Hunted by the Mob

by Elisabeth Rees

  Zeke immediately saw through the act she’d built up to protect herself against the world. She wasn’t tough. She was scared and lonely and in need of comfort.

  Yet he wasn’t able to provide it. All he could do was keep her safe and pray that she would eventually find her way out of the darkness.

  * * *

  Goldie brushed her hair at the dressing table in her bedroom, making long smooth strokes, the way her mother had taught her when she was a child.

  “Your hair is a crown,” her mom used to say. “And yours is special because it’s like an orange sunset.”

  She put down the brush and stared at her reflection, amazed at how much she now resembled her mother, a woman who died from a heart defect at the age of fifty-five while Goldie’s father was incarcerated. By that time, Goldie was surrounded by a new family in the army, and she relied heavily on her colleagues to see her through the loss, but it had been a bitter blow. Her mother had done her best as a parent, tried to protect Goldie and her sister from the worst of her father’s tantrums, and Goldie was thankful to her for that. In an ideal world, her mom would’ve left her husband long before he ruined all their lives, but that was water under the bridge now. What was done was done.

  With her mom passed on, her sister moved overseas and her ex-con father wholeheartedly kicked out of her life, Goldie was entirely alone. And boy did she feel the loneliness right at that moment. With nothing but this house to fill her days, she was struggling to hold back thoughts of lost chances and failed opportunities. Instead of growing the family she’d always wanted, she’d spent too many years eating meals for one and attending everyone’s wedding but her own. Being around Zeke made the struggle ten times worse. He was nothing more than a painful reminder of what might’ve been and, what was more, he expressed no remorse for breaking her heart. After losing him, she’d given up on love, and now deeply regretted not trying harder to find someone else.

  After taking off her robe and straightening her nightgown, she pulled back the covers on her bed, ready to turn in for the night. But a noise caught her attention. Was there a fly in her room? Slowly padding around the bed, she strained to listen to the buzzing sound, which was rising in intensity with each second.

  “What is that?” she said to herself, sliding her arms back into her robe and securing the belt. “It’s like a million mosquitoes.”

  Soon enough, she heard doors opening onto the landing, feet on the stairs, voices mingling with the buzz. She slipped her gun into the pocket of her robe and opened her own door, stepping out straight into the path of Zeke, who was wearing sweatpants and an inside-out T-shirt. He’d clearly gotten dressed in a rush.

  “What’s that noise?” she asked.

  “We’re gonna find out.” He glanced down the hallway at Mrs. Volto’s closed bedroom door. “You need to stay upstairs with Mrs. Volto. Angela’s on night duty so she’ll be downstairs keeping watch.”

  Then he was gone, flitting down the stairs in his sneakers, stopping at the bottom to flash her a wide smile. She hated herself for allowing her stomach to flutter. He shouldn’t have that kind of power any longer. She thought she was over him. Much to her irritation, she was wrong.

  Shaking her head free of thoughts of Zeke, she walked to Mrs. Volto’s room and knocked on the door.

  “Mrs. Volto,” she called. “There’s a noise outside that’s being investigated right now, so don’t worry. Everything is under control.”

  Muffled voices came from inside, one clearly male, sounding panicked and possibly hostile. Without hesitation, Goldie pulled her gun from her pocket and flung the door wide, holding her weapon aloft.

  “Stop right there,” she said, taking aim in the darkness. “Who’s here? Put your hands in the air.”

  As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she made out the shape of a man by the bed, wearing tailored pants and roughly pulling on a shirt over a rumpled undershirt. She recognized the mop of baby curls immediately.

  “Mr. Murphy?” she asked. “Is that you?”

  “Yes, yes, it’s me,” Willy said in annoyance, buttoning the shirt. “How dare you barge in here.”

  “I heard a man’s voice.” She lowered her weapon. “I’m sorry. I had no idea you two were...” She stopped. “I thought there was an intruder.”

  Mrs. Volto was in bed, her knees drawn up and the duvet gripped tightly beneath her chin. Only her pale and anxious face was visible.

  “Please,” she said imploringly. “Don’t say anything to anybody about this. Willy sometimes signs himself out of the house at night but never actually leaves. He stays with me.”

  Goldie let out a breath of exasperation, shaking her head. “We need to know who’s in the house at all times, Mrs. Volto. It’s security protocol.” She averted her eyes, embarrassed to have exposed their secret affair. “If you’d like Mr. Murphy to be your house guest, all you have to do is let us know. It’s your home, after all.”

  “No!” Mrs. Volto was panicked. “I can’t run the risk of Leonardo finding out about Willy and me. It would change everything.”

  By now, the buzzing outside had reached a high-pitched whine, a tinny pitch that couldn’t be ignored.

  “If you won’t put Mr. Murphy’s name on the official overnight guest list, then he can’t stay here,” Goldie said above the noise. “I’m sorry, but it’s for his own safety. He could get shot as an intruder.”

  Mrs. Volto nodded, continuing to clutch the duvet to her neck. “I understand.” She looked up at her lawyer. “You’ll have to hide in my bathroom until the coast is clear and then sneak out. And we’ll need to put an end to your overnight stays.”

  But Willy wasn’t listening. Instead, he was gazing at the ceiling, one ear upturned, apparently distracted by the shrill buzz in the air.

  “There’s something outside,” Goldie explained. “We’re looking into it right now.”

  “What is it, Willy?” Mrs. Volto asked. “You look concerned.”

  “That sound is a drone,” he said, pointing upward. “And it’s hovering right over this house.”

  FOUR

  Zeke stood on the lawn, gazing up at the dark sky, searching for the source of the noise.

  “It’s right there,” Garth said, pointing at the roof. “Do you see it by the chimney?”

  He swiveled. “Yeah, I see it.”

  There, hovering above the slate roof, was a drone. With four silver rotor blades sticking out from a black body, it had the appearance of a huge metal insect, menacing and dangerous. The buzz of the blades was cutting through the balmy night air like a swarm of angry bees, and Zeke watched it lift higher, wobbling slightly, as if someone was only just learning how to control it.

  “We should look for the person piloting this thing,” he said. “He’s gotta be close.”

  Garth shook his head. “Actually, this drone has a range of about a mile, so the controller could be a lot farther away than you think.” He looked over the hills, shrouded in darkness, possibly concealing all kinds of threats. “He could be watching us through binoculars. Or a sniper scope.”

  “We can’t just let it fly around here,” Zeke said. “It doesn’t seem to have a weapon on it, but it could still be dangerous.”

  Neither man took his eyes off the drone as it slid down the roof tiles before launching into the air again and lurching to the left.

  “We could try to shoot it down,” Garth suggested. “If it stays still long enough.”

  Zeke didn’t like that idea. “Karl mentioned that some of the neighbors are a little jittery after the gun attack. He doesn’t want us to fire our weapons unless we have to.”

  “Well, it looks like we might have to.” Garth pointed to a window, where a light shone through the drapes. The drone was hovering a few feet from the pane. “Isn’t that Mrs. Volto’s bedroom?”

  “Yes, it is.” Zeke saw a shape moving behi
nd the drapes. “You stay here and I’ll go upstairs.” As he ran, he called out, “Don’t try to shoot it. You might hit Mrs. Volto instead.”

  Rushing inside, Zeke took the stairs two at a time, finding Goldie at the top, gun in her hand, waiting for news.

  “It’s a drone,” he said, eyes on the closed door of Mrs. Volto’s room. “And it’s right outside this bedroom. We need to get Mrs. Volto out, in case we have to shoot it down.”

  “Let’s be respectful of her privacy,” Goldie said. “I don’t want to barge in again.”

  “Again?”

  “Yeah, I went in there a couple minutes ago.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

  Goldie knocked loudly on the door. “Mrs. Volto? Can we come in? It’s important.”

  Zeke heard a door slam inside the room, then her voice call, “Yes, you can come in.”

  He wasted no time in entering the huge white-walled room, which had an enormous bed in the center. The noise of the drone was incessant, its outline visible behind the pulled drapes.

  “Goldie, get Mrs. Volto out of here,” he said, noticing their client standing next to the closed door of her bathroom, a silk robe tied above her stomach. “Take her to the panic room.”

  Mrs. Volto appeared hesitant, dithering by the bathroom door, hand hovering above the handle.

  “Are you sure that’s necessary?” she asked. “There’s no danger, is there?”

  “Not at the moment,” he replied. “It’s just a precaution until we deal with this drone. It can’t hurt you, but it might be a distraction for something else.”

  “Okay.” She remained steadfast. “It’s just that...” She stopped. “Can’t I go into my bathroom instead? It has a lock on the door.”

  “No.” He looked at Goldie in confusion. “What’s the problem here?”

  “Mrs. Volto,” Goldie said, going to join her. “You should be honest with Zeke. He’s responsible for everybody’s safety here, and he needs to know the situation.” She then turned to him. “Willy Murphy is hiding in the bathroom. I discovered that he and Mrs. Volto are in a relationship, and she doesn’t want anybody else to find out.”

  “Oh.” This news wasn’t exactly shocking to Zeke. He’d already spotted an intimacy between the lawyer and his client earlier that day, but an unauthorized overnight stay showed a flagrant disregard for the rules. “The FBI is here to keep you safe, Mrs. Volto, not to judge you. Take Willy into the panic room with you and we’ll figure out a way to sneak him out of the house when this is over, and then I hope you’ll stick to our security procedures.”

  A look of relief swept over Mrs. Volto’s face as she was reassured that she could still guard her secret from the wider FBI team, and she opened the bathroom door. Willy stood on the tiles, barefoot in his suit, hair disheveled and a startled expression on his face.

  Mrs. Volto took his hand. “You have to come into the panic room with me, Willy, but we’ll get you out of the house when the coast is clear.”

  Zeke watched Willy edge his way through the door, eyes darting, hands twitching. He was nervous.

  “That drone is spying on you, Louisa,” he said, his gaze running across the covered window, where the shadow of the flying metal insect was hovering. “It’s got to be Leonardo. We have to be more careful.” He picked up his pace as the drone inched nearer. “Let’s go. Quickly.”

  “I’ll go with them,” Goldie said, following them through the door. “Stay safe, Zeke. Okay?”

  He smiled at her, pleasantly surprised at her genuine concern for him. “You too.”

  As soon as the door clicked shut behind them, Zeke turned to the window, raised his gun and threw the drapes aside. The drone was directly behind the pane, silver and black, four jutting legs topped with whizzing rotor blades. Zeke stood fast, aiming his gun at the bulbous body, scrutinizing the object, committing it to memory so he could identify it later.

  That’s when he noticed the small round camera attached to its back, the lens reflecting the light from the room. Willy had been right. This drone was a spy, sent to record images of the house or, more specifically, to record images of Mrs. Volto. Perhaps her husband had begun to suspect an affair. If that were true, Louisa was in more danger than she realized, because Mafia men did not like to be humiliated. And Louisa’s running around with Willy Murphy would certainly humiliate a tough guy like Leonardo Volto.

  Zeke edged to the window, flipped the catch and pushed it open. For a second there was a tense standoff, the drone hovering just a few feet away, creating a breeze that ruffled his hair. He wondered if he might be able to grab the camera from the metal body. There could be footage of the launch site on there, and maybe, just maybe, the perp had recorded his own face in the process. As Zeke reached out to touch it with a hand, it jerked away, sudden and sharp. Then it was gone, disappearing up into the sky, its buzzing fading on the wind.

  Zeke closed the window, fastened the latch and stood in the welcome silence that was descending. The appearance of that drone had unsettled him. Leonardo Volto was a brutal and cruel man, obsessed with a bizarre Mafia code of honor. If he somehow managed to secure recorded evidence of his wife’s cheating, he would likely go to untold lengths to restore his honor, even if it meant harming his unborn child in the process.

  What was more, Goldie could find herself not only facing danger from bounty hunters, but also caught up in the cross fire of an attack from Leonardo. She was now doubly at risk, and that meant Zeke would have to stay close to her at all times. No matter how fractured their relationship, they had to stick together to defeat the escalating risks.

  * * *

  Goldie, yet again, paced in her bedroom, going stir-crazy, closing her eyes in an attempt to conjure up images of wide open fields and endless blue sky. Instead of the usual birdsong she enjoyed from the yard, all she could hear was the sound of hammering as workmen constructed a new fence behind the pool, much higher than the previous one and topped with barbed wire. When completed, this place would look like a prison. And as far as Goldie was concerned, it was a prison. Due to Karl’s concerns about signals being tracked, her cell phone had been confiscated, and the only reading material in the house were Mrs. Volto’s interior design magazines that Goldie found shallow and dull. The walls of her room had become a cell, and she knew every single hairline crack and dent in the paintwork. She knew exactly how many pebbles were in the seascape painting on the wall and how many flowers on her patterned duvet. With no natural light allowed into the house, Goldie was slowly turning mad, with no distraction from the jumbled mess of thoughts and regrets in her head. Years ago, she would’ve turned to her faith for comfort, but she’d lost the ability to pray, assuming that the previous channel she’d had with God was now shut down for good.

  There was a knock on the door, and she knew it was Zeke. Only he had bothered to check on her all morning, bringing her a snack and a drink and updating her on the progress of the work in the yard.

  She walked to the door and turned the key in the lock, opening up just a crack to see Zeke’s smiling face.

  “Hi,” he said. “Can I come in?”

  She opened the door wide. “Sure. Come join the party. It’s just getting started.”

  He laughed, closing the door behind him and turning the key.

  “Do I really have to be locked in here?” she asked. “It’s so claustrophobic.”

  “Karl says it’s necessary,” Zeke replied. “He doesn’t want to run the risk of any of the contractors walking in here and seeing you.”

  “Like that’s gonna happen,” she said exasperatedly. “Nobody on the team would allow strangers to wander all over the house.”

  He shrugged. “Karl says it’s the rule, and he’s so stressed today that I don’t want to challenge him on anything.” He sat on the bed. “He’s concerned that the mole might’ve passed on information regarding Mrs. Volto’s mov
ements in the house, giving him the perfect moment to launch the drone.”

  Goldie was skeptical. “It was really late, Zeke. It would’ve been easy to predict that Mrs. Volto would be in her bedroom at that time, and any Mafia member who’s familiar with the house would know which room is hers.”

  “That’s what I said, but Karl is running checks on all agents and police guards. Again.”

  “I guess this attack has got him worked up, huh?”

  “Technically, it wasn’t an attack,” Zeke said. “It was a reconnaissance mission.”

  “Do you think Leonardo knows about his wife and Willy?”

  “I think he’s suspicious. Mrs. Volto said that Marsha didn’t come here to kill her, but they had a conversation and ended up arguing.”

  Goldie could see where Zeke might be heading. “It looks like Leonardo sent Marsha here to find out if she was having an affair with Willy.”

  “That sounds like the most likely explanation to me. If Mrs. Volto admitted the affair to Marsha, that would certainly make her angry, right? What did Marsha call Mrs. Volto during her attack?”

  Goldie cast her mind back. “A dirty rotten liar.”

  “I think we did the right thing in allowing Willy to sneak away without being seen last night. If Leonardo finds out about this relationship, he’ll probably try to kill her.”

  “But Mrs. Volto is so sure that her husband would never put their baby’s life in jeopardy.”

  Zeke raised his eyebrows. “What if the baby isn’t Leonardo’s?”

  Goldie gasped. “You think it’s Willy’s baby?”

  “It’s plausible. We don’t know how long the affair has been going on. And if Leonardo suspects the child isn’t his, he might not be inclined to protect his wife anymore.”

  Goldie sat heavily in the chair in the corner. “That’s why she’s so terrified of him finding out. She knows he’d kill her.”