Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“You know why.” Santoro’s blinking away tears. “We have to end this, my old friend. You were everything to me, but we can’t keep killing each other because of what happened all those years ago. That’s why I attacked the oasis. That’s why I tried to destroy the one place where I’ve ever truly felt at home. You have to understand.”
“I do understand.” Dad wipes his tears away. “The moment those trucks rolled onto my street and began shooting at my homes, I knew the man I loved was finally gone.”
Santoro flinches. He looks truly agonized. For a moment, I think he’s going to reach out and touch my father, and I take a step forward. But instead, he looks over at Moretti.
“It’s time,” he says.
Moretti stands up like he only just remembered that he has a part to play in this. “Let’s get it done then.” He raises his gun and aims it at Dad’s head.
Nobody moves. The warehouse is quiet.
I open my mouth to scream for them to stop. Where is Brody? Where is Captain Kennedy? This place should be swarming with police right now.
That was the deal: get Santoro in this room, get him talking, get him on tape admitting that he played a part in the oasis shooting. The wire Dad’s wearing got enough.
But nobody’s coming and Dad’s about to die.
Chapter 46
Brody
The place is swarming with Santoro’s soldiers. There are at least a dozen of them, and I have to go slowly and silently to avoid tipping my hand. That means it takes me forever. I take down one guard after the next, moving methodically from position to position, all the while distinctly aware that Elena is down in that warehouse and in serious danger. If I fuck up, she might get hurt.
She could get killed.
I work harder. I strangle one soldier, my arms wrapped around his neck, his throat crushed so tight he can’t make a sound as he turns blue and passes out. I dump his body in some bushes. My watch says I’m ten minutes late, which is bad, but when I lift my head, I catch a signal from Captain Kennedy.
Coast is clear.
I signal him back using a small mirror to reflect the sunlight. Moving in. The next phase of the plan. I rush around the exterior of the warehouse and find the door Santoro and Moretti used to get inside and I follow in their wake, moving as quietly as I can. Each step is an eternity. Each second stabs a new spear into my guts. Anxiety crawls over me like mortal wounds. I have to get inside and Elena has to be okay, because I can’t live with myself if she’s not.
Voices echo across the cavernous warehouse floor. Boxes and crates are stacked haphazardly and I wonder who the hell decided this disorganized mess was the best way to unload those trucks. But logistics won’t matter now.
I step into a clearing and find Luciano Santoro standing face to face with Alessandro Bianco.
Luca Moretti has a gun pointed at Alessandro’s head.
And there she is. Elena’s standing twenty feet behind her father near a cluster of boxes, her face drained of color, fear dancing across her face as she creeps toward the pair of them. I want to scream at her to stop. Moretti’s gun doesn’t waver from her father’s head and it feels like this is all going wrong. This isn’t what I expected to find.
“I promise, we’ll make it quick,” Santoro’s saying. He’s only got eyes for Alessandro. The two old men make a strange pair, but I can see how they might’ve been formidable in their youth. Tall, broad, strong. Now they’re both shadows. “You were good to me before it all went wrong. I never forgot that.”
Alessandro’s smiling. It’s a strange, yearning smile, and he’s got tears rolling down his face. “I never stopped loving you. Right up until you tried to rip my home to pieces.”
“I know. But it wasn’t enough.” Santoro gestures at Moretti. “Alright, Luca. You got your show. End him and let’s be done with this.”
I storm forward toward them and my voice cracks out like a sledgehammer. “Stop,” I say and everyone turns to stare at me.
Elena looks horrified and on the edge of panic. Her father only seems disappointed. While Santoro is confused.
“What the hell are you doing here, Quinn?” he asks then gestures at Moretti. “Pull the fucking trigger then we’ll deal with him when we’re done.”
But instead of murdering Alessandro Bianco, Moretti slowly turns the gun on Santoro. “Actually, about that,” he says, sounding almost bored. “I got a better offer. Luciano Santoro, you’re under arrest.”
Santoro looks confused at first. The old man stares at the weapon aimed at his face. Then rage smears his face as he looks back at me. “You did this,” he hisses and starts to back away. “I won’t go to prison. I fucking won’t. I can’t die in there, behind bars, fuck that.”