Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO GAVE THE ORDER
Marco was found the next morning at a private airfield outside the city.
He had a passport, cash, and a ticket under another name.
He didn’t make it onto the plane.
When Tony called, I was standing beside Elena’s coffin at the cemetery.
Mateo had asked to visit before the burial flowers were removed.
“Boss, we have him.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
“Keep him alive. The police are on their way.”
Marco laughed in the background. “You think the police can protect you?”
“Put him on.”
“You should have listened to me,” he said. “I was protecting the
family.”
“You hit a child.”
“I didn’t see her until it was too late.”
“You drove away.”
“I panicked.”
“You took her phone.”
“I needed the recording.”
“You left her in the road.”
Silence.
“She wasn’t supposed to be there,” he whispered.
I looked at the small grave. “She was seven.”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t. If you knew, you wouldn’t be trying to explain it.”
Marco said Daniel Price had been stealing from us. He claimed he had to
stop him, and that I had grown weak by allowing restaurant owners and
children near our business.
“You thought kindness made me weak?” I asked.
“I thought you were forgetting who you were.”
I looked down at Bruno. He had never forgotten.
“Marco, you worked beside me for twelve years. You knew exactly who I
was. I mistook your usefulness for loyalty.”
The police took the phone from Tony. Before the call ended, Marco said,
“You’ll never find the money.”
I looked at Tony. “Find it.”
May you like
Then I turned to Mateo. “We’re going to make sure Elena’s name is
remembered for something other than the way she died.”
