By doing so I drop my gun.
Fuck. I might die here. I might end up dead like those men, unable to get to the others to let them know we’re being screwed by a crooked cop.
I try to get my gun, but I can’t. A big guy jumps in front of me ready to take me out with his. I get up to try and fight with my fist but my fucking life flashes before my eyes when I hear that sound. Click-clack.
Shock blinds me with a flash of light and my mind conjures up and image of Lilly.
Not us in bed, but her in that crystal ball and that look in her eye. that pleading look, secretly calling out to me to save her.
Just like Amelia.
A bullet fires and I expect to feel the pierce of it in my head. I was shot in my leg once and that hurt like a bitch. This should kill me instantly, except the bullet never actually comes. My focus comes back to me and I’m shocked to shit when the guy in front of me drops in a heap. Ahead is Vincent with his guns raised. It was him who took out the guy.
Salvatore, Gabe, and Nick file in shooting anyone that moves.
I grab my gun and snap my gaze to one of the men who retreats through the roof. Adrenaline moves me and I go after him.
I get up the stairs lightning fast and see him running over the warehouse rooftop. I follow leaping, jumping, bounding forward like a wild animal. He’s too far ahead of me though. Much too far.
He trips and falls, making his balaclava shift over his face but since he can’t quite fix it, he pulls it off. I’m shocked to shit when I see I’m chasing the devil himself. Falcone!
Seeing him gives me strength to push faster, harder, fiercer.
“Motherfucker!” I shout after him. “I’ll get you.”
I shoot at him, but I miss. He’s still too far ahead of me.
He continues his escape and jumps across to the next building. I jump too when the time comes but what I don’t expect is for him to have an escape bike ready to help him get away.
He jumps on it and the moment he does I know I’ve lost the game. I shoot, doing the only thing I can, knowing it counts for shit because he has the upper hand.
He leaps off the roof and I’m left standing there with the gun in my hand.
Fuck. He fucking got away.
Falcone got away and he’s working with cops.
Shit.
Chapter Thirteen
Christian
I head back with Vincent and Salvatore to Giordanos Inc. While Gabe and Nick take the men on the street to continue the hunt.
It was Georgiou who sent them.
We took files from the warehouse that need to be looked over and I managed to download more files from the computers but the fact that we’ve gathered in Vincent’s office first is a tell that he’s going to wail on me.
“Sit your ass down Christian,” Vincent says giving me a hard stare.
I’m quick to be the defiant one when it comes to my father and Georgiou, but Vincent is a man I respect at the deepest level. Even when he’s getting ready to chew me out. So, when he tells me to do something I do it.
Grabbing the nearest chair, I lower to sit and focus on him.
He remains standing while Salvatore does his habitual thing by leaning against the wall with his foot pressed against it, head tilted to the side.
“Christian, you fucking know what you did right?” Vincent says.
I’ve done so many wrong things over the last few days that were always considered no nos. Today was just another wrong. It all boils down to going to enemy territory without the right amount of back up.
“Yeah,” I answer.
“Great. Glad you know. So, tell me why the fuck it took Georgiou’s phone call asking me to watch your back, and another from Tony alerting me that shit was going down at the warehouse? Why was there no call from you?” A line etches at the edge of his jaw and the hardness in his face looks more pronounced the longer he stares.
I look from him to Salvatore and see they both share the same expression. They both know what could have gone down today and that my end nearly came once again. They already lost Frankie, and everybody has been on high alert since. I would be no different to them. I’m their cousin, but they treat me the same as a brother. That’s why I’ve always been close to them. That’s why I’m gonna be real with them now.
“I wanted to sort it out myself. Me and my guys. I didn’t want to involve you. The shit that’s happened is my fault and I don’t want the reason for losing business from clients who have trusted us for decades,” I answer. That’s the honest truth.
“Christian, I’m glad you wanted to take matters into your own hands to fix the shit, but I’m fairly certain I told you to contact me at the first sign of trouble. At no time did I tell you to go into enemy territory guns blazing. I never told you to put your fucking life on the line,” Vincent snarls.
“No, you didn’t, but… my father did,” I say. I didn’t actually mean to say that and show any form of weakness.
Weakness is not a work associated with Christian Giordano.
I hate weakness of any kind and I hate accepting that my father actually got to me. Truth be told his words cut me deep. They actually did. I won’t lie, I haven’t been thinking straight since.
Vincent’s face softens and he glances at Salvatore who looks enraged. Both know what my father can be like. In one sentence they know he’s not like theirs. Their father was one ruthless boss, but he valued his each of his sons. Not one of them have ever come to me and said shit about him.
Vincent runs a hand over his graying temples and sighs.
“Christian, you can’t allow your father to get to you,” he says.
I straighten up in the chair and give him a small smile. Not of humor.
“It’s okay. I’m not looking for sympathy. I know how things work and I should have called you. I just wanted to see if I could have a handle on the problem. clearly I couldn’t.”
“You listen to me.” Vincent points at me. “Your father is not in charge of the business. I am. I say what goes and if people don’t like it, they can go fuck themselves. I don’t give a fuck who it is, my thoughts are the fucking same. When we’re dealing with a bastard like Falcone it’s all hands-on deck because we know it’s not just him in the mix. I never expected you to take him on yourself. It’s not that you didn’t have a handle on it, the problem is it’s not something you can do by yourself or even with your guys.”
I nod understanding. “I get it, and thanks. Thanks for coming.”
And thanks to Georgiou for sending them.
“Don’t thank me for that. We have to figure out what we’re gonna do next.”
“I’ll look through the files maybe I’ll get a name or a lead on the cop, and the location of the transit.”
“I’ll help you with that,” Salvatore offers, and I nod. “It’s good to know the guns are still in Chicago and they’re not moving for a few weeks. That gives us time to locate them.”
“Yes,” Vincent agrees. “We need to find out where Falcone is keeping them. But I want cop too.”
I think for a moment and an idea comes to me they probably won’t like.
“What if we start with the cop. The police,” I say. saying the words don’t feel quite real. I try to avoid cops like the plague because I’m always doing serious illegal shit with the money and paperwork that could land me behind bars “We don’t know where to find Falcone, or the guns but we know cops are involved and we know where to find cops. I think we need to start there.”