“Okay. It’s alright. I’ll have my brothers look into this. We might be able to get some footage from some of the security cameras around here.”
“This is bad, right?” I asked. “They’re bad news?”
“Yeah, baby, they’re bad news.”
I was almost certain that the flip-flop this time was entirely about the pet name and not about the words he said.
Which, you know, was messed up. Especially given the situation.
“Whoarethey?”
“Cody didn’t tell you?”
“I mean he told me they were a big deal, but that was all he would tell me. He kept me in the dark about most of his business. Who are they?”
“The Calgary Family is… how to explain it? They’re like the Scottish version of the mafia. The Scottish mafia is barely a thing, but this one family has really made a name for themselves. They’re violent as fuck. And they are untouchable. All we can do is keep them from getting bigger,” he said.
“That’s why… Cody…”
“Yeah, babe, that’s why… Cody. The only way we can keep the Calgary Family from possibly taking all of us out, is to prevent them from making any deals with anyone else. It’s a never-ending job. And we don’t always win.”
“Why do they want this organization so much, though?” I pressed, head spinning.
“Colin has made this crew much bigger than it used to be. There’s a lot of money here. There’s a lot of power that comes with that kind of money.”
“So, what do they want from me? Just the money they know Cody had?”
“They’re greedy fuckers, so I’m sure the money is a part of it. But they want the deal. They want in on this action.”
“But I can’t give them that. I don’t run this. I never ran this. I never even had a hand in running this. Why would they think I have?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they don’t. Maybe they just think you have had convenient access to both prominent leaders of this crew.”
“So, they want me to be a go-between?” I asked.
“Possibly.”
“But I can’t be that.”
“No, you absolutely can’t be that.”
“But if I don’t…” I said, waving at the letter. “Or is it just to scare me?”
“Honestly, babe, I don’t think anyone knows them well enough to know if they will carry out on a threat like this or not. If they involve innocent women or not. But it doesn’t matter.”
“In what way does this not matter?”
“Because we are going to put an end to this.”
“But… can you do that? Now that you know there is, like, another player in town? They could have been watching you since you showed up here. We’ve only been careful to look for Colin’s guys. What if Colin’s guys aren’t the only ones taking notes?”
“Fuck,” Massimo grumbled, looking like he was barely resisting the urge to crumble the paper cup in his hand.
“If you need a couple more days, we can wait. I’ve waited this long,” I added, shrugging, even though with each passing day, it felt less and less likely that I was going to get free.
“Hey,” Massimo said. “Hey,” he tried again, voice firmer. “Look at me. Cammie, look at me,” he tried again, his fingers snagging my chin, and forcing my face upward. “Don’t lose hope.”
“Hope,” I repeated, exhaling hard. “What the hell is hope?” I asked. “A fairy tale, I guess. A silly story we keep telling ourselves.”