Page 17 of Tender Entrapment
CHAPTER 8
Afterbreakfast, Camille left, so Luigi went to his study to go over what he knew already.
He had told his son, his consigliere, and his caporegimes about a fake shipment of pure heroine coming in and asked them to send out their crews to pick it up. All three pickup spots in the wharf had been raided upon their crews’ arrivals, and they had gotten arrested.
It stood to reason that the tip about the consignment must have gotten to the police from the people whom he told. They were the only people who knew all three spots.
Their phones were the only means of communication any of them could have used to alert the police. Yet he could not find anything in them or in their wives’ devices.
Perhaps the culprit has deleted all incriminating messages,Luigi reasoned. He felt foolish for not considering that possibility.
Now there was no other readily available course of action to follow. There were no CCTV cameras within his property, so there was no way to track the movement of his guests.
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. “Come in,” he called out.
Lucia came in, holding open her palm. “You should take a look at these,” she said and set them down on his table.
Luigi recognized them immediately: electronic bugs. They were round with adhesive undersides to glue them to surfaces.
The cold hands of fear clutched hard at Luigi's spine. “Where did you find them?” he asked.
Lucia pointed at the bugs on the right. “These two were in Paulo's rooms, and that one…” She pointed at the one on the left. “That one was under the coffee table downstairs.”
“The living room downstairs?” Luigi asked.
“Yes.”
Luigi sighed. “Get me Dante and Paulo at once.”
While he waited, he swiveled his chair away from his desk so he could face the window behind it. The fountain was to his right, gushing water.
Manzano and Julio stood there now, talking animatedly. Luigi could only hope it was not an argument or a consideration of a revolt.
Away from them, the black asphalt of his driveway snaked around the fountain and stretched down to the gate. Beside the gate, the guard house stood in somber gray.
Can I even trust those ones?Luigi wondered. They were the only people maintaining his hold here. If they switched sides, he'd only have his reputation for violence and penchant for revenge to keep the men in line.
The tiger never forgets.He then thought of Camille.She should have come into my life in a time of peace.
Dante came in then, long before Luigi expected him. He was the most efficient driver and bodyguard Luigi had ever had.
“When was the last time you swept my car for bugs?” Luigi asked without looking at him.
“This morning,” Dante replied.
It didn't matter because Luigi never made verbal orders in his car or outside his house.
“Sweep the house,” he instructed Dante. “Every nook and cranny.”
“Should I start here?” Dante asked.
“Yes.” Luigi gestured at the cabinet on the wall across from the room. There was an electronic bug sweeper in it. Dante brought it out and started to check immediately.
There was nothing in the study.
“I'll check the bedrooms and the den,” Dante told him and left.
Paulo came in soon after. “You sent for me?”
