Page 48

“I’ve got specifics on Bruno.” He taps the tablet and turns it toward me. The screen shows a satellite photograph of a white stone structure built into a hillside. He swipes to a letterhead with an Italian medical registry beneath it. Below that is a name.

Clinica Caritas, Naples.

“We believe he runs an organ harvesting operation through this facility. It’s been active for eighteen months, but we believe it’s been run with a legitimate license and a legitimate staff. It lets him do his completely illegitimate stuff with a perfect cover.”

The words hit like an uppercut. As I shoot up to a sitting position, the lancing pain barely registers.

Nico’s last sentence lands heavily. “If we dig deeper, we may find confirmation linking him to Matteo Romano’s murder.”

I give him a look that says we’ll discuss that later. Lucia has gone rigid. Without a word, she crosses to the window, her arms wrapped around herself as she stares out through the dark glass.

“How did you find this out?”

“My contact in Interpol says they’re building a case. Their window closes in about three weeks.”

Three weeks sounds like enough time to act before the global police agency turns this whole thing into a diplomatic incident.

I exhale to clear my mind, feeling a dull heat as my wound presses against the bandage. There’s only one choice left here, and I’m not going to let it slip away. “I’m going to Naples.”

Nico starts to speak, but I cut him off. “Billy’s been hammering Bruno’s network from here for three days and can’t get in. It’s geofenced, locked to a router inside the clinic. The only way into his system is a device on his own Wi-Fi, on his own soil. That means someone on the ground.”

Nico’s eyes flick to the bandage across my shoulder and back to my face.

He opens his mouth, then closes it again. Debating the physical limitations of Marco Santori has a poor success rate.

Lucia, however, has none of that history to restrain her. She has no restraint in general.

“You can’t go to Naples in your current condition.” Surprise threads through her tone. “You were shot less than twenty-four hours ago.”

“I’ll manage.”

“That’s not medically advisable.”

“This mission isn’t optional.”

She studies me before walking over, plopping back into the chair beside the bed, and nodding. “Fine, but I’m going with you.”

I couldn’t be more caught off guard if she grabbed a fork and stabbed my fresh wound.

“No.”

“I wasn’t asking. And you can’t expect me to wait here and slowly go out of my mind when I don’t even have work to keep me busy.”

“You’re a civilian.”

She tilts her head, letting me know that yes, I’m technically correct but also ridiculous for thinking that way. “As opposed to what? You being a five-star military general?”

“Lucia…”

“I’m the only person in this room who’s read Matteo’s full case file. I speak enough Italian to pass in a medical setting, and I have the credentials to get into a private medical facility without raising flags.”

She pauses to allow the information to settle.

Despite her valid points, I still can’t accept the idea. “You aren’t coming, and that’s final.”

She’s shaking her head before I’m done. “You don’t make the final call, Marco.”

I turn to Nico for some help, but he’s barely managing to hide his delight. His mouth twitches at the corner. “She makes some sense, Marco.”