Chapter 5 - She Was Ordered to Betray the Mafia Boss
The next morning, Charles Calder called Dileia.
Adriano was sitting across from her when the phone rang.
“Answer it,” he said.
Dileia frowned.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“Not even slightly.”
“You look calm.”
“That’s different.”
She answered.
“Hello?”
Calder’s voice came through smoothly.
“You’ve had an eventful evening.”
Dileia looked at Adriano.
“What do you want?”
“To help you.”
“You increased my debt to four hundred thousand.”
“A clerical correction.”
“Try again.”
Calder sighed.
“You’ve spent twelve hours around Falcone and already sound like him.”
Adriano’s mouth twitched.
Dileia ignored him.
“What do you want?”
“A meeting.”
“No.”
“Your brother attends Boston Latin.”
Dileia’s blood went cold.
Adriano’s expression changed instantly.
Calder continued.
“Relax. Toby is perfectly safe.”
“For now?”
“That depends on you.”
Adriano silently held out his hand.
Dileia shook her head.
She wanted Calder talking.
“What meeting?”
“Come alone to the Harbor Crown at seven.”
“And if I don’t?”
“You lose the apartment. Your brother loses school stability. Your wages will be garnished. Your father’s estate will remain underwater.”
“That debt is fraudulent.”
“Prove it.”
Dileia looked at the documents beside Adriano.
“We can.”
Calder paused.
Then laughed softly.
“So you found Renata’s package.”
Adriano’s stare sharpened.
Calder knew.
Dileia asked, “What did you do to her?”
Silence.
Then Calder said:
“Seven o’clock.”
The call ended.
Adriano immediately stood.
“You’re not going alone.”
“I know.”
He stopped.
Dileia gave him a look.
“What?”
“I expected an argument.”
“I’m not stupid.”
“I didn’t say—”
“You thought it.”
“Frequently.”
She almost smiled.
At seven, Dileia entered the Harbor Crown restaurant alone.
At least, Calder believed she did.
Adriano’s people occupied the kitchen, lobby, parking level, and two neighboring suites.
Calder sat in a private dining room.
He gestured toward the chair.
“You look better without the uniform.”
Dileia remained standing.
“What do you want?”
He slid a folder across the table.
“Sign.”
She opened it.
A sworn statement.
It claimed Adriano had paid her forty thousand dollars three years earlier to conceal evidence that Renata had been neglected.
Dileia looked up.
“You want me to lie.”
“I want you to survive.”
“By destroying him.”
“Adriano survives everything.”
“And you?”
Calder smiled.
“I prosper.”
Dileia sat.
“Why Renata?”
His expression barely changed.
“She became curious.”
“About your accounts?”
“About everything.”
“She found thirty-two million.”
“She found pieces.”
“And threatened to tell Adriano.”
Calder leaned back.
“She threatened to ruin decades of work because she believed family loyalty mattered more than reality.”
Dileia stared.
“So you hid her.”
“I helped her disappear.”
“She was afraid of you.”
“She was unstable.”
“No.”
“You knew her for months.”
“I knew her when she was dying.”
Calder’s smile faded.
Dileia continued.
“And dying people get very tired of pretending.”
Calder tapped the document.
“Sign.”
“No.”
“You owe four hundred thousand dollars.”
“No. You typed four hundred thousand dollars into a computer.”
His eyes hardened.
“You think Falcone will protect you?”
“I think you’re terrified he will.”
Silence.
Calder leaned forward.
“You know what Adriano is?”
“Yes.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I know what you are.”
That landed.
Calder’s face became cold.
“You’re a waitress.”
“And you’ve spent three years trying to silence me.”
He said nothing.
Dileia leaned closer.
“That must be embarrassing.”
The dining room door opened.
Adriano entered.
Calder went pale.
“You said she’d come alone.”
Dileia looked at him.
“I did.”
Adriano shut the door.
“She never said she’d stay alone.”
Calder stood.
“This is entrapment.”
Adriano almost laughed.
“You threatened a teenager and forged corporate records, Vincent. Perhaps choose a stronger opening argument.”
Calder backed toward the window.
“You have nothing.”
Dileia placed her phone on the table.
The recording light glowed.
Calder stared.
Adriano said:
“We have your confession.”
“I confessed to nothing.”
“You admitted Renata found the money.”
Calder’s jaw tightened.
Adriano continued:
“And that you helped her disappear.”
Calder looked toward Dileia.
“You think you won?”
Dileia answered calmly.
“No.”
She glanced at Adriano.
May you like
“I think your biggest mistake was assuming invisible people don’t listen.”
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