The contact came on a Tuesday at 6:47 a.m., which was the Castellanos announcing, through the choice of hour, that they had been watching Marco’s schedule long enough to know when he would be alone and reachable. The number was unregistered. Marco answered because he answered everything, and because a man in his position who avoided unknown numbers was a man choosing ignorance over information, and Marco had never chosen ignorance.
The voice on the other end was professionally neutral, the voice of someone who had delivered this category of message before and understood that the delivery’s value lay in its composure.
“Mr. De Luca’s organization has been considering our position for some weeks now,” the voice said. “We’ve been patient. That period is concluding.”
“I’m listening,” Marco s
