“Mode’s discovered something,” Smoke says, ending the call and joining us. We’re all gathered on the sidewalk waiting for directions. “He says they broke into groups of three and headed in different directions. Maestro is helping to track them. We can split up into three groups and follow them.”
“Let’s do it,” Chrome says.
He assigns the groups, leaving a few to stand guard. Smoke, Arson, Piston, and I take off south. Maestro provides directions to Smoke until we roll up in front of a familiar restaurant. Vita Gustosa. Vita Gustosa is a popular Italian restaurant with multiple locations throughout Chicago. The mob owns it. Theyoungest son of the Don, Marco, manages all of the locations, but he’s most often at the location nearest the hospital where Chrome’s Old Lady, Cicely, works as an ICU nurse.
“They split up to go to a restaurant?” Smoke asks as we park across the street. We can see the two motorcycles parked out front.
“A restaurant owned by the mob,” Arson tells him.
“The mob? As in the Godfather?” Smoke asks in surprise.
I nod. “The mob. We need to see what they’re doing in there.”
“I’ll go,” Smoke says, stripping off his kutte. “They haven’t seen me before. No way they’ll recognize me. I’ll go in and pretend like I’m checking the place out for a date. I’ll try to get photos.”
“Good idea,” I say.
We watch Smoke jog across the street and enter the restaurant. He comes back out less than ten minutes later. When he crosses the street, he has his phone out and hands it to me. “They’re sitting with three men wearing suits. They look like the mob, but that could be my imagination. Do you recognize them?”
I study the image and frown. “Yeah, the older guy is Anthony Beraldi III. He’s the Don; we call him the Third. The two with him are his sons, Anthony Beraldi IV and Marcus. Marcus owns the restaurant.”
“What would the Bushrangers want with the mob?” Smoke asks.
“They could be shopping for guns—the Beraldis deal in firearms. Maybe the Bushrangers are looking to arm themselves,” Piston suggests.
“Yeah, that’s possible,” I say. “They could also be shopping around for backup. I know Vandal and Menace. They may be looking to build up their forces by joining up with other groupswho might want to see the end of the Demon Dawgs in their territory.”
“Would they be interested? I mean, do you have a beef with the mob?” Smoke asks with concern.
I shake my head. “No, we’re on pretty good terms with them, especially since Chrome hooked up with Cicely. Cicely’s best friend is Lily Beraldi. She’s the Don’s only daughter. We should tell Chrome what’s going on. Maybe he can talk to Anthony about what’s going on between them and the Bushrangers. Let’s head back to the event venue, and I’ll call Chrome from there. I don’t want the Bushrangers to come out and see us.”
As soon as we arrive at the venue, I want to go upstairs and check on Zara, but I pull out my phone instead. I need to update Chrome first.
Chrome answers after several rings.
“What have you got?”
“We followed them to Vita Gustosa. Smoke went inside and saw them meeting with Third and Fourth.”
Chrome’s silent for several seconds before he cusses. “Why the fuck are they meeting with the mob?”
“Don’t know. Smoke couldn’t get close enough to hear them speaking. Do you think Cicely can find out what they want? We figure they’re either shopping for guns or looking for allies.”
“I’ll call Third,” Chrome says.
“What about Vandal? Did you locate him?”
“Yeah. He met with what remains of the Asian gang that had been working with Fenhua. They didn’t meet for long. The Asians took off, leaving Vandal fuming.” Chrome chuckles. “Whatever they said, he wasn’t happy.”
“They’re looking for allies,” I state, convinced that Vandal wants to build an army to take us on.
“Still could be guns. The mob isn’t the only group that deals in firearms,” Chromse says, then pauses. “Hold on, Third iscalling me. He puts me on hold so I can bring the others up to speed. When Chrome comes back on the line, I’m ready.
“Third is coming over at ten tonight. He said he needs to talk to us. I told him about the Bushrangers and that we think they’re here for Zara. Third said we have more problems than we know.”
CHAPTER 24: ZARA
“What’s wrong?” I ask Chill after she ends the call. She looks concerned but not scared, so that eases some of my fear.
