It was an hour outside Athens, but there was less of a chance that Anastos would have paid snitches at a small, regional airport. Still no guarantee, but better than Athens which was almost certain to be locked down byAnastos’smen.
“That’s right,” Nico said. “We land after nightfall, caravan in to Athens, get in andgetout.”
“What about weapons?” Christopheasked.
“They’ll meet us on the ground,”Nicosaid.
“Only six men on-site,” Lucamurmured.
“I like those odds,” Farrell said, reviewing the security footage that had been downloaded onto the iPads. There was nothing remarkable about the men entering and leaving the building. That was the thing about thugs — they all lookedthesame.
“So some of us take the front door, the rest enter through the service entrance in the alley,” Christophe said. “We move up the stairs as quickly as possible, get the girl, get out in under twenty minutes, before Damian’s snitches cut Anastos’s menloose.”
“That’s the extent of it,” Nico said. “You’ll see that the security cameras are marked on the map, but they’re irrelevant. We won’t have time to circumvent them. This is a raid, not aheist.”
“How do we know…” Luca started to speak, then glanced atDamian.
“How do we know she’s alive?” Damianasked.
Lucanodded.
“She’s alive,”Damiansaid.
Farrell didn’t question it. His heart was intertwined with Jenna’s. He knew when she was scared or sad, felt her happiness seep through him like warm sunshine when she was joyful. He would know if she wasn’t in the world anymore. Who was he to say it wasn’t the same forDamian?
Besides, the security cameras had picked up some of the men bringing in supplies — including women’s clothing andtoiletries.
“Anastos’s men are buying supplies in the area,” Nico said. “Food, clothing, women’sshampoo…”
Lucanodded.
“What about Fiore and Gatti?” Christopheasked.
“Haven’t had a single sighting of Fiore,” Nico said. “Gatti’s been there a handful of times, never stays longer than a couplehours.”
Damian’s hands tightened into fists on the table at the mention of Primo Fiore’s underboss. Farrell didn’t blame him. Primo Fiore was unbalanced, but Malcolm Gatti was his puppeteer, and Gatti was a stone coldpsychopath.
“Think the brother knows?” ChristopheaskedNico.
“He knows,” Damian said. “My guys uncovered correspondence between him and Gatti discussing thekidnapping.”
Christophe swore inFrench.
“A little more than kin, and less than kind…” Nicomuttered.
Only Nico would quote fucking Shakespeare while they talked about Primo Fiore’s betrayal of his sister. Then again, of the four men in charge of the Syndicate, Nico and Christophe were in the best position to understand the dynamic between Aria and Primo; Angel Rossi had been the daughter of Nico’s enemy Carlo, and Christophe’s brother, Bruno, had sold him out to align himself with Raneiro before hisdeath.
Both Carlo and Bruno werenowdead.
“I take it we’ve clocked more than one route out of Omonoia?” Farrellasked.
The streets there were narrow and clogged with traffic. Getting Aria out of the apartment was only half the battle. They would still need to get out of Anastos’s home turf and back to the airport inTanagra.
“Two roads away from the apartment — front and back — and a few variations to Tanagra once we get out of the immediate vicinity,”Nicosaid.
Farrell set the iPad down on the table. “Let’s have one of Damian’s guys disable Anastos’s vehicles inthearea.”
Nico nodded and tapped a note on the iPad. “Any questions?” he asked. “Concerns?”
Farrell stifled a yawn. “When do weleave?”