Page 79 of Falcon

We all said no thanks, but when we walked upstairs to the private room, a table was already set with some light refreshments. Not a full meal, but still an impressive spread. Petrov waved us to sit. “Please, help yourselves. You had a long journey.” He sat and unbuttoned his suit coat. Wait staff came and took drink orders. Once they were gone, he smiled and said, “We have his current location. If he follows pattern, he’ll be there for hours.”

“Do you know how many men he has there?” I asked.

Petrov nodded. “It’s him and at least four more. Usually two outside, two inside with him. But it’s hard to say for sure. They couldn’t tell me where the inside men are stationed, if they are protecting him at all. They could be residing there as well. I didn’t send my men close enough for full detail.”

Nodding, Eagle said, “We’re grateful for your assistance.

Petrov grabbed his glass as the server placed it down and made his way around the table. “Always happy to help our best business partners,” he said with a million-dollar smile. We’d be paying this all back somehow, we just didn’t know what or when that would be yet. “Will you be requiring further assistance on this matter, gentleman?”

Eagle’s eyes shot to me. I gave an almost indiscernible shake of my head. We already owed this guy as it was. Plus, we had Pitty. If only four were outside, I wasn’t concerned. Eagle smiled back and said, “I think we’ve gotten what we need.”

Petrov shrugged nonchalantly. “Perfect. Have a bite to eat. Sergey, can you retrieve the envelope while we dine?”

One of the huge men in a tailored suit, who always stood in the corner of the room everywhere Petrov went, moved from his normal statue stance. He made long, unhurried strides through a door in the back of the room. We all grabbed a few items from the spread even though we didn’t really need to eat. We had stopped earlier, plus I never liked to be full before a job, but it would be rude to Petrov if we didn’t. The Russians were prideful, maybe more than we were, so having a snack wouldn’t hurt.

“How is your shop going, gentleman?” Petrov asked as he raised a glass to his lips.

We all looked at each other. Eagle and I ran the tattoo shop, but Rooster worked at the auto shop, and he didn’t meet Pitty until today. I cleared my throat. “Our shop is doing well, thank you for asking.”

“His old lady is running the place now,” Eagle said as he took a bite.

Petrov’s brows shot up. “I didn’t realize congratulations were in order my friend. Joyous news.” He clapped his hands together, then covered his heart with his hand. “But I suppose you are officially off the market now. Perhaps I have not moved expeditiously enough. I should further discuss things with Hawk before you all are settled down.” His gaze turned to Eagle.

I wasn’t sure what he had going with Lacy, but I liked the idea of Daisy having her friend around. “Speak to Hawk, but this one has been pretty tied up lately, too,” I said as I nodded my head toward Eagle.

Petrov grinned with a slight tilt to his head. “I see. Well, I’m sure we can all come to an amicable agreement when the time comes.” Sergey came walking back out with a manila envelope. “Here we are gentlemen. You’ll find what you need.”

Sergey took his place back in the corner. We were wiping our hands as the older woman who had been stocking the cakes came up the stairs. She handed a small white box to Petrov then smiled at all of us before she made her way back downstairs. Petrov held it up, “I suppose this is now a small token of well wishes to you and your new bride.”

Since he was so hard up on marrying off his sister, I didn’t bother to correct him. It would be true soon enough. “Thank you, sir. Always a treat.”

Petrov stood and buttoned his coat. “Gentlemen, I know you have a busy day so I will not keep you any longer. Please have Hawk notify me of your progress and if you require further assistance. My men won’t be far.”

We all stood, and I grabbed the box from where it sat near Petrov. That would have to wait, but I could savor it better once this was done. Eagle grabbed the envelope that was left for us as well, and we made our way back outside. It was bright despite being cloudy, and it took a minute to adjust as we left the confines of the dimly lit restaurant.

The section of town we were in seemed completely unbothered by us being there. Most of the people on the sidewalks didn’t look up at all, but the few older women who did smiled. In places like that, the older generation was taken care of by families like Petrov’s. They helped manage the town better than the official authorities but let them take the credit for the papers and news. They must have assumed we were alright since we were freely coming and going there.

I walked to Eagle’s cage to leave my box of treats inside since the loaner bike didn’t have saddlebags. Eagle pulled out some papers from the envelope. He handed them to me and said, “This is your operation, brother. What’s the plan?”

Looking over the sketches and notes, I started to devise a route of attack. I pulled out my phone and looked up the address they provided. Google Earth was helpful in looking at the location and getting a visual on the entrances, the only driveway, and the woods surrounding it. There was a pool in the backyard and if that photo was recent, a lot of greenery around it. The trees backed up to the edge of the pool, so we could get pretty close and still have some cover.

“He never said anything about security, but I’ll text Keys to see if he can work his magic just in case. I think if we leave the bikes and the cage here,” I said as I pointed to a spot past the woods, “we can walk through the trees, and they won’t be able to hear us from there.”

From the look of things, the house was set way back from the main road on some private property. Definitely far enough back that nobody would hear us, even if we didn’t have silencers. After a few more minutes of direction given to the guys, Pitty and I mounted up and Rooster and Eagle hopped in the cage.

Eagle rolled the window down and shot a grin at us. “Lets go destroy this fucker’s destiny, brother.”

Pitty revved his engine before I said, “Follow me.”

Chapter 48

Falcon

After a twenty-minute ride, we turned down a side road that had homes far from the street and spaced apart. Following it until we found the long driveway to Romano’s mansion, Pitty and I turned off the road and killed the engines, pushing the bikes into the woods. There was a clearing we could tuck the truck into a little further up, so he and I climbed in the back, and I motioned for Eagle to go. Once we saw the clearing, he turned off the driveway and pulled the cage as far out of view as possible. The house was set far back, and the driveway wasn’t visible from the street, so it was unlikely anyone would see it.

Eagle pulled a bag out and we each grabbed one of the pistols. Eagle tossed an AR over his shoulder as we each pulled one out of the bag. I shot off a text to Hawk as a heads up and another to Keys to be sure there was no security system active once we got to the house.

“Goddamn, look at all those clips,” Pitty said with his extreme Southern twang.

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