Devil (The Marchesi Family 3)

“Do you mean me or Joe?”

“Both. I think they’ve taken him hoping you’ll come to his rescue.”

I couldn’t sit still any longer, so I began to pace as I talked. “Joe had the address for a warehouse in his case notes. Do you think that’s where they’ve taken him?”

“I think it’s likely.”

“Then we need to go.”

Angelo grabbed my arm.

“I know you’re eager to find him,” Giorgio said, “but we have to approach this carefully.”

“The longer we wait, the less chance there is of finding Joe alive.” I knew we needed to think this through, but my instincts told me Joe needed me now.

“They won’t kill him before they get you.” Giorgio said. “He’s their leverage.”

“What do they want from us?” Lucien asked.

“I’m not sure if their goal is to turn you or to destroy you,” X said. “They’re opportunistic enough that their goals might shift from moment to moment. They’ll do anything to gain information and power. The more powerful people they can pull into their organization, the happier they are.”

“This isn’t just about trafficking, is it?”

“No, it’s much broader than that.”

Lucien’s phone beeped, and he looked down. “I’ve received schematics for the building and everything we need to plan a raid. We have video confirmation of a man fitting Daniels description being brought into the warehouse early this morning.”

Emilio had come through quickly. He’d been the one to initially connect me with Giorgio. Had he gotten information from X? “Was the man you saw okay?”

Lucien glanced at me, then back down at his phone. “Unconscious but presumed alive.”

I zoned out for a moment as I imagined tearing apart anyone who’d hurt Joe. When I could focus again, X was explaining that we needed to take out Swain if at all possible. Lucien was communicating with Emilio, who was working on piecing together Swain’s whereabouts for the last day.

“I don’t want to wait. We need to get Joe out now,” I said. “If I have to, I’ll do it alone.”

“No,” Lucien and X said at the same time.

“Don’t worry,” Giorgio said. “I’ll keep Devil from rushing in before the rest of us are ready. If I need to, I’ll just shoot him.”

I glared at Giorgio, and he grinned. “We’re all going to survive this. You, Joe, and most importantly, me.”

I knew Giorgio was trying to get my focus off the danger Joe was in. If he were actually that selfish, he wouldn’t be part of Vigilance.

“Swain needs to be our main target,” X said. “His isn’t an organization based on loyalty. It’s not like your family. If we take out the leader, whatever other men are at the location might walk away. There’s nothing this group believes in besides power. Unless they’re convinced Swain is stronger than anyone else they can ally themselves with, they won’t care about anything but making it out alive.”

While we waited for more information on Swain, Lucien brought up a diagram of the building on the screen in the conference room. It would be dark once we got there, but Giorgio was providing us with infrared goggles.

I didn’t think I’d ever used as much patience as I did that afternoon. By the time our plan was solid, we’d found out that Swain had been at the warehouse earlier in the day soon after Joe had been brought there. It was likely he’d been there to question Joe. I could only pray he’d left him alive. Emilio had eyes on Swain’s car, and he seemed to be heading toward the docks. I hoped that meant he planned to visit the warehouse because I wasn’t willing to wait long to see if he showed up before we went in to find Joe.

When we got to the warehouse, I waited in one of the cars with Lucien while Giorgio, Angelo, and the other men who’d accompanied us got into place.

I watched Giorgio as he walked away from the car, but even knowing the path he was taking, I couldn’t see him in the dark. He literally became a shadow. If we survived this, I was going to make him teach me how to do that.

A few moments later, he let us know he was in place on the roof of the neighboring building. Angelo confirmed that everyone else was at their stations. Using the infrared goggles, Angelo could see a man lying on the floor in one of the back rooms. Was it Joe?

“I want to go in.”

Lucien clamped a hand on my shoulder. “Hang on a few more minutes.”

“Could you if it were Peter?”

Lucien sighed. “I don’t know.”

Giorgio’s voice crackled in my ear. “I’ve got eyes on Swain. His car is a block away. As soon as he enters the building, I’m taking a shot.”

30

Joe

The sound of the door rattling woke me. At first, I didn’t remember where I was, then suddenly it came back to me. I’d been desperately trying to work through the zip tie binding my wrists, but the scissors I’d been using were dull. The pain in my wrist had been too much. That combined with my headache, thirst, and hunger, finally made me pass out. I tried to wake myself a few times and force myself to try again, but I was too weak. I had no idea how long I’d been there. The room didn’t have any windows, but earlier there’d been a bit of light showing under the door. Now there was none.