Dogs Among Withered Roses - Chapter 8

“You knew, and you still bugged them?”

“Again. Watch your tone.”

Her short retort came back, but unlike yesterday, it wasn’t entirely serious. Maybe she felt a little guilty for wiretapping a senator and his lawyer brother without any fear or thought for the consequences.

While Erkin was inwardly disappointed that he couldn’t record this unintentional confession, Berenice continued speaking without even realizing she was confessing.

“Relax that face, will you? It’s not like I’m the director of the Federal Bureau of Security, bugging people to dig up dirt or blackmail them. What did I do? I just bought the land someone else was going to buy first, that’s all. It’s not even on tape. And I didn’t buy it under my name.”

“So you just made sure not to leave any incriminating evidence.”

“Obviously. Who else would I be protecting? Do I look like an accountant who follows the law?”

God. Was that something to brag about?

Feeling a headache coming on, Erkin pressed his fingers to his forehead.

“You didn’t seem particularly attached to Brian Lockwood. Does getting legally involved with a lawyer count as part of your ‘sincere’ intentions too?”

“You really throw that word around too much.”

Berenice sneered, mocking herself for talking too much.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“What do you think? First, I have to find Russo and take care of the district where the tribute money was stolen. Can’t exactly collect it twice.”

Now it was Berenice’s turn to press her temple like she was massaging away the headache. Watching her visibly drained expression, Erkin unfolded the crumpled newspaper article on the desk.

So that’s what she meant by spreading false information.

Land speculation intel.

He hadn’t imagined it would be anything like this.

Russo Gucci, who didn’t have the money to buy such large plots of land himself, must have taken the redevelopment info and offered it to the Marino Family in exchange for a cut of the profits. Or maybe he’d planned to use that ‘favor’ to earn himself a spot in the Family.

But because the information was fake, Vincenzo Marino had ended up buying worthless land, and naturally, his anger turned toward Russo, who’d passed him the tip. Marino was the type of man who’d hound Russo for every penny spent on District 5, but Russo didn’t have that kind of money to pay back.

Still, that didn’t justify it. To think his solution was to steal the Valentiera Family’s tribute money and run? It wasn’t like he had two lives to spare. Even now, Erkin couldn’t believe how insane the man was.

Tapping her fingers against the desk almost playfully, Berenice, after a long moment of thought, picked up the phone.

“Hello? It’s me, Berenice. Is Ricardo there? No, it’s fine, I don’t need to talk to him directly. Just tell him to send out all the soldatos and picciottos who can move right now to find Russo Gucci. I’m heading out myself, so I’ll explain the details once I’m home. Just get them out there. Yeah.”

The moment she hung up, practically throwing the receiver down, Berenice sprang to her feet.

“Let’s go. I was planning to stop by the day after tomorrow, but it looks like I’ll have to move that up.”

***

“Say that again.”

“Russo stole part of this month’s tribute money from my district.”

Even after hearing it twice, Ricardo frowned as if it still didn’t make sense. It was a reaction Berenice was already familiar with.

“You handed it over to him yourself?”

“Ricardo, are you insane? Try using your brain before you talk.”

“Look who’s talking. If you didn’t give it to him, then why would that bastard Russo….”

Was he seriously suggesting that it made more sense for Berenice, blinded by love, to hand Russo the Valentiera Family’s tribute money herself, rather than Russo stealing it under her name?

Brother and sister…. They sure thought differently from everyone else.

Seeing his reaction only made her realize just how outrageous Russo Gucci’s stunt had been. Surrounded by lunatics on all sides, Erkin could only shake his head internally as Berenice handed Ricardo the same newspaper article she’d shown him earlier.

“I’ve read this too. Didn’t you say you were buying up this area?”

“I told Russo it was District 5.”

“….”

“That one line made everything clear, both the cause and effect of how things ended up like this.”

Ricardo slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again.

“Vincenzo Marino must’ve spent quite a bit.”

Berenice didn’t deny it. She pulled a brown envelope from her briefcase and placed it on top of the newspaper article. It was the same kind of envelope she had taken from beneath the cabinet yesterday.

“Ricardo, do you remember when I said not to throw away the defective parts from the refrigerated trucks?”

Ricardo, who had paused while opening the envelope, took a moment to recall. Remembering the report that Berenice and the capo in charge of the truck factory had briefly mentioned, he nodded.

“I remember. It was taken care of two months ago.”

“Yeah, well, we were supposed to send them to a scrapyard or a steel mill like usual, but Russo took them. No, he stole them. He thought they were perfectly fine parts with no defects.”

Spreading the photos across the desk, Ricardo lifted his gaze quietly.

“I’d like to hear the details.”

Refrigerated trucks. Defective parts. It was the first time Erkin had heard of any of this, just like Ricardo.

“He was showing an unusual amount of interest in our logistics warehouse, so I told the guards at Warehouse 4 near the port to leave early. There was about an hour gap before the next shift arrived. Russo didn’t miss that opportunity.”

“And?”

“Tomorrow, an article will be published in the Rockbern Times. It’ll say that defective parts scheduled for disposal were stolen from the Norick Port logistics warehouse. After tracing them, they were found to have crossed the Wisconsin state line to another refrigerated truck factory. And guess what? That factory was bought last fall by one of Vincenzo Marino’s relatives. Something like that.”

“So, right now….”

“Yeah. If the police or the Bureau catch onto it and accuse him of dealing in stolen goods, Don Marino’s going to have a serious problem. But what’s even more important is that the trucks made in that factory can’t be released as complete products. He’ll have to shut down the factory immediately and recall the trucks that already contain defective parts. It’ll be a huge loss, in more ways than one.”

Ricardo, looking back and forth between Berenice and the photo of Russo Gucci on his desk, asked with a slightly dazed expression, “So you met Russo for this?”

“Yeah. I knew he was working for Marino’s people. I also knew Don Marino was jealous of my brother’s power and was looking for a chance to strike.”

Ricardo looked speechless as he carefully examined every photo taken with a level of precision that could rival a private investigator’s.

“You always dated men like this?”

“What does that even mean? Why do you and that guy both keep asking the same question?”

Throwing her arms out as if she couldn’t understand, Berenice pointed behind her at Erkin. Standing quietly like a spectator across the river, Erkin raised his eyebrows slightly. At the same moment, Ricardo frowned and slammed his hand on the desk, scolding her.

“That guy? Erkin’s your friend now? Show some respect. Answer the question properly, and don’t try to dodge it.”

Berenice shot Ricardo a sidelong glare for defending Erkin, then reluctantly answered.

“If by ‘like this’ you mean dating men with the intention of using them, then yeah. You’re right.”

“Oh, Berenice….”

Even dating normally could lead to disasters, and this… this was beyond him. Pressing a hand to his forehead, Ricardo looked like his brain hurt. Berenice, on the other hand, simply curved her lips into a sweet smile.

“Try to understand me. There’s no shortage of men who approach me with bad intentions. I have my limits when it comes to rejecting and fending them all off.”

“More than a few, huh?”

“Of course. I must’ve looked like an easy target. But that’s not what matters right now, is it?”

“It matters to me, so answer.”

“…There’s not much to say.”

“If there’s not much, then it should be easy to say. Go on.”

“It just means I gave them enough attention to keep them interested, had my fun, and took what I needed. That’s all. Did I do something wrong?”

Berenice turned to look at Ricardo and Erkin standing behind him, asking if what she did was wrong or not. Caught off guard as if he’d suddenly become a juror, Erkin instinctively glanced at Ricardo. He couldn’t understand why she kept throwing sparks of discord his way.

“Erkin, why are you looking at me? Don’t tell me you agree with Berenice.”

“No, boss.”

At Erkin’s polite and overly respectful answer, Berenice let out a short, dry laugh.

“You two look pretty close. Should I give you some space? Want me to leave you alone to talk?”

“Shut your mouth, Berenice. Giving false information was the right thing to do?”

“He wouldn’t stop pestering me, so I had to throw him a little feed to keep him quiet. And you can’t be certain about redevelopment until the results are announced. Everyone buys land knowing there’s a risk. You can’t call it completely false information. Who knows? Maybe the Belloc city council will grant a permit to build a hotel in District 5.”

“And letting him take the defective parts?”

“We should’ve been making money off milk and grocery deliveries since before Prohibition was repealed. Do you really think Marino’s the only one eyeing the Valentiera’s refrigerated truck and storage tech? Even if it didn’t happen today, it would’ve happened sooner or later. We just prepared before being hit ourselves…. Why am I even explaining this?”

Answering Ricardo’s questions one after another, Berenice eventually dragged a chair over and plopped down. It seemed her feet were hurting from the stiletto heels she rarely wore.