A Blued Steel Wolfe Read Free Page B

blood, but recovered one last time. “Get Siobhan and Linda out of here. We’re too weak to fight back, and the Russians are going to be out for blood. Tell my wife… tell her I love her. Tell her to take our people back to Boston. Keep… Linda… safe.”
    With that final declaration, Kevin O’Hara’s eyes glassed over and he expelled his final breath. Antonio reached up and closed his father-in-law’s eyes. “I will, sir,” he declared solemnly.
    “What… what’s going on?” A bleary voice asked from the direction of the backyard. Antonio shot to his feet and aimed his pistol. Then he lowered it as he saw a bruised and bleeding Salvatore enter the house.
    “Where were you, Sal?” Antonio asked, his voice a mixture of accusation and concern for his brother’s welfare.
    “I think a bullet grazed me when the shooting started,” the younger Lupo replied. He put a hand to the side of his head, and it came back bloody.
    Then the sirens sounded, as the police responded to the many reports of gunfire in the neighborhood. Antonio looked up at the remaining Irish and Italian gangsters.
    “Let’s go, everyone! Into the tunnel!” Antonio ordered, leading the way as the handful of soldiers and enforcers followed him, one of them helping Salvatore walk. As he led the way, Tommy came up beside him.
    “Standard procedure is in effect, Mr. Lupo,” Tommy said. “As soon as we exit the tunnel, we blow this end of it to cover our escape. There will be cars waiting for us on the other end, and we get our people outta here.”
    “Thank you, Tommy,” Antonio replied. “Do as Kevin instructed and help Siobhan get your people back to Boston.”
    “Yes, sir,” Tommy replied professionally. “What are you going to do?”
    “I’m going to take Linda, and any of my people who want to follow me, out of New York,” he replied simply.
    “Where will you go, though?” Tommy asked. “We can make room for you up in Boston. We have resources up there. Hell, we can get some firepower together, and come back and wipe those commie bastards out!”
    Antonio glanced at the senior ranking member of the O’Hara crime Family. “Thank you, Tommy, but my first order of business is to keep Linda safe. I can’t do that if I’m leading or joining you on a mission of revenge against the Russians. Besides, that wasn’t what Kevin wanted me to do. He wants all of us safe, though. That means that we have to leave town and stay gone.”
    “So you’re running?” Tommy bristled. “I’ve known you for over a year, Tony. We’ve worked together several times, and I know you ain’t a coward. Now you want to turn tail and run?”
    “Our families are done, Tommy,” Antonio said calmly. “You heard the sirens coming. The cops are going to be all over this place in no time. They’re going to see Kevin and my father, dead along with the Russian bastards who attacked us. We lost over a hundred people today. The Russians lost as many, if not more. The carnage here is going to bring the wrath of the NYPD down upon us all if we don’t leave now .”
    “We’ll need to clean out the accounts, then,” Tommy said with a resigned sigh. “We need to clean them out before the cops can freeze us out.”
    “Exactly,” Antonio said with a nod. “Time is critical here, so we have to do so as quickly as possible. As soon as you and Siobhan get clear, get her to the bank to clear out all of your personal accounts. I’ll do the same at our bank. We have to-“
    The sounds of a quick struggle ensued behind him, and then a dreadful sound filled the tunnel.
    CLICK-CLACK
    Antonio turned towards the sound, his eyes narrowing as he saw Salvatore. The men helping him were on the ground holding their heads and rubbing their jaws. Meanwhile, Salvatore had backed up a few steps to keep them in his line of sight. The gun, however, was trained on Antonio’s chest. Salvatore sneered at them, as he held the gun unwaveringly.
    “Why couldn’t you just die,