Chapter 102
102
When I walked back into the cell, Dario was sitting in a chair reading a recent bestseller on economics – something he got smuggled in from outside, not from the prison library.
He looked up. “Who was it p>
I sighed and sat down. “I need a drink first p>
He poured two glasses of wine and handed one to me. “Well p>
“It was a cop from Milan. He was looking for dirt on you… and he offered to spring me from prison if I’d testify against you p>
Dario’s eyes widened. “Really p>
“Yeah. He wanted me to hang Caproni on you… or anything, really. He just wanted you to never get out of San Vittore p>
Dario was very still. “What did you tell him p>
“I told him to go fuck himself. Then I told him, ‘No, wait – go fuck your mother instead p>
Dario burst out laughing. “Are you kidding me right now p>
“No,” I said.
He stopped laughing. “You really told him that p>
“Yeah p>
“If you’d cooperated,” Dario said quietly, “you could get out and see Rachel p>
“Yeah, well… it’s not worth selling my soul p>
Dario grinned like the cat who ate the canary.
I frowned. “What p>
He set aside the book. “I told them. I told them you wouldn’t sell me out… and I was right p>
I frowned even more. “Told who p>
“My father and uncle p>
I stared at him, not comprehending – until it clicked.
“Wait – that was a TEST?!” I shouted.
He held up his hands as though to ward me off. “I apologize – it wasn’t my idea, and I argued against it – but it was the only way to make sure p>
“To make sure of what p>
“That you wouldn’t turn on us p>
“If I wanted to turn on you, I could have gone to the warden any time I wanted p>
“I know,” Dario said calmly. “But my father and uncle demanded assurances. This was the only way to get them on your side p>
“Why?! Why the fuck did you tell them anything in the first place p>
“Because the offer I made you – it wouldn’t be binding without their approval p>
Now I understood. “The offer to – ”
“To come work for my family if things don’t work out with Rachel p>
I groaned. “Dario – ”
“I’m not trying to dissuade you from going after her. You absolutely should go after her. I just want you to consider this as a backup option p>
I sighed. “Look, I appreciate it – I do – but – ”
“You don’t want to go around collecting extortion money or breaking legs p>
He’d nailed it on the head.
“…no, I don’t,” I admitted.
“You wouldn’t be doing that,” he said. “We don’t deal with that sort of shit p>
“I also don’t want to kill anybody who doesn’t deserve it p>
“I would never ask you to do that p>
I gave him a sour look. “Great – but who exactly decides who ‘deserves’ it p>
“Here’s what I propose: I want you to train our men to fight. Not just hand-to-hand combat like you taught me, but to be soldiers. The men who work for us have no training. They were handed a gun, and they fired it once or twice. Most of them have been in a few fistfights, and that’s it. I want you to transform them into a force to be reckoned with. And not to hurt civilians or hassle shop owners – but because there’s a war coming, and I want our family to be ready for it p>
“A war with who?” I asked. “The Camorra p>
“The Camorra, maybe the ‘Ndrangheta… I don’t know exactly, but I know it’s coming, and I want my family to be ready. If you take me up on the offer, I would also ask you to handle important tasks – I might even ask you to kill someone – but I swear it will only be people who are a threat to my family and who deserve it. And you would always have the option to say ‘no p>
I looked at him doubtfully. “You’re saying I could refuse to follow orders p>
“At any time, about anything p>
“Is that normal in your line of work p>
“No,” Dario said. “It’s unprecedented. In the Cosa Nostra, when your superior tells you to do something, you do it – no questions asked p>
“Like a good soldier,” I said quietly.
He nodded. “Like a good soldier p>
“But you’d let me disobey orders p>
“I’d let you refrain from taking certain actions. Obviously, you couldn’t countermand orders I give my other men – but if there’s something you didn’t want to do, I would not insist you do it p>
I thought for a long moment.
What he was promising me was a luxury I’d sure as hell never been given in the military – or by Alistair.
“I would have certain conditions,” I said.
“Name them p>
“I would never harm any women or children p>
“I would never ask you to p>
“What about your father or uncle?” I asked dubiously. “Would they tell me to p>
“That was the reason for the test,” Dario explained. “You would be reporting directly to me, not them p>
This was sounding more and more unbelievable by the minute. “You’re saying if your father – the mafia don of your family – ordered me to do something, that I could say ‘no p>
“That’s correct – because you would answer to me, not him. Hence the test to make absolutely sure of your loyalty p>
I looked at Dario sideways. “I can’t see your father and uncle being willing to go along with that situation p>
He smiled. “I reminded them that I took the fall so they didn’t have to be here. This was my one request in exchange p>
I stared at him in shock. “You said that to them p>
“Yes p>
“Why p>
“Because I have a good feeling about you p>
I looked at him in disbelief, then sighed. “Look, I can’t make any promises – ”
“Nor do I expect you to. This was just me planting a seed. If I brought the matter to my father and uncle a week before your release, they would have said ‘no.’ This way, they have some time to get used to it p>
“Several years,” I said drily.
He gave a rueful smile. “It might take them that long to be comfortable with the arrangement p>
“So that guy wasn’t a cop p>
“Bernardi? Oh, he’s a cop, alright. But he’s on our payroll. In Florence, not in Milan. He’s one of our most loyal men in law enforcement p>
I stared at Dario in disbelief. “Wait – so he knows stuff about you p>
“You mean things that could keep me in prison for another 20 years? Absolutely. If he wanted to fuck us, he knows far worse things than you do. But he also knows that if he rats, he’ll be killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. Plus, he’ll spend the rest of his very short life looking over his shoulder, day and night p>
I got a sour look on my face. “So if I went to work for you, and Bernardi turned on you… is he somebody you’d order me to kill p>
“I would ask you to kill him,” Dario said gently. “But per our agreement, you would have the right to refuse p>
I settled back in my chair uneasily…
But it wasn’t the idea of killing a corrupt cop that bothered me.
It was the fact that I wasn’t bothered by it.
That was the part that unsettled me.
“I can promise you far more money than your arrangement with MI6,” Dario said, “although I don’t sense money is a big motivator for you p>
“It’s not. It’s nice, but it’s not the most important thing p>
Dario nodded. “So I promise to give you what no one else in the Cosa Nostra has ever been given before: the right to say ‘no.’ The right to refuse orders. And I can promise you something that your British bastard of a boss was never willing to give you, either p>
“What’s that p>
“If things go badly with a mission… and you’re trapped or imprisoned… we will never, ever leave you behind,” Dario said. “We will always come to get you, even at the cost of our own lives. That I swear to you on my father’s life p>
I believed him.
Dario sat back in his chair. “Look… if I’m being completely honest… I selfishly want to keep you here with me in San Vittore. Because you’re a good friend, and because I’m far safer if you stay with me. But as a gesture of goodwill, I want to make you another offer p>
“One I can’t refuse?” I joked.
He smiled at The Godfather reference. “Remember – you can always refuse. That’s part of the deal. No… I want my brother Roberto to hire new legal counsel to look at your case. There may be a way to vacate your sentence – an irregularity or a flaw that your lawyer overlooked. Maybe something in the arrest or the paperwork p>
“I… I’m touched. I really am,” I said. “But my lawyer was good. I started off with a public defender, but when I found out his English was horrible, I got my friend to find a better lawyer out of Milan. She spoke English fluently and handled everything as well as could be expected p>
“But she didn’t take your case to trial, correct p>
“No – but that was because they caught me with the guns red-handed. She said there was no way out of a prison sentence p>
“There’s always a way out p>
I arched an eyebrow. “Then what are you doing here p>
He smiled. “I was the way out. Otherwise, it would have meant prison for my father and uncle p>
I felt bad for acting like a smartass, especially considering the gigantic sacrifice he had made for his family.
It had just been irritating to hear that You THOUGHT you did the smart thing, but you didn’t.
Because if I hadn’t done the smart thing…
Then I’d well and truly fucked myself, and that was a hard pill to swallow.
Dario seemed to know what I was thinking because he said, “I’m sure your lawyer was very good – but I’m talking about someone outstanding. One of the best in Italy. Like you said, your lawyer handled the plea deal. I’m talking about someone who can go back over your case with a microscope to find a loophole that could set you free p>
“I can’t afford that kind of a lawyer p>
He waved my objection away. “Don’t worry about it p>
“Dario – ”
“You’ve saved my life on more than one occasion. I can never repay that. But my family has enough money that hiring the best lawyer in Italy would be a pittance. Allow me to do the very least that is in my power to make things right p>
I stared at him.
Was it true?
Was it even possible?
I wanted to believe, but – there was one more problem.
“Thank you. I mean it – thank you. But… my situation could actually get worse if a new lawyer starts stirring things up p>
“Why is that p>
“My name isn’t Lars Andersen – it’s Lars Henriksson. I had a fake passport when I was arrested. That’s who I pretended to be, and that’s the name they convicted me under. I think they didn’t look at me too closely because they had me dead to rights with the guns. But if they think I might get out of jail, well… they might start poking around again p>
“Lars Henriksson, eh p>
I nodded.
“Your fingerprints aren’t in a military database somewhere?” Dario asked.
“From what I understand, MI6 deleted them p>
Dario whistled. “What my family wouldn’t pay to be able to do that p>
I smiled, then grew serious. “Look, I came to terms with serving my sentence a long time ago. I figured I made my bed, so I had to lie in it. I don’t like it, but I’ve learned to live with it p>
“Even if it means not seeing Rachel for another three years p>
I clenched my jaw. “That’s the part that hurts p>
“At least let me have Roberto look into it,” Dario said. “We’ll specify that it has to be handled with the utmost delicacy. He won’t allow the lawyer to advance the case without you signing off on it. Seriously, though, it wouldn’t hurt to try p>
“…really?” I asked, daring to hope.
“Really p>
“…okay. Thank you p>
Dario got up from his chair and hugged me. “Believe me when I tell you it is the least I can do for you, my friend p>
Dario was as good as his word. His brother Roberto hired one of the most expensive defense lawyers in all of Italy to look at my case.
I didn’t know it at the time, but the lawyer had worked for the Rosolinis many times in the past. That’s why he agreed to do it.
If I’d called him up out of the blue, he never would have taken me on as a client. And even if he had, his fee would’ve equaled half a year’s pay at MI6.
Three weeks later, an answer finally came back: there weren’t any flaws the lawyer could exploit. Not easily, anyway – and not without drawing undue attention to my identity.
I had to turn down Dario’s offer. If the Italian authorities found out I was using a fake passport… and if it could even potentially lead back to MI6…
I couldn’t take that chance.
“Thanks, but… I can’t,” I said weeks later when Dario told me the news.
He nodded. “I’m sorry, Lars p>
It was hard. Like I had been given a tiny scrap of hope, and then it was taken away from me.
But the one thing I never forgot:
That Dario had offered… then come through for me… even though it would have meant losing his only real ally in San Vittore.
I never forgot what he had been willing to give up so I could potentially go free.