Angelique pushed the buttons on the panel as the doors hissed open and the lights came on. They walked in the armory while music played in Connor and Murphy's heads and their eyes widened. She walked to the center of the room while Connor, Murphy and Romeo looked around and Romeo picked a sniper rifle off the wall mounting.
"Fuck," he whispered as he pointed the sniper rifle at the wall then he placed the sniper rifle back on the wall mounting.
Murphy looked at the rows of crossbows as he arched an eyebrow and he removed a crossbow off the wall mounting.
"Yes!" made him turn as he watched Connor removed a coil of rope off the hook and Murphy aimed the crossbow at him.
"Put that back," Murphy said. Connor turned to look at him when he smiled and snorted a laugh.
"What if I don't, Robin Hood?"
"I'll hit you with this."
Connor flipped him off then he placed the coil of rope on the hook and he walked over to Angelique.
"Got anythin' else?" Connor asked.
"Follow me," Angelique said. She walked to the wall panel when she pushed the buttons and the wall slid open. Connor, Murphy and Romeo looked at the light-weight body armor as Connor removed the vest and he held the vest up to get a better look.
"We can't wear this," he said.
"Why not?" Romeo asked as he removed the vest from the stand and he looked at the vest.
"If they search us, they'll feel it."
"No, they won't," Angelique said. She walked to Connor when she unbuttoned his black Navy pea coat, removed it, dropped it to the floor then she started unbuttoning his shirt while he looked down. She wasn't blushing as she removed his shirt, dropped the shirt to the floor and she looked at his chest. She took the vest from him when she slid the vest on him and she zippered the sides. Connor noticed how snug the vest felt, but he could still breathe normally and move and he reached down to pick his shirt off the floor. He placed the shirt back on as he buttoned the shirt and Angelique looked at Murphy. "Frisk him."
Murphy placed the crossbow back on the rack then he walked to his twin. He frisked Connor, but he couldn't feel the vest.
"Son of a bitch," Murphy grumbled.
"Couldn't feel it, right?"
"Right."
"Cool," Romeo said as he removed the black Navy pea coat, dropped it to the floor, pulled his t-shirt over his head then he placed the vest on. Angelique helped him adjust the vest then she zippered the sides and he put his t-shirt back on. He noticed the vest didn't leave any indentations on his t-shirt and he gave her a small smile.
Murphy removed the vest from the stand while he looked at the vest and he tilted his head to one side. He glanced over at Angelique when she turned her back to him and he snorted a breath of air while rolling his eyes.
"I'm not that shy," Murphy said and she turned to face him. She removed his black Navy pea coat, dropped it to the floor then she unbuttoned his shirt when she looked at his chest and she moved her fingers over the tattoo. "Norman was our dad's name."
"According to the intel we have on you, your father's name was "Noah"," she corrected while arching an eyebrow.
"It's the name of one of our friends," Connor said. He wasn't sure why he was feeling jealous of her touching his brother's chest as he shook his head a few times and Angelique moved her hand away. She helped Murphy place the vest on then she zippered the sides and Murphy placed his shirt and the black Navy pea coat back on.
"So, what's the plan?" Romeo asked.
"You'll see," Connor said while he picked up the black Navy pea coat, took the coil of rope off the hook, walked to the door and he left the room after the door hissed open.
"This is going to suck, isn't it?" Murphy grumbled.
"Yep," Romeo said as he popped the "p".
"Let's go," Angelique said as they followed her to the door while the door hissed open and they left the room.
Milan
Connor, Murphy and Romeo knelt behind some crates while they watched the longshoremen loading and unloaded the boxes from the cargo ship and the forklifts moved the large boxes before heading for the warehouse. Connor saw several, heavily armed guards near the entrance to the warehouse as he ducked down and Murphy and Romeo looked at him.
"This is your plan? We jus' sit here an' watch?" Murphy asked.
"No, this is only part one of my plan," Connor said.
"Why do you think there are so many guards? I mean, besides all the drugs?" Romeo asked.
"Seenin' how we shot up that other place, I'd be surprised if there wasn't any guards."
"Which means we need a really good plan," Murphy said and Connor shoved him.
"This is gonna work."
"You haven't even told us what the plan is!"
Connor hushed his twin then he looked out at the guards and Murphy leaned back against the crate.
"Ok. Here's the rest of my plan. We stroll up t'one of th'guards…"
"Are you fucking kidding?!" Romeo asked with wide eyes and Connor hushed him.
"They are expectin' us, right?"
"Right," Murphy said with a nod.
"Then we jus' stroll up to th'guards and tell them Corzella hired us. We'll even show him th'piece of paper with th'address on it," he said as he removed the piece of paper from the inner pocket of the black, Navy pea coat.
"That's it!?"
"No."
"What if they don't believe us?"
"We run."
"We're gonna get killed," Romeo grumbled.
Connor arched an eyebrow then he peeked out then he motioned for them to follow him. They moved out from behind the crates as they placed their hands in the pockets of the black, Navy pea coats and headed for one of the guards. The guard scanned them with his eyes as he stood straighter and Connor gave him a hard look.
"Who the hell are you?" the guard asked in Italian.
"Corzella sent us," Connor said in Italian as he handed the guard the piece of paper. The guard looked at the piece of paper when he opened the piece of paper and he recognized Corzella's handwriting.
"Gonna have to search you," the guard said as he handed the piece of paper to Connor.
"Go right ahead."
The guard walked to him when he frisked Connor then the guard stood back. He had noticed the black tote bag strapped over Connor's right shoulder and Connor opened the tote bag. The guard looked through the tote bag then he handed the tote bag back to Connor. He moved to Romeo and Romeo glared at him. He frisked Romeo then he walked to Murphy and he noticed the cold look in Murphy's eyes. He frisked Murphy then he moved back and the guard looked toward the warehouse.
"Go talk to Vince," the guard said.
"Which one is Vince?" Connor asked.
The guard pointed to the large man standing just inside the entrance to the warehouse then he handed Connor the piece of paper. Nodding, Connor pointed toward the large man and they walked away.
Vincenzo Delrini looked at them as Connor, Murphy and Romeo stood in front of him and Vince crossed his arms over his chest.
"Who are you?" Vincenzo asked in Italian.
"Corzella sent us," Connor said in Italian then he showed Vince the piece of paper. Vince took the piece of paper when he looked at the handwriting then he handed the piece of paper to Connor. After frisking them and searching the tote bag, Vincenzo stood back and they walked by him.
"I can't believe that worked," Romeo whispered.
"I told you it would."
"Now what do we do?"
"We stroll in, look around fer Corzella then we kill him."
"This isn't gonna work."
"Oh, ye of little faith. Trust me. It will."
Murphy sighed while they walked by the longshoremen and the large crates when he looked up at the catwalk and he noticed the armed guards. He then saw the small office at the back of the room when he barely nodded toward it and Connor looked up.
"What're th'odds Corzella is up there?" Connor asked.
"Well, seein' how he just walked out of th'office…," Murphy said as David walked out and stood in front of the railing. They noticed the sling supporting his right arm and Romeo tilted his head to one side.
"He wasn't wearin' that when we met him."
"Wanna bet Yakavetta did that?"
"I'll take that bet," Romeo said.
They headed for one of the crates when they lifted the crate off the floor and Murphy looked for a place to put it.
"Put it over there," one of the longshoremen said in Italian while he pointed to some of the crates and Connor nodded. They placed the crate on top of one of the large crates then they walked to another crate.
From the catwalk, Corzella placed his left hand on the railing while he watched the longshoremen and the forklifts moving the crates and he slight winced from the pain in his right shoulder.
He had woken up in his room after Yakavetta shot him and he was amazed he was still alive.
He was even more surprised when Yakavetta told him to get up and get back to work.
The doctor had pumped him up with antibiotics and pain killers, but the pain caused bolts of white light to flash across his eyes.
"Idiot," David whispered when he noticed three of the longshoremen kept looking at him and he frowned. They would look away quickly and he felt a cold chill moving through him. "Who are you?"
"Are you alright, Sir?" one of the guards asked in Italian and he looked at him.
"Who are those men?" he asked in Italian. The guard looked down to where he was pointed, but he didn't see anyone and he frowned.
"There's no one there," the guard said in Italian.
Corzella looked down to see they were gone and he balled his left hand into a fist.
"Find them!" David said in Italian then he walked back into the smaller office and he slammed the door shut.
Outside, Connor, Murphy and Romeo moved along the wall as Connor looked up then he smiled when he saw the fire escape ladder. After pointing to the fire escape ladder, Connor tried to reach the fire escape ladder, but he could reach it. Murphy cupped his hands as Connor lightly held onto his twin's shoulders and Murphy lifted him up. Connor took hold of the fire escape ladder when he flicked the lever and the fire escape ladder slowly lowered.
"Let me guess. This is the part of the plan," Romeo said, looking to see if they hadn't been followed.
"Shut up and come on," Connor whispered. They quickly climbed up the fire escape ladder until they arrived at the roof of the warehouse and they crouched down. Connor looked over the edge of the roof, but didn't see any guards and he smiled.
"You'd think they'd post guards up here," Romeo said, looking around.
"Who, besides us, would be crazy enough t'come up here?" Murphy asked.
"Come on," Connor said while he motioned with his right hand for them to follow him. They walked cautiously along the roof when Connor saw the skylight and he pointed. They walked to the skylight when they looked down into the room below and he gave them a smug look.
"You gotta be kidding," Romeo said as he watched Corzella pacing the room.
"Ok. Now what?" Murphy asked.
"We go down there an' do a little gratuitous violence," Connor said. Connor knelt down and he placed the tote bag on the ground. He unzipped the tote bag as they knelt down next to him and he looked at the bags with sandwiches, a thermos of coffee and a plastic container with slices of fruit. He removed the bags, the thermos ad the plastic container as he placed the items on the ground then he removed the false bottom.
"You're just lucky neither of them found that," Romeo said.
"Those two are eejits," Connor said. He removed the Berrettas and the Saw-backed Bowie knives with finger rings as he handed them to Murphy and Romeo and Murphy's eyes widened when Connor removed a cord of rope.
"Aw shit. I thought she took that away from you," Murphy sighed.
"Shut it." Connor said while he placed the plastic container, the thermos and the bags back in the tote bag then he zipped the tote bag shut.
Suddenly, they heard voices and alarms as Connor placed the rope on the ground and they armed their weapons. They carefully moved across the roof when they crouched down and Connor looked over the edge. Murphy and Romeo looked at what he was looking at as black vans and sedans appeared and people in body armor and riot helmets got out of the black vans and the sedans. Bright lights swept across the buildings as they ducked down and Murphy looked at Connor. They had a silent conversation when Connor nodded and they quickly headed for the skylight. Connor looked down as he watched Corzella shouting orders at someone and Corzella waved his left arm in the air.
"So much fer yer plan," Murphy said.
"Just need…," Connor said as Romeo nudged him.
"Here," Romeo said as he handed Connor the rope while Murphy figured out how to open the skylight and Connor unfurled the rope. They removed the knit caps and placed the knit caps in the inner pockets of the black Navy pea coat then they put on the ski masks. Connor slid the strap of the tote bag over his right shoulder when he hooked the top of the rope on the edge of the skylight and he carefully slid the rope into the room. Corzella was pacing as he snorted air through his nose, but he didn't see Connor climbing down the rope. Murphy climbed the rope after Connor had silently landed on the floor and Romeo climbed down a few seconds later.
"Son of a bitch!" David growled when he turned around and his heart jumped in his chest as Connor, Murphy and Romeo pointed their weapons at him. Corzella headed for the door when Connor fired the Berrettas and Corzella ducked while the bullets hit the doorframe. The door opened as the guards ran inside and Murphy and Romeo fired the Berrettas. The bodies fell to the ground as Corzella whimpered and he fell to his knees.
Romeo ran to the doorway as he heard gunfire and he peeked outside. He carefully ran to the railing when he looked down and he could just see people in black body armor and riot helmets entering the warehouse and the longshoremen were running for cover. The guards fired at them as Romeo ducked back in the room and he closed the door.
"We have company," Romeo said.
Connor and Murphy walked to Corzella as Corzella tried to put his hands up in surrender, but his right shoulder screamed in pain and he whimpered from feeling something pressing against the back of his head. Romeo moved to Connor when Connor handed Romeo the tote bag then Connor glanced over at Murphy.
"And Shepherds we shall be. For Thee, My Lord, for Thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, that our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee and teeming with souls shall it ever be. In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti," Connor and Murphy said then they pulled the trigger and gunfire filled the air. The body fell to the floor while Romeo picked up the bullet casings and they heard the gunfire behind them growing louder.
"I know I shouldn't ask this, but how are we gonna get outta here?" Romeo asked.
"We're goin' out th'front door," Connor said.
Connor, Murphy and Romeo carefully headed for the door while they stepped over the bodies, crouched down and they headed for the railing. The sound of gunfire echoed around them as they carefully moved across the crosswalk when Connor saw three guards heading toward them and he pointed to the column to their right. They ducked behind the column as the guards moved closer and Connor quickly looked at them. He locked eyes with Murphy as they had a silent conversation then they stepped out from behind the column. Romeo knelt down on the other side of the column as the guards ran at them and they opened fire. The guards grunted then fell to the floor while Romeo picked up the bullet casings and Connor and Murphy checked to see if anyone had seen them. Suddenly gunfire pinged off the railing as they ducked and Murphy sighed.
"We'll never make it t'the stairs," Murphy said.
"I see that," Connor snapped as a bullet hit the railing.
"There's a fire exit over there."
"We gotta go across th'catwalk in order t'get t'the door."
"Guys, we're wearing body armor," Romeo reminded them.
"We better hope they don't aim fer our heads or arms," Murphy said.
"On three," Connor said. He silently counted down when they started crawling toward the exit and it felt like the world was slowing down. The bullets pinged off the railing as they ducked when Murphy got to the fire escape door and he pushed on the metal bar. The door opened as they crawled outside then they stood up. The door closed behind them as they looked down, but it was too dark to see.
"Now what?" Murphy asked. The sound of a car horn made them look to the right when headlights flashed and they looked at each other. Climbing down the fire escape ladder, they heard the sound of an engine and they hopped down to the ground just as a black van came to a stop.
"We're screwed," Romeo whispered. The side door opened as Angelica appeared and she waved for them to get in the black van. "Or not."
They got into the black van as Angelica closed the door and Angelina put the black van in gear. The black van headed down the alleyway while Angelica went to examine Romeo, Connor and Murphy and she smiled, lightly ruffling Murphy's hair.
"Can't you wait until we get home t'do that?" he teased and she lightly punched his left shoulder.
Angelique sat next to Connor as they glanced at each other and Connor lightly sighed.
"Thanks," Connor said.
"You're welcome," Angelique said and the black van headed down the street.
Back at the warehouse, Agent Rory Callahan walked into the warehouse while his eyes scanned the room and the air smelt of blood and death. He watched the forensic teams place bodies in the body bags, gather evidence or talk with the longshoremen and he walked toward the staircase which led up to the small office at the back of the warehouse.
"Callahan!" made him stop then turn while Melletti stormed toward him and Callahan knew he wasn't happy.
"What are you doing here?" Rory asked.
"What am I doing here?! I got a phone call about a massive shoot out on the docks. Imagine my surprise when I see you here," Franco said.
"This is an Interpol investigation."
"I have worked with Interpol before, but this is the first time I was kept in the dark."
Callahan walked away as Melletti sighed, shook his head and he followed him. They headed up the stairs as Callahan looked straight ahead and they walked to the doorway to the small office. Callahan walked in the room while he looked at the doorframe then he looked at Melletti.
"Get someone to remove the bullets from the doorframe," Rory said then he walked over to the body. He knelt down on his haunches while he looked at Corzella and Callahan tilted his head to one side. The blood had started drying into the carpet and he noticed the looked on Corzella's face. Callahan stood up as he walked to the desk, looked up at the skylight then he looked down at the floor. He knelt down on his haunches as he noticed the dust on the carpet then he stood up.
"Did you find something?" Franco asked, walking to him.
"Have someone check the roof."
"The roof?"
"Whoever killed Corzella came in through the skylight," he said as he pointed up and Melletti looked at the skylight.
"And, what, they used the skylight to get away?"
"Or they're still up there. Move!"
Callahan walked by him then Callahan headed for the stairs and walked downstairs. He walked toward the entrance of the warehouse when a soft buzzing sound made him stop and he removed the cellphone from his inner suit jacket pocket. He looked at the screen when he pushed the button to bring up the text application and he frowned.
Corzella's dead.
"No shit," he whispered then used the small keyboard to send a text.
I know. I'm at the warehouse. Where are you?
He waited when the soft buzzing sound came from the cellphone and he read the text.
Look to your left.
Callahan looked to the left when he looked up at the catwalk and he walked toward the catwalk. He could barely see someone in the shadows as he nodded then he typed on the small keyboard.
Did you see the Saints?
He waited when the soft buzzing sound came from the phone and he looked at the screen.
Yes.
Why didn't you stop them?
If I had, I would've blown my cover.
They killed Cozella.
How did they get into his office?
Don't really know. They might have used a rope ladder after they opened the skylight.
Is someone checking the roof?
Yes.
What do you want me to do?
Get the fuck out of here.
"Shit," Rory grumbled, placed the cellphone in the inner pocket of his suit jacket then he looked up at the catwalk. He couldn't see anyone as he sighed, turned and he walked outside. He walked to the black sedan as he opened the door, got in the car, closed the door and he slammed his fists on the steering wheel.