He laughed, tossing the brick back into the crate. “We all have past moments we aren’t proud of. But God, were they fun.”
“Let’s get a few pictures and finish up. I’d love to make it back to the safehouse before the sun hits the streets.”
That was only remotely possible if one of our own’s intel was correct. Bruno wasn’t the brightest guy in the world. He’d been easy enough to find, our resident criminal member Mikey taking the lead on acting as a private investigator. I was very surprised the guy had come through with some glossy photos as well as the man’s address for where he crashed at night.
Unfortunately for him, Bruno was using again, which made him that much more dangerous.
There had to be over twenty million dollars’ worth of drugs inside the warehouse. Perhaps more. A small pittance for what Delgado had put the city of Miami and members of the judicial system through.
Once outside, Gabriel grinned. “Ready to go, boss.”
Looking down, I instantly burst into laughter. “Dynamite? Really? I could have managed that and I’m no self-proclaimed explosives expert.”
“Hey, I didn’t have very long to put this together. Next time I’ll have better equipment.”
“You’re assuming there will be a next time.”
As he pulled out his lighter, all I could do was hang my head. At least we were getting the job done. “There will be. There will always be assholes allowed to get away with breaking the law.”
I walked toward the vehicles, eager to hunt down Bruno. We were all piled into the car and a good hundred yards away before the explosion. While it would send a direct warning to Delgado, I estimated we had about an hour before he was notified given the clandestine location of the facility.
But we needed to hurry.
As I flexed my hand around the steering wheel, the pain and swelling were a good reminder of the lengths I was willing to go to protect innocent victims.
And the woman I loved.
Another stop.
Another mission.
Another lavish location in the heart of Miami.
Bruno Carvelli couldn’t manage to stay clean. He’d been involved in petty crimes over the years, but in going to work with Delgado, he’d managed to find himself moving up in the world. From what our sources had been able to discover, he’d expanded Delgado’s business in New Orleans. While he hadn’t been party to what Valentina had initially endured with the Undertaker’s sloppy murder, he certainly hadn’t taken it upon himself to warn her about the impending danger until it had almost been too late.
Maybe he’d had an attack of conscience. Or maybe he’d thought about his little girl growing up in the foster system if anything happened to Valentina. Certainly, no court in the land would allow him to obtain custody of Bella. Or so I still wanted to believe. Whatever the case, because he’d had a single act of decency, I’d allow him to live.
The condo was in a secure, guarded building, but that didn’t stop us from entering with ease. There wasn’t a man on this earth who couldn’t be bribed into silence for the right price. In this case, three crisp hundred-dollar bills had the guard looking the other way.
The others piled into the elevator while I jogged up the ten flights of stairs. I needed to work off some steam.
Maverick laughed when I fell into step behind them immediately after they stepped off the elevator. “You’re still in shape, old man.”
I yanked off my mask before answering. So did the others. Bruno needed to see who we were to help him made good decisions.
“Old man? You must be talking about yourself.” I glanced from one side of the hall to the other. We’d taken too much time, which pissed me off. I wasn’t in the mood to wait until the lock was picked. I was exhausted and eager to return to Valentina.
So I kicked in the door.
Gabriel chuckled from behind me, but I had a feeling the others knew to leave me alone at this point. I was far too much in the same zone I’d found useful when completing a mission in the Marines. Get ‘er done at whatever cost.
I’d expected to find Bruno with a needle stuck in his arm, not in the shower. At least by finding him somewhat lucid, our conversation would be that much more productive.
As soon as I jerked back the shower curtain, he automatically reached for his weapon he had on a shelf.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
Gabriel leaned over me, grabbing Bruno’s Glock.
