"This place was the starting point in the navigation system. The route ends with the cellar. That can only have been this one, because there is nothing else fitting that description within a radius of two kilometers." No sooner had I spoken the last word than I heard another door slam and someone sprint up the stairs to the outside.
Without a second thought, I hurried back up the steel stairs to the top floor, pushed open the front door, and just saw a man in the parking lot jump into a rental car– the writing in the window gave it away– and drive away with screeching tires.
"Get your asses upstairs, it's time for a chase!" I yelled, already running down the front steps.
As if by magic, my brothers were already at my side and we were in the car fast enough that I could easily follow the guy. He had a head start, but due to the tough traffic in the streets of Naples, we could observe him from a distance of a few hundred meters.
"Natale? Yes, someone took off after we arrived, we're tracking him. I'll send you the location. It's a rental car." Emilio was on the phone. Not a bad idea at all.
Meanwhile, I gave Vincenzo a meaningful look. Was this the Frenchman who had it in for us? Or had some poor prick gotten scared because he lived in the rentable storerooms and had run off after noticing our presence?
"What are we going to do with this guy once we get him?" I asked, already mentally disassembling him into his individual parts. A human puzzle. They were always particularly interesting.
"We elicit all the information from him and then launch a retaliatory strike in France," Vince replied, not even responding to Emilio's eyebrow moving higher.
It had always been difficult for the two of them to agree or hold the same opinion. Not because they were different, but because their ways of thinking differed. I could only remember Vincenzo's reign in pieces, because I was neither of age nor interested in playing any significant part in the whole thing.
"First, we have to catch him. And we won't if Dario keeps letting the bus hassle him," Emilio said, making it clear how much he thought my current driving style sucked.
The idea of slamming on the brakes and getting out to buy myself an ice cream at a nearby gas station sounded insanely tempting.
Instead of following that idiotic impulse and driving Emilio up the wall, however, I dropped back a few meters so that I could overtake the bus via the right lane.
"Wonderful, now we've lost him," Emilio commented.
"He's still right there ahead of us." Vincenzo sounded annoyed.
It was time for some real action. So I put the pedal to the metal, overtook a few cars, and tapped right onto the ass of the rental car, making no secret of the fact that we were chasing it.
"Let's see what he does now."
"Panicking, probably." Vincenzo sounded more bored than annoyed by this point. He was disappointed, because this chase wasn't happening as one would expect it to.
"Let's take this to the next level," I muttered and pursued him. In doing so, I not only flashed my lights but also drove up so close that a wrong reaction on my part would have led to an accident that might cost us all our lives.
"Come on," I implored the driver in front of me. He should show that he was afraid, make a mistake and thus make it easy for us to catch him.
"It's taking way too long for my taste," Emilio commented.
"Oh, so it's a race now? Maybe you should just hunt your enemies alone in the future, if you're so eager." I had said it before I could think about it. I shouldn't even allow myself to form a judgment about Emilio's approach, because I wasn't in his shoes and did not know what he was up against.
"And you might want to spend more time at your club in the future rather than getting on my nerves."
"I'd love nothing more." I had my little empire to manage and about a dozen projects to implement.
If I wanted to have a little fun, I could still spontaneously join Natale or Fiero without even letting Emilio know.
Emilio had a certain talent for keeping the members of his family at a distance. Even if it was a little unfair to say so. After all, Vincenzo had chosen his hermit existence on his own and right now he seemed to long for it very much.
We approached a bridge that crossed the Sarno River and then merged onto the highway, but the driver in the car in front of me continued to seem uninterested because I continued to badger, coerce, and harass him.
I honked the horn.
"Natale is coming to meet us," Emilio informed us.
"He's driving in the wrong lane?" I exclaimed as I heard more cars honking their horns. Some stopped with screeching tires. Others pulled to the side and swerved into other lanes.
I laughed as adrenaline coursed through my veins. How crazy was this guy anyway?