CHAPTER 83 - RED
CHAPTER
Red
“ S HIT! THIS IS HOPELESS!” Liam frantically searches the opposite end of the main casino to me. Bending down, he checks underneath the felt-covered gaming tables one after another, his frustration mounting.
“There’s nothing over here either,” Oscar adds, replacing another tray of sparkling glasses from behind one of the several bars.
I continue working my way along and behind the skirting boards, checking the second tier men also present are doing likewise. Other men are combing the rooms upstairs, and most of the offices have already been done. There’s no sign of anything. No fucking hint whatsoever.
I punch the wall, the resulting chip to the immaculate paintwork from my sovereign ring doing nothing to quell my inner rage. With one eye on the clock, sweat runs down my back, soaking my T-shirt.
“Fuck!” I hiss. Twenty minutes left before the bomb is due to detonate, yet we’re no closer to finding it.
We’re fucked in every way if it explodes.
The thought of my brothers and men being blown to smithereens, disfigured or losing limbs, spurs me on in my frantic search.
I must stop my thoughts from shifting off on tangents.
Everything depends on finding this fucking thing.
Straightening up, I lean on the nearest table and take a deep breath. Think logically... Where would these cunts place it? A small device could be slipped anywhere, therefore the choice is limitless.
How had those bastards succeeded getting in here, despite me being told no one had breached the building ?
Unless it came from inside...
The disquieting theory that has recently haunted me raises its ugly head once again, and I glance at my brothers, taking a second to study the concentration and urgency on both Liam and Oscar’s faces as they scour all angles of every available surface.
Whatever our disagreements and however much they hate my decisions regarding Arianna and even what they now know to be the truth about us, they would not do this to me.
Neither would they still be inside a building that could explode any second. It’s not them behind this. It can’t be.
The staff are all out now, but is Arianna?
I swing around and scan the room. There’s no sign of Del, so Arianna must still be on the premises.
My teeth grind. I want to kick the fuck out of this place that I’ve put so much work into. What the hell is Cal playing at? What’s taking so bloody long? He should have taken Arianna far away from here by now.
It goes against every fiber of my being to let her out of my sight. I never want to - more than ever now, but there’s no choice. She must get to safety.
My breath is ragged as I get desperate and begin upending chairs and ripping roulette wheels from their mounts. “FUCK!” I roar, loud enough to wake the dead.
Hang on! Galvatore! Did Galvatore slip in a device when he was here the other day? “Has my office been checked?” I yell.
“Yours was done first,” Liam shouts back. “All the offices are clean.”
“And the reception? What about the there?” That bomb has to be somewhere. Where else did Galvatore go when he was inside this building? And what about the cunt who delivered the heart?
Maybe this is down to Tom Slater after all? Knowing I would kill him, he could have paid someone to plant a device as part of his plan to ruin me? Joe Farrow, perhaps?
Oh, this is getting stupid! Lurching from one scenario after another isn’t helpful.
I’m starting to hyperventilate. “Where the hell is Keith?” I shout. Another one I haven’t seen .
“He’s checking the cellars,” Oscar calls. “Red, this casino room is fully clear.”
Panting, I swipe sweat from my brow. If the gaming lounge, the offices and the reception are clear, then where else does that leave? “I’ll go and help Keith. ”
Running across the room, I reach the double doors just as they open, narrowly missing smacking me in the face.
“Arianna’s gone. The car’s left. She’s safe, mate.” Able to see my desperation, Del claps me on the shoulder. “How are things getting on in here? Anything?”
I sag with relief. Arianna is safe . Now just the rest of it left to deal with . “Nothing here. It’s all clear.”
Keith barges through the door to appear behind Del. “The cellar is clear!”
I’d laugh at the collection of cobwebs stuck to his shaved head if there was anything remotely funny about this situation, but there’s not.
Liam and Oscar rush across. “If the cellar’s clear, then where is left to look?”
I drag my fingers through my hair, not sure how to answer Liam’s question. “There must be somewhere else,” I mutter. “There has to be! Either that or we’ve missed something.” I glance at my watch, my heart beating at a dangerous pace. “Get everyone to double-check what they’ve already done.”
I’ll kill whoever planted this. I’ll destroy the bastards who are trying to kill my brothers, my men, my wife, me ...
I’ll rip the person or people responsible to shreds for attempting to destroy all the hard work, blood, sweat and tears my father put into this firm, building it up from fuck all.
But for once, I’m unsure who is behind it. It could be one of many suspects. All I know is that whoever it is, they will die when I find out.
That’s if they don’t win. And time is running out.