The night was getting darker and, even if the threat had been finally secured, the dawn seemed still too far away. After having parked the car in proximity of Wilson's house, Jack was showing something on his PDA. Next to him, Tony appeared now paler and sweatier and a growing sense of nausea and stomachache were giving him a hard time to follow Jack's directions.
"I think this is the best way for you to break in. There are three persons on the ground floor, here, here and here – Jack tapped on the screen, showing three light points in the thermo scanner view of the building – There is another point here, upstairs, completely still. I think it must be him, probably asleep or watching tv."
In that moment, Jack noticed the painful expression on Tony's face.
"Are you ok?", he asked putting down the PDA.
Tony exhaled, finding it hard to talk.
"I need some fresh air", he eventually stated, leaving the car.
Jack sighed, staring at the closing door with a concern look. After a moment, he put the PDA away and decided to leave the car too. Once outside, he noticed Tony vomiting in some bushes a few steps away from the SUV. Whatever it was going to happen, it was started and it could only get worse from now on.
Jack reached the back of the car and opened the trunk, looking at the equipment store in there.
A couple of minutes after, Tony joined him too. He was still very pale and sweaty, but the expression on his face seemed better. Jack knew that he would've never told him how he was really feeling, so he just asked what he believed it was mandatory to know at that point.
"Are you sure you can still do this?"
"Yeah, absolutely", Tony replied with confidence.
"Ok", Jack nodded with a little less sureness.
Then, he took out a bulletproof vest from the trunk and passed it to Tony.
Tony couldn't help but chuckle a little, seeing the irony of wearing it while life was already slipping away from him.
"What?", Jack asked, noting his expression.
"Nothing."
While Tony was securing his jacket, Jack put out a gun with a silencer and its removable magazine and passed them to Tony too. Tony loaded the weapon and put it away. Then Jack took another bulletproof vest.
"What the hell are you doing?", Tony asked with a confused glare.
Jack put on the vest and picked up another gun for himself.
"I'm coming with you", he nonchalantly replied.
Tony rolled his eyes.
"I told you I can still do this."
"Yeah, tell me again when you end up throwing up in the middle of a firefight", Jack added with a smirk.
"Oh, come on, Jack! – Tony was getting pissed off – You know what I'm gonna do once in there, if you're coming with me, you'll be an accomplice!"
Jack chuckled softly.
"I've vouched for you with the FBI, I've accessed classified intel on Wilson, I've taken you here and given you weapons and satellite coverage, knowing perfectly that you'll commit a murder…I am already an accomplice in this, Tony, don't you see it?"
"It's not the same thing – Tony insisted, in a calmer way – Until now, everything you've done could be justified telling that I've done it myself or I've forced you to do it. But if you enter that house and we get caught, you'll go to prison for the rest of your life."
"Then we'll make sure we won't get caught."
Saying so, Jack pulled out from the trunk also gloves and ski masks. "We're staging a robbery."
Tony remained speechless. On one side, he knew Jack's help would be really useful, especially in his current conditions, on the other, getting someone else involved, could have complicated everything, since Jack had still something to lose, unlike him.
"Come on, let's go", Jack said before wearing the mask and closing the trunk.
Tony decided there was no time for second thoughts and, after all, Jack could take care of himself. He had always managed to do it, one way or another.
Wearing his mask and gloves, he followed him towards the house.
Breaking into Wilson's mansion wouldn't be the hard part. Since his capture by the FBI the previous year, the criminal empire he had led for more than a decade, had quickly turned its back at him and abandoned him like the last of the drug dealers. If, in the golden age of his activity, he could count on dozens of bodyguards and henchmen ready to serve him 24/7, now he could barely protect himself through two guards, the only ones still loyal to him. That was the price of having broken down during the FBI interrogation, jeopardizing part of his secret criminal organization. Wilson had always sworn to them that he had revealed only meaningless details, but their verdict had been inflexible: he was a traitor and, if they didn't decide to kill him, was just because he wasn't even worthy of a powerful exit in their eyes. Now that his past glory had passed and the FBI couldn't incriminate him for more than minor crimes, he spent his days like a regular old man, watching legal dramas on tv and playing golf.
Jack and Tony climbed up the gate in the backyard of the house, after having smashed the security camera on top of it. They had masks but caution was never enough. Then, they entered the place through one of the windows on the ground floor and waited for Wilson's guards to come checking what caused the suspicious noises. Following their positions on the PDA, ambushing them and knocking them out was an easy game. Jack had been clear on this: they wouldn't have killed anybody other than Wilson, so they had to be extra careful that nobody could recognize them later. Tying them up around some furniture and gagging them with a towel, would be enough for now to keep them quiet and out of their way.
There was still a bright spot on the screen on their floor. Coming closer to it, they found out a maid who was trying to reach the phone to call 911.
"DROP THE PHONE NOW!", Jack screamed at her, raising his gun just to let her see he was serious about it.
The woman immediately followed the order, dropping the handset with terror and yelling not to kill her. Then, Jack came closer to her and tied and gagged her too.
"Nobody is gonna hurt you, we just need you to stay still and quiet, ok?", he tried to calm her while she was still crying.
"He's moving!", Tony said looking the last dot coming downstairs, probably awaken by the yells.
"Tony, remember, we need to interrogate him first, do NOT shoot to kill him, am I clear?", Jack whispered in a menacing tone, stopping Tony by his shoulder.
"Yeah – Tony replied in an annoyed way – I give you ten minutes for that."
Jack rolled his eyes.
A couple of shots ran through the hallway in their direction. Wilson may have lost his past power, but he certainly hadn't become naïve enough to check his ground floor for robbers without a gun.
Taking cover behind a wall, Jack fired back at his hand to disarm him. Right after, both him and Tony ran towards him to block him. While on the ground, Tony didn't lose the chance to give him three well-placed kicks in the belly. Finally, they dragged him to the kitchen and tied him on a chair with his hands behind his back.
"Who the hell are you? – Wilson asked while wincing for the pain – I have money in a safe, I will give it to you if you let me go."
"We don't want your money, Mr. Wilson", Tony stated carelessly.
Wilson looked at the masked man who was talking to him with confusion.
"Then, what do you want?", he continued.
"We want you. Dead."
Wilson felt a shiver down his spine. His fear became even stronger when, a moment after, Tony took off his mask to reveal his face to him.
"Remember me?"
"Almeida…– Wilson said like he had just seen ghost – I thought you were in prison."
"I could say the same about you, don't you think?"
"Well, technically I am", he responded, showing his left foot with the ankle bracelet on.
"An ankle bracelet in a three-floor mansion with private golf court is not a prison", Tony said, while all the disgust and repulsion he felt for that man were coming to the surface, every moment more.
"It is if you only committed a minor financial crime and not terrorism and murder like you."
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
Tony began punching him in the face furiously, letting all his rage have the better hand on him.
Seeing the situation out of control, Jack, who in the meantime had removed his mask too, stepped in to avoid that he might kill him before he could question him.
"TONY STOP! – he shouted, pushing him away from Wilson – STOP!"
Tony made a few steps across the room to calm down and then went back to Wilson, pointing his finger at him through the barrier that Jack was creating with his body to prevent him to punch him again.
"I don't care who you had to corrupt to let all of your other charges drop or the evidence disappeared, but I swear to God that this time you're gonna pay for murdering my wife and son, as well as hundreds of other innocent people! Justice will be made, no doubt about it!", Tony screamed at him to let him know that it wasn't over.
Pushed back once again by Jack, he moved to the sink and started coughing repeatedly, gasping for air. The spiking up of pressure due to his uncontrollable rage hadn't helped out his already damaged body.
Tony quickly opened a cabinet, looking for a glass. Inside, among cups, cereal boxes and a huge number of medicines, he found what he was searching for. After having taken a pill from the container given him by the paramedic before, he filled the glass with tap water and had a sip.
"You don't look too good, Almeida – Wilson taunted him while spitting out some blood – You should have that cough checked."
Immediate was Jack's response who punched him hard once again.
"Shut the fuck up and start worrying about yourself, because, trust me, you MUST be worried.", Jack threatened him.
Wilson's smirk slowly disappeared from his face. Maybe he should be worried.
