The wind picked up causing a chill to reverberate through the air as the cool air bit through my jacket.
“Crazy,” Nixon said suddenly from behind me.
I didn’t turn around. “What is?”
Chase answered from my left as Nixon stood to my right. “It doesn’t even seem real that we were kids.”
I shook my head. “Childhood? Did we even get one?”
“No.” A fourth voice answered. Tex. “Pretty sure we skipped that part.”
“I would have loved to have had a fort.” Chase stuffed his hands in his pockets.
“At least a treehouse.” Nixon added.
“Or a bad ass lawnmower to ride.” Tex chuckled.
We fell silent, nothing but the wind whistling through the trees and the tension dripping off every one of us.
“How deep does blood go?” Tex asked breaking the silence.
“To the death.” I croaked. “Until the last breath leaves my body.”
Chase lifted his palm to the inscriptions on the tree and pressed his hand firmly against it. “Sangue in assenza.” Blood in no out.
Nixon placed his hand over Chase’s. “Con la morte a trovare la tu libertà, ma è la vita dove si è veramente liberi.”
I closed my eyes as the truth of his statement poured over me. “In death you find your freedom, but it is life where you are truly free.” My shaking hand went over Nixon’s. I didn’t expect Tex to join us, after all, he had to stay numb to the emotions if he was going to follow through.
I was shocked when his hand pushed across mine, he whispered gruffly, “Se il mio sangue, non sia vana.” He repeated it in English. “If my blood spills, let it not be in vain.”
“Amen.” Nixon whispered.
“Amen.” We joined removing our hands.
The back door slammed, jolting us out of our moment, possibly the last moment the four of us would have together alive.
“We should go.” Sergio called from the back porch. “Now.”
Tex walked away first, then Chase, and finally Nixon.
I watched as my three best friends held their heads high, no fear visible on their faces, and I had to wonder. Was I leading them to their deaths? Or had I done enough to save them? By telling Tex, had I saved more lives, or just added to the body count?
I made a quick cross with my hands and kissed my knuckles. “May God be with us.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
A corrupt heart elicits all that is bad within us…
Mo
I WAITED FOR THE GUYS to leave before taking off after them. Tex had already given me instructions on where to go. I was about to start the car when I heard a knocking on the window.
Trace stood, arms crossed, glaring.
I hit the down button. “What’s up?”
“You’re going to The Commission aren’t you?”
“No.”
“Yes you are.”
“No I’m not.”
“You’re a crap liar.” Trace opened the door and pulled out her gun, making sure the chamber was loaded.
I groaned.
“Don’t worry, I’ll wait in the car but I’m not letting my best friend go there without backup.”
“And what?” I laughed. “You don’t even know what’s going on, Trace. It’s best that way.”
“Mil’s there.” Trace swallowed. “You’re going and Nixon may die. I’m going to be there, in the car, but I’ll be there. If I hear gunshots I won’t run in the line of fire, Nixon’s already threatened me, but if I’m the only one not injured I can at least drive everyone straight to Stephens’s hospital and make sure nobody dies.”
I closed my eyes and nodded. “Fine.”
“You’re going to help him aren’t you?” She stuffed the gun back in her purse and cocked her head towards me. “Tex, I mean.”
I shifted uncomfortably and turned on the car. “Maybe… if I can.”
“You’re going to just waltz right in there?”
“I’m Nixon’s twin.” I grinned. “I have just as much right to be there as he does. After all, I’m a Mafia princess, the guys will be pissed but it’s not like they won’t have bigger issues, plus I have a great excuse.”
“What? Insanity?” Trace rolled her eyes.
“No, of course not.” I slipped Nixon’s phone out of my pocket. “He has my phone instead of his, damn iPhones, can’t tell which is which.”
“Scary brilliant.” She nodded approvingly, her lips pressed together. “Try not to die, okay?”
“Say a prayer that I don’t.”
“Been saying a lot of those recently.”
“I believe it.” I pulled out of the driveway and made my way down to the warehouse. The thing about The Commission… there were going to be too many people in one place to actually meet at a hotel besides the whole possible gunfire thing was kind of an issue. So we were meeting at one the Abandonato family dealerships. The warehouse behind the dealership was normally used for packing and merchandising but it worked and it was extremely clean, plus it helped that when it was built the windows were double enforced along with the fact that there were video cameras everywhere.
We controlled the environment, but we sure as hell didn’t control the outcome. My hands were sweating by the time we made it to the property. It was only twenty minutes from the house, but I felt each one of those minutes as the time slowly ticked by.