He stepped into a shadow and streaked up the stairs, going past the first and second landings, but stopping at the third. This floor boasted a spacious playroom containing a pool table and several old-style arcade games as well as a full bar. There was a full screen set up for virtual reality play. Another room had a state-of-the-art home theater. The entire floor was dedicated to entertainment. There were no signs of guards in the house. Apparently, Angel liked his privacy.
Elie took a shadow to the fourth floor, where the master bedroom and bath took up most of the entire floor. The windows in the villa were nearly ten feet high in the rooms facing the sea to give the occupants the best views. One entire wall of the master bedroom and part of the bath were nearly all glass.
The moment Elie entered Angel’s bedroom, he knew why the man required privacy and wouldn’t want any security guards in his home. He most likely required his father and brother to call him before they came to visit. He might act like his was the “party” villa, but that wasn’t because he preferred all the hot women he entertained in his home occasionally. He invited couples over for a reason.
Angel had a partner. His partner had to know if he was indiscreet, it was a death sentence. The man obviously was careful never to be seen by anyone in what could be a compromising situation for Angel. Arnau Toselli would never, under any circumstances, accept a gay son. He wouldn’t mind his son using men or boys occasionally for sex in rough bondage play, but he would never accept a permanent relationship. He would expect his son to marry and provide him with male grandchildren. Anything less than that would be considered unacceptable.
Angel and his partner were wound around each other on the bed, murmuring and occasionally laughing. Both were nude. In the corner of the bedroom was a large dog crate. Hanging on the wall was a spiked collar, a leash, a whip and what appeared to be dog brushes, combs and a scrub brush. Along the glass windows were a spanking bench and a Saint Andrew’s Cross. There were two luxury chairs facing the window and between the chairs was a table with a cage built under it. A dog bed sat beside one of the chairs and an open toy chest beside the other.
Elie’s shadow took him right next to the chest and he could see the ball gag and various other sex toys. Beside the dog crate was a bowl of water and another bowl containing food. Inside the dog crate huddled a boy of about thirteen. He was curled up on his side, a black-and-tan furry tail hanging between his legs. He was very clean, the scratches on his skin showing signs of having been scrubbed too long and painfully.
Cursing under his breath, Elie took a few moments to gather himself to put aside his personal emotions. Under the circumstances, seeing the depravity of the people involved in the trafficking, and the way they used other human beings for their own pleasure, power and pocketbooks, sickened him. He had to compartmentalize. He brought justice. He couldn’t look at the young boy, or think about what these people had done to his life. He had to do his job. At least the child was sleeping.
He made a note to have the Archambaults arrange to find the kid’s parents. If he had none, then if the kid wanted a home, he would do his best to find someone who would be able to help him. It had to be someone who could relate to him. Elie had no problem paying for counselors and even the home, but he had no idea how to parent. He could barely manage his relationship with Brielle.
He crossed the room to the bed where Angel and his partner sat eating ice cream and drinking champagne. They faced the sea, looking out the window as they fed the ice cream to each other. The shadow spilled across the bed behind Angel’s partner. Elie stood in the mouth of the shadow, a grim reaper going through the motions in his head.
He stepped out, kneeling behind Angel’s partner and grasping his head, all in one motion, delivering the killing wrench. With blurring speed, he was on Angel, forcing his head forward and quickly breaking his neck. “Justice is served,” he said quietly.
He found the key to the dog crate hanging beside the leash and spiked collar. There was a long scarf he could use as a blindfold. He couldn’t allow the child to see him, but he wasn’t leaving him there. He awakened him as gently as possible, extracting him from the crate while Ricco tied the blindfold around him.
It was Mariko who kept reassuring the boy that they were there to rescue him. They would have someone coming for him, but he had to stay very quiet, there were armed guards on the estate. Elie and Ricco had to clear a path for them to take the boy out. They were breaking protocol, and no doubt, Marcellus would be furious, but Elie wasn’t leaving the kid. They pulled a dark T-shirt over his head after removing the offending tail.
Mariko took the boy down in the elevator and continued to reassure him. She used the phone in Angel’s house and coded in the emergency number for their bodyguards. The phone the bodyguards used would be disposed of as soon as they hung up. She told them she needed a pickup and gave coordinates, but did so in code then hung up. The phone call lasted under fifteen seconds.
Elie and Ricco went first, ensuring the guards were out of the way as Ricco leapt to the top of the wall, Mariko handed the boy to Elie and he all but tossed him to Ricco. Mariko was already on the other side as was Elie. They brought him down fast and Ricco was with them. The three stayed in the shadows with their charge, avoiding cameras and light, keeping to foliage as much as possible. When a car glided up and a door opened, the boy was thrust inside with murmured reassurances and then the car was gone. In all, the rescue operation took under three minutes.
Elie turned his attention to Guillem Toselli’s home next. Like Angel’s, Guillem’s and his father’s villas were built overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and both commanded extraordinary views from what would be the living rooms, gardens and pools. Elie had been told Guillem and Claudia were home. They had returned from a night out to dinner when news of the freighters exploding at sea had come in. Then the ones in the harbor had exploded. By now, Guillem had to have been told the crews of the ships were all dead.
Elie, Ricco and Mariko took the shadows into the living room, where the pair were alone. Security patrolled the gardens and around the villa. All were heavily armed and on alert. Guillem was armed and continually admonished Claudia to stay away from the windows.
“We’re at war, Claudia,” he hissed at her. “I’m aware you’ve never been through this before, but do what I say if you want to come out of this alive.”
“Who would go to war with our families, Guillem?” Claudia wrung her hands together. “It doesn’t make sense. None of this makes any sense. If you know why this is happening, I want you to tell me.” There was suspicion in her voice.
He stalked across the hardwood floor straight to her, slapping her hard. “Don’t talk to me in that tone of voice. If I knew what was happening, I’d tell you.”
Claudia shrank back from him, turning one palm to cover her cheek. “I’m sorry, Guillem, I’m afraid for the children.” She edged a little distance from him and fell silent.
He closed both hands into tight fists, staring at her for a couple of minutes as if he wanted her to say anything that could allow him to take out his frustration on her. “My father is coming over to talk to me about the situation. If you can keep your mouth shut, you can stay in the room. But I’m warning you, Claudia, one sound out of you and I’ll take you up to the bedroom and beat you within an inch of your life. I’m tired of your constant whining about going home to see your daddy. I treat you like a damn princess and all you do is whine about New York and how great it is and how you want to go home.”
“Because you promised me,” she whispered. “You said we’d go there on our honeymoon if I married you. But we didn’t. Then if I got pregnant. We didn’t. Then again, and I had another child. We didn’t go. I figured out all the shipments for us. How to lure the children in the parks away from their parents, the ones you wanted. You told me if I did those things, we would go. You won’t even let me plan a trip.”
“There you go whining again. I told you I wanted sons. Girls are useless to me, Claudia.”
“I gave you a son.”
“One. Then that pathetic girl. What should I do with her?” There was contempt in his voice.
Claudia whirled around, her eyes suddenly bright. “Guillem, you said if I could find a way to come up with the money to go to New York, I could go. What if I sold her? She’s really quite special and would bring in a lot of money in an auction. You don’t want her. More than once, your father has talked about the idea of selling girls her age and what kind of cash they would bring in.”
Guillem stared at her a moment then burst into laughter. “You’re priceless. You’d do anything to go back to your daddy. He doesn’t want you, Claudia. Don’t you know that yet? He used you to make an agreement with my father to get in on the trafficking deal. That’s all you were to him, a bargaining chip. When are you going to get it through your empty little head that you’re better off here with me than there with him?”
He flung his glass of tequila sideways at the white marble fireplace, shattering the crystal and spilling the contents so the alcohol ran down the column in an amber trail. Before Claudia could answer, the door was flung open and Arnau strode in. He wasn’t a big man, but he commanded the room instantly.
“Guillem, have you heard? It’s being reported that Riccardo Santoro went insane and murdered his entire family. Everyone, parents, children, my daughter, everyone. His freighters are gone, his crews, his capos. All dead.”
Claudia gasped and quickly covered her mouth with both hands when her husband gave her a sharp look. She backed up to a darker corner and peered over her fingers at the head of the Toselli family with shocked eyes. Behind her, in the shadows, Mariko stood waiting, a silent arbiter of justice, listening, just as Claudia was.