Lily gulped nervously. “Why should I believe you? You could be a bad guy.”
The man whipped out his badge. “Luis Franco, FBI.”
“It could be fake.”
“And tomorrow morning you could be dead. So who are you going to believe here? Me, who is trying to save your life, or them, who will kill you? These men also are targeting your parents. If you’re kidnapped, they will try to get money from them. It would be a perfect double whammy. Money for the mob and kill De Soros.” Luis slid his badge back in his pocket.
“No, it can’t go down like that.” She blew out a breath. “Okay, so what do I do?”
“We’ve already planted evidence that you’ve been captured by some of the mobsters. After Tony dragged you off, he made it look a little messy on the scene. We will take you downtown to a secure location and get you ready to become the kidnapped victim. I’ll pass you off to Jacobs, who is one of our undercover guys. We have a crew ready to make you look like you’ve been beaten. It’s amazing what some makeup can do. Once you’re roughed up and ready to go, Jacobs will take you to the mob house, and the plan is to call De Soros at the office from what they’re telling us. He is going to come for you. The man in all his years of being an agent has never, ever stepped out of line. He loves you. He will come for you. Jacobs is going to make sure that you are alive until this is over. When De Soros comes in there, guns blazing, things will get tense. The guys will shoot the mob boss, there will be shooting all around. To stay safe you need to stay low to the ground. Do you understand?” Luis asked.
“Does Luca know what the plan is?” Lily whispered.
“No. If he knew the plan, he wouldn’t let it happen. You’re going to be the bait, Lily. You’ll be the one to bring all of this down. You’ll be in the same room as Lorenzo Caprice, the biggest mob boss outside of New York. Do you think you can do it? We need to bring this man down, he’s killing innocent people. We need your help. There’s no other way to make this go down without a lot of people getting hurt.” Luis explained.
“I understand. Will Luca be safe?” Lily clenched the edge of her seat and panicked as they rode through the city.
“Luca will be safe, I promise.” Luis reassured her, and she could barely make out the man’s features in the dusky car. She couldn’t gauge his eyes and see if he was lying or not. She had to make a decision, and make it now. Help the FBI, and maybe, just maybe have a future with Luca, without the mob breathing down their necks, or never see him again and the mob kill her anyway.
“I’ll do it,” Lily blurted. “I don’t really have a choice, do I? They’ll get me either way.”
“I’d rather you be in the hands of the mob this way instead of them grabbing you off the street. We’re kind compared to these jerks. They are barbarians.”
Lily felt bile rising in her throat. “I’m going to throw up. Stop the car!”
“What? No! We can’t stop, we have to keep going,” Luis grumbled.
“Stop the car or I puke on you!”
“Stop the car!” Luis barked, and the SUV came to a shuddering stop, and she heard the child locks disengage. Lily threw open the door and puked on the pavement. She heaved until she felt empty and with a quaking hand, wiped her mouth.
“We can go now.”
“Uh, are you okay?” Luis muttered.
“I do that when I’m nervous. I wouldn’t make a good FBI agent or poker player.”
“You’re going to have to be scared,” Luis cautioned, and Lily cut him off.
“Yeah, that’s not going to be a problem. I can do scared, because I’m scared shitless. I’m going to possibly die,” she wailed.
“Stop it. You’re not going to die if we have anything to do with it. You’re going to be fine. When you hear guns go off, get to the floor. We have agents at the ready to swarm the building. This will all go down approximately around dinner time tomorrow. Luca will be called as soon as he’s in the office, and then he’s going to tear up to Boston and try to get you. We’ll be there to finish the job.” Luis calmly informed her.
“I see.” Lily managed, fear skittering up her spine. What if something goes wrong and he dies? What if I die? What if I never get to see my pain in the ass parents again? Or Abby and Laura? What if I don’t get to eat birthday cake and grow old? Oh, God.
“Lily, we’re here.” Luis nudged her, and she jumped.
“Okay. What do I need to do?”
“Keep your head down, we’re going to get you inside and make the transfer to Jacobs.”
Lily blinked and opened her mouth to speak, but her words were drowned out on a squeak as she was pulled from the SUV.
“I’m Jacobs. You will not reveal my name when we’re in the house. You will not speak unless you are spoken to, is that understood?” Lily stared up at the tall, dark haired, broad shouldered man with steely gray eyes and nodded.
“I understand.”
“Good. I’m glad to have you on the team, Lily.” Jacobs smiled, unnerving her with his sudden good nature.
She was whisked to a chair and a team of makeup artists started their work, applying makeup and thin pieces of flesh colored material to her skin with some kind of glue that smelled like dirty socks. After some time they stepped back, and Lily caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. The woman before her looked as though she’d been beaten to within an inch of her life. She had a blackened eye, a busted lip, and a nasty looking gash on her cheek.
“Holy shit,” Lily whispered, gently probing the faux cut on her cheek. It was so realistic she almost expected the cut to be damp with her own blood.
“It looks real, doesn’t it?” the artist asked as she packed up her makeup kit.
“It’s scary.”
“Well, see, back in the old days, they’d have to really rough you up. Nowadays, they just call us in, and we apply makeup. Be glad.” The woman walked away, leaving her alone with the creature in the mirror.
“Let’s go. Stand up, I need to tear your shirt and get some fake blood on you.” Jacobs ordered, and Lily jumped from the chair to do his bidding.
His large hands gripped her favorite green button up shirt and ripped the sleeve loose. “That was my favorite shirt,” Lily whined.
“Sorry, Lily.” Jacobs smiled sympathetically. “I need to rip a couple of buttons here…” He grasped the collar of her shirt and pulled them open. Three buttons pinged off and rolled away. “There, you look decent. Let’s get some fake blood on you.” He held up a small bottle full of very realistic looking blood.
“Ew,” Lily groaned as he uncapped it and began splashing it on her.
“It’s not real.” Jacobs chuckled. “Now, I want you to hit me.”
“What?”
“Yup, right in the nose. It can’t look like you didn’t get one good hit in. Go ahead, punch me.” Jacobs smiled reassuringly, and Lily balled up her fist.
“Are you sure?”
“It won’t be that bad. I’ve broken my nose several times. It will look good for the guys.” Jacobs winked at her, and Lily sucked in a slow breath.
“Okay…” She drew back her fist and aimed for his nose. She missed by several inches, popping his left eye instead.
“Yow!” Jacobs screeched, hopping back and gripping his eye. “Jesus Christ, I said my nose!”
“I’m sorry! I have bad hand eye coordination!”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me that before you socked me in the eye?”
“I’m sorry, I thought I could do it. Are you okay?” Lily panicked, rushing toward the hulking man with her hands outstretched.
“God, don’t touch me again, next you’ll accidentally castrate me trying to kick me in the shin. Turn around and let me tie you up. You’re going to ride in the back of my SUV, okay?” Jacobs rubbed at his rapidly swelling eye again before turning to grab a coil of rope.
“Well, usually I make guys wait until at least the second date before they tie me up,” Lily choked out lamely, trying to lighten the mood.
“Heh, I’ll make sure to tell De Soros you like it rough.” Jacobs chuckled as he tied her wrists behind her back. “Lie down on your belly and let me get your ankles.”
Lily did as she was told, grimacing as her face pressed into the cold concrete of the floor. Jacobs used the same rope to bring her ankles up almost to her ass and tie everything together. “This isn’t exactly comfortable.”
“I know. Sorry.”
Lily suddenly found herself airborne, and she screamed. Jacobs had picked her up like she weighed nothing, and she was being taken to a black SUV with the back hatch open. “I’m scared,” she breathed.
“Good, keep the act up,” Jacobs grunted, tossing her in the back of the vehicle. “I’m going to gag you now.” He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and jammed it in her mouth before tying another over her lips. “Be good.”
Lily rolled her eyes and panicked as he closed the hatch. She was at the mercy of these men now, and if Jacobs didn’t keep her safe? Yeah this is totally not an act… I could be used as a whore or end up dead. The SUV started with a purr, and she rolled slightly as the car pulled out of the garage. Luca, please be safe. Please, FBI guys, don’t let me die.
Chapter Thirteen
Waiting Game
Lily bounced around in the back of the SUV and groaned as the car finally came to a stop. Strange sounds touched her ears. She heard a rattling like a garage door being closed, several men talking, and dogs barking. Her breath caught in her throat as the back door of the SUV suddenly opened. A man stared at her, a sneer on his puffy face. He was the same man from the restaurant.
“This is the girl De Soros was with. I’m sure. Well, let’s get the bitch inside.” He sighed, turning away and pointing at someone Lily couldn’t see. “You, get her and bring her to my office. We’ll deal with her later.”
She assumed immediately that he was Lorenzo Caprice, the mobster that she would help take down. Lily didn’t have to fake her terror, she was completely petrified as a burly man moved into her view. A huge, jagged scar marred the left side of his face, and his eye was cloudy. Gold teeth filled his mouth, and he looked as though he hadn’t bathed in at least a month. His scent reached her long before he did, and she retched against her gag.
“Hey, lamb chop. You’re coming with me.” He gripped her roughly by the arm and rolled her to her back before pulling her into his arms.
His fetid, musty odor rolled over her in waves, and she squeezed her eyes closed and focused on breathing through her nose as much as possible. “I’ll take her from here.” Jacobs’ voice was the best thing she’d heard in quite some time, and she struggled a little for effect as she was passed off to the man. “Hang in there,” he whispered softly, and Lily squeezed her eyes tighter.
I’m terrified.
Forcing her eyes open she watched the walls as she was carried through the house and into a dusky room. Jacobs placed her carefully on a couch, and she shifted her face carefully so she could breathe.
“I’m going to untie you and sit you up. Don’t try any funny business, do you understand?” Jacobs growled. If she didn’t know that he was an FBI agent under cover, she would’ve been completely hysterical, and even knowing it now, she bordered on the edge of panic. Jacobs untied the ropes, and she groaned in relief as her aching legs were released from their prison. “Sit up,” he demanded, and she tried to oblige him, but instead she rolled off the couch to the floor. “Dammit,” Jacobs hissed.
“What’s going on in there?” a voice called.
“Nothing, the bitch got sassy, and I knocked her out!” Jacobs answered the man. Lowering his voice to barely above a whisper, he murmured, “Sleep. Nothing will happen until tomorrow. Don’t move, okay?”
Lily nodded quickly, and she was left alone in the office, lying on the carpeted floor with her hands tied tightly behind her back. Sleep? He wants me to sleep? Is he insane? Oh, hell yeah I’m going to just doze off in the middle of a bunch of mobsters. Yep.
She lay quietly on the plush carpet, flinching at every noise that came down the hallway. Her ears perked up as she listened to two men talk about how they were going to snuff out De Soros. Pain flickered through her chest at the thought of Luca being in danger, or worse, being killed. Lily began to doubt the wisdom of the whole plot, but she didn’t have a whole lot of options. She had to protect her parents and her friends from the mess Luca had created.
I want to wring his neck. He shouldn’t have come by the apartment…If he hadn’t we wouldn’t have been together and, God, that was amazing. Still he was stupid, and I’m going to tell him so…then I’m going to kiss him senseless. If I make it out of here, I’m going to finish what we started. I just have to make it out of here.
Lily was careful not to dislodge the thin silicone pieces of skin she had on her cheek as she shifted to get comfortable. As the house grew silent, she found it harder to keep her eyes open. Soon she closed her eyes for a moment. It’s so quiet…
A light flicked on overhead, and Lily’s eyes popped open and a scream filled her throat. She struggled to move and the events of the night before hit her like a ton of bricks. She was bait. She was the fly for her frog. The tasty bit he wouldn’t be able to resist coming after.
“Good morning, sunshine.” Caprice laughed. “I trust you were comfortable?” His guffaws became louder, and he nudged her side with the toe of his extravagantly shiny black shoe.
Lily didn’t move a muscle or acknowledge his words, not that she could speak around the gag anyway. He must have taken her silence as an affront because before Lily could steel herself against an assault, his glossy shoe reared back, and he kicked her in the ribs. Lily gasped out against the pain, and she squeezed her eyes tight.
“Paulie, get her up. Let’s make the call.” Lily stared out of the corner of her eye and nearly sobbed in relief as she saw Jacobs coming toward her. Okay, so you go by the name Paulie here… He hoisted her up quickly, and Lily tried to maintain her footing. “Sit her on the couch, let’s make our guest comfortable.”
Caprice’s laughter was sinister, and Lily’s stomach clenched. Bile rose in her throat and she choked it down, unable to throw up around the gag. The last thing she wanted was to asphyxiate on her own puke. Jacobs pushed her back onto the couch, and she collapsed on it in relief.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Miss Lily Halloway, the daughter of Rodd and Patty Halloway. Your parents must be mortified that you declined the best schools and work in retail. I wonder how much money they’d cough up for your release? The problem is, sweetheart, you won’t be released. Well, maybe into the harbor as fish food, but not to your parents. You made a mistake getting caught up with De Soros. That pig cop thinks he can take me out of the game? The little shit is a fool. I know everything. I know he was with you at the restaurant. I know everything about him. I know that when you call and tell him we have you, he’ll be here before the day is out. Then I’ll have him taken care of, and you disposed of. What do you think of that?” Caprice sat in the leather chair behind his desk and smiled cruelly.
Lily’s eyes were wide with fear. I’m gonna be killed.
“Now, Miss Halloway, we’re going to play a little game. You’re going to call the rat bastard at his office, and I’m going to hold a gun to your head. If you so much as utter a peep out of line, your brains will be my new wallpaper, do you understand?”
Lily nodded quickly. I understand.
“Good girl. What I want you to do is ask to speak to De Soros, and tell them that it is very, very important. You’re going to say you have a break in the Boston Mob Case. You’re going to use this disposable phone, and you’re going to tell him to meet you at the Harbor tonight at seven, that you have a lead, and you can’t discuss it over the phone. We will be there waiting for him. Do you understand me? De Soros will know what’s going on.”
Lily nodded again. We’re meeting at the harbor? Not here at the house? Oh no. Luis was banking on the house. I wonder if they’ll know in time that they will be at
the harbor? Can they plan for that?
“Remember, precious, one word out of line, and you’re a goner, got it?” Caprice rubbed his hands together and cracked his knuckles.
Lily nodded again before lowering her eyes to the floor. I’m a goner anyway.
“Remove her gag. I want her to answer me,” Caprice demanded suddenly.
Lily flinched as Jacobs untied the handkerchief from her mouth, and she spat the balled up one in her mouth out toward the mob boss. “I understand.”
“Don’t get too cocky, sweetheart. You can be disposed of at any time.” He reminded her.
Lily felt emboldened. If I only have today left, I’m planting some doubt in his mind. He’s going to try and kill me either way. “Dispose of me and you have nothing at the harbor.”
The mobster paused and stared at her. A slow smile crossed his mouth. “Do tell.”
“De Soros isn’t stupid. Do you really think he’s going to just come magically traipsing to the dock because I told him to? No, he’s going to want to see that I’m there.” Lily continued, her voice shaking.
Kiss a Frog (The Book Club Series 1) Page 10
