Page 72 of Demon's Angel

“Two came out the back, they seem reluctant to… ah, stay put. Let them come closer…” Red’s giving us a running commentary.

A shot is fired. “Winged one,” I hear Wraith through Drummer’s phone. “There were two on our side, the other’s just put his hands up.”

Red sounds both pleased and puzzled when he confirms, “Fuck. Mine are surrendering too. Who the fuck are we dealing with?”

Not bothering to try to find an answer, I take the advantage offered to me, that Lucio’s men aren’t putting up much of a fight. “I’m going in. Keep them occupied.”

At the sound of the shot, two of the guards who’d ran out the front door had turned tail and run back inside. The others dispersed around the side of the house.

“Got another couple here, Demon, just appeared from your direction. Sounds like we have the ones brave enough to fight back. We’ll get them secured and come in and meet you.” Thor doesn’t seem worried.

Eight guards in all.In the process of being locked down.

Pyro’s not only our explosive expert, he’s a sniper, too. I leave him and Skull with rifles to cover our backs, then Hell, Thunder and I go to our bikes. There’s a few hundred yards of driveway to cover, and that is the fastest way, even though it’s hardly a discreet approach. I’m hoping that the holes in the walls and other three points of attack will keep any guards we haven’t yet seen occupied and confused. I hear a burst of rapid fire and hope it’s Devils doing the shooting and not getting shot. But there’s no way back. Whatever we’ve started, we’ll see through to the bitter end.

Engines started, stands up, pull clutch back, shift into gear, twist throttle, release clutch: actions performed simultaneously with me by Thunder and Hellfire, then our wheels are throwing up gravel as we speed down the drive.

Stands down, engines off, bodies thrown off sideways, and we’re at the front door. A ping as a bullet hits a fairing, an answering shot from Pyro, and a swear word from Hell. Thunder shoots the lock and we’re inside.

A guard holds up a gun, but faced with three others all pointing his way, he does the sensible thing and, with shaking hands, puts it on the floor. Thunder has his hands zip-tied quickly.

“How many of you?” I ask him sharply.

One glare at his face has him answering. “Eightsoldati. six are outside,” he grimaces as he hears more shots firing, “one more in here. He’s stayed with the don.”

So, not as many as I’d feared. They hadn’t expected an attack. As for thesoldatos. I study the man in front of me. The way he’d been holding his gun was as if he’d never had a weapon in his hands before. He’d broken easily, too.What the fuck is going on?

“Where’s my wife?” I snap.

His eyes widen. “Your wife?”

“Violet Palmer.” Well, she’s technically a Black now. It’s more important to find her than worrying about what to call her.

“American?” When I nod, he shakes his head. “There are no American females here. Only the staff, all Italian.”

“Angel? Where is he?”

He looks confused. “He isn’t here. Only the don.”

Unsure whether to believe him, turning to Thunder, I order, “Go search the upstairs. Hell, can you…” I break off as I see Drummer walking along the back corridor accompanied by Pal and the Tucson men. “Pal, go with Thunder will you?”

Drummer waves to Rock and Beef. “You two take this floor.”

I add one last thing. “Tear the house a-fuckin’-part if you have to. But find her.”

The Vegas enforcer is eyeing the man we’ve caught. “Want me to question him?”

“Later. Thanks, Twister,” I decide. Searching will get faster results than torturing a man who might be prepared to take his boss’s secrets to the grave with him. “Hellfire, Drummer and I will go see Lucio. Where’s your boss?” I snap the last at the guard. A jerk of his head suggests the don’s in the room where we’d met him only a few days back.

Pushing the soldier in front of me, I enter what appears to be an empty room. Yeah, not surprising. With bombs and gunshots, he’s probably retreated to a safe room. “Where is it?” I tug the tied arms of the guard. Hell is already looking, in fact he’s walked right over to a bookcase and is standing in front of it. Our captive stiffens, letting me know he’s on the right track.

“Hell?”

“It’s here. It was in the blueprints.”Of course it fucking was.I should have spotted something like that, but I’d been too tied up with finding Violet.

“Open it,” I instruct.

The soldier, who’d given up his gun so easily, shakes his head vigorously at the thought of giving up his boss.

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