“Men and drugs can be replaced.” He yanks me to the side and into the underbrush. “But there’s only one of you. Now wait a second.”
Stefano’s truck parks behind ours. Enzo shoots him a warning gesture, and he stays back with the vehicle. Firelight dances across Leo’s expression as he stares out the windshield at the burning truck.
We don’t move. But someone near the wreckage does.
More than one person. I start to see them. I count three, maybe four, hidden around the burning truck. They must be getting impatient because they’re creeping out of the woods, heading toward Stefano’s location. I’m not sure if they spotted us yet, and I crouch down lower, grip on my gun tightening.
“Wait for it,” Enzo whispers.
But he doesn’t need to. This is where I thrive. I’m a decent Capo, a solid crew chief, and a decent organizer. The depot runs smoothly, mostly because I know when to delegate.
This is what I’m really good at: hunting and killing. Finding my enemies and snuffing them out. There’s nothing sweeter in this whole world than blood crusted under my fingernails.
“Now,” I say, rising up from my hiding place.
I shoot a man in the head. His skull jerks back, and blood sprays into the fire. Behind him, three more soldiers look over insurprise. They’re dressed in black and probably wearing vests. I aim for heads and limbs, squeezing my trigger as I move to the side, seeking cover behind a tree.
The world turns to hell. Blood splatters against the truck and splashes onto the pavement. Stefano and Leo join in the fun, spraying bullets at their attackers while the ambush falls apart in a glorious shower of death. I kill two more while the rest of them are gunned down by my men. Once the night’s quiet again, I creep out of the woods and jog over to Stefano’s position, heart racing with excitement.
“You both good?”
Stefano nods. “All good. Leo, you good?”
“What a fucking rush!” Leo’s grinning broadly. He’s still young and inexperienced, but we can fix all that. Time and teaching will harden him up. But nothing can make a man love the thrill of fighting and killing if it’s not already in him. Leo’s got that. It’s why he’s a part of my crew. “Nothing better in the whole goddamn world.”
“We need to be careful,” Enzo says, scowling. “We can celebrate later. Cops and the fire department are going to show up eventually. No way this burning truck’s going to stay a secret for long.”
“Check the bodies,” I order and jerk a finger at Leo. “You’re with me. Come on.”
We hustle over toward the truck. Leo curses as he steps in some blood. “Got brains on my new boots,” he complains. “Do you know how hard it is to get brains out of suede?”
“Shut up and focus.” I approach the burning cab as closely as I can. Inside, through the wreck, I can just make out the body of the driver. He’s in bad shape, but it’s definitely him. “How’s the back look?”
“Loading doors are open,” Leo calls out. “They cleared it out. Looks like they took it apart.”
I join him and stare inside. The whole back was stripped down to the studs. “Found the drugs,” I say through my teeth. “God damn it. Who is stupid enough to do something like this?”
“Luca!” Enzo waves me over. He’s standing above the very first man I killed with a very dark look on his face. “You have to see this.”
He flips a wallet over toward me. I snatch it from the air. “What’s wrong?”
“Check out his ID.”
I open it up. A face stares back at me from the plastic holder. White guy, dark eyebrows, vaguely familiar. My stomach drops when I see the name.
Tommy Serrano.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” I say softly. “Let me guess. Corrado has kids? And Tommy’s one of them?”
“We’ll confirm back at the depot.” In the distance, sirens wail, getting louder as they approach. “Time to leave.”
“Fucker.” I throw the wallet back down on the corpse. “This is a message. Corrado’s starting a war.”
“And he’s doing a great job.” Enzo pulls me away. “We need to go right now.”
I linger for a moment. Rage flows through me. The bastard tried to kill my wife—and now he’s murdering my men and burning my trucks.
Now there’s no doubt in my mind.
