2. Paolo
Chapter 2
Paolo
My phone vibrated across my desk. I didn’t need to look at the screen to know it was another call from Doctor Quinton Renolds. His office had left a message asking for me to come in the day after he’d taken what felt like a pint of blood. No way in hell was he inviting me to have coffee and talk.
“Why aren’t you answering your phone?” Kat Ross asked as she sunk into the leather chair across from me. I wasn’t sure if I was more scared of the doctor’s prognosis or why Kat had ventured into my office.
“It’s a spam call,” I lied. The years I spent as an enforcer for the New York Mafia gave me most of the training I needed to work at AA Security. Except Kat was like a human lie detector and I hoped she would ignore the fact I hadn’t told her the truth.
Kat leaned back in the chair and crossed her legs. Most days she came to work in jeans and a t-shirt. Today though, she was in a black suit and white blouse which more than likely meant she had a meeting with a high-profile client. Which could benefit me. A complicated case could take my mind off the fact something was wrong with me.
“If I had to guess it was your doctor calling again,” Kat stated.
Fuck. I didn’t want to bother my bosses with the fact I might be sick since it would lead to them benching me. During a full day training at the range and obstacle course I ended up lightheaded with a bloody nose. Antonio had demanded I see a doctor. So, I went and visited Dr. Quinton Renolds at his free clinic. AA Security used him for anything medical the team needed. In return, Antonio donated large sums of money to his clinic, ensuring he never had to worry about raising funds.
“My health is nothing you need to worry about.”
Another lie. For the past year I had battled with fatigue and bloody noses. The tiredness I countered with energy drinks. For my nose, I kept an extra handkerchief in my pocket. If I was sick any cure would be a second chance which I didn’t deserve. I’d walked over the line from good to evil more times than I could count when I worked for the mob.
If it was my time to die, then I would let nature take its course. When the chance to leave the Mafia presented itself, I jumped at the opportunity. Mostly because any more time working for the Russo family guaranteed I would spend the rest of my life in jail.
Leaving the family also meant cutting ties with everyone from New York. I’d spent my entire life in the Big Apple and could count the number of people I was close to on one hand. And those five people only talked to me when they needed something. Nobody went out of their way to become friends with the Enforcer. Which made me an outcast not much different than how I felt at AA Security. Almost every employee had a military background or worked for a three-letter agency. They bonded easily with each other from past work experiences. They would invite me to have a drink with them. I tried it a couple times, but felt out of place. In the past year, the only person I had connected with was my brother Brandon in Texas since he and Sasha had their baby girl Melisa.
Kat cleared her throat, pulling me from my own thoughts. “You have worked for us for a while now. Long enough to know anyone who works here is part of my family. I’ve sat back and not interfered with you for long enough.”
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “I am here to work. We don’t need to be friends.”
The moment she narrowed her eyes I knew I had said the wrong words. Now I would end up being some project or puzzle she would want to solve.
“Of course, we do”, Kat shot back.
“Kat I am sure you have a lot of things to do. Is there something I could help you with?” I needed her to get to the point, and I sure as hell hoped it wasn’t about my health.
Years of working as an Enforcer had taught me how to shut down any emotion, even empathy. But for some damn reason, Kat could make anyone spill their deepest darkest secret and care about her. Like hell I would admit it out loud, Kat had carved a chunk of ice off my heart, and I hated to disappoint her.
Kat frowned. “I have an exciting assignment and planned to have you lead it.”
“What is it and when do I leave?” Getting the hell out of the city would be an easy way to dodge the doctor for a while. Especially if it was a case that lasted a few months.
“Paolo, you might not like what I am about to add as a stipulation to taking the case.”
“I will train the new recruits or do grunt work. This case will be mine.” I quickly cut my words off before I spilled too much information.
“To distract you from the fact the doctor keeps calling to have you come in to review your blood work?”
AA Security had hackers working for them. Hacking medical records of employees seemed like a waste of time, but Kat liked to know everything.
“Exactly what do you know about my medical history?” I asked. Not sure if I wanted her to tell me, because I wasn’t ready to hear myself.
Kat crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. “Nothing. All I know is Dr. Renolds wants you to come in and you aren’t answering your phone. I tried to have CJ hack your records, but he said that it is an invasion of privacy or some bullshit. Sophie is deep in a mission and told me to stop meddling.”
Relief my boss didn’t have access to the full extent of what I’d been dealing with. If she did there was no way she would put me as Lead. Antonio would probably shoot me if he knew how fatigued I’d been during the last two missions.
“If I call the doctor today, will you let me lead the mission?”
Kat smirked for a second and I realized I had never asked any questions about the mission. “Yes.”
“Can I have the file to review?”
“We don’t have time. Everyone is waiting for us in the conference room.”
Kat sprang out of the chair, and I followed my boss to the conference room. The clear glass walls were frosted, and the door closed. I grabbed the handle, pulled it open, and waited for Kat to walk through.
Her husband Antonio Ross stood at the front of the room pacing. A tall man with black hair and a shorter man with red hair both dressed in black suits sat at the long wooden conference room table. Asher and CJ sat across from them with their arms folded. Kat stopped a few feet away from the empty chair. “Well, you aren’t FBI agents.”
“We work for the FBI office in Houston, Texas.”
My mind no longer cared about anything other than the fact they were from Houston. Kat had set me up. She’d asked the last few months why I hadn’t visited my brother. Mostly because I didn’t have the energy and didn’t want to get attached to my long-lost brother if I was dying. Except it appeared Kat had other plans for me.
“Did you really think two CIA agents could walk in here and make me believe they work for the FBI?” Kat huffed as she crossed her arms.
The older man ran his hand through his hair. “Does it really matter what agency we work for? AA Security gets paid no matter what.”
Antonio pounded his fist on the table. “Yes, because every time we take a case with the Central Intelligence Agency, they purposely leave out important information we need to work a case. And it puts my people in danger.”
The first mission I assisted on after joining AA Security was connected to the CIA. They had given us information on one of the radical groups involved, but kept the other one a secret. If CJ hadn’t searched the dark web about the mission, I would have died on that op. CJ had called and delivered new intel five minutes before the team headed directly into an ambush. The CIA officer didn’t care if we died. They’d only needed us in the building for thirty seconds, allowing the device I had in my pocket to pull the information they wanted from the server.
“All we need is for you to work with the developers of Assassin Annihilation and have them give us access to their user data and chat information,” the redheaded agent said. “Nobody is in harm’s way it is just game data.”
“The CIA has their own hackers. I know you have some of the best. Why not do it yourself?” I asked.
A huge smile formed on CJ’s face. “The game is unhackable. Hackers helped the designer create it this way. Nobody joins with real personal information.”
“Let me guess, the developer won’t budge. Why do you think we can get them to?” Kat asked.
Antonio growled, “Are we glossing over the fact this is the CIA sending us on a mission with half-truths again? And I have a feeling it deals with intel on United States’ soil.”
“Honey, you know we will take it.” Kat smiled at her husband before turning back to the black-haired agent. “You mentioned something about needing us to go to Houston?”
The last few months Brandon had been asking him to come visit them in Houston and see his niece, Melisa. Problem was his brother would notice he was sick and demand answers. This might also give him a chance to say his final goodbyes, because in the last few weeks it felt like each day, he was getting worse.
“The developer of the game lives in Houston,” the larger of the men stated. Neither of them bothered to introduce themselves after Kat and I walked in. They would probably give fake names anyways.
Anything they said Antonio would have CJ double check or even have Sophie do it. Kat’s sister Sophie worked for the CIA.
“What makes you think the developer of the game will talk with us?” I asked.
The man with red hair slid a file across the table. I flipped it open to find a picture of five women around a table drinking wine. My fist clenched as I realized the photo was taken with a long-range camera into my brother’s house. “Who the fuck took this picture?”
“Some grunt in the field,” the large agent shrugged.
“You invaded my family’s privacy and still expect us to help you. All I want to do right now is kill you both,” I said, not caring if this blew up the mission. I reached down for my gun, but Kat was quicker and grabbed it from my holster.
She didn’t raise it at the fuckers across the table, instead she kept it at her side. “How does Paolo’s sister-in-law play into what you need?”
Even if Antonio and Kat decided not to take the case, I needed to head to Houston. It looked like my brother hadn’t been taking precautions to keep his family safe, or he would have realized someone was watching his house.
Brandon worked for the Houston Police Department as a detective. His specialty was serial killers, so I was shocked he had his guard down so much that someone was able to get a picture of inside his house.
One of Brandon’s cases had brought us together. Neither one of us knew the other existed until the FBI flew me to Houston and made us both confront our father who was in jail. He’d been convicted of being a serial killer. But what we found out later was our mother and aunt were the real killers. Dad took the fall for his wife, because he loved her even though he knew what she was doing.
Our aunt had come after Sasha and almost killed her.
“Sasha Quinn is close friends with Callie who is the creator of Assassin Annihilation,” CJ cut in not letting the two men in suits explain how my family fit into this mess.
Sasha worked for Nova Satellite Security as the Director of Engineering. The Black brothers owned NSS and were also close friends with Kat and Antonio.
“That is correct, and Callie will not take a meeting with us. The security her boyfriend has on her makes it impossible for us to make contact.”
“So, you think us asking will make a difference.” Antonio frowned. “You still haven’t explained what is going on?”
“The game is being used to traffic guns and weapons,” the redheaded agent replied with a shrug. “All we want to know is the location of a large shipment that is planned to be transported from Miami to Italy and the identity of user Ninja Ned. We think he is behind everything. When you get his location, give it to us and we will take care of everything else.”
“You realize that shipping route sounds like a bigger lie then anything you have said so far. What is really being shipped?” CJ asked.
Antonio pinched his brow, took a deep breath, and said, “CJ it doesn’t matter, these fuckers won’t tell us the truth anyway. My guess, the route is a lie and the only thing they want is access to this Ninja Ned fucker. That is one of the worst gamer names. God, I hope this isn’t a ten-year-old kid they are sending us after.” Antonio turned to the black-haired agent. “We will be in contact if we can locate what you need. You can leave now.”
The two agents stood and neither bothered to shake anyone’s hands or say goodbye on their way out.
Once the door clicked shut Kat handed my gun over, and said, “Not a smart idea to kill them before you figure out what they are looking for.”
I slid it back into my holster. “Could have let me shoot them in the leg. I sure as hell know if you or Antonio would have seen a photo of inside your house or of anyone close to you, you would have done the same.”
“True …” Kat paused. “Not in the building. But we can still make it to the parking lot and wound them a little.
“We can’t kill them or hurt them … yet,” Antonio sighed. “Something is not adding up. We need to find out who this Ninja Ned person is. I can guarantee they aren’t part of some arms deal. CJ reach out to Sophie and see if she knows anything. Kat go get a team together for a meeting. Paolo, I want you to stay back for a second.”
Kat stood and placed a kiss on Antonio’s lips before she turned to leave.
“So, what did the doctor say?” Antonio asked with his arms crossed.
For a moment I hadn’t thought about my health issues. I opened my mouth to lie, but I couldn’t because my damn nose decided that exact minute to start bleeding.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” I replied as I reached for my handkerchief and wiped the blood from my nose.
“Bullshit,” he slid his phone across the table. “Make the call now. You don’t have to put it on speaker phone, but contact Dr. Renolds for your results.”
Knowing there was no way out of this. I reached for my own phone and dialed the number that had called five times for the dreaded results.