The Baby Shift- Illinois Read online

  Mr. Webster says to him. "Hello, Antonio. This here is Mr. Martino Fabrizzi. He has come to adopt you."

  Antonio sat up on the bed. His heart was still beating fast as if he was still at the orphanage, walking towards Mr. Webster's office, afraid of the horrors that may await him there. It was his first night back in Greenville since he traveled with his family to Milan, and this was the first time he was having the dream in months.

  Shaking his head, he lay back on his bed. "You're no longer in the orphanage, Antonio - you haven't been for years," he said to himself. "You have a family now. And most importantly, you have a life of your own."

  Seconds later, he was sound asleep again.

  Hazel could not remember the last time she felt so anxious. As she placed her laptop on her bed, she found herself saying a silent prayer.

  "Please connect. Please?"

  The first thing she had done after starting work at the Maple Bar was to place a miniature camera in every room she had access to. At first, she could only bug the storage room and a small kitchen, leaving only Phillip's office and a large room that had been locked ever since she started. She suspected this room to be the venue of the cartel's meetings.

  The previous day, Phillip had asked her to help him clean the room, no doubt in preparation for the Fabrizzi family and their guests. It was a divine opportunity. One which she put to good use by placing the hidden camera on the window where she would be sure to see the entire room.

  Now lying on her bed after working hours, in her rented two-bedroom apartment, she was staring at her laptop screen hoping the signal from the high-tech camera would be strong enough to reach her device all the way from the bar.

  Hazel's joy knew no bounds when the computer screen came to life, displaying live footage from the large room filled with expensive upholstery. She recognized it as the strange room she had helped her boss clean.

  The first set of people to arrive were the members of the Fabrizzi cartel. Hazel had studied the case files thoroughly, so she knew every one of them that worked in it and the role they played in the organization.

  Martino and his two sons, Nico and Antonio, walked in first. Behind them was Rosales, the man in charge of distribution in Illinois. Then came Gravenson. He handled the cartel's manpower. The next person to walk in caused Hazel to almost fall off her bed.

  "What the hell is that bastard doing here!" she yelled at the screen.

  Rico Socrates walked in like a three-year-old would on his first trip to Disneyland. He stared wide-eyed at the people already seated in the room. Rico was the head of a group of thugs that operated solely in Greenville and were closely affiliated with the Fabrizzi cartel. As if the fact that he was what the underworld considered a "small fish" wasn't enough to shock Hazel, she was also aware of another reason why Rico should not be in the meeting. He was an FBI informant.

  Most of what the FBI knew about the cartel network was thanks to Rico's snitching. He had no real power or influence in the organization; hence, his being there could mean only one thing: he must have ratted out the FBI.

  Fighting the urge to pick up her phone and call Stanley Matthews, she continued to watch the footage with growing apprehension. More people walked in - five men and a woman. Hazel realized that she could not recognize any of the six new people that walked in. No doubt, one of them must be the evasive Mr. Black. She watched with wide eyes as the events unfolded before her. She saw Martino rise to speak.

  The hidden camera at the bar used cutting-edge intelligence to capture audio as well as video and transmit it to the targeted device, which in this case was her laptop. She could hear his every word clearly.

  "It would seem a lot has happened since I left for Italy. I do not much appreciate the infighting going on within our affiliated families. The Fabrizzi family is built on love and peace, and I urge the rest of you to emulate us. Our supplier Mr. Black has not been happy. This meeting was his idea in the first place."

  Hazel noticed that the six people she could not recognize were taking suspicious glances at each other.

  She mumbled to her screen, "Come on. Which one of you is Mr. Black?"

  The Don continued his address. "Before leaving Greenville, I left little birds all around the town. They sang me a song recently. A song about wolves sniffing around my farm."

  Hazel's heart did a somersault. If that statement wasn't a reference to the FBI investigation, then she didn't know what was. She had expected this. What surprised her was Rico's reaction. He looked stunned.

  Martino said, "They also sang a song about a traitorous sheep who secretly let the wolves in." He turned to glare at Rico who looked like he was about to dissolve into his chair. His fairytale night of climbing up the ladder was about to become a horror show.

  Martino said, "Rico Socrates, I know about your meetings with the FBI. The fact that they haven't come bursting through our doors means you haven't told them anything tangible, at least not yet."

  "FBI?" Rico squeaked. "I don't know no FBI agents. Whoever told you this lied, Don. They lied."

  While the other members of the group cursed and pointed, Martino turned to Antonio who was seated by his right. "Take our friend over to the southside bridge, would you?"

  Antonio nodded, and a pistol suddenly appeared in his hand. "Come on, bro. Let's go for a little drive in your car," he said to Rico who tried to protest once more. Antonio pointed his gun at him, causing him to nearly choke on his own words.

  Hazel watched the Don's son escort Rico out of the room at gunpoint. As the meeting properly commenced, Hazel found herself unable to concentrate.

  What was Antonio going to do to him? Kill him, no doubt. She had to stop him, one way or another. Rico was a thug and a snitch, but he did not deserve to die like an animal.

  The southside bridge was the largest bridge in Greenville, Illinois. It linked the mainland to a small island on the outskirts of the city. The island served as the location of most of the manufacturing factories in the city, so after working hours, the bridge was usually deserted since most of the workers had gone home to their families on the mainland.

  It was on this bridge that Hazel witnessed the most shocking event of the night. She had driven her car as fast as she could all the way to the bridge which was only a few kilometers from her apartment.

  Heading towards the middle of the bridge with her headlights off, she saw Antonio pointing a gun at Rico's forehead. He seemed to be telling the frightened man something, although the latter had his eyes closed and his legs trembled like they would break any second.

  Hazel slowed the car. The bridge was poorly lit, so she had not been spotted yet. She reached for the gun in her glove compartment. Just then, Antonio did something she would never have expected. He put his gun back behind his shirt, strolled into what she assumed was Rico's car, and began to turn the car around, thus leaving Rico standing there and staring at him in disbelief.

  Snapping out of her shock, Hazel swiftly turned her car around and zoomed off before he could spot it. Her mind was a whirlpool of confusing thoughts at that moment. She reached for her phone and dialed Stanley's number. It was still a few hours to her daily report, but this was an emergency.

  "Hello Agent Coleman," said the voice on the other end.

  "Hello, Stanley. Something weird just happened. I can't explain now. I need you to send out a team to retrieve an informant. Rico Socrates. Last known location was the Southside island of Greenville. My guess is he is heading out of town in a boat."

  Back in her apartment, the three hours she had to wait before Stanley called back were made in hell. She paced around her room, doing her best not to go crazy from over-excitement. When her phone finally rang, she nearly threw herself at it.

  "Sir? Did you find him?" she blurted.

  "Yes, we did. You were right, he indeed was trying to skip town. He's in our custody now."

  "Did he tell you what happened?" she asked.

  "Yes. It would seem killing Rico didn't sit
well with Martino's son. He let the lad go once he promised to leave Illinois and never return."

  "That's crazy. Almost unbelievable. We've heard so many gruesome stories of Antonio making people disappear for good," she said.

  He replied. "From Rico's story, it would seem this wasn't the first time Antonio went against his father's orders. He must have saved many others from certain death."

  There was silence for a few seconds, then he said, "Agent Coleman, this is the loophole we've been waiting for. We need you to get close to Antonio. He may very well be the weak link in the Fabrizzi family. Don't ruin this. We are counting on you."

  Hazel sighed. Cozying up to Antonio couldn't be hard. She found him extremely attractive, and after saving her skin two days ago, she had stopped ignoring him. Yet something about Stanley's plan caused her heart to sink.

  "Yes... yes, sir," she stuttered. "I will do my best."

  Chapter 3

  "You look stunning," Antonio said. She smiled at him from the chair on the other side of the dinner table.

  They were in a restaurant, just a few blocks away from the Maple Bar. He was dressed in a most expensive black tux and she in an elegant red gown that left little to the imagination. They were having a meal of Strangozzi al Tartufo Nero when he suddenly commented on her looks.

  "You know, I didn't think you'd say yes when I asked you to dinner," he said.

  She flashed him a grin. "Why would you think that?"

  "You didn't seem to care much for me or anyone else when we first met."

  "That's over a week ago. Back then, I thought you were just like all the other men I get to meet at the bar."

  "I'm not like them," he said.

  "Really?" she asked, raising an eyebrow playfully.

  "Yes. I'm a lot worse." His little joke caused her to giggle, and for a moment, he could swear his heart stopped beating. Hazel was such a beautiful woman. There was something about her that captivated him beyond reason, and it wasn't just her physical appearance.

  She said, "Thank you for saving my ass the other day. I got distracted."

  He laughed. "Oh, it's fine. If I had been a little more insistent, you would have gotten the message. So, it was the least I could do."

  He noticed she paused for a moment as if contemplating whether or not to use her next words. When she finally spoke, she said, "Do you do that often? Lie to your dad?"

  "God no!" Martino can spot a lie from a mile away." As he spoke, images of Rico running away into the night flashed in his mind. Like he had done several times in his life, he forced himself to push the images back.

  He did not know why, but he said out loud, "The only time I lie to my dad is to stop someone from getting hurt."

  She smiled at him. "That's as good a reason as any. I'm glad you love him so much."

  "Yes, I do. He has done so much for me."

  Her smile widened. "And he should. Any father would be proud to have a son like you."

  Antonio frowned. "You've seen our eyes. You can tell we're shifters, right?"

  "Yes. I hear stories at the bar too. You're werebears."

  He nodded. "My father is. And Nico. And our uncle Simone. But I'm not."

  "Really? Then what are you?" the shock on her face was evident.

  "Most people don't know this, but I'm a werepanther."

  The shocked expression on her face was replaced with that of confusion. "How does that happen?" she asked. "Was your mom a werepanther?"

  "No. I was adopted. I grew up in an orphanage in Chicago. Being the only shifter child in the facility, I got a lot of ill-treatment, particularly from the manager. Until one day, Martino Fabrizzi came in and adopted me, even though he already had a son of his own."

  She replied. "That's... that's so sad, and yet so sweet. I can't imagine what it's like to grow up like that."

  "Don't. It's hell," he said. Memories of his recent dreams came rushing in. He tried to concentrate on Hazel's face, and that seemed to calm him quickly.

  "I'm sorry, Antonio."

  He smiled. "It's fine. As you can see, I turned out okay. Enough talk about me. Tell me about you."

  At this point, he noticed she avoided his eyes. He decided unlike him she was too shy to talk about her personal life. So, he brought up a topic he hoped would be neutral enough. "Tell me about your job."

  "My job?" she seemed surprised.

  "Yes, Hazel. Your job."

  "My job as a bar girl is pretty much what it sounds like. I'm a gal who works at a bar." She giggled.

  "But do you like your job?" he asked.

  A faraway expression appeared on her face. She said, "Yes. Yes, I love my job, and I'm damn near good at it."

  Antonio noticed something in her voice. He asked, "but..?"

  Hazel sighed. "But no matter how hard I work, I keep getting in situations that undermine all my skills and experience but attenuate the fact that I'm a gorgeous woman. The things I have to say - to do. The people I have to be nice to. Just for once, I want people to see that I'm way more than just a pretty face."

  "You are. I don't think I've met anyone who works harder," he said.

  She laughed. "Thanks for the compliment. I just wish everyone else would see that."

  "Well, you never know what the future holds."

  They're eyes locked at that moment. Hazel mumbled, "No. We don't."

  Antonio drove her back home in his Bentley.

  The moment the car stopped in front of her house, she asked, "Wanna come in for a Martini?"

  "You promise not to put gin in it?" he asked with a wide grin.

  Hazel chuckled. "I guess I could work something out."

  "Good enough. After you."

  When she locked the front door of her apartment behind them, Hazel did not know what she expected to happen next, but when Antonio Fabrizzi wrapped his hands around her waist, it felt like it was inevitable.

  "Did I mention how beautiful you look tonight?" he asked with his face inches away from hers.

  "Yes, you did. Many times."

  "Good," he said and moved his mouth closer to hers. Hazel felt her own mouth move on its own accord. When their lips met, it felt like nothing short of an explosion deep within her. He tasted wonderful - like champagne and honey, which was an unusual yet delicious and intoxicating combination.

  There was a sudden noise from below them. They pulled apart long enough to realize that his phone was ringing.

  "Oh shoot!" Antonio said. "It's my dad. Must be important for him to call as late as 10 PM."

  "Oh, okay," Hazel said, trying to keep the disappointment from her tone. She pointed to the corridor visible from her living room. "You can take the call in the bathroom. Go through that corridor. Second door by the right."

  "Thank you," he said and hurried off to take the call.

  Hazel was still standing on the same spot when he reemerged a few minutes later. He said, "I'm sorry, baby. I have to leave."

  "Why?"

  "My dad needs me to run an errand for him. I'm really sorry."

  She sighed. "It's fine. Go. It's getting late."

  "Thanks." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "We'll finish this later."

  Hazel gave him a seductive smile. "I'll be waiting."

  The second the door closed behind Antonio, Hazel dashed into her room. She reached for the laptop hidden under her bed and took it out.

  After switching on the device, it took her a minute to establish a wireless connection to the listening device she had installed in her bathroom. Soon after Stanley ordered her to get close to Antonio, she installed recording devices in every room in the apartment based on the chance of having Antonio in her home. It would seem her foresight would pay off, assuming there was anything useful in the short phone call he had made in her bathroom.

  "Hello, dad. What's cooking?" Antonio's voice emanated from the laptop speaker.

  "The bar?" There was a pause.

  "Okay. But I still don't get why he'd want to meet so late. It co
uld arouse suspicion." Another pause.

  "Damn. I thought everything was set at the meeting, after all, it was his idea to have one. This isn't the first shipment we're moving for him, and it won't be the last." This time the pause was much longer.

  "Okay. I understand. Pardon my tone. It's just that, I recently started seeing the new girl at the bar. I really like her, and we've got a good thing going here. I'm at her place right now." There was a very short pause.

  "Thanks. I'll be at the bar in five minutes." After that came the sound of the bathroom door opening and then closing.

  Hazel smiled. It was obvious that Antonio was going to meet with Mr. Black at the bar.

  Trying hard not to think about Antonio's endearing words to his father about her, she clicked through the interface of the computer. The Maple Bar was only a few blocks from her apartment. For all she knew, Antonio would have arrived there by now.

  When she finally established a connection with the hidden cameras at the bar, she brought the cartel's meeting room into view. There was no one there. She switched to the main bar room. Still nothing. The storage room was also empty, and so was the small kitchen and toilet. It would seem there was no one in the building. The thought dawned on her that despite using his car, Antonio might not have arrived yet. Then where was Mr. Black?

  She switched to the camera in the corridor. With that, she could see the entrance to all the rooms at the back of the bar. If Antonio finally arrived, she would be able to see which of the rooms he walked into. So, she waited.

  The wait lasted for almost an hour, but when it finally ended, it wasn't because Antonio was walking into any of the rooms. Rather, Hazel watched with wide eyes as the door to Phillip Orwell's office opened and Antonio strolled out of it. He soon disappeared from the camera's view as he headed for the exit.