Page 44 of Unspoken Ties

I walked towards her, a half-formed plan in my mind. I had to make things right without pushing too hard, or prying too much into her privacy. Approaching her from behind, I rested my hands lightly on her shoulders, aiming for a comforting touch but prepared for rejection. Liria tensed under my fingers, yet she didn’t withdraw, a sign that she was willing to bridge the gap between us, albeit hesitantly.

“Is everything alright?” I asked, trying to keep my voice gentle and unimposing. She remained silent for a moment, drumming her fingers in a slow rhythm against the windowsill.

“It’s…” she paused, looking like she changed her mind about what she was going to say. “Nothing. I’m tired.” She pushed herself away from the window and walked towards our bedroom. “Goodnight.”

Watching her retreating figure disappear into our bedroom, I felt an unease settle over me. Something was wrong with my wife and she wouldn’t tell me what it was. I supposed the only thing I could do was wait.

Vincenzo’s guy had successfully obtained the Dekker’s Catering roster. I had shown it to Liria earlier, and she immediately recognized the man who had approached her and handed her the note.

His employee profile had the name Eduard Cale. My men and I searched every man by this name, and none of them matched the photo he had on file. He had used a fake name when he was hired.

“Why can’t things just be easy for once,” I muttered under my breath, massaging the knotted muscles at the base of my neck.

“Things in the Mafia are rarely easy,” Vincenzo said, always the one to be levelheaded.

Vincenzo, Felix, Rocco, Emilio and I had met up to discuss what we knew so far and how we should proceed. We all sat at a table, evidence strewn around us.

“Agreed,” Rocco said, flicking through a stack of files on the table. “But it would be nice to have an easy win.”

“An easy win?” Emilio laughed bitterly. “In this business, there’s no such thing.”

“I know,” Rocco sighed, rubbing his temples. “But a guy can dream, can’t he?”

We all chuckled at that, despite the grim situation. At least our shared sense of humor was still intact.

“Alright,” I said, pulling us back to the matter at hand. “Someone at Dekker’s catering knows something, and can help us find our man. The question is, who?”

“We could try to...encourage...the employees to talk,” Felix said, making a fist and grinning with a savage delight at his own suggestion.

“We need to narrow the pool down before we do that,” I sighed. “You can’t just rip the teeth out of an innocent worker.”

“Indeed,” Vincenzo agreed, leveling his stare at Felix. “We aren’t barbarians, we’re businessmen. Let’s not forget that.”

“Well…” Emilio said, not finishing his sentence.

We were barbarians. The five of us would get what we needed out of people and then put a bullet through their skull. Then, we’d go home and sleep soundly at night.

“Ask your guy who he thinks it is,” I said to Vincenzo. “And we can go from there.”

We got our answer pretty quickly. Apparently, Eduard Cale was good friends with the kitchen staff, specifically the sous-chef. A man named Billy ‘Three Fingers’ - a nickname he earnedbecause of an unfortunate run-in with a meat grinder in his early career. He had been working inside the kitchen for a good number of years, long enough to gain trust and make friends. That meant he could be our ticket to Cale.

He was getting off work at 11:30 tonight, and Felix and Rocco would be waiting for him. His shift ended soon, and the twins were already waiting in an unmarked van outside his workplace.

I glanced down at my watch. 11:28. Hopefully, he got off on time and didn’t have to work overtime - I wanted to get this done ASAP. My eyes moved around the room, following on Emilio who was tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table. He was naturally cut out for this type of work. He carved men’s skin and broke their bones like it was second nature.

At 11:31 I got a text from Felix confirming they had him and were on their way back to the warehouse.

A swift surge of adrenaline coursed through my veins. “They’ve got him,” I announced to the room, my voice steady despite the heightened tension. Vincenzo grunted in acknowledgement and Emilio merely nodded, his tapping fingers halting abruptly.

The three of us sat in silence as we waited for the twins to return. It was best to enjoy it, because when we got started with Billy there were sure to be screams of agony.

The silence was punctured by the grating sound of a rusty hinge, signaling the arrival of Felix and Rocco with their captive. The sous-chef looked around wildly, unable to scream because of the duct tape they had put over his mouth. Ropes around his wrist and Rocco’s large hand clamped on his shoulder kept him in place.

“Nice of you to join us, Billy,” I drawled, adjusting the cuffs of my shirt. “I’m sure you know why you’re here.”

Billy responded in frantic sentences that were muffled by his duct tape.

“Felix,” I said, motioning to the duct tape.

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