25. Theo

"Imanaged to get a list of all the tenants." Marcel pauses. "I also cross-referenced it with people actually living there. However, she didn"t make my job too hard. The apartment is in her mother"s name. It"s number eighteen."

I take a deep breath, digesting the information.

It had been hard to hear about her childhood, but did it justify her actions? I feel like a war is raging inside me on whether I can accept and forgive Bianca"s actions. And somehow, I know deep down that the apartment will shed light on my dilemma and not necessarily in the right way.

"Keep Rico on her. I"m going in there when she"s at work." If Rico"s constantly onto her location, I can avoid meeting her.

"Sure. It"s code-locked, by the way. Eight digits. Might wanna make a list beforehand." Marcus chuckles.

"Anything else?"

He shifts his gaze around the office in his usual bored manner.

"I might have gotten a hit with Jimenez"s men. The people I got on the case have some info, but I"m just not sure how reliable."

"Info about what?" I ask almost too anxiously.

"Incoming batch of girls for his bordellos. Shipment is supposed to come into the port in two weeks."

"Why do you think the info might not pay off?"

"Theo, when was the last time we had this type of info on Jimenez? Reliable insider info? It"s too good to be true."

"I guess you"re right." My shoulders slump at the thought. After so much time hunting Jimenez, I finally get something, and it might not even be legit.

"How many people can we get on this just in case the tip pays off?"

"I"ll look into it. Not too many since this is under the table. I have some people who owe me favors." While I"m not involved personally on groundwork, I"ve made it my job to get to know as many officers as possible, knowing that someday I"ll need their loyalty to bring down Jimenez.

"I talked to Vlad, by the way. Wanted to check if he knew Bianca after the phone call incident."

"And?" Vlad is someone I"d met through Marcel, but I know his reputation, and I also know that Marcel trusts him.

"He couldn"t tell me anything, as expected. But he did say that she"s not a danger to us. At least that excludes insider work."

"That"s good to know… although I do think you"re a little too paranoid with your insider work. With her father, I just don"t see her as a Russian spy."

Marcel shakes his head, amused. "Especially with her father." His expression gets serious. "The Jimenez thing is too big. I can"t help suspecting if anyone who gets close to us might be a potential implant. They already know we"re onto them. The attempt on your life should prove as much."

"We still don"t know whether those men were sent by Martinez or Jimenez. Any luck yet on the ID?"

"No, illegal immigrants most likely. From what you told me, they barely knew how to use a gun."

"So, it makes Jimenez less likely."

He nods. "If he saw you as a danger, he wouldn"t send amateurs. And he has enough resources to afford professionals."

"I agree. I would say it"s someone from Martinez"s side. Family maybe? Someone who knew about the meeting and connected the dots."

"That"s just the thing. I can"t find any family on Martinez. But…" he starts, lost in thought.

"Let"s retrace this a little." Marcel"s brain works differently, but his insight is always invaluable and spot on. So, I go along.

"We contacted Martinez, and he agreed for an exchange of information. One million for a list of suppliers on Jimenez."

"Then he showed up ready to kill, with an empty drive," I add.

"He never intended to give the info, so why the meeting?"

"Shit." I get up from my seat, an idea entering my mind.

"Fuck! I can"t believe this. Yeah, they never intended to give us the real shit. They wanted to know who"s sniffing around and take them out. We made the arrangements through proxies, so he couldn"t know who I was."

"Until you went there."

"What if we got this wrong?"

"I don"t like where you"re going…" Marcel comments, but I can see he has the same idea I do.

"Martinez was Ortega"s right-hand man. He wouldn"t act on his own. And the meeting… It was simply to draw me out in the open. Why would Martinez want that?"

"He wouldn"t," Marcel adds. "But Jimenez would. Before this, he only knew you were after him as chief commissioner. Now, he knows you"re after him off the books too."

"It gets worse. If Martinez wouldn"t act without consent, then Ortega must answer to Jimenez too. Fuck!" I curse aloud. "It means he controls another cartel. Maybe not even just one."

"It makes sense, though, if you look at the big picture." Marcel suddenly spreads sheets of paper all over my desk. "Look, we"ve had reports of activities that relate to Jimenez from five different states. But we"ve never been able to connect it to his people."

"So, he has other cartels under his control. How do we even begin to get someone with that power and that reach?"

"We don"t." Marcel suddenly smirks. "At least we need to change tactics, stop the offensive. If we put the attempt on your life into perspective, it sure looks more like an attempt to scare you rather than to actually kill you."

"You"re right. They want us to stop digging. What are you thinking of?"

"You told me about what happened at dinner with Agosti and Gallagher. What if we used them to force Jimenez into the open?"

"Competition?" I ask, finally seeing where Marcel is going.

"I can assure you Agosti"s family business is nothing remotely related to restaurants and hotels." He chuckles. "I"m sure you too know of a few clubs owned by them. Not to mention the many underground bordellos they operate, right in the heart of Manhattan. Now that they plan to expand the business, they"ll need more suppliers."

"But that"s the thing, we don"t know Jimenez"s suppliers."

"Yes, we don"t. But I"m sure Agosti can find out. Just drop a few hints here and there about Jimenez, and how there might be a conflict of interests where they"re concerned."

"That"s a great idea. But are you sure they"ll bite? What if they actually develop a partnership?"

"One thing you need to understand about the Famiglia is that they don"t deal well with outsiders or with people encroaching their territory. The Gallaghers are an exception because they deal in different vices. There"s no competition."

"I see. Then it might just work."