AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Bennett
Olivia, still clinging to hope, insisted time was of the essence, so we took the plane to Chicago. As we approached the industrial building, I felt nothing but dread. While it wasn’t a location I had cause to visit with any frequency, I still knew it. It was part of the logistics network Marchese used. The two times I’d been here, I witnessed two executions.
Security was nonexistent. They didn’t need any. Everyone in the area knew not to interfere with the comings and goings of Romano Inc.
Since there were no lights on inside, we made our way with our cell phones until I found a light switch. Flicking it on turned on a row of fluorescents along one side of the warehouse.
Cargo containers and semi tractors filled the interior, but there wasn’t much else. Thankfully, there weren’t any people, either. This time of night, I figured there wouldn’t be.
“Do you hear that?” Olivia asked, grabbing my sleeve.
I did. It was a faint humming that sent a fresh wave of chills down my spine.
The sound was coming from a huge, walk-in cooler.
Olivia reached for the silver handle on the cooler.
I grabbed her wrist and pulled her away, shaking my head. “Stay with Leander.”
“But, I—”
“Stay!” I snapped, pushing her into Leander’s arms. To make sure she listened, I held up a finger like a scolding parent and waited until Leander had her securely in his grip before turning my back to her. Facing the door, I drew in a breath and opened it, slipping inside and pulling it shut before she tried to glimpse past me.
It was mostly empty. There were a couple cardboard boxes stacked in one corner, covered in import stamps, and a large, plastic tarp tossed in a heap at the far end of the metal container. Steeling myself, I walked toward it with slow, measured steps, hoping against hope I was wrong. There was no arguing with smell, though. Even if it was thirty-five degrees in here, something was rotten.
Kneeling next to the tarp, I tried to ignore the shaking in my hands as I pulled the plastic back.
Itwasa corpse — but it wasn’t Cole.
Exhaling, I closed my eyes and rocked back on my heels. It was just some schmuck with a receding hairline and too much chest hair, not even close to the person we were looking for.
But if Cole wasn’t here, where the hell was he?
Olivia’s scream shattered my relief.
Springing to my feet, I flew out of the cooler. Neither Leander nor Olivia were where I left them.
“Leander?!” I darted through the containers, like a rat in a maze. “Where are you?!”
“We’re by the loading docks.”
Once I got my bearings, I rushed to the back of the building, pulling up short as I burst into the open space near the shipping and receiving office.
Cole was seated in a chair, completely motionless. His head hung backward, jaw slack and eyes half-closed. Even at a distance I could see the giant blotches of antemortem bruising beneath his ripped t-shirt. Livor mortis set in on his hands, which were tied behind the chair. Given how he was positioned, I knew more than a few bones were broken. Italians were old-school like that. Their torture techniques were basic, but effective. They’d shot out both of his knees before they ultimately shot him in the head.
Olivia was on her knees beside him, draped across his lap. She sobbed hysterically into his thigh, grasping and clutching at his waist and hips, regardless of all the blood.
Leander was as still as a statue, his gaze locked on Cole.
I laid a hand on Leander’s shoulder. He didn’t even flinch let alone break his stare. There was a tremor every now and again when he inhaled or exhaled a ragged breath, but that was it.
Giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze, I carried on to Olivia. Kneeling behind her, I slipped my arms around her waist and tried to pull her away. “You shouldn’t see him like this.”
“No!” Her protest was more of a shriek, her fingers digging into Cole’s bloody shirt so hard she ripped it more.
“We have to go,” I said to her, tightening my grip.
“No! I’m not leaving him!”
