by Hart, Gemma
And there were no jobs to keep myself preoccupied either. The collapse of the Juarez Family has rocked much of the criminal underworld. Everybody was playing close to the cuff and nobody was making any big moves. They didn’t want to be caught up in the sweep.
I leaned back in the deep leather chair in the den.
With nothing much to do at the moment, many of the Desmond Mafia men found themselves bored.
A few of them were gathered in the den. Some were smoking cigars. Another few were playing an informal game of cards. And others were staring vacantly into their phones.
I leaned back and closed my eyes. At least with some noise around, I could be distracted from my thoughts. The grunts and sporadic good natured cursing was hardly the best distraction but I would take whatever was at hand.
I don’t know how much time passed before I heard a voice above me intone, “Sir.”
I opened one eye. Above me stood one of the newer recruits. I could tell he was new just by how nervous he was to be standing in front of me. His round face, still boyish, was pale and clammy as he clearly tried to wrestle with the decision to meet my gaze or not.
“What is it?” I asked.
The newbie handed me a folded note. “I was told to give this to you,” he said. He gulped and then added hastily, as if he had forgotten a huge piece of protocol, “Sir!”
I took the note and then raised a brow in dry amusement at the kid. “At ease, soldier,” I said dryly. Some of the men nearer by laughed at the nervous recruit.
I opened the note with curiosity. Rarely did anyone in this compound send notes. This was the 21st century after all. We had phones. Email. Willing men to carry the message verbally, if need be.
Opening the note, I quickly read the contents. My knuckles whitened with each passing word.
Haven’t you missed that sweet little piece of yours? You only gave her that one visit. And it didn’t seem long enough to even get your cock wet.
Well as a favor, I’ve got her with me. Thought it would be a nice surprise for you. Why don’t you come meet us? You know where.
Be quick. You know how quickly I get tired of babysitting.
I immediately lunged forward and grabbed the arm of the kid that had brought me the note. He gave a cry of alarm as I yanked him towards me.
“When did you get this fucking note?” I hissed. I could tell right away by the thin crawling handwriting that it was Roy. No doubt in my mind. But I just couldn’t believe that he would do something so fucking reckless.
She was part of the FBI. If he didn’t know it now, he’d know it soon enough when they came for her.
What the fuck was he thinking?
“Just now! Just now, sir!” the boy said, trying to keep a bit of distance between himself and my snarling face.
I yanked again. “From who? Who gave it to you?” It couldn’t have been Roy. He would still be on the road then. I could easily catch up to him.
“From Gabe!” the kid cried. “This morning, he said he had a job for me and that I was to report back to him at nine tonight. So I did and he gave me this note, telling me to give it to you.” He leaned away from me, clearly terrified. “Sir.”
I rose in one fluid movement, releasing the kid’s arm as I did so. He stumbled back, his eyes wide with fear.
“What’s wrong, boss?” one of the men near me asked, a voice laced with tension. The whole den was now strung tight. They were itching for some action and if I had some to give, they wanted in on it.
But I couldn’t do that. I knew I couldn’t do that.
He hadn’t said it in the note but I knew if I brought anyone with me, Roy would kill Halle immediately.
Also, although there were a handful of men that I knew would be completely loyal to me, it was still a gamble to bring anyone with me with the express purpose of defying Roy Desmond, head of the Desmond Mafia. That went against everything in our code.
No, I had to do this on my own.
That’s how Roy wanted it.
“Nothing,” I said as I rushed out the room. “Nothing.”
I headed upstairs to gather my weapons. I didn’t know if Roy was alone or with some of his men. But either way, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t going out quietly. No matter what happened, I was going to make sure I got Halle back. And if that meant shooting a few or taking a few, I would get it done.
***
I gripped the steering wheel as I drove down the deserted road. I couldn’t yet see the twitching lights of the hangar but I knew I was close.
The abandoned hangar was one of several meeting places we had on rotation. But it was Roy’s favorite. It was the most isolated and while still sizeable, it had an intimacy to it. Roy liked this since it allowed him to feel more intimidating in the smaller space.
How the fuck had he gotten a hold on Halle?
Roy had said absolutely nothing about her after the Juarez deal. Given his lack of concern or even interest in her whereabouts, I just assumed that he had figured her dead. And that worked in everyone’s favor, especially Halle’s.
But clearly, he had somehow figured out she was alive and still in town. Why the fuck wouldn’t the FBI take her out of LA? Shouldn’t she have been put in some kind of witness protection program?
I turned off into a dirt road and felt my car jerk and tumble over the rough terrain.
Quickly, I scanned my brain to make sure everything was taken care of. I had made sure that in the event of my death, which had always seemed imminent, that everything worth having would be transferred over to Jamie. It was a morbid thought but a necessary one. I didn’t know what I would find in that hangar. And I definitely didn’t know how I would get back out.
A dark thought flashed through my mind.
If I were to find Halle…already dead….
I gave my head a rough jerk. No. That wouldn’t happen. Roy needed her for some reason. He obviously knew what she meant to me. But the question was, what was he planning to do with that information? How was he going to use Halle?
Finally I saw the orange-yellow flickering orbs in the distance. The hangar.
I was getting close.
I slowed down as I neared. I could make out Roy’s Range Rover. I didn’t see any guards posted around it or near the back entrance. Maybe his men were inside with him.
I parked the car a few feet away from the Rover and killed the ignition. Taking in a deep breath, I pulled out my gun to make sure it was loaded and primed.
Reaching down towards my ankles, I felt the two knives strapped there. If it came to the point where I was relying on my knives, I knew then that I was fucked. But you go out with a roar. And I planned on fighting till the end.
But of course, the ideal situation would be pulling both Halle and myself out of here for good.
But ideals don’t always happen. At least, not around people like us.
I stepped out of the car. Adrenaline was already coursing through my veins. Through experience, I carefully channeled that crackling live wire energy towards my extremities, keeping my body focused and alert.
I reached for the back entrance doorknob. Taking in a deep breath, I pulled it open and walked towards fate.
Chapter Twenty Five
Marco
My steps echoed against the steel framing of the hangar.
I kept my breathing even as I approached the entrance to the main interior.
“Ah there he is,” Roy’s gravelly voice called out almost jovially.
I stepped out into the flickering light of the hangar. In the dusty and abandoned space, Roy Desmond stood opposite me, his hands in his pockets as he swung his heavy belly forward in a casual swing.
I scanned the area quickly. I saw no sign of men. Inside the hangar, there was almost no place to hide. It was a place meant to house small aircrafts so there wasn’t much space.
“Just us, kid,” Roy said, noticing my careful gaze. “So you can relax.”
That was the exact opposite of what I felt lik
e doing. Just the two of us? That made it even more suspicious.
And it couldn’t be just the two of us.
“Where’s Halle?” I demanded.
Roy made a dismissive noise. “Who the fuck knows? With the FBI probably,” he said. He gave me a leering grin, letting his gold teeth wink at me. “I just figured that was the best way to get you out here in a hurry.”
A part of me sighed with relief. She was safe. She was not in danger. Thank fucking Christ. And then my shoulders tightened. He knew about the FBI? He knew what she really was?
Roy looked at me with a measuring gaze. “Like her that much, do you?” he asked. “Then why didn’t you come looking for her during the Juarez deal?”
I raised a brow.
“I made sure I sent Gary over to you when I left. That big blabbermouth couldn’t keep his trap shut if his life fucking depended on it.” Roy cocked his head a little. “She wasn’t too enticing then? Is that it?”
“I did come,” I said slowly. “I came just in time to watch her and the Juarez Family be taken into FBI custody.”
Roy leaned his head back. “Ah, I see,” he said. “So bad timing, I guess. I should’ve sent Gary in earlier.”
I narrowed my eyes at the man who was supposedly my father. “What the fuck is going on?”
Roy gave a great big sigh as if tired. “For the last few months, the FBI have really been getting too close for comfort. They were breathing down our fucking necks and I wasn’t liking it too much. They were getting pretty good at expecting some of our old maneuvers and it was harder to shake them.” He shrugged.
“So I contacted some of my people in the Bureau to find me the best possible ears to pitch to. Two agents came up in the search. I told them I could get them a high profile criminal Family that had ties to the US. In return, they back the fuck off of the Desmond Family and keep their nose clean around our business.”
Roy made a dismissive gesture with a large paw. “The negotiations were all set and soon it was just a matter of time in luring that greedy little Juarez shit to the States.”
I stared at Roy. The deal had been a set up? He had thrown one of the largest South American Families under the bus so he could have a little breathing room from the Feds? God, was there no end to Roy Desmond?
“Where the fuck did Halle play into this then?” I demanded.
Roy laughed and shook his head. “You were always quick. She came into this whole mess for you. I wanted to have someone come in and grab you, hook, line, and sinker so that when the deal happened and I brought the girl with me, you’d come too, willing or no.”
Roy frowned as he rubbed his chin. “I worried because I was pretty sure it hadn’t worked. The girl they had sent had a face, sure, but she couldn’t seduce a tree if she tried. Clumsy as fuck.” Then he looked up through his hooded lids and gave me a disgustingly sinister grin. “But it did work, didn’t it?”
I gritted my teeth, my hand itching to reach for my gun that was holstered under my arm. Of course Halle looked clumsy to Roy. She wasn’t some trained FBI seductress. They had probably sent in their most attractive employee to fill the job.
And attractive, Halle certainly was. Undeniably so. But trained seductress, she was not. And thank god. It had been that guileless charm that had pull me to her.
But besides all that, what the fuck was going on? How could Roy go against all criminal code and throw away the Juarez Family like that? And why would he go about trying to seduce his son through the FBI?
“What if it did?” I threw back. “What was the point of it?”
Roy gave a broad shrug. “Oh, either get shot during the shoot out or arrested with the rest of the Juarez trash,” he said easily.
The casual revelation hit me.
So this hadn’t all just been to make Roy a little less uncomfortable with the FBI. He had taken advantage of the situation and thrown my life in as well. Getting rid of the Juarez? Why not throw in my own son as well. He had taken Halle with him so that I would follow into the line of fire.
“I know how you’ve been gunning for my seat,” Roy said, his beady eyes narrowing. I could see the slight sheen of sweat over his upper lip. “You think you’re man enough now to become head of the Family, don’t you? Think you can take out your old man like yesterday’s garbage, huh?”
It had finally happened. I stared at the man in slight awe. Roy’s ever present paranoia and suspicion had finally gotten the better of him. His paranoia over the FBI had led him to sell out an entire criminal clan. His paranoia over his position within his own Family had led him to murder his own son.
Or at least, attempt to.
I realized now why he had called me out here and why he had not brought any men.
Just like I couldn’t bring any men with me for fear they wouldn’t be able to betray Roy, Roy couldn’t bring men with him for fear they wouldn’t be able to betray me.
I was not the head of the Family. Everybody knew that. But I was second-in-command. I had the most ruthless record of kills and an impeccable reputation as the hand of the Desmond Mafia.
There were probably a sizeable number of men, even within Roy’s own personal guards, that would feel hesitant about firing at me.
Roy had wanted a clean and uncomplicated job. That meant doing it himself.
“So you’re planning on finishing the job tonight?” I said slowly, measuring up the man. I was faster than him by far. He had weight on his side but that also slowed him down. Physically, I was better equipped to take him down. Without his men to help him, how did he intend to kill me? After all, we both were probably armed to the teeth. “There’s no raid to use as a cover to shoot me.”
Roy shook his head, waving a hand at me. “No, no, no,” he said. “That’d be too messy. If you cooperate, we won’t need to do any shooting.”
I waited, not sure exactly what was coming but knowing instinctively it was bad. I could feel every muscle within my body tense and taut for action. A flash of Halle’s blonde hair and sweet lips passed through my mind and I had a sudden overwhelming urge to feel her softness against my body.
“We can strike a happy deal,” Roy said in an almost pleasant voice as if we were just discussing the weather. “You stay in this location. Within an hour, I can have several FBI agents here. Go quietly with them. Or don’t, actually. I don’t really care. Just as long as you end up being taken into custody.”
“Then what?” I said, eyes narrowed.
“Then let the legal system take over,” Roy answered. “My guess is, considering you’re the son of the Desmond Family, you’ll end up with several life sentences. It’d be hard to get out with any jail time even with the best of lawyers and you won’t be having any of those in your corner this time.”
So that was his plan. Give myself up, get myself tried, and get locked up for the rest of my life. Only then would Roy Desmond feel smug and secure in his seat of power.
“And I’m supposed to just agree to this, am I?” I asked, raising a brow.
“Well,” Roy started, pursing his lips, “I would think you would after I told you that if you don’t comply, I will send a text to someone in London. It’s already all written out.” He pulled out his cellphone, the screen bright with a short text. “And before you could even get your gun out, Jamie will have a bullet through his head.”
And there it was. His trump card.
This man was no man. He was a piece of fucking scum that even the Devil himself wouldn’t step on.
From the minute I’d been born, he had beaten and bruised me into a killer. He had thrown his youngest son into danger, injuring him permanently for life. He had struck a crooked deal to throw an entire Family into prison for his own needs. He had hired a slip of a woman to seduce and use me. And now he was about to kill his me while using his other son as bait.
Roy Desmond was layers upon layers of evil and cruelty compressed together to create a black hole of inhumanity. His entire life had been completely covered in the b
lood of not only his enemies but his own children. The man had no end to his sadism.
And he had me right in his crosshairs.
Chapter Twenty Six
Halle
I parked nearly half a mile away from the hangar.
Although it was a cloudy night without a lot of moonlight, I could still see the two cars parked outside the hangar. They were already here.
Not wanting to draw attention to myself with any engine noise, I came to crawl and parked a good distance away.
