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“The problem is how widespread they are. Because trying to corner them all in one place is what is making it difficult. They warn each other, no matter how much you threaten them.”
“We’re no closer to finding your kid and my sister, though,” Andrea snaps. “There must be something we can fucking do.”
“Don’t you think if there was something we could do that I would be doing it?” I snap back. “May I remind you that we’re in this predicament because you hired a gang banger to do your dirty work.”
“You kidnapped my sister,” Andrea growls.
“I would have returned her in one piece. Who knows how many pieces Tony will send back!”
Andrea looks shocked and swallows hard.
I shake my head. “I didn’t mean…I don’t think he will. He wants to negotiate. That’s what he said, right?”
“Right.” Andrea drains his glass and plays with it in his hands.
“What about that Joe? Did he have any information?”
“He’s in the wind,” Andrea says. “Probably warned I was looking for him after he started this all off. I should have listened to Lorenzo and never trusted Tony. The guy's a fucking lunatic.”
I slam my hand against the bar. “There must be something we’re missing.”
Andrea gets up and starts pacing, leaving his glass on the polished wood. “We need a way to draw Tony out, since he hasn’t contacted us with his demands.”
“It’s only been a day. Maybe he’s still putting them together,” I say.
“He probably wants everything,” Andrea says.
“What did you promise him for his help?” I ask.
“Access to the marina and a cache of guns.” Andrea doesn’t look proud of himself. “Thought that would be enough to satisfy the fucker.”
“Yeah, well, it clearly wasn’t,” I say, draining my own glass.
I refill both our glasses, and Andrea takes a seat again.
“Tony is crazy,” I grumble, and Andrea nods, sipping his drink.
“I know,” he says. “He’s insane and unpredictable.”
I don’t know about Andrea, but saying it out loud makes me worry more. What is that maniac currently doing to Gia and Giovanni?
“We must find them before Tony does something seriously fucked up to them,” I say, shivers running down my spine. “We can’t let them stay in his clutches too long. Who knows how he will torture them.”
Andrea shakes his head, going pale. “I’m such a fool. Tony is like… he’s the dark stain of the city’s underbelly. He’s done things to people that I would never condone. No matter the circumstances. I was just so desperate to save Gia I didn’t know where else to turn to. And I was angry. I let my rage fuel my decisions.”
“Never a good idea, Andrea, but it’s done, and now we need to focus on getting them back.” I down the rest of my glass.
“We need to grab one of Tony’s men and torture the location out of him,” Andrea says, a hard look on his face now.
“You think I wouldn’t do that if I could find one of his inner circle buddies?” I ask. “The problem we’re encountering is we’re only finding outlying dealers and runners. No one with the knowledge of where Tony would go with this sort of thing.”
I run my hand through my hair, my heart still pounding in my chest from the thought about what Tony could be doing to my son and Gia.
I continue, “We need to broaden our search. None of the men that were at their hangout when we raided were close to Tony. They were basically decoys. Tony knew we’d go there first. He’s smarter than we are willing to give him credit for. The man plans ahead. He knew he was going to betray you the day he called you. We need to figure out how to get ahead of him now.”
“Any suggestions?” Andrea drains his glass.
“We need to establish a network of spies around the city to keep a lookout for anyone from Tony’s posse. Once we find some of them, we can torture them into telling us where he could be. I have my ways,” I say.