Page 18

Rico

Something’s off. Or maybe it’s just me. I want to be home with our girl. I want these assholes behind bars.

For the last two hours I’ve felt like I’m being watched. Could I have been made? I’ve managed to dump at least two drinks I didn’t order and turn away a private lap dance in a back room.

Muttering to the dealer about better play. I collect my latest winnings from the table and walk away. I want the table with the big boys. The back room. The room where deals are made.

Glancing up I see Kade dressed in his money suit being escorted down a hall. The guy to his left is a little too close. Fuck. We’ve been made.

About the same time, I get a text from Diego. Abort .

Too late .

I send him the tracker info on my bracelet, slip it off and into my pocket. They’ll find the one on my watch but hopefully miss the bracelet.

I’m making my way around the edge of the room when a presence comes up behind me. “Ah Rico, we were just looking for you. Heard you were asking about any high stakes games in the back room. We got one for you. Come join us. Your partner is already there.”

Entering the room, Kade looks up from where he sits in a straight back chair, arms apparently tied behind his back. A little rumpled, nothing visibly broken, no blood. Okay, that’s a good start.

My arms are pulled behind my back and bound. My watch is wrenched from my wrist and my phone taken. I see Kade’s on the desktop as well.

Adorno walks in with another man I recognize from pictures as Mic DeStefano, and two other men. The one right behind him looks the right size for Phil’s killer.

“Fucking DEA,” Adorno snarls.

“Shut up,” DeStefano snaps. Walking to the desk and sitting down like he owns it, he places a laptop on the empty surface.

Leaning back in the chair he rubs his chin and studies us.

He taps the top of the laptop. “We’ve already got everything he had.

What he turned in and what he held back.

Tell me what you know and what you’ve reported, and we’ll kill you quickly. Bullet to the head.”

I glance at Kade. One of us needs to get out of this for Fancy. He’s my brother in all ways but blood. She’s the love I’d hoped to find. He’ll take care of her like I would.

I nod toward Kade. We have deliberately never been seen together anywhere near the casino. “Well, I’m not sure who he is, so you aren’t going to get much from him. You should let him go. He’s probably so scared he’s going to piss himself any minute. He’ll be out of town before you can say bus.”

“We were told there were two of you. We have photos.”

“Who’s the other guy? I only know about me. I work alone. Less explanations that way. Easier to keep my story straight.”

Knife man nods at me then points to Kade. “They’re tight. He’s trying to save his friend. We torture the quiet one and mouthy will talk.”

“You already killed my contact. Saw you gut him in an alley while two of your buddies held him down for you. How about you man up and take on someone who can fight back. Or are you a pussy?”

Kade gives me ‘the stare’. Yeah, I’m spoiling for a fight. They butcher an innocent man and are hunting our woman. Fuck yeah, I want to get my hands on someone.

“Who the hell’s your contact if he, she, isn’t smart enough to tell you what’s been reported,” I continue to press, keeping their attention. “I hope you aren’t paying much for such sloppy intel.”

“Enough.” DeStefano nods toward the door. The second flunky opens it and in comes the boy from the wedding chapel. The one selling the rings. “These the two?”

The young man nods. “Yes, Uncle. They married the girl you’re looking for.”

DeStefano nods. “Good boy. Tell my sister I’ll be by to see her soon with gifts.”

After the boy leaves, DeStefano turns his attention back to Knife. “Any luck on Fancy?”

Knife clenches his hands at his side and shakes his head.

DeStefano slams his hand on the desk and pushes to his feet. “They’ve hidden her somewhere. Fucking DEA. I can’t believe you lost her in the first place. What the hell do I pay you for? You better fucking find her and bring her to me.”

“The bitch. She’s smarter than her cunt mother. She may have…. She has something of mine and I want it back.”

“Boss, our contact at the DEA has it under control. They’ll have her location soon. We’ll know where to pick her up.”

I risk a glance at Kade. My gut twists. That’s how they knew about Phil. An inside man or woman. Information is for sale everywhere and the government you think you can trust is no exception. Greed, plain and simple.

They don’t know where Fancy is, we went off grid with her when we contacted Diego. She’s safe for now. She’s being protected by people we know we can trust.

“Take them to our place in the country,” DeStefano says. “You can play with them, but I want them alive when I get there. You already fucked up once losing the woman. I don’t like fuck-ups.”

Knife grabs my arm and he and his sidekick haul us out the back door and shove us into a blacked-out SUV.

One of us has to stay alive. We owe that to Fancy since she’s already lost so much.

“Rock, paper, scissors,” I whisper.

Kade grunts.

“How many?” I ask.

Needing to know how many are guarding our girl. I’m sure Diego is on it but I need to know.

“Roja and Diego on back up,” he answers.

Diego has resources. I hope they’ll be enough to protect our girl. I just wish I would have told her I loved her before I left. She was sleeping so soundly, I only brushed my lips across the top of her head.