“Damn right. Just hold them off until I get to you.”
“Okay…”
“Love you.”
I gasped when I realized it might be the last time I ever heard those words. “I love you too.”
He hung up.
My father was already armed to the teeth. Two rifles hung over his shoulders, and he had a handgun sticking out the back of his jeans. Just like Wolfe, he was perfectly calm. “Grab the shotgun.”
Without really thinking about what I was doing, I grabbed it and made sure it was loaded before I shoved a handful of bullets into my pocket. “Wolfe is on the way.”
Dad nodded at what I said. “Cover me.”
“Okay.”
He moved to the edge of the door and poked his head around the corner.
The gunfire continued outside like it was a war zone.
I stood behind my father, gripping the gun so hard that my knuckles already hurt. I felt moisture coat the metal because my palms were already sweaty from the adrenaline that leaked out of all my pores.
The gunfire suddenly came to a standstill. And somehow, the silence was worse. My ears started to ring because of the abuse the loud noise had caused to my eardrums, but I still preferred the sounds of a fight over the silence of a surrender.
“What’s happening?” I whispered.
My father remained still, straining his ears as he listened.
We were on the third floor in a well-insulated house, but I could hear the commotion on the bottom floor. Sounded like a stampede of men, and then I heard the yell of a voice that sounded familiar, but I didn’t recognize. “Vincenzo! This is how you greet a guest?”
My father spoke almost under his breath. “Warren…”
“Warren?” I blurted. “I thought you killed him.”
“No,” he said, his wide eyes still down the hallway.
“But Leo said you did.”
My father ignored what I said and turned to me. “Frankie, I need you to hide. Crawl out the window and onto the roof. They won’t think to look for you there.”
“What—what?” I blurted. “I’m not going to leave you.”
“Frankie, just do what I say.”
“We stay in the office and pick them off one by one. That’s what I did before?—”
“Frankie.” His nostrils flared as he rounded on me. “Do as I say.” He grabbed my arm and shoved me, shoved me hard with a force I didn’t think he was capable of. “Now.” He went around the corner and fired his automatic rifle into the staircase, making them scatter before they could ascend to our floor.
He turned back to me, his eyes still livid with rage even though this was probably the last time we would ever see each other. He mouthed, “Go.” And he pointed down the hallway.
My eyes started to water as I looked at my father for the last time.
He looked like he would yell at me again.
“I love you…”
His eyes softened, but only slightly, and then he turned back to the top of the stairs before he fired down below again, keeping them back so they couldn’t access the third level.
