Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 75107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
“Told you we should check the safe houses when we couldn’t get in touch with him,” Emilio said to the boss.
“Why couldn’t we get in touch with you?”
“My fucking phone died. And Steph lost hers in the park somewhere. I should have gone to get a cord sooner, but I was trying to get and keep Steph warm. She was like a corpse.”
“Then you fell asleep… and other shit,” Cosimo, never one to beat around the bush, said.
“Yeah.”
“How’d he find you in Brooklyn?”
“That I don’t know. We got rid of the tracker when we were on top of Ant’s building. I guess it’s possible he saw us get into a cab, maybe caught the medallion number and tracked the driver down, offered some money. That’s my best guess.”
“Plausible if he was desperate enough,” Lorenzo agreed. “Can someone get in touch with Zeno? Get him on this. Figure out who this fuck is, who the guy that got offed is. And if they’re linked up with a bigger crew or not.”
“On it,” Miko said, already walking away.
“Sorry to pull you guys away from family shit this time of year,” I said.
“This is family stuff too,” Lorenzo said, shrugging.
“I meant family-family.”
“Yeah, man. You’re family-family too,” Cosimo said. “Think you’re the only one who hasn’t realized that yet.”
“So, he came to the safe house.”
“I don’t got the details there. I was in the bodega getting the damn charging cord. Steph was alone. I’m guessing she snuck out the window and down the fire escape. Then we were running. Didn’t get a chance to do much talking.”
“He’s alive?” Brio asked.
“Unfortunately.”
“Didn’t wanna kill him in front of her?” he asked.
“That’s part of it. But we were down by the beach on the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge.”
“Cameras,” Brio said.
“Exactly. I planned to knock or choke him out. But Steph fucking went against direct orders again and came back, whacked him with a bottle. Then we ran across the bridge, hopped in a cab, and came here. That’s it. That’s the story.”
“If you want, I can let you know when Zeno gets a name and I get the fucker down in my little playroom,” Brio offered. “Or you can take care of your girl and I can have fun by myself.”
Brio’s idea of “fun” included really interesting forms of torture.
“Honestly,” I said, exhaling hard, “I just want it done. Got plenty of other shit to handle.”
Brio, the sick fuck, looked pleased at the idea of getting to be the only one doing the damage.
“Merry Christmas to me,” he said, rocking back on his heels.
“Anything else I need to be aware of?” Lorenzo asked. “Any possible evidence that needs cleaning up? Or issues with cameras?”
“We both walked away from each encounter. Doubt the law, if it caught any of it, gives a fuck. I imagine the safe house door is broken, if he got in. And my gun is still there.”
“Don’t worry about the safe house,” Lorenzo said. “I will have someone in there to refresh everything.”
“That’s it then.”
“One more thing,” Lorenzo said.
“What’s that?”
“The big shipment…”
Shit.
I hadn’t even thought about that. It was supposed to be coming in soon. Though I was sure Steph was behind on placing orders, collecting donations, all that shit.
“I’ll figure it out,” I assured him. “Once I get Steph out of here, I’m sure that shit’s gonna be at the forefront of her mind.”
“You think she would be willing to take a bribe about it?” Lorenzo asked.
“Fuck no. But I bet she could be enticed to look the other way if you donate all that money to the charity.”
“Done,” Lorenzo said. “Just get it set up.”
“On it.”
“Glad you’re alright, man. None of us got any sleep last night.”
With that, they spoke amongst themselves, letting me go check on Steph.
Honestly, her feet were fucked. I’d never seen anything like it. That said, she was currently out of pain and under good care with Salvatore, so that made me feel better.
I wanted to get her home, comfortable, with a decent meal in her stomach. I knew there was gonna be a shit ton of talking and figuring everything out now that the threat was about to be neutralized.
“What’s up?” I asked as I came back out of the exam room to find Lorenzo and Emilio still standing there.
“We’re going to get going. But I just wanted to tell you so you know to look out for him, I’m gonna send you a guard until we find this fuck.”
“Don’t wanna pull anyone away from their Christmas shit.”
“It’s non-negotiable. Shouldn’t be longer than a day. Still got plenty of time for Christmas shit. Just wanted you to know to look for him.”
“Okay. Thanks, man.”
“Any time,” he said, clamping a hand on my shoulder then making his way toward the door.
“New phone,” Emilio said, passing me a box for a burner. “Just to hold you over. That’s my number on it. Once you text me, I will send you a list of everyone else you need to have for the time being. We’ll get your phone back as soon as possible.”