Page 28 of Daddy's Stowaway

“Hopefully, neither will they. In addition, I have extra security at the hotel; we should be okay.”

“We? I’m no mafioso, Alex.”

“Neither am I, Harvey, yet here we are. I’ll do the talking; all you have to do is back up my claim with a paper trail, and you’ve done that. Still, we have until tonight to go over the plan and ensure a successful outcome.”

I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. A successful outcome meant getting Antonia freed from the Sina Cartel. Had anyone ever been able to walk away on their own two feet? My phone pinged; it was from Johnathan. I opened it with shaking fingers, hoping this wasn’t bad news.

Our girlswith several pictures of the theatre room and two, obviously drunken young women.

What the fuck?I typed back.

Sorry, Alex.My fault. It was meant to be a girls’ party with Netflix and snacks, not a drunk fest. Simone is being punished, and I would like Antonia to watch. Yes?

Shit! Why did she have to be such a brat the moment I turn my back?

Yes. And include an OTK for Antonia, it’s only fair.Johnathan sent me back a series of spanking emojis and laughter. I would send Antonia a message later. Right now, I had bigger fish to fry, and Johnathan seemed to have everything in hand.

“Is there a problem?”

“No, everything is fine, just an update from home.” Our car pulled up to the hotel, and our doors opened.

“Mr. Savage,” I was greeted by my concierge. “Everything is ready for you and Mr. Wetzler, sir.”

“Thank you, Rico.” We were escorted to the top floor, which contained two massive penthouse suites; one was mine, although I hadn’t used it in ages, and one was for Harvey’s use. After depositing his overnight bag in his suite, Harvey came over to mine, and we ordered lunch and dined while looking over the files.

I pulled out several police records and examined them. “This Markos guy really is a piece of shit, isn’t he?”

Harvey looked up from a document he was perusing. “Yes, but what I got from Buck just before boarding is the icing on the cake. Take a look.”

“What the hell is this? Am I looking at evidence of him on the take?”

“That you are. He is working for another family and robbing the Sina family while playing footsies with the cabal operating out of Ontario. We have multiple shots here of him trading with them. But we also have witnesses.” Harvey’s phone buzzed.

“Wetzler.”

“Hang on, Buck, I’m with Alex, and I’ll put you on the speaker.”

“Hey, Buck, you have news?” This was the call I’d been waiting for. If Buck had pulled through with his team on his end, then the final piece was ready, and we could fully institute my plan.

“We have the location of the house where the families are being held. At precisely 7:00 pm tonight, the exchange is to be made at the docks while my team will rescue the families.”

“What? Tonight? I made meeting arrangements for tomorrow morning.” My heart started to race with the sheer magnitude of the fuck up I’d created. Harvey, sensing my angst, put a steadying hand on my arm.

“I’ll place a call to Izzy and do whatever I need to make it happen. Wait, it’s not as bad as I thought when you consider the time difference. I’ll call you back, Buck.” I took a deep breath and then called Izzy Zamaya. Believe me, it hadn’t been easy getting the number to his direct line, but several bribes later, I got one.

“Izzy. Speak.”

“Mr. Zamaya, it is Mr. Savage. We need to see each other sooner rather than later. I have new intel that you will want to know about immediately.” There was silence on the other end of the phone, and seconds quickly felt like minutes.

“I will send a car.”

Harvey and I had an agreed-upon location, one where I wasn’t sandwiched in a place where I have no control. “I’m sure you can imagine how sending a car will not work for me. Instead, I will bring my car with my man to a neutral location.”

“What is this location?”

Harvey held up a map and pointed to a dingy diner that was not in Izzy’s territory.

“Castros on Belize Avenue in two hours.”