He covered her with a blanket. “I’ll get you help.”
She started sobbing. “Thank you.”
BANG!
POP! POP! POP!
Luciano bolted into the other bedroom. The other Fuller brother lay crumpled on the floor. Teddy stood there like a statue. Luciano strode over.
“Jesus, no.”
The brother had shot the woman he had chained to the bed. She was bleeding out, a gaping hole in her chest.
Luciano grabbed Teddy by the arm. “Let’s go.”
As they passed the first bedroom, Luciano paused to speak to the surviving victim. “Help is coming.”
They exited the apartment and were blinded by phone flashlights from people in the hallway. The sound of the gunshot had caused tenants to scurry out of their homes. He and Teddy flipped up their goggles, kept their heads down, and strode down the hall toward the back entrance.
“Grab those guys!” someone shouted.
Teddy bolted, Luciano close on his heels. They flew down the stairs and out into the night, not stopping until they’d returned to the vehicle, parked on the street. Breathing hard, they got in, Luciano started the engine, and they left.
On the main road, he turned on the headlights, hit the gas. After he removed his night goggles, Luciano extracted the burner phone from his pocket. With the exception of a few at ALPHA, Luciano couldn’t stand law enforcement. And he trusted them even less.
But he needed to ensure the victim got the help she needed, so he made the call.
“Hey,” Carrera answered. “You okay?”
“Fuller brothers had prisoners,” Luciano said. “One living, one murdered by one of the brothers.”
Teddy rattled off the address.
Luciano normally didn’t do business over the phone, but in this case, he had no choice.
“I’m on it.” Carrera hung up.
Luciano glanced over at his brother. “How you doing?”
“I couldn’t save her,” Teddy murmured. “I fucking couldn’t do it.”
His heart broke for his younger brother. He would hold on to this for a long time and blame himself for even longer. No matter what Luciano said, it wouldn’t make a difference. Teddy was very hard on himself. Always had been.
“What can I say to help alleviate your pain?”
“Nothing, brother,” Teddy replied. “It is what it is. We went in to take out the monsters. We got it done, but there was collateral damage.”
Luciano knew about collateral damage better than anyone. Those most precious to him had been just that.
8
THE CATASTROPHE
SIMONE
Simone had spent the last two days trying to forget about Luciano. And she’d failed. Over and over and over again. Thinking about him during the day was bad enough, but he’d managed to slither his way into her dreams. Even there, his charm, charisma, and consummate power kept her anchored to his side and focused on his every damn word.
At just after noon, she pulled open the squeaky door to Rudy’s, stepped inside, and inhaled the familiar aromas of Washington’s favorite greasy spoon. She hadn’t been back in years, but from the looks of things, nothing had changed.
