Page 25 of The Mobster’s Daughter (Massachusetts Mafia #2)

Grady

D ante refused to enter the Emerald Diamond, despite Grady’s assurances that Finn knew the truth and he was safe at the club.

“I’ll wait in the truck,” he’d muttered.

Grady tucked his phone in his pocket and picked up the duffle bag of weapons Finn had given him. His arm ached, as did his head, but he didn’t have time to whine about his injuries. Caitlin n eeded him.

Finn followed him outside. “I’ll send Uncle Sean’s men as soon as they get here,” he said. “They won’t be far behind.” He handed Grady a phone. “New burner. Numbers are programmed in. Send an update when you know anything about Caitlin.”

Grady nodded. “Tell him I’ll find her.”

“For your sake, I hope you do,” Fin n replied.

Dante tapped the horn, so Grady shook Finn’s hand, threw the duffle bag in the back, and climbed in the truck.

“Where are we going?” Da nte asked.

“Finn got an address off a plate number,” Grady said. “We’re checking it out. House is in Lincoln.”

“Plug it in the GPS.”

Twenty minutes later, they pulled into the driveway in front of a two-story ranch house. “Park in those trees over there behind the garage,” Grady ordered. “I don’t want anyone to see t he truck.”

Dante did as instructed, parking as far back in the trees as possible. He shut the engine down before he cl imbed out.

Grady sucked in a deep breath and rubbed a spot in the center of his forehead.

The unpaved road they’d traveled down hadn’t done his headache any favors.

He probably had a concussion, but he didn’t have time to worry about his injuries while Caitlin was missing.

After a few minutes, he pushed open the door and joi ned Dante.

“It’s awful quiet. Looks deserted,” Dante said. “You sure this is the rig ht place?”

Grady nodded. “The SUV was registered to somebody at this address. They probably stole it. But it’s a lead. We have to f ollow it.”

Dante shrugged. “Alright, let’s check it out. Weapons?”

“Guns are in the duffle bag in the back.”

Dante hauled the bag out of the bed of the truck and set it on the tailgate. He pulled a .357 Magnum from the bag, loaded it with a full clip, and tucked a knife into his belt. He walked around the side of the house, his gun raised. Grady joined him after he loaded his o wn weapon.

He mounted the porch steps first and tapped on the front door. When no one answered, he tried the knob. “It’s unlocked.” He pushed open the door and stepped inside; it was empty.

“Caitlin?” he yelled.

He was met wit h silence.

“Stay sharp,” Dante muttered, entering behind him with his gun drawn.

The house was eerily quiet, the only sound their footfalls on the shiny wooden floors as they crossed the room. Grady shined the flashlight around the room, stopping at a dark red splotch marring the white paint near a door leading down a lon g hallway.

“ Is that—?”

“Blood,” Dante finished.

“Fuck,” Grady snarled. “Do you think it’s C aitlin’s?”

Dante shrugged. “We need to keep looking.” He pointed down the hallway. “You check down there. I’ll go upstairs to check the bedrooms.”

Grady headed for the kitchen, the floorboards creaking beneath his feet. The house was clean and well-maintained, despite its obvious age. Photos hung on the wall—a family portrait, wedding photos, pictures of young children.

He paused outside the kitchen. It was empty, the sink full of dirty dishes, the first sign of life he’d seen since they stepped inside.

He continued down the hall until he came to a large, tastefully decorated dining room.

The chairs were pulled away from the table, and several wads of paper littered the floor.

“Grady!”

“Back here,” he answered. “End of the hall.”

Dante appeared a few seconds later. “I think I found the owners,” he said. “Dead upstairs in a back bedroom. Each of them had a gunshot wound to the head. It doesn’t look like anybody has been up there in a while, not since they stashed their bodies up there. You find anything in here?”

Grady shook his head. “Not yet.”

Dante scanned the room with his flashlight. He was meticulous, examining the walls, floor, table, and e ach chair.

“She was here,” he said after a fe w minutes.

“You don’t know that,” Grad y mumbled.

“The lady upstairs had short, gray hair,” Dante explained. He pointed to one of the dining room chairs. “There are blonde hairs all over th is chair.”

Grady shook his head. “It could belong to one of the owner’s kids. Or somebody else. Long blonde hairs don’t mean it was Caitlin.”

Dante crouched beside the chair and snatched something off the floor. He dropped it on the table and shone his light on it. “What ab out that?”

It was one of Caitlin’s fingernails. A manicured nail with a funky design on it. It sat on the table in front of him. There was a drop of bl ood on it.

“Yeah, that’s hers. She was here,” Grady whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “But where did they take her?”

“We’ll find her,” Dante said firmly. “Did you check those papers on the floor? Maybe something on those will give u s a lead.”

Grady rolled his eyes. “Yeah, maybe they drew us a map with a big red X and a note that says ‘Caitlin is here.’ Let’s be r ealistic.”

Dante shot him a dirty look. “Your sarcasm is unn ecessary.”

Grady picked up the discarded papers and dropped them on the table. The first two had illegible scribblings on them. Then he opened the third and spread it out so they could bo th see it.

“Son of a bitch,” he muttered. “Look at this.”

Dante stood next to him and shone his light on the paper. “What is this? A suic ide note?”

“That’s what it looks like,” Grady said. “I think it’s supposed to be from Caitlin, but that’s not her handwriting.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “What the fuck is this?”

“Come on, let’s go check outside,” D ante said.

They made their way down the hall and out the back door. There were tracks in the dirt, but no vehicles. Grady found another one of Caitlin’s nails on the ground near the ti re tracks.

“She was here,” he said. “They took her s omewhere.”

“Yeah, but where?” Da nte asked.

The crunch of gravel under the tires of an approaching vehicle made the m freeze.

“Fuck,” Grady muttered. He looked around. “Get in th e garage.”

They sprinted across the lawn and through the side door to the garage.

Out the window on the other side of the building, he saw an SUV pulling to a stop in front of the house.

The passenger door opened, and Gino Russo stumbled out of the car.

He bent over, put his hands on his knees, and screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Fucki ng bitch!”

Dante looked up at him and mouthed, “What the fuck?”

Grady shrugged.

“Jesus Christ, Gino, calm the f uck down.”

That was Joey, coming around the front o f the SUV.

“That little bitch killed my brother!” Gino yelled. “Where the fuck is that Russian motherfucker? This is his fault. I’m going to fucking kill him, too. We should have killed that Irish bitch when we grabbed her instead of bringing her here. Fredo would still be alive.”

“We’ll find her.” Joey slapped a hand on Gino’s shoulder, holding him in place.

“And this time, we’ll kill her. I don’t care what he says.

She dies. Period.” He hitched his pants up higher on his waist. “Lev is gone, probably on his way to the other house. We need to meet him there, like he said. You can deal with this shit when we see him, okay? Now get in the fuc king car.”

As he watched, the Italians returned to the SUV and left, the vehicle flying down the road like it wa s on fire.

“What now?” Da nte asked.

“I don’t know,” Grady mumbled. “If Caitlin got away—”

“Let’s assume she did,” Dante interjected. “Where would she go? Home?”

“No, she won’t go home. She’s afraid her father will lock her up like a prisoner after all of this. She went to Finn to get the money to disappear. If she escaped, she may bolt. And if I know her—and I do—we won’t be able to find her.”

His cell phone vibrated in his front pocket. He yanked it free, expecting it to be Sean. Instead, it w as Declan.

“Declan? Is everything a ll right?”

“I know where Ca itlin is.”

“Wha t? Where?”

“New York,” Decla n replied.

Grady pinched the bridge of his nose as he spoke. “What the hell is she doi ng there?”

“She wants to meet with Moretti,” he explained.

“No fuc king way.”

“I already arranged the meeting,” Declan said. “Tomorrow night. Will you come? I won’t go in alone, and Sean insists you be there.”

“I can’t believe her father agreed to this.” He struggled to keep his anger under control. “Tell me where Ca itlin is.”

Declan sighed. “She doesn’t want me to tell you. In fact, I didn’t tell her I was calling you. I don’t know what the hell is going on with you two and honestly, I don’t care. My job is to protect Caitlin when she meets Moretti and to do that, I need your help. Will you come?”

“When? Where?” he asked.

Declan gave him the details, and Grady promised to be there. He disconnected the call, then tucked it in his fro nt pocket.

“What’s up?” Da nte asked.

“I’m going to New York,” Grad y replied.

Grady arrived at the airport half an hour before the jet was scheduled to leave.

Dante took him to his apartment in Boston, and they’d parted ways.

He had a feeling it would be a long time before he saw his friend again.

Dante was evasive about where he planned to go and what he planned to do.

It was time for him to disapp ear again.

Once Grady cleaned up and changed, he packed a bag and headed downstairs. His Audi was in the garage, parked next to the empty spot where he kept the Bronco. He pulled out of the garage and drove to th e airport.

What he didn’t expect was for Sean to be waiting on the plane for him when he boarded, with a drink in his hand and a grim look on his face. Seated behind him were Angus, Conor, and a new kid named Calvin. All three of them looked anywhere but at Grady.

He paused at the doo r. “Sean.”

“Have a seat,” his bos s replied.

He tossed his duffle bag on an empty seat and sat down across from the head of the O’Reilly family. He crossed his legs at the ankle and his arms over his chest.

“Tell me what happened,” Sean said.

“Caitlin took off when I fell asleep,” Grady explained.

“She went to Finn to ask him for money and somehow Joey found her. I snuck her out the back door, where they hit me from behind and grabbed her. We found where they took her, but by the time we got there, she was gone. I think she killed one of them—Fre do Russo.”

“Did you have any idea she planned to go to New York?”

Grady shook his head. No use telling him things that didn’t matter or weren’t important. He wouldn’t want to hear superfluous rambling s, anyway.

Sean tapped his fingers on his leg and sipped his drink. “Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

His heart thumped in his chest. What did his boss know?

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Finn said she was acting strange.”

Grady took a deep breath. “She’s in a world of shit, Sean. People are after her, trying to kill her. Of course, she was acting strange.”

Sean raised an eyebrow. “Is that all?”

Thankfully, the pilot chose that moment to tell them he was about to take off. They buckled their seatbelts, and Sean handed Grady a glass of scotch. He downed it in a couple of swallows.

“When this shit is over, I’ll tell you everything. I promise,” G rady said.

“Everything?” S ean asked.

He nodded. “Even if you hate me.”

Sean froze with his drink halfway to his mouth and narrowed his eyes. “Why would I hate you? What di d you do?”

“We’ll discuss it once Caitlin is home,” he sai d. “Okay?”

“Okay,” Sean replied. “But I’m holding y ou to it.”

“Are you going to the meeting with Moretti?” Gr ady asked.

Sean shook his head. “One stipulation is that I am not there; that’s why you’re going with Declan and Cait. I trust you to protect them both and maintain the peace between the families.”

Grady chuckled. “No pressure, thoug h, right?”

Sean smiled. “No pressure. Just keep my fam ily safe.”

“Yes, sir,” he murmured.