Chapter 94: Book 1: Epilogue (Part 2 of 2)

Claudia Gattosi

Day 18

 

Claudia swept into the Woodland Mall like she owned the place. In a manner of speaking, she did, or to be more accurate, her brother did. Carla followed on her heels with a big smile on her face. She enjoyed shopping almost as much as she enjoyed fawning over Luca, principally because she mistakenly believed that looking good for him would lead to the crown prince of asshats showing her some affection.

It had been a few weeks since Luca had completed his takeover of Grand Rapids and everything in the city largely became theirs for the taking. Even for Claudia, despite her fractious relationship with her aptitude thieving twin brother.

Claudia figured that once it had finally become obvious to Luca that he couldn’t do away with her without sacrificing his newfound power, he mistakenly assumed that if he spoiled her, she would become more biddable. Hence the limited freedom to help herself to whatever she wanted, provided Carla tagged along to watch and report back.

Not that such a plan would have worked anyway, as she hated the son of a bitch, but shopping had quickly lost most of its lustre.

It simply wasn’t as much fun when you could take whatever you wanted, and then who would she have shown it off to. Part of the joy was seeing the envious look from the other women when they laid eyes on the divine outfit you’d unearthed or cajoled from a secretive designer. If there was no one to be dazzled, then what was the fucking point?

However, Carla loved to shop. The ditzy lovelorn woman had essentially become Claudia’s shadow or perhaps anchor would have been a better analogy. She literally couldn’t go anywhere without her, and Carla hated to be separated from Luca’s proximity. Enticing her on the occasional mall visit was the only viable way of getting out from under Luca’s thumb for a few hours. And today’s visit had a special purpose that required circumspection.

After browsing a couple of jewellery and perfumery stores, they moved on to the largest women’s clothing outlet in the mall. Faking casualness took all of Claudia’s self-control, but it was necessary to let Carla get into the swing of things and become engrossed in picking out a new outfit. Claudia browsed the clothing for a few minutes and pulled a slinky black dress, bedecked with sequins, and a similar alternative in gold from the rack.

“I’m going to try these on, see which I like the look of best,” Claudia remarked as she casually set off for the changing rooms.

“Uh-huh,” came the distracted reply from her chaperone.

Claudia wove through the racks heading for the closest dressing room. She glanced over her shoulder and once she had confirmed that Carla wasn’t paying attention, shifted direction to the changing facilities on the other side of the room.

There were four booths, and each could be fully closed, which would provide the privacy she needed. Without hesitation, Claudia moved over to the booth on the far left and rapped her knuckles on the door four times, before entering and closing the door shut behind her.

She breathed a sigh of relief at the sight before her. A handsome man in his late twenties with slicked-back hair, dressed in a white shirt and a navy-blue sports jacket. He was in the midst of returning a Glock to its holster inside his jacket and he beamed a smile at her.

“Ricky,” she sighed, letting out a deep breath she hadn’t realised she was holding. “I hoped it would be you.”

“Sunny C, give your cousin a hug, but watch where you put those new nails of yours,” he laughed and held his arms wide open.

Claudia discarded the unwanted dresses onto the fitting room stool and embraced her cousin warmly. “I’ve missed you cuz.”

The physical contact with someone she actually cared about was a welcome change.

Ricky Giambi’s mother was her father Giovanni’s sister. He was a few years older than Luca and Claudia and the unofficial heir to the family business much to Luca’s eternal chagrin.

Where Luca was arrogant and cruel, Ricky was competent and exacting. If it hadn’t been for the small matter that Ricky preferred to bed men rather than women, then there would be no question as to who would succeed Giovanni as head of the family. The older men in the organisation disapproved of his sexual inclinations, some strenuously.

 But Ricky handled the hate with cool aplomb and got on with business. As long as he was earning for the families it kept all but the crankiest of mouths shut. And if a few of the more homophobic and jealous old-timers had unfortunate accidents, nobody cared provided they weren’t spoken for. Ricky was too clever to make a mistake like that.

Time used to be on Ricky’s side, Giovanni had been in his early fifties and in rude health, ready to lead the family for another decade or more. Plus, the younger generation was more tolerant than the old-school mafiosa. Ricky had only needed to wait for enough of them to die or get put away before her father made it official.

The Framework had changed everything.

Yesterday, out of pure habit, Claudia had checked in on a prearranged dead drop and found the scrawled note asking for a meet-up. She had hastily left a reply to meet in this particular changing room in the Woodland Mall today. Claudia hadn’t known it would be her cousin, he had the good sense not to leave any identifying information in case the drop had been compromised. Ricky had been at the top of a short list of those who knew about it, though.

“I thought you were with Papa in Sicily,” Claudia said as she broke the hug in an excited voice. “Does that mean he is back in the States too? Is he here with you?”

Ricky grimaced and Claudia’s heart sank at the look on his face.

“I think you need to sit down,” he told her quietly.

Claudia already knew she wouldn’t like what he had to say and let him guide her to one of the free beige stools.

“The news isn’t good, but not altogether hopeless either,” he started. “While in Sicily your father got word that the Torelli’s were making a move in Detroit. Trying to take advantage of his absence.”

Claudia couldn’t help but interrupt “The god damned, Torelli’s,” she seethed. “Greedy fuckers are never happy.”

“You’re not wrong, and they got what was coming to them before I came looking for you,” Ricky grinned and then his face returned to seriousness. “Anyway, your father decided to cut the trip short to deal with the ungrateful bastards once and for all. He could only send me and a few others back straight away to get things rolling without causing offense to our hosts. We were on the next available commercial flight back and landed in Detroit Metro a few hours before the world shifted.”

“So, he’s still in Sicily?” she asked, not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.

“Maybe,” Ricky replied with a sigh. “The last text message I got from him before we boarded said our hosts had been understanding of his need to return and were arranging a private jet to bring him back. I don’t know for sure, Claudia, but the impression I got was he’d be in the air not long after we were. There is a good chance he was mid-flight when it happened.”

Her eyes glistened with moisture as a thousand different emotions ran rampant through her. If he really had been in the air, then he would have been lost. Then she drew in a deep breath and pushed all her feelings down. Ricky didn’t know for sure that he was on a jet, hope remained. There would be time enough to process all the details later.

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“We don’t have much longer until Carla notices I’ve not come out. I presume because you used the dead drop to contact me you learned about Luca and what he can do?” Claudia said and wiped the few treacherous tears away from her cheek.

Ricky nodded solemnly.

“Good. Did you bring enough of the family’s enforcers to put him down? If he knows you’re alive he will kill you without hesitation. You know how much he hates you. If we take him out decisively before they know what’s coming, the rest will fall into line and the city will be yours.”

Another grimace from her cousin and Claudia’s rising hopes were dashed for a second time.

“The truth is, Detroit is a mess. We put the Torelli’s down in those first few days, but in the chaos and upheaval…well…loyalty is in short supply. Too many have seen it as an opportunity to stake their own claims and they’ve broken faith. We’re holding on to our traditional territory, but only barely. I’ve got guys trying to make contact with people we can trust out of state but it’s going to take time. Travel is dangerous and slow.

“I came here with the same intention, to bring the Grand Rapids branch back home, but had to change gears when I found out what Luca had become. There is no easy way to say this, but he is already stronger than what is left of the rest of the family. Much stronger. I’ve only stuck around as long as I have in the hope I could pull you out.”

Claudia was deeply touched that Ricky had risked himself for her. The next few minutes were painful for both as Claudia explained why she couldn’t go with her cousin.

Putting the lingering effect of Luca’s commands not to run aside, her brother could always feel where she was. He would know if she went anywhere unexpected and due to the nature of what he had done to steal her aptitude would expend every resource at his disposal to get her back.

They wouldn’t make it. Trying would only get Ricky killed.

“It’s already been too long, and I have to go,” she said at last and picked up both dresses. “I’ll draw Carla away as quickly as possible. You need to leave the Rapids area. If Luca gets suspicious and orders me to spill what I know I won’t be able to deny him.

“Yeah, I get it Sunny C,” Ricky said and drew her into a comforting bear hug. “Stay safe. Keep checking that dead drop, okay. When we rebuild our strength and are ready to act, I’ll contact you that way, alright,” he whispered.

“I will, cuz. Trust me, I’ll find us a way out of this,” she whispered back and slipped out of the booth, leaving the changing area and walking back onto the store’s main mezzanine.

She spotted Carla up on her tiptoes, frantically searching the racks for her. Clearly, she had discovered Claudia had not been in the closest changing area.

Claudia nonchalantly made her way over to the distressed young woman who took a moment or two before she noticed her and rushed over.

“Where were you? What took you so long?” Carla demanded.

“Calm down, Carla. I was in the changing rooms like I said. Trying to decide which of these racy little numbers I preferred, and it took a while,” she lied with practised ease.

“I checked the changing area, and you weren’t there,” Carla accused and pointed at the rooms that had been closest to where they had been browsing earlier.

“There was an off smell in those ones, a dead rat in the rafters I think, so I used a different one.”

“I didn’t smell anything funky.”

Claudia tapped her nose and flared her feline nostrils. “This is a bit more sensitive than it used to be,” and then winked with forced camaraderie.

“Oh…Oh, of course,” Carla replied, her posture relaxing and her suspicions fading away. “The dresses are gorgeous, and you have the legs for them. You should have called me over and helped you pick.”

Claudia laughed. “I thought about it, my dear Carla. And then I realised, why pick? When I could just take them both.”

Carla giggled along with her, and Claudia gave her a quick embrace and used their physical proximity as an excuse to propel Carla out of the store and give Ricky the opportunity to slip away.

 Both women left the mall shortly after that, Carla chattering away inanely and Claudia doing her best to engage.

The day had begun with such promise and would end with bitter disappointment.

However, Claudia wouldn’t let this get her down. In a strange way, knowing that there would be no rescue from her father or his people, was liberating. She knew now that if she wanted a way out from being under her brother’s thumb then she would have to engineer it herself.

 

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Not long after Claudia and Carla left the outlet, Ricky Giambi exited the changing booth when he was sure that enough time had passed. He scanned the area closely and in the corner of his eye spotted something behind a curtain in the waiting area of the changing rooms. More out of curiosity than concern he pulled the light brown curtain out of the way. There was a small child’s doll resting up against the wall. Presumably forgotten in the recent tumult.

“What a creepy little thing,” he muttered before releasing the curtain and swiftly exiting the store out the back way. Giving the lost toy no more thought.

Unseen by Ricky or the women who left before him the doll stood and soundlessly scuttered after Claudia Gattosi.

Following and observing the Leonid woman was the mission given to the small golem by its mistress. It had already collated much useful information about her movements and habits, including observing her at the dead drop and overhearing her recent conversation with her cousin. It was time to report back what it had learned.

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