“Massimo. He’s our leak to Giambrone.”
“Shit. That motherfucking”—he slammed his foot against the barrier— “no good…crap-sucking—”
“We get the point.” I held him by the shoulder. “No matter what, we’re getting them back tonight.”
“Where are they? What’s the plan?”
I sighed. “You’re not going to like it.”
“Just give it to me straight.”
I stole his lighter off him, flipped it in the air, and caught it. “Giambrone’s no idiot. He won’t let his daughter’s death go unpunished, no matter how coldhearted the bastard is. He also knows anything I sign over is merely a courtesy since he has no foothold here. Not unless he eliminates me.”
“So?”
“We’ll play his game. He wants to light my world on fire and let me burn with it.” I flicked his lighter on. “But for that, I need to be there to watch. Lou and Ainsley will be safe until I get there. Which means the instant we’ve got a location, I want every man we’ve got on it, and they shoot down anyone who’s not Lou or Ainsley.”
“You’re betting everything on that?”
“With only a little over one hour ticking, we don’t have a choice. I told you you wouldn’t like it.”
“You’re right. I don’t.”
Chapter 46
MassimoandAlfieweren’tparticularly discreet as they drove, which meant one of two things. Either they didn’t think I’d make it out alive, or it didn’t matter if I knew. Both options were possible. Alfie warned Massimo not to trust Giambrone too much. Massimo bitched about being sick of begging for scraps and how finally someone realized the asset he was. Based on that information and what I knew of Massimo, it was easy enough to deduce what was going on.
The problem was neither of them mentioned Lou again. At first, with my mouth duct-taped, I grumbled muted incomprehensible babble, begging for information. That earned me a nick on my knee from Massimo’s bowie knife the first time he told me to shut it, and a small gash on my forearm the second time. The third time, he vaulted around in his front seat and pressed the knife to my throat.
“We need you alive. Not in one piece.” The car bounded over a dip in the road, and the blade bit into my skin. My breath hitched from the sting. “Keep this up, and I’ll start taking you apart bit by bit, starting with your eyes. You got me?”
I nodded stiffly, and Massimo sat back in his seat. Hot blood trickled down my arm to my lap and wet the collar of my shirt near my neck.
After that, I stayed quiet. I didn’t move. I didn’t attract their attention at all. I regulated my breathing and reined in my emotions. I focused on what I could control, such as carefully sawing the scalpel blade through the tape.
As expected, both Massimo and Alfie got bored with me quickly. They stopped checking on me after the first few miles of silence down the freeway. Alfie tossed me the occasional glance in the rearview mirror, but the further we went and the longer I remained inconspicuous, the less he glimpsed back.
There didn’t seem to be any purpose to where we were headed. For a while, we went east, crossing the Bay, then north past Berkeley, before backtracking and continuing south to Fremont. It wasn’t until Massimo got a call that they seemed to have a destination in mind. By that point, I was banking on the fact that their photo of Lou was an edited montage made solely to lure me in.
My nose itched from their constant smoking. When they made a pit stop at a drive-through, the smell of greasy burgers and fries made the ashtray reek worse. Paper bags and wrappers crackled as they gobbled down their food. They didn’t offer me any, not that I had the stomach for it. They didn’t even taunt me with it. I was just baggage to them—harmless, mindless baggage. It was better that way.
By sunset, my stomach was growling, my legs and arms were cramping, and I wished there was water to wash the taste of duct tape from my tongue. The bindings around my arms and legs had long ago been cut. The tape was peeled off my mouth enough for me to move my lips. All the while, the two jerkwads up front remained blissfully unaware, prattling off about their business plans, possible ways Giambrone might deal with Renzo—nonevery creative—or random current events I couldn’t give a rat’s tush about.
As we drove up some hills with scattered shadows of evergreens that turned into a forest of redwoods, the car slowed to a crawling twenty-five miles per hour. If I was going to escape and make a jump for it, this was it. I bit my lips, peeking out the window. A shiver went down my bare arms. The blare of our headlights showed pine needles and leaves covering the thin road shoulder, but beyond that, there were constant trees, with the occasional drop-off. Not ideal at all.
To my surprise, a minuscule version of the Golden Gate Bridge cropped out in the distance under the last vestiges of daylight. It was exactly what I needed to build up my courage. We weren’t that far from home, and night was falling fast. They’d have a hard time finding my trace this way. With a deep breath, I quietly unclicked my seatbelt and scooted little by little to the passenger door.
“Remember, we’re in control here,” Massimo said, racking the slide of his gun. “They’re not getting her.”
“What’ll Giambrone think, boss?” Alfie questioned. “He told us to hand her over.”
“He respects power. We need to show his men that we won’t be walked on. We’ll establish ourselves right away. Lou gets in with us, or nobody’s going anywhere. We’re not doing this for them to fuck with us.”
I froze, mid-pull on the door handle. So, they did have Lou. My thoughts raced by, like the scenery. What about Boyan? How did they get her? My hand shook against the door. My breath stuttered out. Was she hurt? A rush of nausea hit me because I had almost left her behind. Cautiously, I sat back in position, clipping the seatbelt back in place just in time.
They turned onto a small offshoot road, slowing down further. The tires ground over rocks. The car rocked from side to side down the dirt road.
“There they are.” Massimo signaled after about a minute of driving.
