Fallen Angel, Part II

by Tracie Podger

  “You will be safe, won’t you?” I asked.

  He took my hand in his. “Of course I will.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  We landed in New York, this time Travis had arranged for our own cars and once we cleared security we headed to the hotel. We were staying at the Waldorf Towers again and we checked in, unpacked before heading back out. Gary and I took a car to the stores that I wanted to look at, I had my list and camera. Not that I would be allowed to take photos inside but I visited each store, made notes, even managed to pick up a couple of polo shirts for Robert.

  I checked my phone regularly, waiting for a text or call from him, I wanted to know he was okay. I did call Lucia though, she was as worried as me and we arranged to meet for lunch the following day. I explained that I would have Kerry with me, perhaps her daughter would like to join us, give Kerry someone of her own age to chat to.

  “Gary, have you heard from Travis yet?” I asked.

  “No. Brooke, they’ll be fine, don’t worry,” he replied.

  But I did, I had no doubt that Robert and Travis could physically look after themselves but this was a different matter. Whatever trouble Luca was in was serious and I didn’t want Robert getting caught in the middle of it. I tried to read, watch a little TV but as the day wore on, so I got increasingly worried. I opened my laptop, a little work might distract me. I downloaded the photos and made my report which I emailed straight to Pete and Richard. It was while I was in the shower that I heard the door opening and wrapping a towel around myself I headed out of the bathroom.

  Robert was taking off his jacket and I was so relieved to see him, I ran across the room and flung myself in his arms, soaking him.

  “Hey baby, I’m sorry I didn’t call,” he said.

  “How did it go? I was worried.”

  “I know, Gary said,” he sighed. “The meeting wasn’t good really. Luca has fucked up big time.”

  “How?” I asked.

  “I don’t want to go into that right now but the crux of the matter is that he has promised the build to someone, someone he owes and now he has to tell them it’s not going to happen. I won’t help him because I’m disgusted with him.”

  “You won’t tell me why?” I asked quietly.

  “No and I really don’t want you to ask, please,” he said.

  “Do you still want me to meet Lucia tomorrow? She might ask me what’s happened.”

  “That’s fine, you tell her I wouldn’t say but that I’m dealing with it. Tomorrow I’m meeting Franco, he’ll decide if Lucia needs to know or not and what we do with Luca. We’ll know more then.”

  “Do you still want to meet with the kids tonight, we don’t have to,” I said.

  “It's fine, I could do with the distraction and talking of distractions,” he said as he pulled my towel away.

  A while later I lay curled up in his arms, my fingers trailing over his stomach.

  “Ted called, the kids have had a great day,” he said. “He hasn’t lost one of them yet.”

  I laughed. “Poor Ted. What will you do when he wants to retire?”

  “We probably need to look for someone now to be honest. They can then take over from him. I doubt he will leave the home in anything but a coffin but he could do with some help.”

  “How old is he?”

  “I don’t know but he has been old for years. Come on, we need to get up and ready. Burger and fries, my idea of hell,” he laughed.

  “You’ve never eaten junk food?” I asked, watching him walk naked to the bathroom.

  “What and ruin this body, are you kidding me?” he smiled, flexing his shoulder and back muscles.

  “Do any more of that and we’re going to be very late,” I called after him.

  We arrived at the restaurant, a queue had already formed outside. Gary pulled up and we walked straight to the door, the doorman letting us in. Ted, Evelyn and the kids were already seated and as we approached, I pitied the people on the neighbouring tables. They were full of their day, all wanting to speak at once, telling us what they had seen. It took the waitress a good half an hour to take everyone’s order.

  We sat and ate, chatted and listened to how excited they were to be in New York. They had a project to complete because we had taken them out of school. They had to complete a travel guide. Gerry showed us the photographs he had taken, detailing every one of them, despite how obvious they were.

  “Brooke, look at this one. This is the Statue of Liberty, can you see her?” he asked.

  “Yes, Gerry, I can see her,” I laughed.

  “And this is another one. Oh, look, here she is again.”

  “Gerry, have you taken photos of anything else you saw today?” Travis asked.

  He looked at Travis as if he was stupid. “No,” he replied.

  “So when you get back to school, they’re going to think that all you did was visit the statue.”

  “Oh yeah,” he laughed. He had such an infectious little laugh, always smiling and always up to mischief.

  Gerry was the smallest and youngest at eight years old, but the one with the loudest voice and it was lovely to see how Kerry mothered him. With his blond hair, big blue eyes covered by glasses, he was adorable with it. Despite his protests, he had a special relationship with her. He looked at her like a big sister and I was reminded of Evelyn, how she had been with Robert and Travis.

  With the kids full of burgers, fries and ice cream we headed out. They piled into their mini bus and Robert, Travis and I headed back to the hotel with Gary driving.

  “That was fun,” I said.

  “Yeah, got a splitting headache though,” Travis grumbled but with a smile.

  “They’ve had such a good time,” I replied.

  We arrived back at the hotel and after saying goodnight to Travis and Gary, we headed up to our room. Robert opened a bottle of wine and we sat together, he was quiet, contemplating and I knew his thoughts were on Luca. His phone buzzed, he had received a text and walking across the room to where he had left it, he picked it up before looking at me.

  “Mack,” he said to me.

  “Mack?” I asked.

  “Yes, he just flew in. I need to meet with him and Travis, I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry, go,” I said with a forced smile.

  Before he did, he leant down, cupped his hands around my face and kissed me.

  “Robert, please be careful,” I said to his retreating back.

  He stilled, his hand just on the door handle. He turned his head and gave me a smile and a nod. Something in the way he said he had to meet them, something in that kiss gave me a very uneasy feeling. Whatever this was with Luca, he was going to deal with it tonight, I was sure, that’s why he wanted Mack and Travis with him.

  I changed into my pj’s, picked up my book but found it hard to concentrate. I refreshed my wine and just waited. The clock ticked by and as much as I tried not to, I started to drift into sleep. Later, I felt two arms around me, of being picked up and laid in the bed, I knew it was Robert, I could feel him, smell him. He climbed in beside me and pulled me into his arms.

  “Hey,” I said, my eyes opening.

  “Hey yourself,” he replied.

  He kissed my forehead. “Go back to sleep,” he said as my eyes started to close again.

  ****

  When I woke the following morning he was already up, dressed in his black suit and red tie and sitting at the dining table with a coffee cup in his hand.

  “You should have woken me,” I said as I joined him.

  “You looked too peaceful,” he replied, pulling me towards him.

  I stood between his legs, my hands on his shoulders. He seemed a little more relaxed this morning and I kissed the top of his head.

  “I have to leave shortly, keep your lunch date with Lucia,” he said.

  “What if she asks me anything?”

  “You don’t know anything, Brooke. That’s all you can tell her. I’ll call you later, let you know if we�
��re leaving tonight or not.”

  He kissed me before he left and I headed to the shower. I couldn’t remember if I’d told Robert that I was collecting Kerry and wanted to show her the site or not. Still, it didn’t matter, whatever had happened last night had been solved by the looks of him this morning.

  I had arranged to collect Kerry then head off to the site before meeting Lucia for lunch. I had told her that Lucia was a family friend and that she had a daughter the same age. Kerry was a little reluctant at first, still shy around strangers but I assured her that these were really friendly people, she had nothing to be worried about.

  Gary pulled the car alongside the gate in the wooden boarding surrounding the construction site. As we got out a security guy in a high viz yellow jacket opened up and waved us through before heading back into his hut. We walked to the middle of the site and I pointed out where the buildings, the courtyard and fountains would be. Kerry asked questions and it was nice to be able to have this level of conversation with her. She was genuinely interested in what I was doing here, even coming up with suggestions herself.

  We made our way over the site office. Previously it had been a warehouse now it was being used to house materials and the office for when the building work started. Gary’s phone had started to ring as we got to the door. Holding it up, he mouthed that it was Robert and took the call while Kerry and I entered the warehouse. As we stepped over the threshold the door was slammed shut behind us, I spun round and came face to face with a man I’d never seen before. He smirked at me as he bolted the door shut.

  “Brooke, it’s okay, they just want to talk, that’s all,” I heard and turning back towards the centre of the room, I faced Luca.

  I reached for Kerry’s hand and pulled her close to me. I could feel her shaking and I squeezed wanting to give her some comfort. I jumped at the sound of Gary banging his fists on the metal door, shaking the handle trying to open it. He was shouting my name.

  “What is this all about Luca?” I asked, loud enough for Gary to hear and try to figure out what was going on.

  “They just want to speak to Robert.”

  “Well, Robert isn’t here.”

  “Call him,” came the command from a large dark man with a heavy foreign accent.

  “Gary was on the phone to Robert when your friend here shut us in. I should imagine he’s on his way right now.” I answered.

  I looked over to Luca. “He’s going to be really pissed off, you know that don’t you?”

  I saw a little flicker of fear in his eyes as he looked from me to the large man next to him. And I took in the fact that his clothes were rumpled, his hair messed and a bruise was starting to show on his cheekbone.

  It was then that things started to get worse. I heard a gunshot from outside then more hitting the lock of the door. Kerry screamed and I pulled her towards me but she was grabbed by her arms. The man by the door had hold of her and was trying to drag her away from me. I aimed a punch, a kick but found two arms wrapped around my waist holding me back.

  “Please, Brooke. I don’t want this to get out of hand,” Luca said.

  Everything seemed to happen so fast, I watched Kerry being dragged back, the man holding her running his tongue over his lips, his hand grabbing at her breasts and I realised who these people were.

  “Oh my God, Luca. That’s it isn’t it? These are the Albanians, you’re into trafficking aren’t you?” I screamed at him.

  “That’s why Robert is so disgusted with you.”

  I looked over to where the man now held Kerry by the throat, her eyes wide in utter shock. The door was buckling under the kicks and shots from outside.

  “Fight, Kerry,” I shouted.

  And she tried, she really did. He was far too strong and continued to drag her back into the shadows. His large friend just stood and laughed. At that moment the door burst open and Gary crouched to his knees with his gun raised. He let off a shot and I watched as the large man fell, blood spreading across his chest. He then swung the gun towards Luca who was now using me a shield.

  “Gary, drop the gun and I’ll let her go,” he said, his voice shaking.

  “Let her go, then I’ll drop the gun,” Gary replied as he started to slowly walk towards us.

  I could hear Kerry somewhere behind me, her muffled cries were tearing me apart.

  “There’s another one, Gary. He has Kerry, behind me.” I needed Gary to know how many people there were. He nodded but his priority was me and I closed my eyes and shook my head.

  “Please, Gary, go for her. Luca isn’t going to hurt me,” I pleaded but he never answered. A shot rang out that caught him in the back and he was thrown forwards. Behind him, I watched the large man, on his knees slump, once more, to the floor.

  I think the shock of what was going on made Luca lessen his grip a little. I managed to pull my arms forward and propel my elbows into his stomach with as much force as I could. It winded him enough to drop his arms and I fell forwards and onto my knees. I scrambled away and my hand touched the cold steel of the revolver Gary had been holding. I lifted it, knowing exactly what I was going to do and turned. A pulse beat so hard and frantically in my neck, I could feel and hear the blood rushing to my brain. Luca backed away as I moved towards him, the gun held steady as a rock in my hands.

  We moved as close as we could to where I thought Kerry was but it was getting harder to see, the more we moved towards the back of the unlit warehouse. I heard Gary moan, I hoped it was him and a flood of relief washed over me. And then I saw her. My poor Kerry, lying on the floor in a pool of blood, silent. I kept the gun trained on Luca as I crouched and felt for any sign of life. I didn’t really know what I was feeling for, all I got was a hot, wet, sticky hand when I touched her throat. I swallowed down the bile that was threatening to spew its way out.

  I had never hated before, I’ve disliked but as I looked at this man in front of me the hatred rushed through my veins like poison. This so called gangster, Mafia man was already beaten and his eyes darted between me and the door in fear. I felt nothing but an overwhelming desire to kill him. To put a bullet through his heart and avenge Kerry. I took a deep breath and stood.

  “Call your friend, Luca. He’s still here somewhere,” I said as I moved towards him.

  I heard a rustle and I backed Luca towards the noise and placed myself in the corner. I could see the Albanian crouched on his heels, a bloodied knife held in his hands. I need two walls behind me for protection. Not from the Albanian and Luca but from Robert.

  “Stay the fuck where you are, Robert,” I screamed out. “You too, Travis.”

  I knew they were there, I’d felt him.

  “Brooke, put the gun down, they can’t go anywhere,” Robert said quietly.

  “They killed her, now stay the fuck where you are. If you come any closer I will pull this trigger,” I replied with such anger in my voice it even startled me.

  My heart was racing but still my hands stayed steady. The reason I had backed myself to the wall was so that Robert couldn’t get to me, he couldn’t try to take the gun away.

  “Brooke, don’t do this. Give me the gun. I’ll put the fuckers out of their misery, don’t worry about that,” he said, his voice so low and scary, it sent shivers up my spine.

  I ignored him, I couldn’t take my eyes away from the man on the floor and now he was looking scared. Luca was moving away, creeping along the wall. He thought I hadn’t noticed but he wasn’t what I wanted now. It was this piece of shit on floor at my feet.

  “You wanted to meet, well, here he is. Now what do you want to talk to him about?” I said, my voice low.

  I heard a noise beside me and stupidly I took my eyes away for just a split second. Robert had moved so fast and he’d placed himself between us. Travis held a gun to Luca’s head and had forced him to his knees.

  To this day I don’t really understand why Robert did what he did. He couldn’t get to me physically because of where I stood but to put himself in the midd
le took courage, he had put himself in danger.

  “Brooke, look at me. You have no idea what it feels like to kill someone, what it will do to you afterwards. Part of you will die, Brooke. I can’t let that happen, please, don’t be like me, you don’t want to do this,” his said softly, his voice hypnotising.

  “I need you, Brooke, as you are, pure and good,” his voice cracked a little.

  We stood in silence for a while and I began to waiver slightly. “He killed her” I said quietly, tears falling down my cheeks. I looked at the gun in my hands which had started to gently shake and then I raised my eyes back to Robert.

  “It’s all right baby, give me the gun,” he said as he reached out with his hand.

  Sensing an opportunity, the man sprung up holding the knife aloft. He plunged it into Robert’s back and I screamed as I watched my husband fall to his knees. I emptied that gun towards the Albanian, firing and firing. The room echoed with gunshot, my ears rang and there was an incredible smell. I watched Travis raise his gun and put a bullet straight in the centre of the man’s chest. It all happened in a split second and was more an instinctive reaction than thought out by me. I dropped the gun and ran towards Robert. He was on his knees and his head was falling onto his chest. I wrapped my arms around him and felt wetness through his jacket. There was so much blood and it was so warm. I looked at my hand, covered and held it to my heart. I could hear the distant wailing of sirens and I rocked him, holding his head to my chest.

  “Please don’t leave me, Robert. Stay with me,” I said repeatedly between my sobs.

  I looked at his face, his beautiful black eyes and saw those little flickers of silver sparks. I whispered to him for what seemed like ages. He didn’t speak at all and after a couple of minutes I watched him slowly close his eyes, a very small smile on his lips and he gave a tiny nod of his head.

  “If you die, I will too. I’ll find you Robert. I’ll find you again,” I cried as I kissed his lips.

  I sat on that damp, cold concrete floor and held the man I loved with all my being, I was covered in his blood and I wouldn’t let him go. I heard noise, running feet and still I whispered to him.