Page 209 of Diego

But he came to us first.

Ricardo reaches for his phone. “We’ll still clear the others before we commit everyone to the house.”

Matteo gets on the phone with the people Mario assigned to records. Tomasso starts checking available vehicle information against the addresses Giovanni brought. Dante works through property ownership with Antonio while Ricardo and I focus on the timeline.

The office suite property their man visited ends up being useless to us.

The company attached to it rents space there, but nobody has physically used the office recently. Building access records show no sign of Giovanni’s man entering, and cameras from the lobby do not place him there during the relevant window.

We send two of our people anyway.

The warehouse takes longer.

A vehicle associated with one of the companies has been seen there recently, but the ownership and leasing records are deliberately messy enough that nobody can immediately say who is actually using the building. Ricardo sends people to watch it rather than enter until we know more.

Antonio approves of that with a small nod. “Whoever built this structure wanted distance between the people and the property.”

“That alone doesn’t tell us what they’re hiding,” Ricardo says.

“No. But it tells us they prefer questions to stop at the first company name.”

Antonio says it without any flourish. He is focused, methodical, and clearly comfortable going through corporate records that would make most people’s eyes glaze over.

Nico has barely spoken. He does not seem restless. He watches.

Whenever somebody gives us new information, his attention shifts to the map or the relevant document. When Tomasso mentions a vehicle spotted near the outskirts two nights ago, Nico asks for the time and nothing else. When the answer comes, he looks at Giovanni.

They communicate something without speaking.

I recognize that too. Years of working together.

The same way Mario can look at Ricardo or Lorenzo across a room and know exactly what they are thinking.

Our families may have grown up separately, but some things apparently develop the same way.

The house remains our strongest lead at this point.

Property records show it was purchased through an LLC several years ago. The company has almost no public-facing activity. Utilities are active despite there being no obvious resident associated with the address. A vehicle tied indirectly to one of the companies Antonio has been tracing was recorded in the area recently.

Then Matteo gets confirmation that Giovanni’s man’s phone made its last network connection within a reasonable distance of the property.

Giovanni looks down at the map for several seconds, then raises his eyes to Ricardo. “That is where I would start.”

“So would I,” Ricardo says.

I agree, but I am still studying the address.

Something about it bothers me, but I cannot put my finger on why.

Before I can give it any more thought, Ricardo starts assigning vehicles and people for the drive out.

I file it away.

The warehouse team stays in place. Another pair checks the fourth property without approaching too closely. We keep enough people with us to handle whatever is waiting at the house.

Giovanni listens to the plan without trying to take over.

This is our city.