Johnny caught up with Gino and Enzo at the club, after taking something for his throbbing headache. Work was that distracting thing always running in the background of his life. There was always some job or another that needed doing.

No sooner had they finished a bank job, than his father was urging him to break into a CEO’s home. It was difficult to deliver the man what he wanted when his father was too circumspect to specify it. They were instructed to simply bring any and all paperwork recovered from the man’s safe relating to a company by the name of Markwell. Johnny and the guys decided to get their Don a nice expensive trophy item from the man’s house as a bonus.

As they prepped for the home invasion, Gino complained. “I don’t like it, boss. It doesn’t make sense that he would leave his house unguarded with anything at all of value in it.”

“You’re thinkin’ that because you’re intelligent and suspicious. The old fart’s probably congratulating himself on keeping the good stuff squirreled away at this personal estate, thinking no one will ever know what he’s been up to.”

They’d teamed up with Charlie, a friend from a local MC who provided the safe cracker. Charlie chimed in his opinion. “Your man’s right. Shit’s too easy. I say we keep our faces covered, tighten our Kevlar and keep the gloves on. We stay together and put the security on a feedback loop just like we did at the bank.”

Johnny pulled up his balaclava to set them all straight. “Shit ain’t goin’ bad. Stop bein’ pussies. His security team is tight but they’re mainly focusing on him and his family. That means right now, they’re split between coverin’ him in Vegas and the kids he left with relatives. Ain’t nobody much gonna be in there. If we find anyone, we drop them.”

“Better if we don’t kill anyone. Robberies of rich people are a low priority for the police. Murders not so much.”

Johnny murmured, “Fine. Let’s just get this done.”

Staying in tight formation, the six men entered through the side window and moved through the house. It was more of a sprawling mansion, each room as big as their loft apartment. Each room was dimly lit in a soft glow blue lighting. They’d already researched and were aware it was a fancy new security feature, designed to keep the occupants from ever entering a truly dark room. The security firm’s website said it cut down on accidental injuries by fifteen percent. It also made breaking in a breeze.

They made their way to his office and Charlie began working on cracking the safe. It took a full twenty-seven minutes to crack the newer technology. Every second felt like an hour to Johnny.

As soon as he stepped back Lorenzo approached and began pulling out the contents. He pulled out a small briefcase as well. Johnny tore the latches off. It was crammed with hundred dollar bills. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about.”

The biker glanced at Johnny. “I’m with you, scary dude. Cold hard cash makes every job worth the risk.”

Lorenzo continued pulling papers out of the safe then twenty bars of platinum. “Here you go, Charlie. A bar for every one of your ten patched members at your MC.”

“They’ll be fuckin’ thrilled.”

Lorenzo pulled out a stack of paperwork and turned to sit down at the desk. Charlie moved behind him and emptied the rest of the safe as Lorenzo flipped through the documents. Another team member busied himself with tearing off the back of the desktop computer and removing the hard drive. He zipped it into the front pocket of the knapsack and began looking around the room for other valuables.

Johnny stated wryly. “I just found another envelope of gemstones. I feel like we’re pulling the bank job all over again. This is boring shit, really.”

Gino retorted, “You’re the only person I know who complains about finding himself in possession of valuable gemstone. If you can't be bothered, I’ll take your share.”

“I’m not complaining. Just commenting on how rich guys are all the same.” Johnny commented dryly.

“Well, he’s decorating his end table with antique Chinese statues. I googled them. They aren’t exactly priceless but they’re worth about eighty grand together. Be the perfect trophy for your pops, Johnny.”

“Fuckin, forget that. I’d probably break them before we got them to him. I need something a little more durable.”

“Can’t tell for sure but the dagger on display over there looks expensive.”

Johnny approached the wall, eyes gleaming. “This is the perfect trophy for my pops. He won’t care if it’s expensive or not. The fact that it was displayed so prominently, means the old crusty dude really valued it. That’ll be enough for my old man.” Carefully he lifted it from its cradle and slid it into his duffle bag. As an afterthought, he took the wooden plaque it hung from as well and tucked it under his arm.

Johnny held out his hand and Lorenzo gave him the stack of files with Markwell on top. “Your old man will be thrilled. There’s more blackmail shit in the stack.”

Johnny rolled his eyes. “Might save that for his birthday.”

Gino responded dryly. “You’re checking him off every gift list for the year, aren’t you?”

“Roger that. Let’s look around. I want to know more about this fucker. We might find other valuables as well.”

They moved carefully through the house until they heard a noise coming from downstairs. They carefully edged down to the basement. They nailed two of his security guards before they could draw.

Johnny pocketed their weapons as Gino checked for vitals.

“There’re still breathing. You gotta know they’re protectin’ something down here.”

Johnny stepped over them, with a look of determination. “They better not have bitches or kids down here. That’s all I gotta say.”

Gino grumbled. “Why do you always jump to the worse possible scenario? That’s my job.”

Johnny shot his friend an amused glance as he kicked in a door. It was filled with junk, looked like props from a movie set. He growled, “I’m not getting’ a good feeling about this shit.”

They kept kicking in doors until they came to metal door at the end that wouldn’t budge. Johnny pressed his ear to the door for a brief moment before pulling back to examine it. “Enzo, you got that fuckin’ key from his office safe? I got a feelin’ that’s his spare.”

Lorenzo fished it out of his pocket and tossed it to Johnny. It slid into the lock effortlessly and clicked with a flick of his wrist. What they saw inside stunned them all into silence.

Johnny stalked up to the bars and yanked on them. They didn’t budge. Half a dozen terrified women huddled against the back wall.

“Where’s the fuckin’ key? We’re getting you out.”

One of the women stepped forward. “You speak English?”

Johnny pulled up his face cover and eyed her suspiciously. “Yea, we speak English. What language do the fuckers who keep you caged speak?”

“We aren’t sure but it sounds like Russian.”

“Let me guess, you got picked up off the streets? Kidnapped?”

She nodded her head as she looked them over. “You’re not with the Russians and you’re not police. Who are you?”

“Criminals. We broke in, robbed the safe in his office and thought we’d have a little look around. Shot the guards before they talked. Thought they were American.”

She shook her head. “They’re Russian or something. You might have missed the safe down here. It’s behind that painting of kids flying kites.”

Johnny glanced at the biker, who stalked over, jerked down the painting and began cracking the safe.

The woman cleared her throat nervously. “Are you guys going to kill us?”

“Fuck no. We don’t kill people.”

She tilted her head in disbelief.

“Correction. We don’t kill innocent bitches. Just the monsters who take them.”

“I’d like to kill a few of them myself.” The other women slowly moved forward.

He stepped backwards and pulled out his cell phone, dialling Sarah’s number.

“Hello, Sweet Cheeks, we got ourselves a problem.”

“You don’t say? Where in the hell have you been, Johnny? I’ve been looking all over for you and your goons have been giving me the runaround -”

He cut her off.

“Now ain’t the time. Guess what I found?”

“Tequila shots and a Mexican whore?”

“Cute. No, I found six women chained up in some guy’s basement. Looks like he’s been using them to make porno or some shit. It’s a real elaborate set up.”

“Want me to call in a team?”

“Ain’t got to the best part yet. Seems their guards are Russian. Still breathing the last time we checked, but their chances of makin’ it ain’t all that good, if you know what I mean.

“In other words they’re riddled with bullets?”

Ignoring her question he continued. “The women say they were snatched off the streets by Russians, just like your sister. Before you even ask, she ain’t here. I already checked. Want me to cut them loose or do you need to send a team in?”

“Team, I definitely need to send a team in.”

“Look, I’m cutting the other guys lose. Tell your G-men not to shoot me on sight, okay?”

“Fuck that, I want you as far from that house as possible.”

“They already know you’re working with me. Remember, you’re the FBI agent and I’m your little informant?”

“Not taking any chances. Get the hell out of there, Johnny.”

“It’s cute that you’re getting all protective and shit, but I ain’t leavin’ a bunch of defenseless bitches chained in a basement for even one minute.”

One of the prisoners was listening intently to his conversation, and she spoke up.

“She’s with the FBI? Tell her to get her ass here. We’ll be fine. I want the bastard who owns this place hunted down and on the six o’clock news.”

One of the other women yelled out. “Tell her to hurry!”

After going through the safe, Lorenzo announced.. “He’s got German bonds, Russian cash and a shitload of little gold coins. Fuck, must be hundreds of them. There’s also a fuckin’ ton of incriminating information on his dealings with the Russians.”

Johnny murmured. “Take the gold. Leave everything else.”

Turning his attention back to the women he stated. “If you don’t have resources or families to get you settled, stop by Strikers Delight. It’s a bar on the east side. We own it and we’ll make sure you get a share of the gold, to get you started again. Got that? Strikers Delight?”

The women nodded and they could hear sirens in the distance.

Gino grabbed him by the shoulder. “Look man, we gotta jet. They’ll be here inside of ten minutes.”

“Let’s put some distance between ourselves and the cops. Don’t worry, we’ll watch and make sure you get out safely.”

The woman stepped forward. “Thanks.”

Johnny gave her a swift jerk of his chin and headed for the door.

They looked for twenty minutes before finding a vantage point that allowed them to monitor the situation. Ambulances took the downed security guards. Agents climbed into the back of the ambulances, clearly unwilling to give them a moment to escape.

After a couple of hours the women were brought out one by one and ushered into dark colored SUV’s with Sarah hovering around them. Once the women were away, Johnny and co headed for their vehicles.

Back in the safety of the conference room, each man carefully unloaded his bags.

They divided up the take and figured out how much to set aside for the women who’d been abducted. They’d clearly been through hell and loot was just freakin’ free money, so giving up a share for the unfortunate women to get back their feet didn’t feel like much of a hardship. Designating the biker as the front person to deal with the women suited him just fine.

If Johnny were being honest, it was more a sacrifice for the other men at the table than for himself. Johnny was fifth generation mafia. Mafia bosses like to leave their relatives money when they die. And let’s face it, they had a prodigious death rate. He’d inherited money from aunts, uncles and grandparents to the point that he could officially retire if he wanted. Being active was a matter family pride not an issue of earning income for him.