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Bruno’s voice lowers. “A rat. Do we even know if it’s just one?”
“Good point. This does seem like it’s different from the other issues.”
Bruno says, “More preparation and planning. More targeted. Everything else has been smash and grab. One-off hauls.”
I’m impressed. “You did well, getting the security guy to talk to you at least.”
Bruno laughs. “It was Carlo’s idea, naturally. I just beat him to it.”
“Did you get any more from him?”
“He said it looked more like a demonstration.”
“How do you mean?”
“Like someone is showing the fact that they knew enough to breach the club. The security guy said, if a hacker breaks into a system and he does it for a payoff, he’ll show something he took or something he can do to the owners of the system, to prove he’s got their secrets. He’s got the keys to all of their vaults. Then he gives them a way to pay in a digital currency or whatever — or sometimes even a truck full of cash, and nobody ever hears about it.”
“Okay…” I think I’m following.
“If you hear about a breach or you see a news item about one, that usually means the negotiations went to shit and now the hacker’s just wrecking everything out of spite.”
He pauses. “Either that, or the aim all along was purely to do damage. To break things in a way that hurts and humiliates the owner.”
“Like it was targeted. And the loot was just a bonus. You think that’s what this was?”
“It’s definitely going to make things tough between us and the twelve tribes.”
I nod. “True.”
Bruno says, “Like I told you, when the news hit, Carlo and me were blindsided. We felt the change of air like a freezing blast.”
“You think this could be someone aiming to fuck up the Cascades Resort deal.”
“Everybody is jealous about it. Some people are definitely sore.”
“I agree.” I tell him.
“And, why the Sun-a-do? It’s a tough nut to crack. It took planning and preparation. Taking out one of our trucks is way easier. Probably a better return, too.”
I remind myself to pay a quiet visit to Sun-a-do. There’s a case of Tai’s favorite rare maple syrup that I’ve been saving.
“I heard about you and Alessio mixing it up with the hoodlums in there. Are you okay?”
“We’re both fine.” “At least, we’re fine physically.”
I’m not sure how to talk about what’s going on between Alessio and me. The dynamics of our four-cornered relationship are always complicated. Usually in good, or at least exciting ways. But whenever there’s real drama, Alessio is always near the center of it.
Outwardly he’s man enough to know that he’s not the best person to be in charge, and that I am. Deep down, he knows that if he had total control, he would totally fuck everything up. but he never lost the sense that all the power got snatched away from under his nose.
We’ve talked about it. He knew from way back that it should never really have been his anyway but he grew up expecting to get it so, even though I think he knows how hopeless he would be if he were in charge, he wanted it. That is a complicated mess of feelings he has to juggle. I understand that much. And I certainly know what it is to feel thwarted. Cheated by an unfair system.
The look that comes on his face when he’s conflicted and trying to hold all that together makes me love him even more. He’s not the brightest of our quople, but I do adore him.
Bruno says, “We can get by without the cascades deal, right?”
“We can. But if the Twelve Tribes decide not to go ahead with us, then they’ll be likely to partner with Don Romano or Don Pucci.”
He says, “They’ll get bigger and be more powerful. Is that a catastrophe?”
