighed angrily.“Great.”
“And there was something else.”
“What?”
“I ran into a couple of drug dealers from le Piagge.”
He sounded pissed.“What?! I told you to go to Isolotto!”
“I did.”
There was a brief pause as Adriano did the mental calculations.
Isolotto was a good eight miles from le Piagge.
“…what the FUCK?!”
“I know.”
“What’d you do?”
“Broke one guy’s nose and sent the other one packing.”
“Jesus… okay, tell me EXACTLY what happened.”
After I was through, Adriano muttered,“Fuck. Alright, not another word of it tonight. I don’t want to bother Bianca with this bullshit.”
