“You gonna blow my brains out like a pussy? With me tied up?” I shake my head. “Untie my bonds and let’s fight it out, brother. Make me earn that fucking bullet.”
The door opens further, letting in more light.
“Why’d you keep him alive?” I can’t see much but a dark shadow against yellowed light behind him. “Should’ve shot him already.”
I don’t recognize their voices. I don’t detect any accents. They’re working together for a larger group.
“I wasn’t instructed to kill him, too. Mullet was useless to us, but the bodyguard might prove useful and the Montavio girl is the best bargaining chip we have.”
Someone yells, and his voice sounds distant, like he’s yelling down a hall. I wonder where we are. Seems like the basement of a warehouse or something. I barely refrain from rolling my eyes. Original.
The voice becomes louder. “Ace, the boss wants to talk to you.”
Ace. Noted.
The guy pointing the gun at me kicks me on his way out, and without missing a beat, I trip him. He goes sprawling, falls hard but braces himself on his arm, and swings his gun back at me, cocking it.
“Ace! He ain’t in a patient mood.”
He curses under his breath. “Gonna kick your ass, you son of a bitch,” he snarls before he gets to his feet and hurries to the door.
“Look forward to it!” I yell after him.
The door shuts hard behind him, plunging us back into darkness.
We sit in silence for only seconds before Vivia starts to talk. “So you think it’s—”
“Shh.” I shove her back with mine.
“So you get to—”
“Shut up,” I hiss. “I’m trying to hear anything that could tell me where we are.”
She’s quiet, but I can feel her fuming with her back against mine. I don’t give a shit, I’m not happy about this situation either.
I keep my voice low. “What do you hear? Whisper.”
She’s silent for another moment. “Water, but it seems distant.” We’re both silent as we hear the unmistakable sound of a plane flying overhead. I hear her breathing along with mine as we continue to listen, when in the distance I hear one short blast of a horn. It’s a ship’s signal.
“The wharf,” she whispers.
“Bingo.”
Jesus, it kills me knowing we’re right in the North End. The Rossi family owns so much property here, there’s likely a few of them nearby. Backup and a rescue team within five minutes from here. One of our own could be ordering a cappuccino within earshot of us.
“Wharf could be a problem,” I whisper to her. “Means we could be taken on a plane or boat easily.”
“Yeah.”
I wonder if we’re bugged.
“What do you remember?” I ask her.
“We were chased into someone’s backyard. They cornered us. Destroyed the fence. Killed Gray, drugged me. I saw them hit you before I passed out, and that’s all I remember.”
So she has no idea if we’re being bugged either.
“You okay?” I ask her. Voices echo in the hallway outside the door. I’m piecing things together about who this is and why they want us, why they killed Gray but didn’t kill us.