City on Fire (Danny Ryan, #1)(45)

“You agree?” Peter says. “You want to pay him out of your pocket?”

“No.”

“Then shut the fuck up,” Peter says. “Anyone remember we’re in a war here? It costs money.”

Chris tries again. “You really want to piss on Pasco’s shoes?”

“Pasco has to be retired,” Peter says, “or not be retired. I can’t run this thing if everyone thinks they can go over my head every time they disagree with one of my rulings.”

“Upstairs to the booth,” Paulie says.

“What?”

“You know, like in football,” Paulie says. “Instant replay . . . up in the booth.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever.”

Yeah, okay, whatever, Chris thinks, but it worries him.



The bodies of Gino Conti and Renny Bouchard are never found.

Those two guys are just gone, and everyone knows they aren’t coming back and everyone knows why not.

It’s not just Conti and Bouchard—which is bad enough—but in the nine days since Peter told Solly Weiss to take a walk, two of his card games have been busted, three bookies have been popped, and every girl has been chased off the streets—all shit the cops would usually have left alone.

Solly Weiss has friends, all right.

But Peter gets his feet dug in even deeper. “Over my dead body.”

“That’s not outside the realm of possibility,” Chris answers.

“Come on.”

“Ask Gino and Renny,” Chris says. “Oh, that’s right, you can’t.”

“That was the Murphys.”

“Bullshit.”

It’s classic Pasco Ferri, Chris thinks. Peter disrespected him and he doesn’t whack Peter, he whacks a couple of underlings to teach him a lesson.

A lesson Peter better learn.

Before we all get clipped.

“Peter—”

“I don’t want to hear any fucking more about it, Chris,” Peter says, and walks away from him.

So now Chris goes to Sal Antonucci, finds him down in Narragansett looking at a house by the shore, just two blocks from the beach.

“It’s more than we can really afford,” Sal says, “but I can put a big down payment on it.”

No shit he can put a big down payment. Word is that Sal and his crew did an armored car thing up in Manchester, New Hampshire, and scored big.

Chris says, “It’s a buyer’s market.”

“I figure I can knock them twenty, thirty off the ask,” Sal says. He stands back and looks at the house. “Never thought we’d be able to do something like this, but . . . Anyway, Judy and I thought it would be nice for the kids. Looking down the road, grandkids. Someplace for the family to gather, you know?”

“Otherwise they scatter,” Chris says.

“What I mean,” Sal says. “What brings you down here?”

Because Chris don’t do nothing for nothing. He never comes just to shoot the shit, there’s always an agenda.

“This Solly Weiss thing . . .” he says.

Sal frowns. “You’re Peter’s consigliere. Did you talk with him?”

“Until I’m blue in the face,” Chris answers. “He doesn’t want to listen. I’m afraid if I bring it up again . . .”

Chris leaves it out there—Sal should go make Peter see the light on this one. Peter will listen to him, because Sal’s been doing most of the heavy lifting in the thing with the Murphys, and Peter needs Sal to keep doing what he’s doing.

Especially with Giordo gone.

Sal takes the bait, like Chris knew he would.

“I’m not afraid of Peter,” Sal says. “I’ll talk to him. What do you think about the house? I don’t know, it’s a lot of money.”

“Interest rates being what they are,” Chris says, “I don’t see how you can afford not to.”



Sal goes to see Peter. “Give the rocks back before we all end up in a landfill.”

“What, you giving me orders now?” Peter asks. “I’m the boss of this family.”

“Good—we can put that on your fucking headstone,” Sal says. “I’m not giving you orders, but shit.”

“Shit, what?”

“Forget it.”

“No, Sal,” Peter says, pushing it, “you got something on your chest, get it the fuck off.”

“Okay, fine,” Sal says. “You and Paulie sit in here in your office drinking coffee, eating doughnuts, while it’s me and my crew doing all the work, and now we got two guys dead because you don’t want to give back something you shouldn’t have in the first place!”

“You do not tell me what I should, shouldn’t have!”

“Guys, come on,” Chris says.

“Yeah?” Sal asks, standing up from the table. “What would you have, Peter, if my crew and me weren’t out there getting it for you? You’d have ugatz.”

Paulie says, “You are talking to the boss—”

“—of this family,” Sal interrupts. “Yeah, I heard. So maybe he should start acting like the boss of this family and do what’s best for this family and not just the Moretti brothers!”