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“It hasn’t been functioning in a long time,” Nico says, kicking a rock toward the fence.
“What my brother means is we pay people to take care of it now.”
“Even better. You get to enjoy the views without breaking your backs.”
“You wouldn’t catch me dead out in the mud in these boots.” Nico hops lightly over a puddle. “It’d be a waste of good leather.”
I show Carmine the barn, the horses, the cattle, the sheep, and the pigs. The ranch hands introduce themselves but keep their distance. All are Serafino members, sworn to the blood, and well paid too. The second Carmine’s gone, they’ll forget they ever saw him.
We follow a grazing trail toward a hill about a half mile off. Nico tells Carmine funny stories from when we were young, like the time we rode ATVs to a neighboring property to terrorize their children with paintball guns, or the endless stupid dirtbike races through the back country, and all about football games and Vince’s obsessive need to follow every little rule.
“Where is the other brother?” Carmine asks casually. “And your youngest sister, what’s her name?”
“Lia, and you’ll see them at dinner. Vince is at the office and Lia has class. She’s a freshman at the University of Texas here in town.”
“Hell of a family you’ve got.” Carmine whistles as we crest the hill and stop our hike. Ahead, the valley spreads out like fresh laundry. “How much of this is yours?”
“All of it,” I say, feeling pride swell in my heart. “Goes back generations.”
“Our forebearers were bootleggers, gamblers, horse thieves, bank robbers, and shrewd investors,” Nico explains. “They grabbed as much land as cheap as they could and now…” He trails off and lets the sunset do the talking.
It’s beautiful. There are days when I can’t say I love Austin, Texas. The politics, the families, the rivalries, the pain and the death, the blood in this place.
But when I watch the sky turn purple over waving grass and trees swaying in the soft breeze…
Carmine squints out at the distance. “That’s part of why I wanted this job to go to you and your family.” He turns to me, his friendly smile gone. In its place is the Don I met years ago, back when I was still trying to find my way as the young head of the family. This is the man who helped to keep what my ancestors had built together when it felt like I might lose everything.
When I was thrust into this position after my father’s sudden, guilt-ridden death.
And now Carmine’s the key to our future once again.
“The corridor is our priority,” I say, and Nico shrinks into the background. My younger brother knows his place. He’s a part of the deal, running messages and doing minor negotiations with the cartel, but it falls on my shoulders in the end.
“That’s good to hear. You’ve done solid work so far. The Escalante haven’t been as forthcoming with my people over the years and I was about to give up on ever getting a real, steady flow from them.”
“We’ve built our relationship slowly, but we’re in a good place.”
Carmine begins back toward the house, walking slow, head bowed. “You know why I made the trip out here. We’re close to getting this system running. The trucks are in place, the logistics are ready.”
“The politicians are bribed,” Nico adds helpfully.
I ignore him. “Now we have to get the Escalante to start running their product through us. We need deliveries.”
“That’s exactly right.” Carmine’s pace drops to a crawl. He looks more thoughtful, almost like he’s dreading something. A strange, ugly feeling rustles in my stomach from years of dealing with men like him. I know when bad news is coming like a sixth sense. “But they’ve been delaying lately, haven’t they?”
“I noticed,” I admit reluctantly. “They keep coming up with excuses. New problems that need new meetings. I’ve been trying to work through it.”
“You can’t figure out why, right?”
I stop walking. “They said something to you, didn’t they?”
“You understand how our families work. It isn’t only about business.” He gestures at Nico. “It’s about blood. It’s about loyalty. The Escalante are the same. They want to shift resources to our operation, but how do they know it’ll go smoothly? How can they be sure their investment will be worthwhile? These people, the cartels, they don’t think in months or years. They think in generations.”
“That’s always the risk in business,” I say carefully, but this is going somewhere, and I already don’t like it.
“They don’t want short-term, Bass. Don Nardo made it clear that there’s only one piece missing, and it’s a bond that ties all our operations together.”
It hits me in a flash. I can see where Carmine’s going and I don’t want to follow. I don’t want to go anywhere near what’s got to be done. And not because it’s so horrible, but because it’s another chain around my ankles.
