“The ways of the ‘Ndrangheta can be brutal. I told Lancaster that the only way I would help him was if her could keep my Pia safe. In return for his promise and protection, I promised to weaken the organization. Once she was in New Hampshire and under constant surveillance, I gave him the names of other families and the means to break up the organization.”
“What went wrong? You said earlier that Lancaster appeared to be a good man; you didn’t say he was a good man.”
“At his core, Nathan is a good man. He is a family man who cares for his daughter like I care for mine. But all that money was too much of a temptation.”
“How so?”
“At his insistence, I turned over account numbers to him. Accounts held by—”
“The LaBarbara’s,” Sin said, finishing his thought.
Russo nodded. “Money is everything. The families are weak when they are poor. I saw it as a way to weaken Aria and her family. A way to get even for her threats.”
Sin stood and leaned against the front of the desk. “What did Lancaster do with the account numbers?”
“He drained the accounts.”
“Where is the money?”
“Before I handed over the account information, I pulled out half of the assets and put them in off-shore accounts attached to a shell company that I hold under a litany of aliases. They are untraceable. The other half, his half, I have no idea.”
“What about your family? The Russo family business?”
“My father did not raise a fool, Agent O’Malley. I made sure to give President Lancaster just enough intel on my own family so that he could weaken it, but not enough that he could dismantle it.”
“Smart,” Sin said. “You always need a backup plan.”
Russo nodded and took a drag on his cigarette, the end burning bright red. “A man needs a plan B.”
Sin filed that information away and changed the topic. “If Lancaster promised to keep Pia safe, what went wrong?”
“I don’t know,” Russo mumbled as he stared at the picture of his daughter on the monitor. “Everything went as planned until it didn’t.”
“Do you think Aria is involved in Pia’s kidnapping?”
Russo shrugged. “I’d like to believe she isn’t capable of that, but—”
“But, you think she is. What about the other ‘Ndrangheta families? Would any of them kidnap Pia?”
“No one in the organization would be stupid enough to go up against me.”
“Why? What power do you hold? I would think that the ‘Ndrangheta families hate you for what you did.”
“Some, but not all, Agent O’Malley. But,” he pointed his finger at her, “they all respect me. Everyone knows that if anyone touches my Pia, I would gather those faithful to me and wipe out everyone they love and leave them penniless.” Russo’s eyelids grew heavy. “No,” he shook his head, “if there was anyone inside the organization who would do this, it is Aria.”
“Does Lancaster know who Aria is? Her ties to the ‘Ndrangheta?”
“No. I told him that I, and I alone, controlled the Russo’s and the LaBarbara’s.”
Sin paced the room. “The Jamaicans, where do they come in?”
Again, Russo shook his head. “I don’t know for sure but if I were to hazard a guess, I would say they are just a pawn in the game.”
“Come, again?”
“‘Ndrangheta is known for using gangs to do their dirty work. The organization will find a weak group trying to become strong and use them to be their muscle. That way they keep their hands clean.”
An hour later, Sin was on the phone with Frank. “Is that everything?” he said.
“Everything I know so far.”
“You think Aria LaBarbara is pulling the strings?”
“If I was to believe Dominic Russo, but he is so bitter, he would blame Aria if a dog pissed on his shoe.”
“Where does that leave us with Russo?”
“I’m going to follow up on his gut feelings. Who knows, he might be right. Right or wrong, I want him close.”
“Why?”
“The old adage, Frank. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”
She could hear Frank sigh on the other end of the phone. “I’ve never known your instincts to be wrong, so I’ll give you a little leeway.” Changing the subject, Frank asked about Pia. “Are you any closer to finding Pia?”
“I have a lead. Troy is looking into it now.” Frank began talking when her phone buzzed. “Troy’s calling, I gotta go.”
“Don’t hang up on me, Sin.”
“Bye, Frank.”
29
Three hours later, Sin rode her bike up a dirt road along the edge of Area 3, the southernmost point of the Florida Everglades in Miami-Dade County. She spotted Troy’s truck up ahead parked next to a flat-bed. Standing beside the trucks were Troy and Danny.
She barely had time to get off her bike before Danny grabbed her in a bear-hug. “You’re the only girl I know that’s hotter now than in high school.”
She broke the hug. “You don’t get around much.” His infectious laugh made her smile.
“Seriously, Sin, you still look amazing.”
Sin rolled her eyes and looked over his shoulder at an airboat sitting on a trailer attached to the flat-bed. “Do you need help putting your boat in the water?”
Danny walked toward the back of the boat. “If you and the big guy over here can just untie the front leads when I ask you to, I can handle the rest.”
She and Troy did as they were asked. While Danny was readying the boat, it gave them a chance to recap the events since they parted.
“Damn,” Troy said after Sin told him what transpired after he left the Keys. “Talk about nasty divorces.”
“Just another business transaction gone bad.”
“You really think Russo wanted to divest himself of the family business? Maybe he’s not the do-gooder he claims to be.”
“Maybe not,” Sin answered, “but one thing I am sure of, he loves his daughter.” Changing the subject, she added, “How did it go in Key West? Did you find Tiffany and
