Page 124 of Cartel King

I furrow my brow. Hoboken isn’t that terribly far from here. It makes me realize I assume Catalina and Matías live in Jersey. Enrique understands my confusion.

“They live in Queens.”

I nod. That makes more sense, but it’s still not that far away.

They did it to intimidate her, to make her realize they could go anywhere they wanted, and there was nothing she could do about it. She could watch and wonder, even recognize her surroundings, but they were in control. They didn’t fear she’d tell somebody how to get to her or that she could use her surroundings to help her escape.

They were extremely confident, which means they were pros or incompetent.

I refocus on the conversation as Enrique continues to question Catalina.

“Did the men who took you stay at the warehouse?”

“No, I saw them leave, and I don’t recall them coming back.”

There was a handoff. No one I know outside the Mancinellis and my immediate family speak fluent Sicilian. Tommaso is more than proficient, but he’s only fluent in Italian. Stella’s family only knows a smattering of Sicilian and barely a working knowledge of Italian.

That’s the way it is in a lot of Mafia families these days. They don’t even all speak Italian fluently. I did for work, and it was a family tradition to continue speaking Sicilian. My boys speak it and Italian.

It should narrow down who could’ve kidnapped her. I run through a mental phone book of which mercenaries speak Sicilian. The only ones I can think of are from there. None are Americans. I’ll share that piece of information later unless I’m asked for it now. I don’t want to interrupt Enrique.

I also don’t want to remind anyone why I would know that. It’s bad enough this is about me. I’m certain no one’s forgotten that. Unfortunately, Luciana wants to know more.

“Elodie, do you know who this could be?”

“I can’t think of anyone specific, but I don’t know any Americans who aren’t Mancinellis who speak Sicilian fluently besides my parents, my boys, and me. If they were more than proficient, my guess is someone hired them from Sicily.”

Catalina’s brow creases. “Why would they come all the way from Sicily to kidnap me? That seems excessive.”

“Either they didn’t think they could get to me, or they thought you were better leverage against Enrique and your family.”

In other words, I only matter to Enrique. The rest of the family wouldn’t try that hard to get me back.

I’m trying to map out all the moving pieces. I have too many questions now to remain quiet.

“Enrique, whose men did you find there? I mean other than Gareth’s? Did you recognize any of them?”

“Only O’Briens.”

It’s been a long time since the Mafia and the mob worked together. They’ve had a love-hate relationship for decades. The mob’s the oldest syndicate in America, but the Mafia eclipsed them. They’ve had generations-old rivalries.

“Do you think the O’Briens were the ones who contracted Gérard, Johann, and whoever these men were?”

“Gareth could have gotten Gérard and Johann, but I can’t imagine he would employ any Sicilians. Why would he want to support them in any way when he has men here to do it?”

I nod at what Enrique said.

“You mentioned Salvatore. What do you think his role is in this? Is he the one who provided them? Could they be Don Torretta’s men?”

Luis has been silent so far, but he speaks up now.

“That’s my guess. I think Salvatore hired them to do the part of the job he didn’t trust the O’Briens to do. He only used them as babysitters. He believed men from Sicily would be harder to connect to him with any solid proof because he didn’t think they’d get caught. He also wanted men he knew he could trust to do the job. He won’t trust Gareth farther than he can throw him.”

“But why would Salvatore go after your sister when I know his family’s trying much harder to restore their reputation of no women and children? After what happened with the bratva, they’ve been much better at keeping women and children out of Mafia business.”

Luis’s eyes narrow, once more suspicious of me. I feel like sighing and rolling my eyes.

“Stella Vizzini is one of my closest friends. Tori Carosi is my best friend. Between the two of them, I knew Luca tried to prove himself more to his uncle. He thought arranging a marriage with Stella’s niece would link New York and Chicago. He tried to expand the Mancinellis’ influence practically halfway across the country. I’m certain you know what a disaster that was. Catalina and I don’t look alike beyond dark hair and olive skin, but we were both here, and we both left to go home. Matías was with me rather than his wife. Do you think they confused me for Catalina?”

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