The Venetian and the Rum Runner - L.A. Witt Page 0,169

Rowan. I know you didn’t want me involved with—”

“You’re alive.” Rowan slung his free arm around Danny, pulled him in close, and kissed the top of his head. “You’re a damn fool who should’ve done as you was told, but…you’re alive.”

Squeezing his stinging eyes shut, Danny hugged Rowan, careful not to crush his nephew in the process. He desperately needed to make a plan to save Carmine and James, but for the sake of his sanity, he let himself indulge in this brief moment of being embraced by his brother again.

As he drew back, he pulled himself together. “I need you to stay here. All of you.” He glanced at the rest of the family. “It’s the only place I can be sure you’re safe right now.”

“Safe?” Eliza asked. “Danny, what’s going on?”

“It’s a very long story,” Danny said. “And I’m…” He glanced at Giulia and the crew, who watched from the parlor doorway. To his family, he said, “We have to help someone who’s in trouble.”

“I thought you were the one in trouble,” Rowan said.

Danny laughed dryly. “There’s trouble enough for the lot of us.” Sobering, he said, “There’s a bedroom upstairs where I’ve been sleeping. You can—”

“You’ve been sleeping here?” Rowan asked. “In a gangster’s house?”

“I…”

“Go, Danny.” Carmine’s mother emerged from the dining room and shooed him toward the parlor. “I will see to your family. You see to mine.” There was a hint of desperation in her eyes that cut Danny to the bone.

Stop wasting time and go save my son.

Nodding, Danny whispered, “I will. Thank you.” To his brother, he said, “I’ll be back soon. And I’ll explain everything later.”

With that, he went back into the parlor as Carmine’s mother herded the family up the stairs.

He sank onto the couch, dizzy with relief and renewed worry. The world had truly gone mad when his family was safest in the home of a gangster.

Collecting himself, he looked around the room. His whole crew was here now. Some stood. Some sat, but leaned forward. All eyes were on Danny, and every face made it clear they were all ready for whatever it took to bring Carmine and James home. According to Giulia, Carmine’s men were on their way, as ready and willing as the lads.

Plenty of people had his back. Plenty of people were out for Salvatore’s blood.

The problem was what to do. And where to do it.

The answer to at least part of that question came from an unexpected place when someone pounded on the front door, startling everyone out of their skin.

“What now?” Giulia muttered. She hurried to the door, and the lads hung back in the foyer, watching as she opened it.

A pair of Italian men in suits stood on the stoop, and one said flatly, “We’re looking for a Daniel Moore. We was told he might be here.”

Danny’s heart sped up. He stepped closer and slipped between Giulia and the men. “I know a Daniel Moore. What is it you want?”

“You know him?” The man eyed Danny’s bloodstained clothes. “Where is he?”

Danny shrugged. “We ain’t seen him.”

Both men scowled. One huffed impatiently and glared at Danny. “Well, Salvatore il Sacchi’s got a message for him. Tell Daniel he’s got until midnight tonight to hand himself over, or the priest and the Venetian are both dead.” He held out a card. “This is the place.”

Danny took what the card, which had an address written on it. Something out in Industry City, he thought.

Meeting the man’s gaze, Danny nodded. “I’ll give him the message.”

The men left, and everyone watched Danny, silent and waiting.

Now they knew where Carmine and James were. Or at least, where to find Salvatore. He suspected Carmine and James were there, because Salvatore no doubt intended to torture Danny by making them suffer in front of him.

The thought made him shudder, but it also gave him an idea.

He moistened his lips and turned to his waiting crew. “All right. I think I know what to do.”

Chapter 40

Carmine had no idea where he was. He’d been in a vehicle for a while, and the blindfold had been tight over his face for…for a long time. Then he’d been hauled out of the vehicle, marched across uneven concrete and into a building, where he was forced into a chair and roughly bound.

The blindfold was yanked off, and he had to squint and blink a few times before his eyes adjusted.

Daylight poured in through windows of what was clearly a warehouse. Ahead of him were several