Page 11 of Lord of Ruin
Plus, New York wasn’t my town. We had no desire to expand our territory more than it was at this point. Why should we? We were wealthy beyond our means. That left far too many gray areas when cowards such as Whitie and Frankie Malone ran away to the Big Apple. As if I couldn’t hunt them down. They were the two slimebag brothers who’d fled Philly after we’d learned of their clever but ridiculous level of betrayal. What they’d done had been out of character, but people had their own reasons for biting the hands that fed them.
They’d been low level players in our backdoor gambling handled in private rooms in our casinos, men who lured high dollar players into the fold. They’d been allowed to earn their keep both with their hefty payrolls and their ability to keep their winnings when they sat in on a game.
The only reason the fuckers had been added to our list of pristine employees was their abilities to disguise themselves. They were the masters of prosthetics, masks that no one could tell they were wearing. In addition, they knew several languages and had perfected various accents as well. Which meant they’d been able to pass as anyone we’d wanted them to.
Their skills had been useful right up until the time they’d gotten greedy. Why was it I had a bad feeling they’d been lured into becoming bad boys? I hadn’t been able to shake the feeling. My gut was usually never wrong, something my brother had teased me about relentlessly. Whatever the case, they had to pay for their sins.
“Let me worry about Phoenix. He knows how I am,” I said as I scanned the lavish interior. I had to admit, the establishment Gabriel Giordano, a founding member of the Brotherhood, had had a full hand in the incredible design for was spectacular. Phoenix could learn a few things.
Not that I planned on telling him that.
“Nice digs,” Christos said.
“Very. I could feel right at home here.”
“Yeah, you could. And that doesn’t give you a pass on the subject we were discussing. What the hell did you do with Frankie’s body?”
“Nothing,” I said as I headed for one of two main casino floors. “Why should I? In a city like New York, murders from a Glock weapon are a dime a dozen.” That was one reason I’d selected the weapon carefully. I wasn’t a Glock fan, but I’d done my research on every city before I entered, every enemy. Very little caught me off guard, although I had to admit I hadn’t expected two men like Frankie and Whitie to be stupid enough to steal money from us so blatantly.
All Phoenix and I had been able to think was that someone else was pushing their buttons. Since the Death Squad had come into the picture, another alliance of corporate and military men determined to rule the world, every member of the Brotherhood remained on constant edge. To me, the name was ridiculous, but it had been coined by various people on the black web who’d either heard of their power or had seen their devastation in action. The Death Squad was careful, taking over or destroying small operations from military to financial institutions throughout the world. For most leaders, their actions would mean little or nothing, but the Brotherhood had been watching them for years, more concerned than ever that whatever their end game, it was coming sooner versus later.
Not that anyone knew who the fuckers were. The only way anyone had learned they were involved was by the brands burned into their skilled assassins, men and women committing their lives to the organization. It was crazy in my mind, but they obviously had their reasons for turning their backs on humanity and society.
The similarities between the two organizations were eerie, including the secrecy of the members and the meeting locations, with one exception. From what had been discovered the past couple of years, the Death Squad was huge in numbers, maybe to the tune of a couple thousand or more strewn across the world. No one knew for certain. What the members of the Brotherhood had learned was that they had some huge plan for the future, which in my mind meant they truly did want to take over the world.
So, when behaviors suddenly shifted to the left as quickly as it had with the Malone brothers, red flags were raised. Frankie hadn’t said a word during the few hours I’d interrogated him after tracking him to a surprisingly seedy motel.
But I’d seen fear in his eyes and not because of what I was capable of doing. The man had surprised me by bolting from my hold the first chance he’d gotten and by grabbing Jenna. Had he really thought I was going to allow him to kill an innocent woman? He’d been specific about where he was going, even egging me on. In my mind, that had represented a lure of some kind, but I’d seen no other evidence of that.
“Well, you still got big balls,” he continued. “I don’t like the way these dudes are acting.”
“Yeah. Neither do I and we need to watch our backs,” I said as I scanned the massive room. It didn’t matter that it was barely after eight in the evening on a weekday. The place was packed. I’d heard the casino also had some of the best entertainment up and down the East Coast. Maybe I’d spend a little time talking with Giordano before I left, getting a few tips and tricks on obtaining the same level of celebrities.
Our sites could always be a bit more upscale, even if it was a blue-collar kind of town. In my humble opinion.
“You say that now? Christ, cuz. You just gave me the heebie-jeebies,” Christos huffed.
“Stop worrying. We’ll be out of here soon enough.”
“How the hell are we going to find this dude? Ain’t he a master of disguise?”
“Considering the odd clothes we found in Frankie’s suitcase, I have a feeling Whitie is dressed up as a distinguished older man. I’ll know by the face mask. He can’t hide from me with his one blue and one brown eye. Even with a fucking contact lens.”
“You are good at that. What happened when you got the dude last night?”
“You mean other than the fact he tried to take a hostage?”
Christos snorted. “Yeah, there’s that. Who was she anyway?”
“Some vet.”
“Like military?”
“Like animals. You know, furry babies.” I could tell he had no clue what I was talking about. He wasn’t an animal person by any stretch of the imagination. Unless you considered the illustrious big steel Jaguar he owned a creature. “Just mingle and let me know what you see. Text me if you think you see him.”
“Oh, wait. Like a veterinarian,” he said as he grabbed my arm.
“Exactly.” I’d been lucky she’d been there in truth. Plus, I’d enjoyed the time I’d spent with her more than I should have. Leaving her cash had seemed like the right thing to do after she’d put herself out there. Also hearing her story, the hardships she’d endured had gotten to me and I wasn’t certain why. That wasn’t like me in the least. Maybe it was good enough incentive. At least she didn’t know my name or anything about me and in a city the size of the Big Apple, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack.