“Ms. Sienna,” Donte called after me, but I was too embarrassed to face him.
“I know when they’re going to move their next shipment. It’s in three hours.” I handed my father Stefano’s notebook. Our meeting had started late as we had waited for Francesco, who eventually cancelled on us. It wasn’t lost on either of us that it was the first time in twenty years he had missed one of these meetings.
I had been in my office in town all day making calls and preparing for our oil shipment to arrive. I needed things to go smoothly this evening. I had spent considerable hours trying to connect with Stefano’s mind before I was able to work out how his notes were kept. “It’s the day, then month,” I explained.
“This could be old.”
“It’s not. My guess would be he has one for each year. Flip the front cover and look at the spine.”
“Yup, there’s the year.” My father squinted at the tiny writing.
“And he marks the pages that have been dealt with by splitting the page at the center bottom.” I pointed to a Post-it that marked a page from a few days ago. “That was the shipment where we found the girl.”
“And how many detective shows did you watch to figure this out?” Vinni chuckled.
“It’s more than looking at the book,” I explained. “You have to look at the pattern of events, and then cross reference them with his writing. He has a big ego in real life, and it shows on paper as well. Look how he writes the letter I.” I reached for the book and showed them. “See how all the I’s are bigger than the others. It took a little while, but after I started to think like him, I could figure out the rest. It helps to know his character.”
“And what about this Mikey person? Any thoughts there?” Niccola spoke up.
“That, I don’t know. All I can find is the name written a few times and some tally marks. What is strange, though, is every time Stefano writes someone’s name, he runs the pen over it a few times to make it be bold. Not once in the four times that he wrote Mikey’s name was it bolded.”
“Maybe he isn’t that important?”
“No,” I shook my head in thought, “I think it’s just the opposite. But whoever it is, I don’t think Stefano likes him.”
“Niccola and Vinni, you two start digging on who the hell this Mikey guy is,” my father ordered. “Elio and I will get the men ready to intercept this shipment. Circle back here in sixty for further instructions.”
“Sure thing.” Vinni started on his phone, while Niccola went for his laptop.
An hour later, there was a cavalry of men at the dockyard, all in different locations, well hidden from view.
I had dressed for the encounter, with several handguns hidden under my clothing. My mind centered on the bloody business that was about to happen. As I reached for the handle of the town car, my father stopped me, then asked our temporary driver to step out of the car.
“Son, I want you to stay back with me. I can’t risk you getting shot. The family business needs both of us, especially now, and you don’t need to be on the forefront risking your life. Our soldiers will leave their mark. They’re well trained.”
I knew he was right, and the day would come that I might stay back, but not this fight. This fight was mine.
“I’m different than you, Papa. I need to be in it, to see it. I’m not reckless, and I believe I’ve proven that to you time and again. This is quickly getting personal, and the fact that Stefano’s been spotted at the dockyard means I should be there too.”
My father looked out the window, digesting my words. He could order me to stay; he had that authority. He had always held me as an equal to him, but for some reason right now he was in the mind space of a worried father, not the head of our syndicate.
“It’s not just about us anymore,” he added.
“I know, and her face is what will be driving me home tonight.” I put a hand on his arm to assure him that my mind was in all the right places tonight.
“All right.” He nodded, and I saw the moment was over and his tone was all business once again. He glanced at his watch. “One hour.”
I rushed out of the car, pulled my weapon, and headed down the hill to where Vinni and Niccola were waiting for my approval to move in on the containers. Row by row, we cleared the area. We had a visual on a few of the Coppola men down by the water in a dingy. What we didn’t know was if the container of girls was here now, or if they were being dropped off somewhere else and then being loaded onto our ships a few at a time.
“Nic.” I nodded at a door that looked to have had the lock cut off. Niccola slowly opened it, and Vinni used his flashlight to peek inside. It was empty. I made a note of the container number to have the lock fixed later. We moved in unison. The water lapped at the shoreline, drowning out any noise of our approach. Trouble was it also covered any sound that might have helped us locate the girls.
As Vinni disappeared around a corner, I heard footsteps behind me. I pulled out my knife as a man suddenly charged me. Once he made contact, I jammed the blade into his neck and removed it as he fell to the ground in a slump. I felt another pair of arms wrap around me from behind and was pulled backward. Using my elbow, I knocked him in the ribs, bent down, and popped his shoulder out of the socket, freeing myself. As he yelped in pain, I sensed someone else behind me and instinctively ducked at a swoosh of air over my head as a fist swung above me. I threw my weight onto my hands and kicked his knee as he dropped. I tossed my knife, done with this shit, and popped him right between the eyes then followed up with his buddy. My silencer helped to not give my position away. I leaned down to the man I had knifed in the neck. He choked as he gurgled and fought to speak, his hands clenched tightly to the deep gash. I pressed my foot into his windpipe to open the wound wide, and the blood flowed freely.
“I have no sympathy for demons that prey on young children,” I whispered. “You’re getting off easy.”
“It’s not what you think,” he gurled with his last breath.
I rushed to catch up with the others, wondering what his comment meant. After a few turns, I stumbled right into an ambush on Vinni. I shot two in the back then punched the one who held my cousin around the neck. Vinni gasped for air as the man released his hold and fell. We both jumped him and punched until he went slack.