The Venetian and the Rum Runner - L.A. Witt Page 0,73

watching the dark field for shapes. Paddy arrived first, vaulting into the bed of the truck Giulia was driving. There were two more in the field, and from the shouts, the word was getting passed along to the others.

Liam was next to arrive, and he swung into the cab beside Danny, breathing hard. “There’s men coming on foot. They had guns by the looks of ‘em.” He looked back, squinting in the darkness. “Francis and Mathew had to hide behind the barn.”

“Bloody hell.” Danny squinted harder, searching the shadows for his men and trying to will them close. “Come on, lads. Come—”

Headlights came into view, illuminating the side of the barn. Liam swore. There were definitely men moving around now, moving fast and heading this way, but there was no telling who was who.

Shouts filled the night. Gunfire cracked. Danny’s heart pounded. If one of the lads went down, he wouldn’t see. Not in the darkness. Not from here.

Damn it, where were they? And where the hell had these men come from? They must have had someone keeping watch. Someone who’d escaped the crew’s notice despite them scrutinizing every place they could think to keep an eye on the farmhouse.

More shouts. More gunfire. Then light pointed their way, illuminating several shadows running toward them, and Danny realized with a start that their truck was coming across the field. The ground was soft in places, but not wet. They could get stuck. Or not.

Come on, hurry up and—

Someone jumped into the back of the other truck, and there was a shout of “Go! Go!”

Danny leaned out the window. “Have we got every—”

“We’re all here!” Francis shouted. “Drive!”

And then he was firing back at the other men as Danny and Giulia spun their tires. They squealed out onto the road and took off in separate directions. Danny didn’t like having the other two trucks out of his sight, but this was the escape plan—split up, get someplace safe, and then meet up once they were all clear. There was nothing Danny could do but drive.

The headlights didn’t emerge from the field. There were a few more gunshots behind them, one of which pinged off the side of the truck, but otherwise, their escape had worked—they made it away from the barn and the field.

Now they just needed to make sure the others had too.

Their meeting place was in Huntington, about thirty miles away from the farm. When Danny pulled up in front of the tiny church, Bernard and Tommy were already there. Everyone got out of their trucks, and they smoked nervously as they watched the road for headlights.

“You’re sure they all made it back?” Bernard asked around his cigarette.

Danny nodded. “Mathew and Francis was the last of them, and Francis said they was all there.”

Bernard nodded too, staring at the road as he breathed out some smoke.

Danny’s heart thumped against his ribs. He was still jittery from the escape, and his hand was almost shaking too much to hold on to his own cigarette. As soon as he finished that one, he lit up another, just trying to soothe his nerves.

Christ. Where are they?

Francis paced, smoking shakily as he stared down the road. Danny didn’t have to ask—he was no doubt worried sick about the lads, but Giulia was still unaccounted for too.

After nearly an hour, as Danny was finishing his third cigarette, headlights appeared in the distance. Instantly, he and the others were still and silent. Watching. Waiting.

Please be them. Please be them. Please be—

“It’s them!” Bernard said. “That’s them!”

A second later, the truck stopped, and Mathew jumped out of the bed, alive and unscathed. Danny released his breath. Thank the Lord. There were relieved hugs and back slaps, which quickly turned into the lads peering into the truck beds to see how much they’d scored despite the interrupted heist. A fair amount, by the looks of it—there’d barely been enough room for Paddy and Francis in the bed of Danny’s truck.

A few paces away, seemingly unconcerned with the night’s score, Francis wrapped his arms around Giulia, pulled her in close, and kissed her, each obviously relieved the other was all right. They murmured a few words only they could hear, and then he kissed her again. Danny couldn’t even roll his eyes at them this time. They were probably relieved they’d both made it. Let them have their moment.

Long as you two idiots don’t get us caught.

A few days later, after Danny had collected the chits from the rest