Little Mafia Boy - Chapter 25: Chapter 25

{Nico}
"-and you think your brother is behind everyone going missing? That sounds ridiculous. Like something straight out of a movie." Dylan was saying from the back seat. I had been trying to fill him in on the situation at hand for the past twenty minutes. It was even more exhausting than I thought it would be.
"Life would be so much easier if this was all just some made up story for entertainment, but it's not." I told Dylan from the passenger seat.
"Or is it?" He asked. I looked through the side mirror to see him looking out the window making some weird faces. As if he was hoping to break some imaginary fourth wall. "Hope you are all entertained enough. I'll start juggling babies in the next act so don't put your phone down just yet, you sockless nasties." I rolled my eyes and ignored Dylan. He was awfully calm about the situation. Though, I wondered if that was his way of staying calm. If cracking jokes prevented Glasses from freaking out and having a panic attack then I just would leave him in his own world. Dylan's facial expression turned into one full of worry as he went completely silent. He was starting to imagine the worst happening to Max and his two friends. There wasn't much I could say that would ease his mind. So I kept quiet instead.
I turned to look over at Frederik as he drove around. Frederik looked different wearing normal civilian clothes instead of his usual suit and tie. His hair wasn't slicked back and he wasn't wearing his glasses either. His attitude, on the other hand, was the same as always. He replied with short answers and only spoke when he needed to. Though, it was never suffocating or awkward so I was thankful for at least that much.
We were tracking Eli's signal. Somehow Junky had managed to place a chip on Eli. He pretended to be a normal civilian late for work and bumped into Eli, dropping the tracking chip into his bag. Really, if Eli had decided to leave his bag at home then we wouldn't even know where he was at. We got lucky. Eli was getting too comfortable. I was surprised he hadn't suspected Junky the moment they made contact.
I watched the red dot on the tablet make a right turn. We were a block away. Junky was following on foot and the rest of their team was back at their building. They were talking to the F.B.I. and hoped to get some back up from them. Frederik had an ear piece in. That is how he was talking to the rest of his team. He kept Dylan and I informed on how things were going on their end. Apparently the F.B.I. weren't too happy that the private investigators were helping me out.
The F.B.I. Suspected me of being just another pawn moving on Eli's command. An absolutely wrong judgement but I didn't blame them for thinking the way they did. The Mafia is widely known to be all about family and trust within the members. I sincerely believe it would have been that way had Eli not pushed me away when we were younger. I would still think that Eli was an amazing brother. Someone I looked up to and aspired to be. So, although I wanted to break every bone in their bodies for ever thinking Eli and I are on the same team, I was kind enough to let it slide this time. Nothing good would come out of me getting on the F.B.I.'s bad side. They were an organization I definitely didn't want to ever meet.
"You've been staring at me." Frederik said glancing at me before turning his attention back to the road.
I immediately looked towards the front as well, "Don't think anything weird of it. I was just lost in my own thoughts."
"Mmm." Frederik hummed in response. "Alright then. I'll try not to let my imagination get the best of me." His sarcasm was even more annoying now that I knew he didn't really work for the family. It's not like I could threaten to fire him. Even if I did, Frederik wouldn't pay it any attention at all.
"I have a question." Dylan said peeking from around the passenger seat.
"This isn't a class setting. Just ask." I told him with an eye roll.
"You said your brother hates you."
"Right."
"All because he wanted to be the boss instead of you?"
Right." I said again in agreement. I didn't understand what was so difficult for Dylan to comprehend. It was all pretty self explanatory.
"but, isn't that a bit weird? I mean, I get it. He was supposed to be the next boss or whatever. You took his spot and he's angry about that but what I can't get my mind wrapped around is that you're family at the end of the day. Shouldn't he be on your side?"
I shifted in my seat and sighed softly, "We're half brothers. We were fine before but I suspect his mother formed ideas into his head. One day, he just simply pushed me away."
"Ahh... That doesn't really help clear my mind of these nasty thoughts I have." Dylan said behind me, his voice wavering ever so slightly.
"Look, Eli is crazy." I said bluntly. I turned around to look Dylan in the eyes. It was all true. There was no point in sugar-coating my words if Dylan was going to be around me and find out sooner or later. "I never know what he's thinking or what he could be plotting. He wears twenty masks so I never know which one is his true self. If you're asking me whether or not we'll find everyone unscathed then the answer is definitely not. Eli will harm them. Both mentally and physically. Now, if you're asking me if we'll find their lifeless bodies on the ground then the answer would also be no, I'm hoping. Eli was never able to take a person's life before. If that's still the case, we might have the upper hand."
"That 'might' is not reassuring at all."
I spoke up and said, "I'll be sure to find them." Though my determination was commendable, I was still unsure if I could keep true to my word. I wasn't about to go up against just anybody. This was Eli we were talking about. He plotted things thoroughly and thought up of many different scenarios. He was always prepared.
However, if Eli kept them alive then this would all be worth it in the end. I would make sure to cut Eli out of my life for good. One thing was to turn his back on me and treat me like shit but taking away Mikhail and Max was a completely different matter. He knew very well how much Max means to me. He is like my younger brother. Max is closer to a blood relative then Eli will ever be.
Mikhail is my other half.
I fully believe that with my heart and soul. He completes me. Where as I'm rash and get angry quickly, Mikhail is soft-hearted and thinks rationally before acting. He knows what to say and the timing to do so. He's able to bring me back down to reality before I do anything I'll regret. Losing Mikhail would finish breaking my very existence. I was already holding on from a very thin thread after my mother passed away. Having my brother treat me like a stranger didn't help either. Being treated liked a nuisance at home by my father's wife added to my problems. Now, my best friend who I thought of as an older sister stabbed me in the back the very same night she dared to smile mockingly straight at my face like nothing was wrong. There was no way I was going to lose Mikhail when I had just managed for him to lower his walls around me.
One thing kept bugging me though. Why would Eli need Dan. The only time they briefly met was at Dan's house when Eli went to deliver our father's orders. I don't remember them saying very much to each other that would peak Eli's interest. I felt bad that someone completely unrelated had to get involved. I mean, if you think about it, Max and Mikhail are involved because Max has always been by my side and Mikhail is my boyfriend. Losing either one of them will break me. However I don't have those kinds of feelings for Dan, regretfully. Her death would only sadden Mikhail and Dylan.
Possibly Sera.
Ah, I had been so focused on finding everyone that I hadn't thought much about Sera's betrayal. I knew it was coming some day. No matter how much Sera followed me around and listened to me, she would act like an obedient pup around Eli. He's good at manipulating people like that. I guess I wasn't really surprised by it but I was still hurt. I hadn't realized how much until I took a minute to really think about it.
Everything we had been through together and she was able to easily lie to my face and throw it all away. I sighed loudly and let my head fall back on the headrest. I looked up at the car roof and then shut my eyes. I felt like I could have stopped this from happening. Had I not trusted Sera like Max advised then she wouldn't have been invited to the festival. The possibility of everyone being safe would be higher. I messed up and I knew it. I blamed myself. The voice in the back of my mind kept telling me that Sera was feeding Eli information about us all but I chose not to listen to it because if I did then that would be something else that Eli took away from me.
"Alright." Frederik said which surprised me and broke me out of my thoughts. I looked at him strangely as he spoke to himself but then I remembered he had an ear piece in. "Yeah, do it. We're following behind on foot." He parked the car off to the side of the road and it wasn't until then that I looked down at the tablet in my hands. The red dot that represented Eli stopped completely.
I caught on quickly and began taking off my seat belt, "We're going after him already?" Frederik nodded and grabbed for the handgun from the dashboard. "Woah. What are you doing with that?" I asked cautiously as I grabbed onto his wrist tightly.
"Elisha might be armed with a weapon. This is just a safety measure." Frederik said raising an eyebrow up at me.
"You're a private investigator. Do you even have a permit to carry that?"
"This coming from the next Delacroix boss? Don't tell me, you're afraid of guns?" Frederik was mocking me.
I clicked my tongue at him and kept ahold of his wrist. "No, I held a gun and knew how to shoot accurately even before I knew my multiplications."
"Then... The problem?"
"You're not going to go out in the middle of a street and start shooting at Eli. You're going to raise awareness to the civilians that way. We'd get sent straight to jail instead." I said thinking that this could have been apart of Eli's plans and we were just falling straight into the palm of his hand.
"The F.B.I. is on our side. They'll bail us out if anything goes wrong." He pulled his arm out of my wrist and made sure there were bullets inside.
"Wait, you mean the literal F.B.I. is after your brother? What the hell did he do?" Dylan sounded concerned and a bit freaked out. I heard him taking off his seatbelt and then he leaned forward in the middle. "Shouldn't we leave this to them? I mean, I want to find them as much as anybody else but going after someone who the F.B.I. is after sounds suicidal to me. I can't be the only one who thinks this?"
He wasn't. I definitely thought that going after Eli was a fools errand. "We don't have the time to wait for the F.B.I. to handle this. They would have to follow orders and go by the book. That could very well take weeks, months even. We can do things freely and our own way by ourselves. They're only backup in case we absolutely need their help." I said instead of my original thought.
"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Dylan said looking back and forth between Frederick and I. "I'm having a real hard time getting this through my brain. We could seriously die out there. This Eli person sounds like a straight lunatic. Can't we find some other way. Let's just track him until we find the others. We don't need to face him in person-
"We won't get another chance like this again." I interrupted.
"What do you mean?"
"Look, Eli is an evil genius for a lack of better words. It's a miracle we know where he is right now. When later comes, we might not even be able to track his signal anymore. He could find the tracker on him and destroy it. He can not take his bag with him and we're screwed. Taking Eli now is our one chance."
"You can't be serious? I-I mean, I-if we can just watch from afar-"
"Then stay here in the car." Frederick interrupted Dylan's stuttering nonsense. He looked out the window and pressed on the device in his ear, "This is Winter. I'm leaving Nico's friend-"
"Not my friend." I added.
"an ear piece. He's staying in the car." He waited for a response, "Copy that." Frederick said, ignoring me. He pushed Dylan out of the way and reached in the back seat. He pulled a duffel bag from under the seat and placed it in the middle of the car. I raised my eyebrow and watched closely as Frederick pulled out a small device that must have been the ear piece. "Come here." He ordered Dylan and pulled him by the collar. Dylan made a small noise of protest but Frederick also ignored him. Frederick roughly turned Dylan's head and placed the device in his ear. "There. When we get out you jump up to the front seat and keep the car running. If we need to get away quickly we'll call for you."
"Is that a good idea?" I spoke up skeptically.
"He'll be fine. He'll be able to hear everything that we talk about with this." Frederick said pointing to his own ear. "He can also contact us if anything happens out here."
Dylan didn't say anything. He was obviously scared. That was to be expected. As much as he wanted to play the hero and save Max with his own hands, he wouldn't be able to do it. His fear of death didn't allow him to move recklessly. He didn't grow up in our world. He had a sheltered, normal life since birth.
I glared at him and shook my head in disgust, "You're so pitiful." I opened the car door and slammed it shut behind me.
All that nonsense Dylan spouted to me about never leaving Max's side suddenly came into my thoughts. If he was so afraid now. There was no way Dylan could be with Max in the future. Dylan's optimistic mind and all the lies he told disgusted me. Now, when he should be breaking down every door in the town looking for Max like a madman, he was instead hiding inside a car. I shouldn't have been so mad. I understood where his fear came from but I couldn't help it. Max definitely deserved someone better. Someone who would give even his own life to be with him. Dylan just wasn't the right guy.
"That was a bit much." Frederik told me as he came around the car and was putting his gun away and hid it with his shirt.
I shrugged and spared one last look at Dylan. He had his head leaning down on the steering wheel with his eyes shut tightly. I looked at Frederick and responded, "My whole life is a bit much, don't ya think?"
Frederick chuckled softly, "I suppose you're right." He started walking and I followed him. "Mafia member by day and assistant to the F.B.I. by night. Must be hard living a double life."
"We have a shared interest." I said at Frederik's remark, "I'm not helping anyone."
Frederik kept a smirk on his face but didn't say anything else. We were in the open so we couldn't afford to attract any attention to ourselves. I walked alongside Frederick and looked around carefully. A few other people where walking around. Some alone and others in a small group. There was a party a few streets down. The music was blaring through the cold winter air. I was surprised cops hadn't shut it down yet.
"He's in there?" I asked as I stuffed my cold fingers inside my jacket.
"According to his signal." Frederick nodded. "Junky is posted nearby in case Elisha tries to make a break for it. We'll go inside. Try not to get lost." I heard everything Frederick said but didn't respond. I hated crowded places. They made me feel uncomfortable. It was like I was a young kid again being stared at by all the adults.
'That's the one. He's the rumored bastard child.' They would all gawk at me. They made no attempt to keep quiet. After all, I was just a kid with no real voice of my own.
'His mother purposely got pregnant with him. She just wanted all of the boss' money.'
'I heard she's just some whore from the red-light district.'
'Naomi must be furious.'
'How could the Delacroix boss do something like that.'
'It's not uncommon.' They always gossiped. Not even caring that I was within ear shot, 'Men with that much power get tired of sleeping with only one women. It's only a shame that an illegitimate child was born. He'll bring down everything the boss worked hard for.'
Looking back at it, I almost laughed out loud. They said I would bring shame and dishonor and I ended up being the next boss. I only wished that I remembered the faces of the gossiping women. How satisfying would it be to see their shocked expression as I mocked them in front of everyone? No longer would they hold their head up high with enough pride to reach Mars.
"Hey... Maybe you should have waited inside the car as well." Frederick said. "Your face looks white."
"I'm fine. I'm not a coward." I told him. I wouldn't back down now. I was so close to finding everyone. I noticed we were in front of the party. Teenagers were taking a breather from the party as they sat around in the front lawn. Others were knocked out drunk and sleeping in their own vomit. I walked off towards the entrance, kicking a beer bottle out of my way. The door was open widely allowing everyone to go in and out as they pleased.
I managed one foot on the threshold when some pretty boy with flawless skin and shiny black hair crashed against my chest. He looked about Max's age and seemed only a bit taller than him. "Oof!" He cried out.
I grabbed onto both of his shoulders and pulled him back, "This isn't a place for a kid to be hanging around at." I couldn't help but feel protective over him. He reminded me so much of Max.
He looked up at me with a blank expression. He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts and then said, "I was just going home." He slapped my hands away from his shoulders and shoved past me to walk away. I moved aside watching him go. I was a little thankful he was leaving. He wouldn't get caught up in this mess if Eli decided to do something crazy inside the party.
Frederick looked at me carefully, "We don't have the time to mess around with some high school kid." He lectured me.
I clicked my tongue and said, "Don't you think I know that?" I sighed in annoyance and asked, "Where is he?" I shouted at him so he would hear me over the music.
Frederick looked down at his phone. He decided to bring his cell phone instead of the tablet so he wouldn't raise suspicion. He stuffed his phone in his pocket and reached for my hand. He entangled our finger together tightly. He didn't let go even when I tried yanking my hand away. I looked at him like he had gone completely insane. He leaned into my ear so he wouldn't have to shout and said, "I'm blending in. Also, I don't want to get separated. Just go along with it. Don't make this any stranger than it has to be." he walked forward, pulling me around, as we made our way through the sweaty bodies dancing around clumsily.
I was almost thankful he had grabbed my hand. We would have definitely gotten separated otherwise. I looked around at all the carefree teenagers and I thought that it must have been so nice to be them. They didn't have to worry about anything other than grades, the recent gossip circling the campus, and trying not to get knocked up with a child. Sure, they might have had a few family problems here and there but I didn't think it couldn't compare to my situation, not by a landslide.
Frederik led me towards the stairs. It was less crowded so he let go of my hand. "Do you even know where he is?" I asked since he looked lost.
"I know he's somewhere inside the house." He said.
"Wow. So helpful." I said rolling my eyes.
Frederik replied, "Sorry that we don't have a layout of the house to tell us exactly where Elisha is at." He opened a door to reveal a threesome taking place. They didn't even stop when they noticed they had a sudden audience. If anything, they went at it harder. Frederik quickly shut the door and cleared his throat. He continued walking down the hall acting as if nothing happened.
I smirked and let out a small chuckle behind him. He must be in his mid-twenties so to see him get embarrassed and flushed over seeing three people having sex was hilarious to me. Frederik looked like the type that didn't let anything bother him. To find out that something as natural as sex got a reaction out of him was amusing.
"So," I said deciding not to joke around since it clearly wasn't the time to do so. "We're just going to look around the whiny house for him?"
"Basically." Frederik said. From behind I saw him pulling at his shirt. He took out his phone, "We're right over the red dot. He should be here."
"What if he dropped the bag somewhere and left?" I asked.
Frederik hesitated in front of a door and then turned the knob. He looked inside but it was empty. "We won't know unless we search the whole house." Frederik said as he shut the door.
"Why couldn't we have gone separate ways? We would have covered more ground that way."
"You don't have an ear piece and I gave the only other one I had to your-"
"Not my friend."
Frederik ignored me again and continued, "friend. You don't have a weapon on you to protect yourself and I'm not about to hand you my gun. We'll search the house together. Your friend is posted in the street so he'll tell us if anyone suspicious heads out. I left a photo of Elisha with him. Junky is posted in the back. There isn't a house in the back since this neighborhood seems remotely new. Construction for houses seems to be going on in the near plots of land." He explained.
"Fine. Whatever." I said walking in front of Frederik to check the rest of the doors. I could have given him reasons of why I thought splitting up was a better option but didn't feel like wasting any more time.
I skipped a door because I heard moans inside and hardly envisioned Eli coming to a party just to have sex with random people. I kept wondering what could have been inside the bag that he decided to bring to a party. One full of drunk teenager for that matter. He was either dropping something off or picking something up.
I opened the last door inside the hallway and poked my head inside first to see that it was empty. I kept the lights off and walked over to the balcony. I opened the glass door and stepped out. The pool was clearly visible. Eli hadn't been on the dance floor or on the top floor so if he still was here, he would be at the pool. Or at least, that was my thinking. I scanned at everyone's faces carefully. Almost no one was in the pool. However, everyone outside was in their underwear. I guess a pool was a good enough excuse for teens to lose their clothing.
One person stood out as they had their hood on. He was wearing a sweater and I recognized the bag he had slung over on one shoulder. Frederik came over and stood right next to me. "Do you see-"
"Shh!" I hushed, acting like Eli would hear us over the loud music and from this distance. "That's him, isn't it?" I asked nodding towards the guys who might have been Eli. I pointed carefully making sure I didn't get anyone's attention and quickly put my hand down.
"That definitely the bag. Ah- he's leaving!" Frederik put his finger over his ear piece and said, "Junky! We spotted him! He's leaving.. Yeah. Okay. Good, tell 'T' and- wait! What are you doing!?" He asked grabbing onto my shirt.
I was climbing onto the fencing. "This is the quickest way. Go down the stairs and intercept him! Take my phone!" I tossed it at him. Frederik let go of my shirt to catch my phone and I took the chance to jump. I heard Frederik curse at me but couldn't make out what he said. It was a short distance so I was almost positive that I could make it. I held my breath as I hit the pool water. I was thankful for whoever owned the house for the heated pool.
As soon as I resurfaced I looked around for Eli. The crowds cheering was the first thing I heard. They all assumed I was as drunk as them. I swam to the edge when people jumped in behind me. I clicked my tongue at the stupid teens and spotted Eli watching alertly. As soon as he realized I was staring at him from under his hood, he made a break for it. I could only see from his mouth down, "Eli!" I shouted as I struggled to get out of the pool because my clothes weighed me down. I kicked off my shoes inside the pool and lifted myself out. I saw Eli dropping the bag and climbing over the brick wall just as soon as Frederik came out from the kitchen through the sliding glass door.
"He jumped over!" I shouted as I ran past him. Frederik followed without a word as we both pulled ourselves over the wall. I jumped down and saw Junky on top of a silhouette. I stood there with shock that Junky had caught Eli so quickly.
"Woo!" Junky shouted with excitement, "You guys should have seen my awesome moves!" Eli was struggling from underneath as Junky sat on his back. His hood was covering his face as he grunted in discomfort.
Frederik landed next to me and stood  up. "You're an impulsive idiot. Don't ever do that again. Nearly gave me a heart attack." He said and smacked my head.
Water dropped on my face. I pushed back my wet hair and then stepped forward. The wonder air was harsh against my soaking clothes. I was just thankful there wasn't much snow where I stood, most of it had melted. My socks had slipped off when I left my shoes in the pool. I was stepping in dirt and rocks so my steps were careful and filled with pain, "Ow, shit."
Frederick walked past me with ease considering he still had his shoes on. He took out his phone and turned on the flashlight. "Time for confirmation." He pointed it at Eli and took off his hood.
"Who in the fucking hell is this?" I asked, anger filling my every word." I finally stood right next to the crouched Frederik.
"Shit! Let me go, man!" The stranger said in annoyance and anger.
Junky leaned over to the the stranger face. "What the-"
"You said you were following Eli!" I yelled at Junky. This clearly wasn't him. It was some redhead with freckles.
"He came out of your house suspiciously!" Junky defended his mistake.
"He is about the same build and height as Elisha." Frederik added as he stood up, "We were all fooled." He was right, of course, but that just angered me more. I knew there was something fishy about this whole thing and yet we still fell into Eli's decoy.
Quickly, I pulled up Frederik's shirt and pulled out his gun. I took off the safety lock and pointed it at the red head. My inner Mafia coming out as I stared coldly at the man laying on the ground. "Who are you and why were you inside my house. Where's Eli?"
"Hey!" Frederik shouted at me but kept his distance, noting that I wasn't to be touched.
"Woah!" Junky exclaimed. He climbed off of the redhead and stepped away, "Don't go waving that around, kid! It's not a toy."
"H-hey! Stop that! I don't know nothin'!"
The redhead's grammar was almost enough to make me blast his head off. I crouched down and ignored everyone else. I pushed the gun to his temple and with my free hand grabbed his cheeks roughly. I tilted his head up so he was looking into my eyes and said, "I'm not in the mood for any more tricks. Where's Eli?"
"I swear I don't know who you're talking about!" He sounded terrified as his voice shook, being confronted by death did that to people.
"Oh? Did you hit your head and forget everything? The house you left about an hour ago. Last chance before I blast your head." I told him in a low tone.
"Ah! Ah!" He said, magically recalling his lost memory, "You- you mean Elisha Zechna?" He referred to Eli using his new surname as he had given up his rights to use father's name. "He told me he would pay me three thousand if I wore his clothes and walked around town. Walking around was getting boring so I came to hang out at a party. I swear. That's all I was told!"
"Wow. It's a Christmas miracle." I said sarcastically. "What's inside the bag you were carrying around?"
"Nothing at all. He told me I had to carry it with me. Those were da' terms. Come on! I just wanted easy cash, man!"
Frederik put a soft hand on my shoulder, "He must have known about the tracker and led us on a wild goose chase." He cautiously reached for the gun in my hand. I let him take it away from me. Junky nervously laughed as I smashed the red-haired head's on the floor. He immediately knocked out. He was still breathing but would be out for a couple hours. I was angry and had to release that anger on something before I blew up on the wrong people. I stood up and sighed loudly. "Go back to the car." Frederik instructed us both, "I'll go back in for the bag. Maybe we can find something useful in it. I'll walk out through the front. I'll contact Nico's friend." I didn't even feel like reminding Frederik that Dylan and I weren't friends. He looked down at the guy's motionless body and grimaced and then walked over to the wall again, disappearing from sight.
Junky rubbed the back of his neck and then spoke up, "I wouldn't usually offer this but you seem very angry, so, do you want a piggyback ride?"
"What?" I asked scowling in confusion.
"You don't have shoes." Junky pointed at my bare feet. "The ground is cold and I'd rather not wait an eternity for you to get to the car."
I was going to refuse but thought better on it. We were in the back street and it would take a while to get back on the street that Dylan was at. Also, If we called Dylan over to us I felt like the stupid Donkey would get lost. "Fine." Junky bent his knees and lowered his body so I could climb on his back. "We're never talking about this again."
"Agreed." Junky said as he began walking. Only then did I realize how cold I actually was. My wet clothes felt stiff as it clung to my body.
Maybe it was because junky was taller than me and his back wider or maybe it was because I suddenly felt vulnerable that I allowed my emotions to get the best of me. I couldn't even remember when the last time I cried was. I leaned my forehead on Junky's shoulder and cried quietly. Junky must have known I was crying but said nothing out of consideration.
I was being played by Eli. The worst possible scenarios flashed inside my head. Eli was always two steps ahead of me. Ever since we were younger. It was frustrating that we were right back at the starting line.