“I can’t sit here doing nothing,” I said.
“I know it’s hard. And I guess I’d be doing the same as you are, but you need to think about this. As Franco said, if it was the police investigating, you’d still be sitting here doing nothing but waiting,” she replied.
“Who is Tony?” I asked.
Franco answered. “He’s a man able to get people to talk. He’s not someone you want to ever meet. He will torture that son of a bitch for every piece of information he has. And then your husband will kill Paulo, as he should.”
“We don’t know the circumstance…”
“The circumstances are that he is party to the kidnapping of your son. In the world that we live in, that you live in, that is something that will never go unpunished. He knew that the minute he took the decision to be involved. Don’t have any feelings towards him, Brooke.”
“You said you knew who it was, who had Gerry. Can I know that at least?”
“I’m an old man, Brooke. I’ve lived many years in Italy and here. There is only one family that I know of that would have left that note. Although, what this family wants from Robert, I have no idea. I have asked for the assistance of an old friend, someone they are very wary of.”
“The note said the children should pay. It has to be about Luca, doesn’t it?”
“It’s probably about Luca, yes. But that won’t be the sole reason for this. Luca wasn’t respected; no one cared about his death, which was so long ago now. I believe Carlo is instrumental in wanting revenge but someone else is taking advantage of that want.”
“So what do I do, Franco? How do I help?”
“You help by standing shoulder to shoulder with your husband. He is a good man, Brooke. An honourable man. Don’t destroy what you have.”
“I’m not. I just can’t get the thought out of my head that Gerry wouldn’t be lost if Robert wasn’t who he was.”
“You wouldn’t have Gerry in the first place if Robert wasn’t the man he is. Think on that.” Franco stood and joined Carrig and the guys in the home office.
I felt a little attacked. From Sam, from Taylor, and now Franco. But he was right. Gerry would never have come into my life had it not been for Robert, my residency may have never come through had it not been for Robert, and consequently, the adoption would never have happened.
“Honey, your mind is all over the place. You’re scared, terrified I imagine. I can’t begin to think how you feel, but we need to work together. Whatever fears you have for Gerry can be dealt with when he’s home,” Taylor added.
I nodded my head and took a deep breath. “Listen, why don’t you guys go home and get some rest.”
“We’re not going anywhere. We stick together,” Patricia said.
I looked at my watch, again. Five hours had passed since I’d received that text. Five hours of unbearable pain. I curled my feet underneath me and rested into the arm of the sofa. I closed my eyes, not to sleep but to conjure up as many images and memories of Gerry as I could. And I waited.
Chapter Ten
It was dark when I woke in a panic and shot to my feet. I’d fallen asleep and I hadn’t wanted to.
“It’s okay, there’s no news yet,” Evelyn said.
“How long have I been asleep?”
“Only a couple of hours or so.”
Sam was dozing in a chair, Susie and Patricia were sitting at the breakfast bar and Taylor was nowhere to be seen.
My shirt was crumpled and my hair tangled. I was thirsty and craving some fresh air. I stood and walked over to the kitchen, grabbed a glass and filled it with water. I made my way downstairs and opened the front door. Gary jumped to attention.
“Hey, have you been here all this time?” I asked as I stepped out.
“Here, there, everywhere. We’re taking shifts.”
“How did he get the key, Gary? How was that gate unlocked from the inside?”
“I don’t know, Brooke. As far as I know, there is only one key, here at the house and that’s missing. How he got it, I guess we’ll find out at some point.”
We fell silent for a little while. I sipped at my drink. It seemed to calm the sickness I felt.
“Did you know? When you started working at Vassago, did you know who these people are?” I asked.
“I had my suspicions. There have always been rumours surrounding Robert. But no matter what, he’s a good man. And more importantly, the right man to find Gerry. Believe me, the police have fucked up more times than they have ever found a missing child.”
“So it doesn’t bother you?”
“This city is full of crooks, Brooke. Whether they work in Capitol Hill or in businesses, I base my judgement on the person. I’d trust Robert with my life, with my family, before anyone else. You want your son back? These are the people that will make that happen.”
The front door was opened and Carrig stepped out of the house. Gary nodded to him before stepping away to make his hourly patrol. Carrig smiled at me as he pulled a packet of cigarettes from his pocket. He shook one loose offering it to me.
“I don’t smoke,” I said.
“You don’t like me, and that’s okay. I’m not here to be friends. When my part is done, I’ll be gone and you won’t see me again,” he said.
“You won’t stay in touch with Travis? That’s nice, isn’t it?”
“We’re not close.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I owe him. I couldn’t save him when he needed me, but I can do something now. The scorecard will be even.”
“What do you mean, you couldn’t save him?”
“That’s not my story to tell.” The flame from his lighter illuminated his features.
There was no doubt he was a stunning looking man but his eyes were so cold, and there was a brutality about him.
“And I respect your husband. He took care of my brother when no one else did. He made sure he survived, so I guess I owe him too.”
He flicked his half-smoked cigarette across the drive and stepped back into the house. I walked to the cigarette and ground it out.
****
The house was quiet. People were either dozing on the sofa, asleep in one of the bedrooms or sitting quietly sipping coffee. Carrig was standing in the kitchen pouring a drink when his phone beeped. I watched as he looked at the screen and smiled. It wasn’t a smile of happiness but a wicked smile. I followed him to the home office.
“We have the picture,” he said to Franco as he handed him the phone.
“Okay, forward that to Robert. He wants to be the one to send it.”
“No burner?”
“No, he wants Paul to know it’s him.”
Carrig saw me at the door; he held the phone up so I could see. The image turned my stomach. Rosa was lying on the floor, her eyes wide and she had tape over her mouth. She too had a piece of paper on her chest, but the phone wasn’t close enough for me to read it.
“What does it say?” I asked, not sure I really wanted to know.
“How much do you love this one?”
“That’s sick!”
“No sicker than what they have done,” Carrig said.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“No, Brooke. I’m doing a job, that’s all. She won’t be harmed—we’re not barbaric. She’s just a bargaining tool. Why do you think she’s in the US? Do you know anything about her or her family? Do you know any of the young men her father and his friends murdered? You know, to this day, the parents of some of those men have never had closure. Their children have never been laid to rest.”
“I don’t believe you,” I said.
“You’re an intelligent woman, Google it. Search for The Disappeared of Northern Ireland.”
I turned and walked away. I had no intention of doing as he asked, no intention of Googling anything. I was a Brit. I knew about Northern Ireland. I’d been in London many times and had to shelter because of a bomb scare. I’d seen with horror the newsfeed o
f dead horses, of dead soldiers when the IRA set off a bomb in Hyde Park, and now one of them was standing in my house. I was furious. I was shaking with rage that that man had been called in to help. I’d come to the conclusion that he was part of that life because he’d said we’re not barbaric. That statement was the biggest fucking contradiction I’d ever heard.
I took myself to the bedroom and sat on the bed. Franco joined me a few minutes later.
“I want him out of my house,” I said.
“I know, and he’ll be leaving as soon as Travis gets back. This is why you need to stay out of our business, Brooke. Sometimes we have to make a deal with the devil.”
He patted my hand and left. Evelyn replaced him.
“Did you know? Did you know just what he is?” I couldn’t bring myself to speak his name.
“No, but I guessed he wasn’t an insurance salesman,” she said.
I looked sharply at her.
“As much as you didn’t understand our family, I don’t understand whatever it is he is. He’s Irish, so he’s IRA I take it?” Evelyn said.
“Well, technically they don’t exist anymore, but yes, that’s who’s standing in my house. A man responsible for murders, senseless murders,” I replied.
“Then he’s in good company, isn’t he?” she said gently.
I opened my mouth to speak but paused, totally shocked at her words.
“You opened your newspaper back in England and you read an article, gangland boss kills another. Did you take a moment to understand why that happened? Or did you think of it as a senseless murder? I’m not defending him; I know nothing about him or what he’s supposed to have done. I do know he’s lived in America since he was a young boy. For now, no matter who or what he is, if it gets Gerry back, then that’s all that matters. We can be moralistic once Gerry’s home.”
“I…I don’t know how to respond to that,” I said.
“Brooke, you’re like a daughter to me, that boy is my grandson. I don’t care who helps, and I know deep down you don’t either. How you feel, the conflict, the anger, the pain, I imagine that is completely normal. You’re going through hell right now. All I want to do is keep you grounded because the hard work starts when he’s home.”
She wrapped me in her arms and we sat in silence. I loved her more than I loved my birth mother. I didn’t think I had any tears left but they rolled down my cheeks anyway. As we sat, the front door opened. Robert walked straight into the bedroom. I looked up at him and had to clamp my jaw closed for fear of releasing a gasp.
Arcs of red, large and small dots crossed his stomach and chest, from hip to shoulder. He pulled the shirt over his head as he silently walked into the bathroom. Travis entered the bedroom behind him carrying a plastic bag. Wordlessly, Robert handed him the shirt and it was deposited into the bag. Travis then left, clearly knowing what to do with it.
I heard the shower run and just a few minutes later, Robert walked back to the bedroom and to the closet with only a towel around his waist. He emerged in jeans and a polo shirt.
“Do you want to know what I did?” he asked. His voice was harsh and challenging.
Evelyn tightened her arm around me. “Don’t, Brooke,” she whispered in my ear.
I sat frozen before slowly nodding my head.
“I cut off his fingers one by one, his punishment for laying them on my family. He screamed like a pig. Then I cut open his femoral artery, slowly, so he knew exactly what was happening to him. We bled him out a little, then clamped it shut, bled him a little more until he talked. He knew he was dying every second his heart beat. He bled out slowly until there were no more heartbeats left. Happy now?”
Evelyn clamped her hands over my ears. “Robert!” she shouted.
I jumped from the bed and ran from the room, but not before I heard Robert speak again.
“I need to give her reason to hate me so she can leave. She needs to see exactly what I’m capable of.”
I paused beyond the bedroom door.
“She’s not leaving you. She’s scared.”
“She’s made her mind up, she told me already. She blames me, and she’ll never get over that.” There was such sorrow in his voice that it broke me.
I ran up the stairs so as not to hear anymore. My whole body shook and bile rose to my throat. I ran for the utility room. I was hunched over the toilet when I felt a hand on my back.
“He told you?” I heard Travis say. I nodded. “He’s a prick sometimes. You do know what he’s doing, don’t you?” I shook my head. “He thinks he’s lost you. He’s making you hate him so it’s easier for you to walk away.”
I threw up, again. There was nothing in my stomach but water, and when that was expelled, I dry heaved. Sweat formed on my brow and tears ran down my cheeks. I rested back on my heels and was handed a washcloth. I held it to my face, the coldness cooled my flaming skin.
“He hasn’t lost me, but I think I’ve lost him,” I whispered.
“Never, Brooke,” Travis said, then left me to clean myself up.
Chapter Eleven
I heard Robert calling everyone together in the living room. I rose from the cold tiled floor of the utility room, my legs ached and one foot was numb.
“We know who has Gerry and why. I’ll be going for him shortly, I just have a few things to put in place. Carlo wanted revenge for his father. He’s been befriending Paulo for some time. It was Carlo that Paulo flew out to see. It was Paulo who gave him the details of the party but neither was intelligent enough to know how to take it further. So Carlo called upon an old friend of his father’s, someone who believes he is owed. This someone was in business with Luca, and he lost, so he says, a lot of money. He’s using Carlo, and Paulo, to get to me. This is the man who has my son.”
Robert was handed a photograph, which he then passed around. I took the photograph from Evelyn. Sam had opted not to look. I didn’t recognise the man, he was middle aged and strong looking. He wore a dark suit and dark glasses. He could have been anyone. No one showed any recognition.
“Who is he?” Evelyn asked.
“His name is Matteo. He normally lives in Palermo but he’s here. Franco is talking to the Commission who have met. They are aware of what has happened, and we have their full support. We also have the support of an old associate of Franco’s. He has co-ordinated activities in Sicily to wipe out his family. His word is God, no one, not even the Commission, will go against him.”
Sam leaned towards me. “I do not have a fucking clue what any of that meant,” he whispered.
“It means a lot of seriously bad people are helping us,” I whispered back.
“That’s a good thing then?”
“Yes.”
“Do we know why this Matteo is involved? I know you said he thinks you owe him, but what?” Evelyn asked.
“All I know is he lost a lot of money when Luca’s businesses were split up between the remaining families in New York, families much larger than ours. I believe he can’t take them on so has come to me. There is another thing, though. He’s about to remarry. He’s about to marry none other than Lucia.”
“So she is involved then?” I asked.
Finally, Robert looked at me. “To what degree, I don’t know. I doubt we ever will, but I’m about to fuck up her wedding plans.”
“What do we need to do?” Patricia asked.
“Nothing for now, it’s all in hand.”
With that, the men disappeared back into the home office.
“So now what? If they know where he is, why are they not going for him?” I asked, somewhat stunned.
“They’ll wait until this evening I imagine,” Patricia said.
“Why? What’s wrong with now for fuck’s sake?”
“Because it’s probably not the best thing to go shooting up DC in the middle of the day,” Sam added.
****
I looked at my watch—it showed eleven am. One whole day had passed without my son. I hadn’t showered or changed clothes,
I’d barely slept and hadn’t eaten in that twenty-four hour period. There was very little conversation in the house other than the muffled voices from behind the closed home office door. I looked around the room. Susie was rubbing the back of her neck, probably stiff from dozing on the sofa. Patricia looked immaculate, sitting on the edge of the sofa with her back rigid, her petite ankles crossed and her hands held in prayer in her lap. Taylor looked about as bad as I imagined I did with mascara smudged under her eyes. Sam looked like he had aged. He had dark circles and his normally immaculate attire was as crumpled as mine. Sam was right. They were my friends, they hadn’t left, they had sat with me the whole night.
Travis had been back and forth to his apartment. I asked him to bring Harley over to us but he declined. It was quiet and he was settled with Elaine for now. He had told me that he felt it would distress Harley to see me and I understood that. He was feeling guilty that he couldn’t save his best friend. Both boys were going to need some serious therapy when it was all over.
The home office door opened. Travis and Carrig walked out and crossed the living room. They paused halfway as Travis’ phone started to ring. He raised it to his ear.
“Paul, about time you called, you fucking prick,” he said.
I shot from my seat as Carrig ran back to the office, Travis following him. Just as he was about to close the door, I shouldered my way through. I stood in the corner holding my breath. I watched as Robert took the phone.
“Where is my son?” he asked, no emotion to his voice. “Are you there with him?”
He paused as he listened.
“Stop the fucking snivelling. I don’t want to hear your apology or excuses.”
There was another pause.
“You’re a dead man, Paul, you know that. You come to me and I’ll make it quick. If I have to find you, you will anger me, and that is not something I recommend.”
Another pause followed as he listened.
“You come to me and she’ll be released to her family. It’s your choice. You have one hour.”
Fallen Angel, Part 4 - A Mafia Romance: Fallen Angel Series Page 11
