Cold Brew and Bullets (Part 1 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 7- Origami Animals

Alessio:

Disappointment itched at me as I stared at the paperwork on my desk. The day before when Leonardo and I went to get coffee, I had been looking forward to seeing Eliana. It was odd that I had started to look forward to exchanging a few sentences with her, that she was becoming the relaxing break in my day. I knew it wouldn't have been much more than a short conversation, but we had gotten a text pulling us back home.

According to Angelo who had spent most of the day in the basement with our prisoner, the Russians had been watching our moves and thought that we were trading information with someone from a cartel. I reached out to an undercover that we had in their ranks, but he wasn't very high up so he couldn't give me details, only that they thought I was passing information and running a front for cash in a local business.

It was even worse that I hadn't gone back to see Eliana by that night after we ran a risk assessment. We had spent all day trying to figure things out and it had gotten to be too late for me to go, they would have been closed. I just told myself that I could always go in the morning.

As I tiredly scrawled my signature across the bottom of a final page, I sat back in my chair and checked my watch. Apparently it was already morning and I had worked through the whole night without realizing it.

If I wanted to go early and be there when they first opened, maximizing the amount of time that I could see her before a rush of real customers pulled her away, I would need to go shower now. There was something that I liked about seeing Eliana in the morning as I got my coffee that I couldn't explain.

Maybe it was the way that she actually smiled when she saw me, like someone could actually be happy to see me, or maybe the way I could talk about something that wasn't work. A movie, or more likely a book or music, which I had learned she liked. An unspoken doubt rested in the back of my mind, leaving me hoping that she wasn't just being kind and conversing out of obligation to a customer. It had to be her real kindness, I convinced myself. No one would let a customer stay after hours and visit with them and accept a ride home out of obligation, would they?

I shook it all from my mind and got ready habitually, reaching for my normal suit and tie. On my way to the garage I sent a text to Leonardo, telling him that I was stepping out for coffee and lemon cake, and I would get enough for everyone at the Capo meeting since we had to postpone it yesterday after the threat had risen.

The anticipation that I was feeling slowly turned to something else as I drove down the street downtown and saw flashing blue and red lights draw nearer. I parked away from the barricades set up on the ends of the street and got out of the car to get closer on foot. I didn't get worried often or ever feel much fear, but even panic started to make an appearance in my gut as I confirmed my worries. Any hope that it was another storefront was completely gone now.

Crossing the barriers was easy if you just walked with authority, and it was so early that the police weren't yet worried about controlling foot traffic. The details of the scene became clearer and only boosted my worry. EMS was there, caution tape roped off the immediate area, and I could see that the front door and one of the windows were completely shattered. A few policemen still meandered around taking notes or discussing things, but I approached one who was standing on her own with a clipboard.

"What happened here?"

She looked up, surprised to see me so close to the scene but seeming unconcerned since I wasn't passing the tape, "It seems like an attempted robbery."

"Was anyone hurt?"

"Two employees, but I really can't talk about details until we know more officially."