Page 3 of Dangerous Refuge

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SVEN

Ilie sprawled across the gravel on this rooftop with my phone under my chin. Propped on my elbows, I stare down the barrel of the rifle’s scope, my cross hairs trained on a building two blocks away. The man I’m watching has no clue I’m here invading his privacy. If he did he’d shut his curtains and not let me watch him counting stacks of cash. This man has it in for my cousin Red, and I'm not about to let him win. Not to mention the fact that he's in a great deal of debt with the family, and Dominic has called in that debt.

He moves stacks of cash from his table into a briefcase and I wonder if this is the cash he’s supposed to be paying Dom with. I doubt it. He’s about as underhanded as they come, double dealing with the Italians.

“Pop ain’t doing so good today, Sven.” On speaker phone, Leo’s words hit me right in the chest. My father’s condition continues to worsen just as the doctors said it would. He refuses to take the medication regularly, which I know would help him, but he’s stubborn.

“He’s going to die someday, Leo. We have to prepare for that. We’re not kids anymore.” I’m forty-two myself, and I’ve seen a lot of my family die, both to disease and to the pitfalls of being Bratva. It’s never easy to bury someone you love, and the only way I can function is to put it out of my head. Leo is the emotional type though, hung up on sentimental things. It’s the reason why he’s not the one on this roof as a sniper. He'd find some way to feel pity on this bastard and fail to make the hit.

“I’m just saying things won’t be the same with him gone. You know what I mean?”

“I know.” I change the subject, wanting to focus on a lighter topic. Pop will die, but life will go on and I need the current of my life to pull me forward. Death has had a shadow over me for too long after Mom’s suicide and the way Lacy died so suddenly. “What did you think of that woman at the restaurant? The waitress…”

Leo chuckles and says, “That redhead? She’s got to be fire in the sack. Did you see how tight her ass was? Hot damn, Sven, if you can’t nail that one there’s something wrong with you.”

I am always the butt of his jokes, Matty’s too. They have never been ready to settle down because they’re playboys. They like hot sex and a fast-paced relationship that ends in fireworks before they move on. I used to do that, maybe when I was in my twenties. But I met Lacy and we married quickly. Breast cancer stole her from me and I swore I’d never love again, but that waitress. There is something special about her.

“Yeah, well if you two hounds didn’t chase off every woman around with your games, maybe I’d have a chance.”

My comment makes him laugh harder. “You just don’t have the moves like me and Matty. We play the field because a player’s got to play. You know? Look man, I gotta split. You think this man’s going to make his move? He seems to really have it in for Red.”

I peer into the scope again, down the barrel of the gun. There is no doubt in my mind he’s going to try to kill Red, but we’re not going to let that happen. This asshole is going to pay for stealing from us. Red did his job by alerting Dom to the thievery.

“He’s not going to get a chance. He has probably twenty grand stacked on his coffee table right now. If that was anywhere close to what he owes the family, I’d take him out right now and walk over there and get the bloody cash. I’m just biding my time until he coughs it up. Then he’s mine.” I lower the weapon’s nose and push myself up to a sitting position. “You check out. I have something else I want to do tonight.”

“You’re going to spy on her again, aren’t you?”

“It’s not spying if I walk up to her and talk.”

“Nah, then it’s stalking.” His laugh is obnoxious. “Hey, you seen that woman Dom has at his place? What’s he doing with her?”

I recall seeing a woman at his house from a distance, but I have no clue what it’s about. It has something to do with the mole we’re rooting out; I’m sure of that. But Dom is secretive and he will be our new leader very soon, especially if Pop is getting worse.

“Just stay out of it, Leo. You know Dom has a temper. You’re blood but blood spills easily when people disrespect their leader.” My wisdom is the same to myself as it is to him. I have too many things to worry about to be snooping into my older brother’s personal life. And now my mark is moving so I am free to do as I please this evening. “I’m on the move. I’ll call you later.”

“Sure thing.” Leo hangs up and I disassemble my gun and pack it into the briefcase I carried it in. He got my mind spinning now and despite knowing nothing about that woman, not even her name, I feel compelled to see her again. Not just because she’s gorgeous. Once I saw that man harassing her, I knew she needed my help, and now I will give it to her.

I head down to my car and make the short drive across town to Red’s place. His car is parked out front. It’s a piece of shit, but he loves that rusted-out Camry. Without knocking, I walk right in. He isn’t expecting me but it’s how I normally enter. He looks up from the chair where he sits watching television and nods at me.

“Want a beer?” he asks, muting the show. It’s some old western shown in sepia tones.

“Nah, just here for some help. I thought I’d stop by on my way downtown for dinner.” I sit on his old plaid sofa that had seen better days. Red likes to live like he’s still in the sixties, not a single thing in his house updated. I sink into the cushion so far I may never get out.

“Yeah, what’s that?” His hand dips into an open bag of corn chips and he pulls out a handful and shoves some in his mouth. He’s busy crunching his snack while I pull my phone out and open the picture app. When that woman wasn’t looking, I snapped a picture of her and the man talking.

“This woman and man, I need to know who they are. Can you do that for me? Find any information you can on them, where they came from, who they are, and what happened between them. If there is any trace of information, I need it.”

“Sure,” he says, nodding and chewing. Crumbs drip from his mouth onto his flannel shirt and he dusts them off. “Just send the picture and anything you already know about them.”

“She works at that old diner on Seventh. The bistro place Dom likes to go to.” I forward the image to his cellphone and pocket my phone again. If anyone can find out who she is, it’s Red. He’s a mastermind at this sort of thing and no one knows how he does it. I heard once that he has ties at the BMV but that remains unproven. “How quick can you get it done for me?” I ask, reaching past him into the bag of chips. I take a few and snack on them while he has a sip of beer.

“I don’t know. Depends on what lengths they’ve gone to to hide who they are. If they’re in the system I’ll find them fast. Just a matter of scanning that image for nodal points on their faces.”

“Yeah, facial recognition. Good idea.” I pop another chip into my mouth and decide I’m actually hungry. I may go to that diner and see if she’s there tonight. I may not need Red to find out her name for me, though I doubt she’ll cough up personal information just because I ask.

“I have a few things to do for Dom though. Something about the mole. You know? I can’t say much, but I’ll try to squeeze this in as quickly as I can.” Red sits up straighter and nods at the TV. “You can stay and watch if you want.”

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