Page 42 of Mafia Scars

Luc

* * *

“They would have headed to Chicago,” Maurice said. His face was still smeared with a bit of blood.

I could have breathed fire.

Literally, I could have breathed an inferno of flames killing everyone here.

Of course, I got to the mall far too late. The rest of my boys were there already, and then the cops came.

We retreated to our hideaway, an old powerplant we’d been meeting in since I lost my apartment.

Dennis, the last guy in my crew, was just pulling in now.

I threw a fist into the wall.

Claudius hadn’t answered the phone.

What if they got taken?

“You’re sure. You saw Claudius put Amelia on his bike?”

“Yes. Then Victor went after them. That’s as much as I saw.”

“Boss, look.” Dennis ran over to me with a phone. “It could be Claudius’.”

I rang his number again and could have rejoiced when the phone in Dennis’ hand started to vibrate.

“So, he dropped it. Luc, if I know Claudius, he’s got her.” Maurice nodded. “There’s no way he would have allowed either himself or her to get caught.” He’d been trying to calm me down since we got here.

He could be right. Knowing Claudius, that was indeed true, but what if it wasn’t?

“We need to get to Chicago,” Maurice pointed out. Dennis nodded.

“What if they’re still here?”

What if Victor had Amelia? He’d destroy her trying to figure out whatunharmedmeant.

I couldn’t let that happen to her.

“Luc, we need to get to Chicago and hope that’s where Claudius and Amelia are. I know Claudius will contact you as soon as he can. Your girl’s in good hands.”

I prayed she was.

We got an earlier flight to Chicago. The travel seemed to take an eternity. Watching the minutes added salt to my already exposed wounds.

There’d been nothing from Claudius the whole time.

It was night by the time we arrived.

To save my sanity, I distracted myself by doing the one thing I’d been eager to do for weeks.

Speaking to Raphael.

It was nearly ten o’clock. The butler let me in telling me Raphael was in bed.Fuck that.Bed or not, he was waking up, and I was going to get some answers. Hopefully, I’d hear from Claudius soon.

Raphael was sitting up in his bed reading what looked like the Bible. He set it down when he saw me and looked around me with anticipation.