A waitress came in and no one spoke while she took their orders. She was very familiar with the family and clearly wouldn’t have repeated anything, but no one would take chances or put temptation in her way.
Valentino turned the idea of impersonation over and over in his head. If someone was using Marco Messina’s identity, they were definitely risking the wrath of his father if they were found out. If Val could prove such a thing and take it to Tibberiu, that would solidify his position even tighter with the Messina family. That couldn’t hurt anything.
The deception had to have been planned very carefully, years earlier, by someone who knew Marco very well. Someone he was close to. Friends with. When he was in college or before? Theater. People changed appearances in theater.
“What are you thinking, Val?” Stefano asked.
“Emmanuelle could be on to something. If someone has been impersonating Marco, they probably know him. Most likely they’ve known him a long time and either are still close friends with him or were very good friends with him in the past. To put a network like this together takes time. Years. It has to grow. It started small somewhere. My guess, in a school. Whoever started this maybe pimped out his girlfriend for unpaid debts or just for kicks to see if she’d whore for him. He started a little side business and made money.”
If his family was involved in organized crime, he might feel entitled to sell drugs or women, even in high school, if they did that sort of thing and he was aware of it. Most of the families flew under the radar these days, not wanting to look like they did in the old days.
Valentino texted Bernado to have him start hunting down any connection between Marco Messina and anyone around his age from any of the other families that might be considered a possibility. He could see that Stefano was setting his investigators on the trail as well. He found it a little disconcerting to be sharing information with the Ferraros, but Stefano was equally as generous with him. As long as that continued, he would use every resource and try to come to terms with having a larger family than he’d expected.
He glanced at Dario who was frowning, watching the interaction with Stefano and Geno as they both were as busy on their phones as the two of them were. He had the feeling they would be expected to go to the Sunday dinners at Stefano’s penthouse with Emmanuelle’s family. That would be interesting. Dario might lose his mind.
“Let’s say Marco has a friend in high school or college who gets the bright idea of impersonating him and using his identity to set up a human trafficking ring,” Stefano said. “Why? Why would he determine from the get-go that it would be better to use Marco’s identity rather than his own even at the start of the endeavor?”
“That’s easy enough,” Vittorio said. “The Messina name carries the most clout. If you’re young and you want to impress people much older, get them to listen to you, you choose the heavy hitter. In our family, we have all kinds of cousins. Someone young wanting to make an impression isn’t going to throw out the name Greco, they’ll use Ferraro.”
There were nods of agreement all around the table. That made sense to everyone.
“Now, he’s got a good start and he doesn’t want to get caught.” Lucca took up the narrative. “All suspicion is going to fall on Marco, not the imposter or his family. It’s win-win at this point. He’s been at it a long time now, and the money is good. He’s not going to stop.”
“Val took down an arm of his pipeline and crippled part of his territory. He’s going to want to get that back. That means he has to eliminate you. He’ll look to see who takes over Miceli’s territory, and if he thinks he can, he’ll approach him with a proposition, but he’ll have to kill you, Valentino,” Dario said.
“We did,” Valentino clarified. “Everyone in this room.”
“He’s only looking at you, Val,” Stefano said. “He’ll be looking to hurt you. That includes getting at you through Emmanuelle.”
Geno glanced at his watch. “My people are taking apart that car right now. My investigators can’t find any ties to any kind of crime by the driver. He’s definitely not a hit man. No money trail that they could find. He looks clean.”
“My guy came up with the same information, although he’s going to continue to dig,” Val said. “Just to be on the safe side.”
“I was looking at his face,” Emmanuelle said. “And really listening to him when he was talking. I can hear lies.” She turned to look at her bodyguards. “Just remember that, Levi and Axel. I hear lies. The driver was telling the truth. It was a simple accident. They happen. I was grateful nothing happened to him or any of you or the restaurant. I love this place so much, Salvatore. It’s really quite unique and beautiful.”
Valentino wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “We’re just making certain, Princess.”
“In any case, if it wasn’t an accident, I was hardly the target. Everyone was standing there. Most likely you were, Val.” Her eyes darkened, and for a moment she looked anxious. “Dario, he needs a million bodyguards around him all the time. Don’t listen to anything he says.”
She sounded brave enough, almost like she was joking, but there was very real fear in her eyes, and that turned his heart over. It always did. He captured her hand again, his thumb unerringly finding her rings.
“Nothing will happen to me, Emmanuelle. We’ll find this person and take him down. Everyone in this room is dedicated to that purpose. And Dario doesn’t need any more encouragement when it comes to being a watchdog. I think he shot me with ten trackers and has some kind of satellite surveillance hooked up in his eyes.” He said the last to make her laugh.
The waitress rolled a cart filled with plates of food into the room. Behind her, a second waitress followed, that cart loaded as well. The two began to place the plates in front of them while two men served wine or a sparkling beverage to them. Once everyone was served, the waiters and waitresses left and closed the doors behind them.
Talk turned to other things, and laughter spilled over. Valentino let himself enjoy the company of the Ferraro family for a short time. He didn’t share Emme’s opinion that the car jumping the curb had been a random accident. He didn’t believe in coincidences. Maybe the target had been him. Maybe not. But if it had been Emmanuelle targeted because she was married to him, he wanted to know and put an end to whoever was trying to intimidate him by using his wife. He glanced at Dario. Dario’s eyes met his. He felt the same way.
Over coffee and outstanding tiramisu, Bernado got back to him. Jason Caruso went to the same private school the last year of high school with Marco Messina. Same college. Roomed together. Took theater for 2 semesters the first year. Caruso continued to take theater while Messina focused on business. Messina has master’s. Father pulled Caruso out, didn’t like the direction he was going. Both work for their family.
That fit with what Emmanuelle had said. Caruso had spent time with Marco, and he’d taken several theater classes. Val shared what Bernado had found with the others.
“Ask him what he means by the direction Caruso was going,” Stefano said. “Never mind. Rigina is getting back to me. She’s giving me the same information but added a little more about his history with theater.”