“Did you solve the case yet? Did you figure out who put a bullet in my head?” He raises his eyebrow disapprovingly.
“We have some leads.” I take a deep breath. “I know you don’t like Dominic, but I feel like him and his team can solve this.”
Bruno scoffs. “His kind solve things to put people behind bars. I don’t give a shit if he’s retired, that man still has connections. I’m sure the FBI would love nothing more than to slap handcuffs on the entire Capuano Family and lock us up.”
I smile and pat his hand. “Bruno, you should know by now I know how to cover my tracks. Dominic is not our enemy, someone in the family is. And if Dominic does betray me, I’ll make sure he never gets a chance to reveal anything.”
Bruno grumbles. “I’m sorry, Farfalla. I just don’t want to see you get hurt again. Law and our lives don’t mix well.”
“I know.” I shift in my seat. “The reason I’m here, Bruno, is I have some questions for you and I need answers.”
“What kind of questions?”
“The day you got shot in the head, what happened?”
Scratching his unshaven beard, Bruno leans back wincing. “Sal and I took the boys down to the warehouse to assemble the chairs and make sure the legs were working properly before we took them away. Matteo has been fucking up on the shipment quantities so I wanted to make sure he got the order right. It’s embarrassing to show up and not give our buyers what was promised.” He waves his hand dismissively. “But this time he did his job right. You know he’s been acting very amateurish. That girl he’s messing around with has his head all screwed up.”
“What girl? He broke up with his girlfriend.”
“He did and he was in another girl’s panties not even five hours later,” he shrugs. “The kid is young. You know he puts on that heartbroken act until another female pays him a bit of attention, then he has stars in his eyes.”
“So what happened at the warehouse?” I try to move the conversation back on track.
“Well, we were reassembling the legs. Then my phone rang. It was from one of the clients. So I stepped outside onto the dock to take it. You know you can’t trust anyone in this family now. I was chatting away. Next thing I know the bullet comes out of nowhere. I didn’t hear a shot, just a pinch on the side of my head. I reach up and the side of my face is wet with blood. Then next I’m waking up in the hospital with a bandage wrapped around my head like a mummy. I only wish I had seen the bozo who wanted to kill me, I would have beat the shit out of him. I’m still going to beat the shit out of him when we find out who it is.”
Reaching into my pocket I pull out the rook. “Salvatore said that this was in your hand when they found you.” I hold it up.
Recognition flickers across his face. “Hey. I’ve seen that piece before. That’s from Vincenzo’s chess set. It was in my hand? I don’t remember that. Why the hell would I have that thing in my hand? I don’t even like chess.”
“Because you’re a rook and you’re a protector.” I sigh. “Apparently someone from the past wants to kill all of us. Since I didn’t die right away now they want to play this sick mind game. Dad’s chess set has been stolen and all the pieces are being sent to me. Each one represents someone in the family and predicts who is the next person that’s going to die. The rook appeared when they tried to kill you. Then a bishop appeared the day Salvatore got attacked.”
“Cazzo! Are you serious, Farfalla? Is it one of the families? Thank God Salvatore was okay.” His hands tremble slightly as he reaches for the glass of water on the table next to him.
“It’s someone associated with the Marconi Family.”
“The Marconis. How? They were all eliminated back in ‘95.”
“I guess one of them escaped.” I lean forward. “Bruno, when you were in the hospital you mentioned to me something about dead butterfly wings. Then you said the king wasn’t supposed to fall.”
Shock appears on his face. “Farfalla. I was on a lot of meds at the time. I don’t remember that at all.”
“The night Dad died, you were with him, right?”
“Yes, I was.”
“What happened that night?”
A faraway look appears in his eyes. “We had a meeting. Salvatore, your father, and I. A couple of guards were posted outside his private study. He wanted to acquire the building on Sixth Avenue, he said it would be a good place to put another nightclub. The owner wasn’t willing to sell, so he wanted to go over with a few of the boys and persuade him.” Bruno pauses. “Vincenzo seemed irritated like something was bothering him. Then he asked us to leave because he had work to do. So we left.”
“Was anyone else in the house?”
“Your mother was out for dinner with friends. You and Gigi were off doing your own thing. The only other person in thehouse was Nonna. She was in the kitchen and saw us all leave. She was making soup, she offered us some, but we had work to do.”
“She made the soup for Dad?”
Bruce nods. “Yeah, I remember it was Pasta Fagioli, his favorite. She brought him the soup and went to bed. I guess he had a heart attack and when your mother came home she found him dead. He was sitting in his chair by the fireplace in his study with a glass of wine next to him.” He rests his chin in his hand. “Why are you talking about this now, Farfalla? You never wanted to discuss it before.”
“Well, I have reason to believe that Dad didn’t die of a heart attack. It was murder.”
