“No, Eian, wait.” I only stop because he calls me by my name. “What’s going on?”
I hesitate for a second only.
“We just got a tip that the Di Leos might have him, so we’re gonna go save this special lookout of yours.”
I watch again as all color leaves his face.
“You have to find him, Eian. He’s an innocent.”
And that’s all the fuel I need.
3
EIAN
“Get the parabolic microphone,” I tell Mac as soon as Rory parks the SUV.
We’re one block away from the warehouse, but it’s in our line of sight, and I know we need to get ears in there before we do anything.
I need to find out if they even have this Colby.
It takes Mac only a couple of minutes, but then the sharp voice of a man comes through.
“Stop fucking lying,” he shouts, and the sound of a punch then a grunt follows. “Who do you work for?”
“No one,” a raspy voice answers, but it’s clearly a man. “Please, just tell me what time it is.”
Rory looks at me, confusion all over her face, and I don’tblame her. In all my years of experience ininterrogation, no one has ever asked me what time it is.
“Why did he ask about the time?” Mac mumbles to himself from the back seat.
I grunt in reply because of course we don’t know. All we know about whoever this man is, is that he’s made sure Rory, Mac, and on occasion Blake, have gotten home alive, so I owe it to him to save him. Otherwise?—
“He’s probably asking because of something to do with his daughter. Duffy did say he has a daughter, right?”
“That’s true,” Rory mumbles.
“Why?” Another voice comes through the speaker. “Is your pal coming to pick you up?” I recognize that voice. It’s hard to miss decades of smoking, and Di Leo—Enzo Sr—has a very distinctive voice.
“I don’t have any friends.” The raspy voice sounds tired now. The sadness is hard to miss, though, and my heart squeezes at that. I haven’t lost all my emotions to this life no matter how hard I’ve tried—I’m not gonna let any but anger and rage ever control my actions again, though. That ship sailed when I was fourteen.
“I’m done with this bullshit. You two make sure no one’s looking for this rat. Have a good night,” Di Leo says, and finishes with a mocking tone that puts me on edge.
“Go lock up, Tony,” the man from before says.
“I knew one of you was named Tony.” Since the last word is barely audible, I suspect Colby—if he even is Colby—is just about to pass out, or has already passed out.
I grab the binoculars and see Di Leo exit the warehouse, then another man comes jogging out. They talk for a minute, and then Di Leo gets in his car—I make a mental note of the licence plates—and the other man goes back inside.
“Let’s do this,” I mumble.
Rory turns on the car as soon as Di Leo drives off, and as she drives slowly, I take the bulletproof vest from Mac then check my two guns.
We have to wait for Rory to get ready as well, and then we head for the door.
I try it but of courseTonydid lock up, so I make room for Mac to take care of that, and when he’s done picking the lock, we move in.
Our steps silent, we move methodically through the isles between crates to the back where only one door is closed.
