Page 14 of Second in Command
“They were in the shadows of the restaurant. Once they noticed we were looking, they hid.”
“Why didn’t you go after them?”
“With Francesca there? I wouldn’t put her in harm’s way.”
Alberto Donato chuckles, spinning left to right in his chair.
“You underestimate my daughter, Enzo.”
“Even so, I didn’t know how many of them were there. It would be dangerous to attack without any backup.”
“It’s always a nice reassurance to know that you consider all of these things before moving ahead.”
“Of course,” I nod, my hands rubbing my chin, “I was taught by the best.”
“There’s this man, a customer at Francesca’s bakery, it’s possible that he has something to do with this.”
Alberto Donato raises his eyebrow, placing both hands in front of him.
“A customer? What do you mean?”
“He bumped into us whilst we were escaping.”
Alberto Donato waits for me to continue, before leaning back in his chair, “Do you think he was following her?”
“There’s something weird about him, Mr. Donato. How in that exact moment could he bump into us? Then he goes on to act all . . . defensive in front of Francesca.”
“Well, was she panicked?”
“She pulled a gun on him when they bumped into each other.”
“Huh,” Alberto places a hand on his forehead, “It’s not uncommon for people to be out in the town on a Friday night, Enzo.”
“I pulled a gun on him at the bakery,” I confess, and Mr. Donato shuts his eyes, rubbing his forehead.
“Do you have a name?”
“Just Michael for now, but don’t worry, I’ll find him.”
“Relay the name when you do, we’ll look into him. In the meantime, we also can’t forget about the rat we have on our hands.”
“You never told me why you suspected that there was one in the first place.”
“Sometimes, I misplace files, and they suddenly reappear at a time during the day. The other day, whilst we’re planning the attack on Romanio, Lorenzo rushed in and informed us that Romanio actually left his home, on the day we were supposed to attack.”
I furrow my eyebrows.
“That would’ve been unsuspicious, except he moved at of his loved ones as well. Now, they’ve gone into hiding, and we have no idea where they’re at.”
“Someone tipped them off.”
“Exactly. And it had to be someone who knew the plans.”
I nod, “We’ll get to the bottom of it. I’ll ask the maids to lend a listening ear around the house, maybe eyes too.”
“What if they don’t do their bids?”
“We need to observe behavior then, that’s the only way for now.”
