CHAPTER 183 Snipers on the Roof

*Xavier*

"Caruso, we are in position to do the switch," I heard Sebastian say through our communication devices.

We did it! We had Pete! Now, all we needed to do was pray the meeting between Lorenzo Ortiz and Liam would end amicably.

As the wall panel behind my desk slid down, covering my surveillance system, I exited my office and proceeded to the warehouse.

Earlier, after returning from Mandan, I made an appearance at the grocery store, behaving like it was any other day. Then, I quickly excused myself, mumbling that I had to oversee inventory. If things were to escalate later, I needed an alibi, and by making myself seen, I knew my employees would vouch for me.

"Domenico, I found a couple of canisters of tear gas hidden within the bushes," I heard one of Sebastian's men say through coms. "The canisters appear to be military grade and were hidden beneath a shallow pile of dried leaves. I suspect it'll be used to cause a disturbance."

"Continue your surveillance and update us if anyone comes for the canisters," I instructed while I made my way to Dina who was busy monitoring the cameras in our surveillance room.

As expected, I found her seated in the middle of her work station, typing on her keyboard. She was dressed casually in jeans and a white shirt while a headset equipped with an elongated microphone was nestled over her head.

I stopped right behind her and quietly scanned through the multiple windows on the gigantic screen in front of us.

"What the fuck is that?!" I screeched, pointing at the series of windows that displayed the feed from the security cameras around the complex. Right outside, near the gates of the warehouse, was a team of five men in tactical suits.

Using the joystick that was sitting on Dina's work station, I moved the camera to get a better angle and noticed one of the men had his arm raised upward toward the roof of the complex. I zoomed in and saw he had a grappling hook launcher in his hand.

"Seems like a team of men are making their way to the roof," Dina replied nonchalantly as she peered at the monitor. "It's the highest point in the area and it has a direct line of sight to Main Street."

"I know it's a group of men climbing up to the roof. Why didn't the alarms of the motion sensors go off?" I asked harshly.

"Oh my gosh! X, I'm so sorry. I forgot to turn the motion sensors back on," Dina apologized, her guilt written all over her face . "I've been so preoccupied with Pete, I forgot everything else."

"It's okay, Dina. It's just a minor setback," I murmured, accepting her apology. With everything happening so quickly, all at the same time, she was clearly overwhelmed. Things would have been a lot easier for her if Lou was here to assist her. Unfortunately, he had another assignment to take care of. "Don't worry. We'll handle this. Is there any sign of movement on the roof?" Dina clicked on her keyboard and an image of a section of the roof came on the screen.

"I see shadows in this area," Dina answered, moving her face closer to the monitor. She moved her joystick and the image on the monitor began to move. "There's a lone man positioned near the ledge. Looks like a sniper."

"We need to fix this," I muttered, gesturing to Sam who was talking to Link and Jake right outside the room. "Sam, we have five bogeys outside the complex near the warehouse gates. I need you, Link and Jake to take care of them. You can exit through the side entrance from Dom's."

"Copy that," Sam said, unable to contain the excitement in his voice.

I grimaced in response to his enthusiasm. Personally, I didn't want to engage, not during a celebration. The townsfolk have already been through enough. They deserved to have some fun.

"X?" Sam asked, waving his hand in front of my face. I didn't realize I had spaced out.

"Sorry, I was thinking," I mumbled. "What were you saying again?"

"I said, without a distraction, anything that happens to the Blue Rogues in this area will easily point to you."

"After the Black Hawks attacked them this morning? I don't think so. But then again, you can't be too sure. So, what do you have in mind, Sam?" I asked.

"We'll use Lorenzo Ortiz," he answered, pointing to the feed from the camera aimed at Joy. *Shit*. *The prick was standing right beside her*. "When he meets with Liam, that's the time we cause a distraction. Maybe have the men provoke Lorenzo Ortiz and incite a riot."

"Then our men will be arrested by the Sheriff and I can't afford to lose any of our men when we have an army of trained mercenaries on our doorstep," I argued. Suddenly, an idea dawned on me. "According to the men in this area," I pointed to a window at the bottom of the monitor, "there are canisters of tear gas hidden within the bushes. We can use that to cause a panic."

"Those canisters could just be props, X. How about I send Jake out with a few smoke grenades?" Sam suggested, gesturing to Jake and Link to come inside.

"We could do that...," I murmured, thinking, when static suddenly erupted from my earpiece.

"Bo, the townsfolk shouldn't get in the middle of this. People will definitely get hurt if you use tear gas or smoke," Cristos scolded me through coms. "I have a solution to your dilemma... Cash."

"Cash?" I asked, confused.

"Yes. Cash," Cristos replied dryly. "I have people scattered along Main St. wearing fanny packs filled with crisp hundred dollar bills with explicit instructions to throw the money in the air in case we needed to cause a diversion of sorts."

"Good thinking. Okay, when I give the signal, have your team throw the money in the air. Then my team will surprise our unwanted guests on the roof," I instructed Cristos before I spoke to Dina. "Are they all up there, Dina?"

"Yes, X. Six snipers, all in all," she replied, glancing at the monitors.

I turned to address my men.

"Men, I need you to suit up. We'll discuss our plans in the armory." They nodded their heads and quickly left the surveillance room. "Dina, alert Dom. Once they've made the switch, tell Dom we need him back here. And don't forget to give Virtue and Kiki an update."

"No need, X," Dina said, smiling. "Primo is on top of it, and as for Virtue and Kiki, well, they're listening. Kiki is currently making her way to Virtue."

"Then I need you to alert everyone that in approximately fifteen minutes there will be radio silence," I said, patting her on her shoulder. "I know these assholes are communicating with the Colonel. So, Dina, when I give the signal for Chip's men to throw the money in the air, I need you to turn on our signal jammer." She nodded her head.

"Copy that, X."

____________

*Sebastian*

"Domenico, the ambulance is headed your way," I heard Dina say through my earpiece. There was a bit of static, but I could hear her fine. "ETA is five minutes."

"Copy that," I replied. "And Dina, please make sure the town's CCTV cameras are off. I've scanned the area and fortunately, I didn't find any spy cameras."

"The town's security system has been down since last night, Domenico," Dina gently reminded me. "So, there's no need to worry. By the way, you only have a one minute window, so move fast. Sorry, but that's all I can give you."

"Copy," I answered. "That's enough time for us to make the switch."

Under several large trees, dressed in a yellow and black motorcycle suit, I was standing beside a parked white van together with De Luca and Cook along a service road that exited into Prairie Avenue, waiting patiently for the ambulance to arrive. Although I hadn't gotten enough sleep, I was pumped up, itching to wrap my hands around Pete's neck.

However, I couldn't kill Pete. He was fated to die by Joy's hands and by hers alone.

I had to restrain myself. *But*, *ugh*, *it would feel so good to kill him after all the trouble he has caused*.

Luckily, because of the parade, there were no incoming or outgoing vehicles in the area, nor were there people. The entire road and the nearby apartment buildings appeared totally deserted.

"We only have a one minute window so we need to be quick. Cook, while we shove Pete into the back of the van, I need you to take his place in the ambulance," I instructed.

"I should've gone to the parade," Cook whined with regret. Well, there was nothing he could do. Despite his misgivings, he was the only one among my men who fit the patient's description. "Well, this works too, I guess. I need to make myself scarce so Noah won't chew my ass out for watching over his ma." He stomped his foot, annoyed at himself. "I knew I shouldn't have cooked breakfast for her."

"About Noah, Dina mentioned she saw him at the Hughes residence, parking a motorcycle on their driveway," De Luca said. "I didn't know Noah could actually drive one."

"Oh come on, De Luca. It isn't hard to learn. It's like riding a bike," Cook argued, running a hand through his gray hair. "I just hope those docs don't do a rectal exam. I hate it when they probe my ass."

"Take the physical, Cook," I muttered, irritated at his complaints. For such a big man, he was one big baby. "If they don't find anything wrong with you, they'll send you home right away. Don't worry, I'll have someone come pick you up." I paused and pointed down the street, finally catching a glimpse of the ambulance. It was barreling towards us, its lights flashing brightly. "We're up. De Luca, open the back doors of the van and get the stretcher out. We can't waste any time. The ambulance has a GPS tracker. They'll find it suspicious if it stalls at this location for long."

After we got the stretcher out, we placed ski masks over our heads to hide our identities and gloves over our hands.

Once the ambulance stopped, Emma quickly opened its back doors. We quietly climbed in, carried Pete out of the ambulance, dropped him on the stretcher and loaded him onto our van while Cook took his place.

Before closing the doors, Emma threw a paper bag at De Luca, then the ambulance went on its way, proceeding to Prairie Avenue en route to the hospital.

De Luca and I climbed into the back of the van to secure Pete. It was definitely him alright. I could never forget his eyes. But his face was marred with wounds and scars, obviously stitched up by a professional. He must have had a run in with De Vega.

"What's in the bag?" I asked hoarsely while I duct taped Pete's mouth and feet and cuffed him onto the stretcher. Although Emma assured me the effects of the drug she administered would take a few hours to wear off, I wasn't taking any chances.

De Luca took a look inside.

"A gun and a phone," he answered, handing me the phone. Using Pete's thumb, I unlocked the phone and began to check his messages and calls.

I was in the middle of reading Pete's messages when unexpectedly I heard Cristos speak through coms.

"Dom, there seems to be a complication. Lorenzo has found his way to Virtue and we have snipers on the roof of the complex."

*Fuck*!

"Have you contacted Max?" I asked.

"Yes," Cristos answered. "He's on his way to our designated hide out. De Luca can meet him there."

I gestured to De Luca to follow me out of the van. I didn't want Pete to hear any of our plans.

"De Luca, call Max and tell him you're on your way. Once you get there, strip Pete of all his clothing, then sedate him. I don't want him causing any trouble until tonight," I instructed him. "Oh, by the way, Lou is en route to the hideout. I've instructed him to check for any tracking devices hidden within Pete's body." De Luca grimaced.

"Gross," De Luca replied. "Well, I'll see you guys tonight-

"Domenico," I suddenly heard Dina's voice cry out through my earpiece. "I have a bogey coming your way on motorcycle. Seems like Pete has a tracking device on him. ETA five minutes."

"De Luca, turn on the signal jammer we have in the van and go," I bellowed. "I'll take care of this! Go! Now!"

As De Luca drove off, I took cover behind the trees, grabbing my gun from its holster. I had a strong feeling that whoever was heading here would stop at this very location since this would be the last place the signal from Pete's tracking device would have pinged.

And I was right. I heard the smooth hum of the mortorcyle slow down as it approached. I screwed on my silencer and waited.

The black and orange KTM motorcycle screeched at a halt directly under the trees. Its rider, dressed in a black and blue tactical suit, climbed down, took his helmet off and began checking the street and the dirt beside the pavement for tracks.

While he stooped down, studying the tire tracks left from the van, I quickly came out from behind the trees, my gun aimed at his back, and squeezed the trigger, shooting at him until he collapsed on the ground.

I holstered my gun, then dragged the man's corpse behind the trees.

I was busy covering the dead man's body with leaves when I noticed something in his left ear. Inside was a small earpiece that had a very faint green light blinking on the outer side.

*It was a tracking device*!

Shit! Pete must have one of these in one of his ears. I ran to my motorbike which was parked behind the dumpsters of the closest apartment building. I needed to leave.

"Threat neutralized," I said through my communication device. "I'm headed back. Dina, alert De Luca. I found a small earpiece that doubles as a tracking device on our bogey. Pete must have one just like it."

"Copy that," Dina replied. "Domenico, take the side entrance of the supermarket. Beaufort has ordered the warehouse gates sealed until further notice."

"A portion of that complex is mine. I will enter through the front."

I took off my ski mask, replaced it with my helmet, then boarded my motorcycle and sped off.

Time to get in between a Consigliere, a mayor and an army of mercenaries.