“How can it be easy? He took the tracker out, remember?” Matteo pointed out.
I turned off the ignition and caught Lo’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “I’m still not following. What the fuck are you saying?”
“Think about it,” Lo said. “He gave usjustenough information to lead us here.” He gestured to the plant. “It’s like he wanted us to find this place.”
“Of course it’s a trap,” Matteo muttered, his hands steady as he loaded his gun.
“Then we’ll be prepared for it,” I said. I swung the door open wide, my boots making contact with the thawing snow on the ground. The rest of my team trailed behind,
“Keep your eyes open and stay alert,” I said.
The steel plant loomed in the distance. Its once mighty smokestacks, now standing silent, had long ceased their furious belching of dark clouds into the sky. Abandoned and forgotten.
As we drew closer, something caught my eye to the left, just beyond the bridge—an unexpected flash of movement that was barely noticeable at first. A chill swept through the air, raising the hairs on the back of my neck.
“Look!” Lo breathed, his finger pointed ahead. “Is that…?”
Gigi.
We stepped carefully onto the bridge, the wood creaking beneath our weight as we scanned our surroundings for any sign of danger. But we were only met with was silence.
White hot fury coursed through my veins as my gaze swept over her. Gigi dangled in the air like a marionette, her body swaying slightly, suspended by the ropes on her wrists and forearms. Her legs and ankles were secured, and a thick cord encircled her waist.
I followed the rope and a lump of fear lodged in my throat at seeing a cinderblock tethered around the rope and anchored to the ground.
“Matteo’s right, Nico. It’s a trap,” Lo muttered from behind me.
I knew it was risky, but what other choice did we have? Gigi was dangling in the fucking air, hovering over the lake. I needed to do everything I could to bring her down safely.
“Gigi, baby,” I said, my voice feeling strange and distant, as if it belonged to someone else.
She looked up at me, her eyes glistening with tears.
“Nico. You have to get out of here,” she pleaded.
“I’m going to get you down, alright?” I promised.
She gave a slight nod, but her expression was still fearful.
“Baby, are you hurt? Did he do anything to you?” I pressed.
She shook her head.
Movement on my right caught my attention. A man slowly walked over to Gigi and stood beside her on the bridge with a gun pointed at me. Several more men appeared behind him with guns aimed at us.
My men and I raised their guns in response.
My heart pounded erratically against my ribcage. Why weren’t they shooting at us? Every instinct screamed at me to start shooting to kill everyone of these fuckers, but we were outnumbered and Gigi's life was at stake.
Then a man appeared, standing about fifteen feet from us with a gun in his hand.
“Hello, Nico. I guess it’s time to introduce myself. My name is Massimo.”
“I don’t give a fuck who you are. Let her go,” I bit out.
The man twisted his lips in a mocking grin. “You don’t get to make demands.” He pointed the gun to where Gigi was hanging.
“How deep do you think the river is?” He turned back to me and smiled. “If a human was tossed into the water, how long would it take for them to sink to the bottom? Or how long would it take you to save that person?”
