the starlet, Ruby Heinz, had given a very long time ago. They were typical of the era and talked about the furnishings in the room and the clothing brands she wore. She told the interviewer about her movie project and how she’d had to reach deep to portray her character accurately, to identify with the woman she’d played.
The article didn’t mention that the apartment and clothes had been paid for by Celeste’s husband, or that she was pregnant at the time. Those were matters that were noted by more pages. Lease payment records, store receipts, and the hospital records and payment receipts for one Ruby Hebert, AKA Ruby Heinz.
There was no further background information. It would seem the woman had come from the swamps and had left a trail of secrecy behind her. People wouldn’t talk down there and that had frustrated Celeste, no doubt.
There was no mention of what had happened to her child or where she’d worked since the day she left New York and the movies behind. Just an address, written in cursive, on a piece of cheap notebook paper. Interesting.
Matteo got up to make himself a scotch he could drink and went back over the file one more time.
That had been four days ago. Now he was in a house hermetically sealed to protect those inside from the sultry heat of a Louisiana summer night, trying to figure out what to do next. He wanted to run away, forget he had this job, forget who his aunt was, who he was, but years of training wouldn’t let him quit or run away. He was meant to be a Mafia king, and that was all he knew how to be. So, that’s what he’d do.
1
Two Days Later
Matteo learned a lot in the two days since he’d arrived in Louisiana. The first thing he learned was a young woman was living with the target. Ruby Hebert, according to the report he’d found online, had lived at the same address with the same girl since she’d left New York.
He’d paid for the report from an online data-broker. It turned out the girl, now a woman, was Ruby’s daughter, Marie. There’d been a school picture for the young woman, and an old picture from the DMV for Ruby. The young girl was cute, in the way young girls were, but she was of no interest to Matteo. Too young and not part of the job. His target was Ruby.
Further digging showed that Ruby was now an invalid and taken care of by her daughter. Which meant he’d have to take an interest in the daughter. This bit of news changed things and he’d had to email Celeste about it.
She’d come up with a new plan, a plan that involved him wooing the daughter. Whether she was attached to someone or not. The way she saw it, some backwater bumpkin from the sticks would be happy to leave any kids and a husband behind for a man like Matteo. Then, he’d dump her, with her life in shambles and with her mother’s debt to pay, due on demand.
He’d almost run away at that point when he’d read the email. Most people would say fine, you can’t get blood out of a turnip, but not Celeste. She wanted Ruby to pay, and if that meant using the daughter to do it, then so be it. If it got him that one step closer to his goal, he’d do it.
He wouldn’t like himself, but Matteo knew he hadn’t liked himself very much since Celeste took over his upbringing. She’d turned a bright, intelligent, happy young boy into a somber, watchful robot that barely felt… anything. His father had disappeared a long time ago before he was even born, but his mother was still alive.
Matteo couldn’t even respond emotionally to her, which was why he hadn’t seen her in months now; maybe it had even been a year, he wasn’t sure and didn’t care. Emotions were not something he allowed himself to feel. Especially when Celeste was near him. He just shut down completely when he was near her.
Being this far away felt good, really good, but he knew she was there, in the back of his mind. She would be waiting, judging, ready to use anything, and anyone, for her brutal version of revenge. Not that she didn’t deserve some kind of revenge, her husband had been a cheater, and then he’d died because of his activities. With his lover, not his wife.
Nick,