“What is this?” I ask the polizia.
“We heard there is a disturbance,” he explains, as another person cries out. An ambulance arrives and the polizia decide to seal off the exits and call for reinforcements.
Word is circulating that the Don from Sicily is on the floor and medics are attempting to resuscitate him.
“Oh, shit,” I look at Dante. “This cannot be happening.”
“Fuck, I should have trusted my instincts.” He pulls Juliet to him protectively.
“We’re blocked in by the polizia, we’re sitting ducks.”
“Yeah.” I look around. “It’s too well rehearsed. We need to find Gabriella. Maybe she knows a way out. I don’t see her anywhere. Did she leave?”
“She has to be here somewhere,” Juliet says, her voice shaky as she looks around, but the crowd is beginning to panic and it’s bedlam.
“I agree, but if she’s not, that needs to be explained. She was just with the men at the bar.”
“Well, I guess our wedding is screwed now,” Dante says.
“What?” Juliet’s face falls with the realization that her special day is not going to happen today.
An hour goes by, not knowing anything, all of us sitting in an awkward silence as police question witnesses and the body of Luciano De Luca is rolled out in a body bag.
“Oh, shit.” I look to Dante, and he looks to me as Sal finally arrives to confirm what we had already guessed.
“So, they were cozy?” Dante asks incredulously.
“Yeah, like suspiciously cozy. It didn’t look right.”
“Unless they are working on an alliance to form a more powerful mafia. If Luciano De Luca was not on board with the plan, it would explain why he had to go,” he says, thinking out loud.
“That makes sense. Maybe there was more in Argon’s black book than we thought. Maybe he was a carrier and the lines we couldn’t figure out were really messages. It looked like different handwriting in the book, so maybe its code. Maybe Argon was killed because there is a new merger.”
“Maybe he wasn’t on board with the merger,” Sal adds.
“Too much speculation and not enough facts.” Sal’s eyes search the crowd for potential trouble. He stands when he sees the polizia making their way towards us.
“Please, can we leave? We’re late for the church.” Clearly Juliet is in shock.
“No reception today, sorry Juliet. This is a crime scene. It appears Du Luca is dead.” Francesca repeats.
This is lost on the girls as they have no idea who he is with the exception of Francesca.
Riccardo finds us in disbelief. “This can’t be good for anyone,”
The girls are visibly upset but none more so than us men at the implication of murder. We answer the investigators questions about where we were and what we saw. Then, the polizia ask Dante to stand and want to search him.
“What? You can’t do that without my lawyer.”
“It’s a crime scene we need to check for weapons.”
We let them search us and they pull a vial out of Dante’s pocket.
“That’s not mine. I want my attorney right now.”
Dante is taken away for more questioning and the substance is being tested.
Sal takes Juliet into his arms and tells her Dante will be home in a few hours. as I’m on the phone with our consigliere Nicolo who will make the appropriate phone calls.