I picked up the coffee, climbed the stairs up to the roof deck, and looked out over the city for a while, thinking about how to sound scared.
24
Steven
The moon shone bright on the hood of my car as I stared out the windshield. It was a clear night, and I could just make out a few stars through the city’s light pollution.
I looked forward, at the grass and weeds growing in the cracks in the asphalt, at the faded white lines over the blacktop, at the patch of grass and the curb with its tiny withered tree in the very center of the lot. The building it was attached to used to be a bank, but now it was rundown and empty, the big metal and glass front door covered over in plywood with the word SUPAMAN spray painted in red across it.
“Think they’ll show?” Luca asked from the passenger seat.
“I think they will,” I said, leaning my head back. My eyes moved down to the clock. Just past midnight, almost time.
“You put a lot of trust in that girl,” Luca said, staring out the window. “Don’t get pissed off at me when I say this, but shit, Steven. Are you sure?”
I glanced at him and let out a breath. I couldn’t blame him for being worried.
“I know it seems like a lot,” I said. “But she wants this more than I do. Her father’s life is on the line, you know?”
“I get it.” He grunted and shook his head. “I’d do anything for my old man, even though he left my mom when I was just a baby, that loser fucker.”
I laughed. “Isn’t your dad in prison?”
“Yeah. Robbed a liquor store and killed a guy when shit went bad.” Luca shook his head. “I got my brains and my steady hand from my mother.”
“But you got your recklessness from your father. And your big mouth.”
Luca laughed and stretched his legs. A Glock sat in his lap, matte black and silent.
I turned my eyes back out to the parking lot.
There was nothing else around. A streetlight cast its dull yellow haze onto an empty and cracked sidewalk. The street was abandoned, and only a few cars were parked along the curb. We were in a bad neighborhood, the place good people didn’t go to, which made it the perfect cover for this sort of shit.
By the time someone called the cops, we’d be long gone.
Not like it mattered. Half the police force in Philly was on the Leone Family take. They’d turn the other way as soon as they realized I was a Capo, and if they didn’t, the Family consigliere would get me out.
Perks of being in the biggest family in the city.
Luca leaned back with a groan. He ran his fingers down the window then tapped the glass.
“I hate waiting,” he said.
“Not much longer.”
We lapsed into silence. I stared at the clock, watched the hands slip past. If Colleen did her job right, and she said she pulled it off, then they’d show up soon. As far as the Club was concerned, I was buying heroin wholesale from a supplier tonight. If they showed, they’d get to kill me, steal the money, and steal the drugs all in one fell swoop.
It would be mighty fucking tempting. If I were Mathis, I’d consider it.
But I’d also be wary. Even though he had Colleen’s father as a prisoner, she still told him in no uncertain terms that she was done with him.
Still, I waited. All I needed was for them to show up. Didn’t have to be the whole crew, didn’t have to be Mathis himself. Just a chunk of them would be good.
“Time,” Luca said, nodding at the clock. “Nobody’s here.”
“Just wait,” I said. “They run on mob time.”
Luca laughed, nervous and high pitched. He picked up the Glock and fiddled with it. “I hate being bait,” he said.
“You’re with me,” I said. “Don’t worry.”
He gave me a look. “That doesn’t make me feel better at all, boss.”
I laughed and leaned back in my seat.
Several minutes later, lights bloomed at the end of the block. Several cars rolled down it, moving slow. Their headlights illuminated the empty houses, the busted-out windows, the broken fire hydrant, the graffiti.
I felt naked, exposed, just like I was supposed to.
The cars came to a stop behind us. I looked in the rearview as Luca slid down further in his seat.
“How many?” he asked.
“Three trucks,” I said. “I can’t see how many guys.”
“Fuck,” he said. “Oh fuck. They’re just gonna light us up.”
“Wait,” I said, my jaw clenched.
If they just started shooting, we might be fucked. But I was betting that the Club was desperate to make sure they had me and didn’t want to risk me getting away. Just as I was almost ready to throw the car into reverse and get the fuck way from there, a door opened and a guy stepped from one of the trucks.
Followed by three more guys. Then four more.
Until nine men were walking slowly toward my car. Their trucks were left behind, empty and idling, the doors wide open.
They all carried guns. Some handguns, some rifles. One guy had a shotgun, leaning up against his shoulder like he was out for a hunt.
They stopped a few feet away.
“Steven Bianco,” one of the guys called out. “Steven Bianco, are you in that car, lad?” He had a light Irish accent.
I gave Luca a look. “Listen to that mother fucker,” I said.
Luca snorted. “I bet it’s fake.”
“Steven Bianco,” the man called out again. “I know you’re in there, lad. Just open up an’ come on out.”
I rolled down the window. “Who’s calling for me?” I said as loud as I could.
“Connor O’Malley, and this isn’t a negotiation,” he said. “Come out, hands up, don’t
