Lucca, Tullio, and Santino, three of the family’s foot soldiers, were inside.
“What the hell is going on?” Lucca asked, his eyes wide and fearful.
“That’s what we’re going to find out,” I said as I grabbed a walkie-talkie charging on one of the shelves. “This is Rachel – does anyone have eyes on the scene? Over.”
The walkie-talkie crackled, and a voice said,“This is Mazzi out in the garage. Five helicopters are circling the house. I think they’re firing missiles out of their side doors. Over.”
“Are they military helicopters?” I asked. “Over.”
“No, they look like civilian copters, but there are soldiers inside – OH, GOD!”
There was a distant explosion –
And Mazzi’s radio cut to static.
One of the choppers must have hit the garage.
“Shit,” I growled, then turned to the three foot soldiers. “I have to ask you to do something extremely dangerous, but Ineedyou to do it, or every single person in this house is going to die.”
All three men looked at me in terror.
“What?” Santino asked in a trembling voice.
I passed each of them an M4 rifle and a duffel bag full of loaded magazines. “I need you to get to the roof and engagethose choppers. You’re not trying to bring them down – you’re just trying todistractthem.”
“What happens if they shoot missiles at us?” Tullio asked.
“Stay near the doorways to the third floor. Get back down the stairs if you see them start to aim.”
“And if wecan’tget down the stairs in time?”
“Then take as many sons of bitches with you as you can.”
“What’re YOU gonna do?!” Santino asked.
I grabbed a suppressed Heckler & Koch M110A1 from its mount on the wall, plus a small knapsack filled with explosive-tipped bullets.
It was the exact same type of gun and ammunition that I’d used when I’d tried to kill Dario months before.
I just hoped I was a lot more successfulthistime.
“I’m going to go take out some fucking helicopters,” I said before I ran out of the room.
115
Niccolo
The Mansion
I’d recovered my wits by the time Valentino came rushing out of the kitchen with Caterina.
“What the fuck is going on?!” he yelled.
“Helicopter attack. We have to get to the tunnel.”
“No – I’m staying and fighting – ”
“Rachel’s meeting us in the tunnel. She’s got a plan. Where’s Roberto?”
