Chapter 47

Emiliano

Jano sat behind his desk with Rei and Silas at his side. The rest of the men in the office were the famiglia men on the mission; Adrian, Andros Ivanov’s second-in-command; and our local lieutenants. My father and my uncle were among most lieutenants hearing about last night’s operation for the first time. While there was an undertone of grumbling, most likely because they weren’t notified earlier, the news of Volkov’s demise was met with cheers.

The local police had Dmitri Makarova in custody. His mug shot was making international news. Homeland Security was taking over the case. The preliminary investigation found surveillance footage from The Legend, showing Dmitri going into Volkov’s condo earlier Friday morning. The authorities suspect that someone altered the footage. Their report shows that the next ten hours were replaced by footage from a few days earlier. The cameras didn’t record live again until after 8:15 p.m. There were experts working to recover the missing data.

“It won’t be recovered,” Rei said. “Catching Dmitri on tape was too good to pass up. Sebastián and I made sure that the other footage is gone. They only use in-house storage, no cloud. We were able to scramble their data in a way that would be impossible to recover.”

While the Volkov bratva was listed by Homeland Security as a known terrorist organization, the investigators believe this double homicide was not the result of the recent turf wars between bratvas but instead the result of a jealous husband. The investigation is ongoing.

Other outlets were reporting from Kozlov’s home in Hidden Hills and Volkov’s home in La Jolla. Yachts and cars. It was the same ploy—to expose their extreme wealth bought with the sale of ill-gotten goods.

“The people,” Jano said, “following the news want to sleep at night. They want to reason that organizations such as ours don’t exist. The bratvas and famiglias are a thing of fiction. If a simple story like an affair can ease their concerns about safety in the streets, they will latch on to it like a baby to a tit. They don’t give a fuck if it’s real or not.”

“What about their hideout?” I asked, “Volkov’s.”

“We’re monitoring it,” Silas said. “Not surprisingly, his men are lying low.”

“I’ll give them a choice,” Adrian said. “They swear an oath to Ivanov, or they die.”

Andros Ivanov was getting most of the power from this operation. The good news was that he was now part of our growing alliance. El Patrόn, the capo, and Ivanov would work out the arrangements. The most important factor was that each entity would operate within their boundaries, be those merchandise, crews, or territories. Together we were stronger.

I spoke, saying what I’d been told to say. “After the successful operation with Volkov, a select few of our chiefs and soldiers carried out a raid on an abandoned building in Barrio Logan.”

My father’s jaw clenched. This was part of his territory.

“The intel came in late yesterday,” I said. “Adrian heard chatter. It was how we first learned of Volkov’s location. He visited the building. We hoped we might find Herrera. To be honest, there was a chance it could have been a setup. It wasn’t.

“As you know, Herrera wasn’t there but on Volkov’s yacht. We found a large shipment of weapons and ten women.”

Adrian continued, “Your soldiers took the women to the warehouse south of here. I went down there to speak to them and gave them the choice to go back to where they came from or to travel to Detroit and work for Ivanov.”

Uncle Nicolas shook his head. “Jano, we could make a fortune with Russian women at Wanderland. It sounds like Ivanov is getting away with more than we are.”

Jano stood. “El Patrόn.”

Red seeped upward from Nicolas’s neck. “El Patrόn.”

“I considered Wanderland. I decided to send them where they could communicate.”

“You don’t need to talk to spread your legs.”

Jano quirked his brow. “My decision is made. It will not be discussed further.” He sat back in his chair as silence prevailed and my uncle steamed. “This afternoon,” Jano said, “we will meet at the big warehouse and tell our soldiers our version of what you’ve learned today.” He looked at Adrian and back to us. “The alliance with Ivanov is too young to make common knowledge.” He looked at Piero and Lorenzo. “Currently, this was an operation between our cartel and the Luciano famiglia.”

They nodded.

“We’re not done,” el Patrόn continued. “We’re not done until Elizondro Herrera rots in hell.”

Rei spoke. “This news doesn’t leave this room. Sí?”

“Sí,” came from around the office.

“We have intel that Herrera fled early this morning from a yacht registered to an LLC that can be traced to Volkov. He must have gotten word of Volkov’s death. Soon that boat will be viral on social media. The boat was roughly twenty miles off the shore of Baja California.”

He had our attention.

“Helicopter?” my father asked.

“No, speedboat.” Rei shook his head. “The boat took him to Isla San Martin. It’s fucking crowded with tourists, cruise ships, and rich assholes. We have two men on the ground. If he’s there, they’ll find him. If he left, they’ll find where he went.”

“When they find him, they bring him to me,” el Patrόn said. “Or I’ll fucking go to him. He’s going to die by my hand.”

“No word about Herrera,” Rei said, “to the soldiers. We haven’t been this close in a long time. We can’t risk a leak.”

I thought back to Cat and Dario’s wedding. “We should have gutted him at Cat’s wedding.”

Jano grinned. “Hindsight.” He turned to the room of men. “Váyanse. Do your jobs, spread the word. Everyone who isn’t essential where they are will be at the warehouse at four.” He looked at Nick and me. “Ustedes se quedan.”

We hung back as did Adrian and the others who took part in last night’s mission.

Silas closed the office door and walked the others out to their cars.

Jano leaned back and looked at Nick. “Su fucking padre.” His jaw clenched.

Nick inhaled. “He sees the Roríguez cartel first and only.”

Jano slammed his palm on the desk. “I see our cartel first. Only is a mistake. Without Adrian and Kozlov’s men, we wouldn’t have found Volkov. Without Piero and Lorenzo, we might not have pulled off last night’s operation. The bratva’s and famiglia’s assistance deserves to be rewarded.”

Nick nodded. “I totally agree, el Patrόn.”

Inhaling, Jano leaned back and looked at his brother. “Dmitri.” He laughed. “Fucking perfect.”

“Lockdown?” I asked.

Jano ran his hand through his hair. “We give this one more week. If it doesn’t turn on us, it will be over.”

“My wedding?”

He arched his eyebrows. “I thought you were married. No doubt why you were late.”

“I am married. My mother is planning a ceremony tomorrow.” I cocked my head. “Fuck, did you not approve that?”

Jano smiled. “Fucking with you, Em. Mia filled me in.” He sat forward and rephrased. “She asked for approval. It will be good to see the capo in person. We have much to discuss.”

I exhaled. “How big will you allow Mom to go?”

“Family.” He shook his head. “No fucking mariachi band. The wedding and food. I don’t want to create a target in case Volkov’s men plan an attack.”

“We’ll have them contained by then,” Adrian said.