Page 7 of Dangerous Secrets

“Has he come here? Have you spoken with him?” I move closer and he shakes his head profusely.

“No, sir. The Shadow is not here. He does not speak to us.”

“But you’re afraid of him?” Again, I step closer, and he backs away.

“My brother was killed by him.” His Adam’s apple bobs, and he blinks several times. “It is why I must pay them.” His head nods and dips. “They will kill me too. I try to not pay them one time and they killed him... my brother I mean.”

So, I’m getting nowhere with this guy today. He’s afraid because he’s tasted the blood part of their little business. His family has been touched and now he is their pawn to do as they please. He probably cleans money for them too, risking his livelihood and his home in this country all to stay alive.

“Let’s go,” I tell the boys and we turn to retreat.

“They are dangerous. I am telling you. You leave them alone. They will come after you.” His voice rings out behind me as I leave the shop and the bell hung over the door chimes.

“What now?” Alex asks, falling into step beside me. Dimitri lags behind as always, covering my six.

“Now, we head to the car and find some other way to learn the identity of our assassin friend.” I continue walking back up the block toward where we parked but the same nagging feeling someone is watching us pricks my awareness. I see one more shop we haven’t entered yet, and as we near the door, someone inside turns the sign to closed.

“There, Rome.” Alex nods at the same door—a computer repair shop. The man is in the window, his hand on the lock, and Alex reaches for the door and tugs it open before the guy can lock it. “You don’t mind if we have a look at your computers, do you?”

The stout man with a full beard shakes his head. “Sorry, fellas, closed for lunch.” He tries pulling the door shut but Alex is stronger, nearly yanking the man into the street. He stumbles away in a huff and has an angry scowl on his face.

“I said, we need to look at your computers.” Alex leads the way and I follow him; this time Dimitri waits on the steps. This guy was closing up pretty quickly, which means he has probably already seen us scouting the block. And that means if he’s seen us, the Italians have too.

“Look, I’ll level with you,” I tell him, not even bothering to brandish my gun this time. “I need information about a very powerful assassin who works for the men who threaten you.” I stare at him and cock my head, making my assumption as I have with all the other shop owners here that he is under the Italian Don’s thumb.

“You don’t know what you’re doing here, do you?” He straightens and scowls at me again. This time I get the distinct impression that I may have been wrong with my assumption. Nothing seems any different than any of the other shops we’ve stopped at, but this man doesn't seem to cower like the others. He’s not been brow beaten and controlled.

“Tell me, what am I doing here?” I nod at Alex who walks around behind the man and looks over the counter. He’s checking for a weapon as I instructed him to do before we came out today. He shakes his head at me as the man answers.

“Word has it that you’re harassing folks out here. You’re crossing a line. You’re not even going to make it out of this neighborhood without hellfire raining down on you.” His chest puffs out as he squares his shoulders, and a cold chill runs down my back.

Alex reads my mind as I take a single step toward the door. We entered the wrong place.

The man moves toward me as I back away and Alex follows. Something tells me this man is someone we don’t want to tangle with. “I apologize sir for any misunderstanding.” I’m not scared because I know what I’m capable of, but I don’t want to make the situation between our families worse. I reach the door and push it open just as the man pulls a gun out of his waistband behind his back.

Alex darts toward the door and we both step out onto the street as he moves quickly to shut and lock the door. At least no shots were fired, and we can just move out, or so I think. When I turn around it’s to meet the fist of a very large-chested man with a thick mustache and gold rings on his fingers. The blow sends me tumbling backward into Alex and we both stumble before regaining our footing.

I look up at the man and he just laughs, revealing a mouthful of gold teeth. “You boys think you can just walk away from me?” he says, his voice rough and gravelly. “You got a lot to learn about how things work around here.”

I feel heat rising in my cheeks as I realize that this man is a member of the rival mafia family. I get to my feet and take a step forward, feeling the adrenaline pumping through my veins. “We didn’t mean any harm,” I say, trying to sound as confident as possible. “We were just leaving.”

The man laughs again and takes a step forward, his gold rings glinting in the sunlight. “That’s not good enough,” he says. “I think you boys need to learn a lesson.”

Before I can react, he lunges forward and swings another fist at me. I step to the side and try to throw a punch of my own, but he’s too quick for me. He dodges away and comes at me again, this time with a knife in his hand. I step back and pull out my own knife, feeling the weight of it in my hand.

Alex steps forward to defend me, but the man knocks him to the ground with a hard punch. I grit my teeth and focus on the man in front of me. He’s grinning, obviously enjoying the fight, and I know that I’m in deep trouble.

We circle each other for a moment, both of us with our knives out. He lunges forward and I block his attack, twisting my wrist to disarm him. The knife falls to the ground, and he comes at me again, this time with his fists. I duck under his punch and strike him in the gut with the hilt of my knife.

He doubles over in pain, and I take the opportunity to grab his head and slam it into my knee. Blood spurts from his nose as he falls to the ground, unconscious. I take a deep breath and look around, realizing there are people watching us. I quickly grab Alex’s arm and pull him away, knowing we need to get out of there before the police arrive.

Dimitri joins us, but as we are walking, he collapses, crumpling to the sidewalk with a sickening thud. I rush over to Dimitri, my heart racing as I see the small, feathered dart sticking out of his neck. Panic sets in as I realize that he's been poisoned. The world around me blurs and my mind goes numb as I struggle to come up with a plan. I can hear Alex shouting something, but his words don't register in my mind. My focus is solely on saving Dimitri's life.

I grab his arm and drag him, not knowing from where the dart was fired. A large green dumpster in the alley presents a good place to take cover, so I head there. He is heavy, and my muscles strain as I drag him behind the dumpster. I kneel beside him, pushing his hair back from his forehead. His skin is slick with sweat, and his breathing is labored. The poison is moving quickly through his body, and I know that we don't have much time.

I run my hands over his chest, feeling for a pulse. It's weak, but it's there. I take a deep breath and rip open his shirt, exposing his chest. The wound from the dart is small, but I can see the outline of the poison spreading through his veins. I look around for something to stop the bleeding, clean his chest, and as I do I see someone watching, a woman. She’s wearing a dark red dress, standing across the street. The way her hat dips over her eyes obstructs my view of her face. It strikes me as odd, but I can’t worry about her now.

I quickly reach for my knife, cutting a long gash into his chest. Blood pours out of the wound, and I use my fingers to dig around inside him, searching for the dart. I finally find it, but it's buried deep in his muscle. I grit my teeth and pull it out, ignoring his groans of pain.

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