Page 70 of Avenging Kelly

Before Gabby could answer me, Dom’s phone rang. “GEA-A. Dominic Torrente speaking.” He was silent for a moment before he put the phone on speaker.

“Voglio parlare con Gabriele. Non ha risposto al cellulare.”

“Uncle G, it’s me. Sorry, I was on the line with Tommy. Can this wait?” Gabby asked as he took the phone from Dominic and walked out of the gym.

I could hear the clipped tone in Gabby’s voice before he shouted, “Fuck!” in plain English for all of us to hear.

A moment later, Gabby was standing in the gym, his face red with rage. “Okay, Crossley’s dead. He was a plant by Frankie Man, which makes sense because we’ve got a couple of people in his organization that we need to get out. Dom, get Nemo here. We’re in an all-hands situation.” He then turned to stare at me.

“We know where your niece is. Francesco Mangello, our enemy, is in town with a lot of his crew, and they’re all staying at the Conrad in Battery Park. I believe we’ll find the baby there, but we gotta act fast,” Gabby stated.

“If Frankie’s here, Tony Ricci is somewhere nearby. I’ll go hunt for him. Smokey, I’ll call you when I get a location,” Austin said to Shep.

“Yep. I’ll be back in an hour. Do we know where Mateo and Rafe are? Have you called Gunter—” Smokey hollered as he headed out of the gym.

“They’re all getting on the plane with Uncle G to help us make sure things don’t get out of hand here in the States. The fight needs to stay in Italy where the authorities are used to shit like this. They’ll be here overnight,” Gabby yelled after him.

Just then, London rushed into the room, heading straight to me. He wrapped me in his arms and seemed to exhale. “Fucking hell, Kelly.”

I pulled back. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Where do things stand?” London asked me.

I glanced around as Gabby and Dom disappeared upstairs. Austin had left the room but came back. “Come with me.”

London and I followed him down the short hall, where he smacked the wooden panel next to the door of the bunker. When the door popped open, Ritchfield was still screaming, she wasn’t nearly as loud as she’d been when they put her in there because her voice was wearing out.

We walked in, and Austin pulled the door closed. “Okay, there’s a triangle of hate happening here that needs to be used wisely. Those who want to sell your niece, the Mangellos, and the Torrentes. We’ve got to get the crazy doctor and her people out of the way. That’s where the FBI comes in.”

Yeah—easy peazy, lemon squeezy.

“And how do I do that?” I asked.

Austin opened a panel on the wall and placed his hand on a scanner that kicked open a larger door, revealing an arsenal worthy of guerilla warlords. Austin reached up to a magnet, grabbed a Smith & Wesson eight-inch throwing knife, and threw it at London’s head as though he did it every goddamn day. Thankfully, I reached up and caught the handle before it did any damage, though it was a little closer to my man than I’d have liked. “What the fuck, man?”

Austin turned to me. “Just checking your level of focus. I know this has all been aggravating, but you need your head in the game right now.”

The man went back to attaching a belt around his tactical pants and began loading ammunition, two law-enforcement-grade flash-bangs, three cans of pepper spray and a couple of grenades into the pouches on the belt. He was like a kid in a candy store, and I was extremely jealous.

“You’re a well-trained military machine. From everything I’ve heard about you, you’re used to extracting information from the enemy, and she’s definitely your enemy. Get her talking by whatever means necessary,” he jutted his thumb over his shoulder toward Ritchfield, “Record her, make her sign a confession naming all of her accomplices, and deliver her and it to Federal Plaza. Let the FBI dig into it. If the Army set up a mad scientist lab at a military prison, there are bigger dogs involved than we can go after.”

“And in the meantime?” London asked.

“Get your information. Deliver your prey and then find your mother and sister. Text me your location. When I have your niece, I’ll bring her to you,” Austin insisted.

“No. That’s not acceptable. I’m going with you,” I demanded.

London touched my hand. “You need to get Ritchfield talking. I’ll go along with Austin and help him.” The tone of his voice was filled with “don’t argue with me,” so for once, I didn’t.

“The sooner you get Dr. Frankenstein to spill her guts, the sooner this can be behind you guys,” Austin stated. His mouth to god’s ear.

He stepped aside so London could gear up, and I reached up for two of the blades. Frances Ritchfield was chock full of guilty secrets. I was willing to bet she wanted to get some things off her chest, and I was damn well going to play the part of her priest.

* * *

Before I got started with her, I went upstairs to get some air to clear my head. It was nearly midnight, and I hadn’t heard from anyone, though London and Austin had only been gone for about an hour. I was getting too lost in my thoughts, and I needed to focus, just as Austin had suggested with his little knife trick. I wished to fuck I had Poker Chips with me because I’d shoot up again. My family was on the line this time. It wasn’t just another mission.

I went back to an office where a light was on and found Casper behind his massive computer system, fingers busily flying over the keys. “You got any ideas?” I walked over to a shelf and picked up a yellow legal pad and grabbed a pen from the cup on his desk.

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