Chapter 51 #2
Thankfully, that hadn’t been an issue, at least not so far.
The pop of his gun rings out through the air as we continue toward the city.
While most of the others fight with their hands or knives, Rick and Leo both seem to favor their guns.
I’d be more concerned if we weren’t in such a crunch for time, and if I gave a damn about who heard us.
Right now, the whole of Italian law enforcement could show up, and I know none of us would stop to bat an eye.
Our progress toward the city is slow but steady, yet I can’t fight the urge to rush forward. Every second that ticks by is like a weight added to my shoulders as my concern continues to grow for my sister, who’s no doubt facing our greatest threat.
The others continue forward as we handle the last of Ivan’s men stationed out here. I’m positive there will be more of them. Ivan is nothing if not thorough. Annoyingly so, in this case.
Everyone is in a rush to get to Jade, so when Leo stops dead to pull his phone from his pocket, I stop as well.
“What is it?” I yell, skidding to a stop beside him.
He doesn’t answer for a second, staring at his phone before his head snaps up, and our eyes meet.
He knows something.
Leo turns to look further up the hill at the guys' retreating forms as they finally reach the city limits and all but disappear. He looks back at his phone as if trying to decide what to do.
“Shit,” he murmurs before turning his phone to me so that I can see the screen.
I’m not sure what I expected. No, that’s a lie. The lump in my throat tells me I expected the worst. Something from Ivan. Something I can’t even think about without my stomach rolling.
She’s fine. She can more than handle herself.
I mentally scold myself, trying to fight off the panic that threatens to choke me.
Instead, I stare down at… A map? Or at least that’s what I think it is. It’s not exactly a great picture, but I’m not sure what else it could be.
“One of Ivan’s guys, Jex. I grew up with him. His dad served under your dad, and we’ve been friends for a long time. He messaged me and said he’s with Ivan and Jade.” He pushes the phone toward me as the pieces fall into place. “This is where they are.”
Shit is right.
According to this map, we’re going the wrong way.
The entrances to the underground aren’t in the city but in a few of the abandoned buildings out here on the hillside.
I turn, looking toward where the guys had just disappeared.
We could go after them, but honestly, depending on where Ivan’s guys are stationed, they could be halfway through town by now.
No, Jade needs us now.
I fish my phone from my pocket and toss it to him, snatching his from his hand and turning around until the map matches the surrounding layout.
The closest house with a tunnel entrance is about halfway down the hill.
I quickly snap a screenshot of the map and send it to myself before starting the track back toward it.
“Send it to Kratos and let him know to follow us down,” I shot back over my shoulder, hearing him moving to follow my punishing pace.
The tunnels, if you can even still call them that anymore, are falling apart.
The path that’s mapped out for us is mostly intact, with only some debris in the way.
Others we pass are covered, or half-caved in on themselves, probably from years ago.
Nothing about this feels good. The air is thick and suffocating with smells that make my stomach turn, but I refuse to look too closely at our surroundings.
Follow the tunnels to Jade. Follow the tunnels to Jade.
I tell myself over and over as my body and mind urge me to turn around.
Leo has been all but on my back since something crawled on his foot. He’s got a real fear of rodents, but it beats his typical reaction. There’s no masking the sound of his scream. Trust me. He goes from a rough-and-tough mafia guy to a soprano real quick.
“Fuck, man. I don’t know what died down here, but it’s had to have been dead for at least a year to smell like this,” Leo complains for the hundredth time.
I grunt in agreement, because it really is bad, but I’m not about to open my mouth so I can taste it, too.
It’s not as if neither of us has ever dealt with bodies before, but this is a lot, even for me, and I’ve dug up quite a few people over the years.
I stop to look down at the map on the screen again. The phone’s as bright as it can be, yet it's still hard to read because of its poor quality. If I’m reading it correctly, we’re just a few hundred feet from the room Jex marked as where Jade and Ivan are.
Turning to Leo, I signal him to be quiet, nodding toward the room down the tunnel. I don’t give him enough time to respond before I turn around and continue, knowing he’ll follow.
I hear Ivan before I can see the end of the tunnel.
His loud voice booms down the tunnel to us, making me stop in my tracks.
Ivan has been destroying lives for longer than I could have ever imagined: Jade's, mine, Leo’s, Elio’s, and my parents'. I have no doubt there are more. Whether we ever know about them or not doesn’t matter.
He’s a monster, and he deserves everything he gets and more, but that doesn’t stop my knee-jerk reaction to avoid him.
I’ve been doing it for years, flying under his radar, hoping to find my sister before him just to keep her safe.
But that’s not possible anymore. He’s found her, and now I need to help her, no matter the cost.
“So you see, this is really all your own fault. If you could have just left well enough alone, we wouldn’t be here.
Your mother and father would be happy with you and Danslav.
I didn’t care that she took him from me.
He was never worthy to begin with, and I knew she would never tell anyone who he was.
He could never take over for your father, but you. ”
His words ring through me, not making sense, but I hear the threat in them all the same.
My feet move slower than they should, but while I’m frozen, Leo isn’t. He passes me in a blink, stumbling over whatever litters the floor, but it’s not enough to stop him. Seeing him move is enough to shake me from my fog, giving me the push I need to get my shit together.
Leo has his own problems with his father.
He hates him just like the rest of us, but he’s spent years on his side.
He was too blind or too afraid to speak out against him.
I’d never asked which it was, but it didn’t matter.
Trauma is trauma, and watching his mother die started it, followed by every terrible thing his father did after.
All of which he included Leo in. The fact that Jade could change his mind and make him see reason is a fucking miracle.
One Leo is thankful for and desperate to repay.
She’d never ask him to, but I know Leo well enough to see it. He wants to be trusted, wants the family he was denied.
Leo reaches the opening of the tunnel a few seconds before I do.
The light is low, but it’s enough to see the hard set of his face as he hops down into the room.
It’s the face of a man on a mission, and his mission is to help Jade.
Any doubt I had in him dies as he walks forward, calling Ivan’s attention to himself, knowing he just put a target on his own back.
“Enough, Father!”