“That’s the definition of a mole,” Salvatore murmured sarcastically.
“And who knows how much information he crossed over about us,” Vince continued as if the other man had never spoken but Salvatore got the point anyway from his statement. If Mario had been leaking information about them then they were all at risk.
“That was just one strike against Stephano,” he said, referencing the other man’s previous statement.
“You’re either dumb or blind,” Vince chuckled. “Either way, I’d have still given you too much credit,” he continued. “Stephano was at his ropes end and partying like there’s no tomorrow solidified that aspect in the leaders’ minds.”
“Even his father?” Sal probed.
“Ignacio is an anomaly in the ratio but eventually even he was worn down.”
“Hmmm,” Salvatore sounded as he relaxed against the door jam.
“Either way, we’re straying from the point here,” he muttered as he tilted the blade so the light would bounce off it just right in order for the intricate detailing to show. “We lost a lot of deals and money had to be paid quick plenty of times to keep most of us out of jail. This business is getting to be more of a noose than a golden path. It’s harder to trust the people you’re washing money for when you might end up washing yours away without realizing it,” he supplied.
Salvatore tilted his head in understanding.
“On the other hand, Miami is the floodgate to heaven and hell in any industry. Much like New York, dreams come alive here and this is where we can make the most money,” he informed.
“Because of the larger borders?” Sal asked.
“No; because of youth, greed and a large cultural diversity,” Vince stated with a flourish. “Miami lacks the age that knows enough about the business to survive it and thrive.”
“So, you’re here to do that?” he inquired, an edge in his voice.
“Now, now, Sally boy, don’t get angry with me,” he laughed. “I can’t help the Caesarian blood flowing through my veins. “Veni, Vidi, Vici”; “I came, I saw, I conquered”,” he proclaimed and Salvatore’s golden brown eyes flashed and for the first time Vince shrank from the power that he saw trapped within the other man, creating a more jagged cut on his thumb as his muscles tense. “It can all be yours too,” he offered.
Salvatore straightened and a sudden bored look came over his face. “That’s your territory, Vince. You can have all the glory,” he said barely concealing his mockery.
“You’d like what comes with it,” Vince chuckled.
“I’ll be good,” he muttered before his face sobered. “When are you going to tell Ignacio what Mario said though?” he questioned.
Vince dropped the chair back loudly to its four legs. “Ignacio has enough to deal with right now—”
“But someone claiming to be Stephano’s twin—”
“We both know that Stephano is dead,” Vince said firmly. “If there’s some idiot out there trying to triumph off of his name then that’s his folly,” Vince muttered, already bored.
“And if Mario didn’t just hear some bull story?” Salvatore demanded, his voice gaining steel.
Vince’s jaws flexed in annoyance. “I’ll look into it,” he gave grudgingly. “But I think it’s about time you go back to doing what you do best,” he grumbled. “Be second in command. I’ll tell Ignacio when I’m good and ready!” he snapped.
Salvatore clicked his tongue, choosing not to say what came to his mind and moved off, just as Vince’s blade lodged into the fleshy wall where he was leaned.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
“He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.”
—Emmanuel Kant
Three and a half weeks later…
Ignacio wiped the blood off his knife and onto his custom-made handkerchief, controlled fury in every movement. “It’s up to you, Johnny, whether you leave this room alive,” he stated casually before he hovered the blade over the gas burner.
“I’ve told you all that I know!” he breathed through his swollen, trembling lips. He knew that girl; he remembered her case becoming international and he knew that they’d declared her dead. But if a man like Ignacio was looking for her, it meant that she hadn’t gone willingly and she was trying to get away. A high ranking man like Wyatt Coleman also meant that this was an international issue. He regretted ever mentioning anything to that rat Mario. He should’ve known that a leopard never changes its spots. Now the rat was dead but he’d led death to his door.
He inhaled deeply, knowing that he had failed at his job once and he’d rather die before he told this devil who’d been with Captain Coleman.
Something must’ve shown on his face because Ignacio’s hand came back hard. A loud crack sounded as his nose shattered. Blood splashed onto his uniform shirt and his ire rose.
“I know that you’re holding something back, Johnny boy and I’ll move up the line until you spit it out,” he declared.
John swallowed the metallic blood that was running down the back of his throat as his wife bit her lip in the corner. Her lips unfolded before they started to move and he knew that she was praying silently. He closed his eyes briefly, wondering how far out his unit was. Being heavily into money laundering, Ignacio didn’t realize how advanced a street officer’s gear was now. John breathed calmly, trying to slow his pulse as he and his body camera took in the carnage the older man had created in his Livingroom. The family pets were down to Luna their nervous cat.
Mentally, he calculated how long it would take the older man to go through the small cat before the rest of the police got there. However, instead of snatching the cat, Ignacio grabbed his daughter holding the cat, from her mother’s arms. He and his wife screamed at the same time, neither realizing the pleasure they’d given him.
“I think I might just skip a step to wrap this up,” he murmured. “This is getting a bit boring.” He raised his hand from over the fire and the knife started to cool to a glowing red.
John’s heart pounded as his daughter’s lips trembled as she took in the rapidly cooling knife. He had to admit that Ignacio had been observant enough to realize that Molly would be their weakest point. Being born deaf, having her parents’ hands tied had cut off her main form of communication and that in itself was terrifying enough. The fact that Molly could also read lips had his stomach in knots because what Ignacio was saying was not something he’d ever wanted her to be a witness to. At this point, it was going to take a hell of a lot of therapy to get this out of her enough for her to sleep.
Tears gathered in the corners of his eyes as his little girl grunted loudly, fear splashed across her face as she took in Ignacio’s damage to her father’s features. She opened her mouth to speak but the words that she wanted to say couldn’t come.
“I love you,” he mouthed as she struggled to stay on her toe points so that Ignacio’s thick arm didn’t cut off her air supply.
She mouthed the words back and the other man’s forearm tightened to still her movements as he reheated the knife.
“Now would be your best bet,” Ignacio mocked as the knife glowed under the blue flames.
“What is it that you want from me?” he demanded and the other man accessed what was left of his family.
“It’s pretty simple,” Ignacio muttered. “Who was the guy that killed the gangbanger’s son?”
John was quick to answer. “Your son’s twin—” He sucked in a breathed as the man brought the knife up and Molly started thrashing.
“Stephano has no twin!” he snapped. “I made sure of that when I jutted his wench of a mother and took him from her womb.” Even though his words were sure, a flash of doubt still passed through his eyes and John reached forward to milk it but pulled back when a shutter came over the man’s eyes. He couldn’t play with his daughter’s life like that. “Now, tell me who it was!” he hissed as he pressed the hot blade against Molly’s
throat and the skin instantly peeled back, running from the heat as blood started the cooling process.
A guttural cry tore from his wife’s lips as she threw herself forward only to slam against his chair in agony. He flinched, bile rising up his throat as tears rolled down his daughter’s cheeks. She was still now because even she knew that putting up a struggle would end her life faster than just staying still. “Dammit, Ignacio; just leave her alone!” he snapped as the little girl clawed at the Italian’s thick forearm trying to keep her balance as her breathing grew labored.
Ignacio’s response was to pull the knife back and replace it over the flames, gore and all. The pungent odor of burnt blood filled the air and even Molly gagged.
“I don’t know who he was!” he shouted. “They kept calling him Captain Cole-something,” he supplied.
The deranged looked in Ignacio’s eyes cleared slightly. “Go on,” he encouraged.
“It was a case of mistaken identity and the woman with him got caught up in it all,” he breathed out heavily as his head started to spin as more blood ran down the back of his throat.
“What woman?” Ignacio questioned, seeking another angle to find out what this man wanted with Stephano.
“She had striking green eyes,” he breathed.
Ignacio’s eyes lit up as if he’d struck gold. “Brooke,” he murmured, almost to himself. “I knew that something wasn’t right. He has Brooke!”
John’s brows drew together in confusion but he had no time to even think of anything because suddenly someone ran into the room to inform the Italian that the cops were outside. But John didn’t hear much over the blood rushing in his ear as the older man pushed his daughter away and saluted him before walking away. Blackness claimed him as Ignacio’s handmade loafers disappeared.
∆∆∆
Swallowing nervously, Trent dialed the number because he knew what this all meant. Oliver had pulled him briefly to shadow the sheriff’s family and allowed a newbie to watch Ignacio. Then this happened. His eyes ran over the man hooked up to a myriad of wires, and sympathy flowed through him. He’d just been casually mentioning something he thought weird to a former partner and it had caused hell to be rained down on his life.
Trent had gone over the body camera footage twice and had spoken to the officer in length; he had seen John’s reluctance a thousandfold firsthand but he’d also seen Ignacio’s renewed interest when Raine had been mentioned. John had done his best to hold the information back, for as long as he could; a lesser man would’ve caved but even so, Ignacio had known immediately who he’d been talking about and he was now hell-bent on finding Wyatt and Raine in the process.
That meant that they were out of time and there was going to be more bloodshed until Ignacio was put down. The way he’d gone through the McKesson family had proven that he was more deranged than they’d anticipated and he will stop at nothing to avenge Stephano’s death. What Trent didn’t understand was why he didn’t realize that this hit came from within their organization and not without.
Raine was just the victim caught in the middle of all this mess. Why Ignacio was so obsessed with her he couldn’t fathom. It wasn’t Gabby whom he wanted because he hadn’t even asked about her. It was the mention of Raine that had sparked that mad look in his eyes- that look of hunger.
The phone didn’t even have the chance to ring before it was connected, despite the time of the morning. John’s attack happened over four hours ago but the rooky had failed to inform anyone promptly. The idiot hadn’t even called the cops once Ignacio had started his torture scheme. John had done that with the alert on his watch. He had his setting set to call emergency services if his blood pressure reached a particular level and that was just what it had done. He had managed not only to save himself but what was left of his family. But now Ignacio was hours ahead of them. No one knew if he’d gained any other information before Jake had caught up with him; at this point, only time would tell but Wyatt and Rain were no longer as safe as he’d have liked them to be.
It was an oddity that his team failed to consider all angles of those who would need protection but the McKesson’s family had been overlooked even though the information had been leaked from there. Trent made a mental note to address that with Oliver whenever they spoke and he knew that it had to be soon.
“Trent,” Wyatt murmured across the line sounding alert as if he’d been waiting for this call all night.
“Ignacio got John,” he murmured and his friend understood.
A low swear sounded over the line before he spoke again. “It’s time to move,” he stated frankly and Trent grunted an answer before he provided the details.
∆∆∆
Wyatt stroked her hair back as he hovered over her, concern filling her green eyes at the erect muscles in his posture. She knew that he was no longer as relaxed as he’d been only half an hour ago. Worry colored his navy eyes and her heart squeezed in response.
“He doesn’t seem to know who you are as yet but we don’t want to tip him off especially seeing that there’re only a couple of days left before Bass returns to the states.” He paused briefly as she shifted beneath him and fire flashed through his eyes. “So, we’ll pull a little closer to your father as the week winds down but we won’t enter New Hartford until I’m sure all parameters are checked with those who are around him,” he informed her.
“Ok,” she answered.
“We’ll consider what comes after; after you’re placed under federal protection.”
She stroked his arm and his words faltered. “I know,” she whispered. “Just as I know that we’ll be fine.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
“Is it normal for someone to be nervous about meeting their own parents? I know I was on both occasions.”
—C.A.G.E. Thompson
As the sun crested the horizon in New Hartford, it found Raine bent over a toilet bowl.
Wyatt held her hair back as she threw up in the toilet. “You should’ve eaten something yesterday, and you should eat something now,” he murmured.
At the very thought, her stomach heaved again and she shook her head.
“Raine it’s not like you haven’t met your parents before,” he whispered. “You can’t put so much stress on your body that you can’t even stomach food,” he continued, worried.
She threw up again and he rubbed her back gently, trying his best to ease her nervousness and discomfort.
“I know,” she groaned. “But it’s like meeting them for the first time,” she sighed. “I’m different; I’m a mother and I have you. When I left—”
“Got kidnapped,” he muttered bitterly.
“Yeah, that,” she whispered. “When that happened I was a senior in high school, thinking about what college I was about to attend. Boys and kids were the farthest things from my mind—”
“And Andy?” he probed as he helped her to her feet in order to rinse her mouth.
“Was my best friend who had a crush on me,” she answered. Her eyes met his in the mirror over the sink when his hand flexed on her spine. “What?” she asked, her brows pulling together as his eyes darkened.
“He was your first wasn’t he?” he said before chewing at his bottom lip.
“Wyatt,” she breathed at the hurt that stood strong in his eyes. “That wasn’t your fault,” she murmured, turning to face him.
“I know,” he whispered back but she could see the heartbreak in his eyes. “But I can’t help but feel as if I could’ve done something.”
She cupped his face between her soft palms, smoothing away some of his hurt with the tender strokes of her thumbs. “It is for a good reason why he was taken and you weren’t,” she started. “You would be dead right now and where would I be?” she questioned.
Something sharp and cold flashed through his eyes at the thought of the roles being reversed before he leaned his forehead against hers. “I would’ve been a better husband,” he stated strongly. “But you’re right; it’s for a reason why I�
�m here now.”
“And thank you for being here,” she said softly.
“Thank my parents and my boss—”
“Oliver couldn’t have forced you to do anything that you didn’t want to,” she pointed out and he bit his lip again instead of giving her the right.
“We’ll argue about that later,” he chuckled. “We have somewhere to go; after you eat,” he said firmly.
Her face paled a bit at the mentioned of food but she sighed and turned back to the sink just as Gabby knocked on the bathroom door.
“Daddy, it’s time for breakfast!” she shouted from the other side and he grinned at Raine in the large mirror.
“Right on time.”
∆∆∆
“Turn right here,” she murmured and he followed her instruction.
“You remember every street,” he marveled as the farmhouse came into view beyond the tall trees which lined the driveway.
“Yeah,” she answered, her voice getting tighter and tighter the closer they got.
Slowly, he reached out to touch her and she jumped as he pulled around the circular driveway. “Breathe,” he suggested as he brought the car to a stop.
“I’m trying,” she sobbed.
He turned to her and stroked away the tears on her cheek. “I’ll be with you here,” he started, touched the button on the top of her blouse. “And here,” he continued, tapping on her temple.
“I know; I just wish—”
“I know that you want me there.”
“But you can’t be,” she grumbled.
“Not yet,” he confirmed, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear.
She sighed heavily before looking towards the exit.
Gently, he turned her eyes on him. “You’ll do great,” he encouraged. “As long as you don’t throw up on them,” he teased and she punched him playfully on his arm.
He chuckled before tilting down and claiming her lips thoroughly. “I love you,” he reaffirmed.
“I love you too,” she replied.
“I’ll be here when you get back,” he whispered and she nodded in response. “Now, go and meet your family—” His words dried up as her finger pressed against his lips.
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