by Jonas Saul
During their wait, Darwin saw a couple of the Fuccini Family men sitting in police cruisers in the front of the building.
A man in a suit and a tie came up to them. The man’s face changed to anger when he saw the handcuffs.
“Officers,” he called out and then shouted something in rapid Italian.
Two cops ran over and undid their cuffs. Darwin checked his forearm cut. Still bleeding.
“I’m so sorry for treating you like this. They don’t know who you are. My name is Marco. I’ll have an ambulance take you to the hospital where we’ll get you stitched up and then I’ll take your statement. How does that sound?”
Darwin nodded at him.
“I got a call from a colleague of mine, Greg Stinsen with the FBI. He told me what was happening and that he’d be here in the morning. He said to offer you all the support I could. These men can piece together what happened here and we’ll leave now. That work?”
The trio walked out to his car, Darwin holding Rosina’s hand tight as the darkness surrounded him.
As the cop pulled away from the curb, Darwin said, “Can you turn on the interior light?”
“Yeah, sure,” the cop said and flicked it on.
Darwin took a deep breath and stared down at his hand, clasped in his wife’s. He didn’t want to look at the windows. All he’d see was blackness and that didn’t help anything.
It was over for now. A lot of men had died, but they were safe for now. They were in police custody and the FBI would arrive soon. Together they’d launch an attack on the Fuccini Family to end the vendetta, the blood debt.
“You still need the light on?” the cop asked.
“Yes.” Darwin looked up at the cop in the mirror. The cop smiled, nodded his head, and looked away to focus on the road.
I definitely need to see the light.
He woke in the hospital the next morning, sun streaming through the window’s drapes.
“Rosina?” he called, panicked.
“I’m right here,” she said.
She rose from the chair she’d been in, stretched her arms out as far as they could go, and moaned.
“Sometimes, when I think about what happened yesterday, it almost feels like it was a dream. Then I see your injuries and I know we lived it. But that’s the important part: we lived it. We made it.”
Darwin rested his head back and nodded slowly. “The cop, Marco, is he gone?”
“Yeah. He left after he took out statements, about four in the morning. I just heard from a nurse that Greg called. He’s about five minutes away. Maybe that was what woke you, when the nurse left.”
“What’s next? What are we going to do?”
“You’re going to go home, is what you’re going to do,” Greg said as he stepped into the room.
“Greg!” Rosina shouted and ran to hug him.
“How’s my favorite couple?”
“Great now,” Rosina said. “It’s so good to see a familiar face.”
Rosina stepped away and Greg walked up to Darwin. “What am I gonna do with you?” He smiled, his face beaming. “First you kill Vincenzo, by accident, and then come to Rome to wipe out the rest of his family. Wow, if I hadda known you were like that, we could’ve used you on the force.”
“Greg, it wasn’t like that,” Darwin said. “They keep coming after us. If they had accepted it was an accident in the first place, they wouldn’t have hunted us to Rome. I flew my wife here to get married. I felt they were getting too close to us in Toronto. Death threats, people following me. So here we are, and they try to kill us twice in four days. So I decided to send Rosina to Greece and I’d stay behind to deal with it. But they grabbed her and …”
“I heard from Marco. He told me everything.”
“Doesn’t that guy sleep?” Rosina asked.
“I think he does, but that’s not my concern. What is my concern is getting you home.”
“Home?”
“Yes. I have you two booked on a flight tonight from Rome to Toronto. I can’t protect you here.”
“Didn’t you get clearance or something?” Darwin asked.
“Not really. As a favor, Marco let me see the reports, but the diplomatic channels will take too long for me to do any good here. This is the mafia’s home. I’m only one man, and I don’t speak Italian either. If you’re in Toronto, I have backup and I have a sort of quasi-jurisdiction.”
“Rosina,” Darwin looked over at her. “You’re okay with all this?”
“Of course. I’ve had enough of Rome’s charms. After what happened yesterday, I want to get as far away from here as I can, as soon as we can.”
Darwin looked back at Greg. “Thanks for coming so fast and, yeah, let’s do this.”
“I’ll talk to the doctor and get you checked out, but first, I have to ask you a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Did your father ever tell you why he called you Darwin?”
“Yeah, he said he wanted to always remind me to stay motivated and get out of life whatever I wanted. He put two words together to make Darwin. Dare and win. He said, just saying my name was my dare to win.”
“That’s pretty good.” Greg walked over to the hospital room door. “I thought there was another reason. Something to do with survival of the fittest. You know, Charles Darwin and natural selection.”
Darwin smiled. Greg was always high on the compliments.
“There’s one other thing. I hate when I told you to lay low and stay out of sight and then you didn’t. But I’m glad you didn’t. Good work, Darwin. Good work.”
Greg opened the door and made to step out, but his cell phone rang. He hopped back into Darwin’s room and pulled his phone out.
“Not allowed to have these things in the hospital but I gotta take this.”
“Go ahead,” Darwin said.
“Hello, Stinsen here.”
Greg listened, his phone pressed to his ear. His face grew darker, his eyebrows got closer until they connected in a look of consternation.
“Okay, I understand. Send units over to their house ASAP.”
He flipped his phone shut and looked between the two of them.
“I’m sorry. Very bad news.”
“What? Tell us.”
“It’s not over.”
“I didn’t think it would be,” Darwin said as he sat up in bed. His head felt woozy and he leaned back on his good arm. “What is it?”
“Your father,” he said to Darwin. “Adrian has been kidnapped. He was taken from his home an hour ago, according to witnesses. That puts it around six in the morning, Toronto time.” Greg looked over at Rosina. “Whoever’s behind this may be headed to your parents’ house in Brampton too. I have units en route there now. I’m sorry.”
Chapter 9
They landed under clear skies at Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport.
Darwin had rested most of the flight, sleeping uncomfortably in the airplane seats with a bandaged left shoulder and left forearm.
Before they had flown out of Rome, Greg had confirmed that Rosina’s parents were safe. The police had secured their home before anyone from the Fuccini Family could get to them.
Rosina had been quiet on the way to the airport, during their boarding procedure, and the subsequent flight. So quiet that Darwin caught up on some much needed sleep.
He looked over at Greg. “What’s next? Do they offer demands or something, or do they just kill my father?”
Greg looked up from the Lufthansa in-flight magazine he’d been reading and said, “So far, there have been no demands. These people don’t call the police and ask for things.”
“I know, I know. They kidnap people and then kill them. It’s a revenge thing, isn’t it?”
Greg set the magazine in the pouch at the back of the seat in front of him. “Look, Darwin, this situation is as bad as it gets. There are many levels of problems with it.”
The airplane was taxiing in and about to stop to prepare for dep
laning.
“What kind of problems?”
“A crime family as big as the Fuccinis runs deep. They have contacts all over the world. They have people on the take. I’m sure they even have police officers giving them updates on what’s happening, but I’d never admit that publicly or to any other officer.”
The plane stopped with a small thud. People undid their belts and started to grab items from above.
“The problem is,” Greg whispered. “There are officers working undercover. Deep cover. They report back at alternating times. In those reports, without breaking cover, I’ll be told how your father is doing and what has happened to him. I won’t find out from a phone call with a list of demands. The other thing you have to face is that this won’t be a repeat of Rome. There’ll not be any running in and rescuing him by shooting and killing people.”
Darwin leaned away. “Are you saying what I did was brash or wrong? I had to get Rosina. There was no time to wait and nothing else I could think to do.”
Greg put up his hands in defense. “I completely understand. I’m sorry if my choice of words offended you. You did do the right thing. But now—” he stopped as someone walking by bumped him with their bag. He looked up, nodded when the passenger apologized and turned back to Darwin. “But now we’re on Canadian soil. We have a lot of cops at our disposal and they’re all working overtime to find your father. They’re also rounding up known Fuccini Family members and their employees, and try to get answers. We’ll work this out. All we’ll need from you two is consulting. During this time of crisis, you two stay where it’s safe.”
Darwin shook his head. “Nowhere is safe from them. When you have people that powerful after you, nothing will stop them. I’ll always be looking over my shoulder until Vincenzo’s father is dead. There is no other way.”
Greg looked defeated, as if he knew what Darwin said was true and he couldn’t refute it.
The plane had emptied. Greg collected his things and grabbed their backpack. Their luggage was still in Athens, with arrangements to have it flown to Toronto.
Because of Darwin’s injuries, Greg handed the backpack to Rosina and they started out of the plane.
Greg thanked the flight attendants as they departed. It was a long, quiet walk to customs. After they were through customs, Darwin told them he had to stop for a coffee. He couldn’t leave the airport without a large double-double from Tim Horton’s. It was a ritual and he wasn’t about to stop now.
Outside, a cruiser waited for them. Six cars back, an unmarked vehicle with two men in suits and sunglasses watched them.
“They FBI too?” Darwin nodded in their direction.
Greg looked over and nodded. “Good eye, Darwin.”
They got in and were whisked away. Ten minutes later, the driver pulled into the Quality Suites hotel.
“What’s this?” Darwin asked. He looked at Rosina, who still hadn’t said much. He was starting to get a little worried about her. She hadn’t said anything since he woke in the airplane.
“We’ve reserved six rooms at the end of the fifth floor. They’re all adjoining rooms. You two will be in the middle. In each room surrounding yours will be two FBI agents. No one will be able to get to you two unless they bring a small army.”
The car pulled up to the front doors.
“You mean we can’t go home?”
“Darwin, I told you in the airplane. Things are different. This won’t be a repeat of Rome. You aren’t free to drive a car, hang out with your friends, or go home and talk on your phone. You will remain in police protection at this hotel until we’ve located your father and found the Fuccini Family members responsible for it.”
“That means my wife and I will be living at the Quality Suites for a few years then.”
“What does that mean?” Greg asked, offended.
“Unless you’re planning on killing the Fuccini Family boss, we will never be free,” Darwin said and stepped from the car.
“Wait!” Greg shouted.
The men from the car that had tailed them ran up.
“Don’t get out of a vehicle without an escort,” one of the men said.
Darwin ignored him and looked at Rosina. “Come along, darling. Let’s check in and go have a nice dinner.”
They didn’t have to check in as the rooms were all ready. Darwin couldn’t believe how nice the rooms were. It was like a small apartment. The bedroom was separated by French doors. The room had a small fridge and a mini kitchen area with a coffee maker.
“Looks like we’ll be here for some time,” Darwin said. He looked at Rosina. “You okay?”
She glanced at him and offered a thin smile.
“Rosina, I need to hear it. What happened in Rome was tragic, but we survived. That part is over. We’re alive and healthy. I need to know you’re still with me.”
She walked over to the small couch and sat down. “I’m still with you Darwin. I’m sorry. What you did in Rome …” she hesitated and looked out the window. “What you did in Rome was so romantic. I love you for everything you are and everything you became. I just thought it was over. I saw what those men did to that cop who tried to comfort me. Thinking about your poor father and what he’s going through and that my parents are facing the same treatment if they get taken, it just really shakes me up. This isn’t over. You’re right. It’ll never be over until either we’re dead or the Fuccini Family is dead.”
Darwin sat beside her, wrapping his good arm around her shoulder. “I know, and I’m sorry, baby. I brought this all on us. It’s all my fault.”
She grabbed his lapels and yanked him around to face her. “Don’t you ever say that. Don’t you ever. You did nothing wrong. Actually, you’re the only one doing anything right. If you had waited until the police negotiated a release for me, I’d be dead. They weren’t going to release me.”
She started to cry again. A shudder went through her shoulders.
“What were they going to do?” Darwin asked.
“Horrible, unspeakable things. What stopped them was the call that you had escaped from a guy named Big John. They said that no one could touch me until you were caught. It was so scary. I saw these people for what they are and I think Greg is wrong here. The police aren’t prepared to execute them. So it’ll never be over. I’m just really scared.”
“I know, baby, I know,” Darwin said as he pulled her closer. “All I can tell you is I will hunt them down and kill them. I will kill them all, and no amount of police will stop me.”
Dinner was brought up to the room. They ate in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
The whole time they hung around the hotel room and ate their food, Darwin planned. He needed to have something to do, so he planned. This had to end. If not for his own sanity, for his wife’s. Whenever she was in a mood, it affected him. Her current mood was bringing him down. He needed to end this and get her out from under the threat of murder. Staying in police protection like this wasn’t going to cut it.
He put his plate on the edge of the little sink and threw away the plastic utensils. They’d brought real cutlery, but he made them go back down for plastic. He used the bathroom, then walked over and opened the main door.
“Darwin, what are you doing?” Rosina asked.
“I don’t know. Something, anything. We can’t stay here, cooped up in a hotel room, brooding. This has to end.”
An FBI agent stepped up behind him. “Do you need anything?”
“Yes, to leave.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
“So we’re, like, prisoners now?”
“Not exactly. You are not a prisoner. We’re here to protect you. This is for your own safety.”
“No, we’re prisoners by every definition.”
The FBI man stared without speaking.
Darwin shut the door. “What are we going to do? We’ve been in Toronto all of six hours and we’re already going stir crazy.”
The phone rang.
T
hey looked at each other.
“No one knows we’re here but the police,” Darwin said before he answered.
“Darwin?”
“Yeah,” Darwin said as recognized Greg’s voice.
“Good. I was hoping it was you who picked it up. I couldn’t tell Rosina what I have to say.”
“Go ahead.” His stomach dropped. What now?
