Chapter 2 - The Name Buried for Twenty-Three Years
Walter was placed in segregation.
Bellandi went to medical.
But the fight report disappeared.
No disciplinary hearing.
No charges.
That worried Walter more than punishment would have.
At 10:00 p.m., Deputy Warden Daniel Pike entered the interview room.
He dropped a folder on the table.
“You put Marco Bellandi through a steel table.”
Walter looked at the folder.
“He leaned badly.”
Pike stared.
“You think I’m joking?”
“No.”
“Bellandi has controlled that dining hall for ten years.”
Walter leaned back.
“Then maybe somebody should’ve told him prison furniture isn’t private property.”
Pike opened the file.
“Walter Mercer. Security consultant. Eighteen-month sentence for obstruction.”
“That’s correct.”
“And before that?”
Walter said nothing.
Pike tapped the paper.
“Your record before age forty is unusually thin.”
“I lived quietly.”
“You boxed.”
Walter looked up.
Pike smiled.
“There it is.”
“I boxed a long time ago.”
“You were thirty-one and two.”
Walter’s eyes sharpened.
Pike leaned closer.
“Then you disappeared from professional fighting.”
Walter stared.
“You’ve done homework.”
“I run a federal prison.”
“No.”
Walter glanced toward the door.
“You run paperwork.”
Pike’s jaw tightened.
Walter continued.
“Someone else runs this place.”
Pike closed the folder.
“Bellandi?”
Walter shook his head.
“Whoever made today’s camera signal blink twice.”
Pike said nothing.
Walter watched him carefully.
Then Pike stood.
“You’re returning to general population tomorrow.”
“That’s a mistake.”
“Why?”
Walter held his gaze.
“Because Bellandi wasn’t trying to intimidate me.”
Pike paused.
“What was he doing?”
“Testing me.”
The next morning, Walter returned to his cell.
Eddie rushed toward him.
“You’re alive.”
“Apparently.”
Eddie lowered his voice.
“Bellandi asked about you before the cafeteria.”
Walter stopped.
“When?”
“Yesterday morning.”
“What did he ask?”
“Where you slept. Whether you had visitors. If you ever mentioned Atlantic City.”
Walter’s face changed.
Eddie noticed.
“That mean something?”
Walter sat down.
“Maybe.”
“Walter, what is going on?”
Before he could answer, the power died.
Complete darkness.
Eddie froze.
“That’s not normal.”
“No.”
Metal clicked outside the cell.
A key.
Walter stood.
Three men entered.
One carried a sharpened piece of steel.
The man in front whispered:
“Nothing personal.”
Walter grabbed his cane.
“It rarely is.”
The attacker lunged.
A voice exploded from the corridor.
“GET OUT.”
Everyone stopped.
Bellandi stood outside the cell.
Frankie and six men were behind him.
The attacker stared.
“Marco, we were told—”
“I said get out.”
“Your people approved this.”
Bellandi stepped closer.
“I am my people.”
The three men backed away.
Bellandi entered the cell.
Eddie immediately moved toward the door.
“I’m guessing you two need privacy.”
Bellandi looked at him.
Eddie nodded.
“Yeah. Definitely.”
He left.
Walter faced Bellandi.
“Why help me?”
Bellandi touched his bruised ribs.
“I have questions.”
“Ask.”
“My father was Carlo Bellandi.”
“I know.”
Bellandi’s eyes narrowed.
“You knew him?”
Walter said nothing.
Bellandi stepped closer.
“Twenty-three years ago, someone murdered him.”
Walter looked away.
“My mother said he trusted one man outside the family.”
Walter’s grip tightened around the cane.
Bellandi continued.
“A fighter who worked underground bouts in Atlantic City.”
Silence.
“They called him The Undertaker.”
Walter raised his eyes.
Bellandi stared.
“That was you.”
Walter answered quietly.
“That man is gone.”
Bellandi shook his head.
“Somebody disagrees.”
Walter waited.
Bellandi lowered his voice.
“Victor Sorrento.”
Walter’s expression went cold.
Bellandi saw it.
“You know him.”
Walter nodded.
“Very well.”
“My father trusted him.”
“No.”
Bellandi frowned.
Walter stepped closer.
“Your father tolerated him.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Carlo knew Sorrento was ambitious. He didn’t know he was a traitor.”
Bellandi’s face changed.
“What are you saying?”
Walter looked directly at him.
“Victor Sorrento ordered your father’s murder.”
Bellandi went still.
May you like
Walter continued.
“And I can prove it.”
