Page 96 of Guarded

“¿Como te llamas?” she asks.

“Nero,” I whisper.

“My name is Vicky. Vicky Torres. That’s my brother Joaquin up there.” She pulls out a long cigarette and brings it to her mouth.

“Are you going to hurt her?” my voice trembles.

I hated Evangeline, but she was the only thing I knew.

“Did she hurt you?” Vicky arches her brows, looking at my swollen eye.

“Yes.”

“Then yes. I’m gonna make sure she pays for everything she’s ever done to you.” She removes the rosary around her neck and places it on me.

That day was the first day of my new life. Vicky had pulled me out of hell and given me a home free of neglect and torture. She and her boyfriend Masa took me in and introduced me to the Motorcycle club.

My loyalty to the club was the only reason I was here. Sitting in the booth of a rundown diner on the outskirts of Houston. I tuck the rosary back into my shirt and listen to Benji ramble on.

“We had it all wrong. The department had me searching everywhere for a Don. But they fucked up big time. The leader is a woman.” Benji says with a thick New York accent.

He stops for some dramatic effect, but I’m not surprised. Growing up with Vicky taught me there were plenty of women running shit in Criminal Organizations.

“They call herLa Civetta.” He continues.

“Who is she?”

“She’s the eldest daughter of Don Rosario Messina. We thought the Messina Crime family died out when Rosario waskilled. The Messina family used to be notorious here in the south. The daughter, La Civetta, was married to Lucio Biondini.”

Benji slides over a picture of a man in a suit surrounded by a woman and her three small children. Something about the woman was oddly familiar.

“Lucio was killed by the cartel, creating some bad blood between the Italians and Mexicans. She was forced to flee to Chicago with her three sons. But she’s been waiting to return. That’s why they call her La Civetta, it means owl in Italian. Now that her sons are older, she wants to reclaim her city.” He hands me another photo, and I recognize one of the men as the owner of the restaurant Verdis.

“This is one of the sons?” I ask, staring at the picture.

He’s around my age, has a muscular build, slick black hair, and is dressed in a designer green suit.

“That’s the youngest son, Cesidio. The middle one here is Massimo. He’s running against Preston Cuevas for the councilman position. The oldest one is Savino. He’s the one who will take his mother’s place at the head of the Mafia.”

“Where do the Russians and Cassiel fit into all this?” I ask, using Leatherface’s government name.

“When the cartel forced La Civetta out of Texas, the Russians took advantage and seized most of the Italian’s operations for themselves. Something they aren’t willing to give back. I wasn’t sure about Cassiel. Thought maybe it was a fucking coincidence. Then I found this snooping through Cesidio’s office.” He hands me a small piece of paper with a note.

You never came back for me.

I need answers.

Genesis Fernandez.

“What the hell is this?” I look over the note.

“That’s what I wanna know. Were you aware of your president’s involvement with Miss Fernandez? There are things even he can’t hide from Law Enforcement.” Benji questions.

He hands me another paper. Evaluation notes from the Harris County Psychiatric Center. I read over the document.

Complete Evaluation

by Dr. Timothy Newton

---