Page 100 of Little Dove

“I’ll take them back, Lazaro,” Lucino offers as he easily maneuvers us toward our destination. You’d never know that he’s not American, with the way he drives around. He’s one of our many soldiers and one of the few that I consider myself friendly with. “Then I’ll come back in case you need to get out quickly.”

“Fine,” I say with a nod. “Make sure you hand them directly to Don Caruso, my father, or Don Armani. No one else should touch them so we don’t lose them to the wrong people. I don’t trust Armani’s men.”

“Agreed,” Lucino replies. “We’ve been listening and keeping our ears open. They were pretty pissed when that Caesar guy was promoted and started training them. They said they preferred Davide because he was a sucker that didn’t seem to care what they did.”

“Anything else you’ve heard?” I ask curiously.

“Not really. Don Armani and Dante killing men that were involved in whatever the business was that was happening before we arrived seems to have them uneasy. Though, most of them are more scared of Dante than Don Armani, from what I hear. They feel he’s softened with his new wife in the picture, but Dante has hardened,” Lucino explains. “I’m not sure if that’s true, but the men feel it is, so they are trying to be on their best behavior.”

“I say he gets rid of the lot of them and starts over,” one of the other men says with disgust. Tino is a hardened soldier, approaching retirement, but he keeps himself in remarkable shape and refuses to walk away. Says the mafia is his life. He never married and has no children, so he does nothing other than work. I always wondered if he resented our family for our positions, but nothing has ever shown itself, and the Carusos seem to trust him so I have no other choice. Still, he’s one of the best marksmen we have, and going into a situation like this one, I want him with me.

“That would leave him far too vulnerable,” the final man with us, Franco, reminds him simply. He’s in his late forties, and he and I have always gotten along well. He’s an excellent spotter for these kinds of missions. He can see the dangers a mile ahead, and he can also see when the enemy is coming and get them out of the way. Unlike Lucino and Tino, he has a wife and two young children that have mellowed him out when he’s around those he trusts. On any kind of job, it hones his focus, because he’s determined to return home to them alive and unharmed. It won’t always be that way, it never is in this life, but I’ll do my best to ensure it happens today.

“He could call in allies and their men until he has new ones all trained up,” Tino argues. “He is only weakening himself by having weak men watching over him.”

I have to agree. “Once this is over, they can worry about it. I want to go back home,” I tell them. “America is not my home.”

“Amen to that,” Franco agrees.

“We’re almost there,” Lucino announces. I call Massimo to find out where they are and give Lucino the directions. When we finally all meet up, we’re directly across the road from Giovanni’s home in a large parking lot. I hand Lucino the documents and he gives me a solemn nod. “I’ll deliver these directly,” he promises. “Then I’ll be back.”

With that, we’re all out and moving. Massimo has another three soldiers with him, Alfonzo, Ivano, and Titus, and all of them look battle-ready as we make our way across the lot and hustle to the front door. The street is surprisingly quiet, but that can change in an instant.

Titus quickly picks the lock and we rush inside. The house is modern, but not overly large. I motion for Titus and Franco to search upstairs, while the rest of us fan out. The house is silent, with not even a whisper of someone moving around, which tells me they are either in their secret apartment or they aren’t here.

I find the office on the back right of the house, the window facing the apartment building not far from it. A surprising choice, but I have my doubts that Giovanni actually works in here. Wouldn’t want someone seeing something they shouldn’t, after all. I look around the room quickly. Nothing sticks out as the hidden entrance to the tunnel, but it would have to be something not visible from the window, which means it’s not around the desk or directly to the left of it because it’s still in view. I turn toward the right wall, examining it.

“Amara probably would have figured it out by now,” Massimo says teasingly.

He’s probably right, but no way am I going to allow her to be in a position as dangerous as this one. I look around critically until finally I see it. A void in the dust on the bookshelf. “There,” I whisper. I pull on each book in turn, until finally one slides out just enough. There’s a quiet click, and the shelf moves to the right to reveal the tunnel that heads straight for the apartment.

“Your father is right,” Massimo mutters. “This secret room bullshit is fucking annoying.” I’m starting to agree. I enjoyed it with Amara in the bunker, but this is getting ridiculous.

We move quickly, Massimo signalling for the soldiers to get into position. Tito and Franco follow us while the others stayabove, ready to handle any issues that might come from behind us. Can’t be too careful.

Unlike the tunnel into Leonardo’s, this one is well lit and has stairs. We hurry down, moving quickly as we can. I have no doubt that Giovanni has cameras down here, which means we don’t have much time to get in and get out before he and his sons or men come for us.

When we reach the end of the tunnel, it opens into an apartment full of papers, maps, computers, and old cans of food. Whoever has been staying here has been living like a pig. I curl my lip in disgust, but I don’t stop moving. We clear the bedrooms until we find Giovanni’s actual office. I don’t bother trying to pick the lock on this one. I kick in the door, and Massimo does the same with what must be Orlando’s computer space. “Get everything you can,” I call out to Massimo. “Papa and the others can search it.”

“On it,” Massimo calls. “Franco, get in here to help me. Tino, watch our asses.”

“Copy,” Tino calls back.

I move quickly around the room, opening drawers and tossing aside anything trivial. Giovanni’s desk isn’t as organized as Leonardo’s, so it takes me a few minutes to find a matching journal, brown this time, and certificates. I tuck them into the inner pocket of my jacket. I search through the papers on the top of Giovanni’s desk, and stop when I see the words Ivan and??????????.

I don’t know what it means, but I know it’s important, so I grab it.

“Incoming!” Tino yells as the shooting starts.

“Shit,” I hiss. Guess our time is up.

From the hallway, I can see Giovanni’s younger sons running down the tunnel, firing at us, but their shots go wide. Tino and I both hit the floor, but Tino is already moving and I watch asone of the sons falls to the ground with his head blown apart. His brother freezes in horror, and that’s all I need. I kill him instantly. “That’s two out of the three,” I yell back. “We need to get out of here. Massimo!”

“We got what we needed,” Massimo calls back. “Let’s go.” We rush back down the tunnel and back into the office.

I can hear gunfire outside, and we have to shoot our way out of the house. Giovanni sent his men in his place, and there’s at least a dozen of them. We’re outnumbered, but they are nowhere as skilled as we are. A bullet whizzes past my head, a little too close for comfort. I ignore the burning sensation, and kill the fucker who tried to kill me.

It’s another ten minutes but finally, the other men are dead, and Alfonzo is the only one with a wound, though it’s superficial. He hisses in pain as we run for the SUV, sirens shrieking in the distance. Lucino isn’t back yet, so we all throw ourselves into the one vehicle we have and Tino rushes us back into Armani territory.

---