Murders of the Past

I Don't Need Your Love

The sun had long since set as Argo walked through the streets of Century Mile. After another successful day at work, he was looking forward to relaxing at home for the next couple of days as the Squad waited for the night of Mr. Alastor's next party to arrive. He shouldn't be surprised that the man was hosting a séance for the party's exclusive guests; the rich always were drawn towards the strangest things... However, it was still the only lead they had regarding Diego del Lobo, who the Chief was convinced was going to interfere with the remaining parties.

Argo couldn't disagree that the Spaniard was likely up to no good. In the last case alone, he had stolen from the victim and planned to steal from more guests at the lighthouse party. There was no telling how much more he planned to steal from the other parties he was invited to or what parties he would attend. If the man could steal from a member of the Capecchi Family, even if it were the youngest daughter, without fear, then his pickpocketing knows no limits.

Speaking of the Capecchis, meeting the leader of the Italian Mob family based in Concordia was surprising. Argo knew Italian mobs existed in America, but he'd hoped this city would have been spared the criminals and the crimes they caused. Given his history with mobs and other criminal groups back in Italy, Argo had a feeling it was only a matter of time before they caused trouble for him and the Flying Squad.

"Ciao, Detective Argo!"

...Apparently, that time was much sooner than anticipated. There go his plans of relaxing in the new bathtub Jason had finally finished installing...

Argo stopped walking and held back the groan he wanted to let out. Since there was no chance of him outrunning the person calling his name, he turned and watched Vinnie Costa saunter towards him. The older Italian had that cocky smirk on his face as he moved with the grace of overconfidence. When he reaches the detective, he leans against the building wall beside them to look down at Argo.

"Fancy meeting you here, Zaffiro," Vinnie flirts, "what's a bell'uomo like you doing out so late on your own?"

"Going home," Argo nearly deadpanned, "Zaffiro?"

He shrugged, "they remind me of you, a precious blue gemstone, beautiful, radiant, eye-catching... What more could you ask for?"

"Perhaps something less shallow?" he offered.

"Ha, funny..." he chuckles.

"What do you want, Vinnie?" he asks impatiently.

"Straight to business, I like it!" Vinnie smirks, "il mio capo sent me to collect you. He wants to properly thank you for what you did for his famiglia."

"Il tuo capo? Let me guess, Vittorio Capecchi?" Argo presumes.

"Beautiful and smart? You really are a catch!" he compliments, "il mio capo was impressed by how fast you caught his daughter's killer, and as I said, he wants to thank you."

"Just me? Not the whole Flying Squad?" he questions.

"Capo means no disrespect," he assures, "it's just the other members on your flying cigar don't have the same... Storia as you do."

"And what do you know about my storia?" he glares, regretting letting Caspian fly home ahead of him. He wished the bird was here to attack Vinnie.

"Not as much as we hoped to find," Vinnie confessed, "most of what we found was after you became a police officer from some amici in Naples and Rome... You're a mystery yourself, Zaffiro. Why is there so little known about your life before you became un poliziotto? Is Canto del Mare that bad at keeping records of its people?"

"Non sono affari tuoi!" Argo hissed, stepping closer, "and I know what il tuo capo wants from me, and I will not become one of his pawns!"

Vinnie's face darkens. "now, Zaffiro, that's not very nice. You haven't even heard the Capo's offer yet!"