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“Look, I don’t know what?—”
“Because you already knew what you were going to do. You got the keys to the kingdom from somewhere, didn’t you. Routes, locations, names of contacts. You found a rainbow that really had a pot of gold at the end. Lots of really top grade information. So. You thought; targeted raids, maximum disruption, weaken the Fortuna business empire. Blow holes in the foundations. Then, take over all of our territory, scoop up all the spoils, salvage the remains. Bingo. One giant leap, and you’d be bigger than Don Pucci.”
“Donna Fortuna–”
“Did you have plans for him, too?
“Listen–
“But you chose to play it safe. You wanted to get me out of the way first.”
“Please.”
“I should be flattered. I am flattered. Why not? Your family has been established here as one of the top five at least, for more than fifty years. The Life is in your blood. You’ve been bred to be a capo from generations of capi.”
“I–”
“But you thought I could be that big a threat.”
“Donna–”
“Me! A girl. Seriously, Don Romano, haven’t we come a long way? Hmm? Just five years ago, that would have been unthinkable. I’ll let you into a secret — my daddy thought it was pretty unthinkable, right up to — well. You know how it goes. The mind can get to a certain turning and then — away with the fairies. He seems happy. Considering. Even though he’s lost in a world of delusional shadows and specters. I think a guilty conscience is probably a bad companion for dementia.”
He draws breath to speak, but I get in too fast. “Still. I’m wandering off the point. Do forgive me, Don Romano. You never did tell me. Do you have a favorite?”
“What?” He sounds angry.
“Son. We talked about this before.”
“Stop asking me that. What–”
I shrug. “So. You arranged to get me out of the way, by having me kidnapped. Nice plan with a crash and a fake ambulance.”
I laugh. “You know, if my men hadn’t been stalking me, staking me out the way that they were, you would totally have gotten away with that. Very impressive. And you know the hilarious coincidence? The reason they were shadowing me, staking me out? It was all because of Jago.”
Now he’s listening.
“I know. Amazing. Right? You couldn’t make it up. Somebody found her in East Bumfuck, FLA, and let us know. We told them to keep tabs on her. Of course, they didn’t. Turned out to be a complete nincompoop.” That asshole. “But then, what do you know, she shows up here.” I shake my head. “That must have been when she came to make the deal with you, right?”
He blinks.
I ask, “What did he say, Carlo?”
Carlo says, “He said ‘yes.’”
Don Romano shouts, “What?”
I tell him, “Carlo is a world championship level poker player. He’s reading your face on the phone.” Don Romano’s eyes bulge.
I say, “It’s possible that you found Jago, but I doubt it. All that talk about capitalism, competition and the spirit of enterprise, it’s all very stirring but, deep down, you’re not that much of a pioneer, are you. Not really. No, I think she came to you. She knocked on your door with the pocket full of secrets. And you could not believe your luck.”
I wait.
“Am I right, Carlo?”
“Yup.”
So I go on, “I bet she had a little black book. Yes? She made detailed notes, all the time she was draining Don Fortuna’s balls. Whenever she wasn’t brewing up poisoned gruel — as far as I know, she didn’t set out to poison anyone. She’s just the world’s most horrible cook.
