Page 53 of Double Edged Hearts
I got her.
I got her back.
As to what’s next… well, that’s the part I still have to figure out.
I’m on what we call emergency protocols. I’m using mine now in a way I never anticipated. I’m on the country roads making headway to a place I hoped to never use.
“Alex, where are you heading to?” Number Four asks.
“My safehouse,” I answer, and I almost imagine what his face must look like although I’ve never seen him.
None of us have ever seen the guys in the secret squad. Only Claudius and his father have. That was on the day he took over the empire. It was part of the initiation.
The reason why we’ve been so formidable is resilience and tact. We have a system set up for everything. This is one of them, and Number Four has gone quiet and is hesitant because he knows that where I’m heading, no one will be able to find me.
“So, I can’t follow you.” It’s not a question. It’s a statement of fact. He’s not allowed to.
“No. I’ll tell you when I’ll relieve you.”
Cora tenses, and her heartbeat speeds up, drumming against my skin. I want to calm her and soothe her. I want to check that those bastards didn’t hurt her. Mostly, I just want to see her face and assure her that I’ll take care of her.
“What should I tell the boss?” he asks in that same hesitant voice. I’m sure by now he can guess if I’ve mentioned the safehouse and the other guys aren’t involved in any way that this is a rogue mission.
“Nothing. I’ll speak to him.”
“Okay, promise me you will, Number Four,” he says to me. He’s never called me that before, but he’s right to. I am Number Four. Even when Jude was part of the crew, I was still Number Four.
“I give you my word,” I promise.
“Good luck amico mio,” he says.
“Grazie,” I answer back in Italian, thanking him, and the line cuts.
When we first took our positions in the leadership hierarchy, we chose our safehouses. All secret locations that no one would know about, not even each other. Claudius made sure of that. Unlike other setups in most of the mafia families, ours is completely different and rigid to the point where we know we have to keep certain things secret from each other. That’s the only way it would work.
Mine is in Warroad Minnesota, a very long way away from here. We have another twelve hours or so ahead of us and that’s if we don’t run into trouble, or at the very least get stuck in traffic.
I just need to get there. There are a few things I have to do first to make sure no one can follow us.
Then I have to figure out everything else.
I need to know what happened with Cora, and I need her to tell me everything. I need to know what I’m up against, and only then will I know what steps to take next.
The first on the list is to get rid of the bike.
I’ll head to the checkpoint in the next town and lose it.
We’ll go the rest of the way by car.
