Everyone else is hidden by the trees, and I’m having trouble getting a lock on any of them. One of Rinaldo’s people goes down, and I try to aim at the one who took him out. It takes two shots, but he drops as well.
There’s yelling coming from behind me, where Rinaldo and the trucks are, but I don’t have time to turn and look. Another shot, another body. They’re getting closer, and Rinaldo’s last man on that side drops to the ground, screaming. I can’t get another shot off until after someone comes up close and pops him in the head.
They’re now racing through the trees, and I can’t aim properly with them moving so fast. I take a couple of shots, but they don’t find their marks. I’ve only managed to take out four of the nine so far, and there is currently no one else between them and Rinaldo.
“Get your asses over there!” I yell into the radio.
Automatic rifle fire erupts behind me. I look away from the scope long enough to see everyone scrambling behind the trucks. From the back side of the building, three SUVs have pulled around.
I quickly change my angle and start shooting at the vehicles. I take out the driver of one car, and it skids before sliding into a parked truck. The other two keep coming.
“Rinaldo’s hit!”
I have no idea whose voice comes through the radio. As soon as I hear the words, I desert both my post and my Barrett. I only climb half way down the ladder before dropping to the ground, handgun out and heading toward the trucks.
A group of men jump out of the SUV closest to me. I raise my gun and fire four times. Four bodies drop to the ground. The driver tries to turn the vehicle around, but I get him through the window, and the SUV rolls until it hits one of the guys on the ground.
Paulie and Beni are firing rapidly as one of Rinaldo’s other guards drops to the ground, blood seeping from his chest. From the side of the lot nearest the river, shots are still being fired as well. I ignore them all and race to Rinaldo’s side.
The asphalt digs into my knees when I drop down next to him. There’s blood on the ground nearby, but I can’t tell for sure where it’s coming from. Rinaldo’s face is pale, and his eyes are blank, but I can see his chest rising and falling.
“Rinaldo!”
He blinks and looks at me.
“I…I think I’m all right.”
I grasp his arm and roll him slightly. Blood is pooling near his hip, and I can see a gash in his pants where the bullet tore through, but as I tear more of the fabric away, I can see the wound is serious. It’s near the artery, and he’s losing blood fast.
“Your leg’s hit,” I inform him, trying to keep my voice calm as I tear off my belt and wrap it around the top of his leg as a tourniquet. “Any pain anywhere else?”
“My gut.”
With the bleeding in his leg slowing, I unzip his coat and look him over carefully. Two bullets are buried in the material of his Kevlar vest, but there’s no blood around his torso.
A few more shots ring in my ears. Paulie is beside me a moment later.
“That’s the lot of them.”
“Don’t guess,” I say without looking up. “Sweep around the outside of the area. Don’t go alone. Everyone in at least pairs. Becca!”
“I’m here!”
“Get whoever isn’t hit to load that truck. Get it out of here, and make sure you aren’t followed. Take a long route, and stick to the speed limit.”
“Got it!”
“Where’s Jonathan?”
“He got called away,” Beni informs me.
“You hit?” I ask.
“No.”
“Help me move him. We need to get him to that hospital.”
“We don’t have anyone on the payroll there.”
“It doesn’t fucking matter!” My hands are starting to shake from the adrenaline rush, and I’m having trouble controlling my voice. “He’s losing blood, and there’s no time. Paulie! Call Franklyn and have him meet us there.”
Paulie pulls out his phone, and Beni helps me move Rinaldo into the back of his car.
“How are you doing, boss?” I ask as I settle his head on my balled-up jacket.
“I’m fine!” He’s breathing too heavily to be convincing, but I let it go. “What about the guns?”
“Becca’s getting the truck out of here now,” I tell him. “You just hang in there, you got it? We’re heading to the hospital.”
“No hospital.”
“Not arguing about this one, sir.”
“No hospital!” He starts to cough, and I lift his head to keep him from choking.
“Beni, get moving!” I yell up to the driver’s seat.
“Where am I going?” He looks back nervously.
“The hospital.”
“But-”
“Get to the fucking hospital!” I’m covered in blood, and it’s still flowing freely. I tighten the tourniquet as much as I think is safe and tell Beni to move again. Rinaldo’s glaring at me, but he can’t seem to get any words out.
“Sorry, sir. No choice.”
He closes his eyes and nods once before passing out.
“Fucking hurry!” I yell to Beni. My heart is hammering as I check Rinaldo’s pulse. It’s there but it’s weak, and his breathing is shallow.
I swallow hard as I think about the first time we met. Jonathan had brought me to Chicago for a business venture, as he called it. We met at a shooting range, and Rinaldo had been so impressed with my accuracy, he talked about it for a full hour over dinner at the nicest restaurant I’d ever seen. He’d taken me back to his office that night and offered me the job.
He knew my background. He seemed to know everything about me. I didn’t know at the time Jonathan had done the research for Rinaldo, but he knew more than I expected him to know. He didn’t just know about it. He understood.
It was as if he crawled inside my head and knew everything I needed to hear. He set me up in an apartment, checked up on me, and invited me to his house for dinner. He introduced me to his wife and daughter and treated me as if I were one of his own. I didn’t even care how much he was going to pay me for the job; I just wanted to do well for him.
I wanted to make him proud of me.
As I look to his pale face, I’m reminded of Odin and how I held him as he died from a gunshot wound he had suffered trying to protect Lia. The same tightness fills my chest and gut now, and a wave of nausea blackens my vision.
If Rinaldo dies, I’m going to lose my mind.
I really can’t let that happen.
Chapter 11—Unsettling Complications
Beni is talking to the police, who were called as soon as Rinaldo’s injury was determined to be a gunshot wound. I can hear him going over the details of the “accident” at a nearby shooting range, and I try to commit as much to memory as possible in case I’m questioned. I recognize one of the police officers as someone on Rinaldo’s payroll, but I can’t recall his name. Hopefully, he’ll get any investigation shut down quickly.
I don’t need anything else on my mind—Rinaldo’s condition is enough.
He’d lost a lot of blood. A good amount of it was soaked through my jeans.
Jonathan shows up with a plastic bag from Old Navy in his hand. There are a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt inside.
“I wasn’t sure about your size, brotha,” he says, “so I guessed. Figured it’s better than what ya got. I got your rifle in the back of my truck.”
“Thanks.” I change in the restroom. By the time I get back to the waiting area, Gabriella Moretti is there along with Nick and Lucia. Lele is wringing her hands and wiping at her eyes as she hears what the doctor has to say. He pats her arm before walking back behind the closed doors.
“Lele,” I say quietly as I take her hand. She leans close and kisses my cheek. “I’m sorry—I wasn’t close enough to him. I didn’t see the—”
“Hush, Evan.” She places her hand on my cheek. “I don’t blame you.”
“The doc said he’s stable now,” Jonathan tells m
e. “You got him here just in time. If he’d lost any more blood…”
He lets his voice trail off, but it’s enough for Lele’s face to go pale. Lucia hugs her tight as Nick stands off to the side and shuffles his feet. His brow is furrowed as he stares at the floor.
It must be odd for him to be around Rinaldo’s wife, knowing his own mother was nothing more than Rinaldo’s weekend hookup. Lele never talked about Nick—never acknowledged him as family—but who could blame her for that?
Lucia approaches me, takes my hand, and leads me away from the group.
“What happened?” Her eyes are bloodshot, and she grasps my hand tightly.
“Someone knew exactly where we were going to be and when,” I tell her. “No doubt about it.”
“Someone inside?”
“Has to be.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know yet.” I take her chin in my hand and tilt her head up to look at me. “I will find out.”
Lucia nods before reaching up to wrap her arms around my neck. The warmth of her body against mine is unfamiliar, and as she presses against me, I feel my body begin to react to her closeness. I reach up and bring her hands back to her sides.
“I’m going to take care of it.”
She acknowledges my promise with another nod.
The emergency room doors open, and additional members of Rinaldo’s crew walk in. Becca is with them, so I presume the shipment has been delivered to our warehouse up north. I make eye contact with Paulie, who gives me a big smile as he approaches.
Without a though, I pull back and punch him in the face. The guy is as close to a solid brick as he can be, and I might have actually cracked a knuckle, but I don’t care. He flies back, but gains his balance before falling. I grab hold of his shoulders and throw him against the wall, pinning him there with all my weight and fury.
“You ever flip me off again, and I’ll put your severed head on Rinaldo’s desk.” I punch his gut, just to emphasize my point. “You need to figure out just who the fuck you’re dealing with, capisce? You do what I tell you to do when I tell you to do it. You don’t like what I have to say, you keep your fucking mouth shut and do it anyway.”
I let him go, and he slumps down to the floor, stunned. Beni moves to help him up when I walk away. Lucia is staring at me, and Lele is pretending she didn’t see anything happen.
“What was that all about?” Jonathan uses an unlit cigarette to point to Paulie.
“Disrespect,” I reply dryly as Jonathan and I find some seats in the waiting room, away from the group. “Where the hell did you go, anyway?”
“Wild goose chase, apparently. One of the alarms went off at the northeast warehouse, but there wasn’t any sign of anyone around. Everything that should be there is there. Probably just the cold or something. I got one of the electricians checkin’ it out. Timing sucked. With the new system, I shoulda been able to detect the approach of the vans sooner.”
I don’t believe in coincidences, and this is no exception. An alarm doesn’t decide to randomly go off while we’re all engaged in a big shipment of guns. Someone triggered the alarm in order to pull Jonathan away and leave Rinaldo vulnerable, but who?
“Who sent you away?”
“Rinaldo told me to check it out. Not sure who told him, but he was talking to Beni and going over Becca’s lists right before then.”
I should have trusted my instincts. I knew something wasn’t right, and I’d let Rinaldo ignore my warnings. I should have been more forceful about my position. Despite what Lele says, this is my fault.
He relied on me to protect him, and I’d failed.
The doctor comes back out and gives Lucia and Lele another update. I watch their expressions of relief and don’t need to hear the actual words of reassurance. He is out of the woods, as doctors always say. Now it will be a matter of recovery.
What if he doesn’t walk again?
I’d seen plenty of leg wounds in the war. I’d also seen plenty of guys lose their limbs. Rinaldo must not be in danger of amputation, or Lele wouldn’t look so pleased with the doctor’s words, but he could still have some permanent damage.
Lucia walks over to the main group, and most of them file out the door. Nick stays behind for a moment, but after he and Lucia exchange words, he storms out in a huff. I watch Lele glance at him as he leaves, then turn back to her daughter.
Jonathan heads out for a smoke, and Lele comes over to where I’m sitting.
“There’s no reason for you to stick around, Evan dear,” Lele says. “They say Naldo will be out of it for a while. You should go home and get some rest.”
I barely keep myself from laughing. I won’t be getting any sleep tonight—that is for sure. There’s no way in hell I’m leaving until I’ve seen Rinaldo for myself.
“I’m staying.” She must hear the resolve in my voice because she doesn’t press me any further. Even after I hear Lucia explain that the bullet had gone clear through, and Rinaldo was expected to make a full recovery, I refuse to budge.
Sometime around two in the morning, the doctor comes out and says the family can go into Rinaldo’s room. Without batting an eye, Lele informs the doctor that I am their son, and I’m allowed back in the room along with Lele and Lucia.
Though Nick had returned after his snit, he remains off to the side, staring at the ground. No one asks him to join us.
Rinaldo’s hooked up to all the usual equipment, and there’s a soft beeping sound that makes me tense. His eyes are open, but they have that glazed look only morphine can give.
I stand back, and Lele and Lucia fret over him. A sheet is pulled up to Rinaldo’s chest, so I can’t actually see his leg, but I can tell it’s in a normal, straight position. All the vital signs displayed on the monitor look normal, too.
After Lele finally releases Rinaldo’s hand and wipes her eyes, she balks when he tells her and Lucia that he needs to speak with me. He gives her a disapproving look, and Lele sighs audibly but doesn’t protest any further. She holds Lucia’s hand as they walk out of the room.
I don’t ask him how he’s feeling.
“Who did this, Evan? Stark? Taylor?”
“I don’t know, sir,” I say, “but I’m going to find out.”
“I should have listened to you. You were saying from the beginning that the location wasn’t safe. I thought that bloodbath you orchestrated in Auburn Grisham was enough to keep anyone away.”
“Could it be someone else from Seattle?” I ask.
“Not from what I hear.” Rinaldo shakes his head slowly. “They’re still arguing with each other over who’s in charge now. It’s chaos.”
“Maybe someone trying to prove they can lead?”
He looks thoughtful for a moment.
“Possibly.”
“I’ll check on it.”
“Check everything. Check everyone. The doctors want me to take it easy for a couple of days. Franklyn’s going to get me transferred to a hospital where he has more privileges.”
I nod. The move to a hospital of our choice will keep him closer to business, and we have people there who can watch out for him. Franklyn has been on Rinaldo’s payroll since before I started, and he is as trustworthy as anyone right now, but I still don’t want to take any chances.
“Someone needs to stay at your side.”
“After I’m transferred, that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“I’ll make sure Paulie sticks around here until you are. I’ll swap out with him after twelve hours if they haven’t moved you yet.”
“Evan...” Rinaldo reaches out and grabs my forearm.
“Yes, sir?”
“You have to find Felisa for me,” Rinaldo says. “With all of this, I’m really worried now.”
“Shouldn’t I focus on what happened today?”
“They may be connected.”
The look in his eye corresponds to a pang in my chest. I don’t regret my actions, but I don’t like seeing him like this, especially not in a
hospital bed. I nod slowly.
“I’ll talk to Jonathan and start right away.”
“The chip coordinates are on my laptop. Start there.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Find Felisa and find out who is responsible for this.”
“I will, sir.”
“And Evan?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Watch Lele for me, too. She’s worried sick, and I don’t need her freaking out on me. Her usual security will be around her, but I want your eyes, too. Just check up on her until I get home. Reassure her. Protect her, too. If someone went after Felisa to get to me, Lele could be next.”
“I’ll do that.”
I close the door softly before turning on my heel and marching down the hall.
“We have a job to do,” I say to Jonathan as soon as I walk up. “Felisa is missing, and Rinaldo thinks whoever set us up might be involved. He said you had a tracking app or something?”
“The GPS chips? Yeah.”
“He said the coordinates or whatever are on his laptop.”
“They’re on my phone, too.”
“Of course they are.” I roll my eyes. “Let’s get going.”
“Evan?” Nick walks over and licks his lips as he addresses me. “How is he doing?”
“He’ll be all right. He’s worried about Felisa.”
“Why?”
“She’s missing,” I tell him. “Jonathan and I are going to go look for her.”
“Got her chip info?” Nick asks.
“Does everyone know about these chips but me?” I stare at Jonathan, but he just shrugs. I shake my head and rub at my neck. I wish Alina were here to rub it for me. Something about her touch calms me down.
I wonder if she realizes that.
“Let’s go,” I say to Jonathan.
“Can I come with you?” Nick asks. “No one really wants me around here anyway, ya know? I’d feel like I was doing something at least, right?”
I resist rolling my eyes at Nick’s way of emphasizing certain words for no apparent reason. Sometimes it amuses me, but I’m on edge now after seeing Rinaldo and contemplating the task he’s given me.
“Okay by me.” Jonathan watches my eyes to see if I object, but I can’t think of any reason, so the three of us head to Jonathan’s truck.