Page 89 of Retribution
Chapter 51
Rebecca
It’s go time.
Five large black vans line the expansive driveway outside, each manned by one of The Duke’s men. Every group is assigned to a certain van, each carrying our suitcases, ready to depart after our mission is complete.
None of us still want to be in the country when the shit hits the fan, and each group has its own agenda afterward.
Nate, Eric, and Tessa are heading to Europe. We all tentatively discussed some plans for the future, which may or may not come to fruition. For now, they want to travel for a while, take some time off from killing and death. Tessa’s claiming it as their honeymoon, and I think it may have given Trey some ideas.
The Duke and her men are going to California, and Dutch and the Charon Group are off to New York City. I’ve been noticing a lot of heated looks being exchanged amongst them, and wonder what might come of it.
Trey and I are going back to Chicago. As happy as I am to be reunited with my grandparents and aunt, I can’t lead the life they want me to. Neither of us can. There won’t be a white picket fence or children in our future; it’s just not us. If discussions with the Bannermans pan out, it will give our future more direction, but until then, we’ll return to Chicago and say our goodbyes to my family.
Not for forever, but for now. We’ll visit regularly, as and when we can. But, they are my past—Trey is my future, and I can’t wait to explore it with him.
***
Nate and Eric had drilled us repeatedly until we each had our roles down pat. In case anything goes wrong, each of us has memorized the floorplan of the warehouse, where the meeting will be taking place, where the exits are.Plan for every eventualityseems to be their motto and one I know they share with Trey.
Before getting in the vans, we all don protective gear, our gas masks at the ready. None of us are willing to take any chances with our safety, so we double-check each other’s suits, making sure we haven’t missed any exposed areas.
The warehouse has been specially designed for meetings such as this. There are only two exits, front and back, both with a contained vestibule reinforced with bulletproof glass. An interior hallway houses an office, breakroom, and unisex bathroom. Double doors to the right open up into the main part of the building, and this is where the meeting will be held. Circular tables are dotted around the room, all facing a rectangular one where Vincenzo Gianelli, being the supreme head, will sit with his bodyguards.
Soaring thirty feet above them, the ceiling boasts an enormous skylight, which provides the room with ample natural light. A large parking lot runs around the perimeter of the building and is protected by eight-foot wire fencing. Set amongst similar buildings in an area of east London where no one asks questions and people mind their business, it’s the perfect location for clandestine meetings.
Across from the warehouse stands a foreclosed building where Tessa and I, along with Wayne, one of The Duke’s men, will be watching the monitors Eric and Trey have set up for us. Both of us had put up a fight about it initially, but when Trey had dropped to his knees, imploring that I consider my safety, I relented. I’m not sure how Eric and Nate got Tessa to agree to stay behind, but I can take a guess by how stiffly she’s walking today.
Tessa and I have gotten to know each other over the past few weeks, and I can honestly say that she’s swiftly becoming a friend. She may be a couple of years younger than me, but we both have clawed our way out of the hell others subjected us to, and that shared experience brought us closer. I’m still a little surprised that I like her as much as I do. Maybe it was the bonding over knife throwing in the basement that did it.
We pull up fifty yards from the building, doors sliding open as we jump out, those heading to the warehouse securing their gas masks. Trey pulls me close, pressing an urgent kiss to my lips before saying, “No matter what, stay in that building. I need to know where you are, that you’re safe. Promise me, Rebecca. And you know what to do if anything happens to me.”
“I promise,” I reply, wrapping my arms around him. The promise being that I take the passport and banking codes tucked into a laminated holder around my neck and leave the country immediately, going back to Chicago.
It’s cute that he thinks I would leave him behind. I would rather go down in a blaze of glory with him at my side than to ever run again.
Tessa, Wayne, and I settle ourselves in the abandoned building, switching the monitors on and making sure we can flip through all the camera angles. Trey, Eric, Nate, and The Duke are all wearing body cams so we also have those angles to watch. Luckily Eric brought in five monitors to cope with all the different views.
We settle in, eyes locked on the screens as it begins. It’s hard to tell who is who with the protective gear everyone is wearing, but Nate is easily discernible by his height alone. Tessa grabs my hand, squeezing tightly as we watch our men go into action.
The men inside laughing and toasting their successes think they are safe. They don’t know that Nate purchased the warehouse from the crime family that usually leases it out for events such as this. They don’t know that we rigged a gas dispersal unit inside the air vents. And they don’t know that we’re watching them through the thirty tiny cameras placed strategically throughout the building.
They don’t know we’re coming for them.
The four guards, two at each entrance point, are quickly overpowered and have their throats slit before they can even raise their weapons in defense.
Our team slips into the vestibules and unlock the doors, sliding inside. Trey is moving according to plan, and unwraps the heavy chains from around his shoulders, swiftly wrapping them around the handles of the doors leading to the meeting room.
I lean forward, gasping as I see one of the guards coming up behind Trey with a knife raised. “No!” I shout at the monitor, starting to stand when heavy hands come down on my shoulders, keeping me in my chair.
“Sit down,” Wayne barks at me. He points to his monitor, which shows a different angle from what I could see on mine. One of ours has a gun pointed at the guard, who goes down with a bullet between his eyes. Trey turns and gives a thumbs up to whoever just saved him, then gives the signal that the doors are secured.
Switching cameras, we watch as The Duke and Dutch storm into the breakroom, catching several of the bodyguards off guard. Their faces go from confusion to shock as bullets begin flying, and moments later, the room is a beautifully macabre painting of blood and death.
Tessa and I count the bodies leaving the warehouse in preparation for the gas attack. Relief flows through us as each one is accounted for. The front and back exits are locked, and two stand guard at each just in case, while the rest rush to the right-hand side of the building. There, they pull down the emergency escape ladder, each quickly climbing up to the flat roof and skylight. They’ll have a birds-eye view of the room as it starts to all go down.
Switching the cameras to the ones inside the building, we watch as the men all mill about, talking and laughing. Eric and Nate had set the cameras so we could view from various angles; above, eye-level, below. Several of the men turn around, their noses in the air, confusion written across their faces as the scent of chlorine reaches them.
