KILLER INSTINCT (A Mafia Bad Boy Romance Novel) (12 page)

It was the security footage from the night of the murder. It showed Colman and two Russian men breaking into the apartment. A moment later, a flash of gunfire appeared in the hallway.

Kelly looked away in disgust.

I kept looking on as the two Russian men and Colman talked. I focused on one of the Russian men before I realized who it was.

He had one eye.

This was the night I had stepped out for a meeting. The man who I had been searching for all of these years had been right in front of me.

“Son of a bitch,” I said in disbelief. It was unmistakably Petrov. “He was right outside my doorway. All these fucking years of searching… and he passes right by my door.”

“It’s security footage from the night of the murder,” Cobbs continued. “Colman and the Black Fang hacked and deleted it from the building’s security systems. It was in Colman’s email account as a backup. He might have intended to use it as leverage in case they betrayed him.”

“If he’s holding a backup, then things might not be so rosy between him and the Black Fang,” Kelly proposed. “He might be thinking of a way out before the Black Fang decides to cut their losses and get rid of him. I know that they weren’t very happy when Colman killed my father and made a mess of things.”

I nodded. “He could also cut a deal with the authorities before the Black Fang gets to him. Either way, we could be running against a clock to find Colman and get answers.”

Kelly asked. “Does the Black Fang know about Colman’s penthouse?”

“Probably not,” Cobbs said, not looking entirely certain. “In his emails, Colman never mentioned its presence to the Black Fang. All of his meetings were in his regular apartment or in some private place they reserved.”

Nothing was ever simple in this line of work.

“If we find Colman, I’ll clear the contract with Mr. Lee,” I growled, staring daggers at Cobbs. “Don’t ever try to double cross a hitman ever again. Get the hell out of this country is you know what’s good for you.”

He sighed and sank into his chair. “Don’t have to tell me twice. I’ll send you everything I have on Colman.”

With a glare, I left the man behind. There was newfound purpose in my life. I was going to kill Sergei Petrov. Kelly had to step up her pace to keep up with me. Together, we entered the car.

I guessed the ride back home wouldn’t be a silent one.

Kelly bit her lower lip before speaking. “You could’ve told me about your mother, Jackie.”

“Told you what?” I yelled, not bothering to start the car. “That a pair of Irish mobsters and a Russian with one eye killed my mother? That they slit her throat and caved in her skull? That we couldn’t even have an open casket funeral for her? That I killed those Irish bastards with my bare hands before I was able to even legally drive a car? That I spend the next ten years of my life trying to track down Sergei? At least you got to grow up with a parent. My father was only good for teaching me to fight with my fists.”

The young woman recoiled. “I’m sorry, Jackie…”

She leaned forward and kissed me. This time, it was much more somber. I felt the anger leave my body. Soon, my desire for revenge subsided but never truly left.

“I’m the one who should apologize,” I whispered, ashamed of my words. “I didn’t have to say that about your father. That wasn’t right of me.”

“Is that why you were so interested in me?” she whispered back. “It gave you a chance to investigate the Russians who killed your mother. The Italians wouldn’t stand in your way of revenge.”

“No, not entirely,” I admitted. “I couldn’t just turn you away. It felt wrong like I was no better than the men who killed my mother.”

“You’ve been chasing for Sergei Petrov for your entire life, right?” Kelly said. “And now a golden opportunity falls into your lap. Are you going to kill another man?”

I stared off into the distance. “Sergei’s always been a slippery one. He keeps changing names and locations. I even took a year off to track him in Russia. I thought he’d die of old age before I’d avenge my mother’s death.”

Kelly looked downcast. “I can understand. The memory of my father is what has kept me going all these dark days.”

“We’ll take care of Colman first,” I said, starting the car. “If we get information on Gregori’s whereabouts, that’s great. If we get information on Petrov, even better.”

“What are you going to do to Sergei?” she asked, her eyes shining. “Are you going to kill another man?”

I stared into her shimmering eyes. “I think the better question is what are you going to do with Colman once we corner him?”

She didn’t have an answer for that.

Jackie picked up the gun from its case and handed it me. “It’s a Browning Hi-Power. Handguns get a bad rap in Hollywood. Everyone uses some oversized machinegun. If you ask me, nothing beats the reliability of a good handgun.”

“What’s that?” I asked, gingerly pointing to a dark, cylindrical object. “Is that a silencer?”

He corrected me. “A suppressor. Slide it back like I showed you and twist it on.”

I slid back the frame and began attaching the suppressor to it. Then, I dismantled it and put it back in its case. “Got it.”

“Again, it’s not like the movies,” he continued. “You’d be wrong if you thought it would make a gunshot sound near silent. Depending on the acoustics, you’ll still be able to hear it if you’re in the household and it was fired in a living room.”

“Then what’s it useful for?”

“For one thing, it turns the volume down enough that you’re not going deaf every time you fire it,” Jackie answered. “It’ll also cancels the muzzle flash which is useful during night time. For what we’re doing, it’s more than enough. Anyway it’s time to eat. The pasta’s almost done.”

And what we were doing was infiltrating Colman’s apartment. He was the man who killed my father. He and Gregori had taken everything from me.

Could I be able to kill him?

I wouldn’t know until the moment of truth arrived.

“Eat up, Kelly,” Jackie said, snapping me out of my morbid thoughts. I couldn’t help but laugh. He sounded like my late father. “I don’t cook very often so enjoy it while you can. It’s an old family recipe. My mother taught it to me. It goes all the way back to when our family lived in Sicily.”

“I never knew you were such a good cook,” I replied, chowing down on some pasta with fresh vegetables. “Ever since I’ve roomed with you, we’ve mostly gotten takeout.”

“It’s the Italian in me,” he chuckled, serving himself a second helping. “I’m a great chef by blood. However, my job doesn’t leave much time to cooking and cleaning. I know just about every great takeout place in the area.”

“Have you ever been to Italy?”

“Loads of times,” he answered. “It’s usually Sicily since the Pastore family has the strongest ties there. Sometimes I visit Naples or Tuscany for a special contract.”

“How about for pleasure?”

He shrugged before taking another bite. “Not since I was a little boy. Sicily is usually beautiful this time of year.”

I couldn’t help but feel sad about the whole scene. I remembered the times daddy and I had dinner together. I never gave those moments much thought. It was so mundane but I’d never experience it again with my father.

I also felt sorry for Jackie. He should have been able to grow up with a mother and enjoy moments like these. His father didn’t seem to be around much when he was growing up. It was day after day of violence for him. I didn’t help matters by coming to him with the Black Fang after me.

I did the dishes for him as a show of thanks.

Later, I sat on the couch and thought about the future. I hadn’t given it much thought beyond getting back at Colman and Gregori. Chances were that that things would never go back to normal, even with Gregori dead. I’d have to either go to the CIA for protection or disappear off the planet.

After we rested, it was time to meet Colman.

“The good news is that Colman is right where we want him,” Jackie said as he drove us to Colman’s luxury penthouse. “He’s been holed up in his suite for the past three days. Colman’s been living off room service. He’s likely planning on changing his identity.”

“The bad news?”

“The Black Fang has probably made their move on him,” Jackie answered with a frown. “I’ve kept my ear to the ground it seems like Gregori’s men are asking about Colman’s whereabouts. They know he was last sighted near that building.”

I sighed. “That doesn’t make things any easier.”

“Their alliance lasted longer than I expected. They’re looking to silence Colman before he makes a deal with the CIA.”

“So we’re on a clock.”

He nodded. “Sooner or later, someone is going to snitch on Colman. It could be a maid at the hotel who talks on Facebook about the weird hotel guest at work. Or someone Colman’s working with betrays him for a bigger payday from Gregori. That’s when it will be lights for him. If we want answers, we have to get to him before they do.”

I had gotten used to this line of work always being so complicated. “What’s the plan?”

“It’s pretty straightforward all things considered,” he replied. “We’ll use the maintenance elevator to go directly to the penthouse. It’s clear this time of day so we shouldn’t encounter any hotel staff or guests. The cleaning staff have their break during this time.”

“Is there any security on the elevator? Do we have to break the lock on it or something?”

He shook head. “No, it just needs a four digit passcode. As for Colman’s room, I have a security override card. I bought it off black market. It looks like a disgruntled maintenance worker sold it to hackers.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Is there anything money can’t buy on the black market?”

He laughed. “The sky’s the limit. They even offered to scramble the security footage for us. A bargain all things considered. We just have to be take the ride up straight to Colman’s suite.”