Page 17 of The Arianna Arrangement

Marco cleared his throat. “Where do we think he’s going?”

“If he really is betraying the family, there’s a chance he’s heading for the Brooklyn bridge to head into Accardi territory. Or he could be going to the docks.”

Marco chimed in. “There’s also the possibility that he’s going to take the Williamsburg bridge to Queens to meet with the Ricci family.”

There was a short pause before Elio spoke. “What are our orders if he leaves our territory?”

Sandro’s jaw ticked. “Technically, with the accords, we can go into Accardi territory, we just can’t operate there. And since our orders are not to act, just gather intel, we’re not technically breaking the accords because the intel is on our own guy. However, if he’s working with the Accardi family, our investigation would show that and mean that they were part of our intel, which could possibly be a breach of the treaty.”

Marco grunted. “If he’s working with another family, that family has already broken the accords.”

“That’s true.” The line was silent for a moment as we all thought about the options. “What’s the call, boss?”

I could see the indecision on Sandro’s face, but his voice came out firm and without any doubt. “Elio, split off. Get on the FDR. If he turns, we’ll have a better idea of where you can head him off.”

“Copy that.”

Elio turned off and silence descended on the car again.

Finally, when I wondered if I could take it any longer, Leo’s car turned. “He just turned on East Sixth Street. Marco, go up to Fourth and turn, we’ll stay on his tail.”

“Wasn’t there a diner he liked up by the Manhattan Bridge?”

Sandro’s eyebrows rose at that. “Shit. I forgot about that place.” I watched as Leo’s car turned again. “He just turned south on Avenue A. If he was going to that diner, this route would make sense.”

“I’m approaching the exit for the Manhattan Bridge. Got stuck in a little traffic. Want me to take it?”

Sandro shook his head. “Nah. Go on down to the Brooklyn Bridge, just in case we’re wrong. Marco, ready to swap?”

Marco’s car pulled up right beside us. “Sure am.”

We turned and headed away from them, giving us a small break. “I’m taking a big risk here, but I’m going to the diner in the hopes that’s where he’s going. Marco, stay with him. Do not lose him.”

In just a few minutes, we pulled into the parking lot of an old diner and parked behind the dumpster so we were out of sight. It looked run down, but if it was anything like Maggie’s, I hoped we could get food before leaving.

“Boss, he’s about to pull in.”

Sandro’s shoulders relaxed. “Okay. Park across the street at the grocery store. Elio, get off the freeway and park about a block down Market Street.”

“On it.”

I pulled out the camera and got a few shots of Leonardo walking into the diner while Alessandro hooked up the parabolic listening device. It probably wouldn’t have worked well if the diner was busy, but there were only a couple of cars and thankfully, it appeared Leo was going to sit by a window close to the door.

“He’s not the smartest, is he?” Marco’s voice through the speaker almost made me jump. I’d forgotten that they were still on the line.

Sandro rolled his eyes. “He probably thinks he has nothing to worry about. He’s still in our territory, somewhere he’s known to frequent, so the only thing making him look suspicious is the trackers going dark. But as far as he knows, we don’t know about that.”

Just a few moments later, a tall guy with blonde hair walked in and had a seat at the booth with Leo.

“Isn’t that Pinkston?”

Sandro’s jaw ticked. “Yep. Carter Pinkston.” His attention turned towards me. “He’s our liaison in the sex trade and the one helping us get the brothel up and running. There is absolutely no good reason Leo is meeting with him.” He hooked the listening device to his phone to record the conversation while I snapped some more photos. “Now everyone shut up so we can hear what’s going on.”

Chapter 7

Arianna

There was a knock at my door, but it opened before I could even acknowledge the person on the other side. Of course, it was Tucker. He rarely waited for an invitation, not that he needed one. “Let’s go out. I’ve got the rest of the day off.”