Payback: A sniper seeking revenge terrorizes the mob (Assassin Series Book 1)

by David Nees

  “I don’t know where Frank is and I don’t give a crap. He may be dead, Dan may be dead. They both may be dead. I only know Dan found out where we were, and I don’t like it.”

  “It’s probably Tommy. How he knew I don’t know.”

  Joey stared back at Vincent. He didn’t know who to trust. Was it further up? Was Carmine arranging for him to get whacked? Was Carmine telling Vincent to arrange it? Who exactly was Frank taking orders from? He felt unsteady not knowing who to trust, like the world was tipping to one side.

  “I got to take care of some shit. I’ll check back with you when I’m done.”

  “Don’t go blow things up. I’ve got enough pressure on me right now, I don’t need any more.”

  “You don’t?” Joey straightened. “And I don’t have any? Dan’s trying to kill me, and I don’t know who’s got my back.”

  “I’ve got your back,” Vincent said, but Joey had already turned to leave the room.

  When he was gone, Vincent stepped out into the restaurant and grabbed two of his men. “Follow Joey. Don’t let him do anything stupid.”

  But Joey had already disappeared.

  An hour after Joey left the restaurant Vincent was sitting in Carmine’s car in the back parking lot of one of Carmine’s warehouse.

  “So Joey’s back, and you don’t know what happened to Frank or Dan?” Carmine asked.

  “That’s right. Joey stormed out before I could get any details. Apparently Dan ambushed him. I’m guessing Joey took off when he got the opportunity and left Frank to deal with Dan.”

  “This is not good. You were supposed to take care of both Dan and Joey. Now Joey’s back and we don’t know about Frank or Dan. This is not good, Vincent. Things are getting more fucked up by the minute.” Carmine looked at Vincent with cold eyes. There was no compassion or allowance in his gaze.

  “I set it up, just like we talked about. Frank must have screwed things up. How else would Joey think Frank set him up?”

  “Is that what he said? That Frank set him up?”

  “Yeah. Frank did something out there that made Joey think he’d been set up. If that happened, it makes sense he would get the hell out and leave Frank. He figured there were two people trying to kill him.”

  “So where’s Joey now?”

  “He said he had something to take care of and left. I sent two guys to make sure he doesn’t do anything crazy.”

  “You get him. Get Joey and bring him in. I don’t want him out there. He’s dangerous to us. Get this right, Vincent. There’s been enough fuck ups.” The threat was clear in Carmine’s voice.

  “What about Frank and Dan?” Vincent asked.

  “Frank can take care of himself. Either he’s dead or Dan’s dead. If we don’t hear from Frank we can assume Dan is alive and coming back. You better hope that isn’t the case.”

  Vincent understood the threat in Carmine’s words. His problems were not over; in fact, they seemed to be getting worse. Vincent headed back to his house. After he arrived, a quick call to Mike resulted in a meeting at a small restaurant in Manhattan.

  Sheila insisted on coming along. It was quickly arranged. What they didn’t realize was that Tony was monitoring Vincent’s calls and followed Vincent and Sheila as they traveled to the restaurant. He took some pictures of them going in and some of Mike following them a few minutes later.

  He waited. He wondered how long he should hang out in his car. The risk of being exposed would increase the longer he parked there. At some point a cop would make him move on. Finally, with nothing more to gain, Tony headed off to meet with Carmine.

  They were seated in a back corner of the restaurant. Mike sensed he was close to getting the deal done. Dan had not shown himself for some days, so he was anxious to get Vincent to make a decision. If the pressure eased, he would lose his leverage.

  “So, what else can I tell you about the program?”

  “Where will you send us?” Sheila asked.

  “Within reason, you can re-locate anywhere you want to go. We can even arrange to send you abroad, although there’s less protection with that arrangement.”

  “What about Miami?” Sheila asked.

  “I wouldn’t recommend it. There are too many mob connections there. Your chances of being discovered would be pretty high.”

  “Forget that for now,” Vincent interrupted, “Tell me how this works. And, remember, we’re not making a commitment, just getting information.”

  “I understand, but at some point, you got to decide. When you make your decision, we move you out that same day. You’ll need to be packed and ready to go. We bring a team in to give you protection and get you out of there quickly. Then we’ll come back to pick up anything that might have been left. You know about the house and furnishings—how we’ll handle those.”

  “I’ve got some guys helping to watch the house. What about them?”

  “Best if you cancel that—”

  “That might arouse suspicion,” Vincent said.

  “Then get rid of them just before we make the move. Before anyone can react, we’ll get you out of there.”

  “What about our girls?” Sheila asked.

  “We’ll pick them up from school the same time we get you. They’ll be safe and you will all meet up in a hotel.”

  “So exactly what do you want from me? You want me to rat on everyone, right?” This was still the sticking point for Vincent. He was having a hard time coming to terms with it. He hated those guys, guys who sold out, violated their oath of silence.

  Sheila put her hand on Vincent’s arm. “Honey, you said yourself that Carmine would come after you if he lost confidence in you. You told me not to talk to Gina. Now you want to protect them?”

  “Sheila’s right. You know that. Of course we want to get your story. That’s the point. It may take a few days. That’s what you’ll be doing while we’re hiding you in the hotel. When that’s done, we get you out of town.”

  “So the mob can reach me or my family while I’m giving you testimony.” He scowled at Mike from across the table.

  Mike thought for a moment. “We’ve done this before. You’ll have plenty of protection—for you and your family. We can take your statement at the hotel if that makes you feel better. But your safety comes from the fact that no one but me and two other agents will know where you are. The NYPD will not know your whereabouts. You’ll be guarded by the FBI, not the local police.”

  Vincent stared at him. “I’m not so sure you can pull that off, knowing what I know from the other side.”

  “I can. And that’s your value to us…what you know from the other side. This is an expensive program and we only use it when someone has significant information to trade.”

  When Tony drove off, an agent watching the streets outside took notice. He realized the car had been sitting for some time a half-block away. No one had gotten out or in. It didn’t look right. He snapped a picture as Tony drove past and called Mike.

  Mike picked up the call. After hearing the news, he turned to Vincent. “Someone may have followed you to the restaurant. How did anyone know you were coming here?”

  Sheila sucked in her breath. “Oh, God,” she whispered.

  “No one followed us. How could they?”

  “Vincent, the girls…what if they go after the girls?” She looked fierce, her protective instincts fully aroused.

  “The girls are all right. Calm down and don’t get hysterical,” he said. Turning back to Mike, “If this is another pressure tactic, you can go to hell. I won’t be pushed around like that.”

  “It’s not a tactic, Vincent.” Mike picked up his phone, punched in a number and told the lookout to come inside. “My guy took a picture. Let’s see what it shows.”

  Inside, Vincent stared at the picture in the camera’s view screen. It was small and hard to see. But what he could see was enough to identify Tony as he drove past the lookout.

  “Fuck. It’s Tony. He’s spying on me. How did he know to f
ollow us?”

  Sheila just stared at her husband, her anger now turning to fear.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Mike replied. “He may have photographed us. When Carmine and Silvio see this, they’ll act. You got to make a decision now.”

  Chapter 56

  Joey waited in the parking garage near the exit door. Two other men were hiding with him. He was taking no chances. He knew she wouldn’t be docile, even in the face of a weapon. Better to just grab her, keep her from screaming, stuff her into a car, and go before anyone could notice what was going on. Speed helped in these matters. The odds against someone coming upon them as they were grabbing her were slight. If someone did, they would just deal with that in whatever way was necessary. Joey wasn’t worried about keeping things neat. First Dan set out to get him and now Frank. Did the mob want him dead? He didn’t know, but he’d get Dan, or get back at him by using Doreen. Joey was not going down without a fight.

  Tommy and Doreen had been back for two weeks. The FBI had arranged with the police department to maintain a watch on Tommy’s business and check on his apartment occasionally. Doreen refused the protection. She didn’t want cops hanging out at her apartment complex. With her work being in Manhattan, and the connections she had, along with living up in Queens, she guessed the mob wouldn’t mess with her.

  It was late when she pulled into the garage, already getting dark. She was tired. Work had been intense ever since she had gotten back. Working hard, though, took her mind off the tangle of events being played out in Brooklyn. She and Tommy hadn’t seen much of each other since their return from Atlanta. Tommy had relayed the reports he’d heard of the shootings at Vincent’s house. The tension had been mounting and then everything had gone quiet. So much the better, she figured. She needed to concentrate on her work and not the deadly drama Dan had triggered.

  As she approached the garage exit a man jumped out of the shadows and grabbed her from behind. One arm went around her waist, the other hand clamped down on her mouth, stifling the scream that rose up. She began to wrestle and kick to free herself when another figure stepped in front and punched her in her solar plexus. The wind whooshed out of her. Quickly her hands were tied behind her back as she struggled to catch her breath. With the fight taken out of her, duct tape was stretched across her mouth, and a hood thrown over her head. She struggled to get air back into her lungs through her nose. She was half carried, half dragged to a nearby car and thrown into the trunk. Before shutting the lid, someone taped her ankles together.

  Doreen slowly regained her breath. She could hardly move in the trunk. A rising panic engulfed her. Her stomach began to heave. She fought down the waves of nausea. If she threw up with her mouth taped she could drown in her vomit. She bent her head down and tightened her stomach to suppress the impending spasm.

  She tried to process what had happened. She was in a trunk, headed somewhere unknown and for what she did not know. This had to be Joey. The mob was now desperate about Dan and desperation led to bad things happening—bad things for her.

  Tommy would be expecting her call tonight. He would worry when he couldn’t reach her. He had not been happy about her refusal to have police security hanging around her apartment, and now she realized that he had been right. Had they grabbed Tommy as well?

  As her initial panic abated, she thought through her dilemma. If Tommy hadn’t been picked up, he would soon raise the alarm and probably try to reach Dan. Neither she nor Tommy trusted Mike and the FBI. Would Dan know where to find her?

  Would they kill her? They probably wanted to use her as bait or a bargaining chip against Dan. Maybe negotiate a truce, an end to Dan’s vendetta. Or did they want to lure Dan into a trap and kill him?

  The car drove on. Finally it slowed and turned off a street. She heard a sliding overhead door screech open and the car moved again. The door closed behind them. The car doors opened; she heard footsteps, and then the trunk lid was raised. Doreen couldn’t see anything with the hood over her head. Rough hands rudely jerked her out of the trunk and the tape around her ankles was cut.

  Without a word, she was led stumbling through the building. She had a sense of it being a large space. The footfalls echoed around her. They climbed some stairs and entered what seemed to be a smaller room and hands shoved her down into a chair. Her ankles were taped to the legs of the chair and her arms taped around the back. Someone pulled the hood off.

  She shook the hair out of her eyes as best she could and looked around. One light bulb in the ceiling cast a thin glow around the center of the room. The edges remained in shadows. The only person she recognized was Joey.

  They all stared at her in a way that chilled Doreen. Her shirt and skirt were ripped, exposing her thighs and bra. She shuddered. She hadn’t thought about being raped. She had concluded she was going to be a hostage in negotiations and that they wouldn’t damage the hostage. Now she wasn’t so sure.

  Joey stepped forward, his eyes lit with a strange fire and with a wild look about him she hadn’t seen before. He went over to her and ripped the tape off of her mouth. She yelped as it tore at her skin. A cold dread spread through her. This was a different Joey. She sensed she should keep quiet and not challenge him. She tried to look back at him, to stand up to his scrutiny, but she knew her eyes betrayed her, showing fear of him for the first time.

  “You know why you’re here?” His voice was low and dangerous. Without waiting for a reply, he continued, “We trade you for Dan stopping his attacks. No more crap, no more tough talk from you. It’s simple. Dan goes away or you go away. Do your part and you’ll get out of this alive. Try to screw this up and you’re dead.”

  She shivered. The others stared at her partially exposed body. Doreen turned her eyes away from Joey. She forced her mind to function. She had to try to regain some control over the situation. Would they let her go after she got a look at all of them? The thought raised the real possibility that they would kill her. If that were so, she might be more bait than a negotiating chip.

  Anger towards Dan surged up in her. He had gotten them involved with his crazy vendetta. It had torn up both hers and Tommy’s lives. Now here she was, helpless with Joey and his thugs, a more dangerous Joey than before. If they were going to kill her, what would keep them from hurting her, from raping her right now? Fear grew like a cold, dark lump in her stomach, spreading through her body.

  She forced herself to turn back to Joey. “If I’m a hostage, you better keep these guys off of me.” She nodded at the others. “I’m guessing damaged goods would be reason enough for Dan to resume his attacks.”

  He turned to the others. “You can look, but don’t touch. I want her unharmed. Understand?” They nodded.

  “Here’s how this will work. Dan will get the word about you. We’ll negotiate. While that’s going on, you’ll be released from the chair but locked in this room. You make noise, you bang on walls, you scream, yell, we tie you to the chair and gag you. You’ll wait, tied to the chair if you’re a problem. Want to move around? Be quiet. Got it?”

  Doreen nodded and looked around the room. It was about ten feet by fourteen, larger than a regular sized office. It had probably held a group of cube workers at one time. She guessed she was on the mezzanine level of a warehouse.

  Joey then told the men to leave. When they were out of the room, he leaned close and grabbed her hair. “You got a smart mouth, Doreen. You think you’re untouchable, acting all high and mighty, but look at you now. I don’t give a fuck what happens to you. Those others would like to rape you. I don’t let ’em. It ain’t ’cause I’m a nice guy. It’s ’cause it don’t serve my purpose. And if you don’t serve my purpose, I’ll kill you. You mean nothing to me. My only interest in you is getting to Dan. You better hope he does the right thing.”

  As Doreen listened, she realized Joey might never let her leave here alive. There was a manic look in his eyes. She sensed more was going on than she understood. Joey looked like a cornered animal that now had become dange
rous. He seemed ready to lash out at anyone, kill anyone. Something must have happened that had made him dangerous in a way she had never experienced. She had to keep forcing her panic down. He was like a live grenade now, and she wasn’t sure what would trigger it.

  That evening, Vincent and Sheila went over the plans for leaving. He would dismiss Tony in the morning, the Feds would arrive and they would all leave for the hotel. No one knew which hotel at that point. The girls wouldn’t go to school that day, or the next. They would not get back to school until they were resettled. When asked where they were going, neither Vincent nor Sheila could answer. Since Tony had discovered their meeting they had to make the move right away. There would be time later to decide where to go.

  A full day of rest did wonders for Dan. Jane had a doctor come by and suture the gash over his eye. Both wounds were still raw, but not bleeding. His ribs did not seem to be broken, although they were bruised and sore.

  The morning of the second day Dan awoke to the smell of bacon cooking downstairs. His stomach rumbled. Slowly he got up from the bed, checking his body to see how well he could move. He went into the bathroom and stared at himself. Fatigue and pain lines still etched his face. His hair was flattened on one side, indicating he hadn’t turned in his sleep. He had shaved yesterday, so his five day growth of beard was gone. He washed his face and rinsed water through his hair; then he put on a tee shirt and some sweats Jane had provided and went downstairs.

  Jane looked up as he entered the kitchen. She stared at him, admiring his fit body, even with the stress of his wounds showing. He was attractive, tough, but not overly macho like so many of the Special Forces operatives she had met. His movements were graceful and there was still a youthful look in his eye, in spite of the terrible business he had taken upon himself.