Mafia Fall-Out

Chapter Twenty

Luca

"You guys looked great." Angelo assured us as Char and I slid into the booth across from him and Marco. "I give it an hour before they'll be in touch about setting up a meeting."

"Thanks." I grunted, boiling with irritation. My patience was quickly dwindling. Everything was taking way longer than I expected, and I wasn't used to the delay. Charlotte was getting antsy and impatient herself, and I knew her well enough to know it wouldn't be long until she was fed up with it completely and trying to take matters into her own hands. It wasn't like I could afford to have Marco babysit her. I needed his expertise with me, so I had to handle this delicately. This was exactly the reason I wanted her to go back to New York. She wasn't used to the way we did things in the field, and while I understood that to a degree, her constant questioning was starting to hinder my process. "What did you guys find about the car?"

Angelo and Marco shared a strained glance. "We tracked the car down, but it seems like another dead end. The kid said his car was stolen about a week ago."

"And you believe him?" Charlotte asked, folding her arms over her chest. I shared the same sentiment—it seemed a little too convenient to me—but I trusted Angelo's assessment of the situation.

"I do." Angelo sighed. "There was a police report filled out. It was just never filed, which was why we didn't find it when Marco looked up the car. And this kid looked scared shitless to see us. He's only sixteen and not nearly smart enough to pull something like this off on his own. Marco shook him down pretty good, and there's no chance in hell he's working with a local gang or anything like that. I think he's telling us the truth."

"There's more, though." Marco said. "He said he got a call yesterday that the car was found torched out in the middle of a field at 5AM the same night that Lucy was taken. They told him there wasn't anything salvageable, and it was pretty much just a pile of steel and ashes now."

"Okay." I let out a heavy sigh, brimming with disappointment. I fully expected to get something from the car, but here we were going two steps back again. "So if we're operating off of that, I think it's pretty clear the car was taken for the sole purpose of kidnapping Lucy. But was it somebody local, or someone who's been monitoring us and knew we were coming here this week?"

"I think the second option." Marco said. "Especially if your hunch is right about this being connected to the shit happening back in New York. It's just too big of a coincidence."

"But that means it's more than one person, right? Because Carlo said they found more bodies." Charlotte interjected, glancing back-and-forth between us.

"Right. We're most likely dealing with a group." Angelo nodded. "And if that's the case, we can get support from our allies, but that's going to take time. And we don't have that kind of time."

I saw Charlotte shutter just barely, trying not to let Angelo's realistic words sting her.

"Our best bet is to hope your press conference worked, and that they want to set up some kind of meeting." Marco said.

I nodded. "But I'm not content with sitting around on banking on that. Marco, I want you working with Seth on trying to figure out where that DNA came from. I'm willing to bet there are only a few local labs that have the technology to create something like that. And Angelo, what about checking with local pharmacies? There was formula and diapers in the diaper bag, but not nearly enough to last them very long. They'll need more, eventually."

"If they're keeping her alive." Charlotte mumbled, staring out the window. I was losing her. It was getting harder and harder for her to stay positive.

I set my hand on top of hers and squeezed. "We're not going to go there, baby."