Chapter 20

After Luca and Damian had arrived at Antonio’s place, the three of them crossed the city in Damian’s SUV. The address that Sloane had given to Antonio was familiar to him, but never would Antonio have predicted that Sloane had his own hideout there.

‘This cop is pure fucking evil,’ Luca said, loading up his gun as Damian cruised through the streets at a fast pace, but not fast enough so as to call for any unwanted attention. ‘Sloane needs blasting off the face of the earth. And his fucking sidemen do too.’

‘Damn right,’ Damian replied, turning to look at Antonio in the passenger seat. ‘But I have a feeling that our man Antonio will have a plan that doesn’t involve us going all guns blazing. Am I wrong?’

Antonio gave both Damian and Luca a wry smile.

His brothers knew him all too well.

As tempting as it might have been to storm the warehouse and put their faith in their own shooting skills, Antonio really did not think that was the correct approach. Far from it, in fact.

Antonio knew that Sloane would have his cronies there with him. The reality was almost certainly that Antonio, Damian and Luca would be outnumbered. Not only that, but Antonio felt like even if they could shoot their way through to Sloane, the chances of doing so without taking any shots themselves was low.

It was important to Antonio that he and his friends came out of this as unscathed as they could. If one of them fell during a shootout, then that would drastically reduce the chances of being able to apprehend Sloane and then rescue Lyle too.

But there had to be a way of at least one of them getting to Lyle and stealing the advantage that way. An element of surprise would be needed.

And surprising his enemies was something that Antonio very much could do…

‘Got it in one,’ Antonio said, acknowledging that Damian was correct. ‘We approach this via stealth. At least to begin with. I’ve been in these warehouses by the dock before. I know the layout. Each one if pretty much the same. But it’s not quite as simple as that…’

‘I smell trouble,’ Luca said. ‘Would I be crazy to guess that someone will need to fire up a distraction?’

Antonio nodded. Both Damian and Luca laughed.

‘Hell yeah,’ both Luca and Damian said simultaneously.

‘We’ll approach quietly,’ Antonio said, running his hand across the length of his gun. ‘Then when I call it, you two will create a diversion. All guns blazing. I’ll then make my play and hopefully find Lyle and do what I need to do.’

The three men nodded.

The plan was agreed.

As Damian continued to drive them closer to the location, Antonio took a moment to remember how much Lyle meant to him. There was no way he was going to let Lyle down, not again. Antonio would never forgive himself if Lyle died, and he wasn’t ready to lose another boy any time soon.

Antonio wished he had kept Lyle close instead of sending him away. It seemed like the right play at the time, but quite clearly wasn’t with hindsight. But Antonio knew that he couldn’t dwell on that. Casting his mind back and looking for mistakes wasn’t going to help rescue Lyle in the here and now.

A few blocks later and Damian slowly brought the SUV’s speed down to a crawl. The warehouse was in sight. It was a large, fairly nondescript building. All in all, it was typical for the dock area and Antonio wondered whether Sloane had men on the roof with snipers.

‘Call me a paranoid old bastard, but I’m changing the plan,’ Antonio said, a grave tone to his voice. ‘There are too many rooftops here. We’d be an easy target if we tried to take it slow. Sloane is a cop, so has access to police weaponry too.’

‘Snipers?’ Damian asked, a concerned look on his face.

‘I wouldn’t bet against that shit,’ Luca added. ‘Are you saying we charge in, Antonio? Because, believe me, I’m seriously fucking into that idea.’

Antonio nodded. But there would be a nuance to the plan. Antonio explained that Damian and Luca would lead the charge, all guns blazing as soon as they were in range.

As this was going on, Antonio would break off and enter via the fire escape at the side of the building. Hopefully, Damian and Luca would be able to draw enough heat and keep everyone occupied while Antonio went into stealth mode and found Lyle.

‘Are we agreed?’ Antonio said. ‘Remember, you don’t have to do this.’

‘No. We do have to,’ Damian interjected. ‘We’re brothers. We fight together. We drink together. And, hell, we’ll die together too if that’s what’s needed.’

‘You fucking know it,’ Luca cheered, a look of wild excitement on his face. ‘I was born for this. Now let’s stop the yapping and move our asses. It’s time to waste some corrupt cops.’

With that, the three men bumped fists and exited the SUV.

It was time for action.

It was time to save a boy’s life and take out some corrupt cops for good measure too…

‘Move! Move!’ Antonio hollered, the sound of gun shots in the air. ‘Use the BMWs for cover.’

Antonio watched on as Damian and Luca let rip with bullets and quickly scurry over behind two large BMW saloon cars. The bullets were firing off in both directions and there was a wild commotion.

Antonio knew that this was his moment to sidestep from the firing line and make a run for the alley. As he pumped his legs, Antonio glanced across and saw that Luca and Damian were safely positioned behind the stationary cars.

The BMWs wouldn’t protect them indefinitely but would give more than enough cover for them to work out their next move. Antonio had the upmost faith in both Damian and Luca. They were two of the best mafia men Antonio had ever worked alongside, and more than that… Damian and Luca were true friends too.

But Antonio had too much on his mind to be thinking about friendship. Quickly hustling his way to the metal fire stairs, Antonio ran up them until he found a fire door. Carefully prizing it open, Antonio slipped inside the warehouse.

With the industrial brown carpet and dirty, faded walls, this wasn’t exactly the kind of place that Antonio was used to being these days. It was certainly a far cry from his plush home, that was for sure.

However Antonio only had one focus, and that was on finding Lyle.

Where are you, boy?

Where has that sonofabitch got you?

Think, man. Think!

Antonio’s thoughts were interrupted by the sudden appearance of two hulking brutes who must have followed him and were now attempting to cut him off before he got any deeper into the warehouse.

Wearing blue jeans and with gun holsters around their waist’s both were clearly part of Sloane’s band of corrupt cops. But a second’s hesitation on their part, and it was game over.

Antonio dealt with them with quick, brutal efficiency. All it took was a single shot to both of their hearts, one tap on the trigger followed by another right after.

Blood sprayed and bodies fell. It was a quick death, but that didn’t mean that either men fell with any honor as far as Antonio was concerned. This was business. There was no room for sentiment.

‘See you in hell, scum,’ Antonio said, stepping over the two men as they each took their last breath. ‘Keep a place for me down there. But don’t wait up. I might be a while.’

Antonio continued his mission to rescue Lyle. The sound of the gunfire down on the ground floor was getting louder and louder. Damian’s semi-automatic machine gun was doing its job by the sounds of things, and Antonio could also quite clearly hear Luca’s assault rifle taking down anything that stepped in its line of sight.

‘Keep doing your thing,’ Antonio said, his spirits lifted by the knowledge that his men were holding the fort downstairs.

Antonio suddenly found himself at a corner. Peeking his head out, he spied a huge man standing in front of a door. The man was at least 6’5” and had a build that put even Antonio in the shade.

You don’t put him on lookout unless it’s important.

I’m sure of it…

He’s guarding Lyle.

Given his position directly in front of the door, Antonio knew he couldn’t risk shooting the man in case the bullet missed and went into the room. It could hit Lyle, and Antonio was not going to take that chance.

In a moment of pure adrenalin, Antonio flung himself out from behind the corner and engaged in combat with the thug. Antonio was immediately on the receiving end of four rapid fire punches square to his face.

‘Eat shit!’ Antonio roared, his mouth throbbing as blood poured out. ‘Let’s see how you handle this.’

Antonio feinted a jab, and when the thug took a step to the side, Antonio grabbed his arm and in one brutal movement twisted it hard and high. The sound of the thug’s arm breaking was sickening, but Antonio didn’t care. This was about survival. A swift kick to the groin followed up by several heavy fists to the face and the thug was out cold.

Antonio crouched down and snapped the thug’s neck in one brutally efficient movement. He was getting close to Lyle, but he knew that he needed to keep going. This wasn’t over until it was over.

Moments later, Antonio heard the sound of Lyle’s voice coming from inside the room.

He had done it.

Antonio had rescued his boy.

As Antonio swung the door open, the look on Lyle’s face was one of horror. But just as Antonio realized his mistake, he felt a thudding noise to the back of his head.

Dazed, Antonio turned around and stumbled to the floor.

‘Sloane…’ Antonio said, groggily, his vision blurring. ‘You won’t… get away… with…’

To the sound of Lyle screaming as Sloane pulled him out of the room by his hair, Antonio attempted to retain consciousness. They had been hard blows. Antonio had been hit over the head with a metal pipe before and he knew it would take a moment for him to fully come to his senses.

But Antonio didn’t have time.

In fact, time was the last thing that Antonio had.

Sloane was escaping with Lyle, and for all Antonio knew this might be the last chance that he would have to rescue his boy.

‘Get up. Get onto your feet,’ Antonio said, his vision slowly returning to normal. ‘This is about Lyle. You owe it to him to save him. Fucking move.’

Antonio hauled himself to his feet and set off after Sloane and Lyle. Antonio could hear Lyle calling out his name. The sound was coming from the direction of the stairs that led down toward the ground floor.

Sloane was taking Lyle directly into the danger zone.

Antonio had to catch them. If it was the last thing he ever did, Antonio knew that he had to protect Lyle and make sure that he wasn’t a victim to a stray bullet. Or even worse… that Sloane didn’t take him out himself.