"No time. Backup means coordinating, planning, waiting. Elena doesn't have that time." I meet his eyes. "I know you want this done strategically. But every instinct I have is screaming that we need to move. Now."
Vito studies me. Then nods slowly. "Take the earpieces. Stay in contact. Rafa will monitor from here and guide you through the building layout."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. Just bring her home." He looks at Elio with disgust. "And make sure he's useful, or put a bullet in him."
Twenty minutes later, Dante and I are geared up in an SUV with Elio zip-tied in the back. The drive to the East River warehouse district is tense.
"You think she's okay?" Dante asks quietly.
"She has to be." Because the alternative isn't something I can process right now.
We park a block away from the target warehouse. Rafa's voice crackles through our earpieces. "Thermal shows approximately twelve heat signatures. Four outside perimeter, rest scattered inside on two floors."
"Copy that," I respond.
Dante and I are dressed in all black with bulletproof vests and multiple weapons. Elio sits in the backseat, his eyes wide with fear despite the bruises already forming on his face.
"Please," he whimpers. "They'll kill me."
"Then you better hope they want you alive enough to trade for your daughter," I say coldly, hauling him out of the vehicle.
We move through the shadows toward the warehouse. The structure looms ahead—old brick, broken windows, the smell of rust and river water.
"Two guards at nine o'clock," Dante whispers.
I nod. We move in sync, silencers raised. Two shots. Both guards drop.
"Nice shot with one arm," I murmur.
"Told you I'm good."
We take out the remaining perimeter guards efficiently. Four down. Eight to go.
At the entrance, we position Elio in front of us like a human shield. "You're going to knock on that door," I tell him. "And when they open it, you're going to tell them you've come to make a trade."
"They'll shoot me the moment they see me?—"
"Then talk fast." I shove him forward.
Elio knocks with a shaking fist. The door creaks open. A man peers out, sees Elio, and his eyes widen.
"I'm here to trade," Elio says quickly. "Me for my daughter. That was the deal."
The man hesitates, then opens the door wider. "Boss is going to want to see this. Come in."
We push Elio through, following close behind. The moment we're inside, Dante and I raise our weapons.
The guard reaches for his gun but I'm faster. He drops.
"Move," I tell Elio. "Where would they keep prisoners?"
"I don't know! I've never been here!"
"Basement level," Rafa's voice comes through. "Thermal shows a single heat signature isolated in the basement. Southeast corner."
"That's her," Dante says.
