BANG!
The man went limp, crumpled to the floor. Gabriel raised his weapon, squeezed the trigger.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
He grabbed the dead man by his jacket, dragged him down the hallway to the elevator bank.
“One down,” Gabriel murmured to Carmelo through the comm.
“We got three,” Carmelo replied. “The fourth is hiding.”
“Send your team up for the body. It’s outside the elevator.”
“Yes, Boss.”
“I’ll kill the video cameras inside and out,” Gabriel said. “Who’s going after the fourth?”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
“Diego just got him,” Carmelo said. “He was hiding in the women’s restroom.”
“Wrap them,” Gabriel instructed. “Move them to the conference room.”
Gabriel returned to his office, shoved aside the Bratva’s laptop, and logged into his computer. Within seconds, he killed the surveillance system, then deleted the footage from that evening.
Once finished, he strode toward the lobby to check in with his team. On the way, he found a group of workers huddled together, terrified. Though still dark, he had to let them know he was there and that his team was taking back the business.
“Silenzio. Ascoltatemi. Sono io, Gabriel Santini.”Silence. Listen to me. It’s me, Gabriel Santini.
The screams turned to whimpers, then a woman said, “Come puoi dimostrarlo?”How can you prove that?
“Hello, Vittorio and Anna,” Gabriel said. “Emma, welcome back from maternity leave. Good to see you, Lorenzo and Tomasso. I’m taking back what’s ours, but I need you to be brave, stay where you are, and not make a sound. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes, of course,” Vittorio said. “We are happy you are home. The second shift is coming.”
“I know,” Gabriel said. “It will all be over soon.”
Blessed silence filled the space. Gabriel found his first team, led by Carmelo. They’d positioned themselves inside the main entrance. Though their triumphant first stage of the ambushshouldhave calmed him, it hadn’t. Revenge pulsed through him with every beat of his heart. He breathed deep, his confidence filling him with complete determination. He’d built his businesses from the dirt beneath them and, while one day his body would be returned to the dirt, today was not that day.
A car door slammed shut, then another.
“Two from the second shift are here,” Gabriel said into the earpiece. “Carmelo, you ready?”
“All set, Boss.”
Gabriel raised his long rifle. Though he should have felt remorse, he did not.
The front door opened. Two men entered.
“Why lights out?” asked the Russian.
RATATATATATATATATATATAT!!!
Both men dropped.
“Go,” Gabriel said.
Four of his men moved into action. The bodies were wrapped in black waterproof sheets. While they were being moved into the nearby conference room, gunfire erupted outside.