THE THREE ARRIVED AT THE LOCATION, an old warehouse owned by Tony, used a lot during the glory days of the mafia during the prohibition by his father, Francesco. Now it was nothing more than an abandoned place, there was almost nothing in the building other than old and useless things.
The building was large and divided, perhaps it had belonged to a large company from earlier times, in the steam era. It had always been Tony's favorite place for interrogations, hardly anyone would hear anything from outside.
Benedetti opened the huge sliding door for the car to enter and, when he closed it, as always, he looked carefully everywhere he could, looking for possible curious people, police officers or criminals looking for a secluded place to do their business. Nothing in sight, at least not that the darkness allowed him to see.
Tony quickly got out of the car, outraged by what had happened and the loss of his old friend, old Will, and Tom went to the trunk to help him with the prisoner. Benedetti turned on some lights on the rusty electrical panel in the corner of the shed where they were.
When he opened the trunk, there was Kid, frightened, with his eyes wide open and sweating profusely, sharing the small space with Tony's body and inevitably covered in his blood. Tony didn't even give Leo a chance, with a strong pull, he pulled the man out of the car and threw him to the ground.
— What was that story? — Tony shouted, maddened, kicking the poor devil in the abdomen. — What did you set me up for, huh, you piece of shit?! Did you think you were going to surround me there and call those dogs to get me? You're finished! Now you and those kids are going to see what you've gotten yourselves into!
The man could barely get up from the ground with so many blows he was taking to the abdomen and chest. Tom watched the situation, bothered by the violence. He also noticed a strong discomfort in Carl Benedetti's eyes.
Seeing the situation, Benedetti tried to calm him down:
— Tony, there won't be time to hear anything from him if you don't stop, the guy will die before he says anything!
— That is if I don't put a bullet in that bastard's ass right away! — Tony shouted furiously.
Leone was beginning to realize his boss's nature. Although he seemed educated, he was showing himself to be extremely violent and out of control. The kind of guy who shoots before he knows if he should. He then became concerned about his future in the family.
— Get your head together, leave it to me and I'll try to figure something out. — Benedetti insisted, trying to take control of the situation.
After grunting a little, Tony took a deep breath, looked at his hands covered in Carl's blood and replied:
— Okay, I think I'll wash my hands and get some air. See what you can find out before I put a pipe through this bastard's neck...
As Tony left, Kid was trying to get up, but Tom grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, forcing him to his knees while Benedetti approached them.
— So, what's it going to be? — Benedetti asked calmly. — Are you going to tell us and save that little punk face of yours, or are you going to have to take a beating to start talking?
— I... I don't know anything, man... — Kid stuttered, already spitting blood after taking so many blows. — I...
Benedetti looked him in the eye, face to face, and forced an answer, like a father does with a disobedient son:
— You...?
— I had no idea...
Benedetti gave him a good punch.
— You...?
— I couldn't help it! — Kid replied, starting to cry, he was already in despair with the unexpected situation. — They forced me to do it, or they would kill me, brother, they would kill me!
— They knew everything from the beginning? — Benedetti continued with an intriguing calm. His way of continuing to speak calmly between violent blows and difficult questions was incredibly frightening, it made it seem like it was natural for him, maybe even pleasurable.
He continued:
— Was all that information you gave agreed upon?
— No, brother, no!" Kid replied. — I was really helping, my...
While he tried to speak, Benedetti, who was standing face-to-face, pulled out one of his revolvers, held it by the barrel and put the butt of the weapon very close to the man's face, saying almost didactically:
— Every time you say 'no' now, this butt will end up in your face, do you hear me?
The man swallowed hard what he was saying, widened his eyes even more and replied:
— Yes...
— So answer me: did they know from the beginning?
— It was... it was their idea, but I didn't want to...
Benedetti flew with the butt of the gun at his face, the blow was so strong that Tom struggled to hold him. After a scream, Kid protested:
— But I'm talking! I'm talking!
— Tell me once and for all, you piece of shit! — Tony shouted as he came back from the bathroom, with his hands washed, already watching what was happening.
— Did you think you were going to mess with me like that and get away with it? I'll show you how I like to play now!
Seeing Kid on the floor, Tom suggested:
— I'm going to tie him to a chair, it's better for interrogating him, and he won't run away...
— Tie him up? — Tony said, stopping next to him. — That's not necessary, kid.
Then he pulled out his pistol and shot the man in the knee, going through the kneecap and injuring the patellar tendon. Kid screamed loudly, the pain was so intense.
— Let's see if he can run away like that...
— What the hell, Tony! Now he'll be screaming and won't be able to talk... — Benedetti grumbled irritably.
— Do it your way and I'll do it mine! — Tony replied, also getting irritated with Benedetti.
— You're too nervous, Tony, so you'll end up killing the guy before you can achieve anything, like most of the time.
— If he doesn't talk after that, it's because he has nothing left to say!
— If he passes out from the pain, he won't be able to say anything else!