Click – Brothers At Arms #5

Delaney looked down the hall where Desi had just run. She had a feeling she might know one of her secrets and Leon was right, it was going to shake her grandfather’s world. Her father and her brothers had pulled some shit in their days but this took the cake.

“She told us your dad hit a jewelry store for about four million in stones and then he went to prison for bank robbery and got about five million from that,” Zeus told her. “Would he hide the money here for some reason?”

“He might,” Delaney stated. Sighing hard she added, “This place belonged to our family for a long time. It wasn’t until after he went to jail that grandpa sold it to you guys.”

“This place was never Barrett’s or your brother’s to keep or sell,” Alfredo said. “Dad left it to me. And I never heard anyone ask that I keep it. In fact, they never said one way or another that they cared whether I sold it or not.”

Delaney snorted. “They never cared until they knew this place wasn’t theirs anymore. But they had to wait until dad got out of prison to come here, and do you want to know why?”

“Why?” Zeus asked.

“Because dad couldn’t trust them to not steal his stolen money.” Delaney snarled. “Yup, dear ole Dad couldn’t trust his own sons not to steal what he stole in the first place.”

“Any idea where he would hide his ill gotten gains?” Captain asked.

“You know,” Alfredo spoke up. “When Barrett was a boy, he would always hide his treasures in plain sight, somewhere where you would least expect to find it. He used to drive Carlos crazy because he would always take his brother’s things and then he would hide them and tell Carlos to find them, if he wanted them.”

Delaney nodded. “Yeah, he did that with us growing up too.” Then she suddenly got a wild look in her eyes. She grabbed Alfredo’s hand and squeezed tight. “Oh my God, he did not.” She growled, getting to her feet she rushed for the kitchen.

Everyone followed her and when they got there, she was looking for something.

“It has to be something built in. Like something that has been here the whole time.” Glancing at the sink, she froze. Walking over to it, she squatted down and opened the cupboard under the sink. She began hauling out everything from under there and when it was clear, she peered up underneath. While tapping the board she looked up and smiled. Heading over to the pantry, she dragged a tool box out.

Captain stepped over to help her.

Memphis placed his hand out to stop him as he shook his head. He knew Delaney wouldn’t want any help in doing this.

 Flipping the lid open, she grabbed a wrench and began smashing the back wall under the sink. She pulled out the broken boards and kept tossing them at the men’s boots.

Captain felt like he could at least pick those up. So he did but one piece almost hit him in the face, so he backed up. When she was all done, she dropped the wrench and reached inside the wall to bring out a leather bank bag. She got to her feet and opened the bag. Staring down into it, she sucked a breath in as she looked at the jewels inside. Handing the open bag to Leon, she was seething. “That dirty rotten cheat.”

Looking inside the bag, Leon raised his eyebrow at the sight. Raising his head back up at Zeus and Alfredo, he shook his head. “Well, that settles one of two accounts.”

“We still gotta find the money from the robbery.” Zeus snarled. “Damn, there were millions here this whole time. It’s like we were living on top of a fortune.”

Just then, Click came into the kitchen and looked at Zeus. “Boss, I was looking up Barrett’s arrest record today after we found out he got busted for the bank robbery. Well, he didn’t really have all that much time to hide the proceeds as he was arrested three days after they robbed the bank in Chicago.”

“So he might not have brought the money here in the first place,” Zeus reasoned.

Alfredo shook his head. “No senor, he would have wanted it hidden, especially if he knew he was going to be away for some time. He brought it here but he didn’t really have time to place it where he was going to put it until he got out of prison.”

Zeus ran his hands over the back of his head. “Then it could be just about anywhere.”

Leon tisked. “Come people, let’s sit down, and think about this for a moment. I’m sure we can come up with a list of places to search if we think about it.”

Delaney growled. “Where would Dad hide the money if he knew he was running out of time?”

“It would have to be somewhere he could get his hands on it quick when he got out,” Zeus surmised.

“But Senor, remember it has to be somewhere,” Alfredo commented. “A place he could get to without any trouble and you put a fence up before he got here. He hasn’t left yet, so it would have to be somewhere near this house. Possibly, it’s now behind the fence and he can’t get in to find it.”

Zeus growled and went down the hall to his office. When he returned, he had the map of the property he’d gotten from the real estate offices when he bought the place. He laid it out on the table and everyone gathered carefully to look it over.

The old map didn’t line up with all the construction they had done over the last seven years to improve the place. The shed that was once there was gone now and another shed had been constructed to house their garage where they repaired their bikes. They had put in a parking lot as well and a driveway into the place from the road outside.

Zeus sat down then grabbed a marker and began changing the map of the property to today’s view. Then he added in all the tunnels they found and destroyed. This took about ten minutes or so. He would grumble to himself, as he would add another tunnel.

Captain leaned in a few times to remind him of one tunnel or another and Zeus would gripe some more, “God dammed swiss fucking cheese. Like we have been living above a haunted fucking amusement park or something.”

Captain did the wrong thing when he chuckled and said, “You have to admit, it has been one helluva ride though.”

Zeus paused just to look up at him and growl.

Leon even smirked at his growling and griping, as it was almost comical, well not to Zeus but it was amusing as all hell.

When Zeus finally finished, he threw the marker down onto the table and asked, “Ok, what are we missing here?”

Delaney moved over and studied the map for a moment then looked over at her grandfather. She found he too was studying the map carefully. But he was also looking frustrated. “What’s wrong grandpa?”

Alfredo shook his head. “I’m trying to remember something…” Shaking his head, he admitted, “When I was a child this whole place was vastly different. It was brand new and everything looked so different than it does now. But I was only a bambino, what did I know back then?”

“But you said you witnessed lots of construction, right?” Click asked.

“Si…My father kept making changes over the years, some I saw but there was construction going on all the time and every time we came back, something had changed. I thought my father was crazy when I was growing up and even when I got to be old enough to have my own children, my thoughts never changed. He would tell my sons such wild tales of the time he was growing up and how proud he was of once belonging to the mob of Chicago. He would tell them of how he got close to the big bosses on the East coast and he would whisper his secrets to my older son Barrett. You see, my sons were like two halves of the whole. Carlos was serious and law abiding, whereas Barrett liked to bend the rules and outright break the law.” Shaking his head he added, “Such a waste, such a waste.”

Delaney reached out and took his hand, “Grandpa, don’t you dare feel sorry for my father. He always made his own choices. He could have been like Carlos but he chose to steal and…kill. The time has come for him to pay for all that he has done. I can’t even feel sorry for my brothers anymore. They chose to follow him and look at what that got them. He’s come to his last stand.”

“And now we have to find and take away his reason for staying in the area,” Zeus grumbled.

“No senor.” Desi’s voice came from behind them.

They all looked over at her.

She stood in the doorway leading to the hall. “You can’t just take away his reason for being here. He would be here anyway and he doesn’t realize that you know why he’s here. He isn’t leaving this place without his payday.”

Leon agreed, “You are right, he would be here anyway looking for that big paycheck, one that he didn’t earn and wouldn’t even think about not taking.”

Desi shrugged. “He took the stories told to him as a child and twisted and turned them round and round in his mind, making himself think the money belonged to him. His brain isn’t working right and his tunnel vision is blinding him to the reality of what’s right and wrong.”

“If you’ve never met the man, how do you know so much about him and his way of thinking?” Calderone asked her.

Desi shook her head. “I have seen this behavior time and time again in other people, other places and I learned the lessons my grandfather taught me. I learned from him to work and think outside the box.”

“Si, Girmondo would have taught you those lessons,” Leon reasoned. “He learned them from his own father and grandfather growing up in New York City. They always watched the people around them and many times they saw trouble before it became trouble.”

Desi nodded. “And he taught me to do the same. That’s why even if we do find his money, he will still come and try to get it back. That’s just how he is.” She walked over and gazed down at the map on the table. She could see the old design and the marks that showed the changes the bikers had made since then. Finally, she looked up at Zeus. “Did you look under the front porch? With the little time he had, he might have stored the bag under the porch, thinking no one would look for it there.”

Zeus frowned and glanced around at his men. Nobody said anything.

Delaney had the audacity to smirk.

Zeus paused at her face and her smirking as he raised a brow.

She rolled her lips and tried to hide her smile.

Oh, he knew what she was smirking about. Yeah, he fucking knew. He had to admit it, at least silently to himself. Women were better at some things than men were. Just look at Marty and Lindy. Always there first as he and his men were a step behind them. He let out a disgusted grunt and suggested, “Maybe we should look under the fucking front porch then. It’s a start. We may not find anything but at least we looked.”

Diabolus and Captain both grabbed flashlights and headed toward the front door. They went out and crawled under the front porch.

Zeus, Leon and Calderone went over to the door.

There was a lot of swearing and noise coming from under the porch and house until both men crawled out from under it. Finally, they stood up and began dusting themselves off then they turned to glare at Desi.

Diabolus looked up at Zeus and shook his head. “There ain’t nothing there but dust and ant hills. Some of those ant hills are red ants. We’re gonna need to hire an exterminator to get rid of them.”

Zeus growled and ran his hands over the back of his head as he moved away from the doorway. No, he wasn’t glad that Desi had been wrong. This shit was getting old. Looking for treasure almost every fucking day. He narrowed his eyes on Desi and asked, “Any other bright ideas?”

Desi glared right back at him as she stood in the doorway. “As big as this place is, the money could be anywhere. I would ask Alfredo for more ideas.” She shrugged. “Me? I’m a stranger here.”

Zeus growled and stomped his way back inside the clubhouse.

Diabolus and Captain continued to dust the dirt and grime from their clothing.

“Damn it!” Diabolus swore. “I got bit again.” He was removing his vest while grunting.

Click came over and stood next to Desi at the doorway just as she turned her head to stare at something beyond the gates.

A man stood there, staring back. He looked disheveled and blood stained his clothing. He carried a gun in his hand and when he saw her staring at him, he raised his weapon and took aim at her.

Just then, Click pushed Desi to the side out of the line of fire. Fast on his feet, he stepped through the door and pushed off the porch with a leap.

Diabolus and Captain ducked down just in time as he nearly flew over their heads.

With his weapon already out and aimed, Click kept shooting at his intended target until his gun was empty.

The man ducked out of the line of fire and hid behind a large tree.

Diabolus and Captain hustled Desi inside.

Click came in behind them and slammed the door shut.

Everyone in the main room had their weapons out as they waited for return fire.

After a couple of tense minutes, nothing came. They all breathed a sigh of relief.

Zeus turned to stare Desi.

Desi nodded at him as she met his gaze. “It was Barrett Raggetti,” she whispered.