Chapter 14Ciara

Chapter 14

Ciara

This was my responsibility. I was so taken aback by my brother's death that I never took the time to seek the truth. Had it not been for Luca's investigation, we would have had no idea who was the head of the Dragon Crew.

We'd shifted location in the last few hours to an old factory just outside the city border and basically situated in the middle of nowhere. This was the idea place for combat and to keep prisoners. My plan was to lure Santiago out of hiding or to find him. Whichever came first was okay with me.

I took the chance to go for a quick walk around the building to familiarize myself with the premises. But the main reason was to clear my head and think about our next move on how to treat the convicts, because that's what they were to me now.

Coming back inside, I went in search of food to find that some of the men had bought pancakes, bacon and eggs from a popular restaurant a few blocks away. I grabbed a stack of pancakes and downed it with another two cups of coffee. After breakfast, it was time for strategic planning with Luca and Sandy. We met in an old storage room where there were still piles of boxes against the wall. A long table was in the center of the room with a few chairs.

"Here's my plan," I told them. "We're going after Santiago."

"We don't know where he currently hides," Sandy said.

"Then we draw him out of hiding."

"I like that idea," Luca interjected. "What do you suggest?"

"I want to send him a little gift. How about we package Pretty Boy Mike and send it to his father. That should do it," I explained and looked at Sandy.

"Kill him?" Luca asked.

"No, how about we pluck his eye out and drop him off at his favorite hangout? He can give his father all the details about our location."

Sandy looked at me with renewed admiration. I felt like I was a kid who won the candy lottery. Luca was also looking at me with the lust-filled eyes I'd gotten used to.

"I like her," Sandy told Luca. "She's a keeper."

Luca beamed. "That's my girl."

"Now, don't get ahead of yourself. We need to talk about some things. But let's do this first."

In the main factory was a humongous cauldron with chains hanging over it, a two-hundred-foot conveyor belt and a labeling machine. We passed through that area and came to a packaging unit at the back where the three musketeers were.

We found one figure curled up in a corner, trembling for dear life that I was almost sorry for the bugger. Carlos and his cousin were tied up to two chairs, their backs turned to each other. Heads hung on chest and mouth gagged, they barely looked up when we entered.

I walked over to Carlos and pulled down the gag. I then crooked a finger under his chin, willing him to meet my eyes. "You go to church?" When he failed to answer I pulled out my gun and pried open his mouth. "Seems you're not afraid. Do you go to church ?" He nodded. "Good. Now pray for your cousin."

Pulling my stiletto from its pouch, I turned the blade over and it glistened as the ceiling light reflected from it. Someone came behind me and placed his hand on my lower back. It had to be Luca, so I ignored it. He'd been acting as though we were dating but I wasn't sure I wanted to date a man with a child. Look what happened to my own brother. Would I be able to take care of someone else's kid?

Moreover, I was about to mutilate another person's kid, wouldn't that make me a terrible person. I walked over to Pretty Boy Mike and grabbed him by the chin. He looked at me with much loathing. I ran the tip of my knife along his cheek, cutting into the epidermis. A sliver of blood stained the knife. The boy flinched and cursed under his breath.

I ran my finger over the minute wound and laughed. "Not so pretty anymore. I can see why they named you Pretty Boy, you are indeed quite beautiful. Those lips are luscious, and you have very pretty eyes."

When I removed the gag, he licked his lips and twisted his mouth. We sized up each other for a few minutes while working his tongue around his mouth. My naivety was my downfall as I thought his mouth was dry. It was when a load of slimy spit landed on my face that I knew that he'd been filling his mouth with saliva.

Startled, I stepped back, catching myself quickly. Luca moved but I reached out and grabbed his arm, wiping spittle from my nose and eyes with my sleeves.

"No, he's mine," I warned Luca. "Don't you dare interfere." Calmly, I stepped back in front of Pretty Boy, smiled and leaned close to his face, my stiletto in hand. "Do it again, I dare you."

I could see him pondering whether he should take me up on the offer, but before he could finish a thought, I struck the handle of the knife into his eye socket. I didn't go hard enough to bust an eye, just enough for him to scream out in pain.

"Arghhh … fuck!"

"Oh, you like that don't you?" I derided. "I can give it to you all night, baby." I caressed his cheek gently like a lover. He leaned his head away from my hand, but I curled my fingers behind his head and brought it back. "I have a message for daddy." I brought the blade of my knife to the tip of his lips. "Should we do the lips, or the ear?" I ran the tip of the blade along the contours of his ear.

As he opened his mouth to protest, I jammed the tip into the same eye that I'd poked before, just deep enough to puncture the ball. He squealed in pain as I twisted and pulled it out with a laugh. His hands were still tied to the chair so there was no way he could soothe the eye. I wasn't done yet. At this point I knew the eye could be saved with surgery.

I turned to Luca who was itching to do something. "Do it!"

"Fuck you!" Pretty Boy screamed. "You bitch. You will pay for this."

As Luca dug out the ball from its socket, the little mans squirmed and squealed. I never knew someone's screams would be so satisfying. Someone handed Luca a baggy and he dropped the mutilated organ inside and balled it up in a fist.

I took the bag from Luca and pushed it into Pretty Boy's pants pocket. "Give that to Daddy for me. Tell him it's from your girl Ciara."

The Dimucci clan was a fearless bunch. We left immediately, disregarding the time of day. Most people would have waited for nightfall to undertake such a task, but not us. We worked whenever, wherever we pleased.

When we arrived at Johnny's bar, we spared no time and hopped out of the van which we parked across the street. When people saw what we were about, many of them scuttled back inside buildings. By the time we crossed the street it was empty.

We pushed the doors to the bar and saw some of Pretty Boy's men lounging about. Johnny was behind the bar and Sandy rushed over before he could pull his weapon. I had mine out already and began shooting at the nearest men to me. They ran behind tables and vending machines to get out of the way of fire, some fire back but hit nothing.

"Listen up!" I shouted, shooting out the ceiling lights. "Tell Santiago I got a message for him. And he better reply soon."

The men in charge of carrying the cargo dumped the unconscious Pretty Boy Mike on the floor. I aimed my weapon at Johnny as well and warned him.

"Make sure he gets the message, or I will be back, and I will leave nothing behind. Next time we meet, please let it be cordial because I have nothing against you."

We backed out of the bar. I noted that several of his men were hit, I knew that Luca had also fired, so I wasn't sure whose shots made the mark. The trek back to the base was uneventful but we felt we left an impression.

When we returned, we ordered lunch while we waited with gleeful anticipation for Santiago's reply. While awaited my food, I pondered what to do with Carlos and Marco. The food arrived before I could think of a solution, so I quickly put them out of my mind.

The food looked and smelled delicious, I couldn't wait to dig in. It was such a successful day that made me happy, and it opened up my appetite.

"It's such a beautiful day, isn't it?" I remarked, scarfing down some Jamaican oxtails. "So beautiful."