Ryder took notes and thought until his brain hurt. His body still ached so badly, even after he’d gotten a few hours of sleep. He’d come no closer to figuring out what the deal was with Matteo. Why he could possibly be marrying his daughter off like this. But he did have a plan to get answers.
He popped a handful of painkillers into his mouth. As soon as they started working, he’d be able to move without too much pain. Right now, just walking was a problem. He’d forced himself to sleep and eat, knowing that his body needed that to heal.
Now, darkness had fallen and it was time to put his plan into action. He was going to Solano’s headquarters and would kill whoever he had to in order to get some answers. He had no time and was in no mood to mess around. Someone was going to start talking and now. He had far too much on the line.
Every thought of Pia and the baby sent another wave of panic and pain through him. Were they okay? He wanted so badly to be able to call her, to hear her voice and make sure she was okay. And that the baby was okay. Soon enough. He kept telling himself that. Soon enough, he would take care of all of this and they would be together and everything would be fine. But right now, he had work to do.
He dressed in all black, the pain pills starting to kick in and allow him to move without too much agony or restriction. Then he got in his car and drove to where Solano’s headquarters were. It didn’t take longer than a half hour, but every minute away from Pia was starting to feel like too long.
As he sat across the street from the house, he patted himself on the back. Ryder had always been one to pay attention to the locations of people and know who was who and what was what. Years ago, when the name Paolo Solano first appeared on the scene, Matteo had mentioned where Solano headquarters were. At the time, he didn’t think much of it, but since this was another mob family, he’d made note of it. He’d never had reason to use the information until now. And no one would guess that he knew where Solano’s crew was holed up. They wouldn’t expect him.
The house appeared to be dark, but Ryder knew better than to assume no one was home or awake. They probably had people all over the place at all times of the day. Matteo had people outside twenty-four seven. Someone was in there. It was just a matter of finding them and making them talk.
He sat in the shadows, watching, for a long time. When he didn’t see any movement, he got out and approached the house. He crept along, staying hidden in case someone was outside keeping watch or was looking out from inside the house. When he got close enough to the house, he stalked around the perimeter, checking each of the windows that he could see in.
On a lower floor, he was able to see one man sitting at a table. He watched for a long while, and after a few minutes, another man came into the room. Ryder circled the house again, getting an idea of the lower floor layout. He also needed to find the best way in. After looking at each of the doors and windows, the back door looked like the easiest to break open.
He walked slowly up to the back door and looked through the small window for several minutes. It seemed to lead into some sort of living room where no one was at the time. He turned the knob slowly, but it didn’t budge. Of course it was locked. Would be stupid to not have it locked.
As he continued to watch through the window, one of the men got up and came right toward him. Crap. Had he made noise? He didn’t think so. He flattened himself against the wall beside the door and held his gun up, ready.
The guy unlocked the door and stepped outside. He didn’t even bother to look around before he bent his head to light his cigarette. What an amateur. His cigarette lit as he closed the door behind him.
Then Ryder’s gun came down hard on the guy’s head. He started to drop, but Ryder caught him with one arm before he could make a loud thud on the wooden porch.
The cigarette fell and Ryder stepped on it to crush it. He dragged the guy, one arm under his armpit, one hand over his mouth in case he came to, into the woods. When they’d gone far enough—beyond shouting distance from headquarters—he let the guy fall to the ground.
Ryder went through every pocket. He found a gun, a knife, his wallet. He took it all. The ID in the wallet said Rich. He waited a minute or two, then got bored and kicked Rich in the ribs. He didn’t wake on the first blow, but by the third, he grunted and curled into a ball on his side.
Rich mumbled something unintelligible and Ryder pressed his gun to his forehead.
“Sit up,” Ryder said.
Rich blinked a few times, then seemed to finally realize what was going on. He pushed himself up to a seated position and reached back behind him, probably going for a gun.
But Ryder was no amateur. He spun Rich’s gun on his finger. Rich saw it and glared.
“Rich,” Ryder said, then tossed aside the wallet. “You should carry more cash.” He stuck the seventy dollars into his pocket and pressed harder with the gun. “Do you know who I am?”
“No.” Rich made a disgusted face at him. “But you’re dead when I find out.”
“Then I guess I have to kill you first. Easy enough. I just need some information from you before I shoot you.”
Rich spit at him. “Screw you. I’m not telling you anything.”
Ryder wiped the spit from his face with one hand, then reached to his back and pulled out the knife. He swooped down and stabbed the knife into the meat at Rich’s calf. Rich screamed and grabbed at his leg. He reached for the knife. Ryder yanked the blade back out and held it at his side, ready to use it again if he had to. Rich whimpered and held his leg as blood poured from the wound.
“Make no mistake,” Ryder said. “I am not here to play games or fuck around. You will give me the information I need.”
“Okay, okay.” Rich held up his bloodied hands. “What do you want?”
“Solano. What does he want with Pia Carelli and why is he marrying her?”
Rich pressed on his leg, trying to stop the bleeding, but the blood still poured out between his fingers. “No idea what you’re talking about. You’re nuts, man.”
Ryder kicked Rich’s injured leg. He screamed in pain.
“I said I don’t know!” He swore under his breath.
“You’ve never heard the name Pia Carelli?”
“Nope.”
“How about Matteo Carelli?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
Ryder raised his hand again, positioning the knife. “You want to try a different answer?”
“I said I don’t know. That’s the truth.”
Ryder brought his hand down again. This time the knife stabbed in between the thin bones in Rich’s hand, the point going straight through into his calf once more.
Rich let out a scream so loud, Ryder worried it might alert someone back at headquarters, or if anyone happened to be closer than he knew.
“Okay!” Rich held his wounded hand close to his chest, pressing it against his body, and pressed his uninjured hand to his calf. “Pia, yeah. I heard of her.”
“Thought so. And?”
“Paolo’s marrying her.”
“Why?”
Rich was talking fast now, the pain likely overwhelming him. “He wants to jump her bones. I don’t know.”
Ryder cracked him across the face with the butt of his gun. “There’s more to it than that.”
Rich swore again. “Not really. Paolo’s wanted her for a long time, but she wasn’t interested, and Matteo wouldn’t sell her. Who knows why. Got a thing for her.”
“How did he convince Matteo to play along?”
“Paolo made a deal go bad so Matteo owed him a lot of money. Then he sent some guy to kidnap Pia. Was going to use her as bait, but the job got botched. So, he made a deal. Matteo got his debt erased, and Pia would be safe, so long as he made her marry him.”
“Solano trashed a deal on purpose to get her and sent the guy to attack her?” Ryder was so pissed, he was seeing red. But it wasn’t totally unexpected. Everything he knew of Solano was that he was a shady, sneaky guy. This wasn’t beneath him. But it also meant that Ryder would die keeping her away from him. He’d never let her fall into the hands of such a ruthless and violent man. Never.
“Where is Paolo now?” Ryder demanded.
“I don’t know.” Rich held up his uninjured hand. “I really don’t, I swear!”
He might have been telling the truth. Ryder didn’t care. He kicked him hard in the ribs. Rich doubled over, coughing and holding his chest.
“Please,” Rich whimpered. “I don’t know. He left yesterday. Said he was going to prepare for the wedding. Whatever that means. I don’t know where he is. I might be able to find out, though.”
“When is the wedding?”
“Soon. A few days, I think. It’s not like he sent out invites, you know.”
A few days. Of course he had to rush it so that nothing could happen. No one could interfere. Like Ryder was about to.
“Who knows where Paolo is right now?”
Rich groaned in pain and muttered, “Probably Tony. His second in command.”
“And where is this Tony?”
“Home. On Fairfield Street. He’ll be at headquarters by nine in the morning.”
Ryder nodded to himself. That was still a few hours away. Too long to wait. “What’s the house number on Fairfield?”
“It’s 9349.”
He thought through what he needed to know. Had Rich told him everything? There was nothing else Ryder could think of that he might know that would help. It was just a matter of getting to Solano now. Or to Pia. It might be easier to get to her than to get to Solano to kill him. But Matteo would be watching for him, while Solano wouldn’t be. The element of surprise would help him tremendously.
“Anything else you think I should know?” Ryder asked.
“You’re a jackass.”
Ryder pulled the trigger and shot Rich in the head. “Already knew that.”
His body slumped over. Ryder held a finger to his wrist to feel his pulse. His heart beat once, stuttered, beat once more, then stopped.
Ryder took the towel from his pocket, wiped the body down and the blade, then dropped it on top of him. He took out his lighter and set the body on fire. Then he took off running, or hobbling quickly. The broken ribs still kept him from running normally.
He ran back to his car, the pain creeping in again all over his body as he forced himself to move faster. His ribs ached with every breath. It was like sucking in fire, but he made it to his car. He pulled away, doing the speed limit as always, making it look like he was up to nothing more than a late-night drive.
He needed to hit home to clean up, get more painkillers, and research Fairfield Street. He didn’t want to drive over there cold, and at least having a map and a satellite view would give him some idea of what to expect when he went to the place.
He’d dig up this Tony guy and find out where Solano was. Then he’d hunt him down and take him out. When that was done, he could go back to Matteo’s, grab Pia, and go. He still wasn’t sure where, but at this point, it didn’t matter. He would kill Matteo first. And Lorenzo and anyone else who was around or in the way. Then they could go almost anywhere.
Ryder smiled at the thought. He pictured Pia somewhere beautiful, walking along a sandy beach, white fabrics flowing from her body. Her stomach, round and shining in the moonlight. Their baby, tiny and sleeping in his arms. Pia holding him as Ryder looked on. When he got older, the child running to Daddy with his arms wide. Or maybe a little girl with pigtails and a pink dress.
He’d never pictured these things before. Never wanted them. Now that he was so close, he couldn’t imagine not having wanted this all before. Maybe it was just Pia. Maybe he’d never wanted these things because he hadn’t met her yet. She was the one he wanted this with. Not just anyone. The sassy, tiny, mafia boss’s daughter, who’d been such a pain in his ass, who was now the love of his life, the mother of his child. And hopefully many more children to come. He hadn’t wanted a family before because he only wanted a family with her.
Until she came along, he was just a hitman. Killing for a living, trying not to be killed. Surviving until the next gig. Now, it wasn’t just about surviving. It was about living. She made him feel alive. Despite the pain radiating through his chest from his broken ribs and the pain of missing her and worrying about her, there was still warmth there. The thought of her name or face brought a grin to his lips and warmth through his whole body. How long would it be until he could hold her again, make love to her again?
The thought made him hard, which helped the pain slightly. His blood was diverted for a moment to his raging hard on. But that longing was a pain all its own. He needed her. Simple as that. Ryder, who’d never needed anyone or anything in his whole life, needed this woman. He would get to her. And he would save her.