“Thanks, bro. I need this,” I reply, taking a coffee from the tray before I set it all down on the small table.
“Go ahead,” he tells Luke and Nick. They both look at the men standing around them. It’s obvious that Luke wants to say something but is holding back.
“Spill it,” I urge. “If you’ve got something to say, now is the time.”
“Please don’t hurt my son. If anyone is to blame for getting them into this mess, it’s me. I don’t care what happens to me, but let Nick go back to his mother and brothers,” Luke pleads.
Falcon speaks up. “No one dies today except Atilio. Wire checked out your story. You are in financial trouble, and you trusted the wrong man. For all the shitty crimes you did for him, the one thing you didn’t do was kill anyone.” He nods toward Nick. “We don’t kill innocent people. Nick is safe if he keeps his mouth shut. As for you, it all depends on whether you help us take down your brother. Atilio’s not going to stop until we make him, and we refuse to let Maria live in fear for the rest of her life.”
“You don’t understand the severity of what you did when you exposed this woman to your brother. She means nothing to Atilio, or Vito, for that matter. She is collateral damage, and neither of them gives a shit if she lives or dies. That doesn’t sit right with us,” Phoenix says.
“What are you guys? Undercover FBI or something?” Nick asks, his gaze flitting between us.
“We’re either your worst nightmare or your best friends. That really depends on how you want this to play out,” Rebel responds.
“I’ll help you any way I can,” Luke says. “I never thought my own brother would hurt my son.” He puts his arm around Nick and lowers his head. “Everything is falling apart, and I don’t know how to fix it. Don was right to get away from Atilio. They fought like cats and dogs. He’s the youngest brother, and he was smarter than the rest of us. He disappeared and wanted nothing to do with us.”
“You can’t dwell on that. When this is over, I suggest you sit your family down and figure out your next move,” I say. “Right now, we need to get our plan underway.”
Falcon outlines the plan for the team. We discuss all the possible problems that might arise and where each of us needs to be to pull this off. The plan is to capture Atilio and hand him over to Vito with enough evidence in hand to make it look like he killed Maria and his unknown son. For that to happen, Vic is arranging a graphic murder scene and taking photos to be delivered to Vito Di Mille at the same time that Atilio is brought to his door.
It’s the idea I had written on the paper I handed to Falcon earlier, and he went with it. Once we’re home, a new identity will have to be created for Maria and Franco. They might lose their names, but in the end, they’ll be safe, and no one will be looking for them.
“We could really use another man right here.” Rebel points to a point of the schematic design of the roadway. There is an alley that would be the likely place for Atilio to make a run for it. Having a man inside that alley would make the job easier. Unfortunately, I need computer access to control the traffic lights. Bull is making sure there’s a truck stalled so Atilio’s driver has to detour around it. Rebel and Phoenix are following behind to make sure he stays on course, which only leaves Falcon to blow out the tires of Atilio’s car to force him to make a run for it.
“I can help,” Nick volunteers, eagerly offering his services while his father gasps and sputters his refusal.
“No, Nick! That’s madness,” Luke exclaims.
Nick begins to protest, but Falcon cuts him off. “I appreciate the offer, but your father’s right. This team is highly trained, and you’re not. If you hesitate for even a moment, it could cost any one of us our lives. You’ll be in the SUV with Wire,” he answers before turning to us, then adds, “We’ll have to make it work.”
“It’s Team Storm all the way,” Rebel says, placing a hand on the shoulders of Bull and Phoenix, who are standing on either side of him. Bull follows suit and gives me a brotherly pat on my back.
“Team Storm,” Bull declares with a grin.
I loop an arm around Falcon’s shoulders. “Always together,” I say. Falcon gives us a nod, but his face remains serious as it always does when he’s on a mission.
Chapter 20
Look Who Decided to Join the Party
Wire
Seeing that Sutton is a small town, our plan needs to happen after the sun goes down. That leaves us most of the day to get what we need in place. The initial plan was to infiltrate Atilio at home, but no matter what's going on with his wife and kid, we don’t want them involved in this. From what I understand, his wife would have left him long ago if it weren’t for her daughter. Atilio had made it plain that if his wife tried anything, their daughter would disappear, never to be seen again by his wife.
We need a truck that will just happen to be stalled on the main road leading to the garage. This will force Atilio’s driver to take the secondary route. I’ll manipulate the traffic lights to coincide with the team’s readiness to strike.
Meanwhile, back home, Vic has staged a scene and is taking photos of a very dead-looking Maria and Franco. They told the little guy it was a Halloween prank they were going to play on the rest of us, and then they’d pop out and surprise us. At first, Franco thought this was a mean trick, but they managed to convince him otherwise. Franco’s a little kid with a big heart, which makes this mission even more important.
Bull and Rebel have seen to the guns and ammo necessary. Falcon and Phoenix have gone out to check every inch of the site to make sure we don’t have any unnecessary surprises. There could be a homeless person using the alley as their refuge, and the last thing we want is witnesses or, worse, casualties. I have been working on tapping into Vito’s emails and replicating Atilio’s messages. I send sinister notes under Atilio’s name. This isn’t far-fetched, seeing as Atilio’s been openly badmouthing Vito. I’m surprised that Vito hasn’t struck back, but then again, he probably wouldn’t waste his time on someone as unimportant as Atilio. Unfortunately, Atilio thinks highly of himself when others don’t even have him on their radar.
Luke is practicing his part. He’ll be the one calling Atilio to offer a deal. Luke needs to convince Atilio to go to the garage himself. Atilio doesn’t like to get his hands dirty, and his bodyguard does the grunt work, which means Phoenix is going to be watching Atilio’s house and making sure he gets in the car, or else this plan is doomed from the start.
“One more time, Luke,” I tell him. Luke’s voice is still shaky, but that could work in our favor. He’s worried about his family’s safety, and Atilio is out looking for them.
“It’s time we put an end to this. I have the information you want, but in return, I want your assurance that my family remains safe. Come to the shop. I’ll hand you the address, I’ll walk away, and you won’t see or hear from us again. Our relationship is over. Take the restaurant and the shop, I just want my family away from all this.” Luke repeats the words again.
“What if he doesn’t come?” Nick asks.
