by Lana Cameo
As much as things lined up with the truth, it was hard for her to line that mob boss image up with Anton. It didn’t seem like him at all. He was no Tony Soprano or Vito Corleone. He was Anton DeCalvo. Bad boy, maybe. Troublemaker, rabble rouser, punk. All those things made sense. But mob don? No way.
This was reality, though, off as it seemed to be. And after Hannah had left Anton behind in the car, after she’d told him that he couldn’t be around Melody or her if he was going to bring them into danger, she’d had to face the consequences of that decision. It was still the decision she needed to make. She would keep Melody safe at any cost. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t still pain involved, even if it was for the best.
Melody didn’t have her father again, after having him for a short time. That was the hardest part to take. Hannah hated seeing the look on Melody’s face when she had to tell her she hadn’t talked to Daddy and didn’t know when he would come again. It was hard for her, too. Hannah missed Anton. The Anton she knew, not this other version of him who now ran a mob family. She had just told him she loved him. He’d told her the same. And now, here they were, separated again.
All of the dreams of them as a family, having a long future together, had shattered. She was faced with being alone again. Having no father for her daughter again. They’d been fine before. They hadn’t needed him. But now that he’d come along and entered their lives, the absence of him was painfully vivid.
Now it seemed that him staying away wasn’t going to keep them safe after all. Hannah didn’t know if the cars were somehow Anton’s people, watching them to keep them safe. If that was the case, why didn’t he tell her so she wouldn’t be worried? It was much more likely that these cars belonged to the same people who tried to kill Anton. It was getting more troubling and it was time to do something about it.
She tried calling him first. No answer. She sent a text next. “There have been strange cars around the apartment and my work. Do you know anything about this?”
There was no response. Hours later, after she’d checked her phone many times, sent a follow up “??” text, she had gotten herself so angry she had to drink a glass of wine to calm down enough to be able to cook dinner for her and Melody. He could at least have the decency to respond to her.
The whole situation played through her mind as she fried the chicken. Why had she let herself fall for him again? Hadn’t she been afraid this whole time that he would vanish again? And now, it seemed that was happening. What a fool she’d been to think it would be different this time. Anton wouldn’t change. He was always going to be this type of man who could just leave behind two people he claimed to love. Maybe he was doing it to keep them safe. It didn’t change the fact that he was gone and they were missing him.
The added stress of her fear made it all worse. It was bad enough that he was gone, but now there was a menacing presence outside her home and work and she felt quite unprotected. Hadn’t he said he’d keep them safe? So where was he?
She looked outside again and the cars had changed. Now there were three replacing the one that had been there all day. She picked up her phone to try calling and texting him again. As it was ringing and his voicemail picked up, there was a knock on the door. She heard Melody run to answer it.
“Melody! Wait!” she called.
What if it wasn’t a friendly person on the other side? What if it was one of these guys in the cars coming for them?
Melody stood by the door, waiting. “Is it Daddy?”
“I don’t know who it is,” she said.
She squinted through the dingy peephole. She wasn’t completely sure, but it actually looked like Anton. She pulled the door open.
“Hey.” Anton stepped inside quickly and closed the door behind him. Two armed men stood in the hallway behind him and stayed outside the apartment.
“Daddy!” Melody was already scooped into his arms before Hannah could turn her attention from the men outside.
Her expression fell into a glare. Was this how it was going to be now? He’d show up whenever he felt like it? She would not allow this to go on.
“Sorry I haven’t been here lately,” Anton said to Melody. “I’m working very hard right now.”
“I have so much to show you!” Melody said.
“I only have a few minutes,” he said.
Melody’s face fell and Hannah growled under her breath. He’d shown up without any warning and now he was going to leave again? Anton looked at her, saw her angry expression, and turned back to Melody.
“Honey, why don’t you go in your room for a little while so I can talk to Mommy?”
“Okay.” Melody hung her head and shuffled off to her room.
Hannah opened her mouth to scream at him, but he stopped her with a quick kiss.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know it’s terrible that I haven’t been here or called. I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt Melody or you. I want to be here with you both, but I have to make sure it’s safe. If I could avoid this, I would. But I’m the boss and there’s nothing I can do to change that.”
Hannah gritted her teeth and continued to glare. He wasn’t making it any better. “You can’t just show up here whenever you want. It’s not fair to Melody.”
“I know. I’m sorry. Look, you and her are my top priority. It may not seem that way right now, but me staying away is necessary to make things safe for you.”
“You keep saying that. How exactly are you going to make us safe?”
“It’s better if I don’t say. Just know that I don’t care about anything else. I only care about you two. I have a plan to fix this mess. And I just wanted you to know that I do love you. After today, things will be different. Whether I make it or not, you won’t need to worry anymore.”
“What… does that mean?”
“What I have to do is dangerous,” he said. “I’m not going to lie. But it will end this. I’m sorry about the cars. I’m going to have my people watching your apartment and work until this is over.”
“Thanks.” She didn’t know what else to say.
He pulled her in for a hug. At first, she wanted to resist, but she missed him and wanted him too badly. She relaxed in his arms and tears came to her eyes.
“Please be careful,” she said. “I can’t imagine, after all we’ve been through, what it would be like to lose you now. I can’t stand the thought of having to tell Melody that her father is dead.”
“I don’t want that, either. Believe me. I just got you back and just became a father. I’m not going to lose either of you now.”
“Isn’t there some other way? Can’t we go into hiding or something?” She heard the pleading in her voice.
“This isn’t the type of thing I can run from. Doing that would mean looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives. And it would mean putting the whole rest of my family in danger.”
“Can’t the mobsters take care of themselves?” She couldn’t help the sharp tone in her voice.
“They can,” he said. “But it’s not fair for me to bring a war on them by ditching town. I have responsibilities, whether I like it or not.”
She could only argue so much with a man who was intent on taking care of that which he was responsible for. She just nodded instead.
He put his hand to her cheek. “You’ll be okay. No matter what happens.”
She pressed her lips together. She wouldn’t allow herself to picture what life would be like if something happened to him.
“I have to go now,” he said.
“Wait. How will I know if you’re okay?” she asked.
“I’ll call.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“And if you… can’t?”
“I’ll have someone call you, I promise.” He took a step back from her. “I’m going to say goodbye to Melody.”
Hannah stood by the door, waiting. Anton took only a few minutes and Melody’s voice could be heard complaining as he left her room.
“Make sure she knows how much I love her,” he said.
“No.” She shook her head. “You’ll just have to stay alive to tell her yourself.”
“Okay.” He kissed her again and opened the door. “I love you.”
“I love you. Come back soon.”
He nodded once and turned.
She watched him walk down the stairs, his two guards following him. She hoped they would keep him safe somehow. Inside her apartment, she went to the window and saw the men getting into one of the cars. She watched Anton’s car drive off while one of the cars stayed. That must be the one watching the building.
Anton’s car turned down the road and out of sight. Would that be the last time she saw him? Her stomach turned with the thought and her tears returned.
Whatever she’d tried to tell herself in the days she hadn’t heard from him, she knew she loved him deeply. The ache in her heart for him told her so. She wanted their future. She wanted him to be okay and to call her later and say he loved her and that everything would be fine from then on.
She could barely breath at the thought of him not calling. Of answering and having someone else’s voice on the other end. She also didn’t know what was planned for that night. What was he going to do? Go kill a bunch of people? She turned on the news, though she didn’t watch it closely. If there was some sort of crazy action going on, maybe she’d find out about it on the TV.
She managed to keep her feelings from Melody. It would help nothing if her daughter had any idea that her father might not live through the night because he was about to get into a gun fight. If that’s what he was doing. She didn’t really know, but that was her best guess. Wasn’t that what all those mob guys were always doing? Going into places with machine guns and shooting everything and everyone up?
Picturing it made her shiver. What a horrid image. Even if this would make them safe and make it so Anton could be with them and he would be safe, too, she didn’t like the idea of a bunch of people having to die for it to happen. Though, she also selfishly hoped that whoever died, Anton wasn’t one of them. She wondered how many women would get calls tonight that their husbands were gone.
This would be a terrible night no matter what the outcome was. People would die and people would be mourning tomorrow. Would she be one of them? She put her hand to her chest and stuffed her fist in her mouth to stifle a cry.
She poured another glass of wine and forced herself to drink it and then another. She wouldn’t be sleeping until she got the call.
Chapter 19
Anton and his crew arrived at the first location. The plan was to take out the warehouses first, an adjustment made by Anton. If they’d started with his would-be assassin as Marco and Stefano planned, he thought it might give too much time for the rest of the Romanos to be alerted and set up a sabotage at the warehouses. If the DeCalvos attacked all the warehouses at once, it would be a surprise ambush and they could take them all down quickly before getting on with the rest of the plan.
Besides that, not only had the plan changed, but so had the goal. Anton no longer wanted to kill as many of the Romanos as possible. He was going about things differently today. Killing them was always an option for later if this plan didn’t work.
His crew’s leader was Marco. Anton let him take the reigns in this group so that when the time came, he could leave them under Marco’s direction if he had to and go take care of the boss as planned. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that, but Anton was prepared for several outcomes of this night.
Marco clicked the button on the secure walkie. “Orange in location.” Each of the four groups was a different color. These were supposedly secure walkies, but why take the chance that their transmission might be intercepted?
The other teams clicked in one-by-one. When they were all ready, Anton nodded.
Marco clicked the walkie again. “All teams go.”
Marco lifted a closed fist in the air. This was the sign to move in. The group responded at his motion and walked forward as a well-trained unit dressed all in black. They spread out across the front of the warehouse, waiting for Marco’s next gesture.
When Marco raised his closed fist again, then opened his hand so his palm was flat, they went into action.
Two of the men had guns with large caliper bullets and used them to shoot out the windows across the front of the buildings in a few fast shots. Then, four more men climbed in the through the windows while the armed men kept guard outside.
Minutes later, they were handing large boxes of ammo and weapons out through the windows, loading them into a truck normally used for the shipping business.
As expected, two cars came flying around the corner toward them. Anton’s crew started shooting as the cars approached. Their instructions were simple. Shoot out the tires, stop the cars, defend yourself, but don’t kill anyone. Unless you absolutely had no other option. He wasn’t going to sacrifice his men for the sake of the Romano men if it came down to it.
One car veered off to the right when its front tire blew, causing it to crash into a telephone pole. The other one kept going until a gunshot created a large hole in the front tires, then another hit the windshield, shattering it. The car was still coming toward them, out of control, and they had to jump out of the way so that it would crash into the building behind them. He hoped they weren’t fatal crashes.
All the noise and commotion meant the cops would likely be on their way soon. It also meant that if some of the Romano men were coming to check on the warehouse, the family knew something was going down. Lorenzo was likely sitting in headquarters right now, taking calls and issuing commands as he found out one-by-one that his biggest warehouses had been ransacked.
The final step once they had everything they wanted from Romano’s stash was to toss in the Molotov cocktails and light the place up. The building went up in minutes, but Anton and his crew were already long gone by the time the flames reached out of the windows.
They stopped at the rendezvous spot and called to the other teams.
“Orange clear. Report,” Marco said.
“Blue clear.”
“Red clear.”
It took a moment longer, then finally, “Yellow clear.”
“Move to position two,” Marco said.
Anton and Marco were in one car with the rest of the orange team in another. Another man drove the truck with the stolen goods. When Marco pulled out, the second car pulled in line behind them, with the truck bringing up the rear. In minutes, they turned into the large parking lot of an abandoned strip mall. Two other teams had already arrived. When the last team arrived, they all got out.
“Anyone injured?” Anton asked his men.
There was one gunshot wound, but to a leg. He’d live if he got treatment soon. Many cuts and scrapes not worth emergency medical attention had come from climbing in through broken windows. One of his men had gotten into a fight with a Romano and ended up with two stab wounds. He claimed he’d only stabbed back to incapacitate and that the Romano who attacked him was still alive. So far, no one from either family had died. This was exactly what they’d wanted.
Anton sent those too injured to continue off with a man who could drive them to their doctor. The DeCalvos didn’t just walk into the ER. Not on a night when so much activity happened and the police would be looking for that sort of thing. They had a private doctor, well paid for his silence, who would see them at his home office.
“Now,” Anton said. “So far, the plan has gone flawlessly. I credit all of you with that. Let’s keep it up. Time for stage two.”
This stage was about more direct eliminations. They would systematically take down the Romano men posted as guards outside of the main headquarters. This was where Lorenzo would be. Likely, the man who attempted to kill Anton would be there as well.
Anton broke up the men into new teams and gave them each directives. First, all the trucks were moved to a secure location. Then, they set out. The line of cars parked several blocks a
way from their destination. This would be a sneak attack. The Romanos were likely on alert with the warehouses going down and were possibly short staffed, which would help. Either way, the DeCalvo family was prepared.
His men crept through the streets, staying hidden until they were close enough to spread out and take position. The Romano headquarters was not located in a shipping business, like the DeCalvo headquarters was. The Romano family did their legal cover business with women who barely wore any cover. A chain of strip joints called the Blast were run by Lorenzo, and he kept his office in the back of one of the locations—the location his men were now approaching.
The business end of things, where the girls and customers were, was on the opposite end of the building from where Anton stood now. Some of the men would enter to watch from the inside and make sure no one had any idea of what was taking place in the back rooms.
There would be no walkie commands for when to attack. It was up to each team to decide the best timing. They needed stealth and couldn’t take the chance of someone else overhearing the command. All walkies were switched to silent except Marco’s, which was left on in case something went terribly wrong and one of the teams needed backup.
Anton stayed back when the guards came into view at the back of the large building. Two men on either side of a metal door held guns and kept a watchful eye. Anton’s men got into position, moving as close as possible without drawing the guards’ attention. When they were in range for their weapons, Anton’s men fired their tasers and hit the guards. They dropped to the ground and his men moved in to disarm them.
Marco checked the bodies. He nodded at Anton to let him know they were down and knocked out, but alive. Then he signaled that they should enter the building.
Anton’s men went in first. Any plan like this was always set up to protect the boss. As if he were the king and these were his guards, his men went ahead of him, two behind him, to make sure no one snuck up on them and took out the boss.
