26. Chapter 26
Chapter twenty-six
Ettore
A ll I could see was red. Someone had Liria, taken her and our unborn child away from me. My heart pounded like a drum against my ribs, its rhythm deafening in my ears. The world around me seemed to shrink and swell in and out of focus as panic bit at the edges of my consciousness.
“Pull it faster,” I snapped to the mall security guard.
My friends and I requested (demanded, rather) the security tapes from the mall immediately. When the lazy mall cop told us we’d have to file a form, I pulled out a gun from my waistband and held it to his temple.
“I’m-I’m going as fast as I can,” he stuttered, and I thought he might piss himself in fear.
“I swear, if you don’t get that tape to me in the next minute, you’re gonna wish you had,” I hissed at him, my grip firm on the hilt of my gun.
The man’s trembling hands fumbled as he rushed to bring up the tapes on his console.
“There it is,” Rocco said, tapping on the screen. Liria was walking into the bathroom on the second floor, oblivious to what was about to happen to her.
The security footage was fast-forwarded until it showed the moment she exited the bathroom. A man wearing a hoodie lunged at her and pulled her into the stairwell, causing her to panic and struggle. My chest ached as I watched the terrifying scene unfold.
Without having to be told, the mall cop switched to the angle of the stairwell, following the kidnapping from the second floor to the underground parking garage. Liria’s kidnapper tossed her inside the vehicle and slammed the door shut.
We couldn’t get a good look at the man who kidnapped her, but I knew whoever was in that car was more important. From the angle of the footage we were looking at, we could only see the blacked out side windows.
“God damn it,” I said, slamming my fist into a filing cabinet. “Change the angle to the front of the car.”
The mall cop, his face pale and sweaty, scrambled to comply with my demand. His trembling hands danced over the controls until he found the right camera, which had recorded a full frontal shot of the car speeding away.
“There,” I pointed at the screen as a car license plate came into view, “Freeze it.”
The man hesitated for a moment before complying, freezing the frame to reveal clearly the license plate of the vehicle.
“Find who this car belongs to within ten minutes,” I told my friends. “And you,” I said, looking down at the security guard. “Forget this happened. Or the next time I see you, I’ll pull the trigger.”
The five of us stormed out of the office and back to the car with the new intel. Emilio had the answer within five minutes. It belonged to Dillon Carrington, Liria’s ex-fiance. He was stupid enough to use one of his own cars for a kidnapping.
But with a clever twist, he had deceived me. There was never a traitor within the four families. He had just passed that note to Liria so I would be preoccupied with something very important.
It was a desperate, but astute, strategy that he used to his advantage. With the false narrative, I became a weapon against my own people. The suspicion he planted had me doubting everybody in the four families, ignoring everyone in my peripherals.
“Dillon Carrington,” I muttered, my voice barely a whisper. The taste of his name was like a bitter gall on my tongue. Fury blazed through me, setting my insides on fire.
Vincenzo had his home address less than two minutes later. The rich prick had multiple, but he most likely took her to the New York house.
“We go now.” I declared, buckling in my seatbelt. My friends exchanged glances with each other, the dim light in the room reflecting off their worried faces.
“Is that wise?” Emilio asked cautiously, his steely eyes resting on mine. “We don’t have a plan. We haven’t done any recon, or tried to get the house blueprints.”
“We don’t have time for recon or blueprints,” I retorted. “Every second we waste, Liria is in more danger. We go now.”
Emilio nodded, understanding but clearly hesitant. “Alright,” he finally said. “But we’re making a stop at the warehouse first.”
“Good idea,” Rocco chimed in. “We need to gear up. This Dillon guy might not let Liria go without a fight.”
Everyone agreed, a silent understanding passing among us. The car roared to life and Felix drove towards our destination with a grim determination that mirrored the emotions coursing through the rest of us. The sky was a deep violet as the sun began to set, casting long shadows across the city. They seemed to stretch out into the night, reaching towards us, a tangible representation of the fear and uncertainty that gnawed at our guts.
“Make it quick,” I said to the others as we walked into the warehouse.
I grabbed guns and ammunition, swiftly stowing them in the duffle bag slung over my shoulder. Vincenzo, ever the tactician, chose his weapons methodically. A silenced pistol for quiet takedowns and a shotgun for when subtlety gave way to necessity.
“Did you know we had a flamethrower?” Felix asked, lifting it from the arsenal.
“Felix!” I said, snatching the flamethrower out of his hands. “This isn’t a game. Pick something practical.”
Felix grabbed weapons more suited for the job, but I didn’t miss when he tried to hide the flamethrower under the other weapons in the back of the van. I ignored it, having too much on my mind to argue over his rash tendencies.
We left the warehouse, now geared up and ready for whatever was waiting for us. We stopped short of reaching the house - it wasn’t like they would just open the gates for us.
“It’s dark out,” I said. “Let’s pick the lock of the neighbor’s gate and then hop the fence. Felix, you wait in the car until we call.”
Unfortunately for us, fences between mansions were ten feet tall, and we were carrying bags of gear.
“Emilio, give me a boost,” I said, handing him my bag. Emilio cupped his hands and offered me a leg up. We had done this many times before, scaling walls and fences in our reckless youth.
I grabbed the top of the fence. The cool, iron bars bit into my palms as I pushed myself up and over, landing softly on the other side. Turning, I reached up to take the bags from Emilio before helping him climb over. Vincenzo was next, who was surprisingly nimble for his size, followed by Rocco.
The four of us hid in the shadows of night beneath the gnarled branches of oak trees. Rocco, who was always a lookout, stationed himself where he had a clear view of the mansion’s entrance.
“Keep your eyes peeled. We don’t know what we’re dealing with,” I said to him through the earpiece that connected us.
“Got it, boss,” Rocco’s voice came through the earpiece, a static-infused replica of his usual deep growl. “I’ve got your back.”
“And watch for security cameras,” I added as we moved silently through the manicured landscape. All four of us were good at slipping into places we weren’t welcome.
Right after I said it, a small, blinking red light caught my attention. The camera swiveled towards us, and then an alarm went off in the silence of the night. The red lights flashed, bouncing off the walls of the mansion and casting eerie shadows around us.
“Get ready,” I said, and pressed down on my earpiece. “Felix, get over here.”
I had no idea what awaited us, but I knew for sure that whatever it was, I’d fight through it to get to Liria.