Johnnie Giuliani cursed as he watched the news. “Joe,” he called out to his head of security. “Get the car ready. I need to talk to Pauley face to face.”
“You got it Boss.”
While he admired the fact that Pauley was fighting for the family to the end, today’s actions told him there was a divide within his own operations. He gave an order not to go after the agent or his family. His order was disobeyed. If one or two of his men had to do prison terms for the good of the organization, then so be it. What he did not need was a war with the Russians. The authorities may not know who was returning fire on his men. But he did. That meant the Russian’s men were on his turf. If Pauley’s interference continues it could cause a war over the territory. A war with the Russians would wreak havoc on the family.
Ten minutes had passed since he’d sent Joe to get the car. Johnnie peeked out the window. The car was out front. He shrugged, picked up his hat then walked out the front door. Where the hell was Joe? He wondered as he looked around. The two men who rode with him wherever he went were sitting in the car.
“What the fuck?” Johnnie started walking towards the vehicle, cursing with each step. “Are we getting lazy around here? Get out and open the fucking car door.”
Neither of the men moved. Johnnie’s steps slowed. Something was off. The closer he got, a feeling of dread began to come over him. He took a closer look inside the vehicle through the windshield. The driver’s head was back against the headrest, his throat was slit. His gun, as he called him, was in the same position, throat slit. Then in the back seat was Joe’s body, but not his head.
Johnnie looked around. They were on his property. He began backing up as he scanned the grounds. He reached inside his pocket then pushed the emergency button on his phone. Alarms sounded around the house. He walked back inside securing the doors. Seeing dead bodies did not concern him. He had been the cause of many. What concerned him was Joe was just in the house with him minutes ago. That meant the person who did this could still be on the property. He walked into his office to check the security monitors. He could see men running the grounds securing the property. The chair behind his desk was facing the window. He turned it. As he lowered his body to sit in the chair, something was there. He turned to see what was in his chair to find Joe’s head, eyes wide open, blood dripping to the floor.
“Holy shit.” He jumped back staring at the sight.
His cell phone buzzed. “Mr. Giuliani, you have two options, prison or death. You choose.”
He scanned around the room, in shock. The Russians had been in his house.
$$$
Jerome’s cell phone buzzed. There was a text message that read. Message Delivered. He clicked off, understanding the meaning. However, there was still the question of how Giuliani knew they were at the courthouse. Only the people in the house and his men knew the time had been changed. He shook his head as he looked at the list of names on his tablet. He looked around the room at the family watching the news about the shooting when it came to him.
He had checked out the Judge. She was clean. In fact, she had put away a few of Giuliani’s men and had no idea why they were coming to speak with her until Crenshaw met with her right before they arrived. There was only one outsider who knew.
Using his phone he sent a text to one of his men. “Find and follow the DA.”
Sereena walked into the office where Cainan sat alone. He was reading a piece of paper. “You holding up?” She asked.
Cainan glanced up at her, then nodded. “I lost it there for a minute.”
“I’ll say. You yelled at your mother,” she smirked. “I thought she was going to smack you back into death.”
He smiled. “I’ll make it up to her.”
“Hell, you have to make it up to me too. I had to hug my mother.”
Cainan tilted his head to the side, “How did it feel?”
Sereena exhaled. “Weird…but good,” she nodded. “It’s been a long time.”
“When this settles down, you two need to have a mother daughter weekend. Take some time and really talk to each other.”
“Maybe a day. An entire weekend is asking a little too much,” she chuckled.
Cainan smiled, then his eyes went back to his note.
“What are you reading?”
Cainan blushed. “A message from AnnieMarie.”
“Is it hot, cause you are blushing all over the damn place.”
Cainan frowned. “I don’t blush.”
“You need a mirror,” she laughed. “I swear you are almost pink. So give. What does it say?”
He exhaled as he held the note up. “It says, Cainan. That means it is for my eyes only.”
“Oh, it’s like that, huh?”
Cainan nodded as the words on the note filled him. He folded it up and held it. “Mike had knocked this out of my hands and I bent down to pick it up. I felt the bullet breeze over the back of my neck and heard when it hit Roark.” He looked at Sereena. “AnnieMarie saved my life when she sat down and wrote this message. Without being here in person, her beautiful words saved my life.”
There was silence in the room for a moment, before Sereena spoke. “That is beautiful, Cainan. But was it hot?”
He laughed. “You need to get a man.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
Jerome walked into the room then closed the door behind him. “Judge Edwards was notified of the attempt on your life. She has granted the DA’s request.”
“How soon?” Cainan eagerly asked.
“The trial will begin on Monday morning, 9 a.m.”
“Thank God,” Cainan smiled. “This will soon be over with.”
“We have a problem. Your location was breeched. That cannot happen again. We have until Monday to identify the leak.”
“No one inside our team even knew we were going to the courthouse until an hour before we left,” Cainan stated.
“It has to be an outside person,” Sereena added. “You can eliminate Judge Edwards. She would pull out a gun and shoot Giuliani herself if given a chance.”
“That only leaves Benny,” Cainan suggested as he shook his head. “I really can’t see that. I mean he is an ass, don’t get me wrong. But he’s a good ass, on the right side of the law.”
“You’ve been gone for two years,” Jerome mentioned. “A lot can change in that timeframe.”
There was a light tap on the door. Jerome opened it.
“You want to see me?” Kennedy asked.
“Jerome no,” Cainan said. “Don’t involve my family in this.”
“We are already involved, Cainan,” Kennedy stated. “I have no idea how I can help, but if you need me I’m in.”
Jerome stared at Cainan. “It’s your call. But the longer we go without knowing the more danger you and your family will be in.”
“It is not his call, it’s mine,” Kennedy stated as she closed the door behind her. “What do you need?”