The Mafia Manipulation: A Ryker Group Book

by S. M. Dapelo

  “Who’s talking to your father?” His face mottled, “No, you’re lying. I made a deal with someone.”

  “I’m guessing that was before the director showed up and sent Agents Larson and Gibbons back to DC.” Sam smirked. “Oh, it was one of them. Gibbons?” She stared at his face. “No. Larson.” She smirked. “Yeah, it was Larson. That bitch. You tell us what you know, and we might get the charges lowered.”

  “They’re not gone, you’re lying,” he growled.

  “They’re gone. But I’m still wondering what you think I’ll find?” My eyes widened when a realization hit me, “You bastard, you killed my brother.”

  He reared back, “I did not. I would have, had I known where he was hiding all the information about the Amato empire.”

  “Liar,” Cindy spit out on the other side of the room. “You’re planning on killing us, why not him?”

  “Shut up,” he turned toward her and as he did, I grabbed the heavy bag of candy and threw it with all my might at him. It hit him on the side of the head, and he dropped, the gun skittering across the floor. Cindy ran for it, and Sam jumped forward and kicked him in the face at the same time the door crashed open. Luc and Marc rushed in, looking around. Marc went to Cindy and took the gun from her, Luc walked over to Basden and punched him across the face, knocking him unconscious if he wasn’t already. Ethan walked calmly in behind them. He looked at Sam and raised a single brow.

  “I’ll see you later,” she whispered to me as she crossed in front of him and out the door.

  “Ryker, take officer Basden to the warehouse. I believe the Director would like a word with him. We’ll let him decide how to deal with the trash,” Marc emptied the bullets and walked to the computer. “Did you figure the password out?”

  Before I could answer him, Luc spun me around to face him. His face red, eyes bulging. “You could have been killed. What were you thinking? I told you to wait.”

  “How was I supposed to know someone was targeting me?” I asked in defense.

  “Weren’t you sent into hiding by Dom?” asked Cindy.

  “And someone shot up your gallery,” added Marc.

  “And you’re the daughter of Cosmo Amato!” yelled Luc. “You’ve been a target since you were born.”

  I set my jaw, “Yeah, well besides all that. How was I supposed to know?” I shrugged. My husband’s face went an even darker shade of red.

  “Luc, she’s alive. Get it together,” Ethan walked over to the desk and looked at the weird program that was asking for a password.

  “I could have lost you,” Luc roared. Then he stopped and took a breath, “I could have lost you. I don’t want to lose you. You have to stay in my life.” He blinked as he considered his words.

  “Well, that’s sweet,” Ethan murmured. “About time you figured it out.”

  “Try shadow valley, all one word,” Luc said, his eyes never leaving mine. Suddenly he leaned down and, grabbing my head with both of his hands, he kissed me. I’m not sure how long it lasted, but we heard a throat clear. Luc broke the kiss, looking more stunned than I felt.

  “I’m in,” was all I heard Ethan say.

  Luc stared at me a moment, then pulled something out of his pocket, “Let me look at it.” The screen lit up with the messed-up program. Then he hit a few more and the odd digits suddenly transformed into words, invoices, and pictures.

  “What is this?” I asked softly. A majority of the photos were me.

  Luc hit a button, and the screen disappeared. He looked at Marc, “Call Cos. Tell him Bishop was telling the truth. Tell him…” he swallowed and looked at me. “Make the call Marc,” he said quietly, then looked at Ethan who nodded and walked out the door.

  “On it,” Marc grabbed his phone and started talking.

  Luc grabbed my purse and took keys from it, throwing them to Cindy. “Take the Ferrari back to your place. I’ll have someone pick it up later.”

  “Is everything okay?” she asked timidly.

  Luc nodded, “It will be. Just get home, we need to check up on a few things.” She nodded and headed out the door.

  Marc turned to us; his face white. “We need to get Alley back to Cos’ now. Something happened.”

  “Sir.” One of Marc’s lieutenants walked in, “Mr. Ryker took the other SUV. We’ve only got one vehicle now.”

  Luc cursed. I heard him mutter under his breath, “Dammit Ethan.” Then he announced, “Everyone load up now. It fits six.”

  I was hauled out and pushed in the middle of the back seat between Marc and Luc. They were babbling in Irish at a rushed pace. I was feeling like they did it on purpose. Whatever Marc said caused Luc to pull me into a hug.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Nothing good. We’ll discuss it after your dad talks to you.”

  “I thought we were going to dinner?”

  “Not now.”

  “What was on the computer Luc?” I demanded.

  “Not now, Alley. Trust me on this,” he hissed into my ear. I frowned but nodded.

  When we pulled up in front of the house, Luc darted out, pulling me after him. I was led back into Dad’s study. He was standing, looking out the window that looked onto the valley below. “Daddy?” I asked. He was worrying me.

  He turned and had tears in his eyes. “Alessandra. Your mother…” He bit his lip for a moment, “There is no straightforward way to tell you this. On the plane ride back, your mother stopped breathing. They did an emergency landing in Chicago, but it was too late.”

  I started blinking rapidly, “I don’t understand.”

  “She had a pulmonary embolism. She died. I’ll be flying out to Chicago to retrieve her and Elena.” Dad walked toward me, but I backed up into Luc’s solid body.

  “No. We solved Dom’s death. It was Basden. I’m supposed to spend time with her. To go treatments with her.”

  “Alley, she didn’t make it.” A single tear slid down my father’s face. My father who never showed emotion. Oh God, he wasn’t lying.

  I don’t remember much. I heard screaming, felt arms pull me into an embrace, but the room blurred. When everything came back into focus, I was in Luc’s lap as he sat on the floor rocking me and murmuring loving words into my hair. I couldn’t feel. I was numb. My dad and Marc were over in a corner by the bar, talking. The door to the study was shut.

  “Are you back with us?” Luc said into the top of my head.

  I could feel moisture all over my face, “Is she really gone?”

  “Yeah, button.” I felt him kiss my head. “She’s gone.”

  “Alley,” Dad walked forward, “I’m flying to Chicago to plan for Jennifer to be transported back and to pick up Elena. I want you to go everywhere with Luca. You are not to be left alone.” I just nodded in response, not really caring what I was agreeing to.

  “We need to go to the warehouse.” Marc had a deep frown. “Alley, I wish we could put it off, but I have to deal with Basden.”

  “What about his partner? He said he was face down in the river,” I leaned into Luc who held me tighter.

  “No body’s been found yet,” Marc answered.

  “The stronzo probably found out Royer was one of my men on the inside,” Dad growled. I started to get up, Dad held out his hand, and I allowed him to help me stand. He pulled me into a hug. “Alessandra, you are not alone. You still have all of us and we all love you.”

  I swallowed a lump and nodded, “Thank you, Babbo.”

  “Babbo?” he took his handkerchief and wiped my face. “You haven’t called me that in years.”

  I bit my lip, “I won’t do it again.”

  “No.” He kissed my forehead, “I’ve always liked it. Don’t stop.” He put his handkerchief away and looked over my head. “I’m trusting you with my daughter. You know what that means.”

  “I do, sir. We’ll get this last piece completed and see you soon,” Luc responded. My father hugged me once more, then walked out. Even through the haze of mourning, I felt th
at was weird. My father was not known for being demonstrative.

  Luc took my hand, “Alley, we need to go to the warehouse. There’s something I need to talk to you about on the way.” He led me to the door, when two of his men walked in. “I need the two of you to drive Marc and follow me. I’ll take the Ferrari with my wife.”

  Marc rubbed his forehead. “Doesn’t Cindy have it?”

  “Fuck,” Luc cursed, then sighed. “Okay, you two will need to drive us. Mr. Ryker’s there already.”

  “Yes sir,” the smaller of the two men answered.

  He wrapped his arm around my waist and led me toward the door, “We’ll talk about it at the warehouse.”

  “Why not in the car?” I leaned into him. I was having trouble moving, my feet were dragging and catching with each step.

  Luc sighed and lifted me into his arms, “I know you want to do nothing more than sleep right now. However, I need you to keep it together just a bit longer.”

  “I’m trying,” I sniffled. “Let’s deal with Basden, then I’ll take a nap. When I wake, I can plan Mom’s funeral.”

  Luc placed me in the SUV, putting me in the middle of Marc and him again. “You don’t have to plan anything,” Marc said.

  “I’m her daughter, of course I do. No one else should do it,” I laid my head on Luc’s shoulder.

  “No, Alley. What I mean is Jenn already planned everything out. She took care of it right before you came back,” Marc said. “She was worried about you.”

  My chin quivered and Luc pulled me closer. I tried to pull myself together, “What did you want to talk about?”

  “Not now,” he said softly. “It can wait.”

  “Let’s hope,” muttered Marc.

  “We have a couple of days,” Luc said back to him.

  We pulled up in front of a nondescript warehouse. It looked exactly like the twenty others that lined up and down next to it. Luc helped me out, and we entered what looked to be an office area. “Alleys stay here for a minute. We have to find Ethan and get caught up on what dufus said.” Marc looked unhappy.

  “Give me five minutes, then we’ll talk,” Luc cupped my cheek. “We have a couple of things to go over.”

  “Can you give me a hint,” I sighed. “I can’t do any more surprises.”

  “It’s big,” he winced.

  “And bad?” my voice notched up.

  “Alley.” Marc looked at me, “You’re starting a new life with this guy. It’s about that. He’s not leaving you.” He turned to his brother, “Are you?”

  “No,” Luc made a face. “I just want to go over a few things so there are no surprises. You’ve gone through enough.”

  I started to say something when a crash came from the next room. “What was that?”

  “It can’t be this quick?” Marc looked at Luc.

  “No. No way. It’d take days. We’ll need to check it out,” Luc looked at me, “Stay here. Don’t wander.” I swallowed as both the men I’d quickly come to see as family and the two men with them took out their guns and headed into the primary area.

  I sat there for a few minutes until the gunfire started. “Luc?” I got up and ran through the door, trying to stay down. Several men were on one side of the building, firing in. “Luc!” I screamed. He didn’t even turn to me before he was covered in blood and hitting the ground. Marc was already there. I ran toward him as an arm looped around my waist and a sweet smell assaulted me. Chloroform. I saw my husband twitch right before darkness claimed me.

  21

  I woke in a room I’d never been in before. I glanced around. It was plain in the way only opulence could be. Everything was sleek and richly decorated. The floors were bamboo, with a black and white rug, the walls had a textured fabric on one of them while the others were a soft flat gray. The bed itself was leather, with a padded headboard. Above the bed was a huge painting of a horse, all in shades of gray, the same shades as the bed linen. I still felt fuzzy when I started up, remembering the shootout. “It’s okay, Alley. Breathe.” I turned and my heart leapt. Luc sat in a chair by my bedside. “You were worrying us. The guys got a little overzealous on the injection they gave you to keep you out.”

  “I saw you killed,” I whispered. “Are we dead?”

  He closed his eyes for a moment as he winced, then they opened, and he looked at me. “No. We’re all fine. You weren’t supposed to see that. The show wasn’t for you, it was for everyone else.”

  “Show? I saw blood.”

  “You saw a set-up. We were hit with paint gun pellets and tranqs, so we fell correctly. It wasn’t supposed to happen last night. I’ve never had an operation take place this quickly before,” he wiped a hand over his face.

  “Never saw…? You’ve done this before?” I was getting confused.

  “I’m doing this wrong. Let me start from the beginning. Ethan usually does this, not me.” He leaned forward, keeping eye contact with me. “I’m part of an elite private-for-hire security team. We usually work with various government agencies.”

  I shook my head, not understanding what he was saying. I pushed myself into sitting, “Where’re my parents.”

  “Cos and Elena are downstairs. So is Marc,” he said. “They were all prepped for what was going to happen. It’s why I was trying to get you alone, so I could warn you.”

  “Warn me?”

  “Let me finish. We work with various government agencies, though a majority of our cases are with the CIA. At least we used to. Recently, the owner of the company came up with an idea. He owns a ridiculous amount of land, so he suggested to the FBI he would create a town where they can move some of their harder-to-hide cases. He collects a fee they would usually spend to hire handlers and houses, and we cover it.”

  I frowned. “That sounds almost like witness-protection.”

  “It’s exactly like witness-protection,” he nodded. “You and your family, that’s what you’re doing here. Welcome to Shadow Valley.”

  I moved off the bed on the side opposite of where he sat. “We would have to give information. No one’s done that.”

  “Dom did. He went into the program right around six months ago,” his face turned grim. “I didn’t know. It was through the FBI, the traditional route. When Bishop Holder came to speak to your father, he was candid about one of our men had gone into the program and given him lots of information on not only on the Amato family but the Romano family as well.”

  “Dom’s alive,” hope swelled in me. Luc nodded. I smiled, “Is Mom? Was this all some trick?”

  His eyes closed for a moment, “No. Jenn was real. She suffered a pulmonary embolism on the trip back from New York and passed away.”

  “Well, then we can’t go into this program yet.” Tears fill my eyes again, “I have to take care of her funeral. I’m not going anywhere before the funeral.”

  “Button, you’re already in the program. You don’t have a choice. It’s being reported on all news channels how Marc and I were ambushed and killed, yet the bodies can’t be found. It’s being reported after your dad picked up Elena. Their plane went down in Lake Michigan. They’re recovering the pieces of the aircraft right now. Enzo’s already grabbed the reins of both families.” He shook his head, “I’m mad this happened so quick, but what’s done is done. If you show up now, at a funeral, it’ll ruin everything. I’m sorry, but you can’t go.”

  “Luc…” I started.

  “Tanner,” he interrupted. “Luca Romano was killed in a friendly fire incident when he was in the service overseas. He died in Marc’s arms while my best friend struggled for his life.”

  I stumbled out of the bed, my hand covering my mouth, “Who are you?”

  “A cousin of Marc’s. I took his brother’s place on and off for the last five years. The parents kept the boys tucked away, so no one had an actual idea what they looked like. I was here to watch Marc’s back.” He stood up, his hands up, trying to calm me. “My real name’s Tanner. I told you, I help run the program. We’ve gotten ev
eryone new identities, new birth certificates, and social security numbers. All the papers you might need. We’ve even got the jobs in Shadow Valley planned out. Your dad’s going to be the sheriff.”

  “So, the FBI just swoops in and everybody agrees to what they say?” I was trying to make sense of this latest information, but all I could think was my entire life just imploded.

  “Not the FBI. Bishop couldn’t offer us anything,” he started.

  “Us? Don’t you mean you? You were never part of this, you always had an out,” I practically yelled.

  His lips went into a thin line, “As I was saying, Bishop didn’t come as an FBI agent, he came to warn us about a raid. Your dad and Marc would have been in jail a long time. He came to me, to let me know I needed to get everyone out. You weren’t put in as part of the FBI group, you were negotiated in as part of the team running the town.”

  “And if I don’t want it?” I was trembling.

  “It’s all-or-nothing button. If you don’t take the deal, like everyone else, your father and Marc go to jail. Everything Dom gave them insures it.”

  “Don’t call me button. You’re not who you said you were. You’re not even my husband, you married me under a false name,” I felt the tears in my eyes. I knew someone couldn’t have wanted me for just me. I had let myself believe a lie.

  “I’m the same person,” he argued. “I just have an unfamiliar name.”

  “You said Dom sold us out?” I ignored his argument, trying to focus on something else. “He loves his parents. Why would he do that?”

  “The program on the computer,” he gave me a look to make sure I understood what he was saying, “It was proof a hit was put on a family member.”

  “Who?”

  He shrugged. “The family member he’d do anything to protect. The member I’m doing everything for. You.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Your Uncle Enzo thought killing you would force your dad to retire.”

  “That’s a stupid theory,” I muttered.

  “Is it? Marc and I had to step in when it appeared his son, who was in the business, was killed. That’s the only thing that kept your father’s empire whole. If his daughter, his completely innocent, was murdered, how do you think he’d react? I’m guessing guilt would have eaten him up and destroyed him.” He sighed. “I have paperwork you need to sign.”