The Mafia's Grace

Carson

I sat in the kitchen with James. Neither of us spoke. After our failed raid this morning we had nothing to say. Ryker has been in his office. The sound of smashing stopped about an hour ago. I have never seen him like this, not even after our parent's death.

"I am so sorry Carson. I really thought we would find something." James said as he rested his head on my shoulder. I rubbed his back.

It hurt to see James like this. He was not the man I fell in love with. Everything about him was different. He loved Grace like a sister, she saved his life, and he feels like he let her down. Guilt was destroying him and everyone else in this house.

"It's okay baby. We can't lose hope." I didn't want to admit it, but I have been losing hope. No matter how much we search, or how much hacking James does we always come up empty.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I quickly answered it.

"Hello." Craig's deep voice spoke up.

"Carson, I believe I have some information that may be useful." Another lead.

"Explain." I didn't bother messing around with being polite.

"A safe house of Dylan's about an hour away has been active recently. There have been cars coming to and from the building. The lights are always on. I believe this is where Grace is." Hope. That's all I could hear in Craig's voice.

"Thank you, Craig. Be here as soon as you can." He mumbled a 'yes' and hung up. I stood up and James raised his eyebrows at me.

"We have another lead. This one sounds good." James shot up to his feet and followed closely behind me as I knocked on the office door.

"What?" Ryker's distressed voice sounded from the office.

I pushed the door open and looked around. The room was a tip. There were shards of glass sticking out of the walls and floors. Ryker sat on his desk chair. He looked just as bad as the office he spent all his time in.

"We have a lead. This one looks promising." He looked up and ran his hand down his face.

"We leave in 10." He dismissed.

Me and James grabbed our guns and prepared the rest of the men. They all had dejected looks on their faces. Everyone seemed to have lost hope, but they came along anyway. They all pledged themselves to Grace and they wouldn't stop until they found her.

We drove in silence. Everyone was anxious to get to Dylan's safe house. If there were men there then we could take them back with us to be questioned. Someone must know something about Grace. After a short while, we arrived. There was a couple of cars parked out front.

"Kill anyone inside except Dylan. We need him alive. He dies slowly and at my hands." Ryker's voice echoed through the radio. The men had heard this speech and knew the drill. We all filed out of the cars and towards the door.

I stood next to Ryker who flicked the safety off on his gun as some men kicked the door open. He pushed through and I trailed behind him. The building was not empty this time. It was full of me. I pulled the trigger and open fire. Bodies of our enemies fell to the floor as more of our men piled into the reception of the safe house.

"Dylan, three o'clock boss." A man yelled and my head snapped in the direction.

There Dylan stood, a hairbrush in hand. Ryker ran towards him and tackled him to the floor. He sent a few swift punches to Dylan's face before Craig pulled him off.

"Not yet boss. He needs to suffer. I will deal with him; you go and find Grace." Ryker nodded and started pulling doors open.

I followed his lead and opened any door that I saw. A living room, a cupboard for food, a set of stairs. My heart stopped slightly as I looked down the stairs.

"RY OVER HERE!" I called for him. James stood by my side as Ryker ran over to us.

He looked down the stairs and I saw a small smile appear on his face. The first one I had seen for a long time. He walked down the stairs and we followed him. The door at the bottom was already open, so we walked straight in.

There were rows of cells all lit up with a bright white light. I looked around and saw a pair of keys dangling from a hook on the wall. I slipped them off. We walked down the rows of cells, checking everyone for Grace. Ryker was a few cells ahead of us when he abruptly stopped.

"Grace." He whispered out. I froze. She was here.

I ran to him and looked into the cell along with James. Grace was propped up against a wall watching us. She looked so small and weak, her eyebrow was split, and her face was covered in dried blood.

"Took you long enough." She said as a half cry half-laugh left Ryker's mouth. We found her.