Chapter 10 - On The Grounds Of
published: Thursday, 27 May 2021

"Okay, so let's just revise the case again—"

Percy groaned. "Everyone told me not to marry a lawyer," he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for her to hear.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I was told never to get involved with drugs. So I mean. Call it even."

In the mirror, she saw Percy roll his eyes. Though he did have the decency to blush.

She had pulled up multiple Safari tabs on her phone, trying to find everything she could. Case files from the actual lawyers had been emailed to her by the firm — of course, they thought she was just enquiring for the job.

The risk of their phones being tracked while they were moving was lower than when they were staying put, and Annabeth decided that when it was weighed out, it was better to be in the know.

"You don't need those, I was there," Percy reminded.

"Yes, but I wasn't," she corrected. "I need to know everything, and I mean everything, if we're even gonna have a chance."

In the back of her mind, the small sliver of logic left behind told her she was being insane. Sitting in the passenger seat while Percy cruised through Pennsylvania as if they were taking a leisurely road trip. What she should be doing now was freaking out. Except the time for that had passed and they couldn't afford any slip-ups.

So here they were, discussing running from a crime lord as if it was just a typical Sunday.

"I've got about fifty pages of paperwork here," Annabeth declared, squinting at her phone screen and fervently missing her laptop. "September 2014. They had Persico in pre-trial detention without bail for a month before the trial began. That's quick."

"Think the FBI was ready to jump at any chance they could get to get him," Percy murmured, turning the steering wheel to ease them onto another road.

"So there were five witnesses," Annabeth read.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Percy nod. "Including me," he said. "Zoë, Carter, Pollux and Michael."

"Any chance you could get in touch with the others?" Annabeth asked. "Carter, Pollux and Michael — I mean."

"Yeah, it'd be pretty hard to ring Zoë up about now."

Annabeth glanced at Percy. His eyes were trained on the road ahead, the joke falling flat in the tense silence.

"I'm sorry about Zoë," Annabeth said quietly, feeling the atmosphere shift.

Percy didn't reply, but his grip on the steering wheel tightened.

Annabeth looked back down at her phone. She cleared her throat. "So, contacting the others?"

Fortunately, Percy brushed past the momentary awkwardness. He shook his head. "Already thought about it. Back when I got the call from someone in Bianca's team, telling me to keep a lookout. I didn't keep their numbers, and I doubt they did the same. None of us really wanted to be reminded of it."

"Really hope Grover Underwood is as useful as you seem to think he is," Annabeth grumbled. "We could really use some help." She pulled up a summary article on the trial. "The trial lasted two months. Carmine Persico was found guilty. The jury's vote was unanimous. He was sentenced to 40 years for drug trafficking, possession of illegal substances, and a bunch of other assault and battery charges."

"I don't even think they got all of it," Percy mused. "Evidence was too circumstantial for all his other operations."

"That's always the case with the Five Families," Annabeth explained. "That's why they've never been taken down. They've got decades of experience in skirting around law enforcement." She released a sigh. "This just keeps getting better and better for us, doesn't it?" She scrolled further down. "That's all there is on the actual trial. And a bunch of legal jargon I assume you don't want to know."

"Annabeth," Percy interjected. "I don't even know what jargon is."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "So the Five Families."

"I don't actually know much about them," Percy answered. "I was only ever involved with the Colombos and after," he hesitated. "I was quite ready to just forget it all."

"Well, in this case, I don't think 'ignorance is bliss' really applies."

"I know there's Genovese, Lucchese— "

"Bonanno and Gambino," Annabeth finished, nodding. "And Colombo, of course. They're branches of the Italian mafia but basically do their own thing in New York. I doubt they're linked to Italy much any more."

"They had ties to lots of South American crime rings," Percy recalled.

"Yeah, I think most of their supply came from Columbia actually."

Percy stared at her. "What, like — Pablo Escobar?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Probably not him seeing as he died in 1993. I can't believe you're bringing up pop culture at a time like this."

"Hey, I never got that deep into the family," Percy protested. "Most of the stuff I know is from cheesy mafia movies, same as you."

"Didn't you ever watch those movies and think 'wow, that's so not how it went'?"

"Honestly the thing about them that bothered me the most was the Italian accents," Percy said with a shrug. "They're all American. Why would they have Italian accents?"

"I don't know. Hollywood."

Percy shook his head. "Okay, continue."

"Colombo is considered the black sheep of the five families," Annabeth explained. She winced. "You have to be pretty bad if you're considered the worst of five crime families. Colombo has always been the most unpredictable. They're the only ones who've come close — various times — to being caught out. And whenever any kind of inter-family feud began, they were involved."

"Frank Cali was assassinated last year, wasn't he?" Percy asked. "The Gambino head."

"Apparently it was a romantic matter though," Annabeth said. "Not an organised crime thing." She shrugged. "Don't know how true that is."

She set her phone down. "We also know that the current head of the Colombo family is Teddy Persico. Who's mad at you because you got his dad thrown in jail — where he later died, because, let's face it, he was old. And now he's somehow got your name and address — and mine — and is planning to...kill us?"

"He might kidnap us first," Percy tried. "But, ultimately, yes."

"Great," she muttered. Annabeth turned in her seat so her back was propped against the door and she was facing Percy. "And he's made...what, three attempts?"

"I'm almost certain the active shooter at the university had something to do with him," Percy agreed. "The guy didn't kill anyone before he was arrested, just injured them, and the police said it seemed like he was searching for something. Or someone," he added.

"I thought someone was following me home the other night," Annabeth pointed out. "I mean, it's happened before but I guess this could be because of your whole drug thing."

"It's happened before?" Percy repeated incredulously.

"Old news," Annabeth said dismissively. "Happens to every woman."

"You say that far too casually."

"There was a blackout on my train last week," Annabeth remembered aloud. "That could just be a coincidence, but you usually take the train, and that was the morning you took the car to work instead."

Percy winced. "Yeah, sorry. I had to drive to Long Island to see Jason and didn't know how to lie to you about that."

Annabeth glowered. "Fun. When all this is over, I want to hear an explanation from you for every lie you ever told me."

"Uh, that might take a while."

Annabeth folded her arms. "I have time."

Her own words echoed in her head.

When this is all over.

She risked a glance at Percy. What were they going to do when this was all over?

They weren't okay. Not even close to it. But they were hovering in a spot where they could be civil — almost friends, even — simply by avoiding airing out their baggage.

It probably wasn't the best way to move forward, no, it was definitely not the best way to move forward, but Annabeth knew that if they started to talk
about it, they would argue, and arguing right now would just end with them both dead. 

Annabeth packed that up in a little box in her mind and pushed it away. Focus on the problem at hand, right?

"Slightly worrying," Percy said suddenly, yanking her out of her reverie. "But I think there's a car following us. It's been trailing us for half an hour."

Annabeth looked up at the windshield. Of course, it was some massive black vehicle, just a couple feet behind them, trundling along at a steady speed.

"Speed up a bit," Annabeth instructed. Percy listened, for once, and they jerked forward slightly. She watched as the car accelerated after a few moments.

"Ah, shit," she scowled. "Why is it always the ones that look like tanks too?"

"Do you think it's bulletproof?" Percy asked warily.

"Yes," Annabeth said instantly. "They'd be stupid not to do that. But there's a sky roof. Which means whoever's inside — I'm guessing one driver and one in the passenger seat — will probably shoot at us from above."

"We could try to lose them," Percy suggested. "If I take a detour we can still make the next toll booth."

Annabeth nodded, reaching up to angle the overhead mirror so she could see their pursuers. A tall Asian woman was at the steering wheel, accompanied by a lanky brunet with glasses in the passenger seat.

She turned around to see Percy holding out the gun, his other hand on the wheel. Annabeth hesitated, staring at the firearm. Reaching forward, she grabbed it from him, clicking off the safety as she focussed her vision on the dashboard.

Percy's gaze weighed on her like a rock. "Annabeth, I—"

"Later," she said curtly. Annabeth met his eyes, hoping that she was getting across the million things she couldn't say aloud. "Okay? Later."

His Adam's apple bobbed. "Okay."

A flash of movement in the mirror alerted Annabeth to the fact that the man in the car behind was kneeling on his seat, pulling a rifle from the backseat.

She frowned. What was with all the shotguns and heavy machinery?

The man sprung up through the skylight, gun trained on them.

"Swerve left," she ordered. Annabeth saw him fock the gun. "Swerve left!" she yelped with increasing urgency.

"I'm swerving, I'm swerving," Percy placated, not any less panicked than her. Wheels screeched against tar as they swiftly merged into the left lane, bullets littering the ground where they had just been.

Annabeth slid further down in her seat, heart hammering. Thrusting her torso out the window, Annabeth fired off two shots, both bouncing off the  hood of the car, barely even leaving a dent.

The next shot missed her by a hair's breadth as she threw herself back into the car just in time.

Annabeth returned another shot, clipping the man in the elbow, eliciting an angry shout.

"Nice," Percy remarked. His foot that wasn't on the accelerator was bouncing madly, the only outward sign of his anxiety. Otherwise, his poker face was scarily good.

Annabeth and the shooter went back and forth a few more times until Annabeth pressed the trigger to hear a dreadful hollow click.

"Fuck," she swore vehemently. Annabeth slid back into her seat. "It's empty."

Percy released a frustrated groan. "Damn it." He glanced over at her. "Put your seatbelt on."

"I just shot someone and you're telling me to put your seatbelt on?"

"Safety first," Percy mocked.

Annabeth glared at him. She said that everytime they sat in a car together, and it pissed Percy off to no end. "Sorry for trying to keep you from dying in a fiery car crash."

"Put your seatbelt on."

"Okay, you don't have to be a dick about it—"

"Just put it—" Percy's sentence was cut off as he frantically steered them to the right, avoiding a torrent of bullets.

Annabeth was thrown violently into the car door. It hurt like a bitch, but there was no way she was going to let Percy know he was right. Silently, she yanked her seatbelt down and clicked it into place, pointedly ignoring the smug look on Percy's face.

Percy accelerated into a right turn down a side street, kicking up a dust storm behind them as they skidded down the street, narrowly avoiding a pedestrian.

"Multi-storey car park," Annabeth spotted, nudging him and pointing towards the bright blue sign.

"Genius," Percy murmured, speeding towards the entrance of the concrete building. There was a spark of something close to satisfaction in her chest.

The boom gate opened for them just in time and Percy drove them up the ramp towards the top floor.

"It's a mall next door," Annabeth informed him, reading the signs as they blurred past. "We can hide out in one of the lots."

"But they know what the car looks like."

"You drive a Range Rover," Annabeth snorted. "That's, like, the car of every mediocre white man ever."

Percy frowned. "I like to think I'm one of the more-than-mediocre white men."

"At least you have an interesting backstory."

He released a snicker, and Annabeth had to hide a grin for her own pride.

"How did they even find us?" Percy wondered aloud as they rounded the spiral onto the third floor. "We were so careful. Cash only, no cards. anything traceable..."

It hit them at the same time. "License plate number," Annabeth groaned. "How could I be so stupid?" she muttered under her breath.

Percy pulled a face. "Does this mean we have to ditch the car?"

"Shame, really," Annabeth said airily, the corner of her mouth twitching.

Percy shot her a glare. "Wouldn't be surprised if you set this all up so you could get rid of my car."

"Yes, Percy, you've busted my elaborate scheme," Annabeth said, completely seriously. "I sold you out to the mafia so I could finally burn this horrible car in peace."

"See, you say that as a joke but I'd believe you," Percy said with a shrug. "You've had it out for this car since the start."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Because it's ugly and impossible to parallel park because it's unnecessarily massive."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is," she insisted. "There's a reason they're huge. Because guys buy them to make up for...what they lack in size."

Percy went silent. "You know for a fact that that's not true."

Annabeth choked on her next breath. Thank God it was dark and Percy couldn't see her, because she was pretty sure her face was on fire.

She garbled for a second before landing with "Shut up."

Annabeth could almost hear his smirk.