“Tell me what you think. I’ve used English mustard instead of the French kind.”
I took a small bite. My mouth watered as I chewed. It tasted like the best thing I had ever had, but obviously, given the circumstances—anything would’ve tasted amazing.
“My mother used to make the best sandwiches in the world,” Aldo said, holding it out for me again.
I took a second bite, I couldn’t help myself. Despite knowing there was a good chance it was going to kill me.
“It’s a shame your mother had to die. Well, she didn’t have to die,” he continued.
“Then why did you kill her?”
“Because she was there, and I didn’t see the point of keeping her alive. I knew what I’d do with you—you were of some use to me. Keeping her alive would’ve meant spending time and resources on keeping her as a prisoner. As you can see, I’m not running my usual operations at the moment.”
When he brought the sandwich to me again, I turned my head. Two bites of it was all I needed. I could survive another twenty-four hours on those two bites if I had to.
Aldo shrugged and proceeded to wolf down the rest of the sandwich.
So he hadn’t poisoned it after all…
“But don’t blame me, darling. This is all your daddy’s fault. If he paid up in time, kept up his end of the bargain, none of this would’ve happened.”
I needed him to step just a little closer and I’d spit on him too. He had it coming. It was my only line of defense. But before I’d done anything, I heard a gunshot.
It sounded like it came from somewhere outside the building.
I snapped my head around to look at Aldo because I was sure he had heard it too.
And he did.
He suddenly looked very afraid.
Twenty-Six
Tristian
Once I spoke to Davey, I had a general idea of where Aldo and his men were possibly hiding. It wasn’t a location I was very familiar with, but I was able to narrow it down.
Colin and Aidan got on the phones to round up men who could accompany us on a shootout. Killian went over to the family home to discuss it with our father. We’d need his approval before leading a full-scale shootout like the one I had in mind.
But if we were able to corner Aldo and eliminate him—then we’d kill two birds with one stone. My first priority would be to take Elsie out alive.
It was the early hours of the morning and Brendan’s loft was abuzz with activity. Everyone was on the phone, trying to make arrangements and prepare for a big mission. It may be a major game changer for us. We hadn’t been this close to finding Aldo ever since the war began. So we had a lot on stake.
It was only once I’d made all the calls I needed to make, that I noticed Davey.
He sat on the couch, clutching the teddy bear to his chest. His mother was talking to his father, they were having a heated discussion and it seemed like they’d forgotten about Davey for a few minutes.
I went over and sat down beside him.
Even though Elsie hadn’t spoken about him much—I knew Davey had meant something to her. I knew she wanted him to be safe. I’d seen the look of relief and joy on her face when we found them hiding in the barn that night. She wasn’t just relieved for herself. She was happy Davey was reunited with his parents.
When I sat down beside Davey, he turned to me with droopy eyes.
“You tired, kid? You want to go back to sleep?”
He blinked his eyes rapidly and shook his head.
“No. I want to stay awake. Where is Elsie?”
“I’m going to go find her,” I replied.
“Where did she go?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I’m going to look for her.”
“I like Elsie,” Davey continued.
“I like her too.”
“She’s very nice.”
“Yes she is. She’s very nice,” I said with a smile.
“I’ll give her Teddy if she wants him,” he added.
“I’m sure she’d want you to keep him. You guys look like you’re best friends,” I said.
“Who is Elsie’s best friend?” Davey asked.
It was a sudden reminder that I didn’t know much about Elsie. I hadn’t asked her the right questions. I hadn’t taken the opportunity to get to know her, and I regretted it now. I regretted all of it.
“I’ll ask her when I see her,” I replied.
We were ready to go when I got a call on my phone.
It was from a blocked number and I knew immediately it had to be Aldo. There was a flicker of hope in me that it was Elsie. That she had somehow managed to find my number and call me in secret.
But it was a slithery man’s voice on the other end of the line.
“I’m guessing you’ve been expecting this call by now,” he said.
“And you’re not calling me to tell me where to find her,” I growled into the phone.
Aldo laughed, and I heard him sucking in cigar smoke. I pictured him standing in front of Elsie while he smoked and spoke to me. If she was there in the room with him, she wasn’t speaking because I hadn’t heard her voice.
“No, of course not. I have no intention of giving her back to you. I have some important tasks for her that she’s been assisting me with, and when she’s done with them, I plan on getting rid of her.”
My grip tightened on the phone. In a fit of fury, I was close to flinging the phone to the ground. I didn’t want to hear his voice, but I also knew it’d be in my benefit to keep him on the line.
“I’m not going to try and convince you to change your mind. I’ll
