At Peace (The 'Burg #2)(201)

Colt climbed the stairs of the Station and saw Sully’s head come up when he hit the top. Then he watched Sully smile.

“Was Feb as shitfaced as Raine when she got home?” he asked before Colt even made it to his desk.

Colt smiled. Feb was beyond shitfaced. Feb was so wasted she could barely move. However, she wasn’t so wasted she couldn’t use her mouth, which she did to spectacular results after which she kissed his chest, grinned up at him like she’d just succeeded in climbing Mount Everest instead of sucking him off and then promptly passed out.

“Too bad Feb only gets one bachelorette party,” Colt muttered as he shrugged off his blazer and hooked it around the back of his chair.

“Yeah,” Sully grinned, “bachelorette parties are my favorite part of my friends gettin’ hitched.”

Considering Sully’s wife Lorraine got smashed after a daiquiri and a half, Colt figured Sully had a pretty good night.

“I’m doin’ a Meems run,” Sully told him, straightening from his chair as Colt sat in his, “you want a coffee?”

Mimi’s Café was two blocks away and her coffee was so good, you never said no when someone offered it.

“Yeah. Cappuccino,” Colt replied as his phone rang.

He reached for it and Sully reached for his blazer.

“Colton,” he said into the receiver after he put it to his ear.

“Colt? Pryor. We got a situation,” he heard Barry Pryor say, he sounded far from happy and Colt’s eyes cut to Sully. Sully saw the look in them and stopped moving.

“What?” Colt asked.

“Last night was a bloody one for Chicago,” Pryor answered.

“What?” Colt asked again.

“Someone tried to whack Daniel Hart. This whack failed to take down Hart but it took down two of his top boys. Hart didn’t hesitate with retribution and a drive by at Sal Giglia’s favorite haunt saw four of his soldiers buy it not to mention a waitress and the bartender is critical.”

Colt closed his eyes and sat back in his chair muttering, “Fuck.”

“You know about our friend?” Pryor asked and Colt opened his eyes to see Sully sit in the chair by Colt’s desk.

Colt knew. He knew that Cal’s grandfather’s sister married a Giglia. He knew the Giglias were big time mob, not low level, upper echelon and they had been for a long time. He knew Cal had briefly worked security for Giglia during the last war Giglia had with Hart. He knew Cal had lost his cousin to that war and took a bullet protecting Giglia during it. And lastly he knew that Cal was impatient enough to act reckless and activate the family.

“Yeah,” he answered Pryor.

“Well, my guess is, Hart does too. My guess is Hart knows that our friend is losin’ patience. My guess is Hart’s gonna know what our friend’s up to,” Pryor stated.

“What have your boys been doin’?” Colt asked.

“As you know, Captain agreed and Fed’s approved so we been gettin’ in his business. He hasn’t been likin’ this much,” Pryor replied.

“He put that two with the other two and get four?”

“He’s a psychopath but he isn’t stupid.”

“Was Sal Giglia at that restaurant last night?” Colt asked.

“Yeah, he’s fine but I’m guessin’ he’s also pissed which means the earth under Chicago shifted last night and we all gotta hold on,” Pryor answered.

Colt suspected he wasn’t wrong. He just hoped that quake wouldn’t hit his town.

“Any more to report?” Colt asked.

“Last night was busy. Feds got the books,” Pryor told him.

Finally, good news.

He looked at Sully and said, “They got the books.”

Sully’s brows went up but Pryor kept talking.

“They got forensic accountants combin’ ‘em and a judge on hold for a warrant.”

“How long’s that gonna take?”

“They’re fast-tracked.”

“That isn’t an answer,” Colt told him.

“My gut?” Pryor asked.

“Lay it out,” Colt answered.

“Make some calls. They’re workin’ fast but Hart’ll work faster. This isn’t about Vi anymore. This is about retaliation.”

“Right,” Colt said.

“I’ll keep you briefed. You do the same,” Pryor ordered.

“Yeah. Later.”

“Later.”

Colt put the receiver in the cradle and then twisted to his blazer to get his cell asking Sully, “Someone on Vi this mornin’?”

“Chris,” Sully answered. “What’s up?”

“Call him. A hit on Hart went bad last night, two down, Hart survived. He retaliated against Sal Giglia and five were killed and the kills were sloppy, they took out a waitress and the bartender’s critical. Giglia’s gonna move back. They got the books. It’s goin’ down.”

“This gonna blow down here?” Sully asked, moving quickly back to his desk.

“My guess, Pryor’s gut? Yeah. You call Chris, tell him she needs to be home behind Cal’s security fortress and Chris is glued to her. Then you call who’s on the girls. They’re taken out of school and they’re home. We got someone on Cal?”