August
“You’re many things, Sasha but you’ll never be just arm candy. I promise you I will find her. My father…” I hissed, realizing I shouldn’t have said anything. I pulled her into an embrace but she pushed me away.
“Your father what?”
“He’s attempting to locate her. He has significant and very influential friends, much more so than your father and several of them owe him a favor. We should know something soon.”
“I hope to God you’re right or I will get the answer from my father myself. There is nowhere that asshole can hide.”
The phone interrupted the conversation and instantly my hackles were raised, seeing Lorenzo’s number on the screen.
She glared down at the phone, snorting. “I’ll leave.”
“Stay.” I no longer cared what she knew. “Lorenzo. This had better be good. Please tell me you found the fucker.”
“No, although my father was very interested. The reason for my call is that you’re going to want to catch the morning news. Check NBC.” There was a level of fury I rarely heard in his voice.
Immediately I stormed toward the television, flicking on the remote. “What the hell am I supposed to be seeing.”
“Just wait,” he hissed. “And be prepared. That’s all I can say.”
“What’s going on?” Sasha asked, moving closer to the television.
“I don’t fuckin’ know.” When the commercial finally ended, the sight of Drummand’s face standing on a platform, various law enforcement by his side sent an immediate chill down my spine. This was on the national news. Fucking fantastic. “What the fuck is he doing?”
“Just wait,” Lorenzo huffed.
I scanned the screen, able to see Dick Markus standing in the background. While he had a smug look on his face, he seemed disinterested in the proceedings.
The small crowd of mostly reporters jumped closer to the makeshift stage, jutting their microphones in front of Drummand.
Drummand waved his hand, a huge smile crossing his face. He looked directly into the cameras. I could see the smirk in his eyes. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m Senator Drummand Morales of the great state of New York. As many of you are aware, I’ve been involved with cleaning up the streets of New York for some time. I take pride in the fact that we’ve been able to reduce crime by almost ten percent in the last year alone. That is why I’m very proud to announce a joint taskforce, headed by the organized crime units for both New York and Chicago. We are very close to several indictments involving members of two highly noted crime families. With our success, this will pave the way into other task force units, erasing aspects of organized crime all across our country.”
“This has to be a joke,” Sasha whispered.
“What in the hell.” My grip on the counter increased as pictures of my father and Carmine Francesco popped up on the screen.
“They’re a little out of their jurisdiction, aren’t they?” Lorenzo hissed. “Imagine what the other boys will think. They could be playing one of us against the other.”
This was a damn good possibility. Why not have the various regimes fight it out amongst themselves? For that, he’d need some significant help.
“You heard anything on your front?” I asked, studying every person standing on the platform. There were some dudes in suits, but from what I could tell, they weren’t Feds.
“You know my father. He says little. Nothing on the streets here yet. This is coming from your end, brother, but the ramifications are shit.”
“Uh-huh. Talk to your father and I’ll talk to mine. We may need to set up a meeting of the group.” I exhaled as Sasha walked closer, staring at the photographs in a horrified manner. “The trickledown effect will be coming.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of,” Lorenzo huffed. “We need to take care of this quickly.”
“What is going on?” Sasha whispered.
“As you know,” Drummand continued, “there have been recent bombings in several casinos run by both families. This is only the latest in crime-related activities causing the death of several innocent people. With confirmed sources, we have proof of drug-related activity as well, centering on the casinos.”
“Fuck!” I slammed my hand on the counter.
“He’s insane if he thinks he’s going to get away with this,” Lorenzo hissed.
“He will be dealt with as necessary,” I countered, able to tell she knew exactly what I meant by the harsh statement.
Sasha placed her hand on my arm, but there was no crying hysterically or begging me not to take her father’s life.
There was utter silence.
The man droned on with far too many details for my comfort level, making certain that both the Francesco and the Gonzalez family were placed on notice, but this appeared to be the beginning. He was ceremoniously daring us to continue operations on any level.
Fuck him.
“While there will be no additional details given and I will not be answering any questions at this time,” Drummand said, his smile more like a smirk as he faced the main camera, leaning forward, “but I assure you, the indictments will hold.” With that, he walked off the platform.
A cold chill swept down my spine. He’d called my bluff. He’d also just put an end to his world.
One way or another.