“Why do you say that?”
“Think about. When we were taken, we weren’t taken to the normal places. We were put into holding cells. No one spoke, Tino. Not one word was spoken and when they were, they were American. No accents.”
“And the mafia would use disposable people,” he adds as I nod.
“But why? Why use disposable people? If you’re a boss, you don’t do that. You want your people on it. You want to be insured that the issue was taken care of, right?” He nods his head, the wheels slowly spinning in his mind.
“So maybe it wasn’t a boss,” he adds.
“Exactly but it was someone close enough to know things. It was someone that had to be at the top or very close to it.”
“A soldier wouldn’t have that kind of access.”
“Not all of them, no. So either someone stole that access or there is more to this,” I add. Tino blows out a breath and pulls his gaze to meet mine.
“How’d you get so smart, Tessa? You were given shit to start with and you are the smartest person I know.”
“Street smarts, my friend. I learned well. The point is, there is too much to this to try and figure out without finding that rat bastard. He didn’t fall of the face of the earth, he couldn’t have.”
“And you would know his voice and face anywhere.” As much as I hate to do it, I nod my head. Those three words have been burned into my memory along with the scars that cover half my torso. I will never forget the look in his eyes when he leaned over me as if I was trash. The way his eyes darkened as he took me in.
“You will die.” Three words that hold more meaning to me now than they did back then. He tried to ruin me, kill me. He didn’t succeed. He doesn’t know that. Yet here I am. Ready to take on the world to find that bastard. And his time is coming. I can feel it in my bones.
“Then let’s do this. Let’s go.” Looking up at Tino I nod my head.
“We’re going to Chicago.”
Chapter Eight
Enzo
“Stay low,” I order as we move through the back door of the building. Most Boss’s don’t entertain the idea of going in first. I do. I need that shot of adrenaline more than I need air. There’s something about danger that tempts me and makes me good at what I do. The guys move behind me, Switch to my left. The look in his eyes is feral. This is what Grave was talking about. The anger that man holds is what makes him a good soldier. I motion with my fingers letting the guys know to move.
Each step through here could be my last. We all know it going in but once we’re inside, it all falls away and the objective comes into play. There’s a feeling that you get in the pit of your stomach when you go into the unknown. It’s indescribable. The jolt, the rush, it all slips through your body and you excel at what you set out to do.
“Clear,” I hear Switch call out from one side. We keep moving.
“Clear,” comes from Hugo on the other. That leaves one door left. We move down the hallway and on my signal the door is kicked up. In the corner is a small woman and four children huddled together trembling in fear. Wide eyes meet mine as the woman takes in the men that storm the room.
“The fuck is this?” Switch asks pointing his gun in their direction. Clearly the man isn’t good with women and children seeing how they are a sobbing mess with his gun aimed at them.
“Lower your weapon,” I say softly keeping my eyes on the family. Switch huffs and shoves the gun into the back of his jeans before turning and walking back out of the room.
“That one is a little unstable,” Hugo informs me as if I didn’t already know that.
“Yes, I’m aware.” Turning my attention to the woman, I hold my hands up and step toward them.
“No one here is going to hurt you. Why are you here?” She pulls her children closer to her and watches me for any signs of betrayal before she opens her mouth to respond.
“He left us here.”
“Who left you here?”
“I don’t know who he was. He took my husband,” she cries, tears streaming down her cheeks. The children cry and sob to themselves. This isn’t going to get us anywhere. Crying women aren’t talkers.
“Gather them and take them to the safe house. Have the doctor check them over and once they are cleared, let me know,” I tell Hugo. He nods his head as I move closer.
“No one is going to hurt you. We’re going to take you and your children somewhere safe. Then I will need information, yes?” She looks at me, her head slowly moving side to side. I don’t like being told no and any other circumstances, I would lose myself but I know she has been traumatized enough as well as those children. “Listen to me as I will only say this once. I am not the bad guy at the moment. You are in my building and I want answers. Do you understand me? Don’t make me turn into something you may later regret.” Her eyes widen as she slowly begins to nod her head. She shoves herself off the floor and her children follow.
“This way,” Hugo says as he ushers them out of the room. I bring up the end of the small line when I see the smallest child hugging Switch’s leg. The poor child is clinging to him and Switch has no idea what to do. His eyes darken as he looks from the kid to her mom to me.
“I don’t do kids,” he says looking me in the eye.
“That’s pretty clear. Hugo,” I say. He nods and moves toward the little girl, lifting her in his arms as the mother stares horrified.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. Switch just shakes his head not saying a word. Clearly he isn’t a family man. I watch Hugo usher the family out the side door before blowing out a breath.
“Who knows this is your buildin’?” Switch asks lighting up a cigarette.
“Mostly everyone in Chicago. Which brings the question of why dump them here?” We got word that someone was using my empty building but that’s all we heard. I assembled a team to come check it out as soon as I knew.
“To piss you off? Send you a message?” I shrug.
“Perhaps. I have many enemies but why leave witnesses?” I ask looking around the small office space. I bought this space to house our lawyers, giving them a space that was all their own. We haven’t renovated it as of yet though.
“They wanted you to know they were around and had access to your shit,” Switch says casually. He’s right. That’s exactly what they wanted. I nod my head, slapping a hand on his shoulder as I walk out the side door. I see Hugo slap the top of the car letting the driver know he could leave before he turns back to me. He walks over as Switch comes to stand next to me. They eye each other, sizing the other up. Hugo is my best friend, always has been. He’s been by my side since we were kids but that doesn’t mean Switch isn’t going to be a huge player in our lives. I have a good feeling that he’s going to be very useful.
“If you two are done with this silent pissing match, we have work to do,” I warn them both.
“I don’t give two shits about him,” Switch growls.
“You should. The two of you will be working closely on things. Get used to each other.” With that I walk off hearing Hugo curse under his breath and Switch chuckle darkly. The two of them together should make things interesting.