Lacey Luzzi: Sprinkled: A humorous cozy mystery! (Lacey Luzzi Mafia Mysteries Book 1) (31 page)

I nodded. He’d called a few days ago telling me to be prepared for another gig. For what? I had no idea.

“Nicky?” Carlos looked at his son.

“Yes, we do.” Nicky lounged back in his chair, missing the obvious clue to ‘get out of here.’

“There’s a boy out front chatting up Marissa and Clarissa. He’s got about ten years on ‘em.” I nodded my head towards the front of the Laundromat.

“What the fuckety fuck?” Nick stood, his chair tipping precariously backward, but righting itself just before it tipped all the way over.

“Exactly my thoughts.” I nodded solemnly. “I think you need to put a stop to that sort of behavior. You wouldn’t want your girls to grow up and turn out…
promiscuous
,” I whispered. However, if they were anything like their father, Carlos could be expecting great-great-grandchildren in the semi-near future.

“I’m going to destroy his face. I’m going to-” Nicky huffed out of the room punching his fist into his hand.

“Good.” Carlos blew out smoke in approval. “You’re getting more creative with your lies.”

I didn’t say anything, since it wasn’t technically a lie. But hey, I’d take credit if Carlos thought I’d come up with it on the spot.

“It wasn’t a lie, was it?” Carlos sucked on his cigar, and I hung my head.

“A half-lie.” I tested my nose bleed and was pleased to see it had slowed to a trickle. “So what’s the gig?”

Carlos sunk into the chair so comfortably that it became an extension of him. “There’s a body. Leonardo Campani.”

“Leo?” I parroted. He wasn’t related, but he was one of the Family’s foot soldiers. He was on the streets selling substances to the sketchy sort. It wasn’t a well-paying gig, but it was a start. Nobody got into the Family without making their bones on the street first. “He played poker with Nicky, right?”

Carlos gave a nod, his expression halfway between disgust and passiveness. “Not a huge loss to society. He had two kids, but I doubt he knew their names. He was a mean drunk and a cheat at the tables. He got kicked out of the Family games last year.”

The Family games, a low key poker tournament with high stakes, were by invitation only. Once a kid became a made man, he was invited to a few trial games. If he held his own and played fair, he was allowed to stay.

“Who did it?” It was odd that Carlos was giving special attention to a street soldier.

I’d been under the impression that anyone outside the administration
(aka his inner circle) was dispensable. Tough, but true. Being the godfather, Carlos wasn’t especially bothered by death or dead bodies unless it posed a direct threat to the honor of the Luzzi Family name. What I was missing was the link between Leo’s lifeless body and Carlos’ attention.

“That’s what I need you to find out. Leo, he was a
goomba
.” Carlos pinched his thumb and middle finger together and shook his arm like he was loosely rolling a pair of die. His bottom lip turned outward in a pout as he reverted to his native language.

He wagged a finger. “BUT,” he spat. “There are rumors floating around. With the Russians growing in Minneapolis, we can’t let any attack slip through without an investigation.”

What Carlos didn’t say spoke volumes. The Russian mob had been setting up shop in our Twin City, providing unwanted competition. I’d never thought they were much to worry about, but Carlos was obviously concerned.

“So you want me to make sure one of Leo’s sleazy friends killed him, and it had nothing to do with the Russians,” I clarified.

“Yes. If it is something with the Russians, we must retaliate. You will find out, yes?”

I narrowed my eyes. “I won’t be doing any retaliating, right?”

“You will report your findings to me. It is of the utmost importance we solve this before March 18
^th
.”

“Right. Because March 18
^th
is…” I wracked my brain, watching Carlos for any sign of a hint. It was useless, his face remained stoic as ever. 

“Only a week away,” I finished lamely.      

“Shame on you,” he said. “It’s your cousin’s wedding
.”

I stood, knowing his glazed expression meant I was dismissed. Thankfully my nose had stopped bleeding and I tossed both towels in the garbage.

“The garbage?” Carlos raised his eyebrows. “This is a Laundromat.”

I ducked under the counter to hide my blushing cheeks. When I righted myself I held both soiled rags in my hands.

Carlos’ eyelids were halfway shut as he watched my struggles. “It was a joke.”

“Oh, right.” I tossed them back into the bin.

“But it is a Laundromat.”

“Oh, okay,” I hesitated as I made a move to reach back towards the garbage.

“
Vai via
.” Carlos instructed me to leave. “Find our problem.”

I hurried towards the door, but as I twisted the knob, I turned back to Carlos. “Can I ask you a question? How worried are you that the Russian mob is launching a full scale attack on the Luzzi Family? Maybe they’re starting small with someone like Leo, just to test the waters and then they’re gonna work their way up into a full blown territory war. We can’t have that.”

Calmly, Carlos looked up from his glass of fine red wine. “That was two questions and an explanation. Which would you like me to address?”

“Uh, the second one, I guess. The one with the scale. We’ll say from absolutely no chance to … they’re probably already attacking us and maybe going to blow up this Laundromat in two minutes.”

I watched Carlos struggle to find an answer. When he settled on something, he set his glass down and bridged his fingers. “I think a three. But even if it were a zero, I would want to be sure. You get nowhere in this world by trusting, leaving things to chance. If you learn one thing, Lacey, remember this: We are the only sane people in the world. Everyone else is crazy.”

I bobbed my head up and down.

“Do you understand?” Carlos’ gaze was piercing.

“Yes, sir.” I agreed.

“You didn’t ask if we’d win a war.” Carlos called after me as I pulled the door open.

I turned, one foot already out the door. “Of course not. I trust you.”

I thought I saw a hint of a smile flicker across his lips, but I didn’t wait to find out if it lingered.

** **

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