Page 167 of Dangerous King
Stephano clicks forward, frame by frame. "Watch."
Ledyanoy Prizrak. Dressed like any of the other guests and holding a phone, steps in behind the crowd like he belongs. He brushes past Kingsley. Shakes his hand. Says something. A smile, perfectly placed.
"That's the tag," Stephano mutters, rewinding and zooming slightly.
"Then a few minutes later…" He fast-forwards. "Here."
On screen, Donna Margarita sidles up to the assassin. They step into a dim alcove near the kitchen corridor. It doesn't look like they're talking. He's looking down at his phone. But then she leans in.
"What does that mean?" Toni asks.
Stephano exhales. "I don't know. But I don't think it was innocent."
I sit back and rub the bridge of my nose.
"Cat saw him," I say.
Both heads turn toward me.
"Ledyanoy Prizrak," I clarify. "At the Giordanos. Only days before Izzy was taken. She didn't recognize him until after the bomb—she remembers the bald head, the eyes. Same man."
Stephano curses under his breath.
"So he was already here," Toni says. "Embedded. Watching us."
I nod. "He wasn't freelance. Not this time. Omertà Infernale gave him the contract and access."
"But who hired Omertà Infernale?" Toni shakes his head.
"Better yet, who runs Omertà Infernale?" Marcello mumbles to no one in particular.
"Could have been Giovanni," Stephano answers Toni. "Or Roberto. Both had reach."
Toni glances at the screen. "What about her?" he asks, chin lifting toward Margarita's image.
Stephano shrugs. "Maybe a messenger. A go-between. I don't see her planting bombs or hiring assassins, but passing information? Facilitating meetings?Thatshe'd do."
"Don't underestimate her. Fabio said she was the one who ordered the hit on Jacomo and me." Marcello reminds us. He's been busy since he was released from the hospital. Not only was he chasing his nurse, he was also trying to find his missing sister. Most recently, he'd eliminated Donna Margarita's lover, Fabio.
"He's right," I nod.
"We should definitely watch her," Toni cautions.
"I am. That woman isn't taking a piss without me knowing," Marcello adds darkly. He still thinks Donna Margarita has something to do with his missing sister, Sophia. It makes sense for him to have his men watch her.
Ledyanoy Prizrak's words before he swallowed the cyanide come back to me.You should really look deeper into La Famiglia, Sartori. Because the ghost you're hunting? Might be a lot closer than you think."We need to find the link between LedyanoyPrizrak and Donna Margarita. They knew each other. How? Why?"
"On it," Stephano cracks his fingers dramatically.
"And her connection with Edoardo," Toni warns. "I still think she blackmailed him into marrying her daughter. What does she have on him?"
"He's right," I agree. "There is a connection, but let's not forget that both are playing for different teams. So both could be planning things independently."
"That makes the capos what?" Stephano asks, looking up from his computer. When we don't answer, he shares his thoughts. "Collateral damage," he finishes darkly.
"Okay, so let's say Edoardo is trying to eliminate the capos," Marcello picks up Stephano's hypothesis, "for whatever reason," he raises his hands in surrender, because, yeah, I can't see a motive either. "Somehow it has something to do with the Venezuelans." He looks at each one of us, waiting for a nod, because, again, yeah, there's something there, we know that. "Whatever agenda Donna Margarita has, I don't think it has anything to do with whatever it is Edoardo is doing."
Again, all of us nod.
