Page 117 of Cartel Viper
Second son?
Marco.
What the fuck did I ever do to him? Does he even know I’m involved?
“¿Qué quieres hacer al respecto?” What do you want to do about it?
I didn’t understand any of what Misha said.
“Revienta toda su porquería. Supongo que le compraron esto para venderlo en Buffalo o Rochester y expandirse. Se arriesgaron a enfadar a los pelirrojos. No me sorprendería que no le hayan comprado desde hace tiempo. Probablemente así es como te pagaron por la información.” Blow all their shit up. My guess is they bought this shit from him to sell in Buffalo or Rochester to expand. They risked pissing off the redheads to do it. It wouldn’t surprise me if they haven’t been buying from him for a while. It’s probably how they paid you for the information.
Javi spoke way too fast. I didn’t catch anything besides the two cities.
“Tienes que descubrir lo que sabe.” You need to find out what he knows.
“No jodas. Lo haré.” No shit. I will.
“Manténganos informados.” Keep us informed.
I understand the last thing Javi said and what Misha responded with. Javi basically grunts. He’s not promising the bratva anything more.
“Como sea. Guarda tus secretos. Vaciamos sus cuentas. Los bancos están vacíos. También las cajas fuertes de sus restaurantes y clubes de striptease. Conseguimos lo que buscábamos. Están desesperados por averiguar qué pasó.” Whatever. Keep your secrets. We cleared out their accounts. The banks are empty. So are the safes in their restaurants and strip clubs. We got what we came for. They’re scrambling to figure out what just happened.
“Gracias.”
Javi sounds seriously pained to say thank you to Misha.
“De nada, cabrón.” You’re welcome, asshole.
“Vete a la mierda.” Fuck off.
They end the call with Misha laughing. They just hang up on each other. I’m certain countless calls have ended that way.
“Let’s head to the hotel then the airport.”
We flew up here. A few of their men drove up in the SUVs. They set off before dawn to meet us here. They’re waiting down the block just in case. Javi and his family wanted their custom vehicles as a precaution. Better safe than sorry.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Javier
We made it back from Albany last night without incident. I didn’t love having Maddy with us, but it wound up profitable. The stuff in the safe was a windfall we already have out for distribution. The money’s in our offshore accounts. We know the bratva did more than just steal a shit ton of money—though not as much as the street value of the stuff we took—they also ransacked several O’Sheehan establishments. They took them down to the studs. It’ll be an expensive endeavor with a lot of scrambled answers and lies to explain what happened.
It pissed Maks off to discover their warehouse was gone, but he accepted our reprisal. We worked together in Albany, but that’s only because we had separate tasks. The truce was temporary. No one in my family is looking to be buddy-buddy with them, and the feeling is still mutual. But those portions of the problem—the O’Sheehans and the bratva—are resolved. It’s the Mancinellis who still need their asses handed to them.
I’m at Joaquin’s while he’s been digging to find out what the deal is. As best we can tell, Marco wanted to expand the Mancinellis’ influence upstate because he’s in a snit oversomething Shane and Sean did. The twins bought stock in a biotech company he wanted, then flipped their shares for a hefty profit, which is what Marco planned. To get back at them, he wanted to give Drew a bigger share of the market. He also wanted the Albany Italians to remember the Mancinellis are either with them or against them. I don’t know what they did to piss off Salvatore—I couldn’t give a shit—but they’re against the Scarpacis right now.
“Do you know whether Marco was aware of Maddy?”
“As best I can tell, he knew there was a woman running drugs, but I don’t think he knew it was Madeline.”
“He knew there was a woman who could’ve been caught in the crossfire.”
“Yeah, but you know how that goes. They’re one step below female mercenaries who are completely fair game. We try to avoid the female mules, but they know the risks they take.”
He’s right, but I hate hearing it since it reminds me of how much danger Maddy faced. I think she was only aware of the threat law enforcement posed. I don’t think she fully realized she could’ve died at the hands of a rival, and it would’ve been deemed justifiable if it wasn’t just killing for the sake of killing. That’s fine for a male mark, but women aren’t supposed to be targeted to send a point or for shits and giggles.
“So, you got nothing that links Marco to Maddy?”
