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“Should we follow them?” Omero asks a few seconds later, reminding me of his presence, and I catch sight of his car in the rearview mirror. He’s one car behind me in the traffic line, waiting for further instructions, and no matter how much it pisses me off, I have to admit my defeat.
“No, go back to the base. Report to Paolo everything that happened.”
“Yes, sir.”
The lights switch to green, and I see Omero turn on his blinker and merge into the traffic leading around the block. But I leave him behind and continue forward, driving deeper into the neutral territory of Bridgeview while looking for a place to park. Not gonna lie, I’m tempted to follow the Mexicans—but that fight is over.
Now, I have something else in mind.
It may seem like the neutral territories are safe and peaceful, but in truth, they are much more dangerous than any other. Even if the members of all Mafia clans have no right to raise their weapons, we are still allowed to enter and do our business here. This is why all neutral territories are usually swarming with spies and pawns of the three biggest Mafia families of Chicago—Messina, Escarra, and Pushkov.
I find an empty spot in the parking lot of a local community park and get out of the car to assess how bad it looks. We’ll have to replace the windshield, but apart from that, there are only a few traces of bullets on the black surface of the hood. Well, it’s better than I expected.
I send a quick text and a photo of the car to Matteo, my cousin, just to give him more time to prepare the instruments. He’s in charge of distributing the tasks between our workers, and I don’t want to bother Riccardo with today’s events. At least, not yet. For now, I want to focus on looking for any traces of these goddamn Mexicans.
You see, they’ve been sneaking through our borders all too often lately, and I don’t think it’s just a coincidence. The patrols always say that they don’t see any cars passing into our zone, and if they care about their lives they wouldn’t lie about something so important. This leaves me with the only explanation—there is a hole in our security, and the sooner we find it, the better.
“Sir?”
It doesn’t take long to find one of our men near the border. I know the spots where they usually spend their watches—after all, I had to go through the same training to climb to a higher position in the family. These days, I focus my attention on more important tasks than spending hours at observation points and inspecting every unusual car crossing the border.
“At ease, boy.” I pat the young man on the shoulder and give him a chuckle, trying to remember his name. Adrian, maybe? I’ve seen the guy a few times before, but he’s still only a recruit, and I notice how he keeps his back straight, trying to look confident in my presence.
Does he want to impress me? I smirk and look away, shaking my head. New guys are always so easy to spot.
“Have you seen anything interesting today?”
“I saw your race with the Mexicans, sir.” Adrian turns to me, and I see a glint of awe in his wide eyes. “It was so cool!”
Cool, huh? I huff under my breath and glance at him.God, how old is he?Probably seventeen. That’s when they get old enough to run away from home, realize how harsh the world is, and come to our doorstep, begging us to accept them. If they pass Matteo’s screening, they take the lowest place in the clan and slowly make their way up, although they never get as high as the blood relatives of the Messina family.
Anyway, I’m allowing my thoughts to run too far from the conversation.
“Thanks, but did you see them crossing the border?”
Adrian straightens his shoulders and purses his lips. “No, sir. I would immediately report it if I saw something suspicious.”
“Alright, good.” That gives me nothing, though. “Have you seen anyone else today?”
He hums and frowns in deep thought. “Yes, I’ve seen a few Russians walking around, but they kept their distance. Ah, and Don Riccardo crossed the border a few hours ago, but he’s already returned.”
Riccardo has been out and about? I hum and look away, trying not to show my confusion. That’s interesting. He rarely leaves the safety of our territory unless it’s something important—being the head of our family makes him the most valuable target for everyone around. Could something have happened?
I shake my head. It’s none of my business, really. Whatever it is, I’m sure Riccardo will tell me later—for now, I have to focus on my own agenda.
“Okay. Good job. Let me know if you see anything weird.” I nod at Adrian and turn away when I hear him let out a hesitant noise.
“Uh, sir?” I turn around. Adrian frowns, clearly doubting his decision to speak up, and I quirk my eyebrow in a silent question. Whatever it is, he has to hurry up. “I don’t know if it’s important, but I saw a girl today.”
Oh,a girl?I huff under my breath. “Good for you.”
I’m not gonna give him relationship advice, but before I turn away, Adrian waves a hand and rushes to explain, “No, I mean—I’ve seen her a few times over the last couple of weeks. She never tries to cross the border, so I haven’t reported her, but…I don’t know, isn’t it weird that she shows up here?”
I frown and turn to face him properly. “What does she do?”
“Oh, not much. She just hangs around for a bit before walking or driving away.” He visibly deflates, probably cursing himself for speaking about it. “Maybe she’s just working somewhere near here, I don’t know.”
“Then you would see her every day,” I say more to myself than to him and hum. This information may be important, actually. “Does she look Hispanic?”
