Page 70 of A Breath of Life (Shadowy Solutions #4)

Costa wet his lips and glanced between us. “He aimed a gun at your boyfriend.”

And that was the moment our entire plan fell apart.

“I shot him,” Costa said. “Non-fatally.”

“In the shoulder,” I added.

“When he went down, I knocked him out with the butt of my gun and dragged him off into a corner, hoping that he wouldn’t be discovered right away. I confiscated his weapon.”

I stared at Diem, whose lips were pinched so tightly that the skin around his mouth turned white. Learning I’d been two seconds from taking a bullet before I’d even found him in the basement clearly didn’t sit well.

“The shot didn’t go unnoticed,” Costa continued. “The shattering glass of the statue caused its own uproar. A few patrons already thought someone had fired a gun. Panic had set in. A few fights broke out when people tried to flee, but they were stopped by syndicate security.

“When I fired my gun, someone shouted that the shooter was in the back. They came for me. Had I followed Tallus, they would have been on us in a flash. We’d both be dead.

I got Tallus through the basement door and disrupted the key reader on the outside so no one could get down there without a hassle.

I told him to get you out while I figured out a distraction. ”

Diem’s hot gaze was on me again. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but the hand not petting his dog was balled into a white-knuckle fist on his thigh.

Costa cleared his throat and scuffed a hand over his unshaven jaw like he was trying to organize his thoughts.

“Kitty called in an anonymous tip to the police hotline, dropping all the right words to invoke an immediate raid response. Intelligence has been hunting the Royal Aces for a long time, so it was not something they could sit quietly on when told specific details. I’d already tipped off a few trusted people in the department, so they knew the call was coming and were ready. ”

“Why the fuck didn’t you go to your people first?” Diem growled. “Why send Tallus and the jeweler? Two untrained and unarmed men? Are you a fucking idiot?”

“D—”

“No. I want to know why.”

“Because, like I told my cousin, intelligence would never have moved fast enough. You know how things work in the department, Krause. Even with a hostage situation, which we had, they would have started with a negotiator. What kind of risk would that have placed on your grandmother? Tallus was convinced these people would act without a moment’s notice.

Since we didn’t know how Ace’s men were communicating with the home, and we knew that they had video surveillance in place, sending officers there first would have been dangerous.

Am I right, or did they not threaten to kill her if you didn’t obey their command. ” Not a question.

Diem ground his teeth but stayed silent.

“Before we did anything at the home, I had to disrupt communication. Could I have solely done that and gotten your grandmother to safety? Yes, but the disruption would have been an instant red flag, and that would have put your life at risk, as they would rightfully assume something was amiss. They would have killed you and vanished before we got our hands on them. So, we needed to disrupt their system while they were already distracted.”

“What we didn’t plan for,” I added, trying to soothe my boyfriend’s bubbling temper, “was me literally running smack into the Bishop as he came up from the basement.” I had managed to slip around everyone else as an unknown face in the crowd, but the Bishop got a close-up look at me. He saw through the disguise.

“I didn’t know they drugged you.” Pain and regret creased the skin beside Costa’s eyes. “I wouldn’t have sent you off alone otherwise.”

“They would have caught up to us far sooner, and we would be dead. I can’t believe you stuck around.”

“I had to.”

Costa went on to explain how he’d tried to blend with the crowd while communicating the locations of the head guys to Kitty, but not knowing who most of Ace’s men were, he had to rely on quick observation.

Only when the police sirens screamed in the distance did the core group stand out because they immediately fled.

“To the basement and their escape tunnel through the underground to the church,” I said. “Were they apprehended?”

“Yes. We believe we captured every important person who was there that night. Jeffery Lynford, the man you know as the Bishop, is in a private room down the hall, recovering from an unfortunate gunshot wound to the shoulder. He has a twenty-four-hour guard and is cuffed to the bed, so you don’t have to worry about him. ”

“Fucking Jeffery. Goddammit. He’s who riled up Nana. She mentioned him.”

Costa nodded. “We also got Corrado Belcastro, otherwise known as il Capo, your doorman. Dexter Sartell, your sleazy Jackal, and Michael Ortolano,” he glanced at Diem, “who you know as the Consigliere.”

Diem’s gaze clashed with mine. “St. Michael,” we both said together.

“Fucker,” Diem added.

“We also picked up a man at the nursing home,” Costa continued. “Maurice DeSilva. He’s warming a cell with the rest of them.”

“No Ace?” I asked, my heart pattering too fast again. I pressed the heel of my palm to my sternum, hoping it didn’t set off my monitor.

Diem noticed and frowned, but it was he who answered my question. “The Consigliere said Ace wasn’t in the building that night.”

“He was not,” Costa confirmed. “Arturo Ortolano, or Ace, is the head of the syndicate. He and Michael are brothers. Arturo and six other men that we know of are still at large, but intelligence is working hard on the ones we arrested to see if they can extract a location from them. Someone might talk if it means not spending the rest of their life in prison.”

Costa pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “That about sums up all I know.”

“And you?” I asked. “Did they fire you?”

He huffed a humorless laugh. “No, but I’m suspended with pay pending a further investigation.”

“Shit. ”

A knock sounded at the door. The three of us glanced over to find Quaid, who only had eyes for my cousin. “They would be stupid to fire you. You’re far too valuable.”

“I’m glad you think so.” My cousin smiled weakly at the detective.

Quaid surveyed the room. “Sorry to interrupt. I’m just checking in. It’s been a while, and…” He glanced at Diem. “I wanted to be sure you were still in one piece.”

I smirked.

Diem frowned.

My cousin pulled his phone from a pocket and sighed exhaustedly. “Crap. I have to go home. Tia knows nothing, and she’s rightfully worried. I seem to have lost a couple of days, and I’m starting to see double.”

Costa hugged me again and didn’t release me for a long time. “Get better,” he said against my hair.

“I will. Get some sleep.”

He chuckled. “I’ll try.”

Costa offered a hand to Diem, who stood, towering over my cousin so dauntingly that an ordinary man might have cowered. My cousin did not.

Eventually, Diem shook. “Can I walk you out?”

Costa nodded, glancing once at Quaid. “Sure.”

Diem moved to the bed and brushed my unnaturally blond hair from my eyes. “I won’t be long. Do you need anything?”

“No. Just you.”

Before he moved away, I took his hand and lowered my voice. “Please don’t murder my cousin. It’s not his fault.”

He gave my hand a squeeze, but I was not reassured.