The Life - Rebirth (The Life 4)

“Quinn, anything on the Fratelli woman?”

“There’s plenty; she’s a social butterfly, not afraid of the camera. She’s married to some hotshot investment banker. I’m combing through her life now, going back to her teens; I’ll let you know when something pops. What do we know about the UnSub?” I looked at Track for answers.

“Nothing, only what I told you. Nemesis never gave me a name.”

“Is that his handle?”

“Oh shit!”

“Don’t sweat it. I won’t be able to find the kid that way anyway; he’s too good, not enough time. Just tell me whatever you remember him saying.”

“Just that he wants to erase him.”

I went back to my computer to join the search, but I could’ve told everyone they weren’t going to find anything on this kid online, no more than they would find anything about any one of us. Looks like the Fratelli woman was the best bet for now anyway.

“Ah, here’s an old picture of the Fratelli woman with some friends. Not sure who is who, though; there are about seven of them here. I’m sending it over to all of you.” The picture was a bit grainy and was obviously a couple of decades old. It was a shot from a school dance or something if the building whose steps they stood on was proof.

Luckily for us, all their names were listed in the fine print. It was the year of their graduation. “Okay, let’s look at these people individually.” The phone rang just then, and I answered. “Yeah, Andros, did you reach him?”

“Yeah, how soon can you get here?”

“About four hours if I leave now, give or take.”

“I’ll see you then; he’s on his way.”

“Thanks for this.” I hung up with a new sense of urgency.

“Lyon, we gotta go. Logan, Law, you two come with. The rest of you keep digging. Find out everything you can about everybody in that picture. I want updates as soon as we land.” I got my thoughts in order as we made our way to the jet, so as soon as we strapped in, with Logan and Law turning their seats to face Lyon and me, I went in.

“So, here’s what we know so far, according to what the kid told Track. The kid’s mother was violated what would now be almost twenty years ago. She came to America at some point because the kid was born in New York. He told Track that his Pop adopted him the day he was born, that checks out, Draco Russo adopted him the day he was born before he came home from the hospital.”

“His mother’s name is Sofia Antonelli; now Russo, she wasn’t in the picture we just saw. This is all public record, wedding license, adoption papers, etc. After that, there’s nothing on the mother or the son which tells me Draco has been shielding them all this time. Why? Why go to all that trouble on the other side of the world?”

“The UnSub has wealth or connections, some kind of recourse that could pose a threat.”

“Bingo Lyon, so one of those people in the picture might be our guy.”

“Yeah, but there were three or four guys in there.” Logan reminded us.

“So you find the top dog.” I love how laid-back Lyon is.

“It might not be the top dog; it could’ve been a one-off. Too many variables.”

“That’s true, Law, but look at it from this angle. We have the violation of a young girl; now we have one of the friends of the violator involved in the trafficking of young girls and children. Who would she have surrounded herself with? Remember, Track said she came up in conversation while Gabriel was looking into the UnSub, so chances are they’re still in touch, or still even friends.”

“I follow; yeah, I can see where you’re going, birds of a feather and all that. But unless we have feet on the ground, it’s going to be hard to cull the herd.”

“Not necessarily; I think Lyon was onto something. Start with the Luna Fratelli woman and work our way back; we’re bound to find something.”

“All of that aside, how sure are you that this kid is planning to off himself?”

“It’s the stuff he’s into. The fact that he’s a level ten. That tells me he’s heavy into Eastern philosophy and their way of doing things. If he’s a disciple of Sun Tzu, then this kid lives by a different code. He won’t live if he kills his own father, and he can’t allow his father to live.”

“I say let him kill the fuck.”

“Lyon, it’s not that easy. This kid, if he thinks the way I think he does based on what Track shared, he’s not the type to think he deserves to live after taking the life of his father, even if he never saw the man as such. It’s a filial piety thing that can’t be broken.”