Chapter 14 – Mission statement
Luca's eyes finally adjusted to the dim light in the back of the van. He could feel the vehicle accelerating hard, constantly turning and changing direction. He looked around the van, three people were sitting on the makeshift benches. They were chatting to themselves, smiling and joking.
"Hey" said one of them eventually. He was black and looked like he'd just come out of the army. Luca nodded at him, unsure of the circumstance. Was this really Borgaman's surprise? He could here sirens in the background.
"That was sure some crazy shit back there. Your lucky Borgaman hired us and not some cheap Yardie punks. I'm Kraze" the man said.
"I'm sorry," said Luca, shaking his head, "did you say hired? Your not gang members?"
"No, we're not gang members" replied Kraze, "We're freelancers. There's four of us in total. Borgaman hired us to help you, said the gang couldn't be trusted. We're taking you to him now. He's waiting for you at your house."
Luca nodded, wiping his eyes again.
"Would you like a cloth or something" said one of the other freelancers. Luca hadn't noticed but the freelancer was female.
"No thank you" replied Luca, waving his hand.
"We're stopping" said Kraze, the van pulling up on the gravel.
Within moments Luca was standing on his father's drive, the shoreside house holding a commanding view over the bay it rested over. Luca loved this house, the structure was magnificent. Beautifully smooth walls, flat roof and a view to die for. His father had been delighted when he'd acquired it.
Luca checked out his saviours, suspicious of their loyalty. He didn't like meeting people like this, he'd heard stories of people getting in contact with players and then screwing them over.
Like Kraze had said, there were four of the freelancers. Aside from Kraze, there was Natasha, a slim, brunette with green eyes and full lips. The other guy in the back of the van was called Zed, which Luca found out was one of many identities he had in his computer hacking history. The man was tall and lanky, built much like Luca. He had short, cropped hair and wore designer glasses. The driver was called Mike, simply because he hadn't been with the gang long enough to warrant a nickname. The last driver they'd had managed to blow their van up, killing himself. Luca chuckled, reminding himself of Miguel's driving when he was younger. The guy would go through cars like anyone's business. Mike reminded him of Miguel in a lot of ways. He was broad shouldered and muscular; a pure petrolhead.
"Come on, Borgaman's waiting" said Kraze, gesturing the gang to enter the house. Luca spied the lawyer's Comet on the other side of the house, hidden out of view. He'd had it imported into Liberty from Vice a few months back.
"Luca!" shouted Kraze, standing on the steps leading up to micro-mansion's front door, "Come on man…"
x
Luca entered the house through the great wooden door that dominated the front view of the house; his eyes were always drawn to the elegant, hand-carved masterpiece. Luca stepped into the lobby with anticipation, the four freelancers watching warily.
"Hurry up Luca. Borgaman's waiting in the study" said Natasha harshly.
"What?!" shouted Luca, storming up the great staircase. The freelancers chased after him, but the charging addict kept pushing, bursting into his father's study. Borgaman was there sure enough, sat behind Antonio's desk. Luca studied the room; he hadn't been in here since his father's death.
"Luca, nice to see you in these more pleasant surroundings. I must say your father has exquisite tastes" Borgaman said, not standing up.
"I don't think we should be in here" Luca said as the freelancers formed up behind him.
"Nonsense. This isn't the time for emotion, but action. Harsh severe action. Only then can the De Fidio name be upheld," said Borgaman sternly, "Kraze, nice to see you again."
"Sir," replied Kraze.
"So what we doing here then?" asked Natasha.
"Ah, good question," said Borgaman, looking increasingly at home behind Luca's fathers mahogany desk. "I've been in touch with the Cavellis, seems they've had enough of us. They've sent some muscle over to secure the meeting."
"Then we hit it, break down the meeting" suggested Kraze enthusiastically.
"In time. First, we need to secure Luca's escape. This we will do twofold. Firstly, I want us to collect Rafa…"
"We'll get on it" shouted out Mike, interrupting the increasingly agitated Borgaman.
"If you'd just wait, I'll explain," he said angrily, "Rafa will be collected and then I went Zed to infiltrate the LCPD network and erase the record of Luca being at the station. Get on that" he said looking at the freelancer. "I want Luca and Natasha to collect Rafa. We can't have him report to Conway. Luckily, he's got an appointment at twelve in his local. He won't contact Conway until after. The fuss he'll kick up will be extreme to say the least and he won't want to miss his favourite pastime"
"Ok, let's go" said Natasha quickly, looking at Luca.
"He'll be at Haze's Den, bring him back alive. He's integral to the plan" said Borgaman. Luca nodded and followed Natasha out of the room. Borgaman smiled at Kraze and Mike.
"I have a small task for you two. I need you to do something for me…"
