Page 285 of Marcello

Niccolo held up the silver flip phone. “If the mole knew Fausto was dead, he could have called us at any point and told us what Cesare was planning – but he didn’t. He waited until the last fucking minute to warn us. Why?”

“Maybe he didn’t know what was going on until it happened,” Sofia suggested.

It was the first time she’d spoken up –

But as soon as she did, all eyes were on her.

Niccolo looked at his wife like Come ON. “This guy helped Cesare kill Don Amato, but he had no idea what Cesare was planning afterwards? How likely is that?”

“Not likely at all, but it’s still a possibility.”

“When you worked for Fausto, did you know everything he was planning?”

“Yes, but I was his consigliere. Is this mole his consigliere?”

“The Camorra don’t use consiglieres,” Niccolo replied. “Different power structure. But my guess is the mole still knew everything.”

“Do your foot soldiers know everything you’re planning?” Sofia asked.

“No,” Niccolo said impatiently, “but like I said, he’s been in Cesare’s crew for seven years. He’s most likely very highly placed.”

Sofia shrugged. “If you say so.”

Niccolo turned back to Dario. “Whatever else the mole is doing, I can guarantee he’s got an angle. Maybe he thought, I bet I can make a quick buck on this. Who knows. What I do know is, he wants something – and if we give it to him, we’ll get whatever we want.”

“Then let’s go get him,” Dario said threateningly, “because I want Cesare Caproni… alive.”

92

Half an hour later, the Widow’s foot soldiers arrived in a small fleet of bulletproof cars.

Dario had decided that Dante – the capo of Florence who had helped the brothers kill Fausto – would remain in Tuscany and use a small group of foot soldiers to keep order.

Another dozen men would stay with Rachel to help guard Alessandra, Bianca, Caterina, Mei-ling, and Sofia, but everyone else would go to Naples.

The brothers said goodbye to their wives, and then everyone – the Rosolinis and their men, Lucia, and the guys from Venice – left the hospital.

Normally it took four and a half hours to drive from Florence to Naples, but we were able to make it in just over three. It was very early in the morning and there was no traffic – and thanks to Roberto’s bribes, the police left us alone.

I drove the Mercedes with Niccolo and Adriano in it. Since we were on our own separate mission, everyone else was in other cars.

Adriano watched the laptop with the tracker the entire time.

“He keeps driving new places,” he said in bewilderment, “then goes back to the castle every thirty minutes! What the fuck?!”

“I’m switching my bet,” Niccolo said. “I don’t think he’s picking up ammo anymore – I think he’s picking up money, probably from stash houses. Cesare and Lucrezia are worried we’ll show up any second, so they’re making him return after every run to drop off the cash. They don’t want us seizing all their funds in one fell swoop.”

“Why don’t they send a bunch of guys to get the money at one time, instead of one guy making a bunch of trips?”

Niccolo shrugged. “Apparently they don’t trust any of their men except the mole – which lends further credence to my theory that he’s very highly placed.”

Adriano shook his head incredulously. “I don’t get it. I’d trust any one of our guys with millions in cash.”

“Thanks, boss,” I joked from the front seat.

Adriano looked at me in the rearview mirror, but he wasn’t joking. “I trust you with a hell of a lot more than money. I’d trust you with my life – and Bianca’s life, and all of my brothers’, too.”

That touched me.