Page 94 of Perfect Vengeance

“Franco ain’t gonna like this,” Rocco muttered. “You bringing all this into his house while he’s out of town… Doing the broad here? I’m tellin’ you, this is not smart.”

“I don’t give a fuck,” Tino shouted. “Just do it!”

Gina’s vision came back on line in time to see Rocco half dragging Maria up the stairs and the murderous look in Tino’s eyes as he watched them go. His chest heaved and his nostrils flared. The man was about to explode, and Gina was front and center in the fallout radius. Frantically, she looked around for a way out, still finding none.

“The Commission meeting is Saturday. After that, this will be my house.” Tino took a deep breath before turning back to her with cold, dead eyes. An eerie calm seemed to surround him, and that frightened her more than any outburst.

“Untie her hands. Bring her over here.”

Psycho untied her hands and began dragging her to the workbench. She twisted in his grip and lashed out, punching him in the gut. He didn’t flinch.

Tino lunged for her wrist, jerking her closer to the workbench. “Hold her still.”

“Nooo,” she cried, still trying to twist away as Psycho shoved her to the vise grip attached to one side of the bench. Before she could stop him, Tino shoved her hand between the iron sides of the clamp and cranked it closed, leaving her fingers protruding from one end.

She screamed as he cranked the vise tighter. Tears trickled from the corners of her eyes as pain radiated from her hand up her arm. Psycho held her other arm tightly. Any movement she made only intensified the pain.

“Now, let’s have some fun.” Tino grinned as he reached for a tool on the pegboard—a large wire cutter.

Gina gulped. Her breath came in heavy rasps as she shook her head. “Don’t do this,” she whispered. “Please, don’t do this.” Visions of the jelly jar in Tino’s safe swam before her eyes. The one containing that agent’s finger.

He clamped the wire cutter around her thumb, squeezing until the blades cut into her skin enough to sting like a bitch and draw blood. “Where’s. My. Money?” He grabbed her hair and yanked her head back.

Several hairs ripped from her scalp and she cried out. Sweat broke out on her forehead as harsh reality settled over her like a death shroud. There was no way out.

Her heart hammered in her chest. Her fingers were about to become the newest addition to Tino’s treasure chest. Worse… It was only the beginning of the horror to come.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The Expedition careened on two wheels as Jack took the sharp curve in the road. He glanced at his cell phone in the console, gripping the wheel tighter as the road straightened out. No word from Meat.

“Have you ever been inside the Falzone compound?” Kyle asked.

“No, but I know the blueprints by heart. It’s gated on all sides. Eight bedrooms, seven baths, full basement, and a three-car garage.” Gina could be anywhere inside. The last thing he wanted was to go in guns blazing and get her killed. He needed insider information. He needed Meat to give him Gina’s location. He glanced at Kyle. “I don’t have a warrant.”

“We know.” Deke squeezed Jack’s shoulder. “That’s why lawyers make up fancy phrases like ‘exigent circumstances.’”

His cell shrilled and he grabbed it, but it wasn’t Meat. “Smitty,” he said. “Everything good?”

“Yeah, we’re pulling into the US Attorney’s Office now. I’ll let you know as soon as we get a warrant.”

Jack exhaled a long breath. They’d get Tino, but Viggiani would likely be dead by the end of the month. Somehow, the Falzones would get to his witness. They always did. Was this really worth someone else dying? For the first time since identifying Jim’s body, he wasn’t sure. “Hold off on giving anything to the AUSA until you hear from me.”

“Why?” The confusion in Smitty’s voice was understandable.

“I need more need time to convince Viggiani to go into WITSEC.” If he refused, Jack didn’t know if he could go through with this. “Just do it.”

“Okay. Later.” Smitty hung up.

“Problems?” Deke asked.

“No.” Yes. Because of his conscience, he was about to throw his entire case against Tino down the toilet. “We’re good.”

Before he could set his phone down, it vibrated again—this time with the call he’d been waiting for.

“You better get your ass here fast,” his informant said in a low voice. “Tino has the girl tied up in the garage. Hang on a sec. I’ll be right there,” Meat shouted to someone else. “Give me a few minutes to get to the front door and unlock it.”

Jack’s phone went dead. He braked to a stop a hundred yards down the road from the compound.