Page 19
Chapter Nineteen
Enrique
I don’t want Ellie to know how bothered I am by these photos, but I also won’t lie to her about whatever results Joaquin gets once he examines the prints she pulled. I put all the photographs back in the envelope as I speak to him and round up the test kits’ results. Once I have those in another envelope I found on the shelves behind her desk, I head to where I’ve seen her keep Constantine’s food.
I grab his bowls and the storage container of food, stacking them by the garage door. I grab his bed as well and toss some of his toys into a reusable grocery bag hanging from the pantry door.
“Thank you for getting all of that together.”
I turn as Ellie enters the kitchen. She has a large duffel bag with her, then a smaller looking overnight bag. When my gaze reaches her again, something dawns on me, forcing my attention back to the black duffel bag.
“Yes, Enrique, it’s what you think.”
She’s got her rifle and whatever other weapons she owns in the bag with her.
“Do you object to me taking these to your home?”
“Hardly. I have a full arsenal, as you can imagine, but if you feel more comfortable with weapons you know, then I won’t say no.”
She nods.
“Funny thing is, I never believed in keeping weapons in a home before I got married. I didn’t imagine having them with kids in the house. I wasn’t blind to what my dad did, but I was naive enough to think the arsenal he kept was unnecessary. I figured the average person could probably rely on the police coming and are more likely to hurt themselves than not, but this lifestyle required us to have them. We always kept them out of reach of the boys until we were certain they were old enough to understand the danger that went with them. We had drawers installed in the kitchen and bathrooms, bedroom dressers—all over the place—that had special latches that only opened if you knew where to press them. That’s where we kept the guns, not in a safe that would take us too long to open. When I moved in here, I thought I would tuck these away and let them get dusty. They had been for a while. Little did I know not only would I need them once, but that I would want them with me just to leave the house.”
“I understand, little one. Take whatever will make you feel comfortable while you’re at my place.”
“I can tell you, panties would make these capris more comfortable, but I don’t think I’m allowed to take those.”
“Most definitely not. You tempt me to outlaw anything but skirts and dresses.”
“You really want free access, don’t you?”
“I do. What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is my own, and that pussy belongs to me.”
She laughs, and it lightens the mood. I’m mostly serious. I say it with a smile, and it calms her.
“Can we go in my car? I’m assuming someone dropped you off because I didn’t see headlights pull into the driveway.”
“Yes, I had the guys drop me off here rather than at my house. We can go in your car, and my men can surround us.”
“All right.” She hesitates before she agrees to that.
“Ellie, I understand how nervous you are, but without knowing who sent the photos, there’s no way I’m taking you anywhere without additional guards. We can ride in your car, just the two of us, but I want other guards to accompany us.”
“I get it, Enrique, and normally that would make me feel better. I’m just on edge now, and I suppose pretty paranoid.”
I pull her into my arms, and even though she leans into me, I still feel the tension in her body as much as she tries to relax.
“You’re not paranoid. You’re responsible and cautious. I’m trying to be the same way. We’ll both feel better once we’re home and tucked away in our bed.”
I don’t realize what I’m saying until it hangs in the air surrounding us. I wait for her to tense all over again or jerk away; instead, she sighs. I guess she approves of the idea that we could share a place. I want her to feel at ease in my house and think of it as our home.
I’m not married to the house I live in, but it’s more secure than here. If we were ever to buy a new home together, it would have to be in a neighborhood similar to my current one where it’s gated, and my property could be too. There aren’t too many neighborhoods like that available here. Not even my brother’s neighborhood has gated properties.
However, there’re still a few houses available in the same neighborhood the Mancinellis, O’Rourkes, and Kutsenkos took over in Queens. It’s syndicate Switzerland where nobody violates the sanctity of people’s homes, at least not too badly since there could be women and children around.
“Enrique?”
“Yes, just thinking, chiquita . Let’s get everything loaded into your car, and we can head out.”
“All right, would you prefer to drive?”
“It would probably be easier if I did.”
She hands me the keys from the hook by the door. It’s a key-shaped wood board with hooks. I think it’s probably something one of her boys made while they were in middle school if they had woodshop. She grins at me and shakes her head.
“None of my sons made that. I did in seventh grade shop.”
It’s as though she could hear my thoughts.
“Wait, it’s yours? How old is it?”
“Old enough, but it still works. Waste not want not.”
“I think it’s rather sweet you still have something from your childhood you made.”
I kiss her cheek as I hold the garage door open for her. She calls Constantine and snaps his leash on before leading him out to the SUV. I grab the bed and all of his other accoutrements and put everything in the trunk. Neither of us opens the garage door until we’re in the car with our seatbelts on. I click the button on the visor, and the door opens.
There are two cars in the driveway right now, which surprises me. There was only one when I arrived. Luckily, she’s parked in the third garage, so there’s room for me to reverse out of the single and onto the driveway. When I pull even with Matías, I wind down the window.
“Who’s that?”
“Andrés.”
“He and Carlos aren’t on the rotation tonight.
“That’s what I told him, but he still insisted on showing up.”
“All right. Have him lead, and you follow. I’m taking Elodie to my house. Have the others stay here to keep an eye on the place. I want somebody positioned in the backyard as well. Let the guys know. We’ll wait for you on the street.”
I wind up the window and sense Ellie’s unease about that exchange. I want to assure her, but I don’t like unexpected arrivals.
Why did Andrés come?
Why didn’t anyone tell me?
I retrieve my phone from my pocket once we’re on the street, waiting for Andrés to pull ahead of us and Matías to get behind us. I tap Pablo’s contact and put the phone to my ear.
“Ellie, I’m going to speak Spanish only because I don’t know where this conversation is going.”
“Enrique, I understand. You can speak Spanish anytime you want. I may have a general understanding of what’s going on, but I won’t be able to follow all of it. I definitely couldn’t repeat any of it in Spanish, and I would never do that in English.”
“I know, chiquita … Hola , Pablo.”
“ Hola, tío. Que pasa? ”
“I’m bringing Ellie over to my house. I need to know if you changed the rotation and sent Andrés over here.”
“No, I didn’t know he was. Today’s his day off.”
“I backed out of Ellie’s garage, and there was a second car in the driveway. I couldn’t see the driver through two tinted windows since the car was on the other side of Matías. He told me it was Andrés. I’m trying to see if it’s him right now. The car’s passing us to get ahead of me since we’re leaving Ellie’s neighborhood. I can’t be certain. Can you pull up his tracker?”
“Yeah, give me a moment, tío .”
I wait as Pablo looks up what I need.
“Hey, can you also find Carlos? It should be his day off, too.”
“Yeah, I’m looking at both of them. Neither is near Ellie’s house. They’re both at a casino in Atlantic City.”
What the fuck?
“All right. Where are you right now?”
“I’m home. Do you need me to go to your place?”
“Yeah. Where are your cousins?”
“Alejandro’s here with me. He’s in the living room, and I’m getting changed. Tres J’s went to Tía Luciana’s.”
Fortunately, my sister doesn’t live far from me either, so Jorge and Javier can get to my house even faster than Pablo and Alejandro.
“I want all of you to meet me there. Joaquin should already be on his way.”
“Why’s he headed there?”
“I’ll explain when we’re all together, but I need him to run some fingerprints for me.”
“Is everything okay?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t think so.”
“What’s going on, tío ?”
“Can Alejandro hear you?”
“No.”
“ Tío Matías lied to me about who was in the other car in Ellie’s driveway.”
“Is it possible he didn’t know?”
“No, they parked beside each other, hood to trunk, so he could speak to whoever. Now they know I’m taking Ellie to my house. I will, but I’ll take a detour to get there. I’m in Ellie’s SUV. If anybody else shows up at my gate, don’t let them in. Call the house and let the men know. It doesn’t matter if they recognize them or not. Only you and your cousins are allowed on the property.”
“ Tío , this is serious if you don’t want Tío Matías there.”
“Until I understand what’s going on, I don’t want anybody other than the five of you.”
“Should I tell Papa?”
“Later. Once we have a better understanding of what’s going on. I don’t want him to think he needs to leave your mama again tonight.”
“Okay. What do I tell Alejandro?”
“Nothing yet.”
“And if he gets a call?”
I know he means if Alejandro gets a call from his dad, but Pablo doesn’t want to say his uncle’s name again.
“He can answer honestly. He doesn’t know what’s going on. Just tell him I need you there now.”
“All right, we’ll be over there as soon as we can.”
It didn’t sound like he had me on speaker. I trust Alejandro implicitly, but I don’t want my nephew in a position of questioning his father or having to pick between us until I know whether he needs to choose.
I follow the car Andrés is supposedly in as we pass through the neighborhood gate. I go two blocks with Matías behind me. I take an unexpected left, leaving the unknown driver to go ahead of us, and Matías unprepared for my sudden detour. I speed, navigating through the surrounding neighborhood to ensure Matías doesn’t catch up with me. I’m certain the mystery driver already noticed we’re no longer behind them.
I can see the lights in my neighborhood as I turn the last corner. I glance in the rearview mirror and recognize Matías’s car coming up behind us. When I look ahead, I recognize the oncoming car as one from my fleet. They’re trying to box us in. I spin the SUV around as I go through an intersection, not bothering with the stop sign. I take the first right, just as Matías becomes visible behind the wheel.
“Watch behind us, Ellie.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
She’s said that playfully and seductively. I love that, but I hate it when I hear her say it out of fear.
“It’s all right, chiquita . Change of plans. We won’t go to my house.”
“Where’re we going instead?”
“Luis’s.”
“No, Enrique. Margherita looked tired today. We have to go somewhere else. I don’t want this around her, whatever’s going on. I don’t want her to be a target, too.”
“It’s not your decision, Ellie, even though I appreciate what you’re saying. We have protocols in place for things like this.”
She remains quiet as I concentrate on maneuvering. Both cars now follow me, and it won’t take long for them to realize the new destination. I just need to keep them behind me rather than either of them getting in front of me again. I’ll circle some more blocks, but I’ll take the most direct route I can.
A car pulling out of a driveway forces me to slow. When Matías’s car gets too close, I swerve around the one that just got in front of me. The driver blows his horn, pissed at what I’m certain he believes is erratic driving. I call it evasive maneuvering. I flick my gaze to the rearview mirror; I only see Matías’s vehicle. It makes me wonder if they already guessed where we’re headed and if the other car isn’t trying to get ahead of us.
“Enrique, up there.”
Ellie points to headlights that’re barely visible, but they’re at a street corner two blocks ahead of us. They aren’t moving, and there isn’t a stoplight there, only a stop sign.
“I see them, chiquita .”
I take another unexpected left turn. Ellie reaches back to pat Constantine who whimpers, not liking these unpredictable moves. I pray I don’t make him carsick. Dog vomit is the last thing we need to deal with right now, and I’d feel guilty.
As we turn onto a dark street, I turn off the headlights, hoping to be less noticeable if either of our pursuers realizes what road we’re on.
Ellie unfastens her seatbelt. I reach for her, but she pushes away my hand. She scrambles into the back seat beside Constantine. She keeps her head low as she urges the dog to sit in front of her as she kneels on the floor. She reaches to the side and folds down half of the back seat. She scrambles to reach her weapons bag.
I peer in the mirror again as I hear the zipper open. It shouldn’t surprise me, but it does when she assembles the rifle in the dark. I recognize each sound it makes, and there’s no doubting from her speed she’s an expert.
She lies on her belly with the rifle propped in front of her on a tripod. She can’t shoot with it in that position, but it makes it easier for her when she’s ready to get up and fire through the back window. I hate knowing she’s in her element, but I don’t worry she’ll panic. I can just worry the normal amount I would if I were in this situation with my brother or nephews.
“Enrique, there’s somebody approaching. They don’t have their headlights on either.”
“I know, chiquita. I saw them.”
“How far are we from Luis’s?”
“About ten minutes.”
“How do you want me to handle this? They won’t expect me to be armed. Do I stop them now?”
“No, not yet. We’re almost to a vacant lot we can cut across. Once we’re there, then we’ll make our move. I don’t want anyone to see or hear that car crash into something.”
“Do you think there’s one or two men?”
“I’m really not sure.”
But I will fucking find out. To target Ellie is the same as targeting me. There’s a short list of people who’ve attempted it, and no one on it still breathes.
I spot the dip in the curb where I can enter the vacant lot. Thankfully, Ellie drives a sturdy SUV and not some subcompact that couldn’t handle the rutted dirt.
“Enrique?”
“Can you get a clean shot?”
I sense her movement because I can’t look back right now. There are some deep holes, and I need to avoid them, so she can keep her sights level.
“Yeah. Constantine, down.”
The dog shifts and puts his head between the two front seats, his nose nudging my elbow. I reach back to pet him, silently promising him all the treats he can eat for the next month.
“Do you want to talk to them?”
“Can you tell yet if there’s a passenger?” I slow down and allow our pursuers to draw a little closer.
“There is.”
“Leave him.”
“Roll down the window.”
There aren’t many SUVs with roll down rear windows, but Ellie’s is one of them. It makes me wonder…
“Yes, this is why I have the roll down window.”
“Psychic?”
“Maybe.” Her tone is lighter than I’d expect.
She adjusts her position, coming onto her knees. I take my chances and watch in the mirror as she lifts her rifle while the window lowers enough for her to stick the muzzle out. There’s no hesitation. I hear the windshield shatter, then the tire pop. The car careens to the right before coming to a stop.
“Rabbit.”
Whoever the passenger is thinks he can outrun a bullet.
“Kneecaps. He’s down, Enrique.”
Not that the fucker will live, but she blew out his kneecaps. With her caliber rifle, he’ll never walk again. I turn the SUV around and head toward the man attempting to commando crawl away from the vehicle. I pull up, so he’s on my side. I grab the gun at my lower back as I open the door. Ellie lifts her rifle and draws it back into the SUV. She crawls into the back seat and slips out the door behind me. We point our weapons toward a man I don’t know. I kick him in the ribs, noticing his head’s bleeding. There’s a shard of windshield sticking out of his cheek. He groans but tries to pull himself away. My next kick forces him onto his back.
“Who are you?”
His response is a groan.
“Who are you?”
I place my foot on his chest, pressing against it as I speak. He stares blankly at me as I take a photo with my phone, hoping I’ll discover who he is if he refuses to speak.
“ ?Quién eres? ” Who are you?
“ A la chingada .” Go to hell.
Mexican slang. Interesting.
“ ?Quién te envió? ” Who sent you?
“ ?No te gustaría saberlo? ” Wouldn’t you like to know?
Definitely not a native speaker. His accent is piss poor when he isn’t swearing.
I lean over to Ellie, who has her rifle pointed at his groin, and whisper. “Ask him in Italian if he planned to die today.”
“ Avevi intenzione di morire oggi ?”
“ Come ho fatto ieri e come farò domani .”
She interprets for me. “As much as I did yesterday and as much as I will tomorrow.”
Arrogant little fucker.
“ Domani? Hai esaurito il domani quando ti sei svegliato ieri. ”
Ellie doesn’t look at me when she shares what she said. Instead, her lips curls in disgust.
“I told him, ‘Tomorrow? You ran out of tomorrows when you woke up yesterday.’”
“Can you tell where he’s from?”
“My guess is around Venice. He could be Mala del Brenta .”
Salvatore’s linked to them. His niece-in-law twice over is Venetian, and her father is the don.
“Do you know Allegra Carosi?”
“No. Should I?”
“She’s Salvatore Mancinelli’s sister-in-law. She’s married to their don.”
“Don Torretta’s oldest daughter? I remember the name now. Her daughter’s married to Salvatore’s nephew Carmine, right?”
“Yes.”
“He and Tommaso are allies. Did Salvatore send him?”
Did our plan already get back to Salvatore?
“I don’t know.”
I back away as I answer, then round the car to see if I recognize the driver. I pull the door open, then shove the slumped body back from the steering wheel. I don’t know him. I snap a photo with my phone.
“Do you want me to ask him anything else? Or?—”
Gunshots fill the air, and I dive to cover Ellie as the first few pings against our original pursuers’ car land far too close to us. Ellie rolls—at least tries to since I’m so much heavier than her—to face where the barrage is coming from.
“Get behind the car.”
I give the order as I push up high enough to shield her as she scrambles out from beneath me. She gets to her feet but stays low as she darts to the back of the vehicle. I follow close on her heels. We squat with our backs to each other as we peek around the sides.
“Eleven o’clock.”
I have to turn toward Ellie to see what she does. She lifts her rifle and fires. The car racing toward us jerks to the left as she takes out the front driver’s side tire.
“That’s not the car Matías was in earlier. Do you recognize it?”
“I don’t. It doesn’t belong to my fleet or any of my men. At least, not that I know of.”
“Then where’s Matías?”
I shift to sweep my gaze over our surroundings. Nothing moves beyond the car still coming toward us.
“Do you want them to live?”
“No.”
My answer is immediate. I don’t have to think twice about it. Whoever it is won’t give us any more information than the care mondá —dickface—cowering in front of me, still exposed to the shooters. Either I’ll recognize them or not. A rummage through their wallet or phone will tell me more.
I shift to look over her shoulder as she takes out the front passenger side tire. The silencer on Ellie’s rifle makes it nearly soundless, but the glass shattering isn’t. With the windshield gone, she lines up the sights on her gun and shoots twice. It’s too dark to see the blood spray, but I can imagine what the inside of the car must look like. Her aim is impeccable.
“We need to get back to your car, Ellie.”
“What about him?”
She looks back over her shoulder at me and nudges her chin in the surviving man’s direction. He’s wisely stayed put not wanting to make himself a target. I pivot toward the guy and put a bullet through his forehead. I turn my head toward Ellie as I squeeze the trigger. I want to know what she thinks when I shoot at close range. There’s no anonymity to my target. She doesn’t flinch.
We both look around, seeing no new threats. We sprint to her SUV, and once more I get in the driver’s seat, and she climbs in the back seat. I hear her moving things around in her duffle bag. There’s no mistaking the sound of a pump-action shotgun. She loads five rounds before going still. She has plenty of bullets left in her rifle, and now she has the second weapon loaded.
I put the car in gear and press on the gas. I plan to cross the field, get on the highway, and circle around, arriving at my brother’s from the other side. Two cars appearing from opposite directions cut those plans short.
Their headlights threaten to blind me since they have their brights on. I’m unprepared to hear Ellie’s rifle behind me. My gaze flicks to the rearview mirror, spotting a third car approaching from behind as it swerves before coming to an abrupt stop.
?Quién carajos son estos hijos de puta? ?De dónde diablos salen? ?Dónde está Matáis ahora? Who the fuck are these motherfuckers? Where the fuck do they keep coming from? Where's Matáis now?
I have plenty more questions, but not a single fucking answer.
Barely taking my eyes off the approaching cars, I give my phone a command. “Call Pablo.”
“Calling Pablo.” The digital voice sounds ridiculously chipper in this situation.
“ Tío , I was just about to call. We’re all here.”
“Ellie and I are at the vacant lot where we’re going to put up the grocery store. Get the cleaners here now. We have multiple cars coming at us. Ellie already took out five men, and I finished another. I’m trying to get us out of here, but I have two more cars trying to cut me off.”
I need our team to clear the scene of all evidence. It’ll never look like anything happened once they’re done.
“Who are they?” That’s Joaquin, so I hope giving him our only clue might be enough for him to start digging.
“Ellie thinks the guy we questioned was Venetian. He said, ‘ A la chingada .’”
“Mexican slang?”
“Yeah, Alejandro. I don’t know if he pretended not to understand Spanish, but he didn’t respond beyond swearing at me. Ellie questioned him in Italian, but she never got to ask anything significant. The second car arrived, and the men immediately opened fire on us. Ellie neutralized them. I’ve got cars three and four swerving in front of me, and she took out car five already.”
“Enrique, swing around. Get the driver’s side closer to them, then stop.”
“No, Ellie. We need to go.”
“Do it, Enrique. Trust me.” She’s winding down the back driver’s side window as Constantine shifts to the far back of the car.
“ Tío , you need to get out of there. Go to Papa’s.”
Pablo’s insistent, and my logic says to listen, but my gut tells me to do what Ellie said. I twist the wheel hard to the right, and the tail end swings around. I angled us, so she has a clear shot. As soon as I slow, car doors open, and four men pour out of each car. I watch as Ellie takes out the two on each far side with her rifle. Then she fires her shotgun. She releases the empty shells as the pellets zoom through the air. The greater the distance, the wider they spray. She shoots a second time and fells all four men between the two vehicles.
“Go!”
I don’t need her to tell me to drive. We’re already on the move.