Page 82 of Capuleto

Something was happening that I was missing, and I wasn't sure what it was. Since we entered the restaurant, I had been turning everything over in my mind, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was missing something important.

The Chinese were too calm. No one who messes with the Bratva and the 'Ndrangheta can be calm, unless they had an ace up their sleeve, and if that was the case, what kind of card was it that made them so steady?

According to Huang, Cheng was acting on his own, and his father was unaware of most of his activities. Not even of Nikita's kidnapping, which Huang claimed, when he accompanied us upstairs, to be unaware of.

Either he was a professional liar, or he was telling the truth, because his face showed no hesitation.

R was still suspicious, Koroleva was still suspicious, Aleksa was still suspicious, and my suspicion was the size of a damned shell.

As soon as we left, Romeo wanted to go see the men at the hospital. He received a call from Segarra asking about what had happened, as it had caught him in the middle of his shift. The cops wanted to question him and asked him to stop by the station. Aleksa told him he would take care of going to the hospital to check on the guys and question them again. My boss asked me to accompany him and said that when we were done, I could sleep at her place if there was no room at the guys' place. She added a "be careful" that gave me a chill, I asked the same of her and earned a squeeze of her hand on my forearm.

At the hospital were the men who had suffered multiple traumas and the most serious injuries. The others were discharged. We could only talk to three, the other two were sedated, including the guy Aleksa attended to and who, finally, had to have his arm amputated. No one seemed to have seen anything strange.

The nurse interrupted us in the last interrogation and kicked us out, claiming that the patients needed to rest.

Aleksa's fist embedded itself in the hallway wall as soon as we left the room.

"Fucking hell!" he exclaimed, resting his forehead against the plaster that was supposed to be white but looked yellowish.

Three men had died, those closest to the vehicles. Whoever had attacked us had meant to do harm.

"When your men fall, it's fucking shit," I admitted, leaning against the wall beside him. I didn't like seeing him suffer. Especially because I knew how he felt.

"They were more Dante's men than mine," he pointed out. "He led the Angeli dall'inferno."

"Even so, you knew them all, it's logical that it affects you."

"These men are my family; I've lived among them for many years."

"I also lost many of mine, in a different way, in combat, before entering Koroleva's service. It was very hard."

"In war, no one wins, both sides lose. Only those at the top, watching from their very expensive chairs, savoring liquors unattainable for most, enjoy the game."

"True," I corroborated, "they fill their mouths with 'for your country,' 'for your homeland,' 'for your family,' and omit the 'to see who has the biggest dick.' That's why I accepted what Koroleva offered me, she didn't lie to me."

Aleksa nodded.

"Do you mind if we go for some beers and keep talking while we eat something? I need them." I was tempted to say no, because it wasn't a good idea for the two of us to be alone. But I knew exactly what might be going through his head and I couldn't refuse when he needed me so much. I hadn't been by his side with Dante, and he deserved to feel someone's support. "Forget it, I don't want charity," he sighed when he saw I didn't respond immediately.

"Sorry. I got lost in thought. Let's go, I'll join you."

We went to a food truck that served beers and hot dogs. Aleksa said it was the best place for tasty junk food. The huge sandwiches were seasoned with ketchup, mustard, pickles, and crispy onions. We sat on a wooden bench to dig in. The place was already closing; we were the last customers, and in no time, we were alone, devouring our improvised dinner in silence.

I didn't like seeing Aleksa so down, I wanted to pull him out of the loop, but it was he who asked the question that brought me back to the present.

"Do you think Huang told the truth?"

"It didn't seem like he was lying," I replied, breaking the prevailing silence.

"Neither did I, and that worries me."

He took half the hot dog in one bite. I imitated him and washed it down with a few sips of beer.

“What do you think about the Vitale? Do you think Don Giuliano might have a reason to want to take down his brother-in-law and make it look like an affront from the Chinese?” Aleksa suggested.

“Don Giuliano is a bastard, but the 'Ndrangheta operates differently. No, I don't think he's behind it.”

“Revenge from some enemy?” I insisted.

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