54. Dante

Chapter 54

Dante

“ T hey shouldn’t have let her go,” I muttered tiredly. I felt drained of all strength. I felt betrayed by my men who agreed to take her to the apartment, betrayed by her that she didn’t trust me. I couldn’t understand why she would risk her life. What was she trying to prove? Of all the mule-headed idiotic things to do …

“Maybe it’s for the best,” Foster said.

I glared at him.

“You hired me to defend you. Antagonizing the police was a bad strategy. Not having her in your custody will make your case more winnable,” he explained.

I looked away from him.

“Anyway, after the damage to their reputation, I’m pretty sure they will be extra vigilant in protecting her now.”

I listened to his words but it was as though we were on two different worlds. Didn’t he understand? I wasn’t going to walk away. I was going to get her back and it was going to be so much harder. I picked up my phone again and called Giotto.

“You have eyes on her, right?” I asked.

“Yes, Boss.”

“Whatever you do, don’t lose her. They know we’ll tail them so ensure you don’t lose them. Where are the guys that were looking after her roommate?”

“They’re still there,” he replied.

“Have them join you in trailing Zola from a different direction if possible. We can’t lose her. No matter what.”

I ended the call and leaned into the seat completely drained of strength but too terrified to fall asleep.

“You should get some rest,” Foster said.

I considered his suggestion and then opened my eyes to see Luca watching me from the rearview mirror. He was waiting for instructions. A few minutes later, I made up my mind.

“No,” I replied. “No rest.”

“To the office then?”

I stared out of the window at the police station we had just exited. “No, let’s go after them.”

The car was silent for a little while but then Luca put the car into motion.

“What do you mean by go after them?” Larry asked.

“Zola and the U.S. Marshals,” I replied. “Ugo is smarter than the average mafia boss and extremely strategic. If I have this many eyes on her then no doubt he has something cunning up his sleeve so I can’t take any risk. I can’t just go back to sit and wait either, so let's go after them.”

Foster looked unhappy, but I ignored his sulkiness until we came to our first intersection.

“You’re welcome to get off here.” I turned to him. “It might get dangerous. I’ll contact you later.”

He gave this a thought while looking ahead. “No,” he refused. “I’ll go.”