Shadow Warrior

by Feehan, Christine

  Eloisa’s life had been harsh. There had been no love in her marriage, no one to care for her and now she wouldn’t accept care, not even from her children. If anything, she did everything she could to drive them further away. None of them understood, but the two people most compassionate with her, Emmanuelle and Francesca, were the worst treated. He might feel compassion, but not in the way Grace would. He would never allow Grace to put herself in the position Francesca had, where Eloisa tore her to pieces. He was far too protective already over his woman. He could feel sorry for Eloisa and even understand, but Grace wasn’t going near her.

  “Do the police have any idea who killed the kid?” Ricco asked.

  “No, and neither do we at this point. Uncle Alfeo and Aunt Rachele are investigating Bruno’s murder.” Alfeo and Rachele Greco were actually their mother’s first cousins so therefore their first cousins once removed, but the family never split hairs over how they were related. They referred to the older couple as their aunt and uncle. “We will find out.”

  “You know the Saldis are behind it, don’t you?” Eloisa demanded, glaring at Emmanuelle as if her daughter was somehow responsible.

  “No, Eloisa, I don’t.” It was Stefano who answered. “It looks bad, but until all evidence is in and I have a chance to weigh it, I am not taking our family to war, and neither will you.”

  “Theresa will come to us, and she has every right. Her grandson was under our protection.” Eloisa made a choking sound that had all of them sitting up straighter. She coughed to cover up the shocking sound of emotion.

  Emmanuelle stirred as if she might get up to go to her mother, but Vittorio put a restraining hand on her shoulder, preventing her from rising.

  “He was under our protection, yes,” Stefano agreed. “We had multiple talks with him about selling drugs in our territory. We actually, at Theresa’s request, handed out a few lessons. He tried to lure Nicoletta into the same business, but that didn’t work out in his favor. Bruno, of his own free will, chose to go into business with someone else and he was killed so he wouldn’t talk to us, or because he double-crossed them. He was quite capable of something like that. He had few scruples.”

  “That doesn’t mean he wasn’t ours,” Eloisa insisted.

  Stefano nodded. “That’s why we’re investigating, Eloisa.”

  “She’ll need care. For all his sins, Bruno did see to her care,” Emmanuelle said.

  “The Laconis own the kitchen shop. Their daughter Angelina is a nurse and I’ve asked her to oversee Theresa for now. Our family will pay for her private care. I’ve asked Angelina to find a second nurse willing to help her with round-the-clock care. Also, the Laconis have a son, Pace, in high school. He’ll help Anita Laconi keep the Fior A Bizzeffe open for now. Theresa needs the income and the Laconis can use the extra income. We’ll see about selling the shop for Theresa and adding whatever amount she needs to her account.”

  “We’ll take turns visiting her,” Vittorio said. “Make all the funeral arrangements for him. I can talk to her if you’d like, Stefano.”

  “I’ll do it,” Eloisa said. “She’s been my friend for more than forty years. She was one of the first people my mother ever took me to visit.” Her voice broke and she shook her head.

  “Unfortunately, Bruno was not the only victim,” Stefano continued, covering up for his mother’s unexpected show of emotion. “This was undoubtedly a purge of employees. There is no way it is a coincidence that Bruno and three others disappeared and then their bodies were found a day later.”

  “Who?” Ricco asked.

  Eloisa turned fierce eyes on him. “Where’s Mariko? She’s a rider and should be here. She may be a woman, but she is every bit as good and deserves her place here. I think she’s earned the right to be a Ferraro.”

  Ricco leaned toward his mother. “I agree one hundred percent, Eloisa. Thank you for acknowledging that my wife is a true member of our family. All of us believe the same way. She’s guarding Francesca.”

  “Of course. In the middle of a war, where is your wife, Stefano? I would think she would be here, instead of lounging at home . . .”

  “Enough.” Stefano rose to his feet, his face a mask of fury. “She’s at home exactly where she needs to be, fighting for the life of our child. You will not say one more word, not one, against the woman I love and respect with everything in me. She’s made my life worth living. I’m sorry yours wasn’t and your children didn’t make up for your loneliness, but you let yourself become a bitter, nasty woman striking out at anyone who shows you the least bit of compassion. For once in your life you listen to what I say. If I hear you utter one more word against my wife, I will banish you from this family. You will leave our territory and you won’t be spoken of again. If you think I won’t do it, you try me.”

  Emmanuelle went white, shaking her head, eyes over-bright, and again Vittorio had to keep her from jumping to her feet.

  The room went completely silent for several seconds. Vittorio kept his eyes on his oldest brother. Stefano had lost more than one child and now, with Francesca struggling to keep the one she carried, he wasn’t to be trifled with. The family was one rider down and all of them were exhausted, never a good thing for riders and he knew it. He was sending his brothers and sisters into the shadows to carry out harsh justice when they were already tired. Now they faced a war with a major crime family, one they’d had a truce with, even at times an uneasy alliance. Stefano was responsible for all of them and the pressure on him was tremendous.

  “I’m very sorry, Stefano. I had no idea Francesca was pregnant or that she was having trouble carrying. At times my idea of tough love is ludicrous. I can’t even call this that. I struck out because I’m so upset on Theresa’s behalf, and I don’t deal with my emotions well. There will be nothing more said about Francesca.”

  Vittorio noticed she didn’t promise not to speak about any of the other women, but his mother’s apology was so shocking he didn’t point it out. Again, there was a stunned silence.

  Stefano slowly lowered himself into a chair. “I accept your apology, Eloisa, and will pass it on to Francesca. In the meantime, we need to get back to work. There are three more bodies, all discovered around the same time in various locations. Each of them was stuffed in a dumpster behind one of our buildings. Bruno was the first to be found, behind Petrov’s Pizzeria. Benito discovered the body and called me as well as alerted the police. Bruno’s body was desecrated.”

  “You mean he’d been tortured,” Eloisa clarified.

  “That too. They were making a point. That was why he was found a day after he disappeared. They took their time with him.” Stefano’s voice was grim. “They removed body parts and shoved them in other places. It would have been a horrific sight for Theresa or one of the waitresses at the pizzeria to see.”

  “Who else?” Ricco asked.

  “Timothy Vane. We hired him a few years ago. He was promoted to assistant manager under Martin Shanks. Vane’s body was found in a dumpster wrapped in a carpet. He had been tortured and cut to pieces as well. He was the one giving his okay to allow the Saldi enforcers into our club without alerting us. He claimed to any waitress, bartender or security man who asked that we had given our approval. He put something in Martin Shanks’s drink to make him sick, so he’d go home that night. It wasn’t the first time.”

  “How long has he worked for the Saldis without our knowledge? Do we have any kind of timeline yet?” Vittorio asked.

  “He’s still under our investigation. He was a bit careless spending his extra money, so we should have that information fairly quickly. It’s ours, not to share with the police. Our official answer is we have no idea what is going on or if, because the three we knew of worked at the club, it might be related to Grace’s kidnapping.”

  “The cops know we had a meeting with the Saldis at the hotel,” Taviano pointed out.

  Stefano shrugged. “Old friends getting together. Nothing more. The second man working at the club the Saldi
family employed was a security guard named Ezra Banks. He’s the one who wiped our security cameras. Vittorio’s presence scared the hell out of him and lucky for us, he knew nothing about the remote backup.”

  “Background with us?” Ricco asked.

  “He worked for us for three years. Was introduced to us by Vane.”

  “How long has he worked for the Saldis?” Taviano asked.

  “My guess?” Stefano said. “The entire time. Rigina found him from the times the cameras had been sabotaged. She went back two years on his shifts. The cameras were messed with on his shift about six times last year and four more this year. We’ll take a leap that each of those times, he allowed someone known from the Saldi family into our club. He was found in the dumpster directly behind Masci’s. Fortunately, Pietro found him and called me before calling the police. Ezra had been done the same way, tortured and then cut in pieces, his body parts placed in wrong places.”

  Emmanuelle made a small sound in her throat and Vittorio moved to the arm of her chair, making it casual, dropping his arm around her shoulders, staring at his mother, daring her to say something derogatory, but she didn’t even look up.

  “The carpet, by the way, was taken from Luciu, Lola and Merci’s interior design store, Puglia’s House of Design. Their store was broken in to and four carpets were stolen. Bruno’s carpet was from his apartment. Vane and Banks each accounted for one of the carpets from Puglia’s.”

  “Was the third body they found someone from the club?” Vittorio asked.

  Stefano sighed. “Vittorio, you were the one who said at least three employees had to be involved for them to pull it off and it appears that you were correct. Vane, Banks and, unfortunately, Clay Pierson. I don’t know why that one feels like such a betrayal.”

  “Because it was,” Vittorio supplied. He pitched his voice low and kept it soothing.

  Stefano shrugged. “He was offered a lot of money. According to Rigina, each time Banks sabotaged the footage, Vane and Pierson were both working. The investigation is still ongoing, and they’re scrutinizing every employee now, but they’ve uncovered evidence that each of them at one time met with Harold Jenson, Miceli’s consigliere. When questioned, Jenson claimed it was no more than a casual meeting, but nothing Jenson does is casual.”

  “Where was Pierson found?” Giovanni asked.

  “Berardo found him in the dumpster behind Giordano’s butcher shop. I was grateful he went to the garbage first thing and not Claretta. These bodies were in very bad shape.”

  “But they took a fourth carpet,” Vittorio said. “Another employee we don’t know of, or a warning to us?”

  “I think the dead bodies put in dumpsters behind the buildings we own might be a warning,” Taviano said. “I’m so fucking glad I sent Lucia, Amo and Nicoletta to Italy. Did you have the dumpster behind Lucia’s Treasures searched?”

  “Lucia and Amo are in Italy?” There was obvious relief in Eloisa’s voice.

  Emmanuelle put her mouth close to Vittorio’s ear. “Sometimes I think she cares more for the people in our territory than her own children.”

  Vittorio kissed the top of her head, aching for her. Her heart had to be completely broken. Somewhere deep inside, she had to be holding out hope that the Saldis were not preparing for an all-out war with the Ferraros. “Sometimes it does feel that way, honey. Always know, you’re very loved.”

  “I do know,” Emmanuelle said.

  “We’re still searching other dumpsters as well as for any missing employees in any of our establishments or the shops in our territory,” Stefano continued.

  “Would they have two dealers in that small of an area?” Vittorio asked. “One in the club for sure, and then Bruno already.”

  “What other purpose then?” Ricco asked.

  “Not gun running,” Giovanni said. “If they were selling guns, who would they be selling to other than our family?”

  “They went after Grace,” Eloisa said. “Human trafficking? Right under our noses? Would they dare?”

  Vittorio thought it over in the ensuing silence. “They were using the club for their dirty work and that had to be deliberate. Maybe trafficking.”

  “Have any of our girls or boys disappeared?” Eloisa asked. “If so, who is looking into it?”

  “I was,” Emmanuelle said. “Two of the girls from the local high school. They were friends with Nicoletta and hung out at the flower shop with her.”

  Vittorio happened to be looking at Taviano. His features hardened perceptibly. He went from looking young to appearing a dangerous, lethal and very pissed-off man.

  “Two friends of Nicoletta’s have gone missing and you didn’t tell me?” Taviano snapped. “What the fuck, Emme?”

  “Sisters. Twins. Eva and Marta Giboli,” Emmanuelle conceded. “Their mother, Rita, asked me to look quietly into their disappearance. She thought they’d run away from home. Their father lives in Tuscany and they’ve never met him but whenever she insisted they do chores around the house, they threatened to go live with him. She was afraid they might have.”

  “And you didn’t think it was worth telling me?” Taviano repeated, glaring at her. “Nicoletta is a hellion. If her friends were running away, wasn’t it possible she might have been considering following their example?”

  Emmanuelle sighed. “Seriously, Taviano, I just got the call from her yesterday and started the investigation. I couldn’t talk to Nicoletta because she’s in Italy. Rita didn’t see fit to call me until yesterday evening. She feared her friends would think she was a bad mother if they knew the girls had run away to be with their father.”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Eloisa snapped. “I’ve always wanted to slap that woman. She doesn’t have a brain in her head. How long have the girls been gone?”

  “Almost two weeks.”

  “Did she talk to their father?”

  Emmanuelle shook her head. “She refuses to talk to him, but she’s certain the girls are with him. She wants me to get in touch with him. I tried, but no one answered his phone.”

  Stefano scowled darkly. “That’s insane. She waits almost two weeks before she contacts anyone and won’t ask her ex-husband if the girls are with him? What the hell is wrong with her?”

  “I have no idea,” Emmanuelle said.

  “Put the Grecos on it immediately. I want an answer in the next hour. If they aren’t with their father, and they’ve been taken, the odds of getting them back are slim to none after two weeks.”

  Ricco swore under his breath. “Maybe she needs parenting classes, or better yet, if the girls are safe with their father, just leave them there.”

  “I think we’re all in agreement there,” Eloisa said.

  Vittorio didn’t point out how ironic it was that Eloisa was furious with Rita, although he had to admit, his mother might not have been nurturing, but she saw to their training and would have gone looking in a heartbeat had they disappeared.

  “I’ve texted the Grecos with all the information,” Giovanni said. “They’re on it.”

  Vittorio settled back in his own chair, ignoring the way Eloisa rolled her eyes. His mother thought they all spoiled Emmanuelle. He didn’t think Emmanuelle had ever been spoiled in her life, although the brothers loved her and tried to protect her when they could. Certainly, she would need help avoiding Val Saldi. He hadn’t given the impression he was going to give up.

  “We need to either find another body wrapped up in the missing carpet or figure out who they plan to hit next.”

  “They could just be fucking with us, stealing another carpet,” Taviano pointed out.

  “Or they were going to use it for Bruno’s body, but it was more convenient to take the carpet out of his apartment,” Emmanuelle said.

  Stefano looked around the room. “Did Merry set up the coffeepot?”

  “Behind you,” Vittorio said, indicating the coffee station.

  “I’ll get it,” Emmanuelle offered and jumped up.

  “Thanks, honey
,” Stefano said. “I’ve got every dumpster in our territory being searched. Any suspects for another Saldi contact in our territory?” He swiveled around to regard his sister. “You have the most contact with everyone, Emmanuelle.”

  “Francesca had taken over the visiting as well as sitting on all the committees to represent our families. Have you asked her?” Emmanuelle placed a cup of coffee in front of Stefano and then her mother before going back to the station for more.

  “Not yet. She’s been down the last few weeks, and I know you and Sasha have been visiting so Sasha could take over those duties for Francesca.”

  “Honestly”—Emmanuelle put the mugs in front of Ricco and Giovanni—“I was so busy trying to remember every detail of every family for Sasha that I wasn’t paying as close attention as I should have been.”

  Eloisa heaved an over-exaggerated and very loud sigh.

  Emmanuelle clenched her teeth as she handed Vittorio his coffee and set another cup in front of Taviano. Vittorio winked at her. She managed a faint grin as she turned away to get her own coffee.

  “I’ll ask Francesca,” Stefano said. “But you take some time to think back to each visit. More than likely, because you know them so well, you’ll notice a detail that will nag at you about someone. I don’t care how ridiculous it sounds, you tell me.”

  “I will,” she said immediately.

  “We’re going to have to consider that Miceli Saldi is staging a takeover from his brother. Giuseppi has been very wrapped up with his wife’s illness these last few months and has left himself open for a takeover.”

  “Or it’s possible it’s his own son and he’s throwing the blame on Miceli,” Eloisa pointed out with a glare at Emmanuelle. “That’s the problem with having power and responsibility and falling in love. It’s selfish.”

  “There is always that possibility as well,” Vittorio said before Stefano could reprimand Eloisa. “We have to consider any possibility, no matter how remote.”

  “I agree,” Stefano said. “Or a third party may be setting up both brothers.” Stefano turned his attention to Vittorio. “Where are you in your relationship with Grace? Where is she on her recovery?”