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“None of you like the idea of mafia connections.Fritz could just be bad luck and the Evil Fuckers got lucky, or it’s exactlywhat we’re about to face. The mafia.”

Dirty looked toward Warden and had a feeling therewas something he wasn’t telling them. He wasn’t going to ask him.

Warden was thinking, debating, working outstrategy, and then he sat forward again. “If I am right, and Diablo is Fritz’storturer, that narrows down the people he works for. He’s a lot of money. Somepeople think of him as more of a ghost. He goes in, gets the job done, andleaves without a trace.”

“Other than a body?” Colt asked. “And a burned-uphouse?”

“But no one knows it’s him. There is never anyevidence, nothing tying it to him or to his bosses. He’s that good.”

“If he’s that good, how come I’ve never heard ofhim?” Colt said.

Warden looked toward his son. “Because there aresome circles that do not mix well, you know this, and stop behaving like achild.”

This always pissed Colt off. It rarely happenedwhere Warden would call him out on his shit, but even he had to admit Colt wasbeing a brat. The man had a reason to be acting that way. His home was gone.All that hard work ended within a few hours.

“Okay, so if we’re to believe this Diablo fuckeris the person that hurt Fritz and set fire to Colt’s house, who would he beworking for?” Dirty asked, finally speaking up.

He wanted to know the key threat.

Warden sat back, doing that long thinking thing.

“Don Stefano Napoli,” Warden said.

Dirty looked toward Warden and waited for thepunch line or the joke. There was nothing. No one was laughing now. Don StefanoNapoli was one of the most feared men in the mafia. He was also one of theyoungest Italian bosses ever. Even though he didn’t follow mafia politics, he’dheard stories about the man. He’d never met him. In fact, there were rarely anyimages of him to see. The man was a mystery, and to many a legend.

“Why would he get involved with MC politics?” Coltasked. “It makes no sense.”

“It makes sense if Daemon was in business withhim,” Warden said. “He is the only one who would have total control overDiablo.”

“Wouldn’t he more likely be the one doing thekilling?” Myth asked.

Warden shrugged. “That is all I know and I’m goingbased on fucking thin air.” He pushed out his chair and began to pace. “Theonly one who will know for sure is Fritz, and if he is able to wake up andremember, that is also a long shot.”

Dirty took a deep breath and then leaned forward.“So, what do we do?”

****

Petal made her way into the bathroom to find Tanyaon her back, inspecting one of the sink pipes.

“Let me guess, it was leaking?” Petal asked.

Tanya laughed. “Kind of, and I don’t see the pointin telling someone when I can simply tighten it, and ta-da, job done.”

Petal smiled. “How are you holding up?”

“Oh, you mean being in a clubhouse with a load ofmen I don’t know, my daughter falling in love with all of them because sheloves the company?It’s fine. It’s notgood, I hope we’re not here too long, but it’s fine. It sounded serious on thephone, and I cannot believe Rosalie has lost her home,” Tanya said. Shefinished tightening the pipe, then she got to her feet and put her tool in aworking bag. She washed her hands.

“You might want to take a shower,” Petal said.

Tanya laughed. “Don’t worry, I actually cleanedthis whole room which is how I was able to spot the leak.”

“You cleaned it all?”

“Yeah, I don’t make a habit of not cleaning … andyou know, I don’t like mess or muck.”

“And you had children.”

Tanya laughed and it was a strange sound, almosthigh-pitched. “That’s a different kind of mess and besides, I don’t mindLeanna’s mess. There’s something about having toys strewn all over the place,you know?”

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