Page 101 of Little Deer
Nico frowns then shrugs. “I would have been young then so I doubt I would have even known about this. And I’ve never heard any rumors.” He looks at Dante. “I thought Ivan only had one daughter, right? The youngest?”
Dante nods. “Anastasia. She’d be the right age. She’s about twenty-five, married, and already has a couple of kids. So if Orlando is right, his plan of getting her back isn’t about to happen.”
“Orlando made notes that Ivan denied that the girl is anything but his. It’s one of the reasons that there was a lot of shouting that day. And also one of the reasons that Ivan beat on Orlando. He got in his face, accusing him of trying to double cross them, called him a few names and all that, and Ivan beathis ass hard. Pissed Orlando off. He’s been trying to find dirt on him to take him down, but Ivan’s men are fucking good with computers and have kept him out.”
“So, what, he kept a fucking journal of all this and his thoughts on stuff?” Alessio snickers.
“He clearly thought no one would ever get into it,” Urso replies. “Fucker kept details of everything.”
“So where does the Chameleon team come in? How did they find out about them?” Aurelio demands, tension stiffening is very broad shoulders.
“Alright, that’s where shit gets interesting.” Urso leans forward, gaze intense. “He found a mention of them when he was searching the dark web, and he didn’t find much. It was part of one of the conversations he brought up to Giovanni and Ivan, saying it was a great way to get us out of the way, and the rest. Ivan was pissed that the information was found in the first place and refused to give them any information on them at all. Even denied that he knew anything. Orlando didn’t believe it for a second. He went into a deep dive and he was the one to send the message to the Chameleon team through a secure site or something. He wasn’t very clear, and the links he saved don’t work, they come back as corrupt. One even tried to release a virus into the system that we kept back and dealt with. Whoever they are, they’re not taking any chances.”
“He requested them or did he try to make it seem like he was Russian?”
“He tried to make himself sound like Ivan. The only reply he got was a request for what information he could provide them, with no guarantee of assistance. He gave them all the details of what’s going on here, that he wanted them to come and have them take out the rest of us so the Russians can take over the city. A large reward was offered for their help, but no set amount was given.”
“He probably didn’t want Ivan getting wind of it if he had to figure out how to come up with the money,” Nico grunts.
“That, and he probably didn’t want them to start asking too many questions and putting a target on his own back if they figure out he’s impersonating Ivan.”
“And there’s no other communication other than that one?” I ask.
Urso shakes his head. “Radio silence. Not even an acknowledgment of the details he gave. He tried to find more information, but again, nothing. He and Giovanni brought it up to Ivan again. Ivan still refused to even acknowledge that he knew anything.”
“It’s a Russian word that we found, so whoever they are, Ivan has to know who they are,” Papa agrees. “I’ve had our men looking into them as much as possible, and what I’ve been able to figure out is that whoever they are, they’re a group that works in the shadows and few talk about them. When they do, it’s with respect and even fear. The general consensus is you don’t want them showing up. When that happens, people die, even those you don’t think could. There is a rumor deep in the dark web that the Chameleon team is responsible for the death of head Pakhan back in Russia in the biggest territory.”
“Armarov?” I ask, arching a brow in surprise. “I thought he died of a heart attack.”
“That’s what everyone said, but there are rumors that he was assassinated, and they used the heart attack angle to cover it up because it would bring shame on the family otherwise to know that someone could get in and assassinate their Pakhan. Who paid for that with his life. His son took over, and he tried to have them found, but nothing, and he can’t make a big thing about it, or people will talk and figure it out.”
“And it doesn’t look like they took the job if there’s no communication back. It could be that they figured out that itwas Orlando and not Ivan, so they’re ignoring it. And with Rori talking to them, it could be that we’ve swayed them to stay out of it,” Alonzo points out.
Papa looks at Urso. “And is there anything on Orlando and Giovanni’s plans?”
“Orlando doesn’t have much on Leonardo or Esposito’s movements. I’m not sure if that’s because he doesn’t care, or if just focused more on his own and Marco. For Giovanni, the plan is to have Ivan help launch an attack on all families, including us, but also Marco and Leonardo. One big sweep to take them all out. They’ve been secretly bringing in soldiers from other families in the surrounding states. He’s not really clear on how Ivan is managing that, though. Just that the numbers are starting to grow.”
“Wanna bet that Ivan is only saying that to keep them quiet?” Dante scoffs. “The Russians in the other states don’t play nice with each other. They all act like they’re better off without the others. I doubt they’d be okay with just changing course now.”
“Unless Ivan is promising new routes or bigger payouts,” Nico points out. “If Ivan knows about those secret routes in all the territories, and I imagine that was one of the ways Giovanni convinced him to work with them in the first place, it’s something he can offer up for the alliances.”
“Zeno, get to work on finding out what you can about Ivan’s movements, and if there is any chatter about the other Russians around having an alliance,” Papa orders. Zeno nods, pulling out his phone.
“What do we know about Marco?”
“It was Orlando who told Marco about Sinead in the first place. She was posting on secret sites and forums about being unhappy with her father, her situation, and wanting an out. Orlando had no use for her, but he knew that Marco was easily manipulated, so he encouraged him to pursue her. Though Idon’t think either of them expected her to be a psychopath, but Marco enjoys her. Pissed Orlando off in his notes, too. He was calling Marco an idiot for thinking with his cock and not sticking to the plan completely.”
“He’s a fucking good actor because when everything went down at Nico’s wedding, he looked just as surprised as the others about what was going on,” Alessio remarks thoughtfully.
“I think he was surprised that it was all happening so quickly. According to what I saw, he was planning on getting the whole thing going a month or two later, once he knew where Gia was going to end up. He never saw Nico kidnapping her and marrying her. He also thought that Marco would stick with Leonardo a little longer, take him out from the inside, and not separate from him completely by going off and trying to connect her to us. He was pissed and told Marco he was on his own for a bit, but Marco convinced him that he would be his second in command once this all got done. Not that Orlando was ever going to allow for that to happen. His plan has always been to be on top, he’s just going about it more carefully than Marco did.”
“He always was a stubborn fucker,” Nico agrees. “Growing up, I remember being at an event and them all being there, and while I kept to myself, they were trying to goad me into a fight. Orlando kept his mouth shut, but he’d do the subtle things, say things that wouldn’t immediately come off as confrontational, that kind of thing to get a rise out of you. Pretty sure though he’s the one that stabbed his brother for touching his things when they were younger. The youngest one.”
“Emilio,” Dante supplies.
“And Orlando is in the wind now?” I ask.
Urso and Dante both nod. “There’s some chatter that Giovanni is pissed that he’s not answering his calls, but he believes that Orlando is just trying to figure out the best way to get revenge,” Dante explains.
