Page 4 of Little Deer
3
MASSIMO
The warehouse is old,dilapidated, and covered in boards and colorful graffiti, but with windows that are brand new, blacked out, and with brand new sensors on the tops. Along with two very new steel doors, one in front and one in back. From the road it looks like this place is nothing and crumbling, but clearly, it’s being used, and Leonardo has made sure that no one can see something they shouldn’t.
I’ll give the fucker some points for being creative, but it’s not going to stop us.
I look back at Tony, and even though he’s hidden in the shadows, I can make out his simple nod. There are no soldiers outside, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any cameras. We have to be careful so we don’t alert them before Alonzo is in place.
Alonzo and the others are on the front side of the building, getting ready for their distraction. They’re allowing themselvesto be seen on the cameras, and hopefully that will give us a small advantage.
“Any signs of a hidden entrance?” Tony whispers, the sound barely audible.
“No,” I whisper back. “But the De Luca guards aren’t the smartest, so I wouldn’t be surprised if when the distraction goes off, they come pouring out of it and let us know.” One thing I realized from the start is that the De Luca men are still dealing with the confusion of Marco and Giovannis’ betrayals, which makes them lazy and complacent. Enough that unless they are running straight into some kind of conflict, they make themselves easy targets.
We wait, senses on alert. Then I see it. The slight glare on the roof. It’s there briefly, only a small flash, but it’s enough to have Tony and I quickly looking at each other. I nod at Tony, who turns to block the light from his phone and sends a quick message to Alonzo and the others.
I’ll give Leonardo points for stationing guards on the roof too. Clearly, they’re meant to catch anyone by surprise. The glare was on the other side of the roof, which means our cover is probably still safe, but we’ll see about Alonzo’s team. Considering the lack of men flooding outside, I’ll take it as a sign that they haven’t spotted them either.
See, lazy and complacent.
The explosion fills the air, and I grin in the darkness. Gotta love Alonzo and his love for blowing things up. As well as his timing. Tony and I hunker down in the brush, careful to conceal ourselves from the firelight that is currently burning from the abandoned vehicle along the other side of the building. Probably another ploy to keep people away.
It doesn’t take long before men pour out of the building from the back door, guns drawn, and rushing toward the front. “Find out what the fuck is going on,” one of the men barks. I don’trecognize him as one of the De Luca brothers, so this must be one of their leaders in charge of the site.
We don’t move as they rush forward, then we hear gunfire, and it’s go time. Tony and I keep low, go fast, and rush inside. The first thing I smell is damp and musk, but then a hint of something else underneath it. Ammonia or cleaner. The warehouse is dark, crates and rusted pieces of steel littering the back area, while the main area in the centre sits empty.
Tony and I make our way along the wall, steps almost silent on the cement floor, listening and looking around for anything that might be out of the ordinary. “I’ll check the second floor,” Tony breathes. I nod, staying still as he creeps along the wall until he finds the steps leading upstairs. Gun up and ready, he rushes up, while I keep moving, feeling my hand along the wall.
Leonardo wouldn’t be stupid enough to put a secret door in the middle of the room. It has to be along here, or at least close enough to the shadows to clearly hide it. So, where the hell is it?
A sound has me pausing, before quickly pressing back against the shadows, body coiling tight and ready to attack if whoever it is gets too close. I watch something move in the shadows, and I squint to try and make out what I’m seeing until I suddenly realize that two of the stacked crates toward the back wall are opening in the front.
It’s a fucking door.
I blink, but then I watch as Leonardo and his sons rush out of it, Leonardo and one of them rushing forward for the stairs that lead up to the second floor. The one behind closes and locks the door with a loud click, before rushing after them. I make sure to wait until they’re out of sight before I pull out my phone and call Tony’s phone twice, a signal to let him know danger is coming his way.
I don’t have a lot of time, and I quickly make my way back toward the crates, listening as I hear Leonardo shout, “It’s oneof those fuckers working with the Carusos. I want them fucking dead.”
Good fucking luck.
There’s a loud bang of a door, and the sound of their footsteps no longer echo down toward me, which means they’ve left. I’ll leave it to Tony to figure out where the hell they’ve gone. Instead, I head for the crates and find the padlock along the side. At first glance you’d think it was just locking the crate it’s attached to, but knowing better, I quickly pick it. I’d rather shoot it, but I can’t draw unnecessary attention. When I finally have it open, I shove it back and step forward, firing on the guard just inside.
The sound is muffled by the silencer, but I don’t take any chances as I pull his body out and toss it aside. No one comes running up the steps that lead down into the ammonia smelling basement. I rush down the stairs, on alert, and quickly take out two guards that come running down the brightly lit hallway. It’s tight with a couple of doors on each side, but none of them open to reveal anything but more crates and boxes inside. Looks like this is where Leonardo is storing a lot of his sellable merchandise. It’s something to think about later if we can get back in here to suss it all out.
When I reach the end of the hall, I see that it branches off in two different directions, one leading to a dead end with a couple of doors, and the other leading out into a large open space full of shipments ready to go out. And on the far end is another large door that looks like it’s for putting out all these containers and crates.
I turn back down the short hallway, opening the doors quickly, until I get to the second last one and the smell hits me. Blood, urine and something else that has me rushing inside. I see her there, tied to a chair in the middle of the room in the dark. Her head hangs limply against her chest, her face bruised,eyes swollen, nose covered in blood and crusted down over the top of her lip and chin, her lips split, and her clothes soaked with fluids, and blood streaking her face and some on her shirt.
Infuriated, I step forward, checking her pulse, and letting out a quick sigh of relief realizing that she’s still alive, though her pulse is a bit slow. Whatever they gave her to keep her quiet must be still in her system. “Lucy,” I murmur, gently cupping her face and lifting it. “Lucy, can you hear me?” I get no response other than a small sound from her throat that might be a sigh or a murmur of pain. Her eyes are moving under her lids, like she’s trying to open them and can’t. “Lucy, my name is Massimo and I’m here to get you out. I’m going to untie you and then we’re going to get you free. I won’t hurt you.” I don’t know if she can understand what I’m saying, but I don’t want her waking up and freaking out.
She’ll probably do it anyway, but one can hope, right?
It takes me a minute to get her untied, and now we’re pressed for time. I need to get her out of here, and fast. By now the guards will have seen me on the cameras, and even with fighting against Alonzo and the others, they’ll get more men in here faster than I can get us out.
When I free her, I see her eyes are open, but they’re glazed and can’t focus on me. They’re dark brown, like Gia’s, and the moment they connect with mine, it’s like a punch to the gut. There’s pain, terror, and even a little bit of defiance there. I almost smile but force myself to focus. “I’m going to carry you out, alright,bella?” I say softly, reaching down to scoop her up.
She makes a sound, like she’s trying to scream, her arms lifting weakly before falling again. I ignore the smell coming from her and the wetness of her clothes as I scoop her up. We’ll get her cleaned up when we get her back to Nico’s.
