20. Lachlan #3
The other guards don't move. They're all staring at the body, their faces pale, their hands gripping the arms of their chairs. "Anyone else want to confess?" I ask, my voice calm.
No one answers.
"Good." I holster my gun and look at Rian. "Get rid of the body. And find Carmen. I want her in this office in five minutes."
"On it." Rian signals for two of the guards to help him, and they drag Jonathan's body out of the office, leaving a smear of blood across the floor.
I turn to Jack. "What about the phone? The one Matteo had?"
"Bought with cash, no way to track it."
I sink into my desk chair and close my eyes.
Adriana and Matteo are out there somewhere, with Gio.
And I have no idea where they are, no idea if they're safe, no idea if I'll ever see them again.
The thought makes me want to put my fist through another wall.
Makes me want to burn the entire city down until I find them.
But I can't. I have to be smart about this. I have to think like Gio, anticipate his moves.
He wants me to come to him. Wants me alone and unarmed.
Which means he's planning to kill me. And once I'm dead, he'll take Adriana back to New York, back to that house, back to the life she escaped from.
He'll make Matteo into another one of his men, warp him until there's nothing left of the sweet boy who dreams of being an astronaut.
I can't let that happen.
The door opens, and Rian comes back in with Carmen. She's a small woman in her forties, her dark hair pulled back in a bun, her cleaning uniform wrinkled. She's trembling, her eyes wide with fear as she looks around my office, taking in the blood on the floor and the tension in the air.
"Sit," I say, gesturing to the chair in front of my desk.
She sits, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.
"Carmen." I lean forward, resting my elbows on my desk. "I'm going to ask you some questions, and you're going to answer them honestly. Do you understand?"
She nods, not meeting my eyes.
"Did you plant a cell phone in my son's room?"
Her face goes white. "I—I didn't know—"
"Answer the question."
"Yes." Her voice is barely a whisper. "But I didn't know what it was for, I swear. I thought—"
"Who told you to do it?"
"Jonathan." She's crying now, tears streaming down her face. "He said you wanted to test your son, to see if he'd tell you about it. He said it was important, that you needed to know if the boy could be trusted. I didn't—I didn't know it was wrong. I thought I was helping."
I stare at her for a long moment, weighing her words. She's telling the truth; I can see it in her face. She was manipulated, just another pawn in Gio's game.
But she still helped.
"Get her out of here," I tell Rian. "Put her somewhere secure until this is over. If she tries to run or contact anyone, kill her."
Rian nods and escorts Carmen out of the office. She's sobbing, but I don't listen. I can't afford to care about her fear when Adriana and Matteo are out there with Gio. And as long as she's telling the truth and she doesn't try anything else, she'll be free when this is all over, and fine.
The same can't be said for Jonathan.
My phone buzzes with a text from Cormac: Got a hit on the phone signal. Tracked it to an old house on the South Side. Sending you the address now.
I'm on my feet before I finish reading the message. "Jack. Get the men. We're moving now."
"Where?"
"South Side. Cormac tracked the phone." I check my gun again, making sure everything is where it should be. "This ends tonight."
The door opens again, and I look up expecting Rian. But it's not Rian. It's Declan.
He's leaning heavily on a crutch, his face pale and drawn, his shirt stained with blood. But his eyes are clear and determined, and when he looks at me, I can see the same fire that's always been there. "You're not doing this without me," he says.
"You should be in bed."
"Fuck that." He limps into the office and leans against the wall, abandoning the crutch. "You're going after Gio. You're going to get your family back. And I'm going with you."
"Declan—"
"Don't." He holds up a hand. "You went back for her. You kept your promise. Now let me keep mine. I told you ten years ago that I'd have your back. That hasn't changed."
I look at him for a long moment, seeing the boy I grew up with, the man who's been my friend longer than anyone else. He's bleeding and injured and should be resting, but he’s standing here anyway, because that's what brothers do.
"Alright," I say finally. "But you listen to me when we get there. Don't go being a hero."
"Deal." He grins, and for a moment, he looks younger, like the Declan I remember. "Let's go get your family back."
I gather my men in the lobby. Rian, Jack, Tommy, and Cormac are on the phone coordinating. Declan limps out to join us, and nobody questions it.
"We have an address," I tell them. "South Side. Gio's holding them there. We go in fast, we go in hard, and we don't leave until they're safe and he's dead. Understood?"
They all nod.
"Then let's move."
We pile into the SUVs, engines roaring to life, and head toward Gio.
And this time, I'm not leaving until he's bleeding out on the floor.