Chapter 2 - Say It Again, Francesca
Frankie picked up the document.
Eighty thousand.
Leo Marino.
The signature looked genuine.
She looked at Gabriel.
“Where did the other two hundred twenty thousand come from?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
Gabriel poured himself coffee.
“I expect you to verify it.”
Frankie dropped the paper.
“Your men beat my brother.”
“I gave no such order.”
“Convenient.”
Gabriel's expression cooled.
“Be careful what you accuse me of.”
Frankie stepped closer.
“You already warned me once.”
“And you ignored it.”
“Worked pretty well.”
One guard turned his face to hide a smile.
Gabriel noticed.
“Marco.”
“Yes, boss?”
“Leave.”
The guard's smile vanished.
Both guards exited.
Frankie watched the doors close.
“Should I be nervous?”
“If I intended to hurt you, you wouldn't have been invited upstairs.”
“That wasn't comforting.”
“It wasn't intended to be.”
Gabriel opened another file.
“Your brother borrowed eighty thousand six months ago. Payments were scheduled through a private account.”
“Why lend money to a gambler?”
“I didn't.”
Frankie frowned.
Gabriel tapped the signature beneath his own name.
Forgery.
She saw it immediately.
“That isn't your signature.”
“No.”
“Whoever did this had access to your paperwork.”
“Yes.”
“And your people.”
“Yes.”
Frankie stared at him.
“You have a traitor.”
Gabriel's expression didn't move.
“I have a problem.”
“You have a traitor.”
“I dislike that word.”
“Does it hurt your feelings?”
His eyes narrowed.
Frankie smiled.
Gabriel almost smiled back.
Almost.
“Someone used my organization,” he said, “to lend Leo money. Someone inflated his debt. Someone ordered men to pressure him.”
“For the garage.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“That is the interesting question.”
Frankie crossed her arms.
“The garage isn't worth three hundred thousand.”
“The business isn't.”
“The land?”
“Closer to two million.”
Frankie went still.
“What?”
Gabriel turned his laptop.
A development map covered the screen.
Warehouses.
Rail lines.
A proposed distribution corridor.
And Marino Auto sat directly in the center.
Frankie stared.
“Someone wants my property.”
“Very badly.”
“And they're using your name to get it.”
Gabriel nodded.
Frankie looked toward the windows.
“Leo.”
“What about him?”
“He's still in danger.”
“Yes.”
She turned sharply.
“That's all you have to say?”
“What would you prefer?”
“I want whoever touched him kept away from him.”
Gabriel studied her.
“Then you'll cooperate?”
“With you?”
“Yes.”
Frankie laughed.
“Absolutely not.”
Gabriel's eyebrows lifted.
“Then protect him yourself.”
“I have been protecting Leo his entire life.”
“How successful has that been?”
The words hit.
Frankie's jaw tightened.
Gabriel didn't apologize.
Instead, he slid a business card across the desk.
“Go home.”
“And?”
“Tell nobody what you've learned.”
“Not even Leo?”
“Especially Leo.”
“Why?”
“Because your brother has already demonstrated terrible judgment.”
Fair.
Infuriatingly fair.
Frankie picked up the card.
“If somebody comes after the garage?”
“Call that number.”
“And you answer?”
“Someone answers.”
“Very personal.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“Francesca.”
“Frankie.”
“Frankie.”
It sounded different coming from him.
“Until I know who's behind this, assume anyone connected to the debt may be involved.”
Frankie studied him.
“Including you?”
A long silence.
Then Gabriel smiled faintly.
“Especially me.”
---
That evening Frankie returned to Marino Auto.
Leo was gone.
His phone sat on the office desk.
Frankie stopped in the doorway.
“Leo?”
Nothing.
She walked farther inside.
A chair had been knocked over.
The back office cabinet stood open.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Where's my brother?”
A man's voice replied.
“You should have signed.”
Frankie's blood went cold.
“Who is this?”
“Friday was generous.”
The call ended.
Frankie immediately dialed Gabriel's card.
He answered on the second ring.
“Costa.”
“They took Leo.”
Silence.
Then Gabriel's voice changed.
All amusement disappeared.
“Lock the garage.”
“What?”
“Lock every door. Stay inside.”
“You think I'm going to sit here?”
“Yes.”
“You've misunderstood me dramatically.”
“Frankie.”
She stopped.
His voice had become dangerously calm.
“Do not leave that building.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever took Leo isn't finished.”
Headlights suddenly appeared outside the garage.
Frankie turned.
Three black vehicles rolled into the lot.
Her grip tightened around the phone.
“Gabriel?”
“Yes?”
“Please tell me those are yours.”
A pause.
May you like
“No.”
---
