The warehouse was barely visible through the rain. I parked beyond the reach of its exterior lights and cut the engine. Water soaked through my silk blouse before I reached the side entrance Victor had marked. The door was unlocked.
Inside, the air smelled of rust and wet concrete. I had taken three steps into the dark when a rolling metal door crashed shut behind me.
Fluorescent lights blinked on across the ceiling.
Figures filled the warehouse.
At least thirty men stood in a loose semicircle with automatic rifles aimed at me. Julian waited in front of a stack of rotting pallets.
Elder Giacomo stood beside him, stooped and grey-haired. Chloe clung to Julian's arm in a cheap fur coat. Someone had bailed her out, and she was enjoying the surprise too much to hide her fear.
"It’s over,
