“Too late for that,” Murph, Hudson, and Jagger stated. Her jaw dropped as she stared at the three of them.
“Don’t look so shocked, boss lady. We had bets on how long they could resist your beauty and that body of yours,” one of the waitresses stated.
“Great. Thanks a lot,” she replied as her cell phone rang.
“Who is that?” Jagger asked.
“It’s Kaitlin. She’s just checking in. I’m going to take it in here,” Adelina said as Jagger nodded before she went into the room behind the bar.
“Hey, sis, how’s it going? Is everything okay?” Adelina asked.
“Oh, God, Adelina. Oh God, they’re going to kill us,” Kaitlin cried. Adelina felt her heart race and the panic feeling hit her chest.
“What is it? What’s wrong? Is someone there? Where are the guards?”
“Dead, and your sister and your nephew are next if you don’t find a way out of The Phantom alone. We know you have guards watching you. We know that they figured out the boss’s plan. You come alone, ditch the feds and the cops, or they both die.”
Adelina knew that Sergio was serious. The moment he spoke she knew it was him and defeat instantly consumed her. Even with high-tech security guys, Raymond succeeded in capturing her sister and nephew. She needed to find a way out of here.
“Where do I go?” she asked as she reached for the handle of the door that led upstairs. There were a series of exits that led out from the building. She would have to be quick.
The sound of her sister’s voice and the fear in it got her to move quickly. Before she ran up the small, narrow set of stairs, she locked the door and the dead bolt. That would give her a little more time once the men realized she had gone. Jett and Flynn were going to be upset, but as soon as she knew her sister and Bryer were safe, she would send them a message. They would find them and they would catch Raymond.
* * * *
Flynn was losing patience with his uncle. Both him and Jett insisted that Cash and Zane stay in the room and hear the details as of how their uncle knew Raymond, aka Raul. But he was a stubborn, cocky Italian mobster. He didn’t like to be told what to do. He sure as shit didn’t like feeling vulnerable. Well, join the fucking club.
“Listen, I don’t give a shit about what illegal activity you were involved in. I just want to know if this is the same guy. If it is Raul, then he decided to go after you first and for a reason. You did something to piss him off. Jett and I already know what we did to piss him off,” Flynn stated.
“What did you do?” Uncle Vick asked.
“We took out his boss’s entire drug-manufacturing operation in Columbia. But we’re not at liberty to discuss the full details.”
“So he found out that you’re my nephews and now he wants you dead?”
“That’s the gist of it, Uncle Vick. So is Raymond actually Raul?” Jett asked.
Flynn’s uncle was silent.
“He killed two other federal agents. Friends of ours who were on that mission with us. Please, he wants to hurt Adelina. He already got his hands on her once. We can’t let that happen again,” Flynn told him.
“Adelina was hurt by him? He touched her? What happened?”
Cash explained as Flynn became more frustrated.
He stared at their uncle.
“It’s him. Raymond and Raul are one in the same. We were involved in a similar operation like you, except to make money and sell the drugs. Things went badly. I took over and basically stole the shit out from underneath Raymond. End of story. He’s been seeking revenge since. But I don’t understand who this other guy is. This Margliado, who suddenly wants to own all our properties and investments. Who the fuck is this guy? He sure as shit doesn’t know how we do it old school. Dumb fuck.”
“Uncle Vick, they’re one in the same. Raymond is Margliado.”
Their uncle’s eyes widened. “Then the news I just got in before you arrived may help you. Carlo, come in here. Tell my nephews about the shipment.”
Carlo entered, stared at their uncle a moment, and Uncle Vick waved his hands in the air. “Go ahead and tell them. They can hear. It’s not our deal. This guy is fucking crazy.”
“Tell us what you know.”
“There’s a shipment going out tonight. It’s already loaded on a barge. They’re going to stop en route and transfer the product to a large ship that’s supposed to be having engine trouble. That’s why the barge is needed. You know, to push the boat. Anyway, it’s a don