“Hypothetically speaking,” Dean started. “I assume your father already has all his men looking for her. What will happen once he gets ahold of her?”
“Fuck.” Dom’s eyes squeezed shut as he sank into his usual seat. “I can’t think about that.”
“What about Adriano? Does he know about this?” Gio asked.
Dom’s eyes opened and formed slits. “As soon as my father realized what was missing, he called Adriano and told him she’d run away.”
“Fuck,” Loren breathed out, speaking for the first time.
I couldn’t breathe, let alone speak, so I stayed quiet.
“His men will go after her,” Dean said. “Adriano won’t let her make a fool of him.”
Dom’s phone buzzed. From the way his eyes widened, it could only be his father or his sister. He answered without indulging us. He listened. Nodded without saying anything. Listened.
“Okay,” was all he said as he hung up.
We waited.
He took a deep breath and let it out. “The USB drive has a tracker.”
“And?” I asked calmly.
“She’s in Florida.” He looked me square in the eyes. His were filled with a concern I hadn’t seen in a long time. “We need to get to her before they do.”
16
LENORA
I droppedmy bag by the door, locked it, and let out a breath as I turned around and looked at the apartment. It was part of a hotel, a “room” she bought from the owner. All of their “rooms” were fully furnished apartments. Mom’s faced the beach. Deep down, I understood why my mother couldn’t share this with me, but it still hurt. How long had she had it? Who had she shared it with? I looked around, searching for answers to those questions. She had pictures of us in the bedroom: my fourth birthday, me with Aanya on the beach, and one with my parents at their vineyard as we toasted my graduation. I set that last one down and sat at the edge of the bed, thinking about how long it had been since I had seen them.
Some sort of code to my father’s ledger made it impossible to understand. I thought it was the initials of people who owed him money and the amounts, but I couldn’t be sure. I hadn’t even tried to look at what was in the USB drive. I was going to on the flight over, but I was terrified of what I’d find. My father was not a good man. I knew that better than anyone, but that didn’t mean I wanted proof. I’d taken this as a bargaining chip, not a way to throw its contents in his face. I stared at my bag for a long moment, weighing out whether or not I should look at what was on it.
I wondered why my father hadn't stored the ledger and USB drive in his safe, and I had two ideas: either he was so arrogant that he thought no one could ever steal from him, or he didn't trust anyone with this. All of us kids had the codes to the safes; Dad kept some money and business contracts there, things that wouldn't hurt him if someone broke into the home. Home invaders would have found the ledger easily, but they wouldn't have been able to interpret it. The USB drive he had placed so deep in the bottom of the desk that it would take too long to uncover it. I knew Dad wasn't stupid. He’d know it was me soon enough. I was counting on that, though. After my mini-deliberation, I took a deep breath, grabbed my laptop and the USB drive, and opened the files.
17
ROCCO
I’d been sittingacross from Emile for twenty minutes, but it felt like three days. My mind wouldn’t quit racing, but I let him do his job without interrupting. Emile was one of the best hackers we knew and had worked with me for a private company that the CIA didn’t want anyone to know about. I trusted him implicitly and knew he would do this job well. I just wished he did it faster. Dean was sitting next to me, waiting to hear from his contact. Giuseppe had the manpower to hunt down anyone, but he wasn’t in his territory. Lenora would have already been found if he’d been back in Italy. We had the upper hand here. As we waited, I thought about Lenora and tried not to get upset again, but it was impossible. I was fucking furious that she’d just left like that without telling us. We would have helped her.Iwould have helped her. Fuck. I could have whisked her away and ensured that Russo made it so no one would ever retrace us. That made me pause. What the fuck was I thinking? I had businesses to run. I couldn’t just disappear. I wanted to keep her safe but didn’t want to disappear. I wouldn’t do that for her, or anyone.
“I downloaded the camera feeds from the street and lobby.” Emile looked at us over his laptop. “I’m sending you the files and deleting the feed.”
I breathed a little easier.
“I’m having Carlos check the cameras from Pensacola to Marco Island,” Dean said.
Emile let out a whistle. “That’s a lot of territory. It’ll take a while.”
He wasn’t wrong, but it was the only thing we knew for certain. Giuseppe had told Dominic that she was off the Gulf Coast of Florida. Dom was still trying to get ahold of Lenora’s mother, but I’d grown impatient. I found out what hospital her mother was at and would visit her tonight. Dom couldn’t leave without his father figuring out something was wrong, but I could. I just hoped her mother wouldn’t throw her under the bus.
* * *
The nursesat Baptist Hospital were nice enough and led me to the waiting room of the wing that Lenora’s grandmother was in. I’d told them I’d stay there until her mother came out. I told them it was urgent. I lowered the ballcap on my head when I spotted who I assumed was one of Giuseppe’s men guarding the area. He blended in just enough with his jeans and a gray t-shirt. You would think he was just waiting for someone, but the way he walked said otherwise. He had a knife strapped to his leg. I couldn’t see it, but I could tell. I wouldn’t be surprised if he brought his gun in here, even though guns in hospitals were illegal and a bad idea for countless reasons. I didn’t bring mine, but I didn’t need one. I was the weapon. I kept my head down either way, because if they saw me talking to Mrs. De Luca, this plan could blow up in my face. I called Emile, who answered right away.
“I need the cameras on the second floor of the oncology building shut down,” I said quietly. “All of them.”
“On it.” He hung up.
