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“Shut the lights behind you. We don’t need any nosey neighbors looking inside,” Niko says.
My heart stills almost to a stop. I am nothing.
A ghost.
When the last cop goes by, I catch his face and fire.
Shrthrmmp!
The body slumps as the next one turns. I shoot again.
Nikolaj goes for his gun, but I take the last cop in my custody and hold firm.
“Weapons down.” I step forward into the light.
“You.”Nikolaj dumps his gun, knowing I have the jump. “The one from the card game. I knew something was off about you. Tell me, what do you want?”
“An exchange,” I say, then shift the gun to Ferraro when I see him slowly reaching. “You.I think you’ve done enough.”
He freezes in place. “What do you know about me? Who the fuck are you?”
I notice the hostage I’m holding is shaking like a leaf. One glance at him and I realize he’s not one of the bratva. He’s one of those fucking rookies Ferraro would keep on watch for Quinn.
“I’m the one speaking,” I say. “Remove the gun on your belt, and the one on your ankle… slowly.” Once he does what he’s told, I kick the guns away and turn to Nikolaj.
“You say your boss, Yuri, wants revenge. Well, what if I gave him the one who murdered his cousin twenty-three years ago, and the one who botched the high-box operation for you. Would that suffice? Seems like that fat prick just needs his fix.”
Nikolaj takes a step closer, and I straighten my arm, telling him I’ll pull the trigger.
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” he says. “You sound like a madman.”
“Ask him,” I say.
The truth is… I’m panicking. The whole point was to rid the PD of bratva, but the one I’m holding…fuck… I’m one short. This kid probably just got dragged into Ferraro’s antics. Maybe he wants in. But he’s not a part of the operation.
“I—I remember you,” Rodney says in my grasp.
I clock him with the bottom of my pistol to shut him up.
“Oh, you do, do you?” Ferraro says.
Something’s off. Why don’t either of them seem panicked?
Then I realize why when the cool cylinder of a silenced gun pokes at my back. “Party’s over, fucker.”
Chapter 30
Arosso
“He killed seven of our men,” a deep Russian voice comes from behind me.
There’s a barrel pressed to the center of my back, and I can’t believe it… I failed my final mission. The rookie’s neck is squeezed tight around my arm, but I’ve lost my leverage.
“The back way is clear, Niko,” the crooked cop behind me says. “But there’s a mess out front. We should call the clean-up crew and get out of here.”
We’re all in Quinn’s house. There’s blood spatter everywhere from the three crooked cops I took out inside, and four more outside.
“Don’t worry, Kashmir. We will be back to gambling soon,” Nikolaj says haughtily, but I can tell he’s boiling with anger. “Do you know how long it took to install those officers, Italian scum?” He pushes off my cop hat and grabs at my face. “I will make sure you suffer the worst death. Electrical waterboarding. Ever play? Shocking you slowly while you suffocate—there is no better way to watch your enemies writhe.”