Page 47 of Marcellus: House of Drakos
Savannah was disappointed that Marcellus wouldn’t let her go with him, but she wasn’t about to let that interfere with the goal: to get Niko out of there. If he was there at all. “They have deliveries there all the time. If you’re going in to make a delivery, then you’ll go around back and knock on the door. Once you get inside, there’s a long hall to your right that leads to a broom closet. And when you open the door that’s what it looks like. You’ll see brooms. But there’s a button on the left side of the back wall inside that closet. Press it. There’s a big room back there. If they have Niko holed up in that bar, that’s where they’ll have him.”
“But how would the kidnappers know about this room?” asked Scottie.
“If he’s there, they know. It’s no secret. People are in and out of that room all the time handling private business of whatever type. And it’s right near the restrooms. If they did any kind of research before they chose that place, they would have known about that room.”
Marcellus nodded. Then he looked at his baby mamas. “Mistreat her,” he said to each one of them, “and it’ll be the same as if you’re mistreating me. And you will pay if you mistreat me.”
Savannah could tell that none of the ladies liked his decree, but none of them objected to it either.
“Go to my weapons cabinet,” Marcellus said to Scottie, “and get whatever we need. And then let’s get the hell out of here.”
Scottie didn’t argue with that. He hurried out of that room so fast that he was running in the end. Savannah’s impression of Scottie? A hard-driving man who cared nothing for clothes or outward appearances, who didn’t coddle people, who was uncompromising. But oddly caring too.
Then Marcellus looked at Savannah. He could see that she was genuinely worried about him. Not about his pocketbook and how his death could affect her bottom line like most in that room might have been. But she was worried abouthim. It touched him so completely that he couldn’t help himself. In front of every single one of his baby mamas, he leaned in and kissed her on the lips with a lingering kiss. Then he looked into her eyes and smiled. Which was a feat for a stern man like him. And then he left.
Savannah felt dazed, but not confused. Because she felt true love in his kiss.
Every single one of those baby mamas stared daggers at her and felt something too. But love had nothing to do with it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
With a couple of their men from grounds security, and Marcellus’s driver and bodyguard, Scottie and Marcellus hopped into an SUV that sped down a long back driveway that led to a back guarded gate that opened for them. Then they drove away completely undetected by the horde of reporters camped out at Marcellus’s front gate.
They all wore uniforms and ballcaps strategically placed down low on their foreheads to disguise their appearances. Marcellus’s driver and bodyguard were on the front row. Marcellus and Scottie, armed to the teeth, were on the middle row. And the two other guards, also armed to the teeth, were on the back row. It was a long drive over to the bar.
And a quiet one too. Scottie kept looking at his father. He didn’t want him on this assignment, because he felt responsible for him, but how could he stop a train hellbent on coming anyway? But he still felt a need to get one thing straight. “On this assignment,” he said to his father, “I’m in charge. This is my lane, not yours. Are we clear on that, Pop?”
Marcellus didn’t respond, which Scottie figured he wouldn’t. But since he wasn’t going to respond to anything he asked, he decided to go for broke. “That lady back there at the house, that Savannah? What’s her deal?” he asked him.
Marcellus looked at him with thatwhy are you bothering melook he used to give him as a kid. It used to break his heart.
But to his shock, his father actually responded to him. “I met her eight years ago,” he said. “At Niko’s.”
Scottie waited for more of an explanation, but none came. He wanted to ask more, but they didn’t have that kind of relationship. And silence returned.
It was a welcomed relief for Scottie when they finally arrived on Saudie Street. Their driver pulled over and stopped at the first of the two detail cars. The detail chief, on the passenger side of the first car, pressed down his window. Scottie pressed down his window. “We’ll go in around back,” Scottie said. “I want both cars to wait here. If you see a chase, follow us.”
“Got it, boss,” his chief said, and then Scottie nodded for his father’s driver to drive around to the back of the bar.
The SUV stopped at the door with DELIVERIES written on it. Scottie, Marcellus, and the two guards jumped out and grabbed boxes of whatever Freddy provided from the servants’ quarters. With their weapons concealed and the boxes hiding half of their faces, while the caps hid the other half, they went to the back door. Scottie knocked vigorously.
The door was opened by an angry-looking bodyguard. “What do you want?”
“Deliveries,” said Scottie.
“Not today. Come back tomorrow,” the guard said and was about to close the door in their faces. But Scottie placed his big foot in the doorway, covered the guy’s mouth with his meaty hand, and then headbutted him so hard that it knocked the guard completely out. Scottie tossed him outside and then he, his father, and the two guards all ran into the bar.
Following Savannah’s instructions, the group, led by Scottie, ran down the hall and then Scottie opened the door to the broom closet. He knew time was not their friend and that the element of surprise would only work in seconds, not minutes. He then quickly pressed the button on the left side of the wall and a door popped open.
As soon as it did, he took his arm and slammed his father’s body against the wall alongside his own body as gunfire erupted from the room. The guards then ran in ahead of Scottie and Marcellus, shooting as they ran, but then they heard doors slamming.
“They’re getting away!” one of the guards yelled and Scottie and Marcellus ran behind the guards as they all ran through the room toward a back exit.
Marcellus was looking to see if there was any evidence that his son had been in that room. When he saw no such evidence, his heart grew faint, but he hurried behind Scottie.
When they ran out back, a van that had been parked a few feet ahead of their SUV, was speeding away. Marcellus’s driver sped up to the boss, Scottie ordered the driver to get in the back as Marcellus and the two guards were getting in. Scottie got behind the steering wheel and floored it as he followed that van. No way was he losing that van.
By the time they got onto Saudie Street, the chase was on. The two detail cars filed in behind the SUV as they raced through the streets of Chicago with a recklessness Marcellus wasn’t accustomed to. But Scottie was accustomed to it. He lived for it. He was in his element. And he was gunning that accelerator.
