Page 42 of The Silencer
It’s why I have this place so heavily guarded. Not only for my product, but for the people who are in Raphael’s employ. I want them to go home every night to their families.
I want them to be with the people who matter the most.
“A sample for you is right this way,” Raphael says, leading me toward his small office. I follow him inside, with Luca right behind me. On his desk is a pierced block of cocaine, the white powder spilling from it.
I’ve never been one for drugs myself. Luca however…
I nod at my right-hand man, and he sticks his finger directly into it, lacking any and all finesse. This is not like the movies. There’s no slick use of a knife. Luca just twirls his finger around like he’s searching for his prostate before pulling it out and bringing it to his nose.
He snorts some and then rubs it along his gums, his eyes rolling back into his head, smacking his lips with a smile.
“Yeah, mhm. The good stuff. Like coming home.”
I eye him and then take a small hit myself. My mouth tingles, and I feel a small burst of adrenaline as soon as I rub it across my gums.
Yeah, it’s the good stuff. Quality.
Raphael did well. But then, of course he did. He has always done a great job when it comes to this.
“When is the next supply supposed to be in?” I ask, and Raphael pulls out his phone, sliding his thumb across the screen.
“May—”
A shout. Gunshots. Followed by panicked screams. I hear the rapid fire of automatic weapons and the pang of bullets hitting metal and bone.
My body flares with adrenaline, and not from the cocaine but from the pure fury that rises up within me. How dare they.
How fucking dare they.
Luca and I crouch low inside the office, our guns pulled from our jackets. Raphael is grabbing a gun from his desk drawer, his cheeks flushed, his chest heaving.
He looks ready to murder.
Someone got in through his defenses.
He’s not going to let this go lightly.
“You think it’s the Aces?” Luca asks, and I nod, feeling my heart pumping wildly in my chest.
“It has to be.”
“We don’t know for sure until we get one of them,” Raphael says, always the voice of reason, even in the midst of chaos. “And I don’t fucking know how they got in.”
“Probably a mole,” Luca says, and Raphael huffs. He doesn’t like that. Not at all. The fact that something slipped past him. He hates it.
He’s probably going to offer to resign over this.
Not that I’ll let him. He’ll resign when he dies.
“Enough. Let’s go,” I snap, nodding to the door. Luca looks at me, a pang moving through his eyes. It’s always like this when we’re in a situation where we could die. I love him like a brother, he loves me as well. We’ve shared so much together, and it could all be over.
With a tilt of my chin he heads out. Raphael follows. I’m last, our bodies shielded by a large shipping container just outside the office. Gunshots continue to ring out, cries and shouts echo off the metal walls. Smoke billows around, white powder in the air.
I’m inhaling it. Cocaine.
Pure cut. Perfection.
Bursts of adrenaline hit my system, and I pull my handkerchief from my pocket and wrap it around my face. Luca and Raphael are doing the same, their eyes wide, pupils dilating.