Page 76 of Dangerous Deception

I’m curious abouttheybut I’m not going to detail whatever information Bryan has. Not yet.

“Fuck!” Bryan knocks his head back against the desk and screws up his beaten face, then he sags like all the fight has deflated out of him. “Carlos… he came to see me about his sister.”

“And?” I prompt tiredly.

“He wanted to know how she died.”

“Was it a drug overdose?” I ask, daring him to lie to my face.

Bryan’s eyes roll in defeat and he sniffles thickly. “No,” he mutters. No, she died from overconsumption of a toxic component.”

Vito and I lock eyes, then Vito releases Bryan and steps back, but he keeps his gun trained on him.

“Tell me everything you told Carlos.” I lean closer. “And if I get even a hint that you’re lying to me, I’ll have Vito bury you alive out back. Understand?”

Bryan nods, slowly pulling himself up from the desk and sorting his rumpled shirt. “He wanted to see the real autopsy report.” He speaks stiffly, like some kind of old wind-up toy. “I couldn’t really lie to him after Hank told him about the water supply so I showed him the truth. I just thought he wanted fucking closure.”

“But he wanted something else, didn’t he?”

“Yeah.” Bryan wipes his bloody nose on his sleeve. “He wanted to know why I covered it up. I told him exactly what I’ll tell you, okay? I have a family to feed and protect. This job? It’s thankless. The state barely pays me shit and I have to deal with tired, arrogant cops all day intent on pinning every death on a gang shooting. So when I was approached with a deal, I took it.”

“How many?” Vito speaks up suddenly, and by the look on his face it’s clear he’s realized something. “Carlos wanted to know, didn’t he?”

Bryan nods meekly. “Yes.”

“So how many? How many deaths have you covered up from drinking tainted water, huh?”

Bryan slumps down in his chair and begins typing on his computer with his head hanging low. “A lot. But you have to understand, I only buried the ones I saw. I can’t speak for any other place.”

With a few clicks, he pulls up a long list of file numbers, all of which have names attached. Turning the monitor toward myself,my chest tightens like I’m caught in a vise. There are far too many to count and more pages than I care to look at.

“You cataloged them?” Vito sneers.

“I had to,” Bryan answers. “I needed to know whom to lie about if anyone came asking, and then I wanted something to use in case… in case something like this happened.”

Sure enough, Carlos’ sister is on the list.

This is beyond me. Deaths are common in my line of work. Wars spill out onto the streets and people get killed all the time, but there are sections of the city under my protection. And under the protection of every other Mafia head with some kind of following. We can’t have this much power on threat alone. We help people. Protect them. Care for them.

How the fuck do I protect people from toxic water? The names scroll and scroll as Bryan continues to ramble on. “Those people were dying anyway and most didn’t even get a cause of death. Some were listed as having a heart attack. Some just died. It’s difficult to prove toxic poisoning without very specific tests.”

“And you test everyone, don’t you?” Vito growls. “How else would you know the real reason Carlos’ sister died?”

“Yeah.” Bryan’s head sinks further. “There are a few signs I look out for, but I run the tests and then bury their cause of death.”

Each name is like a drop of gasoline on the already raging fire inside me. So many people. “What else did Carlos want?” I ask, glancing up from the screen. “What else did you tell him?”

Bryan’s answer is lost to me because the moment I look back at the screen, a name stands out like a glaring beacon.

Lucia Castiglioni.

Adelina’s mother.

No.

I click on the name and a picture of her flashes on the screen, complete with all the details of her death. Frailty, coughing, andlimb weakness. Headaches, unexplained nosebleeds, and more. It was listed as cancer with a few unexplained notes beyond my understanding.

My blood runs cold and before I can stop myself, I type a name into the search bar.

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