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The woman scoured through her purse and pulled out a pack of saltine crackers. “You’re going to want to eat these. There’s no telling when you’ll have another chance.”
Although she didn’t trust her, Haven didn’t want her stubbornness to ruin a chance to get some strength. Her stomach hurt with familiar pangs of hunger, so she took the crackers and ate them.
Her eyelids grew heavy. She fought the sleepiness, but it took control of her. She was light-headed and had to lie down as the woman smiled.
“Sorry,” she said, her voice a fading whisper, “but Nunzy won’t bother you if you’re asleep.”
Haven realized, as the pain lifted and the sounds grew muffled, that she’d been drugged again.
47
Carmine groggily glanced around the spare bedroom, his eyes falling on a clock across the room. It took a second for the numbers to register, and he sat up when he realized it was already eight in the morning. Pain surged through every inch of him as he climbed to his feet and descended the stairs. He paused in the doorway of the living room, seeing Dominic still typing away at the laptop as Tess paced. Everything appeared how he had left it.
Nearly half a day had passed, but nothing had changed.
Celia stepped out of the kitchen at the sound of his footsteps, appearing as exhausted as everyone else. “How are you feeling, kiddo?”
How did she think he felt? He hurt, inside and out. His entire life was chaos. Was he supposed to tell her he felt like dying would be relief? Would that make her feel better?
“I feel fucking useless,” he said, running his hand through his hair. “It’s like I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop, and I hate that goddamn feeling.”
Celia opened her mouth to respond, but chaos erupted before she could get out a single word.
Dominic jumped to his feet. “It’s connecting!”
Carmine’s heart pounded rapidly as a door down the hall flung open and slammed against a wall. Carmine figured they had heard Dominic, but all hope disappeared when he made eye contact with his uncle. Corrado stared right past him at the door, his tanned skin seemingly void of all color.
Carmine’s blood ran cold. Something was terribly wrong, but never in his wildest dreams could he have predicted what happened next.
“FBI! Search warrant! Get on the ground! Now!”
The shouting rang out from outside, multiple voices yelling at once. Carmine turned in disbelief as something slammed against the door, forcing it open. He flinched as the same noise echoed on the other side of the house, the back door torn from the hinges. Instinctively, he covered his head as a series of loud bangs ricocheted through the downstairs, bright lights blinding him as the police flash bombed the house.
An influx of men in SWAT gear burst through the doors, screaming for them to get down. Tess cried out from the living room as Dominic cursed, their voices muffled to Carmine’s ringing ears. It happened fast, and Carmine was cemented in place as Celia dropped to the floor with her hands above her head.
“Get down!” an officer screamed, pointing his weapon at Carmine, but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t do anything. Celia grabbed his foot and yanked it, sending him stumbling. He dropped to his knees, and the officer shoved his face into the floor. They forced his arms behind him, and he cried out, trying to pull his hands away when they grabbed handcuffs.
“Don’t resist,” Celia said. “They need to detain us for their safety.”
He relaxed his arms to let them secure the cuffs. The officer nearly cut off his circulation as he tightened them.
“Vincenzo Roman DeMarco, you’re under arrest for violation of the RICO Acts, Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 1961,” an officer declared as he walked down the hallway, leading Vincent to the front door. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.”
Carmine grew frantic as they neared. “Dad!”
“Keep your mouth shut, Carmine,” he said as they led him outside. Officers pulled Corrado off the floor next and read him the same rights, placing him under arrest too.
“Call the lawyers, Celia,” Corrado said calmly. “I don’t want them seizing anything without one present.”
“I will,” she said, her voice shaking a bit. “Stay strong.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Corrado said. “I’ll be fine.”
An officer helped Celia off the ground and searched her before they walked away, and others led both Dominic and Tess out of the living room. They pulled Carmine to his feet last and pushed him against the wall, vehemently patting him down and taking everything out of his pockets.
Once they were satisfied he had no weapons, they led him through the front door. The street was blocked off and covered in police vehicles, dozens of FBI agents and local officers swarming the area. Carmine watched as they put his father and uncle in separate unmarked dark SUVs, his footsteps faltering as the reality of it hit him.
“Walk,” the officer said, pushing him.
