Chapter 16 #2
“Yes, but they haven’t been activated yet,” Sam confirms.
Lacey frowns. “Lorenzo asked me where Candy and Melissa were the other night. I told him they disappeared after stealing money from the safe and clearing out the stash of drugs from the office. I acted like they better run as fast as they could, because you were pissed and calling for their heads.”
“That was quick thinking and a good idea,” I say appreciatively, pleased with her initiative. “How did he react?”
“He lost his shit. He picked up his glass and launched it at the wall, but the gentleman with him quickly got him to calm down. I couldn’t hear what he said, but Lorenzo calmed, and I didn’t speak to them again.
One of the other waitresses dealt with them.
I asked her if he questioned her, but she said he didn’t.
Nobody else knows what happened except for Joe and Bill, and they are loyal.
I would say it’s probably safe to assume they don’t know that you know about the tunnels. ”
Some of the tension in my body eases. “Okay, what about the last tunnel? Where does that go?”
The two guys exchange a look, and I feel the tension in my body return. “What?” I demand.
“It comes up in the warehouse under your place,” Sam says, and I feel my eyes widen with shock.
“Seriously?” I ask him, and he nods. I look over at Sage to see his reaction, but he looks as surprised as I am. It’s obviously news to him too, and I’m relieved it wasn’t a secret he kept from me.
“Yeah. I’m guessing they used them to transport goods in your grandfather’s time, or maybe even before that. Did you know it was there?”
I shake my head. “No, and Dad never mentioned it to me. I wonder if Gio knows it’s there.
” Damn it. I have been avoiding him, but now I’m going to have to sit down and ask him about it, which will lead to more questions from him—questions he should already know the answer to, but it’s his own fault he doesn’t know.
I sigh. “I’ll ask Gio when I see him tonight.
He may have more information, but at least we know the merchandise isn’t coming from that tunnel.
You will have to show me where it is so I can make sure it’s secure.
I don’t like that there is another way into our place I had no idea about, but I bet Lorenzo does, and whoever he has told makes it a serious security breach. ”
“We need to get someone to close it. Do we have anyone on the books who is a contractor?” I ask them. They would have a better idea about who has the skills we need.
“Do we want to block it up? It would be another escape option if we needed it,” Sage suggests.
“I don’t like the idea that people can access it from the other side, especially because our enemies know about the tunnels. I’m surprised we haven’t been breached yet, to be honest, not that they could get up to the house without the code, but they could have hijacked any of our shipments.”
“Or destroyed my grow house.” Sage shudders. “We need to get it fixed today.” He sounds panicked, more worried about his plants than our lives, and it makes me smile. Leave it to Sage to prioritize like that.
“Oh, speaking of drugs… Someone tried to breach the new warehouse, but the chemist hit the lockdown button and sealed it up until our security could chase off the intruders. Head of security believes it was a group of teenagers looking for a little bit of fun, not knowing what the warehouse is or who owns it.”
The new warehouse is back in Banebridge because Sage didn’t want it to be too far away in case he ever had to spend some time there.
It looks like an unassuming building from the outside with excellent defense on the inside.
Much like our house, it can go into lockdown if a breach is ever attempted.
Sage sits up straighter, his body tight with tension. “Is Anthony okay?”
I don’t particularly like our new chemist. He’s a fucking weasel who’s always sucking up to me, and it feels disingenuous, like he’s giving me lip service, but Sage seems to like him, or at least he admires his skills.
“He was shaken but fine. I think it would be a good idea just to show your face, though, and remind everyone who is in charge.” Sam sounds concerned, and I latch onto it.
“What’s wrong? What has you worried?”
“I may be wrong, but when we were there earlier this week, I thought I saw a batch of ecstasy with a different stamp on it, not the butterfly that Sage uses.”
I frown, looking at my boyfriend for input. “Do you know anything about this?” I ask him, and he waves his hand, unconcerned.
“Anthony didn’t like the butterfly. I guess he decided to use something else.”
“Well, I didn’t fucking approve that,” I growl. “What was the symbol?” I ask Sam.
He winces. “It looked like an eggplant emoji,” he admits, and Sage stutters out a choked laugh, but I’m fucking fuming.
“That’s classy,” Lacey says dryly, and I can’t say I disagree, “but it’s also weird.
I got a delivery of product last night, and they still had the same standard butterfly on them.
” She pulls one of the drawers open and throws a bag onto the table in front of us.
Sure enough, they are the same as the ones Sage used to make.
“So where did the eggplant emojis go?” Sage asks, scratching his head.
“Right, I guess we are taking a trip to Banebridge once we are done here. I need to have a little chat with our new friend.”
Sage winces, and I drum my fingers on the table impatiently. Lacey finally turns the laptop around for me to view the security footage. As clear as day, sitting in a booth with Lorenzo is Mario Maricuso.
“Ballsy of him to walk into our establishment. It’s like he’s flipping you the finger,” Dean comments when he sees the man.
“But it helps solidify the idea that the two of them are working together. To what end though? Lorenzo wants to be the head of this family. Does Mario want an alliance, or does he want to make Lorenzo the head then kill him and absorb our organization? That is the million dollar question. And what is Penelope’s role in all this?
” I have so many questions and not enough answers.
“We have a week before Lorenzo and his goons send out his next shipment of people. We need to find a way for the FBI agent to catch him red-handed. That will take him off the board completely. We need to find out where they are keeping the victims.”
“And for the moment, we don’t have any idea, not even a hint of where they might be.” Sage sounds dejected. I know he’s as anxious as I am to help the missing people.
“Oh, speaking of clues.” I dig into the pocket of my pants and take out the crumpled note that was left under my wiper yesterday. “Someone left this on my car when I was at the Lucky Diamond. Lacey, can you google the address? I’m worried it might be a setup, but I’m also curious.”
I pass it over to her, and she takes it, running her fingers across the keyboard.
“Did you check the hotel footage to see who left it?” Dean asks, and I shake my head.
“My spot is in a dead zone in case I ever need to defend myself with extreme measures. No cameras.”
“Huh.” Lacey sounds surprised. “It’s an address in Banebridge.” She spins the laptop around so we can all see.
“Hey, that isn’t far from the warehouse Anthony works in.” Sage points at a building on the map. “Let’s see if there is a street view.” He leans in and does something, and sure enough, pictures of the warehouse come up, and Sam whistles quietly.
“That is a mighty high security fence around it.”
“Look, they have dogs and security cameras.” Dean points at two different images.
“What could they be guarding that needs such high security?” I murmur, starting to feel excited. “What do you say to a little breaking and entering tonight?” I ask Sage who winces.
“Are we going to be able to get past all that?” He waves at the dogs, cameras, and fence.
“Ah, my little green thumbed chemist. While you were playing with plants and chemicals back when he was alive, Dad had me doing extensive training, and one of them just happened to be with a world-class thief. I have some pretty nifty tricks up my sleeves.”
“So I’ll be like the magician’s eye candy?” he asks, and I chuckle.
“You sure are pretty enough for it.” I give him a wink, and he grins before shrugging.
“I guess we’re committing a felony tonight.”
“What if the tunnels and all of that was just a smoke screen?” Sam has his fingers steepled in front of him.
“What if they were deliberately seen going into the basement so we would follow them and find the tunnels? I’m sure Lorenzo would guess that someone would tell you eventually.
It would be a good way to distract us, so we actually weren’t looking in the right direction.
With us distracted, it gave them an opportunity to get the merchandise into town without being seen. ”
“And they’ll probably just ship them to the docks by truck. No one would question a container coming and going from a warehouse like that. Hell, anyone would see it on the street and not suspect anything,” Dean remarks, following his partner’s train of thought.
“We need to find out who owns the building. Is it one of ours?” I ask Sage, and he shakes his head.
“No, I don’t think so, but I don’t have the list of our assets memorized. If it was, I probably would have picked it for Anthony. It has wicked good security.”
Lacey turns the laptop toward her. “I’m sorry I don’t have those kinds of computer skills.”
“Don’t worry about it. We have others who do that kind of thing for us.
I’ll have one of them look into it.” I turn to my henchmen.
“You know, I think you may be on to something. If that warehouse is a holding zone for the victims prior to transport, then we need to find a way to get Lorenzo to go there so he will be implicated. If the FBI raid it and he isn’t there, then there will be no proof. ”
Sage stands and stretches. “We will figure something out. Let’s worry about getting into it tonight. For all we know, it could be storing drugs or guns like we do.”
“That would still be enough to put Lorenzo away,” Sam points out, but I shake my head.
“Yes, but then we still have a whole heap of missing people, including the FBI agent’s sister. We need to find her, even if it’s to save our own asses.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure that letting him go was your smartest move to date.” Sage runs a hand through his unruly mop of curls. “Gio will be pissed.”
“Fuck Gio,” I snarl, standing up. “Alright, we’re heading to Banebridge. You guys stay here and get Lacey sorted. Welcome to the family, Lacey. We will have a more formal celebration when things settle down a little,” I promise her.
“We needed a bit more feminine energy. It’s a real sausage fest,” Sage says brightly. “I’m sure you are going to be great.”
“I won’t let you down,” she promises, standing up and giving me a nod of respect.
“Get the girl a firearm, and Lacey, make sure you always have it on you. Take her to the same place I get my corsets from.” I lift the back of my jacket so she can see.
“It’s way more comfortable than a holster and safer than shoving it into the back of your pants like the movies. ” I roll my eyes, and she grins.
“Will do, and be careful tonight.”
Sam and Dean murmur their own warnings and goodbyes, and Sage and I leave the club.