Page 190 of Niccolo

Fausto raised his eyebrows. “Not bad. However, as far as catching them goes, we have something else in mind.”

“Ah.”

I expected Zollner to make some sort of speech about how he didn’t do murder-for-hire, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. He quickly launched into a cheerful recitation of his fees.

“If you need one or both of them eliminated, there’s a separate 50,000 euro fee – each – in addition to the 100,000 for finding them. If you need the corpses never to be found, that’s an additional 50,000 per body.”

“Actually, at this point, I’d like to turn you over to my colleague, Sofia.”

“Hello, Signor Zollner,” I said.

“Well, hellOOOO, Sofia!”he said cheerfully.“Although, please, call me Friedrich!”

“Alright… Friedrich,” I said, then launched into the plan I’d devised. “We want to use the girl as bait. The goal is to lure Massimo’s brothers into an ambush – which means we’d need you to let Massimo go.”

“Really! How unexpected!”

“The ambush will take place at a cemetery island off the coast of Venice. It has a bell tower perfect for a sniper position.”

“Oh, I am LOVING this! But why not simply lure them to the Dolomites? I could handle them there.”

“In the spirit of transparency, there’s something else we need to tell you,” I said, looking at Fausto for final confirmation.

He nodded.

“Yeessssss?”Zollner asked.

“Lucia Fioretti is a mafia princess, the daughter of the family that runs Venice,” I said. “It is imperative that she not be harmed because she’ll be used as a bargaining chip. And the main targets– the brothers you’ll be luring into the trap – are also mafia, from the Florence region of Tuscany.”

I half-expected Zollner to balk –

But he surprised me again.

“OOOooooOOOH! I’m loving this assignment already!”he giggled. Then he turned businesslike.“Of course, I charge separately for every target I take out – 50,000 per head.”

“That’s fine. Oh… I should probably mention something: the targets are my nephews.”

By this point in the conversation, I doubted Zollner would have any reservations –

And he didn’t disappoint.

Instead, he laughed.

“Oh ho ho HO! The next family reunion will be an uncomfortable one, I think, ja?”

“Hopefully you can make sure I’m the only one AT the family reunion.”

“I can absolutely guarantee it, my good man!”

“We’re anticipating that they’ll bring backup, too – foot soldiers who work for my nephews.”

“How many, would you estimate?”

“Hard to say. It could be as few as four or five, or it could be as many as 30.”

“More targets, more money!”Zollner exclaimed like a giddy child.“Although, I am a bit concerned about taking out so MANY men at one time. My position could be overwhelmed if they are halfway competent.”

“You’ll have mercenaries from the Wagner Group backing you up,” Fausto said. “Are you familiar with them?”

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