“Yeah, the drug’s probably in there. Now we only need to figure out where the damn truck is.” I opened a few drawers, dug through the papers, and tossed a few folders, but there wasn’t anything useful.
“It was probably a plan they agreed upon in person. No written data anywhere.” With one swipe of his hand, Aaron crashed everything that was left on the table to the floor. “Fuck! We won’t get it in time!”
“I still don’t get why Santini would stay with us. This is too important. Why would he just leave the shipment? Sure, he thought he had us under control, but if more people came after us, then his life would be in danger.” I leaned against the desk and chewed on the inside of my cheek. “It doesn’t make sense. And I know the other two guys are out of the picture, but where were they planning to store the drug? Maybe the trucks would still go there.”
“I don’t know much about Santini. Well, his criminal self. That’s why my father picked him. Everyone seems to think he’s... was just a lesser criminal, so no one paid any attention to him or the other two guys. But the others’ places are no longer safe and they’re too far, so they can’t be going there.”
“Okay, so maybe Santini stayed with us because he didn’t want to risk his skin if he got caught with his shipments, and he has enough alarm systems to know if someone comes his way. We didn’t think he could detect us in that field, and he did just that, so... But they still moved the trucks, just in case.”
“There are no cars here. What would Santini do if someone else came? Look at the alarm, wait for potential attackers, and say the shipment wasn’t there? They’d still kill him. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Unless he had an escape plan.”
“We have to go back to that garage.” Aaron grimaced. “And see if there’s a hidden office or something.”
“If we must.” I didn’t want to go back in there. Ignoring what had happened and focusing on the task at hand seemed like a far better option, but I knew we had no choice. Leaving the office, we raced back toward the garage.
“You search the left side, and I’ll check the right side,” Aaron said, and I sighed in relief. The bodies were on the right. I so didn’t want to see them again.
“So we’re looking for a hidden door or something that could open one?” I ran my hand across the wall to feel for any weird spots.
“Yeah. It could be on the wall or on the floor.”
“Does your father’s house have any of those?” I asked, because babbling about something seemed like a perfect distraction.
“Yeah,” Aaron said. “But I’m not supposed to know that, and you’re not supposed to know either.”
“Okay, I know nothing then.” I stomped my foot against an odd-looking stone on the floor, but nothing happened. “Do you think someone’s coming here to check for Santini or call...? Wait, does he have a phone?” We were such idiots. “We hadn’t checked the...”
“I’ve got it. You keep looking,” Aaron said.
“If he missed some calls or check-ins, someone could be coming back here.”
“Doesn’t seem so. I can’t see anything like that on the phone. I guess he was confident everything would be fine.”
“Anything else?” I found a spot on the floor that looked a bit darker than the rest, but jumping on it or pushing it didn’t do a thing.
“He does have a secret room after all,” Aaron said, coming toward me with the phone in his hand. After he tapped the screen, the ground started shifting, and a few tiles moved to reveal a stairway that led into the darkness. “Looks like a tunnel.”
“Let me see that.” I grabbed the phone. Huh. Santini had an app on his phone to alert him of any intruders on his huge property and he had this room that no one could find for emergencies. “That’s why he wasn’t worried someone could come and kill him. He’d have been safe down there and no one would’ve found him. The guy trusted his phone too much. What if his battery died or something? Or someone stole it? Unless he used it only when he was here, and if someone got it off him, then he was probably dead anyway and wouldn’t need it.”
“Probably had a backup for that, too, but there’s no need to search for that. The tunnel seems long.”
“I hate tunnels.” I groaned.
“I can imagine. You went through one on a daily basis to see your family.”
“Yeah, and for what? You still found out who I am.”
“My father didn’t,” he said.
“Okay, yeah, I’ll take that as a good thing. Are we going down?” I wasn’t too thrilled about that.
“I’ll just go check to see where it leads. This map won’t open and I want to see if there’s one down there.” Aaron started climbing down.
“You think the tunnel leads to wherever the trucks were taken. If they’re underground, then it would be almost impossible to find them.”
“Exactly.” Aaron disappeared into the darkness, the only light coming from the phone screen. After a few moments, he emerged with a bright smile on his face. “The tunnel leads to a few places, but there’s only one big enough for seven trucks. The map on the phone finally opened, though. Must have been triggered by me going down there.”
“Do you know where that place is and how to find it from the outside?” I’d hate to emerge right in the middle of our enemy’s camp.
“I could find it if I compare it with a few other maps of this area.”
“But we can’t take the phone with us. It has to have a tracker in it.”
“We don’t have to. There’s paper in the office. I’ll copy this map, we’ll clean the phone, and leave it here.”
“Let’s go.” I wanted nothing more than to be out of here as soon as possible.
Chapter 23
“Oh, thank God!” I said when Marco peered out from behind the car. A wave of relief flushed through my body, and Aaron immediately pulled Marco into a hug.
“Did you really think something happened to me?” Marco teased as he patted Aaron on the back.
“No,” Aaron said. “But I’m glad to see you in one piece.”
“I saw them going to the trucks, but I was being chased by two of them, so I couldn’t stay to see where they were going,” Marco said.
“We found something that might help us figure that out.” Aaron pulled out a piece of paper with the map from Santini’s phone.
“Man, you really don’t know how to draw a straight line, do you?” Marco let out a soft laugh when he saw Aaron’s drawing, and Aaron scowled at him. The lines were wobbly, though, so I kind of agreed with Marco on this.
“Shut up and get me my phone,” Aaron said. “Make sure the tracking device is still confused about where we are because if my father finds out...”
“He’s going to kill us.” Marco trudged toward the car trunk and opened it. “Shit. My father called,” he said a few moments later. “He was looking for me.”
“Why?” Aaron’s brow creased.
“Most of your father’s men, including my father, were sent to help guard your father’s precious shipment. Looks like your father doesn’t care about secrecy anymore,” Marco said, staring at the phone. I came to stand next to him, noticing various rips and bloody stains on his shirt, and wondered how he’d managed to escape and what had happened to the guys who had been pursuing him. They were probably lying dead somewhere in the immense field.
Aaron slammed his fist against the hood of the car, cursing under his breath. “Did he want you to come, too? Give you the location?”
Marco shook his head. “Just that if I was in the area and if you had someone else to guard you, they’d prefer me to come since I’m one of those people your father trusts. He didn’t give me any details since I didn’t reply. Should I do it? Try to get the address?”
“No, not yet,” Aaron said. “Just give me my phone.”
Marco tossed him the phone and Aaron tapped the screen a few times, glancing from the map on the paper to the screen.
“Do you think you can find the locat
ion?” Marco asked.
“Yeah. Just give me a sec.” Aaron focused his attention entirely on the phone.
“The shipment will be heavily guarded. We’re never going to get to it if your father’s strongest men come to protect it. It’s just the three of us.” Marco glanced at me as if he wasn’t sure if I’d even be willing to help, but it seemed he hoped that I would be. “And I doubt we can get there before they all arrive.”
“When did your father call you?” Aaron asked.
“Some twenty minutes ago,” Marco said, and bit down on his lip. “And if my father will be there... I don’t want something to happen to him because of me. He’s a good man. If we burst in there and he gets in our way and...”
“We can’t engage any of my father’s men,” Aaron said. “It’s too risky.”
“Then what are we going to do?”
“Patience. I’ll figure it out.” Aaron’s lips spread into a small smile a few moments later. “There’s a huge underground garage in the area. The trucks are probably there. If we can get there before the reinforcements come, we could use a secret entrance and get to the shipment before anyone realizes we’re even there.”
“Unless they have a bunch of alarms,” I said, opening one of the duffle bags so I could find a clean shirt and a bottle of water.
“Yeah, that could be a problem.” Aaron tucked his phone into the pocket of his pants. “Marco, call your father and tell him you’ll be coming later to help. If we’re caught... at least we’ll have an excuse for being there, provided none of Santini’s idiots are alive and can remember seeing us. We should change our clothes and cle...” His gaze fell on me just as I had taken my shirt off.
“What...?” Marco started to turn toward me, then quickly looked away.
“You guys are idiots,” I muttered, pulling on a clean shirt. It wasn’t like I didn’t have a bra on.
Aaron blinked. “I was just... Never mind.”
I poured some water from the bottle and washed my face. When I looked up, Marco had his back turned to me and was pulling his shirt off. A gasp escaped my lips as my gaze fell on the scars that crisscrossed his back. And they weren’t new. Marco glanced over his shoulder at me.
“What happened to you?” I asked, unable to keep quiet.
“His father happened,” Marco said, nodding toward Aaron.
“What?” I gaped at him. “What do you mean?”
“That’s none of your business,” Aaron snapped. “Marco, if you say something about that, I’ll shoot you.” His voice was actually deadly serious.
“It doesn’t really matter.” Marco flashed me a smile as he put on a dark blue shirt. Really? What the hell was Aaron trying to hide now? I strode around the car to face him, but when I saw him sitting there in the driver’s seat and struggling to take off his shirt, all of my annoyance faded away.
“Let me help you,” I said. Aaron’s chest was marred with bruises and cuts.
“No, I’m fine.” He tugged harder at the shirt and winced.
“Aaron, stop it. I’m helping you whether you like it or not.” I took a hold of the shirt and gently pulled it over his head. He glared at me, or at least tried to, but his eyes softened when I gave him a small smile.
“You’re lucky they didn’t punch you in the face,” Marco said as he stepped around the car, carrying a medical kit. “It would be hard to hide that.”
“Yeah, who cares about broken ribs?” I said.
Aaron wanted to laugh, but he grimaced in pain. I took the medical kit from Marco and got some bandages. Aaron started to shake his head, but I gave him a long look, and he just let me clean his wounds and wrap the bandages around his chest.
Marco sighed. “We’re so not going to make it in time. We’re too slow.”
“Get in the car,” Aaron said. “And we won’t be.”
I helped him put on a fresh shirt, and as I turned to leave, he got to his feet, took a hold of my arm, and drew me to him for a kiss. He placed his hand on my cheek, caressing my skin. When he wanted to pull away, I buried my fingers into his hair and gave him a long, deep kiss that left us both breathless.
“You two should get a room,” Marco said. “But not now. We have to go.”
Flashing Aaron a wide smile, I let go of him. We got in the car and Aaron stepped on the gas almost before I could even close the door.
“I hate when you drive like that,” Marco mumbled, which made Aaron smile. I stared through the window, but all I could see was the dust rising around us and endless fields.
“Won’t they see us coming?” At least on our way to the farm there had been plenty of trees, but here... it was just fields.
“I don’t know, but there should be more trees up ahead,” Aaron said. “They’d need a satellite to monitor this whole area.”
Marco’s phone rang and he quickly looked at Aaron, who nodded. Marco answered, but I couldn’t hear anything over the noise of the car. All Marco seemed to say was “yes,” “I understand,” and “will be there.”
“Your father?” Aaron asked when Marco lowered the phone.
“Yeah. He wants me to come as soon as possible. He said the Ferraras attacked them.” Marco glanced at me.
“What?” Aaron said in disbelief.
“Somehow the Ferraras figured out where your father’s men were going and ambushed them on the way. My father thinks some of them will try to get to the shipment and wants me to come help stop them,” Marco said. “Which means we don’t really have to hide. We can just go in there and tell them we came to help. Unless some of Santini’s men are there and recognize us as those spies they caught.”
“No, we won’t change our plan. We can’t be seen. But at least we know everyone will be looking the other way. How did the Ferraras find out about this?” Aaron took a quick look at me.
“What? How am I supposed to know?” I innocently batted my eyelashes.
“You told them something,” Aaron said. “There was no way they could’ve figured it out just by questioning James. And how did they get to him anyway?”
“I might have pressed something on your phone while I was typing that message.”
“Impossible. I would’ve known.”
“You would have if my brother hadn’t hacked your connection after I opened it.” Maybe I shouldn’t have told him that, but it didn’t matter now. If my family was nearby and I got to destroy the drug, there was a chance I could escape.
“I told you to scan the phone and block everything...” Aaron started yelling at Marco, who grimaced.
“Her brother’s good. I did as you asked. Found nothing.”
“Be glad my family’s here,” I said. “Now we can actually get to that truck before the reinforcements come.”
“She’s right,” Marco said. “We needed that distraction.”
Aaron worried his lip between his teeth. “I had a different plan.”
“Screw your plan,” I said. “We’ll just come up with a new one.”
“Yeah, the one where the rest of your family ambushes us to get you back!” He raised his voice. “I bet your family wouldn’t waste all of their resources on stopping my father’s men from reaching the shipment if they didn’t plan to send someone to get the shipment, too. Because by the time the fight was over, the shipment would be gone.”
He was right. Someone would be coming for the shipment, but there was no way for me to know anything about that. “Give me a phone and I’ll call them and ask.”
“Yeah, right.” Aaron snorted.
“I’m sorry, are you blaming me because you don’t have the exclusive right to bring your father down?” I snapped, and I wasn’t even sure why. My pulse was speeding up, and I wrung my hands in my lap as I dreaded what would come next. If my family appeared and tried to get to me and the shipment, what would I do? If my brothers attacked Marco and Aaron, or if Aaron and Marco tried to shoot my brothers... I didn’t want anyone to die. On whose side would I stand? Aaron was my enemy, but there was something else
between us too. Still, I couldn’t just betray my brothers.
“You should both shut up,” Marco said. “We need to calm down and think this through. There’s a chance everyone will be there once we reach that garage, but there’s also a chance we’ll reach it first.”
Aaron took a deep breath. “Okay, new plan. We’ll assess the situation, and if the air’s clear, we go for the truck. Anyone who gets in our way is fair game.”
“Are you sure we should let her come with us?” Marco lowered his voice, but I could still hear him from the back seat. “Her family might be there and she...”
“She’s coming with us,” Aaron said. “Let’s hope the Ferraras won’t be there.”
Somewhere deep inside me, that was what I hoped too, because I really didn’t want to have to make a choice. I almost laughed out loud at how weird that sounded.
Chapter 24
“I see only two guards,” Marco whispered as we hid behind the trees right across from the entrance to the underground garage. There was only a metal container aboveground, and I doubted a whole bunch of people were hiding in there. No one from my family was here. My shoulders relaxed a little, but my stomach did a nervous flip. My family was out there fighting Roberto’s men, and if something happened to them... I couldn’t even imagine that.
“Good,” Aaron said, looking back at the endless grass. The sun was already going down, casting a reddish glow on the field and trees. “The secret entrance should be around here somewhere.”
“What about those two guys? We could take them out from here. Make sure the others rush out,” Marco said, lifting the gun he’d taken from the car.
“No!” Aaron shoved the gun down. “The last thing we need is for them to lock themselves in there or start moving the shipment somewhere else.”
“It wouldn’t be safe for them to move it anywhere if the Ferraras are nearby,” Marco said.
“Maybe, but if they don’t have a choice and they know the Ferraras are coming here...” Aaron waved his hand. “Follow me. We need to get to that shipment before anyone else.” His eyes briefly met mine, but they were guarded. He didn’t want me to see how he was feeling about this... about me being here with them. Maybe a part of him was contemplating putting a bullet in my head just to make sure I didn’t shoot him first since I had two guns on me, but he didn’t say anything, just strode through the field.
Hers to Take Page 15
