Page 70 of Crazed

He puts his hands in the air. "Calm down."

"Don't you dare talk about my woman, make accusations, and tell me to calm down," I bark.

"I didn't accuse her of anything."

"Bullshit," I bellow.

"Enough," Papà orders. "Time is ticking."

"I don't care. You owe Katiya more money," I insist.

Tully's lips twitch. "You'll get the other envelope."

"Other? As in one? No! You'll pay what is fair," I warn.

"It is fair," he proclaims.

I seethe, "Not even close."

Tully maintains his position. "The piece couldn't be offloaded in the usual fashion. I did you a favor buying it so quickly. And, son, the going rate is what someone is willing to pay for it."

"I'm not your son," I fume.

"Massimo, this topic is over. You and Tristano, go pick up Agent Dominico. It shouldn't be hard," Papà claims.

"Why is that?" Tristano questions.

Papà's eyes turn darker, matching his tone. He pins them on me, stating, "For the past two nights, all the agents have been on a drinking spree with the two families. My guess is they'll be trying to catch up on sleep. They have housing in the Abruzzos buildings close to where your girlfriend lives."

The hairs on my arms rise. Oxygen turns stale in my lungs. I grind my molars then reiterate, "Katiya has nothing to do with this."

Eleven pairs of eyes stare at me. Every one of them is full of doubt.

It pisses me off further. I growl, "You weren't being genuine last night, were you?"

Papà waves off my accusation. "Stop being sensitive. Now, all of you get out of here. I want them picked up quickly and brought to our house." He hands me a key and motions toward the door. "Go."

My brothers and I exchange another annoyed glance, then I motion for Tristano to follow me. We step outside, and there's a row of worn-out, older, windowless vans. I open one of the doors and toss a white hazmat suit to him.

He groans and unzips it. "These things are so hot."

I step into mine. "Still don't understand why we can't do this at night."

"Tully just wants us to sweat our balls off," he grumbles.

I zip the plastic around me and pull the hood up. I slide on the mask and my sunglasses. When we get there, I'll put on the dark plastic shield. In the meantime, the mask and sunglasses will keep me incognito.

Tristano follows my lead and becomes unrecognizable. I jump into the passenger side, and he gets into the driver's seat. He turns on the engine and pulls out ahead of the others then asks, "Tully and Papà seem to get crazier, don't you think?"

I grunt. "That's the understatement of the year. I never thought Papà would agree with us kidnapping federal agents in broad daylight."

Tristano turns on his blinker and veers left. Metal clinks in the back, and I shift in my seat, glancing behind me through the small open space. Several restraints slide along a metal rod. I mutter, "Guess Tully got the vans and not Papà."

"Why do you say that?"

I sit back in my seat. "The handcuffs aren't secured. Those agents will slam into the walls. By the time we get them home, they'll have bruises all over them."

Tristano guns the accelerator, and the van's engine skips.

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