The padlock rattled gently in its hasp. He’d had DiSanto lock him in and leave. No questions, no lies.
He stiffened, his heart suddenly pumping blood faster.
His muscles tensed and he grasped the MP5 more tightly, finger brushing the trigger inside its guard. Only a tiny amount of pressure needed. A full magazine. He aimed the bulbous suppressor directly at the sound’s source.
Goddamn it, now he would learn who had been dusting—and using—his father’s files. Who’d been pulling strings, making Lupo dance from afar.
The storage unit door opened on its oiled hinges. There was a square of light from the hallway, a dark figure standing in it momentarily. The door swung closed behind the figure, then Lupo heard the sound of fingers searching for the light switch.
There was the hiss of inhaled breath as the overhead light revealed Lupo and his submachine gun.
“Surprise,” Lupo said. His finger was on the trigger.
An older man stood in the doorway, startled but not terribly surprised at all. He wore khaki pants and a heavy sweater under a blue North Face vest.
“I wondered when you would find me,” the older man said.
Lupo detected a slight accent. He said nothing.
They stared at each other for an endless minute. Then the older man spoke again, quietly.
“My name is Corrado, and I knew your father and grandfather.”
Lupo felt his head spin. The gun in his hands was suddenly beyond heavy. The muzzle sagged downward.
Besides the impossibility of the moment, something else flared in Lupo’s head like a lightning migraine. The blade tucked in Lupo’s boot seemed to grow hot next to his skin.
If this was indeed Corrado, he had to be ninety-one or ninety-two.
But he looked barely fifty-five or sixty.
Lupo gripped the MP5 harder and brought it to bear, but even as he did he knew it was the wrong choice.
The overhead light winked out, and Lupo squeezed the trigger.
Look for these other books by W. D. Gagliani published by Crossroad Press
Savage Nights
Wolf’s Blind
Wolf’s Edge
Wolf’s Trap
Wolf's Cut (The Nick Lupo Series Book 5) Page 30
