Page 26 of Deal with the Devil
Maurizio nods. “I’ll set up the meeting.”
The front door opens and Adagio appears no more than a few seconds later, his blue eyes ringed red from lack of sleep.
It seems I’m not the only one who hasn’t been getting much rest. But I already know what he has to say before he even approaches us.
“Nothing,” he says, hands on his waist. “She hasn’t heard from her either.”
“And?”
“And she’ll keep quiet a few more days… so long as we promise to find her.”
“Then what?” I press, setting the mug of coffee down.
Adagio shrugs. “She says she has no choice but to tell their parents. Get the police involved.”
“That won’t be happening. We can’t let it get out. We keep it close to the vest and handle it ourselves. Once anybody else gets involved, the chances of getting her back drop.”
It’s true that the last thing I want out of the situation is to get the police and other authorities involved. It would become a huge story that a TV anchorwoman on one of the country’s biggest news channels has gone missing. The media would report on it nonstop.
Both the DC and Newport police departments would turn it into a spectacle.
Any chance of finding Portia would diminish by the second. It would shed a spotlight on the mob war going on between the Bellucci and Tuco families, which would only tie my hands on being able to retaliate in order to get her back.
For the time being, I’ve made Joe Germanotta swear to keep hush-hush on Portia’s absence at ANC and Adagio’s done the same with her sister, Jayla.
But it won’t work forever. Sooner rather than later, more people will want to know where she is. I’ve got to act fast.
“We meet tonight,” I say to both men. “If Cortese’s not available, he needs to make himself available.”
The old racetrack sits abandoned on the slum side of the city. It’s been shut down for years, the track cracked and covered with overgrown weeds. The bleachers surround the place, once filled almost every night with rowdy spectators gambling on racehorses.
Dario Cortese and his men are already waiting on us when we arrive. He looks cool and casual as we approach, a cigarette smoldering between his lips and the moonlight reflecting on his greasy, gelled hair.
He cracks a grin hello. “Well if it ain’t Il Diavolo blessing us with his presence.”
I’m in no mood for games or fake pleasantries. Both Maurizio and Adagio flank me as well as the rest of the men I’ve brought along.
We stand opposite each other on neutral turf for this brief meeting, where only for a few minutes, the war between us is on pause.
Once I have my answers, I’ll move forward accordingly. But it’s time to hear it out of Dario’s mouth.
“There’s an important matter we need to discuss,” I say. “Portia James has gone missing. Where is she?”
Dario’s brows furrow and he plucks his cigarette from his mouth to tap away the burning ash. “The reporter lady? The same one from Metro News?”
“You know who she is. The man you replaced took her captive, did he not? That failed. Did you give it another try?”
“Sergio Sacrimoni took Portia James ’cuz he had no fucking clue what he was doing,” Dario answers with a brittle laugh. “He thought he could use her as some bargaining chip, like Titus gives a fuck about some news lady. All he cares about is that she stays out of our way.”
“Did you or did you not take her?” I growl between clenched teeth. My patience is on a short fuse, liable to run out at any second. Both hands ball into fists at my sides; the murderous glare I give Dario from behind my devil mask is the final warning.
He refuses to heed it, giving a shrug and blowing more smoke. “I can’t say I’ve got any interest in no reporter lady—but if she was poking her nose in our business, then she’d deserved whatever came her way.”
“That’s your final answer? Think carefully, Cortese. Because there will be no going back.”
“Like there ever was!” he laughs loudly. “You forget our past, Diavolo? All that has gone on?”
I step toward him, looking him unblinkingly in the eye. “I know the past between our families well. That’s why I’m letting you know what youthinkhas been brutality was nothing. What’s been going on has been child’s play. But you’ll soon find out the truth. Scoprirai perché mi chiamano il diavolo.”
