CHAPTER NINETEEN
Bones
“WELL?” I ASKED, staring at Natalia.
“Well what?”
Blood or not, she was fucking infuriating. “You kidnapped my woman, fucked up my life, got my capo gunnin’ for me, what was so goddamn important you did all that shit just to talk to me?”
“The truth, Bones. The truth that those assholes have been hiding from you.”
I leveled a glare at her, waiting for her to continue. Waiting for her to say something worthwhile. When I’d opened the van door, I’d gotten a good look at Natalia. She couldn’t be much younger than my brother, David. She wore a blue sweater and slim-fit jeans stuffed into black knee-high boots. Her long dark hair was loose and messy, and her high cheekbones, plump lips, and dark eyes bore a striking resemblance to a picture Pops had shown me years ago, a picture of his mom.
As much as I wanted to deny it, Natalia looked a hell of a lot like family.
“I can’t get over how much you look like Dad,” she said, almost as if she was reading my thoughts.
“You remember his face?” I asked, doing the math in my head. “You couldn’t have been more than four or five when he disappeared. Hell, I was ten and barely remember him.”
Her jaw jutted out and anger flashed in her eyes. “I was nine, Bones.”
I choked. “So the bastard must have knocked your mom up shortly after he knocked mine up. Then he came back and got Ma pregnant with David. Un-fuckin’-believable. Fuckin’ asshole is what he was.”
“No he wasn’t. You didn’t know him like I did. He used to bounce me on his knee and call me his principessa. He smelled like gun oil and tobacco, and he would always read me a story before tucking me in at night.”
I laughed. “Pretty sure we didn’t know the same guy, because my dad didn’t do any of that shit.”
“Gino Leone was a good father,” she insisted.
Natalia’s tone and posture grated on my nerves. After being robbed of a childhood with my old man, I felt entitled to a little anger. Especially after finding out that he’d knocked up Natalia’s mom between me and David. “No matter what you remember, Pops wasn’t some stand-up guy. He was a liar who cheated on his wife, abandoned his kids, and informed on the Durante family. He was almost solely responsible for your mother’s family’s demise. You should hate him even more than I do.”
“He was a complicated man.”
“Complicated?” I snorted. “I’ll have to take your word for it, because I don’t remember shit about Pops. Probably because the bastard was so damn busy with his other family he had no time for me and my brothers. While he was sitting you on his lap and calling you princess, he was bailing on my school conferences and missing family dinners. Disappearing was probably the best thing he ever did for me.”
“He didn’t disappear, he was murdered!” she shouted.
“Oh yeah? Who whacked him then?”
“Carlo Mariani.”
I glared at her. “I don’t believe you.”
Sure, I had questions for Carlo—questions like why he hadn’t told me about Pops being the mole inside the Durante family—but I couldn’t see his motivation for killing Pops. Hell, Pops was a Mariani, in a round-about way.
“I swear it’s the truth.”
“Pops left us with nothing so he could go play house with your mom. If Carlo wouldn’t have stepped in and offered me a job, my family would have starved. Ten-fuckin’-years-old and I had to provide for the family Pops bailed on. So, forgive me for not jumping on your ‘Carlo killed my daddy’ bandwagon. Hell, I don’t even know for sure the old man’s dead. He could be off with a third family somewhere.”
I glared up at Natalia, and she glared back, tugging something out of her pocket. She tossed a wristwatch to me. Unlike the platinum Rolexes worn by most mobsters, this was a black Concord with a rubber band. Its simple yet unique design was easy to recognize, especially since I’d been with Pops when he’d purchased it. It had set him back over two large, and I remember asking him why he’d spent so much on a watch with a rubber band.
“You can tell a lot about a man by his timepiece,” Pops said, securing it around his wrist.
Curious, I asked, “What does this one say about you?”
He smiled down at me, his dark eyes a reflection of my own. “Quality and functionality; not a cheap piece of shit, but not the main man, either. I work with my hands, Son, and I don’t need anything that catches the light or clanks against my wrist when I’m… working.”
The memory shook me. Memories of Pops were so few and far between I rarely experienced them anymore. I took a moment to compose myself before turning the watch over in my hand to study it. “Where did you get this?”
“I took it off his body.”
With a deep breath, I handed her back the watch and said, “Start from the beginning.”
She leaned back. “Dad hid us before the attack on the Durantes. Mom was babysitting Joey at the time, and Dad took the three of us across the California border and rented us a little apartment in Baker. Dad said we’d only have to stay there until things cooled off, and then Carlo would have a spot for us. Dad swore by Carlo, but Mom never trusted that son-of-a-bitch. Turned out she was right, because Carlo betrayed us.”
“How?” I asked.
“Carlo didn’t know about me or Joey, so when he showed up to talk to Dad, Mom hid us in the hall closet and told us to be quiet. We sat there and listened as Dad reassured Carlo that all the Durantes were dead, including Joey. Then Carlo asked Dad about a phone call he said Mom had made. A call to a woman named Annetta. Dad got angry and said he protected Dom. Carlo was pissed about someone named Michael ending up in a wheelchair. He said Dom should have died and Dad should have minded his own damn business.”
“No,” I said, feeling sick to my stomach. “You’re lying. There’s no way Carlo would have taken out Dom. No fuckin’ way that happened.”
“How would I know this shit then?” she asked.
“Everyone knows the names of the Marianis. You could have just invented some shitty story.”
“Why would I do that?”
“How the fuck would I know?” I fired back. “You’re a kidnapper. Who’s to say you’re not a liar, too?”
Shaking her head, she continued her story. “Shots were fired. Joey and I stayed in that closet until everything was quiet. When we came out, we found my parents dead. I took the watch off Dad and this necklace off Mom.” She tugged a crucifix from her sweater. “It’s all I have left of them, thanks to Carlo.”
“No. I don’t fuckin’ believe you.” Even as I said the words, I knew they weren’t true. I did believe Natalia. Carlo had been so hellbent on me wiping out Joey and everyone I found him with, and Natalia’s story would sure as shit explain why. Carlo would want to make sure that story never passed anyone’s lips.
“Isn’t there someone you could call to verify it?” Natalia asked.
I cradled my head in my hands and thought about it. I knew exactly who I could call, but didn’t want to. Not because I thought Natalia was lying, but because I was afraid she was telling the truth. Carlo had saved my family. I owed him my loyalty.
But if he tried to kill Dom…
“Fuck!” I shouted, whipping my cell phone out of my pocket to dial Nonna. She answered on the second ring. “Bones, are you all right?” she asked. “We’ve been so worried.”
“Yes, but I don’t have much time and I need to know something. The night Michael became crippled… was there a phone call?” I shook my head, knowing I wasn’t making sense. “Was that supposed to be Dom?”
She sucked in a breath. “How do you know that, Bones?”
Shit! It was true. It was all true. Head back in my hands, I answered, “Natalia has information for us about that night. She says Carlo was responsible.”
“Bring her here. I want to talk to her.” There was steel in Nonna’s voice, the kind of steel a mother found when someone screwed with one of her children.
“Uh… guys?” Joey said, interrupting my conversation. “I hate to cut this reunion short, but we’ve got company. Several black SUVs are tailing us.”
Of course they would. I knew Carlo would find us, I just hoped we had more time.
“Nonna, we’re going to be coming in hot. Carlo’s all over us.”
“I’ll talk to Dom and see what I can do. You just worry about getting here safely. And keep that girl alive. Dom needs to hear what she has to say.”
“Yes ma’am,” I said before disconnecting.
“What do we do?” the driver asked, his voice panicky as he looked in the rearview mirror.
I leaned forward in my seat so I could see where we were. We must have turned around at Boulder City, because we were back in Henderson, heading toward Vegas. “Head to the Red Rock neighborhood,” I replied. “We’re going to see the big boss.”
The driver glanced back at Natalia for confirmation. She nodded as we felt the first bump of one of Carlos drivers. The van lurched forward, and I gathered up my weapons from where Natalia had set them at her feet.
“Hold on to something,” I said, sliding open the side door.
“What do we hit?” Natalia asked, sliding open her own side door.
“They have run-flats and safety glass, so your guess is as good as mine. We just need to hold them off until we get into traffic.” Taking aim, I fired my Glock into the hood of the SUV encroaching in our lane. The driver startled, taking his foot off the gas long enough to put a little distance between us.
Gunfire was coming from the other side of the vehicle as well. Natalia ducked, and the driver swore.
“Shit!” Joey shouted. “They got Noah.”
The van began to slow down. Joey undid his seatbelt and pulled the driver out of his seat while stomping on the gas pedal. We lurched forward again, but I couldn’t tell if we’d been hit, or if it was from Joey’s footwork. He set the driver in the passenger’s seat and took over.
Natalia kept firing out her door, I kept firing out mine, and we somehow managed to make it Highway 215 without anyone else getting shot.
“Noah, buddy stay with me,” Joey said, shaking the guy.
“Leave him alone and get us there,” I snapped. “That’s the only chance he’s got.”
Traffic was light, and Joey was doing his best to weave through cars.
“They’re going to be monitoring our progress,” I said, pointing at a traffic cam. “Carlo no doubt knows where we’re headed and he’s gonna try to cut us off. You’re gonna want to hit a surface street soon.”
“I’m not familiar with this part of town,” Joey replied.
“Switch me spots.”
We danced around each other, keeping the gas pedal to the floor as I got behind the wheel and he started firing out the side.
My cell phone rang, but I was too busy to pay it any mind as I took Highway 15, and then got off on Russel Road. There were three SUVs behind us, which meant that two had peeled off. Knowing I needed help, I grabbed my phone, wondering who I could call. I’d missed a call from Angel. I knew I should call him back, but one of the SUVs was right on my tail and I didn’t have time for that shit.
Tossing my phone aside, I stomped on the brake and made a hard right before gunning the gas.
“That bought us some time,” Natalia said, closing her sliding door.
Tires squealed as I turned down another side street and hit the gas. There were no more SUVs in my rearview mirror, but I was under no delusion that I lost them. “Hold on,” I said, breaking for another sharp turn.