Page 52 of Guarding Grace (Hawk Security #2)

Terry (Three days later)

For the third time, we walked up to the restaurant doors to meet with the Russo family.

“Are you sure you want to take the lead on this?” Lucas asked. It was just the two of us today.

“Absolutely. Grace’s safety is my responsibility, and it’s her cousin who made this mess.” A vision of Grace from this morning, stretched out lazily on my bed, came to mind. I could not fail her today.

The entrance routine was just as it had been before, except this time Lucas kept his weapon as my backup, and I was unarmed.

I walked into the room with my back straight and my head high.

Lucas followed with the roller suitcase.

Today, Tall Tony was flanked by Baldy and Mustache Man as before, but also another four goons, all of them obviously armed.

I was a sniper without his rifle, and felt as naked as the day I was born. I wasn’t bringing Tony good news, but hopefully he wouldn’t feel the need to take out his frustration on us.

Tony eyed the suitcase skeptically and steepled his hands. “You told me you’d find that little Elliot fucker. Tell me you brought me his head.”

“Better than that.”

Tony’s face lit up. “His head and his balls?”

I took the suitcase from Lucas. “Would you like to see? ”

“Damned straight. Up here.” Tony stood and slapped his desk. “Hold on. It isn’t going to leak or anything?”

I shook my head. “No.” It was an honest answer.

Lucas knew what was coming, but he didn’t even smile.

Lifting the suitcase onto the desk, I slowly unzipped it.

Seven sets of gangster eyeballs watched as I opened it. A burned smell filled the office.

“What the fuck is this?” Tony bellowed.

Baldy pulled his gun, waving it back and forth between me and Lucas.

“You said you wanted the case back,” I answered.

“This is what’s left of it. Elliot Boyle, the little idiot, thought he could open it and died trying.

” The suitcase was filled with a thousand little pieces of the case Elliot had been tasked with delivering, and the two engraved counterfeiting plates that had been the cargo.

We had scratched them enough that they were now worthless.

“I don’t see no head here.”

I shook my head. “Have you ever seen what two pounds of C-4 does to a body?”

Tony didn’t answer.

“Well, I deployed to Syria, and I can tell you what you get is mostly a red mist from this much explosive. Maybe a few little pieces.”

“I want those fucking pieces to mount on my fucking wall as a lesson to people that you don’t fucking cross Tony Russo.”

Typical. I’d expected as much. “An explosion of this size catches the attention of the cops, and they got there before we did. We greased a few palms to get this stuff, but the body parts had already gone to the coroner. Since the manner of death was pretty obvious, what was left of him was released to cremation.” I shrugged.

“But I’m claiming the five-hundred-grand reward for the return of the case. ”

“For this pile of junk?”

“Are you saying that’s not the case?”

“Hold on.” Tony motioned for Baldy to put his piece away, and he did. “Without a body, how do you know it was Elliot that blew himself up?”

I pulled out the pieces of the chain and spider pendant Elliot had always worn and threw them on the desk. “There’s blood on there. Check the DNA, if you want. We already did.”

“That’s Spider’s all right,” Mr. Mustache said.

I held out my hand. “My reward for the case?”

“Fuck that,” Tony spat. “I meant for the case in one piece.”

“Tony,” Lucas said ominously. “If you welch on this with my brother, you disrespect me. Do you really want to treat my brother that way? ”

Tony gritted his teeth. Nobody threatened more effectively than Lucas Hawk. “Okay, already.” He nodded to Baldy. “Get him his fucking money.”

Baldy moved to a painting on the wall. He pulled it to the side, revealing a safe.

“One more thing,” I said. “It goes without saying that you will leave my woman, Grace Brennan, alone and forget you ever knew her name.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Tony said as he picked up one of the printing plates and examined it. “Shit, these are fucked.”

“We have one more thing to discuss,” Lucas said.

Tony looked up.

“In private,” Lucas added.

Tony tossed the block back into the suitcase. “I think I’ve heard enough today.”

“Not quite enough,” Lucas pressed. This wasn’t something we wanted the lower levels of his organization to hear.

Tony stared at Lucas for a moment.

Lucas didn’t flinch. “Fine, but don’t blame me when it blows up on you.”

Tony couldn’t let that pass. He nodded to Baldy. “Out.”

This time Lucas handed his weapon to Baldy as the entire group of them filed out.

Tony waited until the door closed. “What?”

I started. “The heist of the case was planned by Marku and a member of your organization as a way to get that merchandise for free. Marku figured he’d get his deposit back from you when it wasn’t delivered.”

“I don’t believe it,” Tony said.

Lucas had warned me that would be the tough guy’s first reaction.

“I’ve seen this a million times,” he protested. “You try to weaken me by getting me to turn on my own.”

“We’re not your competitor,” I challenged.

He scoffed. “A million times, I tell ya.”

“Okay. If you’re sure it couldn’t be true, then we’re done here.”

He hesitated. “How do you know this?”

There it was. The crack we’d expected—he didn’t trust all his people.

I pulled out a single sheet of paper and offered it. “Electronic communications like this email.”

He read it slowly. The email that laid out the basics of the plan had been written by Paulo, but Tony wouldn’t be able to tell that from the Gmail address it had been sent from .

Tony’s face turned redder the farther down the page he got. “Who is this fucker?” He pounded a fist on the table. “Who?”

“Paulo.”

“I don’t believe it. He doesn’t have the brains for something like this, or the balls to cross me.”

“Paulo recruited Elliot, but he was not the brains behind it.”

Tony shook his head. “I told you, I seen this a million times.”

I could tell I was losing him. “Paulo got paid a quarter mill the day after the case disappeared.”

“How do I know you ain’t jerking my chain? You have any proof?”

“Check his bank records and ask him where the money for his new Bentley came from,” I suggested. “Do you pay him enough to buy a Bentley?”

Tony perked up. “You’re saying Marku paid my guy a quarter mil?”

Lucas spoke up. “The money came from Victor.”

Tony’s jaw dropped, and he slumped back into his chair. “My Victor? No fuckin’ way.”

I pulled out the bank account records. “We didn’t want to say this in front of your men, in case Victor has a good explanation for it.”

He took the paper and studied it, blood draining from his face. “Get out of here.” He waved us dismissively from the room.

We were happy to comply.

It felt great when a plan came together. We’d left the meeting alive, Grace was safe, and I had five-hundred K stuffed in my pockets.

“You should call her,” Lucas suggested as we rounded the corner to our cars.

Leaning against the Cayenne, I dialed. Her voice was the sweet balm I needed right now.