Page 38

Brice

T he ride to the warehouse district was tense.

It was so quiet that we all could hear each other breathing.

Due to the extremely late hour, no cars were on the streets.

The twenty-minute ride remained quiet until Rock hooked his phone to CarPlay and turned the music up.

I slightly recognized the beat as I’d only heard the song a couple of times, but it was confirmed when the chorus dropped. It was Ja Rule’s, New York.

Rock was rapping it proudly before Tay quickly reached forward and snatched his phone.

“I know you lying!” She said before Rock burst out laughing.

“I keep telling his ass he a country boy now. His theme song is Petey Pablo’s Raise Up.”

“So, what does that make y’all’s then? Because JoJo’s ass is not going anywhere and neither are the two of you!” We all grunted and groaned at his declaration .

“Exactly!” He said and laughed again, and we all joined in. Lioness’s phone started to beep, halting our mirth.

“Rock, turn around, Costa is moving,” she said quickly. Rock pulled a U-turn right in the middle of the street. It was so abrupt that we all leaned with the turn.

What the fuck?

“Well, where in the hell is he going?” Rock asked.

“It looks like he’s headed for the docks.

“Shit he’s about to try and slide with the guns he had shipped here,” I said. I took out my encrypted phone and made a call. After a few rings, the call was answered.

“What’s good, Ice?”

“Costa is about to pull up; let him through,” I told Boogie. Boogie worked night shifts at the dock. He was responsible for ensuring all shipments came through undetected and handling the cameras. He was paid handsomely for both.

“He’s coming through now, and you won’t like what I’m about to tell you. He’s got about twenty cars with him, all full. I also think there are around twenty of his men who work here. I can’t be too sure who, though.”

“Let them through, all of them; we’ll be there in five,” I said, taking a deep breath and ending the call.

“Is the trunk full?” I asked Rock.

“Yep.”

“Good. Costa is rolling deep. Lynx, log into our containers and change the codes. Under no circumstances can they have access to those guns.” I barked out.

“I’m on it,” she said, pulling her computer from under the seat, pecking away as we drove.

In precisely five minutes, Boogie opened the gate to let us in.

He nodded as we pulled through, cutting the cameras as we passed.

We pulled into a spot as close to the containers as possible without being seen and exited the car.

We headed straight to the trunk, arming ourselves with more clips and four AR-15s.

Once satisfied, we pulled down our masks and were on the move.

“Let’s get it,” I instructed. Entering a crouching run, we all moved as fast as we could to the first row of containers.

The multicolored metal boxes were towering above us.

Some were stacked as high as six. The docks’ loading lights illuminated the space more than usual, so we found cover in the shadows when permitted.

As we traveled deeper into the maze, the distinct melodic resonance of Italian voices became audible.

We crouched low as we listened to their conversation.

From our vantage point, I could see he was on the phone.

“Abbiamo un problema. Boss, we can’t get into our containers,” he said, listening to who I’m assuming was Costa.

“I’ve tried the codes five times,” he said before hanging up.

I looked at each of them and swept my arm forward with an open palm, indicating for them to move in.

It was now or never. Once we started shooting, the others would be alerted.

We had to ensure that we eliminated as many of them as possible before that happened.

The first shots rang out as we immediately dropped all the men who had just spoken with Costa.

Loud voices could be heard echoing through the containers.

We hurried through the rows, taking cover in the nearest shadow cast by a container.

We stood quietly with our backs to the wall, checking and reloading ammo.

I looked at them again and swept my hand, signaling us to move.

We ran through the next set of containers, dropping body after body, before we heard another set of voices.

“Come in from behind,” they said before we heard car doors opening and tires screeching.

“They’re about to flank us. We need to split up,” I whispered dejectedly.

“No. Fuck that we’re not…” Rock started before we heard owl calls in the earpieces.

I must be hearing things.

The owl sounds happened again before he spoke.

“If y’all are done standing there about to cry, save yourselves the fucking trouble. We got your six,” It was Devin. One, Two, and Three were supposed to be dead yet here they were, right in the middle of our shit.

“Good looking, but what in the hell are y’all doing here?

Help me understand how you even knew where we were,” I rushed out.

While I spoke, loud shots could be heard.

Ren and Demi were snipping from somewhere.

I couldn’t even pinpoint where they were.

As they watched our backs, we pushed through the maze, continuing to drop Costa’s men.

“Because his ass is nosey as hell,” Ren answered.

“Facts,” Demi cut in .

“I may or may not have been keeping tabs on each time one of you entered the HCS parking deck after hours. This time didn’t feel right, so I called them and here we are,” D said nonchalantly.

“Fuck that. I told your ass there was no ‘we’; didn’t I? I never wanted you back in this shit. We would’ve been good,” Rock said.

“I know, but it will forever be family over everything. Your six is all clear. Oh, and we were never here,” D said.

The comms clicked, and just that fast, they were gone like the ghosts they were.

We pushed to a clearing in the containers where Costa and his closest men had formed a barricade with several SUVs.

I dropped down to my stomach to peer under them. I counted six men total.

“We have to split Rock, there’s no way around it this time,” I pleaded quietly. He huffed a breath but nodded his approval. Rock and Lioness took off to the left while Lynx and I took the right. We planned to move in front of them.

We started a quiet maneuver around the containers, aiming as we went.

We wanted to be sure none were hidden amongst the towers of metal.

We finally arrived in position on the other side of Costa’s barricade.

While we waited for Rock and Lioness to get in position, I observed Costa standing in the center of the other five men I’d counted.

His arm was in a sling from where Lioness had shot him.

“Ready,” Rock said through the earpiece.

“Shoot,” I said, and we did, simultaneously dropping all five men who claimed to be protecting him. Rock and those two guns had made sure to handle business.

“Alessandro Costa,” I called out .

“It’s over.”

“We can talk about this,” he said, stepping forward.

“I can already imagine the bullshit that’s about to come out of your mouth but go ahead.”

“When I went to Sicily, I met with Bonetti. He’s ready to go to war with me. If you take me out, they’ll come for you full force,” he spoke with conviction. He was sweating bullets as he stood alone. I could see the sheen of perspiration coating his skin under the lights.

“I knew you wouldn’t disappoint. Bonetti had a sit-down after you left. You're on the outs. He sends his regards.” Just as I spoke those sentiments, Costa reached behind his back and attempted to pull his gun. I let off a shot going directly to his head, and I watched three others hit his chest.

“Ciao, motherfucker!”