by Sarah Bailey
“Fuck,” I whispered.
Normally I would’ve berated the shit out of him for it, but just as having Ash in his life had set Rory on a different path, so had she done to me too. I always thought before I acted, it’s just now I thought before I reacted to things too. I didn’t go in all guns fucking blazing when it came to the delicate nature of our family unit. Our quintet.
I almost laughed. Was I growing soft? Maybe I knew I had to be a better person. To make up for all the shit I’d put Ash through. I hadn’t remotely been good to her in the beginning. Done a lot of shit I wasn’t proud of. Now I was going to do the two things in my power which would bring the horrific chapter of her life she’d lived through so far to a close. I would return her mother to her and give Ash the means to destroy the man who raised her. Who ruined all of our lives. I understood more than ever why it had to be her who wielded the axe, cutting off the head of the snake. Brought down by the one he raised to be his heir. Such poetic justice.
For now, I had to work out what to do with Carlo’s body. It’s not as if we hadn’t told Russo we’d kill his nephew if he didn’t comply with our demand he return Isabella to us. I’d planned to give him more time and cross that bridge if it came to it.
Think, Quinn, fucking think!
Shoving off the doorframe, I walked away knowing I needed to remain focused. Just because Carlo was dead didn’t mean I couldn’t use this to my advantage. We’d have to play this carefully. Very fucking carefully.
I reached the kitchen, finding Xav and Eric sat at the counter. They weren’t speaking, just staring down into their mugs.
“You two look fucking miserable.”
Eric raised his head.
“Where’s Rory?”
“Sleeping.”
Xav raised an eyebrow.
“And you didn’t wake him up?”
I shook my head as I walked further in and started making myself a coffee.
“What the fuck, Quinn? Shouldn’t you be going off on one right now?” Xav continued when I didn’t answer.
“What’s that going to achieve? Carlo is dead. We need to work out what we’re going to do with him rather than bickering amongst ourselves.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Eric lean into Xav.
“Has Quinn been replaced by an android? I feel like we’re in Blade Runner right now.”
“I’m beginning to think so.”
I rolled my eyes, pouring coffee into my mug before putting in a dash of milk. I took it over to the counter and sat down on one of the stools.
“I can be calm and reasonable when necessary.”
Both of them looked at each other before levelling their gazes back on me.
“Robot Quinn is in the house,” Xav replied. “Do I need to fix your CPU? I think it malfunctioned.”
“Fuck off, Xav.”
He clapped his hands together.
“Phew, I was beginning to think I’d have to reprogram you.”
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered, rubbing my face.
Xav really did not have an off switch.
“Quinn’s right,” Eric said. “We do need to work out what to do with the body… maybe we should wait for Rory and Ash to get up though.”
I’d completely forgotten about what her reaction could be to this.
Well, fuck.
“We might as well use it to our advantage now he’s dead.” Xav waved his hand around. “It’d be a hell of a way to get Russo’s attention.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“His nephew turns up dead. He’ll know we did it after yesterday’s video. Gianni will be livid no doubt. All hell breaks loose in the Russo compound… Perfect time for us to strike and take him down.”
“Did you forget Rory can’t fucking hold a gun right now?” I interjected.
Xav rolled his eyes.
“He’s more than proven he can kill a man without a gun, Quinn. He suffocated Carlo with his wrist in a fucking splint.”
I didn’t want to think too hard about how Rory had done it. It was very clear it’d been carried out with brutal efficiency since there didn’t seem to be signs of a struggle on Carlo’s part. Rory had always been dark as fuck in the recesses of his mind, so for him to carry this out without batting an eyelid? Yeah, it didn’t fucking surprise me in the slightest.
“Xav has a point,” Eric said before taking a sip of coffee.
“Okay, so we dump Carlo’s body for Russo to find. Then what? We storm his compound? I don’t think so.”
“We infiltrate his compound, storming it will get us killed,” came a feminine voice from behind us.
Xav, Eric and I all turned and found Ash and Rory standing the doorway, their fingers entwined. Rory didn’t look remotely perturbed or ruffled. So he didn’t regret what he’d done.
Fucking typical.
“Well, that would be great if we knew how to get in without setting off any alarms.”
Ash pulled Rory further into the room, determination written all over her face.
“Did you conveniently forget you have a secret weapon?” She pointed at her chest. “I grew up in that place. I can draw you a layout, give you the locations of all the cameras and where he places his security. I can even give you the guard rotations if he hasn’t changed them.”
“Why didn’t you tell us before, little girl?”
She put her hand on her hip.
“Did you even think to ask me? I gave you the information you might need to take him down, but this is different. What you’re proposing is not only dangerous, it’s pretty much a suicide mission.”
“Ride or die, right, angel?” Xav said with a huge grin on his face.
She gave him a nod and a smile.
“Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?” Eric interjected before Ash could reply.
We all turned to Rory except for Ash, who was still clutching his hand tightly and watching Xav.
“I did what I had to,” he said as if it was a valid explanation.
“I’m going to need more than that,” I said, trying not to raise my voice, knowing it wouldn’t help matters.
Ash looked between us before realisation dawned on her face. She glanced up at Rory before returning her gaze to me.
“He did it to protect me.”
“Hold on, you know what he did?”
“Yes.”
“You seem very calm about it.”
Ash flicked her hair back over her shoulder with her free hand.
“Carlo deserved it… Now, can we move on and decide our next moves?”
I stared at her like she’d grown an extra head. Ash might have grown up in this world but she seemed more than a little traumatised by Russo killing people in front of her. Yet, Rory had killed the man she’d thought was her cousin her entire life for her and here she was acting like it meant nothing.
“We need to get rid of the body,” Rory said, glancing at her.
“Xav’s suggestion is to leave it somewhere Russo can find it,” Eric said. “To send a message we aren’t going to be fucked with.”
Ash looked thoughtful for a moment.
“Oh, that’s easy… leave it in Gianni’s family restaurant. Then he’s guaranteed to have a huge go at Frank. If you want to spread chaos in the ranks, that’s how.”
“Our girl is proving to be quite the strategist,” Xav grinned, waving a hand at her.
She shrugged, pulling Rory over to the stools and making him sit down, then she walked over to the kettle and started on making tea.
“You have Frank to thank for that,” she muttered, pulling mugs out of the cupboard.
She’d proven she knew more than she originally let on, showing Frank had groomed her to become the head of the Russo family. Ash may not be Russo blood, but she’d been raised in the kingdom of corruption and greed. The one which dealt in death and destruction. She knew what was expected and how to play t
he game.
“It has to be tonight, he will start decomposing and it’s going to reek.”
I shook myself.
“Okay so we leave Carlo for Gianni to find, but we need a plan to get his body to the restaurant and not get caught.”
“There’s an alley out back you can drive the car in. I’m sure Xav can trip out the security cameras. Dump him in the walk-in freezer in the kitchen and that gets rid of the serious decomposing problem.”
“Should we leave a note?”
“No, when Gianni goes to Frank, he’ll know it was us. You should expect some kind of retaliation. I doubt he’ll do anything to my mother, but he will do something to send a message. Are your people safe?”
Frank had already tried coming after us in the casino by sending Mac, who was now dead. His body had turned up in one of the canals. Police were investigating it as a serious crime related murder, but they had very little to go on. Colm Moran had done his job well. He’d taken over the gang swiftly and efficiently. As much as I thought he was a cunt, he’d become a useful ally in this war. We’d cut ties with the criminal underground the moment Frank died.
“Yes, or as safe as they can be right now.”
She nodded slowly, pouring the now boiled water into mugs for her and Rory.
“Okay, then we need to strike against him. We can’t wait too long or we’ll lose our advantage. I’m all for infiltrating his compound, but it won’t be easy. We’ll have to be coordinated.” She turned and eyed us steadily. “Two primary objectives. We find my mother and we kill Frank. When we’ve had breakfast, I’ll draw up everything for you, then we can plan. Any objections?”
No one said a word.
“Good… now let’s not talk about murder over breakfast again. Makes me lose my appetite, you know.”
The way she’d so casually addressed this like it was an everyday occurrence where we planned to dump a body and then murder the man she thought was her father made me very aware of the ruthless streak she possessed. It shouldn’t make me love her more, but it did.
A thrill of excitement ran through me. The end of this war drew closer. We were almost there. I could feel it. Fucking taste it. After this, we’d be free from his fucking legacy. His tyranny. We’d have finally exacted revenge for everything his empire had done to our families. If we could pull this off, it’d be a fucking miracle.
Ash was right. This was a suicide mission. It was us or him. Either we came back alive and Frank drowned in his own blood or none of us lived to see the next day. If I had to go out, it’d be with my family and the woman I loved.
For once in his life, Xav had made a very accurate statement.
It really was ride or die.
And I intended to ride all the way into this war, guns blazing, and destroy everything Russo stood for.
Chapter 25
I pulled up the car just inside the back alley. The three of us got out and walked around to the boot. Quinn opened it, wrinkling his nose in disgust. Right now, I was glad Ash had suggested leaving Carlo in the freezer since he was beginning to smell. I wanted to get this over with quickly so we could get back to the house and go to bed.
“This is worse than when we offed Rory’s family… just saying,” Xav complained as the three of us pulled gloves on.
“Really?” Quinn replied, frowning.
“At least they were fresh bodies and didn’t stink to high fucking hell.”
The smell was getting to me as well. I’d never been a fan of being around dead bodies, nor did I want reminders of the night when we’d done unspeakable things either. As fucked up as it had been, it gave Rory a sense of justice which he sorely needed after everything he’d been through.
“Come on, we need to get this done.”
We’d wrapped Carlo in a sheet and some plastic after scrubbing any evidence of our involvement thoroughly from his skin. In case the Russos went to the police. We doubted they would, but you couldn’t take any chances. We didn’t need that on top of the shit we were already dealing with.
All of us glanced around, making sure no one was in the alley or walking by. Xav and Quinn hauled Carlo’s body out of the back and I shut the boot. They grunted as they carried him over to the back door of the restaurant. I set to work picking the lock. Before opening the door, I tugged out the little piece of paper Ash had given me, checking the numbers. She’d explained the layout of the restaurant in detail so we could get in and out without too much trouble.
I opened the door and the sound of the alarm tripping blared. Walking to the right, I opened a cupboard and found the security panel. Bashing in the numbers, the alarm stopped. I grinned. Our girl had come through for us.
Quinn and Xav hauled Carlo in. We walked down the corridor together until we came to the kitchen. The place was eerily silent. It was the dead of night, so hardly surprising, but it made me uneasy all the same. I walked over to the walk-in fridges and freezers, opening the left-hand one like Ash had told us to. A chill seeped out of the door, the air thick with a frosty vapour. Xav and Quinn carried the body in, dumping it on the floor right in front of the door.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Xav said, his expression grim.
“You have to wipe the security footage first,” I replied with a shrug.
We shut the door of the freezer. Quinn looked around, his eyes dark and expression concerned.
“Something about this doesn’t feel right.”
“This is the right place, Ash wouldn’t have led us wrong.”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“It’s not that. I just don’t like this… there’s something off about this place.”
I didn’t know how to explain it, but I agreed with Quinn. Something felt wrong. An air of death surrounded us and it wasn’t because we’d dumped Carlo’s body in the freezer.
“What are you suggesting? You want look around?” Xav asked.
Quinn pointed at a door with a padlock on it on the other side of the room.
“No, I’m suggesting we open that.”
Xav stared at the padlocked door for a moment and then back at Quinn.
“We should not be getting involved in whatever shit Gianni’s got going on here, Quinn. We came to leave Carlo’s body and that’s it.”
I didn’t know whether to agree with Xav or Quinn. Curiosity plagued me. I wanted to know what was behind the locked door and I think Quinn did too. It would be the only way we’d find out why there was such a stench in this place. As if it was seeping out of its pores and permeating the air.
“I can’t leave without looking.”
I shrugged helplessly.
“Yeah, sorry, Xavi, but neither can I.”
Xav huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. I didn’t blame him for not wanting to go in there. We were all on edge at the moment. Anything could happen in this battle against Russo.
“Fine, but it’s on your fucking heads.”
Quinn stalked towards the door like a lion prowling in the bush. He fingered the padlock.
“You reckon you can pick this?”
I followed him over and looked at it. Should be relatively simple. I squatted down and pulled out my kit again.
“Ash never mentioned this room,” Xav said.
“She only told us the relevant details we needed to dump the body,” Quinn replied. “Did you expect her to give us everything when we didn’t need it?”
“Well no… but you’d think she’d have noticed a padlocked room if she’s been here as much as she says she has. I mean, shit, she knows the fucking alarm code.”
I had to turn the pick a little more and we should be in. These two needed to shut up though, I was trying to concentrate.
“What are you accusing her of?”
“Nothing! I’m just saying.”
“Did you think maybe this wasn’t locked when she’s been here before?”
I looked over to find Xav’s expression
a little contrite and Quinn rolling his eyes. The lock clicked and I tugged it off the door.
“Fine, you have a point.”
“We can ask her when we get home, okay?”
“And wake her up at this time? Yeah, I’m out. Our girl needs her sleep.”
I rose to my full height and dropped the padlock on the counter next to the door. Taking a breath, I pushed it open. The smell immediately assaulted my nose. I raised my arm to my face, covering it. It was like death and rot all rolled into one. I had a hard time not throwing up.
“Jesus Christ,” I choked out.
“What the fuck?” Xav said, pulling his jumper up to cover his mouth and nose.
Quinn looked like he wanted to be sick too, covering his nose with his arm like me.
“Are you sure you want to go in there?”
“Yes,” Quinn ground out. “We need to know.”
Now I was thoroughly regretting agreeing with Quinn, but there was no going back now. I stepped in, searching for the light switch. The lights flickered on when I found it. It seemed to be some kind of pantry or storage room with shelves upon shelves of stacked goods.
“Stay here,” Quinn said to Xav. “Someone has to keep watch.”
I glanced back, finding Quinn walking in and Xav pulling out a gun, taking a stand right in front of the door. Quinn and I looked at each other before he gave me a nod and we ventured further in. I walked down one side of the shelves on the right and he took the left path. The closer I got to the end, the worse the smell got.
“Fuck me, this is the worst thing I’ve ever smelt in my life.”
“You’re fucking telling me,” I heard Quinn call back.
I stopped dead when I got to the end of the shelving unit. Bile rose up in the back of my throat. I pressed my arm harder against my nose and mouth, wanting to back away but knowing I couldn’t.
“Uh, Quinn…”
A huge pile of rotting animal carcasses sat in the middle of the floor. It explained the smell but not the padlock. I noticed something beyond them a moment later. A hook was suspended from the ceiling and a man was strung up by his hands, his feet just about touching the floor. There was blood all over him so I couldn’t make out who it was.