“But why would they wait so long to continue?” Shane asks.
“Everyone is always saying that the mafia has a long memory,” Nadia points out. “And they’re not wrong. This started all those years ago with Elena’s parents. And now, someone is systematically making their way through all of the prominent families in the country.”
“We’re going to find them,” I promise. “And we’re going to end them.”
“Oh, we certainly are,” Nadia agrees. “But we need to know where to start.”
“Gram has boxes and boxes full of research,” Shane says, thinking it over. “When we discovered that Elena was alive and were trying to find her, we found the boxes. She must have hired dozens of investigators to find the killer or killers and filed everything away methodically. There has to be something in there that she missed.”
“Well, we have a whole room full of fresh eyes,” Ivie says. “And I don’t mean to sound heartless, but some of us aren’t personally connected. Maybe we’ll see something that your grandmother didn’t.”
“You’re forgetting something,” Igor says, speaking for the first time as he turns to Pop. “We’re in your home, my friend. Anything here, including the investigative reports, are proprietary to your family. If you don’t want my family digging into that business, I understand.”
All eyes turn to Pop, who’s rubbing his chin again.
“If I didn’t trust you and the rest of your family, Igor, you wouldn’t be in my family’s home. You know that. This doesn’t just impact my family now. It affects yours, as well as all of the other organizations in the country. Perhaps the world. If something here can help solve this mystery, it’s open to all of you. Your firefly is right. Fresh eyes are helpful. Our young people are intelligent. And we’re stronger together.”
Igor nods, happy with Pop’s answer. “I couldn’t agree more. Let’s get to the bottom of this and terminate those responsible. No mercy on this, do you understand?”
We nod. Oh, we understand perfectly well.
The assholes responsible for killing so many people are about to be punished for their crimes.
Chapter 14
~Annika~
“That’s the last of them,” Shane says as he sets a box on the floor of the family room where we’re all sitting, reading through old reports. There are seven moving-sized boxes stacked against the wall.
We’re only one box in.
This is going to take a while.
“Some of these are just your grandmother’s notes. Her thoughts,” Ivie says as she stares down at a pile of papers in her lap. “She was so filled with grief.”
“Yeah, and my aunt Claudia wasn’t a prize,” Carmine says with a wince. “I know, speaking ill of the dead and all, but she really wasn’t. Pop said that Vinnie was a piece of shit, and he totally was. But Claudia wasn’t much better. Maybe she was softer when she was young. I only knew her to be cold and brash.”
“Elena definitely wasn’t close to her,” Rafe adds. “She hit the shit jackpot when it came to her parents.”
“It’s why she spent so much time with us.” Shane sits on the floor next to Ivie and digs out some papers from the box. “She was always at our house. And in the summers, she came here to spend time with Gram. She’s really more like a sister to us.”
“Guys.” I wave a pile of papers around. “I just found crime scene photos from the car wreck.”
“Nice,” Rafe says next to me. The others crowd around me as I lay the photos on a table, spreading them out so we can all look. “Man, that car was charred.”
“Was it a Mercedes?” Ivie asks, squinting. “I think I see the logo in this picture.”
“Yeah. Mercedes sedan.” Rafe leans in to get a closer look, his hand on my shoulder. “So, she hit a tree?”
“Looks like it,” Carmine says.
“And from what Gram said, the cops ruled it an accident.”
I’m staring at one photo in particular. “You guys, this just doesn’t look right. That tree is a good twenty yards from the road. How does she just veer off and hit it? Not to mention, there are no tire tracks on the road.”
“You’re right,” Curt murmurs. “No tire tracks at all.”
“Also, can we just talk about the fact that her front end isn’t mangled?” Ivie asks. “If she hit the tree, and it set the car on fire, why isn’t the front end totaled? It looks like someone just pushed it over to the tree and set it on fire.”
“You think?” Carmine says bitterly. “Of course, they did. Like Pop said, she was murdered. This was no accident, and these photos prove it. Not that they prove much else.”
“I’m going to keep looking at them,” Ivie says thoughtfully. “Something else might pop out at me.”
“Good idea.” I return to my pile of papers and sit on the floor. “I could use some pizza while I do this.”
“Same.” Nadia reaches for her phone. “I’ll order some in. Everyone tell me what they want.”
“She saved everything,” Rafe says later after we’ve consumed four pizzas and made our way through two boxes. “For a woman who was so tight-lipped and didn’t keep anything helpful in her office, she sure saved a lot of shit.”
“I went through most of this before,” Carmine adds. “But I just skimmed, looking for Elena’s name since that was the focus. I should have been more thorough.”
“You’re one person,” I remind him. “Now there’s seven of us. We’ll get through it.”
“Your parents are here,” Rafe says, checking his phone. “Security just texted me.”
“Oh, I’ll go say hi. I’ll be right back.”
I stand, jump over a box, and hurry from the room.
“Mama!” I rush over and pull my mom in for a hug. “You guys were supposed to be here yesterday.”
“Your father had some things to wrap up,” she says. “But we were very safe, don’t worry. And we’re here now.”
“Where is Dad?” I ask, looking around.
“He’s already off to find Igor and Carlo,” Mom says, shaking her head. “He’s eager to talk business.”
“Typical.” I loop my arm through hers. “You have a beautiful room upstairs.”
“This is such a beautiful home,” she replies. “I enjoyed being here for Nadia’s wedding. I guess, if we have to be locked up somewhere, there are far worse places to be.”
“No kidding. And you aren’t exactly locked up. You just can’t go anywhere without an escort.”
She glances at me with eyes so much like mine and then giggles. “Yes, I see the difference. I’d like to get settled into our room and maybe take a little nap. You know what a nervous wreck I am on airplanes. I didn’t get any rest at all.”
“I know. You hate to fly. Well, you’re here now.” I show her up to her room, and once we’ve fussed over the beautiful décor and hug twice more, I leave her to nap.