Chapter 4 - The Shadow of the Family
By Friday night, Frankie was operating on three hours of sleep a night.
She spent her days from six in the morning until four in the afternoon managing Pier 42, whipping Gabriel's logistics mechanics into shape and cutting down container downtime by fifteen percent in less than a week. Her evenings were spent back at Bellini Auto, turning wrenches on local customer sedans until midnight to keep her father's regular business from dying.
She was exhausted, her shoulders burned, and her hands felt permanently stained with motor oil.
It was eleven o'clock on Friday night when the front door of Bellini Auto clicked open.
Frankie dropped her socket wrench, sliding out from beneath a Honda Civic. "We're closed," she called out, reaching for the heavy iron pry bar sitting on her rolling cart.
"Even for family?"
Frankie stood up, her jaw tightening as she saw Leo standing in the dim fluorescent light of the garage. He looked better than he had on Tuesday—his swollen eye had turned a dull yellow-green, and his lip was scabbed over—but he was wearing a new leather jacket that he clearly couldn't afford.
"What are you doing here, Leo?" Frankie said, her voice flat, devoid of warmth.
"I brought you food," Leo said, holding up a greasy brown paper bag from the local Italian deli down the street. "Thought you might be hungry."
Frankie didn't move toward him. She wiped her grease-covered hands on a shop rag, her eyes hard. "Where did you get the money for the jacket, Leo?"
Leo’s eyes flickered nervously toward the side door before returning to her. "It’s... I sold my old racing rims to a guy in South Baltimore."
"Liar," Frankie said quietly. "You took a loan from someone else, didn't you?"
"No! Frankie, swear to God!" Leo took a step forward, his hands raised in defense. "I’m clean! I haven't gambled since Tuesday! I swear!"
"Gabriel Costa had to drag you off Pier 42 on Thursday morning," Frankie said, stepping out into the open bay, holding the shop rag like a weapon. "Do you have any idea what I am doing for you? Do you have any idea what kind of deal I had to make with that man to keep him from taking this building?"
"I know what you're doing!" Leo shouted suddenly, his face flushing red with anger and embarrassment. "You're playing the martyr! Like you always do! Dad died, and you instantly took over everything! You look at me like I'm a bug under your shoe!"
"Because you act like one!" Frankie threw the rag onto the floor between them. "You gambled away three hundred thousand dollars! You signed away Dad's life's work! You were going to let a mob boss strip us bare!"
"Costa isn't just taking the land, Frankie!" Leo yelled back, his voice trembling with a terrifying kind of excitement. "You don't get it! I heard things down at the docks! Costa’s holding company is under investigation by the federal prosecutors! The Moretti family from Philadelphia is trying to take over his container terminals! Costa’s using you as a front!"
Frankie froze. "What are you talking about?"
"The Fleet Manager job!" Leo stepped closer, lowering his voice to a frantic whisper. "The guy who had that job before you? He didn't resign because he stole parts! He was murdered, Frankie! They found his car in the Patapsco River on Monday night!"
A cold spike of terror drove straight through Frankie's chest. "What?"
"Costa brought you in because you're clean!" Leo continued frantically, grabbing her shoulders. "You have an engineering degree and a clean record! If the feds raid Pier 42, your name is on all the heavy equipment manifests! If the Moretti family launches a war for the docks, you're sitting right in the crosshairs!"
Frankie stared at her brother, her head spinning.
Before she could process Leo's words, the dark street outside the garage bay windows suddenly lit up with headlights.
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A sleek, heavy black sedan pulled slowly up to the curb outside Bellini Auto, its engine idling with a deep, throat-rattling rumble. Through the tinted glass, Frankie recognized the silhouette immediately.
Gabriel Costa.
