7

Stefano 

“Logan, could you try that frequency again? " I said to the man turning the transmitting radio. The lines were unstable as he turned it. I waited with hope as he did it again. He stopped at a frequency but I shook my head. It wasn't the one I wanted, the voice didn't sound like what I wanted to hear. He tuned it again for a while but to no avail. The network jammed into several radio stations and he stopped.

“What exactly are you hoping to hear?” He asked but I said nothing. He could sense my apprehension and so he began searching again. It was better for him to not question my instructions.

“Ready in 0300 hours…will take about an hour” came in a voice. Logan raised up his hands to make another round of turning but I stopped him. It was the voice of Arseni. The very one I've been waiting for. 

For a while, he's been trying to stretch his wings in the water of Italy but I've tried to prevent him. Although he's young, he's a veteran in all that has to do with drugs and arm dealing. After trying to stop him from expanding his territory, I decided to let him be. If he wasn't going to accept that the Niccolians don't beg fro their cuts, we'll make sure to show him how things were done.

Intels had shown that he communicates over radio frequency as opposed to phone call. Therefore, I got ready for him. For months, I've made sure Logan listens to information being transmitted all across the world. The technology which made this easier was one that was quite difficult to get but I got it anyways. That's one of the benefits of being a Niccolo.

“Dock 13” the voice cackled over the radio again. “Merchandise includes dynamite, Aks and RPGs. Also, a box of multi-purpose containers.”

Bingo! Arseni, that bastard. Didn’t they say the food of revenge is best served cold? If he won't listen to me, then I'd deal with him. Since he has denied us our respect, now it's time to deny him his entire ship.

I rang Vittorio on the land phone in my desk. At the send ring , he picked. From the noises at the background I could tell he was at work. Only God knows the reason why he does the boring job. The meager amount he earns is nothing compared to his spendings in a week. But I can't prevent him anyways. So far he's efficient in both his cover up and the mafia business, I have no problem with it.

“I got Arseni on the radio. He couldn't have pulled this alone without Massimo's input. They have a deal coming over tonight and we have to be ready. Tell Salvatore to get ready to do his thing.

“Should I wear my favourite shirt?” He said playfully.

“No please, I can't guarantee this won't end in a bloodbath.”

*************

The air around the dock was thick with stench, oil and water. Not only was the night dark but the air surrounding us also. Arseni’s men had changed plans at the last minute but we were able to get the info on time. Salvatore had hacked into Arseni's satellite.

Yeah, I know it's difficult to believe that he could do something like that but he can. Getting into people's deepest secrets has always been his thing. So, when he showed interest in hacking, we all supported him. I'm glad we did because those skills come in handy on several occasions.

One of my men looked into the telescope in his hand from afar. We waited for him to do the ground checking and get back to us.

“There are more than a dozen of them,” he reported. Vittorio had made sure to show up with two dozen men in the SUVs. It was going to be nothing to handle them all.

“By my count, each of you can take down one of them and we'll be good. Do not forget how important this is. These men want to take over our territory. We have to show them that we are no piece of shit. We won't allow anyone to encroach onto our land. The mission his simple. We take them down and take whatever we see there because they belong to us.” Vittorio finished. By the grunts from the men . I could tell that their morales were up in the sky. Vittorio has always been the one with many words, so we left things like that to him.

Quietly and with precision, my men surrounded the dick heads from all sides. As I thought , I could see a couple of Massimo’s men too. Arseni’s men weren't expecting any surprises, so our appearance took them unaware. By the time they realized what had hit them, the odds were already against them. My men not only had guns, they were equipped with sharp blades of different sizes. Blades so sharp that I'd cut through any skin, no matter how thick.

The atmosphere became filled with gunshots and shouts from every corner of the dock. After a while, the shouting died down. 

“That was easy,” Sal said and I smirked. The three of us got out of the car. Salvatore led the way and we trudged to the scene. While Vittorio and I checked out the surrounding to be sure that we were safe, Salvatore and the rest of the men checked the boxes in the containers.

The men screamed with excitement as they saw the boxes and what it contained. One of them signalled to the driver in a container that has the Niccolo logo on it to drive over. The driver got to us and they began work in earnest.

The last of the box had gotten stacked when Vittorio took a walk beyond the dock.

“Time to go, Sal. We don't want to get caught,” I said but I saw him standing transfixed on the spot. He took terrifying steps backwards, causing me and Vittorio to gaze at each other. We ran towards him and stopped on our tracks too when we saw what had him petrified.

This was the box of multi-purpose he was referring to earlier? Who in their right senses calls humans that? It had sounded unimportant but it was a way of coding it.

In dock 99 sat hundreds of children. Their mouth were sealed and they looked malnourished and tired. My heart lurched with emotions as I saw them. Human trafficking was something I had vowed to never do. Before us, our ancestors did it but we had promised one another to remove it from our mode of operation.It felt wrong to deny young children the joy of growing up with their family members and love ones.

Wait until I get hold of Arseni!

Salvatore and the rest of the men began to help the kids down and remove the tape on their mouth. Vittorio on the other hand made call to a NGO from where he worked. Apparently, he feared that calling the government ministry might pose bigger problem because some of them work cordially with Arseni.

“Are you going to sell us too?” One of the children said as I walked

past him

“No, kiddo. I'm going to get you back home.”