<h4>Chapter 561: Chapter 561 : It’s a Setup</h4>


    *Tallon*


    The text from Vinny directing me to a warehouse that we rarely used didn’t sit right with me. It wasn’t like him to be so vague, or to disclose potentiallypromising information in writing. Maybe it was because I was exhausted, but I made the choice to go to the address he sent me.


    I had a bad feeling about it, but I couldn’t ignore it.


    I had told Vinny to let me know the moment there was more information about this whole Russian mess, and it seemed like that’s what he was doing. I couldn’t ignore it. My instincts were screaming at me to turn back, climb into my warm bed, and pretend I hadn’t seen the text.


    It probably would have been a smart move, but sometimes in this line of work, I had to do stupid things. I hadn’t gotten this far by being over-cautious.


    Driving out to a warehouse in the dead of night was not the kind of thing I made a habit of. It looked suspicious, and there was no telling when I might be under surveince for one reason or another. As far as I knew, the police had no reason to be tracking me closely right now.


    It was probably fine.


    I pulled up in front of the warehouse and parked my car. This was a warehouse that the family had owned for decades, but it wasn’t currently in use. It had a security system installed and underwent an annual cleaning and inspection to make sure the building was in good condition and could be put into use at a moment’s notice.


    Why the hell Vinny wanted to meet here was beyond me.


    There was no sign of Vinny’s car nearby. In fact, there were no other vehicles anywhere near the building. If any of my men were trying to meet me here, there would be at least one car.


    I cut the engine and stared at the building for several seconds, trying to decide what I should do. The uneasy feeling I had was bing difficult to ignore. This just wasn’t right. I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly was making me suspicious, but I knew that this situation was off.


    I pulled my phone out and I tried calling Vinny, but he didn’t answer immediately, and that set me on edge far more than I liked to admit. He had texted me less than half an hour ago, so why wouldn’t he answer his phone now? It didn’t make sense.


    The voicemail instructed me to leave a message, then beeped.


    “Vinny, where the hell are you?” I asked angrily. “I’m at the address you sent. If this is some kind of a joke, I’m missing the punchline.”


    I hung up and put my phone in my pocket. If I had any sense, I would have turned the car around and gone home. I didn’t.


    This had to be about the Russian killings. The idea that Natalia was in danger because of this situation wouldn’t leave my mind, and I couldn’t walk away from information that could help me protect her. If there was some new development, I needed to know about it. The security of the family was at risk.


    I checked the message from Vinny again and triple checked it. It confirmed that this was the correct address. There was no doubt about it. I was in the right ce.


    I went to the door of the warehouse and punched in the security code, then let myself in.


    The building was dark, and there was no indication that anyone was waiting for me inside. The moment that I opened the door I was met with an odd, chemical smell that I couldn’t ce.


    It was clear that no one was inside. I was immediately angry that Vinny wasn’t here to exin himself.


    The lights buzzed to life with a flicker when I hit the switch, and all the anger I felt turned to ice in my veins.


    There was a motionless body in the center of the room.


    I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm the erratic beating of my heart. The form was facing away, and I didn’t recognize who it was, at least not immediately. The thought that it was one of my men made it difficult for me to move for several long seconds.


    This was a worst-case scenario for someone in my line of work. There was a body on my property, and I didn’t know who it was or who put it there. This opened a whole Pandora’s box of possibilities that could very quickly bring everything toppling down.


    I reached into my pocket and pulled out the leather gloves that I always kept in my jacket, just in case I needed to mitigate the chance of my fingerprints ending up somewhere problematic.


    With the gloves on, I walked to the body and stepped around it until I could see the face.


    I didn’t know this man, which was a small relief. It also furtherplicated the situation.


    He had shaggy dark hair and pale skin. His strong jawline was covered in thick stubble. It looked like he hadn’t shaved in a few days.


    He had a single gunshot wound to his chest, but there was no blood on the ground. He wasn’t killed here. I knew that for sure. Someone had dumped his body in the middle of my warehouse without setting off the security rm. Who could have pulled something like this off?


    I carefully lifted thepel of the man’s jacket to reveal a distinctive tattoo that identified him as a Russian asset. He was another of the murdered Russians. cing him here was obviously meant to antagonize the Russians and make it seem that we were involved in these murders.


    Why would someone want to restart the war? What was there to gain?


    I stepped back and frowned down at the body. My mind was racing as I tried to decide on a course of action. I had to get him out of here as soon as possible. What happened to him after that didn’t matter to me. I just couldn’t let the family get wrapped up in this mess.


    It waste. If I acted fast, we could take advantage of the dark and get him relocated before dawn.


    Something glinted in the light and drew my attention. Lying on the ground near the man’s hand was a small, silver handgun. I didn’t touch it, but I bent down to get a closer look at it.


    I recognized the model. It was an easily obtained and reliable model that most of my men used. In fact, it was something of a calling card for my men. Whoever had put it there obviously meant to frame us.


    Anger flooded through me.


    The ringing of my phone pulled my attention away from it. I answered on the first ring, and stared at the body as I spoke.


    “Vinny, tell me why I’m staring at a dead man in the middle of my warehouse?”


    “Shit,” Vinny hissed. “Get out of there,” he said urgently. “I just got your voicemail. I didn’t send any message. You’re being set up. Get out!” There was unadulterated panic in his voice, and it sent my heart rate skyrocketing.


    I hung up and put my phone in my pocket.


    I walked as calmly as I could toward the door. I had to get out of there. I’d already been in the building for several minutes. If someone was watching the building, they knew I was here.


    I didn’t know how I was going to handle this mess, but at this moment, all I could do was leave.


    I was a few feet from the door when it burst open.


    Time seemed to slow as arge man rushed in with a gun aimed directly at my face. His light eyes were wide with the force of his focus as he came straight toward me.


    Three more men followed behind him. Each of them was armed, and the guns locked onto me the moment they were in the door.


    They were uniformed police officers.


    The fact that they came in with guns drawn told me that they knew exactly what they were going to find. If I made one wrong move, they would shoot me dead where I stood.


    I held my hands up where they could see them and disyed my open palms. I stood still as they rushed at me, despite every instinct in me screaming to run. I had to remain calm.


    There was shouting, but it seemed far away at this moment. The first man who had entered was speaking, but I could hardly understand what he was saying. The flood of adrenaline he was experiencing was causing his words to slur.


    I didn’t move as he reached me. I just stared straight forward. My arms were wrenched behind me forcefully. I didn’t resist as I was handcuffed. There was no getting out of this arrest. I had to mitigate the damage as much as I could, and that meant keeping my mouth shut.


    Once I was booked, I’d be able to call mywyer and get this mess sorted out. Right now, I just had to make sure I didn’t get shot.


    This was a setup. Someone had put this body here, texted me from Vinny’s number, and alerted the police once I arrived. They had told the police what they were going to find, and likely, told them that I would be armed.


    I wasn’t. Thankfully, I had chosen not to grab my gun on the way out the door. One of the officers turned my pockets inside out and frisked me as the first officer held my hands behind my back. The other two holstered their weapons and walked over to the body.


    “Who is this?” one of them demanded.


    I didn’t say a word.


    This was aplicated scheme that relied on having ess to me, my men, and my property.


    There weren’t a lot of people who could manage this. I couldn’t stomach the thought that it was an inside job.


    The word murder rang out as the police officer holding my arms shoved me unnecessarily. I was under arrest for murder. I listened numbly as they informed me of my rights.


    As far as a worst-case scenario went, this was pretty much it. Vinny knew something was going on, so he would be able to put the family on alert. That was the only thing that I had going in my favor.


    I stumbled as I was man-handled by the officers and attempted to walk toward the door. I nced back at the body on the ground before I was dragged out of the building. I had no idea who that man was or how he’d ended up here, but his death could have cost me my life if this confrontation had gone wrong.


    I allowed the officers to shove me into the back seat of their cruiser.


    I looked out the window at the warehouse. Light was spilling out of the open door, and the other two officers were still inside, probably taking photos as they waited for backup and the crime scene techs.


    There was one question that kept echoing in my mind.


    What the hell was going on here?