Mafia's Redemption: Terzo - Chapter 50: Chapter 50

TERZO
We arrived in separate vehicles at one of the FBI field offices for questioning. I knew Katie was serious about her warning, but I didn’t know it involved the FBI. Now I understood why she hadn’t been answering my calls.
She wasn’t arrested earlier, so she must have been helping them to catch us, but I never doubted Katie would betray me or sell me out.
I thought of Dani immediately the moment I got handcuffed. I promised her that I would be home, yet here I was locked up in one of the interrogation rooms, cuffed to the table, and if there was an investigation that would lead to the killing of Tomas and my involvement with the family business, I would be serving twenty years in prison.
Fuck. I fucked it up.
I knew something didn’t add up when Humphries called me by my name and wanted to do business with me. He knew me all along, but never mentioned Dani’s name.
Did Francesco sell me out to Humphries, knowing I would be paying his son’s debt? Of course. It made perfect sense.
Son of a bitch.
One of the agents who arrested me got inside the room after taking all my prints. It was over, I knew it. They got my prints and my mugshot.
“I don’t know, man. Your fingerprints came up with two names. So which are you Terzo Manuele Siciliano or Damiano Agustino? Siciliano, huh, the only son of Gaetano Siciliano. Your father has quite a reputation in Sicily. Is Damiano Agustino an alias?” He chuckled, confident he had just arrested a big fish. “So you know you and Deckard Humphries are arrested for racketeering and fraud.”
As I stayed calm, I observed him. He looked like he had quite a reputation who always going by the book. He loved his country very much. He barely drank. He definitely didn’t smoke. He probably had two kids— both girls. And he was okay with the government salary.
“What is your involvement with Deckard Humphries?” He sighed when he couldn’t get an answer for me. “Okay. If this is how you wanna play this?” He dropped Dani’s picture. I barely looked at it.
Well, I knew how this worked. I’d done this before— been there, done that kind of shit. I’d been interrogated by the worst of the worst. I’d been waterboarded, tied up, beaten, pointed guns at my head, stuck a needle underneath my nails, but the worst part was psychological torture, when they used your family as your weakness.
“You got married weeks ago. Congratulations. Do you know Danielle Souls dated Deckard Humphries for six months? Did she introduce you to Humphries? Is that how you two met? Look, Terzo, help yourself here. You’d be spending a lot of time in prison with him. I can make you a deal.”
Another agent opened the door and called his partner.
“I’ll be back. When I come back, make sure you think about yourself and your wife, otherwise, I can’t help you.”
I was grateful to the agency for cleaning up my rap sheet, otherwise, my life was over, but I had a bad feeling, my handler was already aware of my arrest, and I just brought myself back to life.
The door swung open. Well, that was quick. I didn’t expect this would happen. Well, I was completely utterly fucked. What the fuck was she doing here? Not that I was grateful/
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Grace Ridge was a tough woman. She just got promoted to deputy, and she shouldn’t be here.
I shrugged.
“What in the world of staying dead did you not understand?” She looked at the agent. “Can you give us a minute?” The moment the FBI agent left, I felt like she was going to explode. “Do you know how hard it is to convince the agency that you’re still active? What the hell are you even doing here? Really, Deck Hamphries?”
“He did something to his wife. I couldn’t let it go.”
“Right. You’re married now.” She looked at my finger. I didn’t wear my wedding band. “Congratulations. Welcome back from the dead, Siciliano.”
The agent came back, and he wasn’t very much impressed. This time, to uncuff me. “I apologize, Mr. Agustino. There’s been a mistake. Next time, just talk to us. We understand how you guys work. Have a nice day.”
I rubbed my wrists as I stood up. I was even surprised to see Linden with Grace. I knew they worked together before, but I was impressed that he called her for help.
I was finally able to breathe the moment we walked out of the FBI.
“Where’s my handler, Ridge?”
“For fuck’s sake, Siciliano. Let’s not talk right here.” She was furious. She must have owed Linden something that she came all the way here to get me. If it were Kelsey, she would let me spend the night in jail to teach me a lesson.
We arrived at the Osmium. Something was bothering her. They must have the operation go wrong.
“Siciliano, a moment alone, please?”
“Of course.” I followed her outside the office.
“Who designed this building?” The way she stood and looked down at the lobby, she was about to say something that could change my day even worse.
“I have no idea.” I stood beside her, calculating my words. “Thank you for what you did.”
She turned to look at me. “Why did you get married?”
My eyebrows arched. “Is that really what you wanna talk about?”
“Of course not.” She sighed heavily. “We lost some good men yesterday and last month, too.” That was why she was pissed off. I had a feeling the next thing that came out of her mouth was to collect what I owed her.
“I’m sorry to hear that. What happened? Is Kelsey okay?”
“She’s fine. She’s busy working on something. It’s classified.”
“Understood.”
She then stared at me for a moment.
“Just ask away or say it, Ridge. But to answer your question, my father had always wanted me to settle down.”
“Has. I know your father is still alive.” Well, fuck me. Of course, they knew.
“That’s true.”
“Why is your wife looking at Medea?” Interesting. She knew something.
My eyebrows arched. “How did you know?”
“Haven’t you learned not to ask that kind of question?”
“Right. Her father is looking for the lost book, Medea. He said it’s rare, but I have doubts.” I had a feeling she knew something about it, too. So, I’d just ask away. “Was it top secret? What do you think about that book?”
“It’s a myth.”
“I know about the story or that play.”
“No. The book is a myth. The Medea you’re looking for. It’s a secret file to scare mafias.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I stared at her in disbelief. “So what are you trying to say is my father-in-law wants me to find the book, but he never owns it?”
“Or he might just be the one who set you up. I know him, Siciliano.” What the fuck? Of course, he was a snake. He would betray me.
“What do you mean you know him?”
“He’s not who you think he is.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? How can I find this book?”
She chuckled. “Keep your phone beside you. I might need you back one of these days.” I already suspected she might say that. “That’s all for now.”
“Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. You’ve been a good officer and a reliable source.”