Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

Bosley

All in all, it had been a decent day so far. After making sure that someone was taking breakfast up to Charity, I'd headed over to the Port Authority to wander around. Going by Bosley Taylor was really working out for me. It helped that I worked primarily in Chicago or on the West Coast. I knew Romeo Caputo had a reputation on the East Coast, but only the old-timers in the Buccelli Family knew me by face.

Before I left this morning, Cory had assured me that he'd take lunch to Charity personally and check in on her. If I'd thought about it, I'd probably have suggested he just have food delivered to her again, but I was so in awe of him willingly helping out this girl—in her skimpy clothes and covered in snotty tears—that I brought home off the streets that I didn't consider how a conversation between the two of them might go.

I hated admitting it, even to myself, but I was nervous about the reception I might get from Cory. What if Charity told him what I'd done? He knew I wasn't squeaky clean, but that didn't mean he thought I was a killer.

As I entered the lobby, Harlow hissed my name, waving frantically for me to come over to the check-in desk. "Hey, what's up?"

"Cory took Huey into the office to have a conversation with him a while ago," he hissed urgently. "I'm getting worried."

"It hasn't been that long," Amy, the concierge, who I'd only met a couple of times, said, checking her watch. "No, on second hand, it has been at least forty-five minutes."

Dante wandered over. "What's the problem?" he asked me while keeping one eye on Harlow. What was that about?

Harlow flapped his arm back toward Cory's office. "I already told you. Bosley and Huey are still in there."

I didn't love Huey, but I didn't think he was any real threat to Cory. My boy was jacked. Shit, he wasn't my boy. I wasn't staying. I needed to get my head together.

"Well?" Dante asked, staring at me with confusion.

"What?" I barked instead of admitting that I'd gotten lost in my head.

"Do you want me to go check on them?" Dante asked, obviously repeating himself.

I wanted to make sure Cory was okay, but I also didn't want him to feel like I was treating him like he couldn't handle his own employees. This was his business, and he'd been running it successfully long before I showed up. There was also the fact I'd come back early so I could check on Charity myself. I didn't want the girl pulling a runner, heading back out to that alleyway where Tad and her friends were until I dealt with that piece of crap pimp.

"No, I've got it. I need to run upstairs and check on something in my room really quickly, then I'll be back down."

Harlow's shoulders fell as he relaxed, relief crossing his face. "Thank you, Bosley. I'd do it, but it feels awkward."

Chuckling, I reached across the counter and patted his shoulder. "No problem. Take a breath, and I'll be back before you know it."

"Keep an eye out," I whispered to Dante as I passed him.

"You got it."

Since Gangster's Paradise was on the second floor, I often took the stairs, but I was as nervous about seeing Cory again as I was agitated that he'd been in this meeting with Huey for so long. A dose of Everest was just what the doctor called for.

"Good afternoon, sir," Everest said as the elevator doors opened. He checked his watch. "A little early for you to be back, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I had some things I wanted to look into around here today."

"I'm sure Mr. Letterman will be glad to have you back." He beamed knowingly. "With all those break-ins, he needs someone keeping an eye on him."

The elevator doors opened, but there was something about Everest agreeing that Cory needed someone to care about him that made me stop and open my camera app. I should've done that in the first place while I was still at the desk. I could have reassured Harlow already. Not that I wanted him to know I'd put a camera in Cory's office.

"That's weird."

"What's that?" Everest asked.

I pointed the phone toward him. "Cory's not in his office."

Everest was mumbling something about him probably walking the hotel while I rewound the recording. I stopped as soon I saw Huey on Corey's side of the desk. "What's he doing?"

I went back further and saw Huey striking Cory and my boy falling back into his rolling chair. "What the…" My voice trailed off as I hit fast-forward. I skipped through slowly, and I watched as Huey shoved something silver and gleaming into his pocket.

"He's got a gun," I said, speaking more to myself than Everest. Huey went around the desk and to the wall, tapping somewhere off to the left of the viewing angle, and a hole appeared. He went back, and straining, he rolled Cory back through it. "What the actual fuck?"

"Was that Mr. Letterman?" Everest asked with concern.

"Take me back downstairs," I demanded, stepping back all the way into the glass box.

The door shut, and Everest worried his hands together. "It looks like he took them into the old tunnels."

My head snapped up, surprised. "The what?"

Everest nodded his head. "Yeah, there's tunnels running all the way around this place. I think there's even some down below."

The doors opened, and Everest stayed on my heels as I moved briskly through the lobby, dodging any fellow travelers. "Cory never said anything about any tunnels. Does he know about them?"

"I don't know. Mr. Mac knew about them, but Mr. Letterman never said anything about them."

"What's wrong?" Dante asked as we reached him.

"Office. Now," I barked.

My hand was on the doorknob when I realized that Everest and Harlow had followed us, as well. "You two stay out here and do your jobs. I'm going to go get Cory."

"What's happening?" Harlow asked, sounding panicked.

Join the club kid. I am, too.

"I'll tell him. You go on now," Everest said.

As soon as Dante was in the office, he closed the door behind us. He stopped. "I thought Cory was in here."

"So did I." I went to the wall, examining the area where I saw Huey's hand disappear.

"What are you doing?" Dante came to my side. "Where's Cory?"

"Did you know there's fucking tunnels in this building?"

Dante blinked. "You've got to be kidding me."

He started patting the wall on the other side. "Well, shit. No wonder he's got someone wandering in and out of the guest's hotel rooms."

"And now I know exactly who it is," I growled. I noticed a framed photo of Cory and his nephew that I'd never seen before, and I realized that I'd almost forgotten about the kid. Cory's last remaining relative. First, I'd get my boy back, and then I'd investigate that. Everest was right. My boy needed someone to watch out for him.

I slid my hand up under the picture and felt a slight depression. I pushed harder, and a door-sized crack formed in the wall. "Yes."

"That's cool," Dante said, sounding awed. "Tunnels are kickass."

"Don't get too excited. Huey knocked Cory out with the barrel of his gun and rolled him into here in his office chair."

"You're shitting me." Dante pulled his piece out from the back of his pants. Let's go take care of this fucker."

We went through, going to the left until we hit the corner where the tunnel split. It went up to the right at an incline, or if we went straight ahead, it went down at a decline. Since he'd had Cory in that chair, I'd bet money he went down. Cory had been down here at least half-an-hour, and I didn't want to gamble on his life with a psycho with a gun.

"What do you think?" Dante asked. "Up or down?"

I hesitated, then pointed down. Moving as stealthily as possible, we headed down until we came to a sharp turn to the left. There were a couple of stairs and then another decline. "What do you think? Keep going this way or head back up?"

What did I think? I thought I was going to pull Huey's heart out through his mouth. I didn't feel rage or fury, but fear so heart-stopping that I was ready to come out of my skin. I'd never experienced anything like this. I'd never cared about the well-being of someone else in such a fundamental way like this before.

I was ready to turn around and go in the other direction when I heard a raised voice from deeper down in the tunnel. Dante and I exchanged a look, and then treading softly, I went to get my boy.