Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 49215 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 246(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49215 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 246(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
I nodded and turned to Greer. “Before he took a civilian job as a personal driver to some rich suit in Boston, he was Hillcroft’s top man for handling arms dealers in the Middle East. He has connections every-fucking-where.”
Mathis chuckled and took a swig of his water.
Coach glanced over at me. “How would you describe me?”
“You’re Darius Quinn if he knew how to operate a laptop,” I replied flatly.
At least I made Danny, Elliott, and Mathis laugh.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Coach said. “Now, if I could just hold on to a woman like he does his hubby…”
“If you figure that out, let me know,” Elliott chuckled.
“I have words I wanna say to you right now, but I’m not going to,” I told him. “We’ll save that for the barbecue when all this is over.”
He narrowed his eyes at me but said nothing.
Sweet cheeks.
Emerson got us back on track. “Okay, we have our delivery team—Reese, Danny, and Joel. I want to put Elliott in charge of the sector two entrance for the rest of you, and that includes Greer, Cullen, Mathis, and River.”
“And me,” Coach announced, to my surprise. I’d thought he was staying back. “We only need one man staying behind, and that’s you, Em. We’ll have you in our ears, and you can tell us what Willow is doing.” He turned to me next. “I’ll give you the second phone.”
I inclined my head.
“I’ll take the lead with River,” Elliott said.
“We’ll have your backs,” Greer added with a nod.
“Keep in mind we’re not doing a bloody thing until Mercier gives the go-ahead,” Emerson reminded us. “We have to be on the same page before anyone pulls a trigger.”
We had our plan.
I couldn’t wait to see it fall apart.
CHAPTER 5
Crew Finlay
2023
The moment I closed the bathroom door, I hauled out my phone and started typing. Street address, exact time, cues, how many minutes they had.
…access to the alley from rooftop, two stories, driver will be gone for 5 minutes TOPS. Four trucks, go with the blue one, all three of you in the same truck, DO NOT SPLIT UP. Only the blue truck is hedding for main villa. When you arive and they open the back, wait for signal, either a woman will whissle or I will be there. Move out fast, go left into side building, second door, it will be open, it’s a storage unit for dry goods. Wait there.
Assuming you will try to have the others enter too, make sure they wait till tonight. Everyone will be scattered earlier in the day. dinner brings everyone together on the patio restricted for family and higher-ups. Adrien and I are invited to join them there tonight. And now I really want an update from you! we have zero protection in here, only two handguns, one satphone. what do you want us to do?
I released a breath and sent the message, then took a quick leak while I waited.
I was operating on another sleepless night. Both Adrien and I had turned and twisted and talked about all the shit we didn’t know.
As I washed my hands, the man they called Coach responded.
Team will be in position by then. Thanks, kid. What we want you to do? Can you perform miracles? Can you make the children disappear as much as possible?
“Fuck,” I whispered.
Logically, I’d known this was coming. I just didn’t know how we could succeed. Luca Blanco, whom I’d only seen from afar, kept a handful of grandchildren and great-grandchildren close most of the time.
I replied to the message.
If we cant? The youngest kids go to bed around midnight. after that, youll still have a dozen or so preteens and older clinging to their parents or running around with friends. the entertainment area is a circus all night.
Adrien had revealed his only option, and that was when Luca got his dialysis or whatever it was called. He had a machine he hooked himself to every single night, starting at around three in the morning, ’cause these motherfuckers stayed up late. But around three, Luca was escorted to a private area off the family patio, like a luxurious little bungalow, where a nurse assisted him. It was the one component in his routine that didn’t include kids. Then he was returned in a wheelchair to the patio for another drink or two, until he was taken back to his estate. And that was a golf cart ride away from the entertainment structure. Adrien and I hadn’t come close to the actual estate. We’d been given a guest villa somewhere in the middle, and there were several of them, some bigger than the rest. This…big-ass summer residence was the one location where they all got together once a year. Otherwise, sons, nieces, nephews, spouses, grandchildren, close affiliates, and staff were spread across the entire country.