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Iknew Alessandro wasn’t asleep, but I also knew he wasn’t likely to fall asleep while I was in the room. It was clear I could offer him zero comfort, so I left our room and walked down the staircase. Alvize was standing by the door next to Lucio, but on the inside, and I approved. Nonna was in the kitchen cooking as usual, so I walked into my study, catching Lucio’s eye and he followed me in.
“How is he?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer. “He hates me,” I finally settled on. “But before we discuss anything else, I want you to make sure Roberto Venezi checks the body.” Lucio had been with me when I told the nurse that’s who would be handling the funeral.
“Boss?”
“I can’t ask for an official autopsy without Alessandro’s permission, and it may be that she died of her illness.” But I was a suspicious bastard. “What did you find out from Gia?”
“He’s waiting to talk to you.” Lucio nodded to my laptop which he’d placed on the desk, knowing I preferred it to holding aphone. He got out his own, and I heard him calling Venezi before I connected. Gia’s face came on immediately.
“How’s Alessandro?”
“Distraught. I managed to royally screw up. He asked me if he could visit with his mamma earlier today, and I said tomorrow.”
Gia winced.
“What have you found out?” I had Gia working on so many things, and I needed an update.
“Firstly, I broke into the encrypted files surrounding La Catarina. Privately owned and registered to a dummy corporation.” He paused. “Very well hidden and a complete dead end, but I designed my own program like the kind that trolls the internet looking for keywords. Long story short, I hacked a phone and eventually the emails and the messages.”
“And?”
“Only one message ties in. I imagine the rest were sent with a burner phone, and this was a simple mistake. Easily done if you know the number and don’t store contacts for obvious reasons. The message simply says, “Cat has claws out tonight. Usual delivery.” The phone can be traced to the same small subsidiary as the questionable email loosely tied to the Amatos that we tracked to Alessandro.”
“That’s not confirmed, it could be anyone in the house,” I blurted out and Gia didn’t comment but continued.
“The date of the text matches the date of the sailing. This was three months ago, but if La Caterina is indeed ‘Cat’ then the ship was out for four nights. I also checked the sailings. La Caterina has gone out every six weeks for the past year.”
Gia sighed. “Dario, I’m not saying it was Alessandro. Of course, I’m not. I’m just saying that someone in Rocco’s house may have been involved in La Caterina and it may involve underage sex trafficking, based on the transportation we stopped.”
I was silent for a moment before Gia spoke again. “You should also know that La Caterina sails tonight.”
Fuck.Of course, it did.
“You also asked me to work on the issue of Alessandro’s mamma. Before today, obviously.”
I glanced at Lucio, who had finished his own call and was listening intently.
“Specifically, what he was going to do with her after the wedding, and I think I might have found a connection.”
“What?” I snapped out, harsher than I intended, but Gia knew me.
“There’s a maid called Amara, fifty-seven, who has worked for Rocco for nearly thirty years. But, interestingly enough, she has a son who has a florist business. One of his regular deliveries is to Long Acres, the home Caterina Gallo was in up to you moving her the day of your wedding. It might be the connection Alessandro needed to get his mom released.”
My heart thumped. It had to be. “What do you know about him?”
“No red flags, married his childhood sweetheart. Business is ticking along but won’t make him rich. Wife of a year is seven months pregnant.”
I grunted. I knew we had to have a conversation, but he didn’t seem a flight risk. “And today?” I knew I was asking a lot in such a short space of time.
“Nothing on any of the staff, except one of the nurses has a husband with a gambling problem. They live in a house left to them by her parents, but they co-own it. Husband has a second mortgage and three separate loans. Wife signed off on it, but it could easily be forged. No children.”
“Who owns the debt?” This could be interesting.
Gia laughed. “You do, or the original one anyway. The subsequent ones will fall over themselves if you offer to buy them back.”
“I don’t offer anything,” Dario said and looked at Lucio. “Just make it happen.” Buying debts was a brisk business. I never sold any that might be a useful connection, but this guy would never have been on my radar. Lucio nodded and pulled his phone from his pocket and stepped away. “Wait. What did Venezi say?”
