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When Angelus faces me, I shake my head. He picks up his drink and takes a swallow.
“Let’s get straight to it, shall we? The Pits have been a place that many people in power have wanted to shut down for some time now.” He points his glass at me. “I have wanted the same thing. Only, finding out who ran it was another thing altogether…” He takes a sip.
“My father ran the pits,” Carina says.
My head snaps to her. “Don’t offer up information,” I say. Carina has to know that. No matter what a situation may look like, you don’t start speaking.
Angel widens his hands. “As far as you know, you’re both dead, anyway. What do you have to lose?”
“Exactly,” Carina says.
The moment the blindfold was removed, I knew that. “You killed your own sister to keep the peace,” I say.
Angel flinches but inhales before exhaling loudly. “I did what had to be done. It was what worked for everyone.”
A curious response.
“And I’ll do the same. I don’t have to speak,” I bark. I glance around the room, looking for a weapon. On the desk sits a silver letter opener. A glass smashed could slice through his throat. Maybe I should take that drink. He doesn’t appear to be packing, but the long navy jacket he wears could be hiding a gun. I would be surprised if he wasn’t carrying a weapon.
Angelus nods in agreement. “As you will. But the capos outside this room”—he points with his glass at the door—“are waiting for the kill order. Most of the capos did not know about their boss running the Pits.” Angelus walks back to his chair and sits, crossing his leg over his knee. He watches me carefully. “I mean, who would think that a man like Agostino would be involved with the Pits since his own child was killed there, and since it was under investigation by the feds?”
I don’t say anything. Angel balances the glass on his knee.
“Feds just like your friend,” he continues. “It would be so stupid for him to be involved in something like that without having the protective layer of an Untouchable in his pocket.”
My heart drums heavily in my chest. None of this makes sense. How could someone like Angelus know so much? And why was he sharing so much with me? The thought that he won’t kill us trickles in. I want to cut it off; I don’t like false hope.
“How do you know all this?” I ask. Since he’s sharing so much, maybe he will continue.
“Undercover agents don’t just exist in law enforcement. I have been using that tactic for a while.”
Angelus finishes his drink and walks to the bar. With his back to me, I take a quick look at Carina. She shakes her head. I know what she’s thinking—if we hurt Angel, we have all the capos outside the door. There are no windows or any other exits.
“I’ll cut to the chase. I made a deal with II Veleno to take down Geno and settle this matter.”
He has my attention. “And how exactly did you manage to make that deal?” Seems too good to be true.
Angelus looks at me before pouring himself another drink. “The Azrael have been seen in town.”
Carina scoffs at this. “The Azrael are a tale. A bedtime story to scare us poor Mafia kids.”
Angelus smiles. “They are very real, Ms. Scarpetta.”
The Azrael are the Commission’s assassins, or at least, that’s how the story goes. I’ve never heard of them being utilized, yet they are used as a warning with every Mafia family. They have no individual names, only going by the collective “Azrael,” and are the enemy of everyone. No Family is safe from their assigned wrath. No gang is safe. They do whatever the Commission demands without fail or regret.
“As far as anyone is concerned, Geno killed Agostino Scarpetta today. He will be hunted down and killed for his crimes.”
“His crimes being?” I ask carefully.
“Well, he’s responsible for the attempts on Carina’s life, of course, but you already suspected that. But it just makes everything simpler if he’s also responsible for the death of Agostino Scarpetta, doesn’t it?”
My stomach drops. He’s offering us an out. But what’s the cost, and why? “What about the capos?”
“My father’s men will not turn a blind eye to this,” Carina states, her voice shaking the smallest bit, and she’s right.
Something deadly enters Angel’s gaze. “They will sing whatever song I play for them.”
How much power does he have? I always thought he was an errand boy for the Commission, but even errand boys can wield enormous amounts of power, clearly.
