Wrong place, Wrong time

15

Damiano “Scarface” Capone

Malcolm frees Isaac who begins freeing Nico. He walks towards me to rip the chains out of the ceiling.

“How’s the shoulder?” Malcolm asks me as he works on the chains. I move my shoulder around to get a feel.

“I can barely feel it.” It felt like s**t before pulce removed the splinters. She’s f*****g infuriating. She reminds me so much of my sister, always putting others first. She cleaned my shoulder, even after she was humiliated and assaulted. She stopped Weasel from putting a bullet in me, and for what? I’ve been nothing but a distrusting d**k to her, and she’s still nice. Has no one ever told her not to talk to strangers? Someone needs to have a serious conversation with the girl. I guess I’ll have to be the one to do that. Malcolm finally weakens the chain enough to break it and my arms are free. They’re sore from being held in that position for so long.

“Thanks.” I clap Malcolm on the shoulder and I begin to gather the chain from the floor. Chains are useful as weapons. It’ll hurt like a motherfucker to be hit with these, and I can’t wait to put them to good use.

“Ready?” Malcolm asks us, smiling widely. I send him a smirk. I thought he’d never ask. Isaac looks almost giddy now, time to cash in his birthday gift. As we get ready to kick the door down, the sound of heavy footsteps and gun-shots ring out, followed by even more frantic shouting. A kick to the door from the outside makes us get ready for whatever intruder we are about to face. Another strong kick to the door and it flies off the hinges, landing heavily on the floor. Smoke seeps into the room from the hallway, and I’m itching to swing the chain.

“Boss, you in here?” I recognize the voice, my guys are here.

“Yes, Wayne.” Wayne is my man in charge of assembling combat teams for different assignments. He emerges from the smoke along with some guys from his team, dressed in heavy armory.

“Room clear. Siege the rest.” He orders into the hallway. He really brought the cavalry this time.

“Good to see you, Wayne. It took you long enough.” We shake hands.

“Well, you were a bit further away than we anticipated you would be.” I lift my brows in curiosity. He shakes the hands of the other guys as well. Malcolm appreciates it the most, he sees this as the outmost sign of respect, acknowledgement.

“Where are we?” I ask him. He smirks at me, or I think he does, his nose and mouth are covered in a black mask.

“You’re in good ol’ Canada.” He chuckles. “We don’t have any vehicles stationed here, so we had to drive most of the way since they don’t fit on the planes.”

“Good job, Wayne.” I give his back a firm pad. Not having anything, either weapons, vehicles or people pre-stationed in a location, is a bit of a b***h when it comes to logistics. Wayne calls for someone in the hallway and two of his guys enter with hands full of bulletproof vests and firearms. I turn to Isaac, Nico and Malcolm, who are all wearing smirks.

“Suit up.” I tell them, and they do. This is probably the only time I can pretend to order them to do something, and they actually oblige, stubborn f***s. Nico nudges Isaac.

“Yeah, let’s go get Lena.” Isaac agrees. Wayne eyes me curiously.

“Who’s Lena? – someone we need to prioritize?” Wayne is waiting for my confirmation. Malcolm steps up next to me and quirks a brow, awaiting my answer.

“She’s a girl-“

“Young woman.” Isaac interrupts me. I roll my eyes at him and shoot him a glare. He just smirks back.

“She’s a young woman who accidentally got taken with us, and she’s coming with us.” I continue. Wayne is watching me intently. “She’s probably scared shitless, if your guys find her before we do, try not to approach her so aggressively.” He nods at me in confirmation.

“Yes, boss.” He quickly gets to work and spreads the message via his wireless earpiece. He turns back to me. “Done, ready to roll, boss?” I smirk at him, looking at the others to make sure they’re armed and ready to go.

“Let’s f*****g go.” We enter the hallway, everyone heavily armed. There are dead people scattered everywhere. Good. I can always count on Wayne to get s**t done. Many doors have already been kicked open and searched.

“Yo Chief, take a look at this.” One of Wayne’s men call out, gesturing to a room they’ve just cleared. We walk further down the hallway into a room with a s**t ton of lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling. There is a camera on a tripod facing a training mat. There’s blood on the mat, some dried, and some fresh. Three guys are fiddling with the camera, watching it intently. The guy on the left of the one holding the camera hisses.

“Yikes, take a look at this. Is she the girl we’re looking for?” They hand the camera to us, Wayne and Malcolm watch over my shoulder. I press play on the video, and we proceed to watch Lena get the s**t kicked out of her.

“Jesus fuck.” Wayne mutters. Isaac grabs the camera from my hands and watches the video with Nico and some of the other soldiers in the room, who have not yet seen it either. “What the f**k kind of place is this?”

“This should just be Weasel’s creepy basement, but it seems as if things may be a bit more complicated than first anticipated.” Malcolm analyzes. Some of the soldiers snicker when Wayne lets out an accidental snort.

“Sorry, who the f**k is Weasel?” Wayne asks.

“Barlowe’s son. Lena thought he looked like the donkey from Shrek,” Isaac explains. “Now let’s go find the fucker, so we can see what his insides look like.” Nico nods in agreement. They give me the f*****g creeps sometimes. We exit the room and stride determinedly down the hall. We go through every room at every turn of the hallway.

“Chief,” A soldier calls out.

“What’s up, Riggs?” Wayne calls back to him. Riggs gestures to a closed door, the only closed door left. Everyone takes their positions. Malcolm strides towards the door and knocks. Of course he f*****g knocks, polite bastard.

“Barlowe, I strongly advise you to open the door and hand over the girl. If you do, we might leave some of your limbs attached to your body when we let the dentist gut you.” Malcolm calmly but firmly advices him through the door. We hear movement from the other side of the door.

“I have a different proposition for you,” Weasel shouts back through the closed door. “You let us leave in one piece, or I’ll slit the girl's throat and have Gunner drink her blood.” Isaac chuckles at that.

“Who taught him that?” Isaac asks shocked. His mortified facial expression almost makes me laugh.

“Alright, Wayne, do you want to do the honors?” I ask him. He winks at me and nods for Riggs to take the door down. One solid kick, and the door is off its hinges. Multiple soldiers push the door open, as it seems like something is blocking the entryway. We push our way into the room, guns aimed and ready. Weasel is in the corner of the room pointing a gun at – well, he changes target every two seconds. Gunner is there as well, holding a knife while resting his foot on one of Lena’s legs as she is lying curled up on the floor.

“Get the f**k off her, now.” I order Gunner, deadly calm. His demeanor turns shaky, but he doesn’t make a move.

“You’re outnumbered, and there is nowhere to go, Barlowe,” Malcolm says. “Don’t make this more difficult than it has to be. It’ll only hurt you more in the end.” He leans calmly against the wall, sending him a huge smile.

“f**k you Smiley, f**k your friends, and f**k whatever shitty ass SWAT team you’ve got.” Weasel screams frantically back at Malcolm, bold of him, especially with this many weapons pointed his way. He grabs Lena by the arm and pulls her up from the floor with the help of Gunner. She’s breathing through gritted teeth, whimpering at every movement she’s forced to make. Gunner pulls her head back and holds the knife against her throat. A few stray tears leak from her eyes. Isaac puts a hand on Nico’s shoulder to keep him from doing something stupid. “Don’t think I won’t f*****g hurt her.” He nods at Gunner, who removes the knife from her throat and plunges it into her thigh instead. She screams and attempts to curl up, but Gunner keeps her upright. “See? I’m not f*****g around!” He continues frantically, waving his gun around. He has no idea how many men he has just pissed off. Wayne discreetly gestures to one of his men with only his eyes, and before anyone can blink, a knife flies through the room and pierces Gunner right through the forehead. “No!” Weasel screams, eyes wide. Gunner releases Lena, as he slumps backwards. Lena attempts to wobble towards us, but Weasel gets to her first. He pulls her against his chest and points his gun to her head.

“Barlowe, enough!” Malcolm roars. It turns so quiet in here, you can hear a pin drop. Weasel swallows audibly. One of the soldiers try to discreetly creep forward, but Weasel spots him. He switches the aim of the gun to him.

“Don’t f*****g move!” Weasel shouts at him. With the gun pointed away from Lena, someone takes the shot. A bullet goes right through Weasel’s hand, the hand holding the gun, resulting in him dropping it. He drops Lena, and she throws herself towards our armed group. Riggs wastes no time catching her, pulling her safely into his arms. A few soldiers step in front of them to shield them from other possible dangers, while the rest apprehend Weasel.

“I want him alive.” I order. I turn to Weasel. “For now.” I turn back to Wayne. “Get her out of here.” He gives me a nod.

“Riggs.” Wayne only says his name, and he knows what to do. Riggs gives him a nod in confirmation.

“No, please, don’t touch me.” Lena grits out, whimpering and attempting to remove herself from Riggs’ arms. I walk towards Riggs, who is trying to keep her from moving too much because of her injuries. I crouch down and grab her face.

“Lena, shh. It’s okay.” I stroke her cheek softly while shushing her. She’ll hurt herself more if she keeps struggling. Being soft and friendly is not my strongest suit. “This is Wayne,” I gesture to Wayne over my shoulder, and he sends her a small wave. She gives him a small nod, cute – wait no, what the f**k. “Uh, yeah,” I clear my throat and continue, “Wayne is one of my guys, and Riggs,” I gesture to the man holding her, “Riggs is with him, and so are the rest of them.” I gesture to the soldiers scattered around us. A few of them send her a wave or a court nod. She still looks uneasy, tears falling from her eyes once in a while. I grab her chin softly and make sure her eyes meet mine. “You’ve helped me once or twice, it’s about time I return the favor.” She studies me intently and finally nods.

“Okay.” She whimpers out, defeated.

“Good girl.” I praise her. “We’ve got some business to take care of in here.” She glances briefly at Weasel, letting out a shaky breath. “Hey.” I bring her attention back on me. “Don’t look at him, he’s having a bad life. He grew up with a pimp for a father, a pimp by the name of Podrick.” She releases the tiniest laugh, good enough for me.

“Hey, that was my line!” Isaac butts in. He walks over to us with Nico hot on his heels. “We’ll see you outside, love. Let Riggs help you out. Do it for us, please?” He awaits her response, kissing her hand. I roll my eyes at his gesture, typical Isaac, the flirtatious bastard. She gives him a tight smile, and nods nonetheless. She catches Nico’s eyes as well, and sends him a small smile too. Her head slumps into Riggs’ shoulder, as if it has become too heavy to hold up any longer, understandable. She must be feeling relieved no longer having to fight for her life. As I get up from my crouched position, Malcolm takes my place.

“Hey there, pretty girl.” A few stray tears leave her eyes. He strokes her head comfortingly. He places a kiss on her forehead. “We’ll see you soon, okay?” She nods.

“Please be careful,” She grits out to Malcolm, she lowers her voice as best as she can. “Watch his shoulder, I don’t think he worries about it himself.” My lip tucks up a bit at the corner, knowing she means me. Wayne smirks at me.

“I’ll keep an eye on him.” Malcolm promises her.

“Yeah, don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ve got it from here.” Wayne adds.

“Thank you.” She closes her eyes softly. I give Riggs a nod, letting him know it’s time, and then I turn my attention to Weasel.