AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Don Casella
You want me to wait a few more hours?
This is exactly what I mean. Completely unreasonable. The cargo has already been waived from inspection. It’s safe. A few more hours isn’t going to make a huge difference with the given timeline. But I can’t tell him that, he’ll fucking tear off my head.
The best way to deal with Casella is to send his goods ASAP with an apology, usually in the form of a couple high-end prostitutes. By tomorrow he’ll be back to pretending like we’re best friends. All of this forgiven and forgotten.
Ping.
Ping.
Ping.
Fuck! He’s incessant.
I swipe the screen and put my phone in Do Not Disturb mode. I’ll switch it off once the trucks are en route to Casella and we can have a productive conversation.
I’m greeted at the docks by a crew of seven men all milling around two box trucks catching some humid summer sun.
Really?Really?I have to come all the way down here for this shit?
“Get that ship unloaded,” I bark. “What the fuck are you waiting for, an engraved invitation to do your fucking job?”
They exchange nervous glances, then get to work.
I swear, if no one is here to crack the whip, they’ll lounge around all day doing nothing to pad their next paycheck. Except this time, they don’t know who they’re fucking with. If they don’t get that cargo off-loaded in two hours or less, I’m going to shoot every last one of them. How’s that for payment?
To hurry the process along, I micromanage the entire, grueling process. Where the fuck did Ricardo get these guys? They act like they’ve never loaded a goddamn truck in their lives.
Finally, when they realize I’m going to hound them until this job is finished, they pick up the pace, and to my astonishment, show the slightest signs of competency.
After what feels like an eternity, the trucks are dispatched and on their way to Casella. I glance at my watch. One hour and fifty-seven minutes. I guess this crew will live to see another day.
Now I have to deal with Ricardo. I’m firing him and everyone he’s hired to work under him.
I switch off the Do Not Disturb mode and mentally prepare myself for the onslaught of notifications. Thumbing through them—Casella too many times to count—I slow the scroll when I see five missed calls from Baron, and seven voicemails from Sophia’s sisters.
What the fuck is going on?
First, I call Sophia but her phone goes straight to voicemail. My chest tightens, I know something is wrong. I can feel it in my bones.
I press on Baron’s contact.
“Where the fuck have you been?” he answers. “I’ve been trying—”
“What’s going on?”
“It’s all over the news. A bomb hit the SUV. The security detail is dead. Then a truck hit the car Sophia was in. I don’t think—”
“Sophia was in an accident?” My stomach plummets and the world tilts off its axis. I close my eyes, shake my head to clear it, and focus. “Where is she? Where’s Sophia?”
I’m already hustling back to my car and climbing inside, ready to give the hospital’s name to the driver.
The driver.
Did Enzo make it out alive? He was the one driving Sophia today, and if they were hit…
Baron’s steady voice comes through the line. “They took her, Roman.”
