Final chapter of Part 3 today! Time for some amateur teen detective hours.
Chapter Fifteen
The news was all over school by lunchtime though no one was really sure what had happened.
Bruno finally went to the office himself to ask what had really happened.
He couldn't believe it.
"Well?" Mista demanded as he came back to the cafeteria.
Bruno lowered his voice so the whole place didn't hear and they all leaned in to listen. "Narancia was taken in for questioning by the police this morning," he said.
"What?" Trish demanded.
"Why?" Illuso asked as he and the others had slid down the bench to hear as well.
Bruno shook his head. "Polpo wouldn't say. But I'm guessing it had something to do with Riccardo"
"Shit," Leone growled. "I knew this was gonna be trouble."
Bruno pressed his lips tight, worry digging into his gut, making it impossible to finish eating.
The rest of the day was torture. They all ran outside the instant the last class was over and Bruno practically snatched Leone's mobile from him to call Narancia's house.
It rang for a long time before the call was finally picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Signore Ghirga? This is Bruno," Bruno said as the others all pressed in so they could overhear, practically crushing Bruno between them. "Can I talk to Narancia?"
"You didn't hear?" the man asked dully. "He was arrested this morning."
Bruno couldn't speak. Everyone seemed to collectively be holding a breath as they stood there. He simply ended the call, not knowing what else to do and handed Leone back his phone.
"He's not serious, right?" Trish asked. "I mean…why would they arrest Narancia?"
"He might have been deeper into this than we thought," Leone said grimly.
Mista reached up to clutch the back of his beanie in agitation. "Okay, but, we should at least go see if we can talk to him or something, right?"
"I think it's a good idea to at least see what's really going on," Giorno added.
Bruno nodded. "Okay. Let's go pick up Panna first, he'll want to be part of this."
They piled into Leone and Mista's cars and headed toward Bruno's place.
It was a hectic ride to the police station filling Fugo in on everything they knew.
"Is he even going to be here?" Trish asked.
"They would still be processing him," Leone said. "He'll probably be at the local lockup for a few days, especially if they can't prove anything."
Fugo ran his hands over his face. "Something about this doesn't seem right," he murmured.
Bruno glanced over at him. "That's my feeling too, which is why I want to actually talk to Narancia. If they'll let us."
"At least they can maybe let us get a note to him, make sure he knows we're here for him," Trish said, wringing her hands. "I should have tried harder to talk to him the other day, but I didn't know what to say."
"It's not your fault," Bruno told her. "We all tried without much success. Narancia's stubborn. Which is exactly why he ends up getting into these kinds of situations."
"Except he really did it this time," Fugo muttered grimly.
They pulled up at the police station and all piled out of the cars, hurrying inside.
The officers on duty looked up warily at them. Bruno took the lead and went directly over to the front desk.
"You kids need some help?" the officer working there asked.
"We came to talk to Narancia Ghirga," Bruno told her. "Is he allowed visitors?"
She eyed him and the others. "Normally no."
"Then can you make an exception?" Fugo asked, stepping up beside Bruno. "Has he even seen a lawyer yet?"
The woman eyed him, brows furrowing further. "One has been appointed to him and will be coming shortly."
Leone scoffed. "What exactly is he even being charged for?"
"Currently under suspicion of robbery and assault."
"Assault?" Bruno demanded. "Narancia wouldn't do that!"
"Well, he's currently trying to convince everyone of that as well."
"Look, we're not asking for a private discussion with him, we just want to get his side of the story," Fugo said.
"That's not really your concern," the officer replied.
Fugo's hands clenched and Bruno nudged him to one side, trying to appeal to the officer, meeting her eyes. "Signora, he doesn't have anyone else to support him. That's why we came. All we want is ten minutes to talk to him."
She exhaled deeply and motioned for them to wait. They all did so impatiently and when she finally came back, she motioned to them.
"You can go see him," she said almost reluctantly.
They all started forward, but she held up a hand.
"Not all of you—how about three?"
Bruno looked around and nodded to Fugo and Leone. Mista, Giorno and Trish looked reluctant, but they stepped back.
"Alright, we'll go," Bruno told the officer.
She nodded and motioned them forward. "You're not allowed to give anything to him, and a guard will be listening in the whole time."
Bruno nodded as they were let into the holding area. A drunk man was humming lowly in one of the cells and in the next one over was a pitiful figure, sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest on the meager cot.
"Ghirga, you have visitors," the officer said.
Narancia's head came up and his eyes widened as he saw them, jumping up to rush toward the bars.
"Y-You guys came!" he said, looking so near tears it drove a spike through Bruno's heart.
"Of course we did, idiot," Fugo said with a sigh, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Then you gotta help me," Narancia told them. "I keep telling them I didn't do it but they won't listen."
"What exactly happened?" Leone asked.
Narancia took a deep breath. "Last night I was really upset. Riccardo got mad at me for screwing up a delivery and I confronted him about what exactly he was doing. I spent most of the afternoon walking around town trying to figure out what I was going to do—I was planning on telling Riccardo I straight up quit today, but then when I got to school the police were waiting and they took me here for a lineup. Some lady picked me out of the crowd and they arrested me for robbing her house and beating her up last night! But I didn't do it! I was asleep when it happened!"
"Narancia, we believe you," Bruno assured him.
"Of course," Leone said. "But they must have more evidence than that to have arrested you."
Narancia groaned, grabbing onto the bars. "There's surveillance footage. But all you can see is the back of the guy's head—he's blond—and the jacket he's wearing—which is mine, but…"
"But what?" Bruno asked.
"I left my jacket in Riccardo's car and he never returned it to me," Narancia said. "I think he kept it with the purpose of setting me up."
Bruno shared a look with the others. "Does he still have the jacket?"
Narancia shook his head. "No, I guess he dumped it. It was found at the crime scene."
"And you told the police all of this?" Fugo asked.
"Yes!" Narancia cried, glaring toward the officer standing guard, arms folded. "But they haven't let me out yet!"
Fugo turned toward the officer as well. "Excuse me, would it be possible for us to see that surveillance footage?"
She raised one eyebrow. "You got a warrant, kid?"
Fugo huffed and turned back to Narancia.
"Hey," Leone said suddenly. "Your hair. Was that your idea or Riccardo's?"
Narancia's shoulder's slumped. "It was Riccardo's and I really regret it. He said it would look cool, but it looks really stupid, doesn't it?"
"That's kind of the least of your problems at the moment," Leone said blandly. "But it does sound like he tried to set you up. They haven't brought him in yet?"
"I don't think they found him," Narancia admitted. "And there wasn't any evidence to place him at the scene."
"One more minute," the officer warned.
Narancia gave them a desperate look, and Bruno offered a smile. "Don't worry. We'll get you out of here. We'll do what we can to figure this out. Okay?"
"Yeah, okay," Narancia said. "I'm counting on you guys."
Another officer appeared with a man in a crumpled business suit. "Signore Ghirga, your lawyer is here."
"Hello, I'm Signore Lombardo," the man said with a small smile as he promptly dropped the files he was carrying, causing the papers to fall all over the floor as he scrambled to pick them up. "Ah, oh dear…"
"I'm dead," Narancia deadpanned. "It's all on you guys."
Bruno had to admit that he was probably not far from the truth. They left the holding cells reluctantly, and met the anxious faces of the others out in the main part of the station.
"Well?" Mista demanded.
They headed outside and stood around the cars, briefly breaking down what Narancia had told them.
"I'm sure we can get more proof of Riccardo being there if that's what they need," Mista said.
"The real problem is the footage," Fugo mused. "It must look convincing if they're not willing to simply take Narancia at his word. The fact that Riccardo had his jacket didn't help."
"How did they know it was his?" Trish said.
"If it's the one I think it is, Narancia put his name on the tag," Mista said.
"Which would be a stupid thing to leave at a crime scene," Giorno added.
"Exactly," Leone said. "Obviously pointing to the set up." He grimaced. "Look, this is a long shot, but…I think we need to go talk to my dad."
"What could he do to help? Act as Narancia's lawyer?" Fugo asked.
"He might be able to get access to the footage. He knows a lot of people," Leone said, shifting uncomfortably.
Bruno glanced at him. "Are you okay with this?"
"Of course I'm okay with it," Leone huffed. "It's just going to be a little awkward bringing this up now when I haven't even gotten the chance to clear the air."
"It's for Narancia," Fugo pointed out.
"Exactly," Leone agreed, exhaling as he dug his keys from his pocket. "Let's go then. He should be home from work soon."
They drove to Leone's house. Bruno gave his friend a bolstering look as they walked up to the front door.
It looked like his mother was out as well, since they only came across Sylvia who was doing her homework at the dining room table.
"Hey," Leone called to his sister.
"Oh, you're back," she said, eyeing everyone. "Everyone's been talking about you."
"Yeah, I'm sure," Leone grunted, ushering the others into the kitchen.
"I don't know how long he's going to be so if you want a snack, go for it," Leone said, slumping at the kitchen counter.
"I assume your father keeps law books in his office?" Fugo asked.
Leone sighed. "Yeah, but I don't know what good you think that's going to do. It's evidence we need, not law."
"Unless there's a loophole that can be exploited," Fugo said. "One I doubt that lawyer would find. You're thinking too much like a detective, Leone."
The goth shot him a glower. "It's a detective Narancia needs right now. People hire private investigators all the time from prison. We'll just do that for him."
Mista straightened up from digging in the fridge, coming up with a soda. "What we really need is to convince them to look into Riccardo."
"Exactly," Bruno said. "At least to search his apartment. I'm sure they have plenty of stolen goods hidden there if that's what they're selling to people."
"And to that we need better evidence then they already have," Leone said.
"So what do you think we'll see on this tape that the police didn't?" Giorno asked.
"I don't know," Leone admitted. "But we also know Narancia better. We might pick up on something they didn't."
"That would be circumstantial evidence at best," Fugo pointed out.
"Cases have been solved on less," Leone replied.
The sound of the front door opening had them all quieting down, and a couple seconds later, Leone's father walked into the kitchen, doing a double-take at all the teenagers sitting around.
"Well, I'm glad to see you back, Leone," he said blandly. "Did you decide to bring an army as backup?"
"Dad," Leone started as he stood up, then bit his lip, fists clenching briefly at his sides. "Look, I'm sorry about how I left the other day. I know I should have stayed and talked to you, but…I also knew we'd just end up yelling at each other."
His father folded his arms over his chest. "You realize we're still having a conversation about this, though, right?"
"Yeah." Bruno could see Leone fight not to roll his eyes but he caught himself. "But, Dad, we have another problem that we thought you might be able to help with."
Ten minutes later, they were all crammed into Abbacchio's office as he listened to Bruno explain everything that had happened. He only interjected a couple times, a frown on his face, as he listened with his hands clasped under his chin.
"What is your opinion on it?" Fugo asked him when Bruno had finished.
Abbacchio took a moment to reply. "While I do agree that they should be looking into this other boy, the case seems to be proceeding normally. Narancia's only being held under suspicion and if he's proven innocent, the charges will be dropped."
"Yes, but all the evidence they have points toward Narancia, and he has no alibi," Leone protested. "A jury would look at that and convict him because that's what this lady's lawyer is going to make them believe. No one's going to listen to some teenager who got in with a bad crowd."
"You might be right, but I don't really understand what you think I can do. He's already been appointed a lawyer who, at worst, might be able to get Narancia off with a fine instead of prison time."
"He doesn't have the money to pay a fine either," Mista protested.
"We want to see the surveillance footage," Leone told him. "We wanted to see if you can get it."
His father let out a soft laugh. "Leone, I can't just get access to evidence that's not related to a case I'm working. It doesn't work like that."
"Look," Leone said, leaning against the desk. "We think there might be something in the tapes that we can use to distinguish if it's Narancia or Riccardo. Something the police missed."
"Leone…"
"Dad," Leone cut in. "You're the one who's always talking about how great being a lawyer is, how you stand up for justice. Are you gonna let an innocent kid get convicted for someone else's crime?"
"I don't want that to happen, Leone, but you have to do things a certain way, or it could make his case worse."
Leone's fists clenched on the desk. "Look. Can you at least see if the guy representing Narancia is in your office? Even if you can ask him about it, we just need something."
His father just looked at him. Bruno wanted to interject, but knew his friend had to convince his father himself.
"Listen, Dad," Leone continued, taking a deep sigh. "I will be willing to go to the tour at the law school with you next month if you do this. I won't fight you on this anymore. I'll even cut my damn hair, just do what you can for Narancia. He doesn't deserve this and you know it."
Abbacchio closed his eyes briefly before glancing down at his desk and scribbling something onto his notepad. "I will ask about the case and the lawyer," he said finally. "But don't expect anything to come of this."
"That's all we were looking for, thank you, Signore," Bruno said.
Abbacchio stood up, casting a look at his son. "I'll give you this, you're already as annoyingly insistent as a cop, Leone. You should tell your mother if all your friends are staying for dinner."
"Dinner's at my place tonight," Bruno cut in, and saw Leone shoot him a grateful look.
"All my stuff is still over there, so…I was just going to spend the night again," Leone said quietly.
"Well, when you do decide to come back, I'm more than willing to have a conversation with you."
Leone nodded, and they all exited the house.
"Well that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Leone muttered.
"You didn't have to use yourself as a bargaining chip," Fugo told him.
Leone shrugged. "I could honestly care less right now. It's just a tour anyway. They can't keep me."
"So what do we do now?" Trish asked. "We're kind of at a dead end."
"I was thinking," Leone said as he pulled his keys from his pocket again. "Narancia didn't have an alibi, but maybe Riccardo didn't either. It's just that no one bothered to ask."
"I didn't see him at school today, and we usually share a couple classes," Mista added.
"You guys feel up to a little investigating?" Leone asked.
After a resounding 'yes', they headed toward the cars.
"First off we need to find out where exactly he lived. Did Narancia ever say anything about where Riccardo was living?"
"He didn't tell me," Bruno said, "Anyone else?"
They shook their heads.
"I suppose we can't call him?" Trish asked blandly.
Fugo pursed his lips. "I can find out."
"How?" Bruno asked.
Fugo gave a small smile. "I have some papers to drop off at the office anyway."
Mista laughed. "I like your style."
They piled into the cars and headed back toward the school. Fugo climbed out.
"Just don't get caught," Bruno told him.
"I won't," Fugo promised and hurried toward the building.
It was only about ten minutes before he was back and he slid into the backseat of Leone's car, brandishing a paper. "Got it."
"Nice!" Mista grinned, leaning into the window. "Where are we going?"
Fugo handed the paper over to him. "It's one of those fancy apartment complexes."
"Holy crap, I guess he really is raking in the cash," Mista muttered. "Alright, let's go then."
They drove over to the apartment building.
"You see his car anywhere?" Leone asked as he parked next to Mista.
Mista scanned the parking lot. "No. But I would imagine he's probably laying low right now if he heard about Narancia."
They headed toward the front door.
"What's the plan?" Mista asked.
"Should we see if he's here?" Trish asked.
"That may not be the best idea," Bruno said. "He might bolt if he hasn't already."
"Let's just ask the front desk about his movements the last couple days," Leone said.
They were lucky to make it to the door just as someone was leaving and slipped inside, walking into the lobby of the building. Bruno saw it really was nice. Mista gave a low whistle.
"Excuse me? Are you guests someone is expecting?"
They glanced over to the front desk to see a man in a suit and tie watching them warily. Bruno offered him a smile. "Hello, we're actually friends of Riccardo DiMoze. Do you know if he's in?"
The man eyed them, eyes seeming to linger over their clothing, but shook his head. "I believe his car was gone when I got here, and he hasn't returned during my shift."
Leone strode up to the desk and the man's wary look increased. "Were you working last night, by chance?"
"Early in the evening, yes."
"And did Riccardo leave the building during that time?"
The man shook his head. "No."
"Can we talk to whoever was on the night shift?" Leone prodded further.
The man huffed. "What are you, the Hardy Boys?"
"We just haven't been able to get into contact with him and we're a bit worried," Trish put in.
The man rolled his eyes. "Fine." He walked toward the offices behind the desk and knocked on a door. A couple minutes later another man walked out.
"How can I help you?"
"Did you see Riccardo DiMoze leave here last night?" Leone asked him.
The man frowned. "Yes, somewhere around eleven thirty maybe?"
"And when did he get back?"
"Probably around three. It's not entirely uncommon for him. He told me he works night shifts sometimes."
"And do you have surveillance footage of that?"
"I'm sorry, what exactly are you trying to find out?" the first man demanded. "There's no way you're seeing the footage."
"Do you remember what he was wearing then?" Leone asked the night guard, ignoring the other man. "When he left, was he wearing a black jacket with patches on it?"
The man furrowed his brow. "He wasn't wearing it, but he had a bag with him. Maybe he had it in there?"
Bruno exhaled slowly. Yet another avenue that wasn't really helpful.
"Thanks." Leone muttered and reached for a pen and pad of paper on the desk. "If he does come back, call me. I need to get in contact with him."
He nodded to the others and they all left.
"Well that didn't tell us much," Mista grunted.
"It did tell us that Riccardo was gone during the frame of time they placed the robbery though," Fugo pointed out.
"Well, we can't do anything else tonight," Bruno said, looking up to see the sun getting lower in the sky. "Papa's probably wondering where we are. He hasn't even heard the news yet."
"I need to get home too," Trish said.
"I'll give you a ride," Mista told her and waved to the others. "See you tomorrow. But call me if you find anything out before then."
"Same," Trish agreed.
They drove back toward the coast and spent the rest of the night mulling over what to do. Homework was completely forgotten, hardly seeming important at the moment.
"I just hope my dad is able to find something," Leone muttered that night as they were trying to sleep.
"Me too," Bruno said. "But…if not. We might need a backup."
"Yeah, well, I'm thinking of that too."
The next morning, Leone went through the motions of putting on his makeup, seriously considering skipping school for the first time ever. It wasn't like any of them were going to get anything out of classes that day.
But they didn't need to get into trouble either, so he didn't mention it, even though he was pretty sure everyone was thinking the same thing.
"I'm going to be at the library today doing some research," Fugo told them. "I'll have my phone with me though so please call if you find out anything."
They nodded and Leone drove Bruno and Giorno toward the school.
Everyone was tense, no one paid attention. They barely ate at lunch.
When the bell finally rang for the day, they were decided on what to do when Leone checked his phone and saw that his dad had left a message.
"Guys!" he called after he had listened to it. "We're stopping by my dad's office on the way home."
His dad was there waiting for them when they got to the courthouse and after they had signed in as visitors, he led them back toward the offices.
"You're in luck because Narancia's lawyer works in the next department over," Leone's dad said. "And he happened to owe me a favor."
"Thank you Signore Abbacchio," Bruno said sincerely. "It really means a lot."
"That being said," Leone's dad added. "You're here because I thought it was a good opportunity to demonstrate how evidence works in court cases."
Leone caught his father's eyes for a brief second, mouth open slightly, before he let out a wry huff and didn't say anything.
They all piled into his office and hovered around the small television sitting in one corner of the room while Abbacchio bent to put a tape into the VHS player.
They all watched as the security footage ran. It was set up in the room of a pretty expensive looking house, art and other things populating the area. A masked figure came on scene and started to cut a picture from a frame.
"That is Narancia's jacket," Mista said.
Bruno hummed in agreement. "And Narancia does have the same haircut as Riccardo now. I can see how the mix-up could happen."
"Narancia's shoulders aren't that broad though," Giorno pointed out. "Riccardo also has several inches on him."
That was when the light flipped on in the video and another figure appeared. There was no sound from the footage, but the picture frame crashed to the floor and Riccardo picked up one of the broken pieces and slammed it into the side of the woman's head without a second thought.
Trish gasped. "That poor woman!"
"She was fine enough to ID Narancia," Bruno assured her.
The tape cut off as Riccardo fled the scene.
"Can you run it back?" Leone asked his dad.
The tape was rewound and Leone leaned in closer to look at the grainy footage, watching as Riccardo reached up to start cutting the painting out of the frame.
"Pause it?"
He stared at the footage, seeing how much of Riccardo's arm was showing below the sleeve.
"What are you looking at?" Bruno asked as he also leaned in.
"The size of the jacket, you can obviously tell it's tight across his shoulders, and look." Leone pressed the button to rewind the tape a little bit more and played it back. "He reaches up and then shifts the jacket so that it's not pulling on his arm. If it was your own jacket, you would do that first because you'd know how it moved with your body."
"Not to mention the fact that jacket was always a little too big on Narancia," Mista commented.
"Hold on," Bruno said, hurriedly slipping his backpack off and rummaging through it. He found his school binder and flipped it open to where several pictures were stuffed into the inside flap.
"We just took this over winter break," he said, handing the photo to Leone's dad. "See? Narancia's wearing the same jacket here. It goes halfway down his hands."
Abbacchio frowned as he studied the picture. "You're right, that is quite the discrepancy."
"So can you use that?" Trish asked.
Abbacchio sighed. "I will hand the picture over to Narancia's lawyer, but they still need to get some proof involving this Riccardo."
"Why can't they just track him down, then?" Leone said. "We went to the apartment today and he wasn't there, but we asked the night guard and he said Riccardo left the building with a bag last night at eleven thirty and came back around three. If you show the guy this tape, he would probably recognize the bag he had."
"I do believe the police are looking for him right now, but unless they're able to track him down and prove he doesn't have some other alibi, then it's still not going to do Narancia any good."
Leone sighed and turned to the others. "Well, I guess we'll just have to find more evidence then."
"Don't go trying anything dangerous," his dad said warningly. "Leave this to the police."
Leone pressed his lips together, frustrated that they couldn't have gotten more out of this but at least they'd gotten to see it.
"Thanks, Dad," he said sincerely.
His father gave him a small nod. "Don't forget we're still having a talk."
"When this is over," Leone said. "Then I promise we'll sit down and talk."
He left with the others and they formed a circle in the parking lot.
"What are we thinking?" Mista asked. "Because I know what I'm thinking."
"Me too," Bruno said. "We just need to get in contact with Riccardo."
"I bet Narancia had his number somewhere," Fugo said.
"Well, we can't exactly ask him," Leone snipped.
"We don't have to," Fugo replied. "Narancia never locks his window. We can stop by his house, slip into his room, and see if we can find the number."
"And what do we do after we call Riccardo?" Trish asked.
"Providing he'll even talk to us," Giorno added.
Leone and Bruno shared a look, and the goth had a feeling his friend was thinking the same thing he was. "We set up a sting and push him into confessing."
After Fugo was able to slip into Narancia's room and find a scrap of paper where it had been left on the desk, they retreated back to Bruno's house to make their plans.
"This seems like a bad idea," Trish said after Leone had outlined what he had been thinking.
"I'm inclined to agree," Fugo added, folding his arms across his chest. "We know Riccardo has a tendency to violence, but not how far he'll go if he's cornered."
"We need to risk it," Leone insisted, trying to get across to the others the importance of this. "I'm not asking any of you to go with me, in fact, it's probably best not to have too many people involved. But we need to get a confession out of him."
"How are we going to do that?" Giorno asked.
Leone turned to Mista. "Do you still have that tape recorder?"
Mista nodded with a slow grin. "Yup."
"So, what, we hide it and goad him into a confession?" Fugo asked.
"Not a confession exactly, we make him gloat," Leone said. "Because I'm sure he's really patting himself on the back for getting away with that one."
"You're probably right," Bruno agreed. "But the problem is still how we get him to meet with us in the first place."
"I was thinking of that too and asked myself what the one thing he's going to be looking for right now is," Leone said.
"And that is?" Trish prompted.
"Money," Leone told them. "We can entice him in with the idea that Narancia wanted us to give him back all the money he made."
"But we don't know where Narancia keeps his money," Mista said.
"We don't have to, we just need to make Riccardo think we have it for long enough for him to say something that will give him away."
"I'm still not sure about this, but I can't think of a better option," Fugo said.
"If it works though," Bruno mused, "Then we'll literally have a confession on tape. No one will be able to deny that."
"And if Narancia agrees to cooperate and share some of the addresses he delivered stuff to, then I see no reason why he would be convicted of anything after the truth comes out," Fugo added.
"Exactly," Leone said and took out his phone, grabbing the paper with Riccardo's number. "Well? Should we set up the meeting?"
Everyone nodded and Leone made the call.
Leone cautiously pulled up near the agreed-upon meeting spot. They were early, but that had been on purpose.
"I still can't believe he actually agreed to meet us," Mista said.
"Me either," Bruno agreed, looking around.
It was just the three of them. Despite the others wanting to come too, they'd all decided that it would be best to have some of them hanging back so Riccardo wouldn't get suspicious.
Leone glanced at the time on the dashboard clock. It was getting pretty late, the sun already on its way down. They'd already set up their plan and now they were just waiting for Riccardo to get there.
"I really hope this works," Mista muttered. "Because we don't actually have the money to give him."
"No, but as long as he doesn't call our bluff before we get something out of him we're good," Leone said.
Bruno glanced out the window. "We should probably get to the meeting spot. We don't know if he's going to show up early."
Leone nodded and glanced into the backseat at Mista. "Got your phone?"
Mista nodded and pulled it out of his pocket.
Leone took out his own and dialed Mista's number before tucking it into his inside coat pocket. "Hope this works."
"Just be careful, I still don't trust this guy," Mista told them.
Leone handed him his keys just in case and got out of the car. "Just keep an eye on everything. I doubt he'll come alone, so just make sure no one's hiding in the shadows."
Mista nodded and Leone shut the car door before he and Bruno made their way into the old rundown park. Swings from a forgotten playset creaked eerily in the evening breeze, as they headed over to the mostly broken gazebo near the middle.
"We probably could have picked a safer place," Bruno muttered.
Leone shrugged. "People are known to do illegal shit here. I figured Riccardo would feel more at home." He glanced toward a spot in the dilapidated rafters before he opened his coat and ducked his head toward the phone in his pocket. "Mista, can you hear us?"
"Enough to tell what's going on," Mista replied. At least they got reception out here. "I've also got eyes on you."
Bruno shivered as another gust of wind whipped through the worn structure, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I hope the others don't tell my dad exactly what I'm doing until this is over."
Leone snorted. "Tell me about it. I guess we don't exactly make good delinquents."
"Leone."
He looked up at Bruno's warning and spotted a car he recognized as Riccardo's pull up in front of the park.
Leone's heart kicked into overdrive for a second before he schooled himself to calm down. He had to keep this steady, take control, and drive the conversation.
"Looks like he did bring friends," Bruno muttered as they watched Riccardo's cronies, Dellucci and Angelo, get out of the car after him.
Leone pressed his lips into a thin line, but refused to be intimidated by it.
"Evening," Riccardo called as they stepped up into the gazebo to meet Leone and Bruno.
Leone grunted. "I'm actually surprised you bothered to show up. We've been looking for you."
Riccardo shrugged. "Yeah, well, had unexpected business out of town."
"Convenient," Bruno commented. "Did you bring Narancia's jacket? He wanted it back."
Riccardo smirked. "Sorry, think I lost it somewhere."
"Outside a crime scene maybe?" Leone questioned darkly.
Angelo stepped forward. "Hey, what are you implying, freak?"
Riccardo put out a hand to stop him. "Easy, Angelo. We don't need to keep secrets here."
"So you admit to framing Narancia then?" Leone said, actually surprised Riccardo was being so bold.
The blond grinned and shrugged, reaching up to run his hand through his hair. Leone could clearly see the bruises on his knuckles. "Framing is such a nasty word, Abbacchio. He was gonna quit on me anyway, probably snitch, what was I supposed to do?"
Leone shook his head. "At least that just confirms that you're scum like I suspected."
"You're such a goody-two-shoes," Riccardo sneered. "Frankly, I'm surprised you actually agreed to this."
"We're doing it because Narancia asked us to," Bruno said. "He doesn't want anything else to do with you."
"So, what, he thinks I'll turn myself in if you hand over the money? I could make back what he had in a week."
"So why'd you show up if it didn't mean anything to you?" Leone demanded.
Riccardo shrugged. "Figured anything helps, especially since we might have to put work on hold for a while until things settle down."
"So where's the money?" Dellucci asked. "It doesn't even look like they have it with them, Ric."
"Yeah, it sounds like they're just stalling." Angelo said, stepping forward with a suspicious look. "So where is it, huh? You actually have the money, or are you just here snitching for the police?"
"You think we're stupid enough to walk into this spot with a bag of cash?" Leone inquired, proud at himself for keeping steady. "It's in the car."
He turned and nodded to Bruno as they started to move away from the gazebo. If everything was going well, Mista should be calling the police in a second…
"Hold on."
Leone felt Riccardo grab his shoulder, spinning him back around, until he was facing the other teen's suspicious face.
"What the hell are you trying to pull, Abbacchio? You think you're gonna lure us into some kind of trap? Who's back there?"
"No one," Leone snapped, pulling away sharply.
Unfortunately, his jacket opened with the movement and Riccardo's eyes instantly landed on his phone.
"What's this?" he growled.
Leone went to pull his jacket shut, but Riccardo simply slammed a fist into his stomach, dropping Leone before he kicked him onto his back and held him down with a knee as he grabbed the phone from his pocket.
Leone was still trying to get his breath back as he heard Bruno shouting angrily and a brief scuffle before he was kneeling beside Leone, grabbing his shoulders and helping him sit up as Riccardo stepped back.
"Who the fuck is listening in?" Riccardo demanded. "You working with the police?"
"No, we're not!" Bruno snapped, hands still clenched in Leone's jacket as the goth tried to get his breath back, stomach aching.
Riccardo threw the phone to the ground and stomped on it with the heel of his foot.
"I'm done with this," Riccardo snarled. "You know, I was even going to offer to give Narancia an alibi if you cooperated. Guess that's not gonna happen now." He motioned to Angelo and he stepped forward all too eagerly and grabbed Bruno by the hair, hauling him back.
"Get off him," Leone snarled, trying to get up before he was kicked in the jaw by Dellucci. He could taste blood from where his teeth had cut the inside of his mouth. Riccardo hauled Leone onto his feet, slamming him back against one of the support columns of the gazebo, causing it to creak in protest.
"Where's the money, Abbacchio?" Riccardo snarled.
"Go to hell," Leone spat.
Riccardo jerked his head toward Angelo who slammed a fist into Bruno's stomach before smashing his face down against his knee. Bruno gasped as blood poured from his nose.
"I said leave him alone!" Leone shouted, trying to pull away before Riccardo slammed him back again. Leone watched in horror as Angelo pulled out a knife and got behind Bruno in an armlock before pressing the blade to his throat.
Riccardo squeezed Leone's shoulder hard enough to hurt. "You and me are going on a walk to get the money. And if you don't have it, fish boy here is gonna get some new gills."
Leone wasn't sure what he would have done next, but luckily, whatever it was, he didn't have to because sirens sounded out at that exact moment, followed by lights and the sight of two police cars pulling up into the park.
"Shit!" Dellucci hissed. "Riccardo, let's get out of here!"
Leone and Bruno were instantly abandoned as the three delinquents made a run for it, but the cops were already out and on their trail.
Leone rushed the few steps to collapse on his knees next to Bruno, grabbing his shoulders.
"Are you all right? Bruno!"
Bruno nodded, one hand pressed to his bleeding nose.
"Bruno, Leone!"
Mista barreled out of the darkness and skidded to a halt next to them, instantly wrapping both of them in a firm embrace. "God, I'm glad you're okay."
"Which one of you made the call?"
Leone and the others looked up and saw an officer approaching them.
"I did," Mista said, standing as he helped Leone and Bruno up with him.
"What are you all doing out here anyway?"
Leone winced as he straightened and stepped over to one side, reaching up into the gazebo's rafters, pulling out a tape recorder and handing it over to the officer. "We were getting you proof that Narancia Ghirga is innocent," he said. "You might want to have a listen to this. It's Riccardo's confession."
The officer looked slightly incredulous, but he motioned to them. "I'll need the three of you to come down to the station until we get this sorted out. We'll have a paramedic check you out when you get there."
They all nodded and followed the officer to one of the cars, piling into the back.
They watched with satisfaction as Riccardo and the others were hauled out of the surrounding woods by the rest of the cops and then they were taken back to the precinct.
The promised paramedic tended to Leone and Bruno's minor injuries while they explained everything that had happened to the detectives. After listening to the recording, they actually seemed impressed.
"I can't condone what you kids did since you put yourself in the line of fire," the lead detective said. "But I'll be damned if I'm not impressed."
Leone couldn't help but share a proud smirk with Bruno and Mista.
The detective closed the notebook he had been writing in and stood. "You can go for now; your parents are all waiting for you."
"What about Narancia?" Bruno asked.
"With this evidence, he'll be going home as well," the detective said, and they all felt relief wash over them at that. "As long as he's willing to come back and share any information he has on DiMoze and his actions."
"Thank you," Bruno said.
"He has you to thank, honestly," the detective said almost grudgingly. "We were all hoping solid evidence would pop up, you know. You kids just got to it first."
"Glad we could provide," Leone said as they all filed out of the room toward the main lobby.
Chaos erupted almost instantly as all their waiting parents surged forward when they appeared.
"Guido, how dare you scare me like that?" Mista's mother demanded as she enveloped him in a secure hug.
Bruno ran to his father and hugged him firmly.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Paolo demanded softly as he inspected the bruises on Bruno's face.
"I'm sorry, Papa, we just did what we had to," Bruno told him before his father pulled him in for another embrace.
"Leone!"
Leone turned to see his own mother and father rushing over to him, and they practically crushed him between them.
"You scared the hell out of us," his father snapped. "I didn't know what to think when the police called."
"We thought you were at Bruno's," his mother snapped, eyes wet and stained with running mascara.
"I'm fine, really, we all are," Leone insisted before he was squeezed tighter. And he actually didn't mind so much.
"We can take them home now?" Leone's father asked the detective.
The man nodded. "Yes. They've told us everything we need to know. By the way, Abbacchio, you should be proud. I think your son has the potential to be a great detective one day."
Leone felt a sense of pride swell in him, he saw Bruno and Mista grin before they were led away by their parents, and then he turned to look at his father's face.
Instead of the annoyance he'd expected, his father simply gave a small smile and reached out to shake the detective's hand. "Maybe he will."
"Come on, Leone, we're going home," his mother said, wrapping her arm around his shoulders to lead him out of the station.
He got them to go pick up his car and his dad insisted on driving it home to which Leone acquiesced with a silent roll of his eyes.
By the time they got home, he was honestly exhausted but he still accepted the hug from Sylvia even though his body protested.
"I thought you were in really big trouble," she said, voice wet.
"Not really," Leone replied. "I'll be fine as long as you stop squeezing me."
"Go finish your homework, Sylvia," their mother said.
Sylvia squeezed him once more before retreating to her room. Leone made his way to the kitchen to grab a quick meal and some pain meds.
Before he could also retreat, his father stepped into the kitchen and Leone could just feel a lecture coming on.
"You don't have to explain to me that what I did was stupid," Leone cut in before he could open his mouth. "We had Mista ready to call the police the whole time."
His father's brow furrowed slightly. "I know. I've always said you've had a level head. That doesn't mean we weren't worried." He sighed and reached up to run a hand through his hair, mussing the usually well-placed strands. "But I'm not going to lecture you anymore. The truth is, when I put aside how worried I was, I'm actually rather impressed."
Leone's eyes widened slightly, not having expected that. "You're joking."
"I'm not. Hiding the tape recorder at the scene instead of on yourself was a smart move. Not only that but you actually got a confession out of him. Do you know how many people who work in and around law enforcement wish it was that easy?"
"It's just because he wanted to gloat about it," Leone muttered, not good with handling praise.
"But you knew that's what he would do, didn't you? That's why you went for the confession instead of trying to find other physical evidence?"
Leone shrugged and nodded.
"I think I've maybe underestimated you, Leone, and I'm sorry," his father told him sincerely. "Sometimes even I don't see past the image you like to present, and I should because you're my son, and I'm proud of you. I think you've grown into a very studious young man without my seeing it."
Leone felt an unwanted lump in his throat and tried to shrug it off. "I just like black lipstick and ripped jeans, dad. That doesn't mean I'm an anarchist or worshipping satan or anything."
His dad chuckled softly. "I know." Then he turned serious again. "Listen, Leone. If you really want to go to the police academy…then I think you should do it."
Leone's eyes widened, not sure he had heard correctly. "What?"
"You heard me," his father said. "Now, I would still like you to go to the tour of the law school since we've already got it scheduled, and maybe you'll like what you see there, but you don't have to go if you really don't want to, and I am sorry I applied for you without saying anything. I shouldn't have done that."
Leone almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. But he simply stepped forward and hugged his dad again, not knowing what else to say.
Abbacchio chuckled and gave him a squeeze in return. "I'm proud of you, Leone. I just want you to know that."
Leone felt warmth swell in his chest and for the first time in a long time, everything seemed right in the world.
Narancia was surprised when the guard came up to his cell with the keys.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asked wearily, sitting up from the small cot where he had been spending most of his time the last couple days.
"Your dad's here to pick you up," the guard told him. "You're free to go."
Narancia sat up faster. "Wait, what?"
The guard smiled. "You're going to come back tomorrow to give some further testimony against Riccardo DiMoze but the assault and robbery charges have been dropped."
"You caught him?"
"With a full confession." The door opened and Narancia eagerly stepped out of the cell. "You've got some good friends, kid. Take my advice and keep them. You'll stay out of trouble that way."
Narancia had no idea what that was supposed to mean—what had the others done? But the guard's sentiment definitely hit home and he nodded firmly.
He was led out of holding and to the lobby. While the guard went to get his stuff, Narancia watched as his father signed papers.
"Dad?" Narancia asked.
The man briefly glanced over at him, a tired look on his face before turning back to the officer at the desk. "Is that all?"
Narancia was handed his stuff and was given leave to go home. His father started toward the door and Narancia followed. He wanted to shout at his father, he wanted to get some reaction from him, but he realized that just wasn't going to happen.
He was silent the whole ride home and as his father sighed getting out of the car, Narancia finally turned to him.
"I'm sorry to inconvenience you," he said, channeling Fugo's contempt, before he hurried toward the house and slammed the door in his father's face before heading to his room. He showered, put on his pajamas, and grabbed something actually decent to eat—well, halfway decent. He hoped Mista might invite him over for dinner again, if he ever wanted to associate with him after this. He could really do with some of Mama Mista's cooking. He was sure he had lost weight.
Narancia stuffed toast and fruit in his mouth until he started crying, not sure why. He just felt both relieved to finally be out of there, but also so alone.
He wanted to call the others but it was so late, they were probably asleep. So instead he went to bed with only his old stuffed animals for company and curled up, trying his best to muffle his sobs in his pillow.
Bruno was slow getting up the next morning, his whole body protesting. A black eye had formed, as well as bruising across his stomach. He realized as he was packing his bag that he hadn't done his homework for the last few days and couldn't really be bothered to care. It was Friday. They would start over next week.
He and Giorno biked to school and found Mista and Leone waiting for them in the parking lot.
"Well?" he asked. "How bad did you get chewed out?"
"Mama and Papa were mostly just worried," Mista said. "I was in more danger of getting smothered to death."
"Not as bad as I thought," Leone added. "Actually, somehow it made my dad agree that I didn't need to go to law school to impress him."
Bruno grinned at his friend in surprise. "That's great!"
"There you are!" Trish cried as she ran up to them, coming to a stop as she saw the bruises on Bruno and Leone's faces. "Oh god, you both look awful, are you okay?"
After hugging them gently she pulled back and looked around. "Well? Is Narancia here?"
They all did a sweep around the school grounds but didn't see Narancia.
"He didn't call me to pick him up today," Mista said.
"And Riccardo destroyed my phone so I need to get a new one," Leone grunted.
"He might be taking the day off," Giorno said. "He's been through a lot."
They were all silent. Bruno was worried at how Narancia would recover from this. He had the ability to bounce back, but if he didn't let them in, then it would only make it harder to help him.
By the time school was over and he still hadn't shown up, Bruno suggested to the others that they should go find him.
"Do you think he's at home?" Trish asked.
Mista pulled out his phone. "I can call and see."
They all waited as he called Narancia's house, but didn't get an answer.
"He may just not want to talk," Leone said.
"Actually…I think I might know where he is," Mista told them and motioned toward the parking lot. "Come on."
Narancia was sitting in the grass next to his mother's grave again. He'd gone to the police station earlier to finish giving testimony. He'd even brought all the money he'd made, and handed it over. He couldn't stomach the thought of having it. It just didn't feel right. But he had saved just enough to buy a bouquet of his mom's favorite flowers. The last ones he had brought had wilted.
He looked up at the sky. He really wanted to go see his friends. Wondered if they were out of school by now. Maybe he would call Mista… Or maybe he would stay here for a little longer.
The sound of footsteps behind him startled him into turning around.
"Thought I might find you here."
Narancia looked up, shielding his eyes from the sun as he saw Mista smiling down at him.
"Hey," Narancia replied dully.
Mista shoved his hands into his pockets. "How does it feel to be a free man?"
"Good." Narancia looked up. "I'm told I have you guys to thank for that."
Mista shrugged. "We'll tell you the whole story if you want." He sighed and took a seat in the grass next to Narancia. "I'm really sorry about all of this, man."
Narancia huffed. "No, I am. Seriously. I don't know why I was so stupid. It just seemed so good at first—too good to be true. Things usually are."
"Yeah, I know," Mista said. "But you know what isn't? All of us. We're not mad, and we don't think you're stupid or anything. We've all been there. We've just missed you, man."
"I've missed you too," Narancia whispered, realizing just how true that was.
"And I know things have been hard at school," Mista said. "But you're not alone, and I believe in you. Fugo promised to tutor you for as long as you need to get that brain back into shape."
"I think that would be great," Narancia said. "I really don't want to have to repeat this year again."
"Hell no," Mista agreed. "And I know you won't have to if you work at it."
Narancia sighed. "I still don't have a job though."
"About that," Mista said. "I put in a good word for you at the restaurant. We could really use a dishwasher and busboy. Boss says you can start this weekend if you want."
Narancia looked up, eyes wide. "Really?"
"Yeah," Mista grinned. "I told him you're a hard worker. We can even work the same shifts so I can give you a ride."
"That sounds great," Narancia said sincerely, finally allowing a smile to spread over his face.
"I mean, it's not gonna make the kind of money you were making, but it will be enough."
"I'm totally okay with that," Narancia assured him.
Mista climbed to his feet. "Well, come on then, the others are waiting. We're all gonna go get gelato. We got a lot to celebrate. Fugo getting his acceptance letter, Leone's dad letting him go to the police academy, and, oh yeah, you getting out of freaking jail."
Narancia grinned and leapt up as Mista slung an arm around his shoulders, leading him back out of the graveyard.
Maybe he'd had a rough time of it lately, but his friends were still here to pick him back up. That was a constant Narancia would never forget for as long as he lived.
Going to be taking another break for probably 2 weeks while I finish and edit Part 4 (the final part!) This one will be the Bruno and Trish centric episode and there's going to be a lot of angst (as usual) and heartbreak, and maybe some surprises at the end.
In the meantime, come find me on Tumblr lady-wallace Intagram ladyofinkandpaper and now Twitter too ladywallaceart if you want to chat with me about fandom or whatever :)