Page 34 of Coff

The tires on the gravel draw closer. Then three car doors close. We all hold up three fingers to each other. Then I crouch back down.

The door flies open, and I listen and wait.

“It better be fucking ready to ship out,” a familiar voice says.

No, it can’t be. My brother would have mentioned him.

“It will be boss. Anderson and the guys assured me they’d have it ready before you got here,” another man says.

“Stop right there,” Durango says. “Put your hands up. This is an FBI raid.”

Interesting approach, but maybe it will work.

I stand up with my weapon trained on the men. That’s when I confirm it’s him, Rocky Manzia. His hair is grayer than it was twelve years ago. And it appears he recognizes me, too.

He steps toward me. “You?”

“Rocky Manzia,” I say.

His lips curl up in a smile. “Working with your brother now, I see.”

I am working with Brian, but he never said anything about Rocky Manzia. “You run this operation?” I ask to confirm.

His smile falls. “I run everything!” he shouts. “But you should know that. You know I almost came after you for trying to steal my daughter from me all those years ago. But she begged me to leave it alone, saying she wanted to wipe all thoughts of you from her life.”

The words sting. Even after all these years. Losing Delaney is my biggest regret. I’ve never again felt anything close to the way I felt when I was with her. I’d thought about looking her up when I got out of the service, but Brian informed me she still worked for her dad. After all those years, she had to know the truth about him.

I spent that next week with my mind swirling, wondering if she was happy.

And I’m guessing my brother knew even saying the Manzia name would fuck with my head, and that’s why he didn’t tell me.

“Put your hands behind your back,” Ozzie instructs the two men he and Durango are securing with wire ties.

Rocky watches them and frowns, then turns back to me. “If this were an FBI raid, you’d have handcuffs, not wire ties. Are you trying to steal from me?”

“No,” I say. “We ran out of cuffs.”

Rocky shakes his head. “I don’t believe you.”

He moves fast and has his gun aimed at me. On instinct, I move to the right, but the bullet hits my shoulder. Fuck, that hurts.

I go down before he can shoot me again. Another shot rings out, and Rocky’s expression changes from anger to shock. He drops the gun, then falls forward. I stand quickly and carefully make my way to him. There’s a gunshot in his back and a pool of blood forming around him.

“I had no choice,” Durango says. “He was going to kill you.”

“I know,” I say. “Thank you.”

And he was right to do it. But my brother won’t see it that way. He’s been trying to put this man away for fourteen years. He will be pissed.

I stumble outside with Durango and Ozzie behind me. Several black cars pull up. Brian gets out of one of them and rushes to me.

“Are you all right?”

“The bullet grazed me, but I’ll need some stitches.”

He stares at my shoulder. “What happened?”

“Three men showed up after I spoke with you.”

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