“Hello?” Letty said in a cordial tone. “What do you mean who is this? Stop. Don’t hang up.”
Miles’s hands clenched the steering wheel tighter as he wound the corner of Pembroke Avenue and 22nd Street. The sound of Letty’s hurt voice ripping his last layers of calm away.
“I need to talk to you about Gabriel. Our son! Where are you, at a club?”
A snarl grew from Miles’s lips as he wound another sharp curve. Coming to a screeching halt outside of the Destiny Nightclub, Miles double parked and got out of Corina leaving the driver’s side door wide open.
“Miles,” Letty said, still holding her phone to her ear. Looking behind her, Letty pointed to Landon. “Go with him.”
Landon did as he was told, unsure if he’d be able to keep his brother out of trouble. When Miles was hell-bent on doing something, he did it. He didn’t give a damn what anybody thought of him but Letty.
“Miles!” Landon called behind him, but Miles didn’t answer as he disappeared through the double doors of the nightclub.
“God damn it!” Landon shouted as he followed Miles into the club.
Ruin Rizzolli was sitting on a bar stool at the far end of the establishment, yelling into his phone as he held a drink he was nursing in his left hand. Miles stalked him down under the flashing lights of the dance floor. Drawing his arm back, Miles sent his fist crashing into the back of Ruin’s head, sending his drink and his phone crashing to the floor.
“Stupid motherfucker!” Miles spat through gritted teeth. “Your son is missing and all you can do is give his mother a hard time! She’s gone through enough! What kind of man doesn’t take care of his own kid?”
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talkin’ about! Get your hands off of me!”
“Don’t worry, asshole. You ain’t man enough to go hunt down your kid’s kidnapper, but I sure as fuck am!”
“It ain’t no Carrion hoods that kidnapped G!”
“No shit, Sherlock!” Miles spat. “Man the fuck up! And the next time Letty calls you, speak in a civilized tone or we’re gonna have a problem. You hear? Chicken shit!”
Miles let go of Ruin’s shirt as he turned to walk away. Seeing Landon, Miles nodded and charged for the double doors of the club with Ruin’s eyes following him every second of the way.
Picking his phone up off of the floor, Ruin said to Letty, “Your boy’s about to walk into a world of hurt.” Before Letty could respond, Ruin ended the call.
As Miles climbed back in the car with Landon right on his heels, Letty didn’t say a word. She simply placed her hand atop Miles’s own and gave him a knowing look. Letty had heard the entire conversation. As her lips curled up into a faint smile, Letty had a look of gratitude on her face. A moment later, Miles slammed his foot on the gas pedal as they careened down the street, turning towards the river.
“Where are we going?” Landon asked from the backseat.
“Mom’s storage unit. I need to grab a few things…” Miles said plainly.
Landon had a confused look upon his face. “Nobody has the key. It was lost years ago.”
“Seventeen years ago,” Miles said cryptically.
“I guess. Dad’s been trying to get in that storage unit for years…” Landon said as he watched his brother’s eyes closely through the rearview mirror.
“And he hasn’t?” Miles asked.
“A couple of his guys got busted when they were trying to break in a few years back.”
Miles brought Corina to a full stop outside of the Carrion River Storage Facility.
“Miles, you’re not listening to me…” Landon insisted. “You can’t get in without a key!”
Miles looked in the rearview mirror as he cut the engine of the car. Holding up a single silver key, Miles asked, “You mean this key?”
Landon looked at his brother as if he had just sprouted a second head.
“You had it? All this time?” Landon asked in shock.
“Well, no…” Letty admitted. “I did.”
“You did?” Landon asked as he looked at Letty skeptically.
Miles explained, “Mom gave me the key the night she passed. She told me to keep it safe. I told Letty to keep it in her jewelry box and not to tell anyone.”
Letty nodded. “I had actually forgotten all about it until Miles asked for it back Friday night.”
Landon scoffed in mild amusement. “So what’s inside?”
“You’ll see,” Miles said.
“So you’re going to a storage facility to root for something you don’t know is actually there when Letty’s kid and Dad are missing? Dude…” Landon complained.
“Damn, you’re persistent, kid! I’m going to the storage unit because Mom has stuff in there that I have to get before we can even think of taking on the boys in Brooklyn.”
“Like what?”
“For one, a box of Dad’s old guns, some cash, plenty of ammo, a couple of bulletproof vests, a set of keys…”