to beg, but I would do anything it took to find Lucien and free him.
“You’re right that I don’t want you to go, but if there’s even the slightest chance he’s telling the truth, we need that key. Tell me where to meet him.”
I shook my head. “I’m coming with you. Jimmy’s not going to trust you, and if this is real, I’m the only one he’ll talk to.”
Angelo growled. “He sure as fuck will talk to me, and he’ll give me anything he has.”
He was not going without me. “I want to help you save your brother.”
“If you get hurt and Lucien finds out it’s because I put you in danger by letting you come, my life will be the one that’s forfeit.”
“Aren’t I already in danger? Damian’s men have already come to the house, and they took Lucien. I know there are guards, and I know everyone’s trying to keep me safe, but I can’t stand this. I have to do something.”
Angelo stared at me for a few more seconds, then nodded. “Fine. But I’m driving.”
I didn’t have any problem with that. I told him where Jimmy had told me to meet him. He called Devil on the way but told him to stay put, and we’d check in soon. When we arrived, Angelo refused to make any pretense about me being there alone. He drove around the block, then checked the perimeter of the building before allowing me to get out of the car. He went in first, gun in hand, making sure we weren’t about to be ambushed every step of the way.
When he kicked open the door of the back room, Jimmy flinched and nearly fell from the chair where it looked as if he’d been sleeping. He looked even worse than I’d expected. He had a black eye and other bruising on his face. He was cradling one of his arms like it might be broken, and his breath was as wheezy as it had been on the phone. He truly was in bad shape. “You need a doctor, Jimmy.”
He shook his head. “If I go to the hospital, they’ll find me and finish me off.”
Angelo didn’t seem to have the same concerns I did. “Tell us what you know right fucking now, or I’m going to finish you off.”
“I told you to come alone, Peter.”
“I was going to, but Angelo caught me. Now tell us where Lucien is.”
Jimmy took a long, rattly breath. For a moment, I thought he might pass out before he gave us the information we needed, but in a barely audible voice, he said. “He’s in Damian’s basement. He’s got fucking cells down there. He’s a sick son of a bitch. I think he kept his wife in one for a while.”
Angelo stared at him, looking as though he didn’t believe him. “You’re saying he keeps prisoners at his house in town? Where his family lives?”
One thing I’d learned was that for most people in Lucien’s world, their family home was sacred ground. That’s where they kept those they loved under guard, and they didn’t bring their business there.
“Not in town. His… big estate.”
Angelo glanced at me. “It’s not too far from our Weston house.”
Jimmy winced as he stuffed his hand into his pocket. Angelo raised his gun, but all Jimmy pulled out was a small key. He held it out to us, and I snatched it before Angelo had the chance.
“What does it open?” Angelo demanded.
“The cell where they’re keeping Lucien. I stole it from the man who did this to me. He had it in his pocket.”
“Tell me everything else you know about who’s guarding my brother, and what their plans are.”
Jimmy’s eyes fluttered closed, and Angelo shook him. “Wake up. Goddammit.” He didn’t move.
“Is he…”
Angelo pressed his fingers to the side of Jimmy’s neck. “He’s still got a pulse for now.” He rose and turned toward the door. “Come on. Let’s go.”
“We’re just going to leave him?”
“He betrayed our family, and he played some part in the attack on DiGiulio’s. So yeah.”
“But he was telling the truth tonight, and he is my cousin.”
Angelo sighed and pulled out his phone as he hustled me toward the car. I heard him tell Ralph to come pick up Jimmy, take him to the ER, and make sure nobody offed him before he had a chance to recover.
“Thank you.”
“If his information is real, and we find Lucien, then he deserves that much from us.”
“And if it’s not?”
“Then he won’t need