Chapter 7 Sophia
Sophia
Jimmy pulls over, off the muddy road, secluded by another building as the helicopters fly in low and hard again trying to shake whoever’s left in that building out while sparing the lives of the Roselli men.
And it works. Another ten or so men come hauling ass out with guns raised to shoot and kill whoever is in their way, but the Roselli soldiers mow them down instead of being shot themselves.
Leandro puts his cell on speaker as it rings.
Delz talks softly. “I’ve got your mother, Massimo.
She’s alive but in really fucking bad shape.
Anna was fucking here. The sweater she wore all the time is here.
There’s quite a few cots and rooms set up in this place.
Looks like they may have either been holed up here for a while or planned to use it for a length of time.
Lots of food and water, but no sign of Anna or Sophia’s father. ”
“How many are left inside?”
“None. We flushed all of them out. You’re going to need to get close to the door so I can bring your mom out, and Massimo, have a physician on standby.
I’d take another look around, but I can’t take my hand off your mom.
Keep an eye on that door for me. I don’t need anyone back tracking to get the drop on me as we come out. ”
My mind races with every single possibility.
We were so close to finding Anna. It’s like she’s slipped right between our fingers.
Only Barcelo will be able to tell us now.
Unless the Roselli soldiers are lucky enough to capture one of his men instead of gunning them down to keep from being killed themselves.
Massimo draws me close, whispering in my ear.
“We’ll find your sister, kitten.” I want to believe, so badly, but the ache in the pit of my stomach just won’t let up.
“I can’t lose her,” I croak, trying to think of any other places, old Cassone places the family used to use.
“Let’s get your mom, Massimo. She’s here right now and she needs us. ”
Damn it all to hell for my dad keeping the females in the dark. I should know where all these locations are, be able to remember if he’d not sheltered us so much. Right up to the point that he no longer sheltered or protected us at all.
He partnered with the wrong family and risked the lives of his daughters as a result, along with good soldiers who died in the Roselli revenge attack. I’ll never forgive him for what he’s done. As long as I live, I swear I will never be able to forgive what he’s caused by greed.
A tear of frustration runs down my face. I swipe at it in frustration, unwilling to completely break down. There has to be something we’re missing. A piece of the puzzle, a distant memory that could help, or something we could use to find Anna.
My mouth opens suddenly. “The boathouse!” I point farther down, so excited I can barely get the words out. Papa, he used to take us there for rides sometimes. He always picked something up. That’s where Barcelo is going! Papa used to keep our big boats there!”
Massimo turns to Leandro. “Switch vehicles. Get Mom and get her back to the house. I’m texting the doctor to meet you there. Keep half the soldiers with you. Vincenzo and his soldiers are moving in to help, they’ll follow us. We fucking need Barcelo.”
Leandro doesn’t waste time jumping out and racing to one of the SUVs full of soldiers, the helicopters above covering him as he makes his way to the vehicle. Massimo waits to make sure his brother is safe and his mom is with him before sending out his next orders.
“Move!” Massimo growls and Jimmy puts his foot on the gas, weaving in and around fitted warehouses and old abandoned buildings, running over two bodies strewn across the muddy road in his haste to catch the trail of Barcelo and get to the boathouse where I can only hope that Barcelo has taken Anna.
“Please, please, please,” I silently pray, repeating it in my mind over and over again until Massimo pulls me to him. “Breathe, kitten.”
I nod, inhaling a breath I didn’t realize I was holding until now.
I squeeze his hand as he strokes the top of my palm, and my breathing begins to calm.
But still, my mind doesn’t shut down. I run through the events in my mind, thinking about every little detail of tonight and something just doesn’t add up.
“Massimo, how would Barcelo have known to get Anna out before the helicopters got there?”
Massimo doesn’t answer my question as Jimmy hits a pothole that without our seatbelts would have tossed us at least three feet into the air. Instead, it rattles the entire underbody of the car as it settles back onto the ground.
My mind just won’t leave it alone. “It doesn’t make sense. If he knew we were coming he would have gotten out at the same time, right? Why would he have risked going back to the warehouse where your mom was, where he knew we were coming if he’d already left your mom for dead and gotten Anna out?”
Massimo still doesn’t answer, just keeps running his finger over my palm as he contemplates what I’ve said.
But his jaw has tightened, and he looks every bit like the dark-hearted devil I was raised to fear and to hate.
It hits us both at the very same time. He got Anna out but went back to kill Massimo’s mom.
Either out of revenge or because she knew something that he didn’t want disclosed, getting back to take her out of the picture was important to him for some reason.
“She may have overheard something about their plans, something in the works that he can’t change or something along those lines. Maybe she heard something that will help us find the dirty fuck. I just want to keep my mother alive,” Massimo says quietly.
“I’m fucking trying, Massimo,” Leandro says, surprising us both that he’s still on the line at all.
“How’s she doing, Leandro?” Massimo asks.
“Not fucking good, Massimo. Not fucking good.”
Jimmy and the other soldiers pull up to the abandoned boathouse at the very same time, surrounding the door with AK-47s and assault rifles that were only created to take down their enemies.
Jimmy turns to us. “Stay on the phone with Leandro, but get in the driver’s seat,” he tells Massimo.
“I’m going in. And have our fucking soldiers cover me.
The last thing I need is bullets riding up my ass. ”
Massimo opens the door and switches seats.
I crawl over the front seat before he’s even behind the driver’s wheel as Jimmy disappears into the night covered by a shit ton of fire power as the overhead whirring of helicopters make a beeline over the roof from their position in the sky.
One of them lands right in front of the fucking front door surrounded by Massimo’s soldiers while another helicopter hovers with snipers leveling rifles, ready for anyone who plans to escape to get a bullet welcome instead.
“Tell them Jimmy’s in there and may come out,” I tell Massimo quietly.
He doesn’t hesitate, hitting the connection to the helicopter. “We have a friendly inside. Hold that fire until I tell you it’s not Jimmy.”