Page 102 of Cartel King

Not that the fucker will live, but she blew out his kneecaps. With her caliber rifle, he’ll never walk again. I turn the SUV around and head toward the man attempting to commando crawl away from the vehicle. I pull up, so he’s on my side. I grab the gun at my lower back as I open the door. Ellie lifts her rifle and draws it back into the SUV. She crawls into the back seat and slips out the door behind me. We point our weapons toward a man I don’t know. I kick him in the ribs, noticing his head’s bleeding. There’s a shard of windshield sticking out of his cheek. He groans but tries to pull himself away. My next kick forces him onto his back.

“Who are you?”

His response is a groan.

“Who are you?”

I place my foot on his chest, pressing against it as I speak. He stares blankly at me as I take a photo with my phone, hoping I’ll discover who he is if he refuses to speak.

“¿Quién eres?” Who are you?

“A la chingada.” Go to hell.

Mexican slang. Interesting.

“¿Quién te envió?” Who sent you?

“¿No te gustaría saberlo?” Wouldn’t you like to know?

Definitelynota native speaker. His accent is piss poor when he isn’t swearing.

I lean over to Ellie, who has her rifle pointed at his groin, and whisper. “Ask him in Italian if he planned to die today.”

“Avevi intenzione di morire oggi?”

“Come ho fatto ieri e come farò domani.”

She interprets for me. “As much as I did yesterday and as much as I will tomorrow.”

Arrogant little fucker.

“Domani?Hai esaurito il domani quando ti sei svegliato ieri.”

Ellie doesn’t look at me when she shares what she said. Instead, her lips curls in disgust.

“I told him, ‘Tomorrow? You ran out of tomorrows when you woke up yesterday.’”

“Can you tell where he’s from?”

“My guess is around Venice. He could beMala del Brenta.”

Salvatore’s linked to them. His niece-in-law twice over is Venetian, and her father is the don.

“Do you know Allegra Carosi?”

“No. Should I?”

“She’s Salvatore Mancinelli’s sister-in-law. She’s married to their don.”

“Don Torretta’s oldest daughter? I remember the name now. Her daughter’s married to Salvatore’s nephew Carmine, right?”

“Yes.”

“He and Tommaso are allies. Did Salvatore send him?”

Did our plan already get back to Salvatore?

“I don’t know.”

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