Chapter 2
MASSIMO
“Talk to me, Zeno,” I say sharply as the SUV races out of Nico’s driveway and onto the empty road. It’s not super late, but the roads are thankfully clear. Alonzo is behind the wheel, with three of our men sitting in the back, tense and silent.
“I’ve texted you the exact location,” Zeno answers briskly, and I hear keys clicking on the other end. Between him, Urso, and Aurelio, they’ll have all the information we need before we get there.
“What kind of warehouse is it, Zeno?” Alonzo demands as he heads toward the location I quickly show him.
“Any vantage points around it that we can use?” You’d think a man as big as him would have a problem driving in this city, but being here as long as we have he’s clearly mastered the art.
At six-five, he’s the shortest man in his family, though that’s a laughable statement, with muscles on muscles, dark hair and eyes.
“The area is mostly trees and woods so there’s nothing for you to perch on,” Zeno answers after a brief silence. “The place looks abandoned as if it hasn’t been used in years. Boarded up and graffiti everywhere.”
“Probably their way of keeping people away from it. How large is the building?” I ask.
“It’s an average size of about sixteen thousand square feet, but it’s mostly open from the old pictures that I’ve found.
Office spaces on the second floor. Two ways to access that, either from the front to the right, or a back stairwell and go to the left.
Four large office spaces up there on the right side, and three on the left, along with a custodial closet on the left side in the far corner. ”
“They’re probably going to keep her in one of those offices. Alonzo, you want to draw fire and I’ll try to find the girl?”
He nods, his eyes never leaving the road. “Zeno, is there a way to access the roof?”
More clicking.
“There are two fire escape ladders that lead up to the top of the building on the outside. There’s one on the back out of sight, and another one toward the front on the right side of the building. Access to the roof from the inside is showing a door near the custodial closet on the left.”
“So basic layout, and lots of places for them to have their men walking around,” Alonzo states, his mouth pulled into a grim line.
He glances over at me. “We’re going to need a way to pull them all, or at least most of them out, that isn’t super obvious.
Leonardo is going to immediately close ranks and try to get out with the girl at the first sign of a problem. ”
I nod, my mind already racing to figure out a way to handle this that won’t end up with all of us dead. “What about a basement? Or is it just a ground floor?”
Zeno is quiet for a moment before he answers, “The original blue prints show that there was a cellar added to it, but when new owners took it over, the new plans they sent through to the city show that it was removed and filled in. No other plan with the city have been filed since Leonardo took it over under a shell corporation.”
“Even if it was filled in, they could have opened it again.”
“And if someone goes into the main warehouse, they won’t want someone finding something they shouldn’t.
Zeno, send through the original location of the cellar, and we’ll check it out.
Knowing Leonardo and his love for secret tunnels, I wouldn’t put it past him to hide another one there.
Is the information that we have only Leonardo and his men or is there a chance his sons are there too? ”
“No sighting of them, but he doesn’t normally go too far without them, so we can’t discount them being there as well,” Zeno answers.
“And I just sent through the information from the original plans to your cells. Looks like it was on the back side, closest to the trees, and under the fire escape there. And if the sons are in there, then there has to be a way for them to get in without being seen.”
“What do we know about the girl?” I ask, switching topics. Any information we have will make it easier to find her and make sure we grab the right one. I wouldn’t put it past Leonardo to be using this place to hide the people he’s trafficking..
“I had to get creative, but I eventually found them snatching her on a city camera, but I’m still running analysis to see if I can get any more information on her. From what I can see, they surprised her, and she dropped something when they grabbed her.”
“They grabbed her from the street?” I ask, surprised. “Fucking ballsy of them considering how busy this city is and all the cameras.”
“They probably figured out who she was, saw her and took the opportunity since she was out in the open,” Alonzo replies. “She never stood a chance to get away from them.”
“How long ago did they take her?”
“They tried to wipe the camera, but the time stamp says over twenty-four hours.” There’s a small pause.
“Almost thirty-six now.” A well of pity fills his tone.
“The camera at the warehouse showed her unconscious and being carried, but from the angle and lighting, I can’t tell if she was injured or not. ”
Shit. We have to hope that they’ve kept her there and not moved her quickly. I can’t dwell on that now though. I have to focus on the details. The sooner we find her and get her out of there, the better.
“She has to live somewhere close by. Zeno, check that area as well in your search, might help things narrow down. If you’re walking in this city, you don’t have to go far to get something, and in casual clothes, she’s not going to work,” I add.
“Already on it, but this city is so fucking big,” Zeno huffs. “Urso is working on trying to hack into Leonardo’s system to see if there is anything that’s being said between him or his men, but they’ve hired more people to keep us out so it’s not going as quickly as before.”
“He knows that we’re going to find out, so he wants to make sure that he has a chance to get her away from us,” Alonzo mutters. He glances over at me. “He probably already has someone lined up to marry her or just straight up take her out of the country so we have a much harder time finding her.”
“Esposito only has one other son and he’s not old enough for marriage yet,” I remind him. “So it would have to be someone outside of their alliance.”
“Once we get her, we’ll have to look into that possibility,” Alonzo agrees. “We don’t need any other fucking problems with any other families coming in.”
On that we both agree.
“We’re about ten minutes out from the warehouse,” I announce, looking at the GPS and the surrounding area getting more rural. “Alonzo, when we get there, you take point on the distraction?”
“Got it.”
“My goal is to find the girl and get her the hell out of there as fast as we can.” I glance in the back at the three men with us. “Tony, you’re with me. Alvize, Armand, you’re with Alonzo. Keep him alive or his lady will have my balls for her dog.”
All three men nod and smirk to each other. I glance at Alonzo who shoots me a glare. Despite all the women we’ve been with throughout our adult lives, I know that there has never been one who’s kept him on his toes like Aurora—Rori—O’Brien. “Fuck off,” he grits out, eyes stormy.
“Be nice to have them here right about now,” Tony says casually. “The dog could help us take down anyone stupid enough to get too close.” I see Alonzo shoot Tony a death glare, not that Tony seems fazed. Alvize and Armand both grin at each other knowingly.
It’s a good thing that these men work so closely with us on a normal basis and Alonzo is used to their ribbing, because I’m pretty sure he’s about ready to kill them from the fire in his eyes.
Before I can change the subject, I hear a shout through the phone.
“I got her!” Urso yells excitedly before we can hear him rushing forward and Zeno letting out an angry sound in what I can only assume is him being shoved out of the way.
“Her name is Lucy Taylor. Twenty-five, lives in Queens about two blocks away from where they grabbed her. She even looks like Gia and Sienna down to the dark hair and eyes. Fucking De Lucas and their genes.” He makes a sad sound before adding, “Recently widowed. Her husband passed away eight months ago in an accident at his job, and she works at a bookstore also not far from where she lives. Maiden name was…Delgado. One sister, named Kida, age twenty-three. Family is from the mid-west, and they both grew up there until Lucy met her husband and moved to the city for him. Kida only moved about two months ago but moved in with her.”
My heart goes out to her. Fuck, that must be hard to handle, losing your husband and in a city so far away from your family and support system.
And now, she’s been taken and is probably scared out of her mind.
Not to mention, if she has a sister that lives with her, then she’s probably freaking out trying to find her too.
Which could be a problem if she gets the cops involved.
“Zeno, find out if the sister has filed a missing person report. If we have to deal with the cops, we need to make sure they’re kept busy elsewhere while we handle this. ”
“Already on it,” Zeno mutters absently and grumpily.
“Good. If she did, find out everything you can, and then get Nico to call any of his contacts there to make sure they stay out of our way,” Alonzo says as he makes another turn, tension making his jaw tight and his expression harden.
“Urso will do that,” Zeno assures him. “He’s taken it on himself to be the pain in the ass around here.
” I smirk when I hear Urso tell him off.
Those two have always been close, but they love to egg each other on as much as possible just because they can.
Probably because they’re both the youngest out of the two families.
“We’re getting close to the warehouse. Get any important information to us in the next ten minutes. Make sure that the doctor is there and ready when we get back,” I order.
“I’ll have Sofia ready too,” Urso offers. “This entire situation is probably going to have her freaking out, and maybe having a woman around will help.”
“Good idea,” I agree. My gut churns at the thought of what she’s been subjected to, but I don’t allow myself to dwell on it.
We’ll handle whatever it is. “Keep your phones on you and get ready to send back up if we need it.” I hang up and look over at Alonzo.
“We might be walking into a trap,” I feel obligated to point out.
Alonzo grunts. “Already considered it. Leave it to me. I’ve got a plan for a distraction. You and Tony just make sure that you find the girl. I can keep them busy for at least fifteen minutes before you’ll have to worry.”
“You think I can find a hidden entrance in fifteen minutes?” I scoff. “I’m good, but I don’t have fucking x-ray vision.”
“Told you the woman and dog would have come in handy,” Tony mutters, but then goes quiet when Alonzo shoots him a look in the rearview mirror.
By the time we reach the road leading to the warehouse, we’re all silent and the tension is thick. We’re only a small group, and we don’t have a lot of time to get this done, but we’ve been through worse. Sure, not on American soil, but it’s no different in my mind.
Get in and get the girl. Simple.