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  He pressed a button and a current of electricity went through me. There was immediate crippling pain. My heart felt like it was bursting out of my chest. I screamed even as the logical part of my brain told me that the voltage he’d used wasn’t as high as he could go. He was just getting started.

  “Good. Seems like it works. That was nothing Ms. Brinkley, don’t be dramatic. Now we’ll start from the very beginning. And make no mistake, we have all the time in the world. So right from the beginning. Tell us how you met Davide. And leave no details or I’ll get very very angry.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY – NINE

  Davide was going out of his mind. He’d driven as fast as he could to Lori’s but he’d been too late. The door had been left unlocked and though there was no sign of a scuffle, he was sure that Lori didn’t make a habit of leaving her house at night without locking it. He thought of calling Macy but he was wary of alarming her and alerting attention to the situation. If Hector had her, Davide needed to go at it with as little attention as possible. The element of surprise had to be on his side.

  He went into Lori’s bedroom where only hours earlier he’d made love to her, told her he loved her and bared his soul. He regretted not having stayed by her side. She didn’t like him at that moment but he was sure she loved him. He should have stayed and tried to work things out. No need for regrets now, he had to stay calm and do what needed to be done.

  He got out of the house and headed towards his car. Once in, he dialed the only person he knew could help him.

  “They have her Raffaele. They took her from her house, I’m sure of it.”

  “I’m in Queens, come here and we can talk.” Raffaele was as calm as ever.

  Davide drove to Queens all the way berating himself. He shouldn’t have pursued her. If only he’d let her pursue whatever it was with the other guy. She’d be safe and possibly happy. He banged angrily on the steering wheel. He had to get her back. There was no ifs or buts about it.

  He found Raffaele sitting in his office, scotch in hand as if they didn’t have a crisis in their hands.

  “We have to assume they know about you.” That calm voice again. “Damn it Davide, we were so close to finally putting this thing to bed!” Finally a reaction.

  Davide sank on to the chair opposite his adoptive father. “I love her.”

  “Cazzo! I taught you better than that!”

  “You taught me to fight. You taught me to survive. And for that I thank you Raffaele, but she’s the only thing I want to fight for. My survival is now linked to her survival.”

  “You’ve gone too fucking soft son.”

  “And you’re too hard. We loved Isabelle. I want to avenge her death. I will. But it’s been so long that I’ve only been focused on revenge. That wasn’t a life. I wasn’t living. Lori brings light to my life. I’m happy when I’m with her and I want to feel that every day. If you’re not going to help me get her back, I’ll do it on my own.”

  “Don’t be silly. I don’t approve this. It’s not love, it’s reckless behavior…”

  “How would you know love if you’ve never felt it?” Davide asked bitterly.

  Raffaele ignored him and continued. “You’re my son. I’ll do everything to help you. Believe it or not, I want you happy. And avenging Isabelle made you happy at one point, so if this is the new thing then go for it.”

  “It’s not a thing. Damn it, you wouldn’t understand! I’ll avenge Isabelle’s death. I’ll kill Hector with my own two hands for killing the woman I loved. And he’s just earned himself a slow death for taking the woman I love.”

  Raffaele nodded and drowned the remnants in the glass.

  “Right then. Where could he have taken her?”

  “No idea. But I’m sure Nico’s helping him.”

  “Do you have anyone on the inside?”

  “I think we should assume that all Hector’s men will stay with him. But I still think Ignacio could be swayed.”

  “Alright, I’ll make some calls. Hold tight son.”

  Davide sat there feeling impotent as Raffaele made what seemed like a thousand phone calls. Knowing Raffaele, he was assembling an army. It went without saying that this was their best chance at finally getting Hector. If Davide’s cover was indeed blown, then they might never get a chance again. He stared into nothingness for a long time wondering if Lori would hold up. They would torture her, he knew that. And it was ironic that all this came at the very same night he’d told her everything.

  But even if she told Hector everything, he didn’t care. He just wanted her back safe. And after he killed Hector, he would take her very very far away. Somewhere no one knew them. Somewhere they could start over. Together.

  “I have some good news.” Raffaele interrupted him from his thoughts. “Nico Rodriguez has one warehouse in Jersey to facilitate his cargo from the terminals there. He uses it to stash drugs before exporting, and my best bet is that that’s where they’ve taken Lori. Davide nodded, cracking his fingers. “I’ve assembled all of my men, we can leave right now.”

  “I hope you have enough men. Hector will have brought most of his men, at least those he considers his best. That plus Nico’s men and God knows who else hates you, we don’t want to be anywhere near outnumbered.”

  Davide hoped to God that they weren’t wrong. If it turned out to be anywhere other than the warehouse, then it would be too late.

  “I’m sure it’s me Hector wants. What if I offer myself to him in exchange for Lori?”

  “Then he’ll just be able to kill you both. Don’t go being a hero Davide. We make a plan and we stick to it.”

  Davide felt quite calm for somebody who had his entire life at stake. This is what Raffaele had taught him best. Being calm in the face of a storm. Calm people didn’t make mistakes. He would allow himself to feel after he had Lori. Not before.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  I screamed as another current of electricity went through me and sagged on the seat. I had screamed for so long that I was surprised I had any voice left. I kept jerking around on the seat letting out animal-like howls. I hadn’t answered any of the questions Hector had asked me and he’d taken to hitting me in between the electric shocks. I was bleeding from both my mouth and nose and I kept gagging on phlegm that had collected in my mouth.

  “Fucking bitch is just taking it.” Pedro said, looking both impressed and disgusted.

  “You see Ms. Brinkley, you’re not the only one with information. Aren’t you curious how we uncovered your little boyfriend’s scheme?”

  I couldn’t speak. If I could I would have laughed in their faces. If they’d uncovered anything, what did they need my answers for? I grunted collecting the phlegm in my mouth and spitting it as hard as I could towards Hector. That earned me a bone breaking kick to my shin.

  “Mierda!” he shot me a death glare then turned to where Ignacio and Pedro were standing.

  God the pain. I was going to die here. That I knew for sure. There was only so much my body could take.

  “Gag her!” Ignacio came towards me to do just that. Was that pity I saw in his eyes? I was probably now seeing things.

  “Now for a little story, little girl. See, at the Port Newark Terminal, two different men saw Davide aim, shoot and kill a man very dear to a friend of mine. The man had been sent by me. When I got that information, I was sure they were mistaken. Surely not the same man I’d taken in as my own son. I was told that he’d been shot at the port, so I thought he’d come to me for help, but nothing. So I called him. Couldn’t reach him for a few days and when I finally did, he was up and about as if nothing had happened.”

  I was only partially listening to the story. The pain had become too much and I was slowly slipping into unconsciousness, welcoming the icy numbness that was slowly enveloping me.

  “Get a bucket of water!” The bark from Hector pulled me towards consciousness but it was the bucket of cold water thrown on my face that woke me up.

  “I don’t remember saying this wa
s a bedtime story Ms. Brinkley,” Hector said reaching into his pocket and lighting up a cigarette. Pedro sniggered. Hector offered Ignacio and Pedro a cigarette, they both declined. “As I was saying Ms. Brinkley, I started getting very suspicious of my dear Davide. But you know what really did it?”

  I was losing focus on him again. I just wanted to sleep. Die. Anything that would dull the pain.

  “What sold him was that for once we had that cargo pulled in discretely. I even paid new men at the port, got rid of the old ones who were leaking information to Raffaele. The only people I informed were Nico and Davide. Two men I trust. You could say it was one or the other but see, Nico had brought his men who were completely slaughtered by Raffaele’s men. Why would Nico do that? Hmm?” He squatted to look me directly in the eye.

  “It had to be Davide.” He concluded with a flourish as if he expected applause. A regular Hardy Boy this guy was. I wished my mouth wasn’t gagged so I could make one smart ass remark. Something in the lines of Hector joining the Hardy Boys. I smiled behind the gag, probably more of a grimace. I was getting delirious from the pain.

  “So I had him followed.” Hector continued. God, he wasn’t finished. I wasn’t sure I could take anymore. My vision was already blurry, but now I could feel a ringing in my ears. “uhm I sotd” I said.

  “What? What did you say? Get the gag out Pedro!”

  Pedro rushed towards me. I must have been a sight because he didn’t look like he wanted to touch me. The same man who couldn’t get enough before. For once I was happy with appearance.

  I wanted them to make the ringing stop, but now that the gag had been removed, I couldn’t get enough energy to say the words. I slumped even further on the seat, the only thing holding me up being my bound hands.

  Hector seemingly satisfied that I wasn’t going to interrupt him any further, went on. “I had Davide followed and I don’t know what I was expecting but it certainly wasn’t a certain blond, brown eyed girl I’d held captive once. Imagine my surprise!” He laughed heartily and scratched his white hair as if still perplexed.

  “So you see little girl, I know that Davide is lying to me. Working for Raffaele D’Amato. Betraying me when I was nothing but generous to him. So now we’re going to see just how much he likes having you around. For your sake, let’s hope it’s a lot.” He stubbed out the butt of the cigarette and motioned for Pedro. “Gag her. She’s not being very cooperative so she can sleep right where she is. And I plan to sleep like a baby, the gag should shut her up.”

  Pedro rushed towards me and did as ordered. Then they all turned and left and I slipped mercifully into unconsciousness.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Raffaele had invited five men to the house to discuss how to go about ambushing Nico’s warehouse. About thirty more were on standby awaiting orders. The five men were specifically selected by Raffaele, he called them his biggest and brightest and judging from what I could see, he was right on at least one of those aspects. His capos. They were huge motherfuckers.

  “His warehouse is in Elizabeth, on North Avenue East, near the APM Terminal.” Said one of the guys. Davide was too pre-occupied to find out their names.

  “And we’re sure about this?” Davide asked.

  “Nico’s men are mouthy motherfuckers. This is how we found out. We offered to raid it for Raffaele..”

  “But I’m not interested in anything Nico has to offer.” Raffaele interrupted, “he deals in small time drugs and some more shit I couldn’t care less about. He only hates me because I don’t recognize that street gang he calls a cartel.”

  “Okay. So we know about his warehouse for sure.” Davide checked his watch. It was a little past midnight. “I say we go now. How many men stand guard on a given night?”

  “About ten the last time we checked.” Said the guy.

  “Alright, we’ve wasted too much time. Give the guys outside the directions and let’s go.”

  They all got out of the office leaving Raffaele seated. He never went out to fight anymore and Davide was fine with that.

  “Good luck son. I hope you get her back.”

  “Oh I will.” Davide promised and followed the men out. He got into his rental with the other guy, Johnny or Vinny, joining him. They drove in silence towards New Jersey. Only once they were in Elizabeth did Davide talk.

  “We’ll wait until all the men are positioned, then only me and you will enter the warehouse. How many doors should we expect?”

  “It’s not very big and all I’ve seen are three doors. One at the back, one at the front and a smaller side entrance.”

  “And your men know this?”

  “They do. They’ll be in position.”

  Davide liked how calm and collected the man was. He gained confidence in men like him, but he didn’t dare relax. He would go all out for Lori. They passed the APM terminal on McLester Street and turned left onto North Avenue. Everything seemed relatively quiet. He parked the car and checked his weapons. A knife strapped to his calf, a loaded pistol tucked safely in his large timberland boots and in his hands, his trusted Beretta 92FS.

  Johhny/Vinny had his Glock in hand and looked ready. “the men are already here and in position,” he said.

  “Then it’s show time.”

  Davide had won a bullet proof vest, and even though he’d been warned by Raffaele about being a hero, he intended to be just that. He was going to go in shooting and hope like hell that Lori was still alive. Because if not, he’d enjoy skinning Hector alive. He’d carried the knife for just that purpose.

  Bending in half and running towards the door, he noticed that there was no guard on the front entrance. He ran stealthily to the side door and still no guard. What kind of hostage situation was this? Hector had either already transferred Lori, or he was being careless. And knowing Hector, it was probably the latter.

  He forced the door open and entered the dimly lit warehouse. He could see a light hanging near the back and loud noises coming from there. He felt a prickling sensation at the back of his neck. Something wasn’t right. He crept slowly towards the light and from the corner of his eye, he saw Johhny/Vinny doing the same from the other side.

  There were stacked containers on each side, creating an eerie path towards the back. Was it an ambush? He turned and motioned to Johnny/Vinny. Two fingers telling him to come closer, and a raised palm telling him just when to stop. Johnny/Vinny looked at him perplexed. Yes, they’d plan to enter in from different directions and catch the men unaware. If shooting ensued, the plan was for the rest of the men to barge in from all doors.

  But something told him that what he was about to see wouldn’t be what he was expecting, so he needed Johnny/Vinny to act as back up. He didn’t need more men dying when this was his mission and his only. There was more boisterous laughter coming from the back. He could picture the men taunting Lori, or worse, using her.

  His heart beat too loudly in his ears as he inched closer. In fact, he wondered how the men couldn’t hear it. Usually he was calm in such a position. He’d never feared death before. He never really had much to live for until Lori. Now the stakes were higher. He wanted her out safe, even if he died in the crossfire. He’d brought her into this and he would be the one to get her out.

  He inched closer still. When he was close enough, he indicated for Johnny/Vinny to come closer. Right then one of the men rounded the corner and he immediately held his breath and instantly moved closer to the shadows. He hoped to God that Johnny/Vinny would stay hidden. The man went outside whistling merrily all the way. He wondered if he should confront the men with one gone. But what if he’d gone to get someone else? He decided to wait.

  The man came back still whistling and rounded the corner. Taking a deep breath, Davide raised his gun and turned the corner to face the men.

  His heart immediately fell. If there was one thing he wasn’t expecting it was this.

  “Hands in the air where I can see them!” Johnny/Vinny shouted behind him and for a moment he though
t he’d been double crossed. The men immediately stood up looking confused, hands straight up in the air.

  “What now boss?” Johnny/Vinny asked. Davide had momentarily frozen at the sight in front of him and he was only lucky that his partner was there to pick up his slack. Else he’d be dead by now. He’d noticed some of the men surrounding the table try to reach for their own pieces but Johnny/Vinny had been too fast.

  “Where the hell is Hector?” Davide asked.

  “Hector?” a short round man asked perplexed.

  In front of them was a table littered with cards. Davide had just interrupted their poker game.

  “Don’t act stupid motherfucker, I want Hector Da Silva now!”

  “You must be mistaken.” Said another guy with a heavy Spanish accent. “We don’t know no Hector.”

  “Are you Nico’s men?”

  They nodded as if unsure they should be disclosing that much, but kept staring at Davide’s Berretta holding hand, finger unstable on the trigger.

  “Is this his warehouse?”

  They all nodded again.

  “Then where the fuck is he?”

  They looked confused and it was enough to piss Davide off. He shot the man closest to him straight in the head and the man fell to the ground.

  “Now, I’m going to try this one more time, where.the.fuck.is.Nico?”

  “Look señor, we don’t know where he is, but…”

  “BUT WHAT?” Davide bellowed already itching to blow the motherfucker’s head off.

  “Ever heard of Raffaele D’Amato?” Johnny/Vinny surprised Davide by speaking. “He’s looking for Nico, and he’s ready to kill each one of you and then some more if you don’t tell us where he is. Outside we have thirty men ready to go on a killing spree. So I suggest you answer his question right away.”

  The men were visibly shaking. Where did Nico get these wimps from?

  “Look hombre, I have kids…”

  “Then I suggest you start speaking.”