“Not who Chloe, what.”
“Don’t talk in fucking riddles Freddie, just tell me.”
He sank down onto the leather sofa in the corner of Luca’s home office and ran his hands over his face before leaning forward to speak.
“The black mambas is an organisation you don’t want to mess with. They’re involved in all sorts of organised crime, drugs, money laundering, trafficking.” He gave me a knowing look as he said the last part. “They took the name black mambas because like the black mamba snake they are highly aggressive, deadly in fact. They move fast, strike with speed and precision; they can move faster than most humans. They’re toxic Chloe, and if they are the ones we are chasing we’ve got our work cut out for us. I don’t even know where they operate from or who their top guy is. All I do know is they always work in pairs or groups, like the snake they attack their prey then stand back and watch it die before they slither back to devour it whole; and when I mean devour I mean dump the body somewhere public for the family to find. The last guy I heard of who fucked with the black mambas ended up being returned to his wife a body part a day.”
I couldn’t take that level of depravity in, that extent of violence was something I wanted to block out completely, pretend it didn’t exist, but seems life had other plans for us. I stood still just staring at Freddie as he stared hopelessly at the floor.
“If it is them we all need to watch our backs. When a black mamba strikes it strikes repeatedly. We could lose a few more men before this is over.”
“No.” I shook my head, “If it is them then we need to find their weakness. Even snakes have a soft underbelly. We can beat them at their own game.” I had no idea what I was saying but I wasn’t about to give up hope. Defeat wasn’t in my vocabulary especially when it came to Luca and I.
“We’d be the first if we did.” He replied grimly.
“Women.” Gina piped up.
“Come again?” Freddie looked up now frowning.
“Women, that’s their weakness. I bet if I went back and questioned my other girls I’d find out a few men with snake tattoos on their left hands had been on my premises these past few days. Then there’s the local clubs. Maybe not Luca’s but I bet if we asked around we could find out where they’ve been hanging out.”
“They do tend to stick together.” Freddie nodded to himself, “Where one black mamba is there’s always at least one more close by.”
“So that’s what we do then, we get out there and find their hunting ground.”
“Then what Chloe? We go in guns blazing and shoot each other until we’re all but dead ourselves?”
“No Fred, I go in and use their weakness to my advantage. They like women, I’ll give them me and I’ll get them to trust me. Hell I’ll lay it on a fucking plate if it saves his life.” I argued.
“We don’t even know if this is them.” Freddie tried to reason with me but my mind was made up.
“I’ll do it.” Gina jumped in now, “I know what these kind of men are like and I’d rather they used me than you Chloe. Luca wouldn’t want you anywhere near this.”
“She’s right Chloe.”
“No, I’m doing it and that’s final. It’s non-negotiable. If you want to come along to support me Gina then I’ll happily work with you but I’m not sitting at home on my ass waiting for news like some little wifey. I’m involved in this whether you like it or not. So come on Freddie tell me the rest, what does Sanchez have to do with all this?”
Freddie caught us up to speed on what he believed was happening with the black mamba. Word on the street was they were heavily involved in the trafficking ring which Sanchez was a part of and didn’t take too kindly to Luca shutting it down. The ring had made them a lot of money and now it had folded their boss was baying for blood, Luca’s blood to be exact, after finding out what had gone down with Sanchez and then with Diaz in Colombia. Turned out Diaz was their biggest paying customer, or so the other men told us when they came back to us early the next morning to debrief Freddie and I.
I informed them of my plans, which didn’t go down well with any one of them, Vinnie and Marco especially, but I wasn’t to be swayed. No I wanted to do everything I could to get Luca back and I’d stop at nothing. I wasn’t about to stand around twiddling my thumbs whilst some out of town low lives robbed me of my happy ever after.
It was agreed that Gina and I would do a tour of the local clubs that night to see what we could find out. We both agreed to be fitted with trackers inside our bodies, injected just under the skin, so we could follow any clues that could potentially lead us to Luca, and keep the guys on the outside updated on where we were. I refused to wear a wire though, I couldn’t take the chance that one of them might frisk us if we were to track their outfit down. No this whole operation needed to be flawless, no wires, no listening devices and none of Luca’s m
en could follow us into any of the clubs. If any of the black mamba suspected we were planted there to catch them out it wasn’t just Luca’s life that was endangered it was ours too.
That night Gina and I dressed in the sluttiest outfits she could find in her ‘work’ wardrobe and headed to the first club called The Sanctuary, weaving our way through the crowds like a pair of lionesses out on the hunt. A few groups caught our eye but when we got close enough to chat with them none of them sported the tell-tale snake tattoo on their hands. We spent about an hour pacing the floor before we decided it was pointless to stay any longer and moved on to try the next night spot.
We headed into Euphoria, a newly opened club, and made our way to the bar to give ourselves some Dutch courage. After downing a few shots we sipped our cosmos and glance around the room. Everyone here looked stylish, well-bred and snake tattoo free. The club itself had a cool, futuristic vibe with chrome, metal and blue lighting flashing across the room and dancing off the mirrored tables and white leather seating.
“I think this might be a bit too classy for the likes of the black mamba.” Gina said in a low voice.
“Maybe we’re looking in the wrong type of places. If you wanted to find women in this town where would you go? And don’t say your place because I know your girls are already on red alert for any snake tattoos that might call in.”
“You know exactly where men go Chloe, you worked there remember.”
I rolled my eyes and felt the twist in my stomach as I thought about going back to that place again, but I’d do it. I’d do anything to get Luca back.
“Looks like we’re heading for a night at Jack’s Kitty Kat club then.” I sighed.