We don’t want to alert him that we’re coming.
There are dozens of guards around the entire property.
We brought more. As far as I can tell, they’re outmatched and outnumbered, and we have the element of surprise.
But they know the layout of the facility. Our blueprints are originals from the construction of the building. We can’t say for sure that any changes that were made are accounted for or if there’s a safe room.
Luka doesn’t seem the kind of man to cower and hide in a firefight. But some men are afraid of death as it stalks close.
Not me.
I’ve seen death.
I’ve fought it and won. Will I be so lucky again tonight?
I glance down at my watch. It’s two minutes to midnight. My men are in position. A significant number of guards already abandoned their posts for the dog fight, but there are still eight men who I count outside the walls, watching the perimeter.
We have to move silently. Any chance that they spot us or hear our weapons and Luka will flee. If not in his boat, then in one of his vehicles.
I have men securing the perimeter, setting explosives around multiple exits, wired by a detonator.
My soldiers have trained for this battle. We’ve waited for this day to come, to take out Don Caruso.
My earpiece is secure.
“Sir, we have movement in the back corridor,” Matteo says to the group.
Is Luka onto us? Did he get wind of our arrival?
“What kind of movement?” I ask, careful to keep my voice down and from traveling far.
Two guards are pacing the perimeter outside. They have semiautomatic weapons in hand, but their fingers aren’t on the trigger. They don’t appear to have sensed us yet. Or if they have, they’re pretending not to be aware of our arrival.
I wouldn’t put it past Luka to run and not warn his men.
He’s a coward.
“Is it Don Caruso?” I ask.
“Unconfirmed,” Matteo says.
There’s a beat before he answers. I presume he’s staring through night vision goggles, waiting for the right moment to get a glimpse of the man at the back entrance.
“Negative. It’s a guard outside for a cigarette break,” Matteo says.
It couldn’t be that easy to kill the man in his backyard.
“The alarm’s been deactivated,” Bryce says into the earpiece.
That’s our signal that it’s time to move at my command.
If I hadn’t been on the scene, Matteo would be giving the orders. But I need to see this mission through and be confident that Don Caruso is dead.
I give the command, and the soldiers launch forward, quietly moving along the perimeter, taking out the guards on the outside, protecting the complex.
We breach the entrance. It isn’t hard with their numbers down, the dog fight commencing across town at an old warehouse Caruso owns. My phone is on silent, but my men know to reach me if there is any suspicious activity or movement on our compound.
Thankfully, all is silent.