Chapter Seven Pt 1

Lol I will meet the deadline :P Thanks for the reviews so far – love them. Hope everyone enjoys this teeny tiny update.

Sonny was on his feet watching the video feed now a moot point as Sam had climbed into the air vent and was now out of his view. He had been working his sources like a mad man trying to find out something to give Spinelli so that he could find what he needed on Alarico.

He'd finally hit pay dirt.

Sonny wasn't exactly smiling but he did have more to go on. "Alarico's been going by an alias for all these years." He explained to the room. Anthony perked up, Alicia's shunning obviously putting him off. Sonny met Anthony's eyes having a feeling he would understand what he was about to say more than anyone else in the room. "He became his father's enforcer and took on the name Dimas..."

"Diablo Dimas?" Anthony asked in horror.

"The same." Sonny nodded, the both of them looking grim.

"I would like a further explanation." Alicia spoke up pointedly a huff to her voice.

"He's a pretty ferocious enforcer who's made his point with extensive torture and beastly acts of carnage." Anthony was looking a little paler as if he may have finally met his match, a shock to be sure.

"He's single - handedly put the Espinoza's at the top of their empire by embracing a rule via fear for the last decade." Sonny piped in.

"And he's got Sam?" Alicia asked as it sank in that he'd had her in his clutches as well.

They all shared glances at that but no one said a word.

"Spinelli, have you got the blue prints yet?" Sonny changed the subject, needing the computer guru at work on this new information and praying that he'd figured out where Sam was buried.

"I've ascertained the make and model of the customized bomb refuge but there are no plans detailing where on the site it's actually buried." Spinelli got out in frustration. "It's a simple dilemma of logistics. There are only a few locations suited for such a shelter and they can only be located here, here, here, or here." Spinelli explained as he pulled up the satellite imagery from the site and pointed out the possibilities.

"Alright. I'll get that to Jason. I need you to find everything that you can on Diablo Dimas in connection with the Espinozas and the Felicia foundation." Sonny pointed him in the right direction...

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sam lay on her back peering up at the vertical shaft that stretched heavenward for at least fourteen feet. She'd crawled for what seemed like miles as she wound through the ventilation system only to finally find the shaft that was to lead her to freedom. She'd been crawling blindly fighting the worst tendency towards claustrophobia that she'd ever battled when sunlight finally filtered in through the vent system showing her the way out.

Now she just had to climb 14 feet straight up if she wanted to live.

Piece of cake...

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Alarico walked out of his apartment and crossed the distance to his offices across the hallway, throwing the door open to reveal a room filled with two long conference tables full of hard working henchmen, helping him run the current operation.

"They're here." Was all he offered them before he turned and walked out the door, heading for the elevator.

The sound of chairs scraping the floor sounded just before the bustle of movement that harkened his security force following him. Edwardo, his son, held the point position as the whole of the seven person crowd joined Alarico as his entourage in the elevator, before he set them on their way to the ground floor.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Jason and Johnny made their way through the crowd of workers, blending in with a combination of simple attire and swiped gear. They were both sporting hard hats and orange vests as well as work men's gloves. So far the scouring of the grounds for ventilation shafts had turned up little to nothing, but they still needed to get into the courtyard. Easy going as their was a lot of gardening going on in there. Jason picked up a bag of potting soil to occupy both shoulders as the men before him had done and headed in that direction.

Johnny managed to do the same, the both of them heading in the front door of the unfinished orphanage en route to the courtyard. Jason was praying that they spotted some unaccounted for vent in the ground.

They passed a set of decorative double doors into a paradise in the making. A small shallow pond was the centerpiece, surrounded by... Jason hitched in a breath at the large pink blossoms in the circle of Japanese magnolias. It was like a secret homage to where his daughter had died. Jason tossed his sacks of potting soil on the ground and looked up into the tree branches, the significance playing havoc on him. He didn't even know how old Felicia had been when she'd died all alone in that dark bomb shelter.

He had to shake himself to go on, to look for what could possibly serve as a ventilation cover in this area. They would want it to blend in...

Jason narrowed his eyes when he noticed a rock situated about where there had been one in the field of Magnolia's at Anthony and Johnny's place. Johnny had explained what he'd found about the place on the ride over. The actual bomb shelter was flooded with ground water and the rock in the field covered the entrance. Maybe in this instance the rock covered the vent shaft.

Jason imagined that Alarico would have kept the actual entrance accessible from somewhere inside the basement of the orphanage. Which was the next stop if they couldn't find the vent shaft that Sam was already inside of. He'd been keeping up via text message with Sonny.

A horn suddenly blasted signifying the lunch break for the work crew and Jason and Johnny lingered behind glad for the solitude with which to work. They waited for the crew to clear out before they spoke. "I think the shaft might be under that rock." Jason nodded toward it as he moved in that direction, Johnny quick on his heels. It stood to reason that Alarico would have closed off the shaft to prevent discovery and air getting in, considering what he wanted out of all of this.

Jason looked over the top of the rock to Johnny as they both situated themselves on either side of it to heave it from it's current location. Jason felt a sense of satisfaction and relief shoot through him when he saw the grate beneath the rock. They threw it over a few feet and Jason was just about to see about getting the grate off when he heard the sudden sound of a gun cocking at his back.

Jason looked to Johnny accusingly but saw that he was just as taken off guard as they both raised their arms to keep from getting shot before they could pull this whole rescue off.