Chapter 16 She Did What? #2
“Gabriel,” Teddy bit out. “They’re in Italy. Lulu and Simone are in Italy. Did it ever occur to you that you put them at risk? There are a lot more Bratva over there than there were here!”
Silence.
“Oh, shit,” Gabriel murmured from the back. “Nah, he’ll be fine.”
“We gotta tell him,” Greystone said.
“I’m one-hundred percent confident he’ll leave Italy,” Teddy said.
“Not ninety-nine or even ninety percent?” Gabriel asked.
“Don’t be a smart ass,” Teddy warned.
“Guarda, ho avuto un problema,” Gabriel pushed back. “Non ce l'ho più.”
“Jesus,” Greystone said “Yes, you had a problem. Yes, you don’t have it anymore, but that’s not how the Santinis work.”
“Maybe here in the states, but in Italy, I run the family biz differently.”
It was pointless to continue this conversation, so Teddy unsilenced his phone, which binged with texts from Caroline.
Sydney bolted
She turned off her location finder
“Ah, fuck,” Teddy ground out as his stomach dropped.
“What?” Greystone asked.
“Sydney left.”
“She’s not used to being a caged animal,” Gabriel said. “She’ll be fine. She’s way better at wetwork than either one of you pussies.”
Greystone pulled off the road. slammed the brakes. Teddy got out, threw open the back door, and clocked Gabriel in the jaw. Then, he narrowed his gaze and growled. “Don’t ever say that to us again.”
“Ow, you asshole!” Gabriel shouted.
Teddy got back into the truck, and Greystone pulled onto the road.
“Next time, Teddy won’t stop at one punch,” Greystone warned.
“I’m not afraid of either of you,” Gabriel said.
“You should be,” Teddy growled.
“I need to call Caroline,” Greystone said. “Can we stop fighting for two minutes?”
“Assholes,” Gabriel muttered.
“Go fuck yourself, G,” Teddy said.
“Gladly,” Gabriel said.
Silence, then the three brothers started laughing.
And just like that, the tension lifted. The fighting ended, the anger gone. This was always how it had been, especially when Gabriel got thrown into the mix. He was the agitator. Always had been, always would be.
There was one black sheep in every family. And Gabriel Santini was that man.
Greystone made the call.
“Hey, babe,” Caroline answered.
“You’re on speaker,” Greystone said. “Where are you?”
“I’m at the condo,” Caroline said. “I was driving to my parents’ when my mom called to tell me Sydney left. She tried stopping her, but you know Sydney.”
Dammit.
“Strong-willed and definitely not a conformist,” Gabriel said from the back seat. “If she’s got someone in her sights, say addio motherfucker.”
“Teddy?” Caroline said.
“I’m here.”
“She took your SUV,” Caroline said.
“I should never have given her the keys. Any idea where she would have gone?” Teddy asked.
“No,” Caroline replied.
“Thanks for the heads up,” Teddy said.
“Babe, I’m gonna drop Teddy and Gabriel,” Greystone said before ending the call.
“Pussy whipped,” Gabriel muttered from the back seat.
Teddy glared at Gabriel. “What is wrong with you? I mean, for real. Were you dropped on your head as a baby? Did someone fuck you up as a kid?”
Gabriel’s lips rolled back and he shot Teddy a smile. But he said nothing.
Clearly, Gabriel was entertained by everything going on. The more dangerous, the more wicked, the happier Gabriel was.
“You are some kind of fucked up, G,” Greystone said.
“Thank you,” he replied.
Greystone dropped Gabriel first. They returned everything they’d taken from Luciano’s mission room, said their goodbyes. Despite what had gone down, Gabriel looked as chill as normal.
“Stay outta trouble,” Greystone said to him.
“No can do, fratello,” Gabriel replied before he set his sights on Teddy. “You throw a good punch, baby brother.” He rubbed his chin. “A damn good punch.”
“G, you should lay low for a while,” Teddy warned.
“Can’t do that either,” Gabriel replied. “I gotta keep moving. If I stop, I’m a dead man.” He showed them out.
After Teddy and Greystone got back in the SUV, Greystone asked, “Where are we headed?”
“Drop me at home,” Teddy said.
“Why don’t you hang with Car and me?” Greystone asked.
“I’m gonna take my bike out,” Teddy said. “Ride around for a few.”
“You’re gonna try to find her, aren’t you?”
“Hell, yeah.” Teddy raked his hands through his hair. “She should never have bolted, but I get why she did.”
Greystone pulled into Teddy’s neighborhood and stopped so they could check for a tail. When the men confirmed they were alone, Greystone drove to Teddy’s high rise in Alexandria.
“What’s going on with Gabriel?” Greystone asked as he put the SUV in park outside the entrance.
“I think he’s in a lot of trouble,” Teddy replied. “We thought things had quieted down, but they haven’t, and he brought the trouble with him.”
“Nothing changes,” Greystone grumbled. “He was like this as a kid. He was always the one starting fights. If Uncle Enzo hadn’t killed Dad, I think Gabriel would have taken them both out so he could run the business.” He paused. “How’s your hand?”
Teddy fisted his right hand. “All good. Why?”
“You decked Gabriel pretty good.”
“Not good enough,” Teddy said. “Let me know if Caroline hears from Sydney.”
“You gotta know, Gabriel has unleashed a monster by takin’ out everyone in that restaurant,” Greystone said.
“My gut tells me the Bratva has been looking for Gabriel for a while now.” Teddy exited the SUV, shut the door, and strode inside.
He didn’t want to make a big deal about Sydney’s bolting, but he was concerned. Yes, she was an extremely skilled sharpshooter, but what if she got ambushed or worse?
A chill shot through him.
If she goes rogue and something happens to her…
SYDNEY
Sydney glanced in the rearview mirror and her guts churned.
“No way.”
Flashing red lights had her stopping on the shoulder. After pulling her license, she went for the registration, only to realize the car wasn’t registered. It was a Black Site vehicle. The Black Site didn’t exist, neither did ALPHA or the BLACK OPS team.
I am so screwed.
She lowered the window and shot the male officer a pleasant smile. “Hello, Officer.”
“Do you know you were flying down Route 7 at seventy-five?”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t realize I was going that fast.”
“You’ve got a tail light out,” he said. “Did you know that?”
She shook her head. “No.”
That’s just effin’ great.
“Can I see your driver’s license and registration?”
She handed over her driver’s license. “I can’t find the registration.”
“Hold tight.” He took her license, walked back to his patrol car.
King A was out there, along with his army of fucking yes-men. She’d been living in a windowless building, and she hadn’t had a second to mourn Naomi’s murder, before she discovered her straight-laced parents were discussing a Bratva hit with Gabriel Santini and a man who went by Z.
The officer returned, handed her back her license. “Ms. Austin, your license expired a couple of months ago.”
She flicked her gaze to her license, then back at him. “I’ve been out of the country.”
I shouldn’t have said that.
“Ms. Austin, is there a weapon in the vehicle?”
The absolute moment of truth. She stared at him. Middle aged, average height, looked like he was in decent shape. “Officer—” she glanced at his name badge— “Officer Layton, I have two weapons in the vehicle. My SIG Sauer and my Walther.”
“Are any on you?”
“The SIG.”
“I can’t ask you to exit the vehicle until a female officer has arrived on scene.”
“Can I make a call?”
“No.”
“My Walther is in the center console. Can I set the SIG on the passenger seat, then step out?”
“No, we have to wait for the female officer. She’ll be here soon.”
She could mention her dad. He’d been a detective with the Fairfax County Police, but she didn’t want her parents to know she’d gotten pulled over. They’d told her to hang tight. She hadn’t listened.
A few minutes later, another squad car pulled up. She waited for Officer Layton’s instruction. He told her to exit the vehicle, keep her hands in the air. Then, he instructed her to place them on the car.
A first.
Karma is biting me in the ass.
The female officer took her SIG, then patted her down while Officer Layton removed her Walther from the vehicle. Though her heart rate accelerated, she just stood there calmly. Freaking out because they took her weapons wouldn’t help her.
After the woman cuffed her, she was placed in Layton’s patrol car. Sydney said nothing as he drove her to the police station. If she said anything, it would only make her situation worse.
Once there, she was fingerprinted, then a few mug shots.
The fiasco might have been laughable, except that she was in an ALPHA vehicle, she’d been speeding, she’d been armed, her license had expired, and she’d admitted to being out of the country.
Not so funny when she was trying to hide in the shadows while chasing King A and gunning down international terrorists.
“You got someone to call?” asked the officer.
“I do,” she replied.
She was escorted to a holding cell.
One minute she was saving BLACK OPS from a hitman. The next, she needed to get bailed out of jail. As she lifted the receiver on the wall-mounted phone, she realized she didn’t know Tank’s number.
That’s just great.
She called Caroline.
Please don’t be doing Stud-Man. Please pick up.
“Hello,” Caroline answered.
“Car, it’s me,” Sydney said. “So… I ran into a little prob and I’m in Fairfax County jail. Any chance you can bail me out or maybe send Tank?”
“Are you okay?”
“Nothing but sunshine and rainbows over here.”
“Where’s the SUV?”
“It’s probably gonna get impounded. It’s missing a tail light.
“We’ll pick it up.”
“I screwed up,” Sydney said.
“I’m just relieved you’re okay.” Caroline hung up.
I messed up.
She glanced around the holding cell. She’d gone from being a prisoner at the Black Site to being an actual prisoner.
I will never complain about Creepy Secret Zone ever again.
Thirty minutes later, an officer walked over to the holding cell. “Ms. Austin.”
She’d been standing by the door. “Tell me something good.”