“Do they mean anything to you?” Luca asked.
Nico shook his head and folded the piece of paper back into the envelope, then stuffed it in his pocket. “Not right now. Let’s go.”
They got into the cab and made their way to Heathrow. Angel didn’t think about the piece of paper again until they were through security and sitting at the gate, waiting to board the plane.
“We’ve got awhile yet,” Nico said. “I’m going to grab a coffee. Can I get you something?”
Luca put in his headphones. “I’m good.”
“I’ll take a coffee,” Angel said, pulling the tablet out of her bag. “And let me take a look at that piece of paper. I’ll do some digging while I wait.”
He took the piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her, then kissed her head. “Be right back.”
She signed into the airport’s WIFI and started typing in the locations and dates on the piece of paper. A lot of the places were in the US — Ramona, California, Saddle Brook, New Jersey, Chicago, Illinios — but there was one in the UK (Rochester) and one in Russia (Pskov Region), too. At first they seemed random, but by the time Nico returned carrying two styrofoam cups, the excitement of discovery was buzzing in her mind.
“Here you go,” he said, handing her one of the coffees. “Where’s Luca?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured, her eyes still on the screen. “This is interesting…”
“What?” He leaned in.
“These are the dates and locations of major illegal weapons busts,” she said, scrolling, her mind trying to formulate the connection she knew was there. “All destined for either everyday criminals or revolutionary warlords.”
He took the tablet and looked through the results, a line creasing his forehead.
“What is it?” she asked him.
“Think about it,” he said. “Raneiro wants us to get a file called Darknet, which can only be some kind of reference to the online black markets of the same name, then Desmond McDermott gives us a list of illegal weapons busts?”
She sat back in her chair, dread seeping like an oil slick through her veins. “All those rumors about Sean Murdock being involved in illegal drug distribution and weapons…”
He rubbed at the scruff on his chin. “Sean’s in the illegal weapons business, and Raneiro wants to take control of it by accessing Sean’s client or supply list.”
“And he’s going to use us to do it.” Angel shook her head. She didn’t dare think about the consequences. “If we’re right - ”
“We’ll be handing control of a deadly illegal weapons channel to one of the most dangerous men in the world.”
28
“That Murdock?” Luca asked from the passenger seat.
Nico lifted the binoculars to his eyes and peered at the black car moving toward the iron gates. The windows were tinted, but they’d already run the license plate; it was registered to Sean Murdock’s software company and insured against damage under the name of his personal driver.
“Yep,” Nico said, still looking through the binoculars.
They’d been casing Murdock’s compound outside of Dublin since they arrived in Ireland four days ago. The place was a fortress, enclosed by an electric fence a good foot taller than the one protecting McDermott in Italy. Thanks to Sara’s ability to hack into the security company’s archives, they knew the property was covered by hi-tech security cameras and flood lights that illuminated the grounds when tripped by a weight of more than ten pounds.
And there were dogs. At least eight of them, all trained to obey Sean Murdock’s commands.
Nico passed the binoculars to Luca.
“I don’t see how we’re going to get in,” Luca said as he trained the lenses on the car moving through the front gate.
“I’m working on it,” Nico said.
Luca lowered the binoculars, lifted an eyebrow. “You got a plan?”
“More like a wing and a prayer,” Nico said. “But I’ll let you know when I have more information.”
Luca nodded, settled back into the seat of the rental car. “I should be more surprised than I am that this asshole is trading in weapons.”
“What do you mean?” Nico asked.
Luca sighed. “Just more evidence that the world is going to hell, that’s all.”
The pessimism in the statement brought forth a fresh wave of guilt. Nico had befriended Luca when he was a twenty-two-year-old punk without a soul in the world to care whether he lived or died. He had seen Luca’s potential and had talked his father into giving Luca a job on the bottom rung. Luca had quickly proven himself loyal and trustworthy and had moved up through the ranks until he was one of the youngest men in the top tier. One of the first things Nico had done when he took over the family was to promote Luca, grooming him for a position as his Underboss. Luca’s loyalty was priceless — proven even more in the last year since he'd kidnapped Angel and everything went to hell — but it wasn’t a one-way street; Nico had wanted to give Luca a shot at something good, at a life that would be better to him than it had been so far. Instead Luca had grown cynical, carefully insulating himself against any kind of emotion. Nico knew how he felt. Before Angel, he’d been the exact same way. He wondered how long it would take Luca to find the woman who would change his life, make him want more.
“Giving the Darknet file to Raneiro probably isn’t going to help,” Nico said.
Luca glanced at him. “It’s not like he gave you a choice.”
“Maybe,” Nico said.
He’d been running over their options since Angel found the connection between the file called Darknet and the dates and locations given to them by McDermott’s messenger in London. They were already down nine days, which gave them a little over two weeks to steal the file and get it to Raneiro. Nico wanted another option — something that would keep Angel and her brother alive without forcing them to hand over vital, deadly information to Raneiro. An alternate plan had been formulating in the back of his mind, but it wasn’t ideal, and it carried its own set of risks. Raneiro wanted the Darknet file, and he wouldn’t give them a second chance to get it.
“Still ten guards?” Nico asked.
Luca looked at the notebook in his lap. “By my count. Plus Ian Hayes.”
Ian Hayes was Sean Murdock’s head of security. He was almost always at the compound, and Nico suspected he lived there. Their initial background check had at first yielded a clean record, but when Sara dug deeper, she turned up arrests for rape, assault, and robbery, all of which had been scrubbed from the official record. Ian had friends in high places — or one at least. However they got into Murdock’s compound, they would have to account for the presence of Ian Hayes.
“How long until we get the delivery from Farrell?” Luca asked.
“Supposed to be sometime in the next week,” Nico said.
Luca looked out the window. “We’re cutting it close.”
Nico raised the binoculars as an SUV approached Murdock’s front gate. “Yes, we are.”
29
They’d been at the cottage in Dublin for more than a week when Angel handed Nico a schedule outlining Sean Murdock’s social calendar.
“Murdock’s a busy man,” Nico murmured.
Angel slid onto his lap at the dining room table and looked at names and dates on the piece of paper. They were hoping to catch Sean with his computer outside the grounds of his home, which was a veritable fortress according to the recon done by Nico and Luca.
“Places to go and people to see,” Angel said, kissing Nico’s cheek.
He glanced at her. “How did you find all of this?”
“Sara helped with some of it,” she said. “The rest was a lot of digging through the social columns in every newspaper and magazine from here to Amsterdam.”
Nico returned his gaze to the page in front of him. “I’m still not sure we should try for an off-site event. I know the guy’s notoriously protective of his computer, but I don’t see him showing up
at a black tie affair with a supermodel on one arm and his computer in the other.”
Angel shifted a little, felt him grow hard under her ass. “Agreed. But that means breaching the house, and it sounds like it’s pretty locked down. I don’t know about you, but I’m not crazy about the idea of becoming kibble for those dogs.”
He nuzzled her neck. “How about kibble for me?”
She laughed, and her panties grew damp at the feel of his mouth against her skin. “That doesn’t sound too bad, but it doesn’t sound like a way to get the Darknet file either.”
“Good point,” he said.
“There is the Clean Water Initiative Fundraiser.” She pointed to one of the dates on the list of events. “It’s held at Murdock’s house.”
“Invite only,” Nico read from the paper.
“Any strings we could pull?” she asked. “Favors we could call in?”
Footsteps sounded behind them, and she twisted in the chair to see Luca pulling a beer from the fridge.
“Not sure I want to walk into a conversation with the two of you canoodling and talking about an exchange of favors,” Luca said, sliding onto one of the dining room chairs with a beer.
“Get your mind out of the gutter,” Angel said. “We’re talking about securing an invite to a fundraiser held at Murdock’s house.”
Luca leaned forward. “Is that possible?”
Nico rubbed his forehead, and Angel felt a pang of concern as she saw the fatigue in his eyes. He and Luca did recon at all hours of the day and night. When Nico was home, Angel would often wake in the middle of the night to find him sitting at the dining room table in the dark, his forehead creased with worry. The only time he seemed at peace was when they made love. They were both free then, lost in the passion that burned so hot between them that it obliterated everything else in its path.
“A year ago, yes,” Nico said. “But MediaComm has been in the hands of an interim CEO since my reported death. It’s not like I have any official standing to lean on.”
It wasn’t their only problem. What if the Darknet file wasn’t on the computer they found? What if they were caught? What if Raneiro had them killed anyway?
Then again, none of those things mattered if they couldn’t find a way to get close to Murdock’s computer. She was relived when Luca changed the subject.
“So the delivery from Farrell’s is still on for tomorrow?”
Nico nodded. “As far as I know.”
“Do we trust Farrell to deliver without tipping off the police?”
Nico’s jaw tightened. “We don’t have a choice.”
Angel kissed his cheek and slid off his lap. “I’m going to use one of the Tracphones to call David.”
They hadn’t used the landline in the cottage. It was a precautionary measure, but after the incident in Rome with Sean Murdock’s men, they were all of the “better safe than sorry” mindset.
“Tell him and Sara hello,” Nico said.
“Will do.”
She went into the bedroom they shared and pulled one of the phones from her bag, then sat on the bed as she dialed. David picked up on the first ring.
“Hey, sis.”
“Hey. How are you?” she asked.
“Good,” he said. “Really good.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She could hear his smile through the phone. “How are you?”
“Hanging in there,” she said.
“Where are you right now?”
“I’d rather not say.” No one but Sara knew about Nico’s island in Maine, and the Tracphones were an added precaution, but she didn't want to take any chances.
“Got it,” he said. “Very mysterious.”
“Just careful,” she said.
“When will you be back?” he asked.
She plucked at a hole in her jeans. “I don’t know.”
“Can you at least tell me if you have a plan for dealing with Raneiro?”
“We do,” she said, “but I’m not happy about it.”
“Why?”
“Because it means giving him something dangerous, and it means letting him off the hook for what he’s done to us.”
“I can’t speak to the first thing,” David said, “but do you really care about the second?”
“What do you mean?”
He sighed. “I don’t know, Ange… I mean, I’m not exactly a fan of the guy, but don’t we just want to start over? Isn’t that what matters at this point?”
“Is that what matters to you?”
He hesitated. “I think so.”
“What would that mean?” she asked him.
He laughed. “I haven’t really gotten that far. But I don’t think I can go back to school, pretend none of his happened, pick up where I left off.”
“So what then?”
“Maybe start over someplace new? See where life takes us? It’s not like we don’t have money.”
He was right, but somehow it didn’t feel that simple. The thought of letting Raneiro off the hook, letting him walk away — not only with the Darknet file but without paying for what he’d done to her and David and Nico — turned her stomach.
… it’s going to come down to life or revenge. I know what I want most. Do you?
Nico’s words drifted through her mind. She still didn’t have an answer.
“I guess,” she finally said.
“You don’t sound convinced,” he said.
“I’m not.”
“Why, Ange?” His voice was soft, and she had to swallow the lump that rose in her throat.
“Because it’s not fair,” she said, more vehemently than she’d intended.
“I agree,” He said. But if we don’t try to move on, what’s the point? Isn’t that what we’re fighting for?”
The words sat between them. What he said made sense. So why wasn’t she sure she could live with the idea of Raneiro getting away with what he’d done?
“I just wanted to check in,” she said. She wanted to get off the phone, away from the questions that felt like a knife digging into the wounds she thought had healed. “I’m glad you’re doing so well.”
“I hope you’re doing okay, too,” he said. “I worry about you.”
“Don’t. I’m fine. Just keep getting better, and I’ll see you soon.”
“Sounds good. Love you, Ange. Take care.”
“You, too.”
She disconnected the call and looked down at the phone in her hands, David’s words ringing through her ears.
Isn’t that what we’re fighting for?
30
It was around noon the next day when Nico and Luca pulled into the driveway. They’d left early that morning to pick up the supplies from Farrell Black’s man down by the waterfront, and while Angel had wanted to go, even she couldn’t argue that the task didn’t require three of them. She’d stayed behind instead, nervously watching the clock, hoping Farrell hadn’t double-crossed them by tipping off the police that they were bringing weapons into the country.
She didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed when Nico and Luca pulled two small cases from the back of the car. On the one hand, maybe it meant they weren’t expecting a lot of resistance at Murdock’s.
On the other hand, what if they were wrong?
They brought everything into the living room and cracked open the locks on the big, black cases with a pair of bolt cutters. Angel catalogued while they called out everything in the cases, being careful to note not only the kind of item but the quantity so they’d have a good sense what they had to work with.
She’d gotten used to being around guns, even if she never actually grew to like them, but these were weapons of a different sort — handguns but also semi-automatics with silencers and huge magazines. And not just weapons. There were body cams like the ones they’d used in LA, mini-cameras, kevlar, and night vision goggles. She pushed aside the fear that rose in her at the sight of it all, too familiar after the fiasco in LA. They might not need
everything that was here, but it was better to be prepared. At least this time David’s life wouldn’t be hanging in the balance.
They were finishing up lunch when Angel started to get the feeling Nico had something on his mind. She knew him too well now, was familiar with his nervous tells — his tendency to turn his wine glass while deep in thought, to avoid her eyes. She waited, giving him the space he obviously needed.
“I think I might have a plan for getting an invite to the CWI fundraiser,” he finally said.
She leaned against the counter and folded her arms over her chest. “Why do I have a feeling I’m not going to like it?”
“You’re not,” he said.
Luca took a drink of his wine and stayed quiet.
She sighed. “You might as well tell me.” He’d do what he wanted anyway. She knew that, and knew, too, that it was something they had in common.
“If I give a press conference announcing I’m alive, I can use MediaComm to get an invitation. I’ll be at the top of everyone’s guest list, if only because they'll be morbidly curious about my fake death.”
She shook her head. “You might as well paint a target on your back. Everyone who was with Dante will know you’re alive.”
“If Farrell Black is any indication,” he said, “everyone in the Syndicate already knows.”
She cast around in her mind for another excuse to veto the idea. Right now, Nico was a ghost. It didn’t make him bullet proof, but it did offer an extra layer of protection against anyone who might mean him harm.
“If you give a press conference, the paparazzi will be all over us. How are we supposed to move around in secret?”
“We can make it a press release,” he said. “Run it through the company. We don’t have to disclose our location. It’s not like we’ve been social here in Dublin.”
She bit her lip. He was right. They’d played it low key, spending most of their time in the cottage they’d rented outside the city. The only people who knew they were there was Farrell Black, and he’d already proven he could be trusted by coming through with the supplies they needed.
Lawless: Mob Boss Book Three Page 11