Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 50148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 251(@200wpm)___ 201(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 251(@200wpm)___ 201(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Vinnie was proud of this team. Together, they were the best enforcers the family had. Had his team been on duty the evening of the attack at the offices, Vinnie was sure they could have changed the outcome to eliminate Nightfall’s thugs. Enzo had only briefed the top people in his inner circle on the events of that night.
Vinnie’s guys had helped sanitize the office after the attack, erasing all signs that a struggle had occurred and removing the bodies—and the body parts. Who cut a tongue out of someone’s mouth? Or their heart? The over-the-top act made a dark part of Vinnie envious of that level of violence. Maybe he needed to up his game.
Smirking at that thought, Vinnie forced himself to focus on the present. What enemy did they face? What kind of nightclub security could eliminate a skilled team so quietly and efficiently? The training of the guards that evening must have lacked something essential, or their foe was unlike anyone Vinnie had run into before. He shook his head, driving that possibility away. He’d handled too many conflicts to allow surprises to occur, especially lethal ones.
Tonight’s assignment had come on short notice. As the van rolled by, he and his team scanned the line of people waiting to get inside the Nightfall club. Those gathered far exceeded the number Vinnie expected could be let in because of fire codes. Energy and excitement radiated from the crowd. Security was in force around those in line. No one seemed willing to risk getting tossed out.
“Popular place,” one guy commented from the other side of the van.
Vinnie snorted. “Yeah, they should have coughed up the tax, so they could stay in business.” He motioned down the road to the driver, “Pull over a couple of blocks away. We’ll walk in from there. You’ll hang here in the van. Be ready to take off immediately if we come in hot.” The driver nodded and eased the van to a halt.
As Vinnie reached for the door handle, he gave them one last reminder of the mission, “Let’s do this! Remember, no one dies. Wound only this trip. We’re here to send a message. Go in hard but hold back. Today our goal is to convince them to pay for protection. If they don’t wise up, this won’t be our last shot at these people. We can turn our vengeance loose then.”
With that, the team piled out onto the street. They walked briskly toward the club and took places at the end of the line. The queue of those waiting moved steadily forward at a good pace. Vinnie chatted up a group of women ahead of him to pass the time. “I’ve been told this is the party spot to enjoy in this town. Do you all come here often?”
One of the bolder women checked him out and smiled. “It’s only open on Friday and Saturday nights, but Nightfall is unique. No place is like this nightclub anywhere in the city! You must be new in town.”
Vinnie smiled back. “Yeah, me and the guys are in the city for a project and heard about it from one of the local ladies at the office.” Scrolling through his phone for a picture of Alessia, he held the device up so everyone could look. “Maybe you’ve seen her?”
The women leaned in to see the image better. “Yeah, I think I have,” one said. “She resembles a girl who hangs out with the bar manager inside. He’s a total hunk.”
The other women nodded in agreement, and another spoke up, “They seem pretty tight.”
Vinnie shrugged with indifference but filed that bit of information away for his report to Frankie later. Interesting. Nobody had seen her since she disappeared. This club kept raising more questions. “I don’t know anything about her personal life. She’s someone I met in the break room a while back who was nice enough to give me the tip about this place. Small world, I guess.”
The would-be attendees inside the velvet-roped line had finally advanced to the employee screening for entry stamps. There, the woman Vinnie had chatted with first gave him a quick, coy smile as she showed security the glowing moon on her wrist. The Nightfall employee sent her on to the line on the right.
Vinnie’s flirty new friend glanced back at him and said, “Maybe we’ll see you inside?”
When he returned her smile and answered, “Maybe,” she disappeared through the door.
“First time?” the security guard guessed.
Vinnie pushed up his sleeve, revealing the carefully crafted fake Nightfall logo. He scanned the woman’s face, watching for any telltale reaction to the mark that would signal to him she recognized the stamp wasn’t real. Her eyes, mouth, and expression didn’t twitch at all. She waved Vinnie and his crew toward the door behind her before turning to face to the next people in line.