“We were supposed to bring you to a shed ten miles from here and leave you there. The money was supposed to be in our account as soon as we did that.” Randy started to rise, but Aaron shook the gun at him. “We have a map in the van. I swear that’s the truth.”
“So you were supposed to leave us in some shed? Or hand us over to someone?” I cocked my head at him. “How would they know you delivered?”
“I don’t know,” Randy said. “They just said there would be two chairs and that we should tie you up well and leave.”
I glanced at Aaron, who shrugged.
“Fine,” I said. “You can go, but the van stays. If you forgot to mention something or you tell anyone about this, we’ll find you and you’ll die. Slowly.” I made sure my face was completely serious.
Randy nodded. “Thank you! Thank you.”
“Go,” Aaron said, lowering the gun. “But stay off the road and make sure no one sees you.”
Randy got to his feet and helped Patty up, and then they both ran off across the road and into the bushes.
“Do you think they’ll contact someone?” I asked. Maybe we were risking too much by letting them go, especially since we were so close to our goal, but Randy and Patty weren’t the bad guys here. At least I didn’t think they were.
“Doubt it. We should go to that shed.”
“Yeah, but first we need backup.” I pressed the button on the tracker on my belt and hoped my brothers were close and hadn’t gotten themselves in trouble.
Chapter 22
Aaron and I had parked the van a little off the road so Roberto’s men had less chance of spotting it. Tony had sworn they wouldn’t be able to detect the trackers on us and I hoped that was the truth. A black car came toward us, and I tensed as I saw two figures with sunglasses and black hats inside. Aaron even had his gun ready, but then the car stopped and I recognized Michael and Marco. My stomach did a little flip.
“Is everyone else okay?” I asked. If something had happened to my other brothers and that was why they weren’t here...
“Yes,” Michael said, giving me a reassuring smile. “We knew you weren’t in imminent danger out here, so we came to discuss the plan. Your kidnappers... we intercepted them to take them somewhere safe.”
“Good,” I said. “They told us they were supposed to take us to some shed nearby, tie us up in there, and leave.”
“Are you sure that’s the whole story?” Marco asked as he leaned against the hood of the car. “Wouldn’t they have to hand you over to someone?”
“I don’t know.”
Michael was frowning at his phone. “Tony has scanned the whole area, and there aren’t any people around her. At least not some twenty miles from here.”
“My father wouldn’t just leave us alone in some shed,” Aaron said. “He knows we’d try to escape. It would be too easy.”
“Actually, it might not be as easy as you think. Tony detected some sort of a protection system, and a possible tunnel under the fields,” Michael said.
“Are you saying we might be standing over Roberto right now?” I gaped at him.
“Well, not exactly. The tunnel goes in a different direction, but... yes, he might be hiding underground somewhere around here. It’s a perfect place actually.” Michael spread his arms. “There’s nothing around, and no one would search for him here.”
“So Tony thinks there are cameras or alarms that would alert Roberto and his men that we were in the shed, and then they’d just climb up.” I lifted my eyes to his. “The shed is the entrance to the tunnel.”
“Could we attack that tunnel?” Marco asked eagerly.
Michael pressed his lips together, tapping the screen of his phone. “We could try, but we wouldn’t know what we were walking into because Tony can’t find any information on how long the tunnel is, what’s inside, and how we’d even get in and out. It could also be a trap, and we might not be able to get outside once we’re in. Besides, they’d see us coming. A car here and there isn’t suspicious, but a lot of vehicles would be. And if they have all those alarms and computers Tony can’t hack from afar, then they’d definitely be alerted of our presence. It’s probably not a one-way tunnel, so they’d just run.”
“And our opportunity would be gone.” Marco’s face fell. “And if only the four of us go?”
“We could get taken or overrun by Roberto’s men since we don’t know how many of them are there,” Michael said.
“Then what? Are we just going to give up and leave?” Marco folded his arms.
“No,” Aaron said. “You two are going to deliver us to my father.”
“What?” Marco’s mouth fell open. Michael and I frowned.
“Don’t stare at me like that. This might be the best shot we’ve got. If this goes wrong and my father goes into hiding, then we’ll have a problem,” Aaron said, his shoulders straight. “Did anyone see the two of you coming here?”
“Not that we know of,” Michael said. “And this material mostly blocks body heat from being detected.” He tapped his black shirt.
“Perfect,” Aaron said. “Then you two can disguise yourselves as Randy and Patty, and bring us to that shed. You can check where the cameras are and make sure Octavia and I look tied up. We’ll have to conceal our weapons. You should be carrying guns too, in case they have a detector for those at the entrance, so we can fool them into thinking all the weapons are yours. Then you should leave quickly before anyone can come after you and put those special clothes back on so they can’t detect your body heat. You should stay somewhere and hide, and if someone comes out of the shed, take them out. My father won’t be able to contain himself if he sees us there tied up like that, so I’m sure he’ll come immediately.”
“Yeah, and then he’ll shoot you,” Marco said. “No way. Your plan sucks. It’ll be just the two of you against Roberto and his men. Or do you think he came alone?”
“I know he didn’t, but there shouldn’t be dozens of them. We can take them, especially if we take out my father first,” Aaron said confidently. “He has to send someone outside to make sure it’s safe or leave some of the guards in that tunnel. I’m confident we can take care of them, especially if they’re caught off guard.”
“Is Tony certain they aren’t using a satellite or something to monitor this whole area?” I asked.
Michael nodded. “He would’ve been able to detect the signal or find a connection going through this area, but he didn’t. All signals are just located around that area with the shed, and that’s probably the cameras or alarms.”
“So Aaron’s plan could actually work?” I asked.
“It will,” Aaron said. Marco just narrowed his eyes at him.
“It might,” Michael said. “Roberto couldn’t have been here for long. He had no reasons to be in this area, so the tunnel has to be his newest acquisition, which means he couldn’t have had time to set everything up.”
“This area is in between two big cities,” Marco said. “Maybe he holed up in here because he thought he’d get you in at least one of the cities.”
“Maybe,” I said. “I suppose we’ll have to take off our trackers.”
“Yeah,” Michael said. “Whatever they have in that shed might be able to detect them, and you don’t want that because they’ll come closer to you to inspect them and see you’re armed. But we can keep them in the van.”
“But if the two of us stick around,” Marco said, “they’ll just be suspicious and come out to shoot us. And if we pretend to leave, we’ll have to ditch the van somewhere out of sight and then return. That’ll take at least a few minutes, and by then, you two might be dead.”
“We have to take that risk,” Aaron said. “It might take my father more than that to even come out of that tunnel.”
“Stupid, stupid plan.” Marco shook his head.
“We might have gotten a better one if we were home in our comfy chairs, but right now we don’t have time to come up with anything else,” I said.
&nbs
p; “You know the whole family would tell you not to proceed with this plan if they knew what you were about to do.” Michael’s eyes met mine.
“Yeah, I’m well aware of that.” I might be risking my life, but if I didn’t do this, Roberto would get to walk free, and the war between the Viteris and Ferraras would go on and on until one of us was defeated. What was the point in me surviving this if my whole family could be dead?
If Roberto was winning, his forces wouldn’t stop until they found and killed my whole family, because as long as they existed, there was a chance for the Ferraras to get back up and rebuild what had been lost. Roberto wouldn’t allow that. Not to mention he wanted Aaron and me dead at all costs, so we’d have to look over our shoulders all the time and hope he hadn’t paid some poor, desperate person to kill us so we wouldn’t see it coming.
“I suppose you’re just going to do it no matter what we say,” Marco said, and Aaron flashed him a smile.
“Exactly,” he said. “Marco, do you have a wig, a woman’s hat, and something you can use that looks like a long dress? Maybe some makeup too?”
“What?” Marco touched his throat.
“One of you needs to look like Patty on the cameras. She’s not that big, but what do they know?” Aaron’s lips quirked up.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Marco said.
“We actually have things like that in the car,” Michael said. “We brought them in case Octavia had to disguise herself to escape. We’re the rescue crew, remember?”
“Why do I have to pretend to be that woman?” Marco pouted.
“And why not?” I asked, a smile pushing on my lips. “At least we aren’t asking you to wear high heels and a snake around your neck.”
Marco pressed his lips into a tight line, but he seemed to be without ideas, because he didn’t say anything.
“Your shoulders aren’t as wide as Michael’s,” Aaron said, but he was barely containing laughter.
“Fine,” Marco muttered and headed toward the trunk of the car.
“What if only Roberto’s men come out for you and take you to that tunnel?” Michael asked. “They’ll realize you’re untied or see the guns.”
“Then we’ll have to improvise something. Take them out. See if we can get into that tunnel on our own,” Aaron said. “We’ll figure something out.”
“It’s my sister’s life that’s in danger.” Michael’s face grew serious. “What if the guards kill her and take you to your father? Why would he need her alive? He just wants her head.”
“No. He’ll want me to watch him kill her in front of me, and I won’t let that happen,” Aaron said. “We’ll shoot him as soon as we have him in range.”
“You better be sure about this, Viteri.” Michael curled his fingers into a fist.
“Michael,” I said. “It’ll be fine.”
“Let’s figure out how we can do this. We need something you can easily untie, but it’ll be hard to conceal the guns on you and allow you to reach them easily. Sis, you need a bigger jacket. Maybe you can take Marco’s. We can strap the guns to your back, and then all you’ll have to do is slip your hands under your jacket. And do it before someone tries to shoot you or takes the jacket from you.”
“We don’t even have a blueprint of that shed,” Marco said, coming from around the car. “What if they come from behind you? Or the guards stand behind your back? They’ll see you reach for your gun.”
“We’ll have to distract them somehow,” Aaron said. “Actually, you two should make noise when you come back and provide enough of a distraction so that everyone goes to check what’s going on, and then you can take them out.”
Marco put on a long blonde wig, and I placed my hand over my mouth, nearly doubling over with laughter. “Perfect. Your thick black eyebrows and that hair color are a wonderful match.”
“Don’t make fun of me, woman. Don’t you know it’s rude to mock other women’s looks?” He wrapped a long piece of dark blue cloth around his legs.
A smile broke out on Aaron’s lips, and he lifted his phone toward him.
“Hey, are you recording this?” Marco asked in disbelief as he shrugged on a coat.
“Damn straight I am.”
“Unbelievable.” Marco shook his head, but he twirled around, his lips quirking up. “For the record, I’m only checking if this thing around me is going to fall off.”
“Yeah, sure you are,” Aaron said.
“You need some lipstick.” I went over to the car and found a box of makeup, then applied some lipstick to Marco’s full lips. “Looks great.”
Marco smacked his lips together. “Does this thing taste like strawberries?”
I brought the red lipstick to my nose. Definitely strawberry scent. “Yep.”
“Hmm.” Marco bit down on his lip.
“Just don’t eat it all.” I tossed the lipstick back into the box. Michael was helping Aaron hide the guns and two knives. I picked up one of the pocket knives and stored it in my jeans.
“We’re really doing this,” Marco said.
“Yeah.” We were finally going to face Roberto, and I hoped he wouldn’t kill us first.
Chapter 23
The shed turned out to be a simple wooden construction that was completely empty except for two chairs in the middle of it. My pulse was racing, my palms sweaty. Marco was doing his best to keep his head down as he and Michael, who was wearing a big cowboy hat to disguise his face, led us inside.
“Get off me!” I yelled, thrashing against Marco. There was definitely something in the corner of the room. A camera that pulsed with a red light. Attached to it was a small white box, and there was a wire hanging from it, which led directly to a closed trapdoor on the floor. Marco’s eyes met mine as he forced me into the chair, pretending to tie my hands to it. The material we used was as white as the zip ties and it looked similar, but it would simply fall off if I tugged at it.
“Is this some kind of a joke?” Aaron asked, kicking out at Michael, but Michael and Marco quickly slipped outside as soon as they finished tying us up. Aaron and I waited as we heard the van’s engine come to life. Marco and Michael were driving away so they could hide the van. Would our plan work or would Roberto find a perfect way to screw us over?
“Where did they go?” Aaron asked, looking around, and pretending to be straining against multiple zip ties that held him bound to the chair. “We should break these chairs and run.”
But before I could say anything, the trapdoor was pushed open, and an armed guard poked his head outside. Six more guards followed and lined up in front of us, and finally, behind their backs, Roberto emerged with a huge smile on his face.
“Well, well, well. Who do we have here?” he asked, staying behind the guards. Shit. We didn’t have a clear shot yet. But if any of those guards came near pulling the trigger, I wouldn’t be able to wait.
“Father,” Aaron said coldly. “I knew you were behind all this.”
“Don’t tell me you’re surprised. After all you’ve done.” Anger flashed in Roberto’s light blue eyes. “You betrayed me, and all for that...” His eyes raked over me. “Ferrara whore.”
“We’re not afraid to die,” Aaron said, baring his teeth. “You’ll never experience what we have.”
“And what would that be?” Roberto tilted his head. “Love? Oh, you poor, stupid boy. She bewitched you like all women do to men who aren’t careful. She’s manipulating you! Can’t you see that?”
My arm twitched, and it took all of my willpower not to rip through the bonds and simply shoot in Roberto’s direction.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Father,” Aaron said.
“You’re weak. You’ve always been. It’s such a shame.” Roberto lowered his head, pressing his lips together. “I tried to make a man out of you, but there’s no helping you. Killing you will be a mercy.”
The chair scraped against the floor as Aaron ground his teeth together, and I knew he wanted to rush at his father too,
but there were too many guards in front of him. Where the hell were Marco and Michael? We needed a distraction for the guards.
I laughed as loud as I could, and Roberto’s attention snapped to me.
“Octavia Ferrara,” he said, his eyes narrowing at me. “You think this whole thing’s funny, don’t you? You tricked my son and turned him against me. And your pull on him is so strong that he wasn’t capable of killing you. I was so sure he’d go after you, but even with some help, he didn’t do it, and you’re still here.”
“When did you find out?” Aaron asked, drawing Roberto’s attention back to him.
“About her? When I was investigating that girl the Ferraras were looking for, hoping I could get to her first. After I found out her fake name from a lovely doctor, it wasn’t that hard to obtain a photo, and when I saw that face, I recognized her immediately. And you? Oh, I found out about your involvement with her right before the deal to have you returned to me was struck. Imagine my disappointment when I realized you’d lied to me and that you planned to overtake what was mine. You even helped the Ferraras destroy my new drug!” Roberto raised his voice. “You wanted to ruin me. Putting a bullet in your head as soon as the Ferraras handed you over to me would be too merciful. I wanted you to kill that bitch. I wanted you to kill her and realize what you’d done. She should’ve died by your hand for what she turned you into. But you never went after her as I’d expected. It didn’t matter, though. At least you served a far more important purpose. Once I win this war, and all the Ferraras are dead, the city will be mine.”
“Don’t be so sure,” I hissed. “Everyone will turn against you after they find out what you did.”
“It won’t matter,” Roberto said. “I’m a persuasive man. Everyone can be convinced with the right words and offers.”
A loud rumble sounded from the outside, making us all jump.
“Take care of that,” Roberto said. “I don’t want any interruptions.”
Three of the guards headed outside as Roberto pulled out his gun. We were left with four. Aaron and I looked at each other, and he nodded. I broke through my bonds, grabbing the guns from under my jacket. Before any of the guards could move, I aimed at the ones in front of me and fired. Aaron did the same with the other two.
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