Chapter Sixteen– Lee
”How much longer do we have to wait?” I growled as I stared at the door, waiting for something to happen.
”Not long,” Jaxon muttered, from where he was leaning on his bike beside me. ”We’re just waiting for the signal from Davis, then we’re in.”
I drummed my fingers on the handlebars with irritation. I didn’t like standing around and doing nothing, especially not when I knew we were so damn close to getting what we wanted from Lombardi.
The last twenty-four hours had been a rush – Jaxon had reached out to a few of his old dealers, and it hadn’t taken long until we managed to locate one of the guys who was supplying Lombardi. A little cash and a little physical persuasion later, the dealer, Davis, was willing to let us in the back of Lombardi’s compound when he did his next drop-off.
Around me, Dogs lined the streets. Lombardi had no idea what was coming his way, no idea what we were ready to do to him. The place was silent now, but it wouldn’t remain that way for long. Soon, we would be raining down hell on his head – and I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when we started.
I gritted my teeth, trying to control my breathing. It had been a long time since I had been involved in something like this – something this brutal. I knew it was going to be a long, bloody battle before it was over. But we had the element of surprise on our side, and that had to count for something.
Shit, that’s what I was telling myself, anyway.
”There he is,” Jaxon muttered, jabbing his finger towards the entrance – sure enough, a shifty-looking guy was stepping out, his eyes darting this way and that. He opened the gate and reached down to slip a brick in between the gate and the lock that would have shut it behind him. After that, he fled, taking off into the night – like he didn’t want to be around for what happened next.
He was right to be frightened.
”Chuck, that’s our cue,” Jaxon spoke into the walkie-talkie propped up on the dashboard.
”All right, let’s move out,” Chuck replied, his voice cracking down the line. Even with the bad connection, I could hear the certainty in his tone. I knew he was ready to put an end to this, once and for all, and dammit, I was right there with him.
The Dogs swarmed quietly towards the entrance – I had staked out this place the night before, and I knew that the guard who patrolled the outside of the building wouldn’t take long to notice that there had been a gate propped open for us. We didn’t have time to lose. Armed to the teeth and ready to fight, it had to happen now.
We weren’t going to get a chance like this one again.
Chuck led the way, lifting the gate to open it as quietly as possible – he held it open and gestured for the guys to rush in. A half-dozen dogs led the way, and Jaxon and I took up the rear, both of us gripping our guns like they were the only thing between us and oblivion.
There were two guards at the door of the main building, and both of them grabbed for their guns as soon as they saw us. – Jaxon lifted his weapon and let off a shot, taking out the one to the right, and one of the Dogs caught the other in a headlock and knocked him into unconsciousness.
”Keys,” Chuck barked at Jaxon, and Jaxon went through the pockets of the two men – sure enough, it didn’t take long for him to come up with a couple of keys, one of which fit the lock on the door to the compound. He slipped it in, twisted it – and the door swung open.
And, inside, pure chaos was waiting for us.
”Shoot!” Lombardi yelled to his men. He must have heard the gunshot outside because he already had his goons lined up and ready to start blasting – I managed to grab Jaxon and pull him aside in the split-second before they started firing, but a couple of the other Dogs weren’t quite so lucky.
One, Dylan, took a hit straight to the chest – it knocked him off his feet, blood leaking from his lip and dripping down to the ground below.
”Shit,” Chuck muttered, crawling towards him.
”Leave it,” I barked at him. I knew Chuck wanted to do right by all of his men, but he would be putting himself in the line of fire if he went out there – he needed to control himself, no matter how much he wanted to help. Reluctantly, he pulled back, and the Dogs lined up on either side of the door, taking cover.
A heavy silence hung over the compound for a moment – a stalemate. They knew that if they stepped out that door, they would be caught in a hail of bullets, and we knew that if we turned to confront them head-on, the same thing would happen to us.
I caught Chuck’s gaze across the gap between us – we needed to do something. He nodded, and lifted his gun, squeezing one eye shut and then pulling the trigger. The bullet slammed into the doorframe, splintering wood everywhere, and the shock of the sound seemed to snap something inside the men waiting for our next move.
One of them lunged forward, trying to escape an onslaught he thought was coming his way – seconds later, Jaxon aimed and pulled his trigger, watching as he hit the floor with a thump.
”Now!” Chuck yelled. And, in the confusion, the Dogs darted around the doorway and shoved their way into the corridor.
I took up the rear, aiming my gun and picking off a few of Lombardi’s men as best I could – we moved fast, clearing out the first few guys packed into the corridor, and the rest of them scattered to the adjoining rooms to take cover.
”Find Lombardi!” Chuck ordered the rest of the Dogs, and I scanned the room, searching for him – he was in here, I was sure of it, I had heard his voice We just needed to track him down...
I moved from room to room, letting the Dogs clear out the remaining goons and guards hiding out. I didn’t have sympathy for a single one of them – they must have known what they were getting involved with when they signed up to work for Lombardi, and they deserved to pay for that. They were almost as bad as him – stepping up to lay down cover fire for a fucker like that. I had no time for them. No space for them...
And, as I reached the end of the corridor, I threw open the last door and stopped dead in my tracks.
Because the man standing on the other side was one that I recognized.
My chest tightened. No. There was no fucking way – no fucking way that it could be him. He stared back at me, and I knew he recognized me at once. The fear in his eyes, the terror I saw the night I had run into him the last time – when I’d held him at gunpoint and told him he was going to pay for what he had done to my daughter.
It was the man who had killed Dina.
A ringing filled my ears, and I could hardly remember what the fuck I had been doing here in the first place.
”Lombardi’s gone!”
Chuck’s voice cut through the mess in my head, and I snapped back to reality.
”Shit,” I muttered. I had been distracted, and now, that fucker had managed to make a break for it.
”What do you mean, gone?” Jaxon yelled back.
”He made a run for it with one of his men,” Chuck replied, panting hard, as he joined me at the end of the corridor. ”Anyone left in here we can get information out of?”
The man before me was visibly shaking, and I felt a cruel smile cross my face. All those years ago, when I first tracked him down and confronted him, I’d only shot him in the foot – I didn’t have it in me to take the revenge I wanted to, and I had lived with the regret of that every day of my life since.
But now, I had a chance to do what I should have done all those years ago. And shake loose all the information we needed about Lombardi in the process.
”I have someone,” I replied, not taking my eyes off the cowering wreck in front of me.