Chapter 3 - The Wrong Traitor
Anthony raised both hands.
“This is insane.”
Vincent remained seated.
“You’ve known me twenty years.”
Anthony looked around the table.
“Michael hated me.”
Marcus blocked the exit.
“He wanted me gone.”
Vincent finally looked at Nora.
“Are you certain?”
“No.”
The answer surprised everyone.
Vincent narrowed his eyes.
“No?”
Nora looked again at the notebook.
“The initials identify whoever controlled the diverted shipments.”
Anthony pointed toward her.
“Exactly!”
“But…”
Anthony stopped.
Nora turned the notebook sideways.
“There’s another mark.”
A tiny circle appeared beside Anthony’s initials.
Vincent leaned closer.
“What does it mean?”
“It means intermediary.”
Marcus frowned.
“So Anthony wasn’t running it?”
“No.”
Nora pointed toward the final symbol.
“He was delivering the shipments to someone else.”
Anthony closed his eyes.
Vincent stood.
For the first time, Nora understood why everyone feared him.
He wasn’t especially loud.
He wasn’t enormous.
But when Vincent Caruso stood, the room seemed to rearrange itself around him.
“Who?”
Anthony said nothing.
Vincent stepped closer.
“Who were you working for?”
Anthony looked toward Nora.
Fear filled his face.
Not fear of Vincent.
Fear of someone else.
That frightened Nora more.
“You don’t understand,” Anthony whispered.
Vincent’s expression remained blank.
“Help me understand.”
Anthony shook his head.
“They’ll kill my family.”
“They?”
Vincent caught the word immediately.
Anthony realized his mistake.
Then the restaurant lights went out.
Someone screamed near the bar.
Glass shattered.
Nora instinctively dropped behind the booth.
Vincent grabbed her arm and pulled her behind the thick mahogany partition.
“Stay down.”
Footsteps rushed through the restaurant.
Marcus shouted orders.
The emergency lights flickered on.
Anthony was gone.
May you like
And so was the notebook.
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