Maps of the city were spread out on the tables. Marcellus Archambault waited for the riders to gather around in groups. He’d labeled each map clearly so each group of riders had their assignments and knew what parts of the city they would be going to. The Tosellis had several estates the riders would be visiting. All other main leaders of the organization and anyone aiding them in the trafficking business were going to be eliminated as well.
Elie would be leading the strike team against the main cluster of homes belonging to Arnau Toselli and his two sons. Elie intended to visit Guillem and Angel Toselli, both of whom lived near their father. After speaking with Arnau, and making it clear what a very big mistake he’d made in targeting Brielle, he would seek out Izan Serrano. Serrano was the dominant who frequented the Toselli-owned nightclub Fantasía Más Oscura.
Marcellus had five sons and one daughter, all amazing riders and Elie’s first cousins. He barely knew them, yet they had come immediately to free Barcelona from the grip the Tosellis had on the city. They greeted him warmly. He had met Maxence, the oldest, on more than one occasion, when they both frequented the clubs in Paris. Sacha and Gage, the next two in line, he’d competed against, although he rarely saw them. He just had his time posted against theirs. The last two of Marcellus’s sons, Croix and Talon, he’d met briefly after one of the big tournaments. They’d acted happy to get to meet him. He’d been a little aloof when he spent time with them before and he regretted his behavior, wishing he hadn’t been so standoffish.
Then there was Axelle, Marcellus’s only daughter. Like Emmanuelle, she was one of the rare females born into the families of riders. She was a beautiful woman and very fast in the shadows, like her brothers.
Elie didn’t understand why the rider families seemed to produce so few females. Their scientists were researching, considering the shadows might have something to do with it, influencing the bodies toward male genetics. After the revelation that Eloisa Ferraro had discovered—so many repeated trips into the shadows had given her brain bleeds—they were all much more cautious.
Jean-Claude had two sons, Roch and Arman, as well as one daughter, Alize. They also greeted Elie warmly. They’d met Stefano Ferraro as well as Vittorio and Giovanni. Ricco had been introduced to Maxence and Sacha during the hunt for Mariko’s brother. Looking around the spacious room that could barely contain the international contingent of riders, Elie was proud of belonging to something that important.
“The ships have been attacked by the riders from Portugal and Morocco,” Marcellus said. “All freighters, both large and small, are gone along with the entire crews participating in human trafficking. If they were at sea, they went down with their ships. If they were at home, they died in their homes. The Italian riders and Greek riders took the ones in their homes along with the Toselli capos and all his advisors.”
He tapped addresses to show the remaining riders the addresses of the estates and businesses. “All of the businesses must be taken down completely. These officials have been in the pockets of Toselli for far too long and made too much money.” He gave the list of names to the next group of riders. The riders had to study the layouts of the homes and businesses as well as the various ways to get to each of them through the city.
“Elie, you have both sons, Arnau and their wives as well as Izan Serrano. You’re used to working with Ricco and Mariko so they’re with you. Let us know when to call in someone to come for the children if they’re on the estate.”
Elie nodded, studied the addresses, and then he, Mariko and Ricco together spent several minutes studying the layout of each of the homes they would be visiting. When they were done, they turned to catch a shadow that would take them to the home of Angel Toselli, Arnau’s youngest son.
Angel’s villa was located about a half hour’s travel from downtown Barcelona and just down the street from the two houses belonging to his father and his brother, Guillem. He had a tremendous view of the Mediterranean Sea from his living room and upstairs master bedroom suite. Like his family’s other two properties, his home had four floors and five bedrooms and seven and a half bathrooms. Each of the three villas had been designed by the same architect under the scrutiny of Arnau Toselli. There were passageways and safe rooms built into each of the villas, and after their construction along the exclusive northern coast of Barcelona, the architect died tragically in a terrible accident. It seemed there was a mysterious curse that followed anyone who had worked on the villas as well. Those men died in accidents over time or just disappeared.