Page 80 of Mafia Star

“Send Alonzo and David.”

Alonzo is Afonso’s brother. Afonso was up to driving this morning, but he was shot not too long ago while guarding Chelle. He’s not in any condition to rough someone up or force them onto a plane and then to fly it. I’m not sure what their parents were thinking with the rhyming names. They’re not twins, but they look enough alike that they could be. Confusing as fuck if you don’t know them well.

Luca makes the call as the rest of us plan for when we land in New Mexico. There is a strip in the southwest corner where there’s not a vehicle or pedestrian barrier along “The Wall.” It’s marked on maps as "other fence." In other words, so fucking desolate that few people pass through. There are mountains, and that’s about it. The terrain will make it difficult but not impossible.

Gabe looks at me, and I’m rolling my eyes.

“I’ll make sure you’re only away from your wife for one night.”

“Back before breakfast, Marco. Sinead has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow I will not miss.”

That makes everyone pause and look at him.

“No, it’s not serious. And no, we don’t have an announcement. But we’d like to sooner rather than later, so I’m not missing her appointment.”

“Fine. Do you really think I want to leave Beth for that long after what happened today? We’re in, and we’re out.”

Please don’t let me have just tempted fate.

It doesn’t matter what time of year it is. It’s fucking cold at this elevation at night. I’m blowing on my hands as we wait in the dark for the mules to come past. I wouldn’t want to be them, running drugs across the border for a living or to pay to get into the States. The ground is fucking freezing under my belly as we all lie in wait. We have our NVGs on, so the world is an eerie shade of green. Since most of our missions leave from Uncle Salvatore’s house, we all keep a set of tactical gear there. I took Beth up to my room— we all have rooms at our parents’, and aunts and uncles’ houses —while I got changed.

She watched, wide-eyed, as I got dressed. I told her what I could. I was going out of state. I would hopefully be gone just tonight. If I was going to be gone longer than that, Papa would tell her. I was going with the other guys, so I wouldn’t be alone. She wouldn’t be alone either, since all the wives agreed to spend the night there.

She didn’t ask a single question, which makes me proud and worried at the same time. I’m glad she’s holding it together and taking this in stride. This is only the first— not the last —time she’ll see me leave like that. But it worries me she didn’t open up. The only wife she knows well enough to confide in is her sister, and Chelle hasn’t been through this either. Yeah, Enzo had to travel while they dated. But she never watched him leave dressed in all black with a pistol strapped to his thigh. That’s how we all looked when we left. Our moms said their goodbyes after our dads. The wives and Beth were the last ones we hugged and kissed before we walked out to our SUVs.

While I wait and try to keep my fingers from going numb, my mind fixates on what could have happened to Beth today. I hadn’t let myself fully picture it. Now I do. I envision her lying dead in the alley, her body riddled with bullets. Or just one through the forehead or the back of her skull or her heart. That ATF agent fired first. I just fired better. That was who shot the bullet that landed near Beth’s foot. Yes, we were evading them. But no, there was no reason to shoot at that point.

I don’t think Beth saw the man I shot to the right of us. He was ready to pull the trigger when I hit him. As he fell back, his gun discharged straight into the air. Better that than Beth. At that point, I knew all three of the officers who stepped in front of us were going to shoot first, ask questions later. I decided on a proactive approach and shot one, knowing Luigi and Pauly would get the other two. Turns out, Vinny and Tony got them too.

It’s been a long ass time since I’ve been in a shoot-out with law enforcement. It hasn’t been nearly long enough since I’ve been in a shoot-out. The last one was not so long ago. About a year-and-a-half. It was while Luca and Olivia were dating. It was unexpected, and Gabe took two bullets. It’s not like we exactly send out calendar invites for when we’re going to try to kill our rivals or they’re going to try to kill us. It was that none of us went into that situation thinking so many bullets were going to fly.

“Marco, over there.”

I hear Carmine’s voice through my earpiece. I glance at him and see him point east. I see vague movement. He passes down the heat-seeking binoculars. I flip up my NVGs, so I can look through them. Five SUVs made for rugged terrain not comfort head our way. They’re also not made to withstand the fire power we have with us. The benefits of flying are that we have an entire hold for our arsenal.

Carmine and I are our explosives experts since he’s a structural engineer, and I’m an electrical engineer. Matteo will help us strategize if there’s time and a blueprint since my best friend is an architect. Luca’s our rifles expert. He’s the best shot with one, while Gabe’s best with handguns. Best among us. My sister is the best of any of us with anything— handguns, rifles, bows and arrows, knives. She’s a regular G.I. Jane.

It makes me wonder about Beth. She said she’s a competitive shooter. I haven’t been trap shooting, but I understand the rules. I wonder if she shoots skeet or sporting clays or five stand. I only know the names of the first two. Sick and twisted as it is, maybe these are something we can do together as a couple. I know Matteo takes Maria to the range.

I hand the binoculars over to Matteo, who looks before passing them down the line, so everyone else can get a read on what’s approaching. They make their way back to Carmine, who has a controller in his hands. They come into view with just our NVGs on a minute later.

“In three. Two. One.”

He counts down before hitting a button. We cover our heads and ears. We’re all wearing an earpiece in one ear and an earplug in the other. A small roadside bomb detonates, and rocks slide down to block a portion of the road. It forces the four-vehicle convoy to stop. Men get out, and that’s my signal. I have my SAW set up in front of me. It’s a gas-operated machine gun with a disintegrating metallic link-fed belt for the bullets. It’s the type seen in movies with a service member lying on their belly rapid firing on an approaching enemy. I’m not in fatigues, but I am camouflaged in all black.

Before any of them can figure out they’re about to die, they’re dead. They never had a chance to see where the bullets were coming from or who was shooting. I’d counted the heat spots, so I know I got all of them. Their own damn fault for all getting out of the vehicles. The fifth SUV was half a mile behind the others when I watched them approach. They tasked the men in that vehicle with making sure no one followed them. We didn’t. We got here first.

They’re now the ones who are going to do the loading for us once we get the cargo to the plane. My brothers, cousin, friends, and I are on the move. We pour down the hill we hid on, rifles pointing at the last vehicle. Matteo takes out the left tires. We don’t need that one since none of the product will be in it.

Carmine’s voice carries through the now quiet air.

“¡Fuera!” Get out.

We slow our approach, fanning out to cover all the doors and liftgate. Carmine gives them another order.

“Vamos, gilipollas.” Let’s go, assholes.

Luca shoots between the driver’s feet to let them know we aren’t particularly patient. He calls out to them.

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