Page 130 of Ready to Cash Out

He flipped through them to make sure they were all accounted for and then pulled an old yellowed folder stamped FBI full of typewritten pages.

A quick skim of the documents revealed a very familiar name.

His mother’s.

“What is this?” Trev demanded.

“Charlie came through with some valuable information,” Cold said. “I know why she wanted to go into witness protection.”

Trev flipped through the pages, but it was a bunch of legal gibberish. “Why?”

“She witnessed Federico Luchesi kill three men here in Strassen Springs. She went to the police and the detective assigned to the case was on the family’s payroll. The Luchesi family had no real love for Feddy, and they did everything they could to make sure your mother would take the stand and put him away.”

“Why not just kill him?”

“A promise made to Rafaello Luchesi, the Don at the time. Federico was his favorite cousin and the other members of the family couldn’t allow him to know they had any involvement in his incarceration. So, they helped your mother apply for witness protection to make sure she testified.”

“Okay.” Trev frowned. “So, what the fuck happened?”

“I did.” Cold smirked slyly. “The Don was murdered, the family fell out of power, and their influence followed once I took over the city. The case was dropped. Your mother had already moved to Perry City by then, no doubt because the family wanted to keep an eye on her.”

“Some fucking witness protection. They literally had her move into their territory.”

“At the time, it was truly for her benefit. Federico could have been a viable contender to lead the family after Rafaello’s death, and most of his support was in Strassen. Moving her to one of their other strongholds was meant to protect her.”

“And no one bothered coming after her or me after the case was dropped? Why risk a loose end like that?”

“An excellent question. You see, most of the senior family members who knew about it died.” Cold’s smile indicated he was somehow responsible or at least very happy about it. “Enough time passed that no one else cared anymore. Federico was eventually arrested for another crime and then killed in prison. I imagine the only reason it’s coming up now is because former special agent Champignon is very eager to punish me.”

“What did you do to him? Run over his dog?”

“He failed to convict me some time ago and took it very personally,” Cold replied. “In addition to fueling the Luchesi family’s meager drug operation, he has likely been searching for anything else at the bureau that he could use against me.”

“He finds these files, reads about my mom…” Trev flinched. “Reads about me.”

“He must have been confident that we were related to put you on the family’s radar.” Cold shrugged. “That or pathetically desperate.”

Trev scrubbed his hands over his face. “So. My mom lied about this, about Boris, about everything, trying to keep me safe from the fucking mob whose fucking town we moved to. I don’t get it. Why didn’t she just leave Perry City?”

“It could be because the family was still watching her.”

Trev snorted. “Yeah? Who?”

“Juicy.”

Trev laughed. “What?”

“Juicy Cusack was a hitman who often worked for the Luchesi family,” Cold said slowly. “Do you think it was a coincidence he moved in right next door to you?”

“What?” Trev laughed again. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“You have him in your photographs.” Cold nodded at the stack. “I’m surprised you never noticed.”

“No way.” Trev grabbed the photographs, frantically flipping through them.

The old man at the park…

Trev squinted.

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