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  If anyone asked me what this place was, I wouldn’t have been able to tell them.

  The fucked up thing was I could read some Chinese, but the language on the character Miss Jade used was not anything modern. It was old as shit.

  And when I say old, I meant really old like ancient, like a dead language so that only people who knew or could read that language would know what she was truly up to. Clever—very Clever.

  Gibbs kept silent the whole time. He’d been observing.

  I hadn’t worked with him before now so I didn’t really know what his process was, but it seemed that’s what he did. He observed and deduced an opinion.

  He hadn’t been wrong so far.

  A Chinese man in a suit came out and smiled. “Jade will see you now.” He told us, his voice had a cultured accent that suggested he only spoke English when he needed to.

  We got up and followed him going through the door he’d come from down a corridor that seemed to go on forever. Here the walls turned to glass. Floor to ceiling glass walls, but it wasn’t really that. It was a fucking aquarium and what was inside shocked me to shit. On one side there was a snake.

  A fucking anaconda swimming around like it would in the jungle. On the other side of us were crocs. Crocodiles that gave even me the fucking creeps.

  Dante tensed and looked at me. Gibbs however, kept his head straight, chin up, and continued walking along the corridor.

  It all made me wonder what kind of place this was, and how did Marshall know about it.

  We walked into a large room and a beautiful Chinese woman sat on a chaise lounge smoking a pipe. She blew out rings of smoke and smiled when she saw us.

  “Weapons at the door.” The man said bringing out a basket.

  I handed over my guns, Dante too, and Gibbs. The man did a quick pat down of us to be sure we weren’t carrying anything we didn’t disclose.

  We didn’t need to do things like that, but hey it was more than understandable.

  When he finished with Gibbs, Gibbs smiled and said something in Chinese that I didn’t understand. It took me a second before I realized he’d spoken in the dead language shocking both the man and the woman. The woman was so surprised she twisted around in her chair and widened her smile.

  She set her pipe down upon a holder on the coffee table and surprised me further by signing with her hands; sign language.

  “You speak ya kumu?” The man asked translating for her.

  “I do.” Gibbs replied. “Very clever. I like it.”

  “What language is that?” Dante asked.

  “It’s actually eighth century Japanese.” Gibbs looked proud of himself.

  “And you know this how?” I was intrigued to hear it.

  Gibbs gave me a pat on my shoulder. “My man Gio, I know many things. If I gave away my secrets, you people wouldn’t pay me the coins you do.”

  I couldn’t argue with that.

  “Unfortunately, I don’t sign so I’m going to have to put my trust in our host here.” Gibbs said looking at the man who nodded and seemed to loosen up.

  He motioned for us to go and sit.

  We did and as soon I lowered into the chair I looked at Jade. I realized the reason why she was signing. I’d assumed it was because she was deaf, but it wasn’t that.

  She had no tongue.

  She saw me looking and smiled and opened her mouth showing me I was completely correct.

  Dante was looking too and glanced over at me.

  “Someone cut your tongue out?” Dante asked. I had to say that of the two of us he was the more forward and blatant.

  I took him for a brother, because we’d been those kind of friends and sometimes our temperaments were the same. At other times we were complete opposites. Like just now, that was a question I wouldn’t have asked even though it was clear that was what happened. It was obvious from the stump of what used to be her tongue.

  She nodded and the man took his seat next to her. She signed something and the man looked uncomfortable.

  “Jade had her tongue cut out to stop her from giving away certain information. It was to teach her a lesson. She had to learn to sign in order to communicate,” he explained.

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Did you catch the people who did that to you?” Dante asked.

  Jade smiled, nodded vibrantly and motioned her head to the tank with the anaconda. I didn’t need to guess the way that story ended. While Jade might have had her tongue cut out and looked quite dainty sitting on her chair; I figured she wasn’t the kind of woman you pissed off or screwed with.

  “I am Xiou.” The man introduced himself. “I am Jade’s husband, I also translate for her. As she signs, I will speak for her. We are told you need information and we may be able to assist you.” He looked to me.

  “My friend Marshall Carson was killed years ago. Eight years. Four months ago, was eight years. We’ve received intel that shows that his death was more than what’s on record.”

  To my surprise Jade nodded. She nodded and then started signing to Xiou.

  “I knew Marshall, he was a good customer of mine. I was one of his dealers. We offer the good stuff money can’t buy. Herbal from Asia. He kept my secrets as such he was a friend. Another friend brought him here and before I got married, we were together.” Xiou spoke.

  I tensed. I was supposed to be Marshall’s best friend, but never once did he mention this woman.

  “When did you meet him?” I asked. It was perhaps an irrelevant question, but I just wanted some context.

  Jade signed her answer to Xiou.

  “Ten years ago. Give or take. Marshall was the kind of man who went where the money is. Always, always where the money was. He did a lot of jobs and favors, but the one I was most uncomfortable with was that he was a police informant.”

  I straightened up. “What? Are you sure?”

  Jade nodded and signed to Xiou.

  “There was a cop who was good to him. I don’t know him, but he went by the name of X. My guess was that they met while at the support group, because X wanted him to quit using and dealing.”

  Using and dealing. I of course knew about the using part, but not the dealing.

  “What makes you think they met there? It could have been anywhere else.”

  “It was what he said. Certain things he said that made it seem like that was

  where they had met. He seemed to know a lot too about what Marshall did. if you use and deal that’s not the sort of thing you go blabbing about on the streets and definitely not to a cop. X paid him for information and the money there stopped him from dealing which can almost be more dangerous than trying to get a fix. Never know who could kill you and take your stash.”

  Fucking hell, how did Marshall ever get himself mixed up in shit? This must have been what he’d gotten up to when I was away. The times I headed back to Chicago saw him here getting deeper into the underground in the worst way.

  I didn’t know what it was about her, but something made me trust her. She had the same presence as Gibbs. Like she owed no allegiance to anyone, but herself. Didn’t care who she pissed off either, because she didn’t have a price.

  It was clear from the way she smiled when Dante asked about the people who cut out her tongue. I was willing to bet they must have gotten her at a vulnerable moment, and when she got them back, I bet she watched her pet eat them alive.

  I took the envelope from my pocket and handed it to her. Inside the envelope was the coroner’s report and the note. She took it from me and read the note lingering over the coroner’s report.

  “What do you think?” I asked when she looked at me and a tear ran down her cheek.

  “Ricin?” She actually said. It came out like a hollow sound from her mouth, but I knew what she said.

  Ricin.

  “Yes, they killed him with that and set it up to look like he was shot,” I answered.

  She signed to Xiou. “Only two places you can get something like that around Philly and it’s been
like that for years. My grandfather owned this place long before me. You can get ricin in pure form here from the beans, but it wasn’t the beans that killed him. The other kind that killed him is only curated amongst the Santora family.”

  My breath hitched. It stilled and fucking stopped.

  The fucking Santora’s were linked to the Vitalis, the Philadelphia crime family who were practically like Claudius and the mafia structure set up back in Chicago.

  In Chicago we had an alliance with the Fontaines, Romanos, and Gambinois. They were the main ones, but all of them didn’t compare to the one group of Santoras.

  Not to mention that Claudius and us as The Four were new age in comparison to the old set up most crime families had.

  Raphael Rossi was the last in that old way of tradition. He had Amelia, his daughter who was now married to Claudius’ brother Luc who was supposed to be the next boss. He however gave up the title, because Amelia didn’t want to be part of the business.

  Their break from the business severed the link, because there were no family ties. Claudius was basically setting up something new, but these guys were running on old steam that had been in the works from the dawn of time.

  “You think the Santoras wanted him dead?” Dante asked.

  I was glad he was talking, because I couldn’t.

  Jade looked over the documents and focused on the note.

  “This note tells me someone else wanted him dead, and they were the reason why the Santoras were involved. Marshall didn’t know the Santoras, but someone he saw knew them.”

  And I would get that person. I would fucking get them and kill them dead.

  “Names Jade, please? I know you said Santoras, but do you have anything more for me?” I held her gaze and she looked at me with a sheen of purpose in her eyes.

  “You want to find whoever this X person is. My feeling he was who the note was for. It fits that Marshall would write a note like this to him. He stopped a lot from going down. That told me he must have been one of those cops that push the limits. He may still be a cop, or he may not be. As for the other guys, Frankie Santora. That’s all I’m saying. I don’t know anything much about them, but he’s the head capo to the Santora family. I don’t need to tell you that killing him will start a war. His father is the boss and the Vitalis practically allow them to believe they own Philly.”

  I nodded. They could believe whatever they wanted.

  I’d heard of Frankie, now it was time to meet him.

  Chapter 9

  Gio

  * * *

  “Fuck,” I cursed kicking an empty can of soda across the grass.

  Gibbs sat down on the park bench, pulled a cigarette from his back pocket and lit up. I didn’t even know he smoked.

  Dante sat next to him. Our bikes were just parked over on the road by the park.

  We’d left Jade and stopped here to process.

  It was the best way that I could put it, because that’s what it felt like. Damn Marshall, if he wasn’t dead I would have kicked his ass and set him straight. Anything to stop him from getting himself in shit, shit that could end up getting him dead.

  Except it did get him killed. I hated myself for not knowing all of this.

  “Gio,” Gibbs said.

  “What? Fucking what?”

  “Calm yourself. There are two guys at two o’clock watching us and they were watching when we walked through Chinatown.” Gibbs puffed away and stared ahead.

  “I don’t see anybody,” Dante commented.

  “Because you are not the eyes of your crew.” Gibbs smiled. “I thought it was interesting when I first met you guys. You have a group dynamic that allows you to operate as one unit. Claudius is the head he calls the shots, Dante the limbs, Gio the brains, and Alex the eyes, the person who senses stuff you can’t tell. You are two men down and you have to be careful. This is not Chicago, but same rules apply. Piss off the wrong people and they come at you through your weaknesses.”

  He looked at me when he said that. Of course, he would. He knew about Lyssa and heard me telling Dante what happened last night.

  “Where are they Gibbs?” I was in the type of mood to kill before the guy could take his next breath, but Gibbs was right. I had to be careful. Tread softly in territory that wasn’t mine.

  “Leaving. They seemed fixated on you. I’m guessing they were the guys from the bar.”

  “Those guys were mafia guys. I could tell.”

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t want to go out on a limb and make any assumptions, but since I am who I am and I really don’t give a shit who I piss on I’m gonna say they could be Santora guys. It’s the way they walk, like they have permission to do whatever they want.”

  Santora guys in Lyssa’s bar. Great, that was all I needed.

  Lyssa ... I had to speak to her. I had to.

  This stuff with Marshall was important, but I couldn’t push her aside. I wanted to know what happened. I wanted to know what happened to her.

  “It’s because of last night.” I told them. “I messed up that guys hand badly.”

  I broke it and didn’t just break his hand in the standard way. I broke a few bones. It was going to take a while to heal.

  “Yup, that would be it.”

  “They knew who I was.”

  “Yup and now they’ve seen Dante too, they’ll know Chicago’s in town. They’ll want to know why.”

  “That’s fine by me.” Dante smiled. “It’s been too quiet. I’m not used to it.”

  “Same here.” I added.

  “We need to be covert for a little while longer. Those guys, the Santoras are just the vehicle. We need to find out who’s driving. My guess it’s not them.” Gibbs surmised and drew in a smoke.

  “No? Jade made it sound like they were all in it together.”

  “Remember back in Chicago when we solved Christina’s murder?” Gibbs asked.

  We both nodded. Dante tilted his head to the side.

  “You think there’s something similar here?”

  “Yes, I absolutely fucking do. Think about it. I’m a big mafia boss who wants to make an example of people and show everyone who’s boss. Do I hide myself or show the world how truly insatiably wicked I can be?”

  I was thinking alright.

  “Yes, I did get that.” Dante agreed. “Our kind would torture you and make sure everyone knew about it. Fuck, they would cut off your face and wear it for a hat like a sav.”

  Yes, they would.

  “So, it could be someone official?” I asked.

  “I don’t think so. Not here, not like that.” Gibbs narrowed his eyes. “It’s someone who didn’t want to be found out, however. Definitely that. You wouldn’t go through the trouble they did to make it look like Marshall was in a gang war otherwise. It was like it was better than throwing him in the sea, then of course they would have had to pay a pretty penny to conceal the original coroner’s report and the note.”

  Fucking hell.

  “Yes.” I agreed that was plausible.

  “Gio, I know you had dealings with those guys last night and because you have an actual name it’s tempting to go after Frankie. Still if we mess this up, the whole game is gone. The whole fucking game. Ease off and focus on us finding X.” Gibbs kept his eyes trained on me, not breaking contact.

  I nodded in agreement.

  He was right it was tempting, but it was better to do things properly and achieve the goal than fuck it up and never get answers.

  “Okay. I’ll ease off. So with X, I think we should start with the police station. We could get our contacts to make contact there.” We had the secret squad who did things like that.

  Gibbs shook his head. “No. I think we try the support group first. The police aren’t going to know who X is, but they might. Also, I think the fact that X is a cop means we need to be wary.”

  Like I had from the start, I trusted Gibbs.

  “I’ll get the details of his support group.” I didn’t have them, but I knew who
would. It would have been the person who organized all that stuff for Marshall in an attempt to do all he could to help him.

  Paul.

  Paul was the kind of father who would have done anything for his kids. I needed to see him anyway and now I felt it would help to explain my reasons for coming back here. He would help me whether he liked it or not.

  First I would see Paul, then Lyssa.

  Two birds with one stone.

  * * *

  It was just the way I remembered it.

  The little suburban lane where Paul lived with Marshall and Lyssa.

  I remembered when I first went to their house.

  Ma had dropped me there.

  We’d moved back here after she divorced Pa. It was her stand to get her life in order.

  I went with her, because I didn’t want her to be alone. I also went, because I didn’t want her to think I supported Pa’s behavior.

  I was bad when it came to women. In the times that I wasn’t with Lyssa I was a real dog, but I didn’t cheat on her. Those things I said to Lyssa was me, but it represented me when I wasn’t with her.

  I’d never been with a woman I was serious about until her. In the years before her, I wanted only her and no one came close. The years after were the same. No one came close and because of that I never got close to anyone. There was no fucking point.

  I pulled up outside the house wondering what this guy would say to me. The bar would have been better. But, my whole public place analysis and therapy kind of went out the window last night when I kissed the new boss of the bar.

  The bar didn’t suit Lyssa. She was a teacher. She should have been able to live out her dream and do what she wanted to with her life.

  I walked up the steps leading to the door, but stopped when a wooden side door opened and a dark haired kid came out bouncing a ball.

  I almost thought I had the wrong place, but then I saw Paul coming out too carrying a gym bag and one of those sports water bottles.

  “Hey slugger, you’re gonna need this if you’re going to play all them hours. Make sure you drink the whole thing this time, and …” his voice trailed off when he saw me standing on the porch looking from him to the kid.