Page 97 of Little Dove

“The one in Russian territory, it’s about two blocks from Ivan’s home,” Lazaro answers. “It’s a restaurant the Russians frequent. Urso pulled the details, and Ivan’s sister-in-law runs it. They mostly serve traditional Russian dishes. The public stays away from it for the most part.”

“How long has it been running?” Aurelio asks.

“Business records show for well over forty years,” he replies. “There is another building behind it, though, that looks like equipment storage. Perfect spot for an entrance into another area. I got up on another building for an aerial view, and there are guards on watch. They’re not obvious, but they’re there.”

“That could be where Ivan does business that he doesn’t want to have in the main house,” Dante offers. “They’re always cagey bastards.”

“Urso, see if you can find anything on that,” Pietro orders. “It could come in handy if the bastard gets away from us.”

“What about the one in our territory?” Nico demands impatiently.

“That one is directly behind you, at a house that is directly opposite the trees you have there. It’s nothing to look at, just a small bungalow house. We checked it out, and it looks like it hasn’t been used in a while, but it’s been kept up. The grass is cut, and only a light layer of dust.”

“Who owns it?” Nico snaps.

“It’s listed in the name of one Draco Carta,” Lazaro replies.

Nico goes still. “That conniving bitch.” He seethes.

“You know who that is, I take it,” Pietro says mildly.

“It’s not a person. It’s a fuck you to me and everyone else. My mother used to call me her little dragon when I was young, and Carta is her mother’s maiden name. She chose that name on purpose.” He whips his head to Dante. “Take trusted men and search it. I don’t care if you have to tear it down in the process. I want to know what she was hiding in there.”

“Done,” Dante says, moving for the door without another word. I stare after him, my head spinning with all this information.

“What about the last one?” Aurelio prompts. “Leonardo’s?”

“That one is another warehouse, and it’s crawling with Leonardo’s men. I almost didn’t manage to get close enough to scope it out. From what I can tell it’s one of their major packaging spots. It looks like a shipping business, and there are trucks in and out of there constantly.”

“Was it always that way, I wonder?” Aurelio wonders.

“According to the records it was, but from what I can see online it’s only been very active in the last decade,” Urso answers. “Information says it’s cargo supplies, home improvement supplies, and a delivery service to businesses only. No residential.”

“And I bet they don’t deliver outside of their own territory, or to the ports,” Pietro says drily. “Keep digging. There has to be a reason that place was marked, and if it’s used that much, there is no way they were meeting there without there being a private area somewhere.”

“Will do,” Lazaro says before the call goes dead.

I turn back to the papers in front of me as the men talk about why those specific places would have been chosen as meet up locations. This whole business is confusing and fascinating at the same time. There are so many little things to consider, and clearly a lot of deception. How do people have the time or brain power for that? And to keep it going for that long? That takes a lot of time and skill.

Rori’s theory of Nico’s mom’s life being mostly an act makes sense.

I keep thumbing through the papers, finding nothing but accounting records, random scribbles that don’t mean anything, and a few notes that talk about orders and inventory. They turn my stomach, but I force myself to keep reading. How can people be this cruel? This vile?

I set the stack I finish aside and grab the last of it out of the trunk. Most of the papers are the same, dated back to a few different years, with certain dates and dollar amounts circled in red ink. “I think she was keeping track of the good years,” I remark, showing the others what I’ve found. “At least in the beginning.” I look at a couple more pages, and I can start to see the patterns. “Okay, yeah, that’s what she was doing,” I say confidently. “If you look at the numbers she circled inthe beginning, then the ones in the following months, she was honing her strategy.”

“Again, she was one sick bitch,” Sienna grunts. On that we can agree.

It’s quiet for a while until we’re finally through the stacks of the papers. There’s no bank account numbers, and nothing identifying anything more about the pinholes on the map.

“That’s it, other than Gia finishing the diary,” Sofia announces. “I didn’t see anything that looked like banking information, but maybe once they scan everything they can find something we missed.”

“It seems odd that she wouldn’t have included the numbers,” Sienna remarks. “I mean, she kept everything else important in here.” She glances at me. “Did you look at the other side of the trunk or the others to see if there were any other hidden compartments?”

I nod. “I checked, but I didn’t see anything. Feel free to check again, though. I might have missed something.”

“I doubt it, but sure, I’ll have another look,” Sienna says, moving to look at the other trunk and the suitcase.

“Wait,” Gia says suddenly, sounding confused. She looks up from the diary in her hands. “I-I think I found something.” Nico moves over to her, standing behind the chair she’s sitting in. “I was reading through one of the passages, and at one point she mentions meeting up with someone, someone that Seamus doesn’t know about. But…listen to this part.Seamus will be so angry with me if he finds out I met with him, but I learned a long time ago to never put everything in one place. A woman must know how to diversify. He has no idea that this isn’t our first meeting. We’ve met so many times. Seamus is wonderful in bed, but there’s something primal about Leo. He’s wild, unpredictable, and it’s nice to surrender once in awhile. I don’t appreciate some of the things he does, but one must dowhat they have to to get what they need. Namely his shipping routes.”

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