I sit up straighter. "What do you mean, gone?"
"Gone as in her apartment is empty and her phone is disconnected and the club owner says she quit three days ago without notice. I sent Carmelo to check. Place was cleaned out. Not tossed, not raided. Cleaned. Like she packed a bag and walked away."
"Or like someone packed it for her."
"That's the less fun option, yeah." He pauses. "There's more. Carmelo’s been running Salvatore's phone records. Not the compound phone. The personal one. He's been making calls to three numbers that aren't in the Bonaccorso system. Burners, probably. Untraceable. But the call pattern is consistent. Every Tuesday and Friday at 8 PM. Same time, same numbers. For at least six weeks."
Tuesday and Friday. Scheduled. Disciplined. The communication pattern of an asset reporting to a handler.
"Don't confront him," I say. "Don't change anything."
"I'm not an idiot, Claudio."
"I know. I'm saying it for me."
The shower shuts off. I hear Charlotte moving in the bathroom. The soft sounds of towel on skin. The click of the door handle.
"Where are you?" Emilio asks.
"You know I can't tell you that."
"Like hell. Someone put a tracker on your car. Someone knows your movements. And you're out there with no backup and a civilian who's never held a gun before."
"She held it just fine today."
"I don't care if she held it like Annie fucking Oakley. You need backup, Claudio. Real backup. Not a burner phone and a prayer."
"I need the identification set up. Leone's handling it. Two days."
"Two days is too long."
"It's what we have."
"It's what you're accepting. I'm offering something faster." He pauses. "I'm coming to you."
"Absolutely not."
"I'm already in the car."
"Emilio."
"I left two hours ago. Right after you called the first time, the one where you told me about the tracker and then hung up before I could respond, which is your signature move when you're scared and don't want me to hear it in your voice." I hear the road noise behind his words. Highway. Fast. "I'm roughly four hours out, depending on traffic and how many laws I break, which will be several."
"If you leave the compound, Salvatore will notice."
"Salvatore thinks I'm visiting a woman in Maryland. Which is true, technically. She just happens to be hiding in a motel with my brother."
"Emilio—"
"I'm not asking permission. I'm informing you. There's a difference. You taught me that." The road noise swells and fades,a truck passing. "Send me the location or I'll track your burner. Your choice."
I close my eyes. Pinch the bridge of my nose. The headache that's been building since the county road is settling in behind my right eye like a tenant who doesn't intend to leave.
"I'll text you," I say.
"Good. And brother?"
"What."
