Free The Damascus Chronicles by Dominic R. Daniels

Seeing he was clean, they let him in to see the big boss, Mr. Yang, the Palace’s owner.
    “Mr. Duval Jackson! I’m glad to see you again, do you have the item that we agreed upon?” Yang asked eagerly.
    “My employer sent two million in product just as agreed,” replied Duval, confidently placing the large case on the desk.
    “Excellent, I know it’s all there. Would you care for a drink?” asked Mr. Yang.
    “Yes, whiskey,” said Duval.
    Yang opened the glass liquor cabinet behind him and uncorked a bottle of whiskey and poured a crystal glass for Duval. Duval opened the case discreetly, placing his hand inside.
    “You know, it’s a shame that Frank Scarfo is taking a blow in the percentages, but then a loser like that is always falling, foolish man,” said Yang as he turned to Duval with the glass in his hand.
    “He’s not going down, you are!” Duval exclaimed.
    “What?” Yang asked, thrown off. Duval pulled his hand through the case as a barrage of silenced shots put holes straight through Yang. The dead Korean lay slouched in his chair with blood oozing out of his chest. Leaving the room, Duval grabbed the case. He landed a fist to the surprised guards, laying them out. Pulling on a pair of white gloves, he dragged them into a closet. Then he used his silenced pistol to kill them both, locking the door behind him. Afterwards, he came out of the closet wearing a realistic mask to disguise his face; he exited the building.
    An hour later Yang was discovered dead and the authorities were at the crime scene with an investigation team taking pictures of the brutal murder. News footage rolled on the television; Paulie watched it at home while lounging in his bedroom. He was having a glass of chardonnay when news of the killing hit his screen.
    “Tom Wilkins with Channel 8 News reporting here at the Royal Dragon Palace Casino, where exactly 45 minutes ago a murder was committed. The victims are Shim Yang, the owner of the Royal Dragon Palace Casino and his two bodyguards. All three were found gunned down. The killer was not seen and the motive is unknown at this time.”
    ”Son of a bitch!” said Paulie as he put down his drink and got on the phone with the Don. His hands trembled as he dialed on his antique telephone. “Felice, it’s me Paulie.” Paulie tried to play it cool on the phone.
    “What’s the matter?” questioned Felice.
    “Our partner at the Royal Dragon Palace was just iced,” said Paulie.
    “I just saw it right this second on the news. Find out who did this and stop them,” said Felice, angrily slamming the phone on the receiver. “Mary, Mother of God,” Felice uttered as he continued to watch the news. “We’ve just received word from police that at the same time of the shooting here at the Royal Dragon Palace, another shooting occurred at Czar’s Palace. The victim was CEO David Brookstone, president of Czar’s Palace. Each of the murdered men was the prominent owner of a mega casino chain. The question is why? Police have suspect mafia influence, but nothing definite is known at this time.” Don Felice shut off the TV as he got on the phone with his contacts.
    “Two million to whoever finds me the guy that killed my clients. Bring me his head in one bag and his family’s in the other.” Don Felice put down the phone; looking out the window he saw his huge empire coming down around him.

Chapter 20: “An Unlikely Surprise”
    The clock struck 1:30 am on Michael’s grandfather clock; Serena was worried about her lover. After the meeting with Don Felice ended, the crew quietly stepped outside the building, now more concerned about the future of the Santerini family’s survival. To make things worse, they couldn’t make a move unless the Don said so.
    “For now let’s just go home and get some rest; this has been one messed up night for us all. We should starting planning a solution tomorrow morning to handle this problem,” said Jackie.
    “I don’t think that’s