Page 90 of Mafia Scars

“I need you. Henry’s family got taken by Victor.”

“On my way. I’ll grab Maurice and the boys.” He hung up.

I proceeded with stealth and managed to get across the bridge. There were no guys outside looking out. That bothered me more than if there were, because it told me Victor didn’t need lookouts.

I got in. The stench of the place hit me hard.

There was something in the air, like chlorine or something bleachy combined with mold.

It made me want to reach for something to cover my nose to prevent me from inhaling too much of the air.

Voices echoed and came closer. I hid in the crevice of a dark corner, my hand on my piece, ready to use it.

Two men walked past me without seeing me and went straight outside.

I held my breath and pulled in another when I moved to go.

The next corridor wound down onto a lower ground floor, and raised voices, crying and screaming, resonated from the basement. I followed and stopped abruptly in my tracks, trying my hardest not to scream out.

Victor had both Henry and Lydia tied to ropes, suspended in the air.

The kids were sitting in the center of the room tied together and screaming for their parents.

Henry seemed to be trying to swing himself across to Lydia on the ropes. My voice choked up as I looked at Lydia’s foot and saw that it was missing. Blood poured from her leg, and she looked so pale. Pale like she was going to faint, but she reached for Henry every time he swung toward her.

Instinct made me want to shoot down the ropes they swung from, but instinct also got a grip of me and made me assess what I could see before taking action.

“Catch my hand, please,” Henry called to Lydia.

“I’m trying,” she replied in an agonized wail.

“Sooo entertaining,” boomed a voice from the corner. Victor, the bastard, came into view.

Him. That was who I needed to aim for, and this would be over.

But wait, what were Henry and Lydia doing?

I chanced moving closer and saw it. One of those old-fashioned-looking bombs was nestled between the children, where they sat back to back, and the wires were wrapped around the rope that bonded them together.

“Come on, Henry. All you have to do is give your wife the key, and she’ll be able to unlock the lock securing her ropes, defuse the bomb, and save your kids,” Victor chimed.

I looked at Lydia’s ropes and couldn’t see a lock.

The bomb, that was what I needed to get to. But how, and where was the detonator?

Victor wasn’t holding anything. Maybe it was in his pocket.

I couldn’t think straight. This was maddening and sickening. Lydia looked worse. Too much blood loss.

I had to move. Even if Henry got the key to her, she didn’t look like she’d be able to do anything.

I raised my gun, aimed and fired at Victor.

Fuck, the bastard moved, and the bullet simply grazed his shoulder. Or was that my nerves? I was usually a straight shot.

By the time he looked in my direction, I’d leapt over the rail and landed on the floor below.

The kids were who I was going for.