Chapter 229

Chapter 229
Leonardo

"Check the monitors," I ordered, gesturing toward the bank of screens that should show feeds from every camera on the property.
James moved to the console while I examined the body. No signs of torture or prolonged struggle. Just a clean, efficient kill. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing.
"Feeds are down," James reported. "Last recording shows four men entering through the north perimeter at 10:42 PM. They disabled the cameras immediately after."
I checked my watch. Almost 1:00 AM now. They'd had plenty of time to do whatever they came for.
"Conrad," I said, already moving toward the stairs that led to the lower level where we'd left him.
We descended cautiously, weapons ready. The hallway was dark, emergency lights casting just enough illumination to navigate by. Two more bodies lay at the bottom of the stairs, my security personnel. Same clean shots to the head.
The door to Conrad's room stood open, light spilling into the hallway.
I signaled to James, and we approached from opposite sides of the corridor. Three quick hand gestures communicated the plan: I'd enter first, high, while James covered low.
On a silent count of three, we moved.
I entered the room high, weapon raised, while James swept low, covering the angles I couldn't see. The space was dimly lit by a single overhead bulb, casting long shadows across the concrete floor.
The room was empty.
"Clear," I announced, lowering my weapon slightly but keeping it ready.
James moved to check the adjacent bathroom. "Clear here too."
The room where Conrad had been kept was now vacant, with no sign of struggle, no blood, and nothing to indicate what had happened. The chair he'd been sitting in earlier stood in the center of the room, unoccupied. A half-empty water bottle sat on the metal table nearby.
"Fuck," I muttered, scanning the room again. "He's gone."
We backed out and continued down the hallway, clearing rooms systematically. The deeper we went into the compound, the more bodies we found, all my men, all with precision headshots. Professional work.
Three more of my people lay sprawled across the floor in the main security office. The monitors displayed nothing but static. Someone had disabled the entire system.
"Eight men dead so far," James reported quietly as we moved through the building. "All security personnel."
"And Conrad is in the wind," I added, my voice tight with controlled anger.
We reached the end of the corridor where another body lay slumped against the wall, a pool of dark blood spreading beneath him. Joseph, one of my most experienced security guys. His radio was still clutched in his hand.
"This was coordinated," I said, crouching to examine Joseph's wound. "Clean execution. In and out."
"Professionals," James agreed. "Military training, most likely."
Something caught my eye, a metal box sitting beside Joseph's body. It seemed deliberately placed, like a calling card.
"James," I nodded toward it.
He approached cautiously, gun still at the ready. After checking for wires or triggering mechanisms, he carefully lifted the lid to reveal a simple white envelope inside.
James extracted it using the edge of his jacket, then handed it to me. "No obvious signs of tampering or toxins."
I tore it open and unfolded the single sheet of paper inside. As I read, a cold anger settled in my gut.
"Mr. Salvatore,
As you've discovered, Peter Conrad is no longer your guest. Consider this a demonstration of our capabilities and reach. Your security was quite impressive.
You misunderstood from the beginning. Conrad was never the target; he was merely bait. While you were distracted by your cousin's celebration, we retrieved our asset with minimal difficulty.
I find myself curious about how you intend to identify who's trying to kill you when you can't even secure a single prisoner. Your bravery in refusing to dismantle your operations is admirable, if foolish.
Let's see how this game unfolds, shall we?
Until next time."
The note was unsigned, but the message was clear. I'd been played.
I handed the letter back to James, who read it quickly, his expression darkening.
"This whole thing was a setup," I said, holstering my weapon. "Conrad fed us information about an attack at Dante's party to draw our attention there. Meanwhile, they hit this place and extracted him."
"So the party threat was a diversion," James concluded.
"A very effective one," I admitted, surveying the carnage around us. "They knew exactly when we'd be gone and exactly how to get in."
I moved back through the hallway, mentally cataloging every detail of the scene. The precision of the kills, the timing of the attack, the careful staging of the note; this was a message as much as an operation.
"Boss," James called from the security room. "You need to see this."
I joined him at the main console where he'd managed to restore power to one of the monitors. The screen showed footage from several hours earlier. A team of six men in tactical gear moved efficiently through the compound, neutralizing my security personnel with practiced precision.
"Look at their formation," James said, pointing to the screen. "Military, high-level. They knew the layout perfectly."
I watched as they reached Conrad's room, bypassing the electronic lock in seconds. Conrad emerged looking shaken but unharmed. There was no sign he'd been coerced; in fact, he seemed to be exchanging words with the team leader.
"He was expecting them," I observed. "This was planned."
The footage continued, showing Conrad and the team making their exit. Not a single wasted movement, not a moment of hesitation. In and out in under four minutes.
"Someone's got an inside man," James said, voicing what we were both thinking.
I nodded, my jaw clenched tight. "Someone who knows our security protocols, the compound layout, and my schedule."
"What's our next move?"
I stared at the frozen image of Conrad being escorted out by his extraction team. "We find out who's feeding them information, and we make them pay. Then we hunt down Conrad and whoever sent that team."
"And the organization?"
"Business continues as usual," I said firmly. "We don't show weakness. Double the security at all locations, change all the protocols, and I want a complete loyalty check on everyone in the inner circle."
"Everyone?" James raised an eyebrow.
"Everyone," I confirmed. "No exceptions."
As we headed back to the main level, my mind was already cycling through possibilities. Someone close to me was a traitor, and whoever was behind these attacks was playing a longer game than I'd anticipated.