The Mancini Saga (Book #1) I.O.U.

by April M. Reign

  “I know I messed up, but he said some hurtful things. And he scared me with what he said.”

  “Things he didn’t mean, Mia. The man adores you. He has been searching for you all week. We all have.”

  “Miesha, I was lost. I never meant to hurt Carlo. What are the odds that he would be the owner of the urn? That I took his father’s urn ten years ago?”

  “Could be fate or destiny—all I know is, you two belong together. He is genuine and caring. I saw it the night you two sat at the bar and talked, and I saw it again the other night when he was worried about you.” Miesha reached over and squeezed Mia’s hand.

  “That night was devastating. Then, I got Kyle’s letter and I pushed all of my own self-pity to the back burner. Kyle sounded panicked and needed me. My parents are seeing past James and his preaching. I have to get them out.”

  “And we’re going to get them out. Let’s talk to the guys and make sure we fill in all the gaps.”

  Mia stood up and grabbed her friend, hugging her tightly.

  Miesha pulled her away and ran her hands up and down her arms. “I can’t really see you right now ‘cause it’s so dark; but, I bet you look adorable with all that war paint on your face.” They both laughed.

  After an hour of going over the plan, Dean and Marco drove their vehicle to the gate and honked. One guard opened the rectangle window.

  Mia watched as Marco spoke frankly with the guard. What he said, Mia did not know, but it worked and one guard opened the gate and walked out to the vehicle. Dean popped open the hood of the car and the three of them had their heads bent over the engine.

  Mia slid her back along the wall and quickly stepped onto the compound grounds, keeping her back against the cold cement. Without hesitation, she started to run away from the guard shack, keeping her body snug to the wall.

  She maneuvered through the compound as if she never left. She remembered every moment of her sixteen years there—and every inch of the grounds still looked the same.

  When she made it to a particular patch of forest trees, she remembered that her parents’ house was just on the other side. In the pitch-dark night, she put her hands in front of her and carefully maneuvered through the forest.

  She picked up pace, moving through the trees with more speed the closer she got to her home. Dodging around branches and jumping over unleveled ground, within seconds she slammed into another person and fell backwards. Mia bounced off the giant that appeared out of nowhere, landing on her butt amongst the leaves, dirt, and forest ground.

  She crawled backwards on her hands and feet as she tried to find her balance to stand back up. She reached her right hand into the waistband of her pants and pulled out her revolver. Holding it with shaky hands, she could barely see the man in the moonlight that streamed down through the trees.

  “Wh-who are you?” she said winded.

  The large man had a rifle on a sling that sat behind him, against his back. His arms sat crossed over his chest as he watched her closely, even as she pointed a gun at him. When he spoke, his voice was soothing, yet cold.

  “Joshua.”

  “Joshua who? What do you want?”

  “I’m the mailman.”

  “Mailman?” Confusion lingered while she tried to understand. “I don’t under—I . . . what do you want?”

  “To warn you.”

  “Warn me about what?”

  “This,” he replied as he pointed to the surrounding area. “James knows you’re here.”

  “How does he know?” Mia started backing up slowly as her head snapped to the right and left of her, bracing herself for guards to come out from hiding in the trees and jump her.

  “Cameras were installed. Didn’t Kyle warn you?”

  “How do you know Ky—?” Mia’s heart started to race. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins. “You’re a guard!”

  “Mia, put down the gun. I’m not here to hurt you. I’m just like you.”

  “Are you a guard? Answer me!” She started to panic and her hands began to shake fiercely. Mia took another step back. “I want some answers or I am going to shoot you and ask questions later.”

  “Yes. I am a guard but I am not going to blow the whistle on you.”

  “Are you here to bring me to James?”

  “No. I wanted to make sure you made it safely to your family’s home.”

  “Why? Why are you trying to help?” she demanded with a tone indicating she did not believe a word he said.

  “Why did I make sure you made it safely out of here ten years ago? Remember the noise from the forest that distracted the guard?”

  Mia gasped. “That was you?” She lowered her gun slightly, relaxed her hand, and removed her finger from the trigger.

  “Yes. I’m a victim of my brother, just as you are.”

  “Your brother? James is your brother?”

  “Yes.”

  Joshua’s first response now dawned in Mia’s head. “Oh my God, you’re the mailman. You’re the one,” she said in awe. “You carried our letters between us. Mine and Kyle’s.”

  “Yes.”

  Then she immediately questioned herself as her brain raced with a million thoughts. She was scared to succumb to his story if it would thwart her plans. There was one question that she always wanted to know, but never knew who to ask—until now. “If you can leave with our mail and return with our mail, then why do you come back here?”

  “No choice.”

  “Bullshit! Someone dear to me said that we all have a choice.”

  “But you and I both know that a life here sometimes comes with little choices,” he calmly stated.

  “Explain.”

  “James and I have the same father, but different mothers. He asked me to join him on his crusade to ‘spread the word of God and love.’ I met a woman who was not a believer and we fell in love. I started spending less time on the Compound and more time with her.”

  Mia listened intently. He really did seem sincere. Her revolver was now pointing toward the ground.

  “James had me followed. He found out that my beloved had given birth to our daughter. That’s when he had the love of my life killed and stole my baby girl.” His voice cracked slightly. He swallowed back his emotions so that he could continue. “James has raised her with a group of his wives and ‘allows’ me supervised visitation. He has used her against me, threatening to kill her meticulously if I don’t do everything he asks. He uses my daughter to control me. He thinks.”

  “So, you help others as payback?”

  “I don’t want people to suffer the way I have. James figured he had me over a barrel, so he felt he could trust me to go to the post office. Little did he know, I used my position to help families get word to their loved ones on the outside. But enough of that. Right now, we have to get you to your house. If he doesn’t know you’re at the house yet, he will know as soon as he sees you on camera.”

  Joshua told Mia to follow him. She ran with him through the trees, following his swift movements. Once on the other side, near her home, she faced him and said, “Thank you for risking your daughter’s life and your own so that my brother and I could communicate.” She leaned in and gave him a hug.

  He suddenly broke the hug, held onto her shoulders, looked directly into her eyes, and spoke firmly and quietly. “You have no more time. I will run back to the front gate and take care of the guard. You need to hurry and get your family. You have to be back at the front gate in five minutes. Five minutes. Go!”

  Mia did not look back; she raced to her parent’s house. Once she quietly made it on the porch, she turned the doorknob and slowly opened the front door. Nothing had changed: people still did not have locks on their doors, so that James could enter anyone’s quarters anytime he liked.

  Mia ran into a few things, covering her mouth to conceal her yelps. Furniture had changed in the past ten years. She guessed that was to be expected.

  When she made it to Kyle’s room, she felt aro
und for his bed. All she felt were a desk and cold metal table. She quickly found her way into her old bedroom. Kyle stirred at her less-than-quiet movements.

  She turned on a flashlight, quickly covering it with the bottom part of her shirt. She found one of Kyle’s tee shirts on the floor; she used it as a drape over the light. When she flashed the light on Kyle’s bed, she saw her seven-year-old brother had grown up into a seventeen-year-old man. She stood over his bed a moment, remembering the last time she stared down at him; she was on her way out.

  “Kyle, wake up. It’s me,” she whispered in his ear.

  Kyle shot up and looked around. He jumped back when he saw a figure, kneeling near his bed. His eyes adjusted. “Mia?” his eyebrows raised.

  “Yes, it’s me.”

  “Oh no, you shouldn’t be here. Didn’t you get my second letter?” he screeched, thrusting his hand through his hair.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “He knows someone sent a letter. In the years that you have been gone, he has gradually embraced technology, for himself, not for us. Three weeks ago, he installed cameras everywhere to watch the movement on grounds.”

  “I know, we don’t have a choice, we have to go.”

  “Mia, he said he wanted to see his entire flock reach heaven, and he will do everything to stop Satan.”

  “And I’m Satan.”

  “Mia, if he saw you here, he will send someone over to shoot us all.” Kyle pushed the flashlight down toward the ground.

  “Let me think. If he already knows I am here, then someone will be here within minutes. We have no time to bring anything.”

  “I have to get my girlfriend. I’m not leaving her here, her parents already tried to kill her, and we had to convince them that we agreed to follow James.” Kyle threw on his jeans over his boxers and pulled a shirt on over his head.

  Mia sighed, “Okay, you run to her house while I get Mom and Dad. Meet me at the large oak tree where the dirt road ends.” Mia grabbed his arm as he started for the door, “I love you, be careful.”

  Kyle hugged his sister and left. Mia ran into her parents’ bedroom. She woke them up, hugged them, and explained what she and Kyle planned. They were ready to leave the Compound behind.

  “Kyle told you about the cameras?” her father asked.

  “Yeah, that’s why we have no time to waste.”

  Mia led the way through the trees, fields, and dirt road. Daniel held Angela’s hand, pulling her with him to keep up.

  When they made it to the oak tree, they knelt down to catch their breath and wait for Kyle. Within seconds, they saw him running with Sara in tow, sobbing deeply.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Mia asked.

  “She doesn’t want to leave her parents, but they are ready to offer their lives.”

  “Fine, but shut her up, or she is going to get us all killed,” Mia stated coldly.

  They searched the grounds to make sure the area was clear. Mia explained where they were going and how they planned to get out. “Just run as fast as you can and don’t look back.”

  Mia had squeezed her brother’s hand before she stood to lead them. The second they had all started to run through the fields, bright lights attached to large trucks shined directly in their faces. Mia felt her stomach sink and her heart thud fast and loud. She lifted her head and stepped forward. When she heard shotguns cocked, she let instinct take over.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “James!” Mia yelled. “Are you such a coward that you will not step out and face me?”

  Kyle grabbed his sister’s arm. “What in the hell are you doing?” He tried to pull her back with the rest of the group.

  “I’m buying us some time. Let go of me!” She pulled her arm from his grip and directed her attention to the people behind the trucks and bright lights. “I ran from here ten years ago. Don’t you want to confront me? Face me, you bastard!”

  She saw the silhouette of a hefty, bald man raise his arms in the air to halt the trucks from gunfire. He strolled toward them with an eerie calmness. It felt like it took him two hours to get close enough to her, so that she could see his despicable face.

  He was a roly-poly of a man that still had the same awful, arrogant smirk that he had ten years prior. His button-down shirt had the top two buttons undone and the hair from his chest sat like a bush cascading over the opening. Mia could smell that he still did not use deodorant, which almost made her gag.

  He circled around Mia slowly, patting her ass and running his hand down her ponytail. Assessing her like a horse buyer might assess his next purchase.

  Kyle started to protest, but Mia put her hand up behind her and held it up telling him to stop. Kyle narrowed his eyes at James, wanting to kill him for touching his sister.

  For the first time, Mia felt nothing. She was not scared and did not care what happened to her. She wanted her family out and safe. She leaned in to James’s ear as he continued to walk around her. “You wanted to marry me all those years ago, so here I am,” she whispered.

  His bellowing laughter echoed through the Compound. “You’re old now, look at you.” He motioned up and down her body. Then his face got serious—sadistically serious. “But, you’re just in time for the party. Our God has spoken to me, and you, my dear, are going to have front-row seats to the biggest sacrifice ever.”

  Mia cringed. His breath reeked of onions, and his stained teeth were yellow and brown. She tilted her chin up, “Take me and let them go.”

  “Are you that naïve? I will take you and kill them. How dare you think you can negotiate with me?” he spewed.

  Mia swallowed, wanting to gag at the closeness in which he had his body to hers. His protruding stomach pressed against her arm. His hand ran across her thighs, while he let his fingers linger between her legs. He circled around her while everyone watched. Her mind raced with different ways to save her family.

  “You don’t need them; you have me,” she whispered when his body stood directly in front of hers. She reached her hand behind her back and removed the revolver. She slowly brought it in front of her, being careful that his goons did not see the gun and warn James. He stood too close to her to see what she was doing.

  She threw her left hand up and wrapped her fingers into the Adam’s apple of his neck, thrusting the revolver into his stomach. The surprised look on his face gave her absolute pleasure. “Let my family go, or I will put a bullet in your gut.”

  James pursed his lips knowing she had defeated him. He gasped for air. When Mia lightly released her fingers, James growled before he leaned over to the side of Mia and strained to yell, “I'm disappointed in all of you! You will perish in everlasting hell. Tonight, I will send you out to the evil that waits for you. You have three minutes to get off my property or I will have you shot."

  Mia jammed the weapon further into his stomach. She heard him grunt. She did not turn to look at her family instead, she yelled, “RUN!”

  Kyle hesitated. “I’m not leaving without you,” he yelled to Mia.

  James leaned in and whispered into Mia’s ear, “Do you think I’m scared to die?” He then turned his head to his goons and yelled “Shoot them.” He was sure she was bluffing and did not actually have a gun in her hand.

  Mia moved the weapon to his face, cocking it, giving James a complete view that she held a revolver. He immediately threw his hand up in the air to his men, stopping them from shooting.

  She turned to her family. “Run! Get the hell out of here right now! I will be behind you.”

  Her parents begged Mia to run with them, but she held her ground. She watched them run until they were out of sight. In her relief, she loosened her grip on the gun. James sensed her weakness, and swung his arm around, knocking the weapon from her hand. Mia lost her balance and fell to the ground. He reached down and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her head up and leaning down to her ear.

  “Did you really think you were going to get away with this?” he seethed, spraying particl
es of saliva in her face.

  James turned and addressed his goons. “Track them down and kill every last one of them.” He pulled Mia up by her hair and dragged her toward his house. The tears in her eyes fell as she mentally yelled Run fast to her family.

  Seconds felt like hours. James had wrapped his fingers so tight within her hair; they would need scissors to release her hair from his grip. She willingly walked with him toward his mansion until she heard it. Four gunshots echoed through the Compound.

  She dropped to her knees and cried into her open hands. When James tried to pull her up by her hair, she heard her hair painfully tearing from her scalp, but she did not move. He raised the revolver he had knocked from her hands, and cocked it at her head. The barrel of the gun pressed firmly against her skull. She stood, out of pure hope that someone in her family might still be alive because at this moment, she wanted to die.