Page 77 of Blood & Loyalties
“Yeah, my brother. He won’t have much to live for after this, and I’m hoping I time it just right that he’ll be here when the blast happens, but that part isn’t one hundred percent quite yet. I’m working that out. I wanted your father here, but knew he’d be harder to get. You’re the substitute.”
The guy was fucking nuts. Of course, I already knew that, given my present situation, but now… Shit.
I tried to speak, my words coming out mumbled from the injection. “Don’t kill us,” I pleaded, knowing it fell on deaf ears. He was too far gone in his mind to care about anything I had to say.
“Sorry, honey, but for sure, you’re gone. Jag would be a bonus.” He stood. “All right, gotta run. Be back in a bit.”
Despair filled my heart. I tried again to tug on the restraints, but my body didn’t want to move.
There I was, trying to protect my family when I should have spoken up. All I could hope for was that Jag didn’t get there before the blast. At least I was still protecting those I loved. It would only be me going down.
Tears consumed me as the pain crushed my heart. I was going to die, never having told Jag how I felt about him.
Chapter Twenty-One
PULLING UP TO the condo,I saw everything looked peaceful and serene. The brick layout of each house made everything look cookie cutter with kids out playing in yards. Even 729 was well put together. No one would ever think anything was wrong.
The guys were on their way, and we would surround this fucking place in the next five minutes.
My phone rang.
“What?”
“Brother, didn’t our father ever teach you manners?”
“I’m not your fucking brother. Learn that shit right now,” I growled.
He sighed dramatically. “Do you have the money?”
“It’s getting routed.”
“Good. When it’s done, I want you to call me at this number. I will give you the address where you can find your woman, and I’ll be long gone.” He chuckled.
Fucker didn’t know it, but his time was up.
“How do I know this isn’t a line of bullshit? How about this? Once I have Catarina in my arms, then I’ll send the money.”
He laughed. “No way. I wasn’t born yesterday, big brother.” Every time he said that, I wanted to fucking kill him even more. “See, if you want your woman, you’re going to have to trust me.”
“I don’t fucking trust you for shit.”
“Smarter than I thought. Truth is, I set it all up for Sal to pay for killing our father, but since he’s hard to get, I’ll take his daughter. Now I just want the money. Tormenting you was Zan’s idea, and I went along for shits and giggles. I don’t care about you or your ways. I just want to live free.”
“You working with Flynn, too?” I wasn’t sure where that came from, but as soon as the words left my lips I knew the answer and my gut fell before he spoke.
“Oh, that’s the best part. Flynn and Steve, or Ghost … Oh … scary”—he chuckled again, further pissing me off—“they happen to be brothers. I don’t give a shit what happens to either of them. I paid them a lot for their help, and I’ll be so far gone no one will find me.” Brothers? You have got to be shitting me. There’s no fucking way. Techie found no links to Ghost having any family. How the hell was that missed?
“Fine. I’ll call you in an hour.”
“Oh, early, I like it. Fine. I’ve gotta go tend to the woman.” He clicked the phone shut.
“We’re not waiting. Let’s fucking go now,” I barked, grabbing my guns, cocking them before putting them back in the holsters.
Dan’s cell rang. “Yeah.” He paused. “Boss, they’re ready. Surrounding the ground floor.”
I turned to Rex. “Are your guys on the roof?”
He flipped his phone shut with a click. “Yep. We are good to go. All curtains are closed around the perimeter, and no cameras were detected.”
