Chapter 27 #2
As we advanced through the darkness, the only light coming from a streetlight over two blocks away, we had the advantage thanks to our night vision goggles. I’d been grateful to see the four men I’d barely met but who’d pledged their oath to the cause obviously had some form of military background.
That made tackling this head on that much easier.
We’d chosen this one given easier access and fewer security measures.
Since we were close enough to the four men to hear what they were saying, I’d say we’d chosen wisely.
We were yet to be a well-oiled machine. Mistakes would be made and the last thing any of us wanted was for there to be any innocent victims.
They’d brought two cars, both souped-up older Cadillacs.
I whipped out my hunter’s knife, keeping low to the ground as I approached. It took me less than thirty seconds to drive the blade through four of the tires. Now we were ready.
We crowded one outside wall. The four guards were all standing outside the main entrance, two smoking cigarettes. They were certainly arrogant in their beliefs no one would dare attack them. They’d learn the same lesson Steven had just learned.
Getting cocky would mean facing demons.
I scanned the surrounding area to ensure we were alone before nodding to the team.
One group moved around the other side of the building to catch them if even one tried to run.
We couldn’t have one of the assholes providing Delgado with an earlier warning until we moved onto the next phase of operations.
Hunting down Bruno Carvelli.
He didn’t know it yet, but he was going to become our star witness. After he assisted us with bringing down the cartel.
The four of us moved quietly, this time with weapons in our hands. We were little more than a foot away when finally, one of the assholes noticed us.
“Nosotros tenemos companía,” one growled in his native tongue.
We’ve got company.
One of them reacted quickly, firing off a shot that barely missed Gabriel. “Motherfucker,” he snarled, immediately returning the favor. Only he managed to cut the man down by his knee. A howl of agony erupted as he dropped to his knees.
“?Quiénes carajos son estos gilipollas?”
Who the hell are these assholes?
The shout of another confirmed what I’d hoped would happen. They had no clue who we were. I wanted to keep it that way. For now.
When I advanced, issuing a hard jab to one sending him crashing into a group of empty crates, the other two thought they could start firing indiscriminately.
“Hey, assholes,” one of our companions said from behind. “We’ve got you.”
I was impressed at least two of the men had been trained in the art of submission, soldier style. They strongarmed the two soldiers by the neck, squeezing until they blacked out.
That made the one who’d regained his footing and decided to take me on personally give it all he had. He managed to get in a brutal punch to my jaw before I punched him in the throat and took a step back, swinging my weapon against the side of his head.
He went down, his head hitting the pavement with a savage crack. “Well, fuck.” I obviously didn’t know my own strength. Crouching down, I checked to see if he was breathing. He was, but he’d have a massive headache in the morning.
If Delgado allowed him to live. He didn’t tolerate failure.
“That was fun,” Kendrick said as he shook his hand, flexing and fisting it.
I half laughed. “A little injury there, buddy?”
“Nothing a tall glass of scotch won’t cure. Are we heading inside?”
“Yeah. We need to see exactly what we’re dealing with.” I turned toward Gabriel. “You’re certain you can wire the front portion of the building, Mr. Explosives Expert?”
“Trust me.”
“Mmm… Said the spider to the fly.” If what the informant had said proved correct, the drugs were in the back of the building.
Gabriel grabbed my arm as he’d done thirty minutes before. I was still on edge. Still enraged. But at least we had a better understanding of what bad thing Bruno had done. He’d been the one to supply the Undertaker with Valentina’s personal information long before any leak provided by Steven.
“Have you calmed down?”
I wasn’t certain if the question was rhetorical. “Enough to get this done.”
“I know you want to go after the Undertaker yourself, but you know we don’t have what it takes to fight an army. At least not yet. Let Chase do his job.”
“We shall see. Let’s get this over with.”
We gathered the enemies’ weapons before heading inside the warehouse, leaving three men with Gabriel to ensure we weren’t interrupted.
The stench of raw fish was overbearing, but it also made for a perfect cover.
No one who walked inside would dare believe what was being stored behind the massive freezers.
In fact, to the naked eye, no one would know there was another part of the building. It took way too long to find the hidden enclosure. But as soon as I did, lights flooded the massive room.
As hoped, there were at least two dozen oversized crates.
If that wasn’t telling enough, a portion of the room set up like a science laboratory told the tale.
They used this warehouse for cutting and packaging the drugs for resale.
Kendrick was in charge of taking photographs while Maverick and I moved to the crates.
We simply needed some proof.
He found a crowbar, managing to pry one open before I could. “Let’s see what we have here,” he mused. He was holding a brick of coke in his hands, packaged exactly as expected.
I tossed him my knife, walking closer as he cut a slit in the packaging, wetting and shoving his pinky into the powder. After sniffing, he shoved it into his mouth, nodding immediately.
“Pure rock, baby. Grade A good shit.”
“Someday you might need to tell me how you know so much about grade A coke.”
He laughed, tossing the brick back into the crate. “We all have past moments we aren’t proud of. But God, were they fun.”
“Let’s get a few pictures and finish up. I’d love to make it back to the safehouse before the sun hits the streets.”
That was only remotely possible if one of our own’s intel was correct.
Bruno wasn’t the brightest guy in the world.
He’d been easy enough to find, our resident criminal member Mikey taking the lead on acting as a private investigator.
I was very surprised the guy had come through with some glossy photos as well as the man’s address for where he crashed at night.
Unfortunately for him, Bruno was using again, which made him that much more dangerous.
There had to be over twenty million dollars’ worth of drugs inside the warehouse. Perhaps more. A small pittance for what Delgado had put the city of Miami and members of the judicial system through.
Once outside, Gabriel grinned. “Ready to go, boss.”
Looking down, I instantly burst into laughter. “Dynamite? Really? I could have managed that and I’m no self-proclaimed explosives expert.”
“Hey, I didn’t have very long to put this together. Next time I’ll have better equipment.”
“You’re assuming there will be a next time.”
As he pulled out his lighter, all I could do was hang my head. At least we were getting the job done. “There will be. There will always be assholes allowed to get away with breaking the law.”
I walked toward the vehicles, eager to hunt down Bruno. We were all piled into the car and a good hundred yards away before the explosion. While it would send a direct warning to Delgado, I estimated we had about an hour before he was notified given the clandestine location of the facility.
But we needed to hurry.
As I flexed my hand around the steering wheel, the pain and swelling were a good reminder of the lengths I was willing to go to protect innocent victims.
And the woman I loved.
Another stop.
Another mission.
Another lavish location in the heart of Miami.
Bruno Carvelli couldn’t manage to stay clean.
He’d been involved in petty crimes over the years, but in going to work with Delgado, he’d managed to find himself moving up in the world.
From what our sources had been able to discover, he’d expanded Delgado’s business in New Orleans.
While he hadn’t been party to what Valentina had initially endured with the Undertaker’s sloppy murder, he certainly hadn’t taken it upon himself to warn her about the impending danger until it had almost been too late.
Maybe he’d had an attack of conscience. Or maybe he’d thought about his little girl growing up in the foster system if anything happened to Valentina.
Certainly, no court in the land would allow him to obtain custody of Bella.
Or so I still wanted to believe. Whatever the case, because he’d had a single act of decency, I’d allow him to live.
The condo was in a secure, guarded building, but that didn’t stop us from entering with ease. There wasn’t a man on this earth who couldn’t be bribed into silence for the right price. In this case, three crisp hundred-dollar bills had the guard looking the other way.
The others piled into the elevator while I jogged up the ten flights of stairs. I needed to work off some steam.
Maverick laughed when I fell into step behind them immediately after they stepped off the elevator. “You’re still in shape, old man.”
I yanked off my mask before answering. So did the others. Bruno needed to see who we were to help him made good decisions.
“Old man? You must be talking about yourself.” I glanced from one side of the hall to the other. We’d taken too much time, which pissed me off. I wasn’t in the mood to wait until the lock was picked. I was exhausted and eager to return to Valentina.
So I kicked in the door.
Gabriel chuckled from behind me, but I had a feeling the others knew to leave me alone at this point. I was far too much in the same zone I’d found useful when completing a mission in the Marines. Get ‘er done at whatever cost.