Page 71 of Deadly Target
In the rearview, Victor saw Felix shaking his head. “I should go in the front. He’s not expecting me and that’ll knock him off his game. Then you two rush in the back door with guns blazing. Or, better yet, Victor pretends to be injured and I drag him to the front door and tell Barone I want to exchange him for Olivia.”
That actually wasn’t a bad idea, but Victor couldn’t risk Felix getting hurt. Regardless of her feelings for her father, Olivia would never forgive him if he let Felix join in this charade and ended up with a bullet in him.
Roman’s phone rang, and he snatched it up. “Winston, whatcha got?”
Victor white knuckled the steering wheel. He didn’t have time for this. The clock was ticking, and Olivia’s life was on the line.
“How soon can you be here?” Roman asked Winston. “Good enough.”
Victor felt like he was going to implode. “I told you not to bring anyone else. We can’t have half of Southern California showing up for this.”
“Don’t worry about who’s coming to the party.” Roman put his phone away. “We’ll go with your plan, but we’ll also have my backup. That’s how this works, Director.”
Great. He was stuck in a pissing match with a Homeland bigwig and a mobster. Somehow, this was not the team he’d imagined working with.
“I know how the guy thinks,” Felix continued to argue. “He may be a few colors short in his crayon box, but I know how to get inside his head.”
“I don’t want to get inside his head,” Victor said. “I want to save Olivia and put Barone behind bars.”
“Behind bars?” Felix looked like Victor had suggested making the man president. “He hurt my daughter. He’s going six feet under.”
Victor sighed, the weight of the world riding his shoulders. “Felix, I want your word you will not kill him.”
He sniffed and stuck his chin in the air. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”
“Then I will handcuff you to the door and not let you within thirty feet of Olivia.”
“You can’t…!” the rest of the sentence hung in the air, Felix realizing Victor could indeed do exactly that. He blustered again, mumbling to himself before he met Victor’s eyes in the rearview. “Fine. Whatever.”
But if the opportunity arises…Victor could see Felix would take advantage of it. All bets were off.
“Everybody out,” Victor said.
Roman had the receiver for Victor’s wire. Barone would expect it, and Victor didn’t want to disappoint. Although he might not be able to get into Alfie’s head like Felix thought he could, Victor had more than one trick up his sleeve.
“I could stay hidden in the car,” Roman said, “and come running the moment you need help.”
“The only help I need is for you to get that kid out of the house, and for Felix to do the same with Olivia.”
Roman checked the magazine in his weapon. “I don’t like it.”
“Your confidence in me is reassuring, but I can handle the situation.”
“You just make sure you get my daughter free from that bastard,” Felix said.
Oh, for fuck’s sake. “She’s going to die from old age if you two don’t stop henpecking me and let me get her!”
That seemed to do the trick, both men bailing out and slamming their respective doors shut behind them.
Sighing with relief, Victor reset his brain.Get to Olivia.
As Roman and Felix disappeared into the shadows, Victor cruised around the end of the block and to his driveway. Alfie’s car sat in front of the garage as if he owned the place.
Victor pulled in behind it, making sure the vehicle was blocked in. His headlights shone into the dining room, and through the thin curtains, he could make out a figure sitting at the table.Liv.
For half a second before he killed the lights, Victor stared at the shadowy outline. Even though he couldn’t see her features, his heart sped up, knowing it was her. Every damn time he saw her, it was the same, regardless of the situation. She made him feel alive, wanted.
No matter what happened, he had to make sure she was safe.
