Chapter 294: Dante Took The Bait

"Your brother is fine," Mancini said. There was sound of footsteps, of Mancini entering the kitchen. "You fulfill your obligation to us, and your brother is moved to a minimum-security facility upstate. Five years instead of ten. That’s the deal."

"How do I know you can actually do that?" Jennifer asked.

"Because I’m telling you," Mancini said, his voice turning cold. "And you understand what happens to people who doubt us."

There was a pause. Dimitri could feel it in his bones...the moment where Jennifer was deciding whether she was going to cooperate or die.

"There’s another operation," Jennifer said, her voice stronger now. Desperation turning to calculated despair. "A route. Scheduled for three nights from now. It’s smaller than the warehouse hit, but it’s a regular run. High-value cargo. Cash, product, everything. The route is the same one you hit before."

Dimitri felt a spike of satisfaction. The bait was being taken.

"Details," Mancini demanded.

"Pickup location is a warehouse in Long Island City," Jennifer continued, reciting the information that Dimitri and Mike had carefully constructed. "Time is 11 PM. The shipment will be loaded into two trucks. Route goes through Astoria, then south toward Brooklyn. Drop point is a distribution center in Red Hook."

"How much?" Mancini asked.

"Approximately one million in product," Jennifer said. "Plus cash. Probably two hundred thousand."

Dimitri heard the sharp intake of breath on Mancini’s end. A million-dollar operation. Exactly the kind of thing that would make Dante pay attention. Exactly the kind of score that would make Dante willing to come out of hiding and personally oversee the hit.

Because that was the endgame. That was the trap. Dimitri didn’t just want Mancini. He wanted Dante. He wanted to draw Dante out of whatever hole he was hiding in and kill him permanently, with prejudice, in a way that left no doubt that going to war with Dimitri Valentino was a fatal mistake.

"You’re sure about this information?" Mancini asked.

"I’m sure," Jennifer said. "This is my brother’s life, Mancini. I’m not going to bullshit you."

There was a long pause. Dimitri could see it on the monitors, Mancini studying Jennifer. Weighing whether she was trustworthy. Whether this was real or a setup.

"The wire is clean," Marco said quietly in the comms. "He’s not using any scanning equipment. He’s just making a judgment call."

Finally, Mancini nodded.

"We’ll be in touch," he said. "You stay available. Your brother stays safe, but that only works if you keep providing information like this."

"Understood," Jennifer said.

Mancini turned and left the brownstone, descending the stairs with the same careful deliberation he’d used to enter. The driver was waiting in the hallway, looking bored.

They exited the building and returned to the SUV.

"Vehicle is leaving," Marco reported. "Heading south. Looks like they’re going back to Manhattan."

Dimitri watched the monitors until the SUV disappeared from the feed. Only then did he release the breath he’d been holding.

"Teams stand down," he ordered. "We move to phase two."

Over the next seventy-two hours, Dimitri and his organization executed the most elaborate deception operation of his life.

They staged a warehouse in Long Island City that looked exactly like an active distribution center. They loaded two trucks with product and cash. They established security protocols and checkpoint procedures. They briefed their people on the route, made sure information leaked through channels that Dante’s organization would intercept, ensured that everyone involved looked like they believed this was real.

And all the while, they waited for Dante to take the bait.

The call came at 10:15 PM on the night of the operation. Mancini, confirming the details. Asking last-minute questions about security, about timing, about the likelihood of law enforcement interference.

Dimitri had answers for all of it.

By 10:45 PM, six additional vehicles were in motion. Dante’s people, heading to intercept the shipment. Two separate teams....one was supposed to hit the trucks en route, the second was supposed to intercept if the cargo diverted. Professional-level operational security, which suggested that Dante was treating this seriously.

Which meant Dante believed it.

"They’re moving," Marco reported from the command center they’d established in a rented loft in Astoria. "Eight vehicles total. Estimated intercept point is the approach to the Williamsburg Bridge. They’re planning to hit the convoys before they cross."

"And the main team?" Dimitri asked.

"Still no sign of Dante," Mike said from his position with the primary security team. "But we’re picking up chatter on the encrypted frequencies. Someone is giving orders. Someone with the authority to make decisions about deployment."

"That could be him," Dimitri said. "That could also be Salvatore or one of his lieutenants."

"What do you want us to do?" Mike asked.

"Execute the plan," Dimitri said. "Run the convoy into the ambush. Let them hit it. Let them think they’re winning."

Because that was the real trap. That was what Dante didn’t understand.

Dimitri had two convoys running. The first was decoy...loaded with fake product, fake cash, staged with security personnel who’d been instructed to scatter and run when the hit happened. Let Dante’s people take that score. Let them think they’d won something.

And while Dante’s forces were occupied with the first convoy, the second convoy would proceed unimpeded to its actual destination. But more importantly, the location of the ambush, the vehicles involved, the personnel deployed, all of it was being recorded and triangulated.

All of it was being tracked.

And when Dante’s people dispersed, Dimitri’s teams would move in to consolidate them.

"First convoy is approaching the intercept point," Marco reported. "The ambush team is in position. They’re waiting for the green light."

Dimitri could see the satellite feed on one of the monitors, two trucks rolling through Astoria, six vehicles positioned around them in a coordinated ambush pattern.

"Let it begin," Dimitri said.

The ambush was brutally efficient.

Three of Dante’s vehicles pulled out to block the front truck. Two more vehicles closed off the rear. The sixth vehicle swung in from the side, and armed men emerged from it, weapons raised.