Page 98 of Forging Caine

“What if he was out of the picture?”

Jason’s jaw clenched, a rare sign of emotion from the big man. He whispered, “He’s leaving everything to Baptiste, who’s little more than a child. Fiori’s been trying to train him for the last year, but I suspect everything will crumble when Fiori dies.”

Dies. An important word. “But not if he goes to prison?”

Jason followed the pathway, taking a turn before we got close to the trees. “For a man like him, prison is little more than an inconvenience. Something that slows his communications but doesn’t limit his power.”

I nodded. “Officer Jimmy Slater? Do you know if he—”

“Just walls, Antonio. His power doesn’t stop on one side or the other.”

Marone. If Fiori was behind Jimmy’s death, there was little hope for our own families. As Samantha and Janelle said, the man who kept quiet got the lawyer while the man who talked died.

“Do you think you can do what he’s asking you to? Prove the paintings are real?”

“I’m not sure. Something feels wrong. He’s already given me two paintings, and both were fakes. Are they all just tests?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do Cam-ron and Zane do here?”

“Take care of his paintings from here, on the ship, and from his residences in the Americas. European works go to his home in Corsica.” He took another turn, and we headed along the path toward the pond. “Cam-ron’s only been here a month. I don’t know how long he’s going to last.”

Last as in work or last as in live? “What do you mean?”

“You know who he is?”

“Parker Johnson’s son.” Son of the man who tried to kill Samantha and me twice. Of the man who Jimmy had been working with.

Jason knelt and picked up a chunk of rock from the path. “His father cut a deal with the signore. Parker said Cam-ron would work for him, taking Parker’s place in the organization until he got out of jail.”

“Pasquale paid for Parker’s new lawyer, didn’t he?”

Jason nodded and stopped on the bank of the pond, which was a few hundred feet across, large enough for the small rowboat to float around. Trees gathered around its far edge. We were on Long Island, but this place felt removed from the world. The faint sounds of cars carried on the wind, proving we were not.

“Cristian told me they were cutting ties with Parker.”

Jason tossed the pebble into the water, sending ripples across its width. “I guess a conservator with his morals is a valuable commodity.”

“It sounds like Zane is much the same.”

Jason folded his arms. “Plus, I think Fiori appreciated Parker’s initiative, going after you and Samantha.”

“He what?”

He rolled his head in my direction. “He hates your family. I still don’t fully understand why he wants you so badly.”

“You haven’t asked him about that?”

“Asking questions is not my job. Listening is.” That was exactly what Cristian would say. Men like Jason were how he knew so much. “But I’m sure it’s some combination of respect for what you’ve accomplished against him without even trying, combined with his hope that it will piss Giovanni off if you’re working for him.”

“It’s only one job. It’s a one-off, and then we go home.”

He chuckled and picked up another rock. “That’s what most of his employees say.”

A male voice behind us said, “I got tickets to the Rays at Yankees game tonight.”

“Don’t turn around,” whispered Jason.

---