Chapter 3 - The Hit Ordered From Outside
Bellandi didn’t speak for almost ten seconds.
Then he shoved the cell door closed.
“Say that again.”
“Sorrento killed Carlo.”
Bellandi stepped toward Walter.
“You better be certain.”
“I was there before it happened.”
“You saw him order it?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know?”
Walter sat down.
“Because your father found out what Sorrento was doing.”
Bellandi remained standing.
Walter continued.
“Carlo controlled several freight companies. Sorrento started moving narcotics through those routes without permission.”
Bellandi frowned.
“My father hated drug trafficking.”
“Exactly.”
“So Carlo confronted him.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He planned to remove him from the family.”
Bellandi laughed bitterly.
“Sorrento killed him first.”
Walter nodded.
Bellandi slammed his fist into the wall.
“Why didn’t you stop it?”
Walter looked at him.
“I wasn’t there.”
“Where were you?”
Walter hesitated.
“With you.”
Bellandi froze.
“What?”
“Someone threatened your school.”
Bellandi stared.
Walter continued.
“Your father sent me to get you out of Atlantic City.”
A memory hit Bellandi.
A dark car.
A quiet man.
A warning.
Stay inside.
“Jesus.”
Walter nodded.
“That was me.”
Bellandi sat.
“You drove me to my aunt’s house.”
“Yes.”
“My father died that night.”
“Yes.”
Bellandi looked down.
For the first time, his anger had nowhere to go.
Then he looked up.
“You said you can prove it.”
Walter reached toward his knee.
“The proof is a ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“Carlo kept records.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
Walter counted on his fingers.
“Payments. Judges. Police. Union officials. Smuggling routes. Sorrento’s side deals.”
Bellandi leaned forward.
“Where is it?”
Walter smiled faintly.
“That question is why men tried to kill me last night.”
“Do you have it?”
“No.”
“Then who does?”
Walter’s expression softened.
“My daughter.”
Bellandi frowned.
“You have a daughter?”
“Rachel.”
“Does Sorrento know?”
“Probably.”
“Then she’s in danger.”
Walter shook his head.
“Rachel is an Assistant United States Attorney.”
Bellandi stared.
“Your daughter is a federal prosecutor?”
“Yes.”
Bellandi started laughing.
Walter frowned.
“What?”
“This whole thing gets worse every minute.”
Walter almost smiled.
Then Frankie appeared outside the cell.
“Marco.”
Bellandi stood.
“What?”
“There’s movement downstairs.”
“What kind?”
“Pike moved two officers off Mercer’s unit.”
Walter’s expression sharpened.
Bellandi looked at him.
“That bad?”
“Yes.”
A guard appeared.
“Mercer. Interview.”
Walter didn’t move.
“With who?”
The guard hesitated.
Then reached for his radio.
Walter noticed a small detail.
Wrong insignia.
Not Ironvale issue.
Walter lunged sideways.
A suppressed gunshot cracked.
The bullet struck the concrete wall.
Bellandi tackled the fake officer.
The gun slid across the floor.
Chaos erupted.
Guards shouted.
The fake officer escaped through the emergency stairwell.
Bellandi grabbed Walter.
“They brought a gun into the prison.”
Walter stared toward the stairwell.
“No.”
Bellandi frowned.
“What?”
“They brought a shooter into the prison.”
Walter looked toward Pike’s office.
“That means Sorrento isn’t trying to scare me anymore.”
Bellandi’s face hardened.
“He wants you dead.”
May you like
Walter shook his head.
“He wants everyone who knows the truth dead.”
