by Jonas Saul
“As soon as we have her, we’ll tell her the truth.”
Darwin turned his head and twisted as far away from the men as he could to hide his grief. Where was his wife? What had happened to her? She could be anywhere—dead in the Florida swamps, a captive of a maniacal killer or starving and still on the run. Why did this have to happen? They were in separate countries, a three-hour plane ride away from each other. There was no way Darwin could protect her from here.
“Darwin, we’re going to need a full statement.”
He didn’t look at the men. “Not right now. Tell me what else you have. How did the Russians find the safe house where Rosina was being kept? I understood it was classified because of what happened the last time.” He rolled over and eyed Williams up and down. He couldn’t help but feel anger toward the FBI who had betrayed him time and again. “Wasn’t it only Carson and Greg who knew where she was?”
“That’s what we understood.”
“So, what went wrong?”
Williams looked at his partner for support. Agent Scott said, “We’re looking into that.”
“Well, fucking look harder,” Darwin shouted. “There’s a scared lonely girl out there trying to stay alive while every fucking Mafia boss in North America is after her. Isn’t it your job to protect and serve or something?” He leaned back on the pillow, his anger spent as the pain in his head rose. The throbbing angered him further. He clenched his teeth and breathed deep, trying not to lose control. It would be the wrong thing to do just ten minutes out of a coma.
“Maybe we should come back after you’ve slept more,” Williams said. “We need a detailed statement and descriptions of all the people you came into contact with. You got a rare glimpse into their warehouse and what went on there.” Williams adjusted his suit jacket. “We lost three RCMP officers from the emergency task force in that explosion. Inside the building, they found a Chinese man who appeared to be dead before the bomb went off and four female bodies we’re still trying to identify. A couple of them fell under the bus you were driving. You need to rethink your position here and watch the anger, Darwin. We have enough to charge you on multiple counts of manslaughter, but until we get all the facts we’re willing to work with you. Do you understand what I’ve explained to you?”
Darwin wanted to get out of the hospital bed, lift Williams over his head and shove him through the hospital window. Arkady killed those people while he was trying to kill Darwin. It was a miracle that Darwin was still alive. How dare they entertain charging him with anything?
“This is a joke,” Darwin said, his voice a little above a whisper.
“Let’s go,” Williams said to his partner. Near the door, he turned back. “I’ll excuse your anger as the pain killers talking.”
Darwin was alone. Seconds later, the door opened again. The RCMP officer returned and walked up to his bedside.
“I gotta stick around in here,” he said.
“Do what you have to do.”
“Those guys are assholes, eh?” The cop seemed sincere. “I mean, you’re a hero. How the hell did you get out of that warehouse?” He stopped talking, moved the chair and cleared his throat. “But the best part is the media don’t know shit.”
“What? Why not?”
“There’s a publication ban on the details of what happened at the warehouse.”
“A publication ban? Why?”
“The authorities have been conducting raids on warehouses, strip clubs and all known hangouts of the Russian Mafia looking for Arkady, but nothing has turned up. I guess the higher-ups don’t want anyone finding out you’re still alive.”
Great.
“Anyway, I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before they find Arkady, but if you ask me, he’s fled the country.”
Darwin’s eyes were getting heavy.
“Listen,” the cop continued. “I’ve got a friend in the bureau down in Florida. Let me give him a call to see if they’ve found out anything on Rosina and I’ll let you know when you wake up. Deal?”
Darwin nodded. “Thanks.”
He shut his eyes.
The hospital room door opened. His doctor walked in.
“You okay, Darwin?”
“He’s getting sleepy,” the cop answered.
Darwin realized as he drifted off that he didn’t get the cop’s name.
The doctor’s voice droned on as Darwin sunk lower. Something about what happened when Darwin got angry, and what set him off. The cop said he wasn’t in the room.
Darwin wondered why he didn’t have a reaction to the IV in his arm. He knew it was there. It was a sharp object—something he would’ve violently protested in the past, but barely noticed now. When he first woke, only a single lamp was on in the corner by the cop. Otherwise the room was pretty dark and the doctor kept it that way to be better on his eyes. Despite his fear of the dark and, he felt no inner reaction to it.
Could his phobias have been cured? If so, how come his temper flared so easily? Maybe it had something to do with what the doctor said about the aggression part of the brain being affected.
He drifted deeper.
In his mind’s eye, he saw Rosina standing in the Rome airport and wished they could go back to the innocent days …
Chapter 3
Darwin hated physiotherapy but he had to do it after being stuck in bed for ten days. The nurses had exercised his legs daily, but he still couldn’t quite walk on his own. By tomorrow, he might still have a slight limp but he would be good enough to walk without crutches.
The RCMP cop he’d met the first day was John Cavendish. He worked the night shift, guarding the inside of Darwin’s room. That night he was supposed to have information about Rosina for him. Information that the FBI assholes, Williams and his buddies, weren’t relinquishing.
Darwin promised them a full statement tomorrow, after the stitches in his head were removed and he was discharged from the hospital. Doctor Jameson had said he’d healed fast. Special Agent Williams planned to pick him up and escort him to the local branch of the RCMP where they would take his statement and then secretly put him up in a hotel until they learned more about Arkady. Possibly they would fly him back to Florida so he could be close when they found Rosina.
Darwin settled back into bed and ate the bland hospital Jell-O and soup. He debated his next move. Could he really be reunited with his wife and they’d ride off into the sunset? Maybe they could go to Italy where her parents were from or Greece where his dad was from, and live in a small village, far away from Mafia turf wars and hit men hunting them. Somewhere so far removed even the FBI wouldn’t be able to find them.
He was pretty sure Rosina was alive. She was a survivor. She probably found an abandoned building to hole up in. As soon as he got to Florida, he would retrace her steps from the safe house and find her. He was the only one who knew how she would think.
As soon as the authorities found Arkady, it would truly be over. With Darwin’s testimony, Arkady would go away for a long time. Fuccini and Gambino were dead. Once Arkady was gone, Darwin and Rosina could live the lives they deserved.
He pushed the remains of his meal away and checked the bedside clock. The cop who worked the day shift didn’t talk much. After dinner, the day cop got up, gathered his novel and magazine, his garbage from lunch, and left the room without a goodbye.
Five minutes later, Cavendish entered the room, a large smile on his face. He nodded at Darwin and set his things by the chair in the corner.
He looked at the door to make sure it was closed and then walked up to Darwin’s bedside.
“I’ve got good news for you.”
Darwin pushed himself up in the bed, eager to hear what John had found out.
“Although you may not be happy.”
“Just tell me, John.”
“My source knows where Rosina will be—”
“What? Where?”
“Keep your voice down,” John said. “She’s here, in Toronto.”
�
�How’s that?”
John shrugged. “No idea. Maybe Arkady’s men picked her up in Florida and that’s how she made it here.”
At the mention of Arkady’s name, stones weighed down Darwin’s stomach. “Is she hurt? Alive?”
“She’s very alive. In fact she’s having dinner as Yuri Pavel’s guest at his restaurant on Queen Street tonight in about,” he checked his watch, “two hours.”
Darwin frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Look, Darwin, I don’t have all the details so I’m going to have to guess a bit here.” John looked at the door again, then back at Darwin. “Arkady is reportedly working for Yuri. I’m going to guess that Arkady’s men grabbed Rosina and brought her here like they did you.”
Darwin grabbed the water glass beside the bed and took a drink to satiate his suddenly dry mouth.
“Then he handed The Blade’s,” he said with air quotes, “wife to Yuri as a goodwill gesture.”
“Why goodwill?”
“Because Yuri is pissed with all the raids happening in his territory …”
“The raids you told me about?”
John nodded.
“Wow, I’m happy to see the RCMP working with the FBI. It looks like progress is taking place.”
“They have to do something because Ontario’s primary multi-force organized crime agency, Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, is being reorganized and possibly dismantled soon. Without the RCMP and the FBI working together on this, nothing would be getting done.”
Darwin gestured. “Get me back to Rosina.”
“My source said that Yuri is keeping her safe and healthy until he can confirm you’re dead. You know, in case he needs her to get to you. Sorry, but that’s my best guess. Since there’s a publication ban on what happened at the warehouse and who died there, no one on the street has confirmation about you. As far as the street knows, you just disappeared.”
Darwin dropped back onto the bed. Would it ever end? How could a known Russian Mafia boss named Yuri Pavel be able to parade Darwin’s wife around like a trophy and the law did nothing about it?
“What’s being done about it?” Darwin asked.
“What do you mean?”
Darwin glared at him. “How can he have her and no one arrest him?”
“As far as the law is concerned, she’s with him willingly. She comes and goes without restraints nor does she call out for help. Based on that, there’s nothing we can do.”
“But she doesn’t want to be with him.”
“I know that. You know that. Yuri has something on her to make her so compliant. Maybe she’s waiting to see if you died. Then she’ll decide what to do. Who knows?”
“You have no idea how fucked this is.”
“True, but there’s something you can do about it.”
Darwin kicked his legs out from under the covers and slipped off the bed. He steadied himself.
“You want the crutches?”
“No.”
He took a step. Then another, using the bed for support. At the end of the bed, he let go and on unsteady legs made it across the room to the closet without falling.
“Tell me what I can do about it while I get dressed.”
“You can go get her.”
“That’s what I plan on doing.”
“But you don’t get discharged until tomorrow,” John said.
“Wrong. I’m leaving now. My head’s fine. My legs will support me. I’m ready.”
“What do you think you can do in your condition? You’re unsteady. You can barely walk.”
“I can go and get my wife,” Darwin said as he let the hospital gown slip off his shoulders and hit the floor. “I will get Rosina and we will leave North America. That’s the only way for this madness to stop.”
“Darwin, if you walk into Yuri’s restaurant alone, he will kill you. Actually,” John gestured with both hands in the air, “if you walk in with backup, they will probably kill you and your backup.”
Darwin slipped the T-shirt over his head and started on his jeans. “Then tell me what options I have.”
“File a missing persons report for Rosina with the FBI. Explain that you have an unnamed source confirming Rosina is being held against her will with Yuri Pavel.”
“And you think the FBI will help us? After all that has happened?”
John looked at the floor. “Right, sorry.”
Darwin finished dressing and walked to the door. “What’s the name of the restaurant?”
“Wait a second,” John said as he walked up to Darwin. “You can’t leave.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re in protective custody.”
“Protective custody? Have I been charged with a crime?”
“No.”
“Then you and I both know that they can’t hold me.”
“True, but charges are pending.”
“No, they’re only holding them over my head until I give them a statement and everything calms down. We all know the Russian Mafia attacked the safe house where Greg and Carson were holding my wife. At the same time that was happening, Arkady planned my execution. I got away and Arkady blew up his warehouse. That’s it in a nutshell. I’m a free man. Haven’t Rosina and I been persecuted enough?”
“Look, I’m with you, man. But even if you walked out of this hospital and made it to the restaurant, Yuri would have you dead before sunrise. I can’t have that on my conscience.”
“John.” Darwin put a hand on John’s shoulder. “I’m leaving in the morning or I’m leaving now. What’s the difference? They can only hold me so long. I’m a Canadian citizen and can go freely.” He let go of John’s shoulder. “Is this source of yours reliable?”
“He is.”
“I have information on the whereabouts of my wife. Do you think I would just let it go?”
John shook his head.
“Exactly,” Darwin said. “What’s the name of the restaurant?”
“The Russian Quartet at Queen and Jarvis. He flies Russian singers in to entertain all the time. It’s famous because it’s one of the few Russian restaurants that has entertainment.” As a side note, he added, “I’ve lived here all my life. Actually grew up off Jarvis Street, not five blocks from there.”
“It’s only a fifteen-minute walk from here. Maybe twenty minutes for me.” Darwin waited, holding the door handle. He lowered his voice. “What am I to expect when I walk by the guy outside this door?”
“Won’t happen. He’ll call it in to the FBI and they’ll ask to have you detained until they get back.”
“Well, I’m leaving. Are you going to help me, or do I have to do this all by myself?”
They stared at each other for a long moment. John broke the silence.
“I’ll get him to take a piss break. Then you walk out. When he comes back I’ll ask if he saw you exercising your legs. All I know is you went out for a walk to circle the floor. That’ll give you the time it takes for the man to piss. Can you get out of the hospital in the time it takes a man to piss?”
Darwin nodded. “Do it. And thanks.”
John shrugged. “I have no idea what you’re thinking of doing, but I can’t see it working out for you.”
“That’s my concern. Just get that cop off my door.”
John moved around Darwin to open the door and then stopped. He pulled a piece of metal out of his back pocket.
“Here, take this.”
Darwin took the proffered brass knuckles. “Why do you have these?”
“Don’t worry about that. I took them off some punk yesterday. I’ve carried them around since and thought maybe you could use them. It might help if you get in trouble. Just make sure there’s a lot of people wherever you are. Yuri won’t shoot you in front of too many witnesses. Once you get Rosina, he’ll send people to follow you. Lose the tail and you’re free.”
They let one last look pass between them.
“I don’t agree with this,” John
said. “But good luck.”
John opened the door and stepped out. Darwin waited by bouncing from one foot to the other, getting his legs moving and ready for the walk. This was his chance. Rosina was close. He would walk in, get her from the restaurant and walk out. If anyone stepped in his way he would shout fire or pull the fire alarm or call the police beforehand or just wait until she leaves the table to go to the bathroom. Whatever happened, he was going to get his wife.
