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  “She’s stable for now.”

  A sigh, from both Davide and Raffaele.

  “She’s lost some blood and she’s sustained some broken bones and a concussion, which is why she had the bruising on her face. Luckily the ribs are not broken, just bruised. She needs someone to monitor her and make sure she remains stable. The IV has pain killers and I’ll be in later with one of my nurses.”

  “Grazie Luca.” Davide heard Raffaele say as he hurried inside the room. Lori lay on the bed, leg and arm in a cast, a light sheet covering her. He lifted it and was shocked to see how black and blue her entire body was. If he wanted to kill Hector before, now he was even more certain that he would inflict every torture method in the book before he killed him.

  Raffaele came in after some time.

  “So Hector now knows you have the girl.”

  “I’m sure he does.”

  “We need to all get some rest and plan tomorrow.”

  Davide nodded. He held Lori’s limp pale hand in his. She looked so tiny. So vulnerable. He knew he wouldn’t get any sleep until Hector was dead.

  “I’ll sit here with her.”

  “You need to get some sleep son.”

  “I will. I just…” his voice broke. Now that he had her, all the possibilities of what could have happened came crashing in. “I need to be with her for a moment.”

  Raffaele looked unsure. A look Davide had never seen on him. Then he turned on his heel and left.

  Davide sat there listening to Lori’s labored breaths. He wished he were a better man, a stronger man, then he’d be able to walk away from her. If he left her alone, they’d leave her alone. But he needed her. He was selfish, he needed her. He just wasn’t sure how long she would stay if these kinds of things kept happening to her. If he kept failing her like this. He was failing her. It was that simple.

  He took in a deep breath and forced himself to look at the bruises on her face. He felt his throat constrict. His insides felt as if they were on fire. If he lost her, he couldn’t survive. Couldn’t.

  He tried to remember the last time they’d been together. He hadn’t even made love to her. He’d been selfish and rushed it. But he hadn’t realized it would be the last time. Not many people got the privilege of knowing it would be the last time with someone. Had he known, he’d have worshipped her.

  He put a seat and placed his head on the bed and closed his eyes. He had never been religious but he prayed she’d be okay. Even though she’d leave him once she got better, he just wanted her to be fine. He would try and live with the heartbreak of her leaving him, but he could never survive her death.

  ***

  “Come on. Breakfast’s ready and Vinny will be here in a few minutes.”

  Davide woke up to the sound of Raffaele’s voice. He looked up and realized he’d slept on the seat, head next to Lori’s. Her breathing still sounded off but he was happy it was still there.

  “Luca?”

  “He’s also on his way.”

  He kissed Lori’s hand and headed towards the bathroom. “I’ll be downstairs shortly.” He closed the door, removed his stained clothes and let the hot water soothe him. He massaged the kinks on his neck and on his shoulder, then stood under the steady stream for a few minutes. He could have stayed there forever but there was work to do. Things to resolve. Hector to kill.

  He dressed, kissed Lori’s bruised face and went downstairs. Vinny was already there.

  “First things first, watch this.” Said Vinny putting the TV on. It was a news piece on the murders on Hoyt street the night before. According to the anchor lady, the District Attorney was convinced that Raffaele D’Amato was behind it. There were no other bodies on the scene other than those belonging to men identified to be associated with Nico Rodriguez. The newscaster went on to describe the lack of organization of the Camorra until recently when it was suspected that Raffaele D’Amato had taken over. They then moved on to Raffaele’s cases in New York and Vinny switched the TV off.

  “Hector must have moved Ignacio’s body. You know what this means Raffaele.”

  “I know, I know. I should expect a call any minute. I’ll speak to Patrick Miller about this. But first what do we do about Hector?”

  “He won’t leave until he has me, which is good because I plan to put this matter to rest once and for all.”

  “Alright. Vinny?” Raffaele looked nodded at the man.

  “I can’t imagine that Nico will allow Hector anywhere near his property now. Too many of his men keep dying plus he’s getting too much exposure. I suppose we can try and figure out where else Hector would go, especially now that you don’t think he’d leave the country. Maybe approach one of Nico’s men. I’m sure at least one wants to make more money.”

  “Or?”

  “Or wait until Hector reaches out to you.”

  “I’m not sure I can sit here and wait for that,” Davide said. He wanted to be close to make sure Lori was fine but he’d only rest easy once Hector was dead.

  Right at that moment Luca arrived.

  “Buongiorno,” he nodded already making his way up the stairs.

  “I’ll come with you.” Davide excused himself and followed the doctor. He waited by the side as Luca checked on Lori. “She’s still stable. The swelling on her face should minimize but the concussion she sustained means she’ll be out of it for a while.” A nurse will come by to be by her side.

  “Can we expect her to wake up?”

  “Definitely. Just can’t be sure how long it will take. Some people take a few hours, others weeks. But I’ll see that the nurse takes care of her and the rest is up to her.”

  “Thank you Luca.”

  “My pleasure Davide. Good luck.”

  Davide accompanied the doctor downstairs and went to where Raffaele and Vinny were seated, still deep in conversation. Raffaele called his live in house help who brought out the breakfast. He hadn’t realized how much he’d been starving.

  In between bites of his omelet, Raffaele spoke. “Vinny says he can get someone from Nico’s camp. Are you prepared for that or would you prefer waiting?”

  “I say we get someone.” Davide answered with no hesitation.

  “Alright, I’ll make some calls.” Vinny excused himself.

  They ate in relative quiet for a few minutes then Vinny was back.

  “One of the men has a cousin married to a man in Nico’s camp.”

  Raffaele winced. “We should check out these men’s backgrounds more thoroughly. We can’t have such close relations here.”

  “I’m sorry boss, I’ll get on that. In the meantime, he said he’ll reach out to her and he’ll let me know.”

  “Good. We’ll await your word Vinny.”

  Davide stood up as Raffaele showed Vinny out. He went back to Lori’s room. Staying with her fortified him. He felt like he needed extra anger for the looming showdown. Nothing pissed him off more than seeing Lori’s lovely face marred by bruises.

  CHAPTER THIRTY - FIVE

  “Just spoke to Patrick. Apparently one man was found on the scene in Hoyt, shot in the leg. He’s under police custody now and according to Patrick’s sources, he’s testified that I was there together with a man who fits your description,” Raffaele said sitting across from Davide on the other side of Lori’s bed.

  “That’s bullshit.”

  “Don’t I know it. The man says I left him alive so I could send a message. As if anyone in this business sends a message with live bodies.”

  “Fuck. So what happens now Raffaele?”

  “According to Patrick, there’ll be a car sent in to come arrest me.” Raffaele seemed unconcerned. “Don’t make that face, just keep out of their sight and let me handle this.”

  “This is all Hector’s doing.”

  “Precisely. But the DA has never pinned anything on me. He’s getting desperate. Anyway, just came in here to let you know son. Be careful with Hector. I’ll get Vinny to coordinate with you instead.”

  “Mom
ents later, just before the clock struck 4pm, they heard the ring of the door bell. “That should be my police ride. Patrick says I should be out in a couple of hours. It’s routine to ‘shake me up’.”

  “Be careful dad.”

  The old man got sentimental every time Davide called him that.

  “I will. They might get a warrant to search the house so I suggest you go to the hiding room. Even if they don’t have one now, they’ll come back later.”

  Davide followed Raffaele and veered off to the right where their secret hiding room had been constructed, behind Raffaele’s office. Raffaele never kept anything implicating in the house but both the NYPD and the FBI had searched his house at least once. They never learnt.

  Through the camera in the room, Davide saw a group of people walk in the house. He tensed waiting for the search. But they must not have had a warrant because they left immediately. He wondered about the arrest, but he gave the old man credit, he always came out on top.

  He eased out of the room and tsk-ed at the untidy way they’d left Raffaele’s desk. He walked back to Lori’s room and called Vinny.

  “I was just about to call you.” The other man said. “The guy is desperate to work for us. He says he’ll forward any info he gets.”

  “Can we trust him?”

  “No. But he’s the best we have at the moment. Let’s assume he’ll screw us so we have to be prepared, but it’s our best bet right now. Hey, I’m getting another call, I’ll call you back.”

  Vinny hung up and left Davide to his thoughts. They were going to get information from somebody they didn’t trust. Too reckless, but did they have any other choice?

  His phone rang interrupting his thoughts.

  “That was our informant. According to him Hector plans to leave tonight. He has a helicopter chartered at a small airport in Jersey. “

  “It’s definitely a trap. Why would Hector leave now? He hasn’t gotten what he came here for so why would he leave?”

  “The guy says that Hector has planned something big and he intends to leave soon after. He has no clue what the ‘something big’ is, but Hector is definitely leaving at 11pm.”

  “So whatever this is should happen before then?”

  “Right.”

  “Ok, thanks Vinny. Make your way here by 5pm. In the meantime, keep me updated.”

  What in the world could the ‘something big’ be? As far as he knew, Hector had no way of coming for him. Even if he suspected that Davide was in Queens, Raffaele’s house was like a fort. Hidden guards everywhere. He couldn’t figure it out and it pissed him the hell off.

  He thought of checking in on Raffaele but that would have been reckless. He wished he had someone on the inside to tell him what was going on. Raffaele had for years trusted Patrick Miller, who was one of the few people who knew all about Davide and Isabelle. If so, he could call him, couldn’t he?

  Just as he was mulling this over, a thought hit him. No. Could Hector be that daring? He had to speak to Patrick. He checked the directory and found Patrick’s office number.

  “Miller and Miller, how can I assist you?”

  “Hi, I’d like to speak to Mr. Patrick Miller please.”

  “Who may I tell him is calling?”

  “Raffaele D’Amato’s nephew.”

  “Sure. Give me a second.”

  “Hello, Patrick Miller here.”

  “Patrick, it’s Davide.”

  “Of course it is, I know all about Raffaele and there’re no nephews to speak of.”

  “I was calling to ask about his arrest, any news?”

  “I was actually just waiting for a call from a friend at the NYPD. Gimme a minute I’ll call you back.”

  “Sure.”

  Less than five minutes later the phone rang. “Davide, I have bad news.”

  Davide’s heart rate kicked up a notch.

  “There was a major car accident on the highway and some of the cars caught fire. It’s on the news right now.”

  Davide searched for the remote control and put the TV on, not daring to breathe. Sure enough there’d been a pile up and what seemed to be a huge fire surrounded by fire trucks.

  Fuck!

  “I need to get down there! Raffaele!”

  “You know what that would mean for you Davide. The witness gave your description pretty well. It wouldn’t serve you or Raffaele for you to be arrested right now.”

  He took a moment to calm himself. “Fine. Find out all you can and call me back.”

  Fuck! This had Hector all over it. This was what he was planning. No wonder he wanted to leave. Killing him would have been major but killing the head of the Camorra in New York was the stuff of legends in their business. Stupid move though, because this would make him infamous but also a target. Especially in Europe.

  He started pacing, God, he was losing it! His phone rang again.

  “Did you hear?” It was Vinny.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ve spoken to some people, the car he was in was burnt beyond recognition. He’s gone Davide.”

  Davide couldn’t listen anymore. He took his phone and flung it to the opposite end of the room. It crashed into pieces, exactly how he felt inside.

  He couldn’t remember ever really crying, but he wept then. Face on the bed, holding Lori’s hand, he wept. He was losing everything. Raffaele had warned him to maintain cover but he had pursued Lori. Raffaele had warned him to stay away from her but still he never listened. This was all his fault. Raffaele was dead. Lori would for sure leave him when she came to. He never felt more alone.

  CHAPTER THIRTY - SIX

  “Alright, time to do this.” Davide was in Raffaele’s study surrounded by six men, including Vinny. Luca’s nurse was already upstairs with Lori. Davide had wondered whether to inform Macy, somebody he could trust with Lori, but he’d decided against it. He’d endangered too many lives already.

  “Since learning of Raffaele’s death, Hector has changed his leaving time to 9pm, and only because he couldn’t leave earlier.” Vinny said.

  “Has he boasted about being behind this?” asked Davide.

  “According to our guy, Hector was planning on killing both you and Raffaele. Probably planted the witness to get Raffaele arrested and get one of Nico’s men to do the job from the inside. Our guy overheard the conversation between Hector and Nico, so it makes sense that it was him.”

  Davide pulled in a deep breath and tried to remain calm. Raffaele would expect nothing else from him. Plus the situation demanded it of him.

  “So your men are already in the area?”

  “Yup”

  “Then can leave now. Remember to expect an ambush. I still don’t trust this new informant. Other than that, all you have to do is fight off whichever men we find there. Hector is to be left to me. If any of you get to him first, incapacitate him but you should in no way kill him.”

  The men nodded.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  He rushed upstairs and kissed Lori’s lips for good luck. It was now or never.

  About an hour later, once in Jersey, they turned towards the airport. It was just after 7pm. They had two hours to wait for Hector. Unless Hector was already waiting for them.

  They surrounded the small airport from all sides keeping their eyes out for Hector’s men. Everything seemed quiet. At exactly 8pm, some people started arriving. From where Davide was, he could see Pedro, and three other men he couldn’t identify. They all moved with the confidence of people who had their shit in order. They either didn’t expect Davide, or they had a plan not even Davide could conceive.

  They all went towards the hanger, looking very relaxed. It pissed Davide off. He looked behind him to the three men flanking him. “Follow them.” He instructed.

  “Not a good idea to leave you alone Davide.” Whispered Vinny.

  “Then you stay, the two off you go. Hold your fire for now, but if needed, kill whoever you have to.”

  The two left stealthily behind Pedro and
the men. As soon as they left, a gun shot rang out.

  “Fucking told them to hold their fire!”

  “Can’t be them. It was either an ambush or Hector just came prepared.”

  The gun shots escalated, as if more and more people were joining in the fire. Peeping out from his corner, he saw the two men he’d sent after Pedro laying on the ground. From the corner of his eye he saw Vinny indicate to some more men. One of the three men fell to the ground, possibly shot and he could see Pedro rushing to the other side of the hangar.

  Running round the building, he went towards the area Pedro had ran to. He suspected that would be where their helicopter would be. He spotted Pedro walking briskly phone on his ear. The noise from the other side had escalated some more and he could hear the grunts of the men fighting outside, but his eyes remained trained on Pedro. He noticed a car coming from the right, lights off. It was a wonder he could see, it was so dark out. A testament to the evil surrounding the area. Him included.

  Pedro ran towards the car. Davide knew he couldn’t allow him to leave. He wasn’t surprised to see Hector come out of the car. He couldn’t see the driver though.

  He was starting to understand what this was. From the lack of organization, their informant had not lied. Hector was planning on leaving, but he’d taken caution this time. Made sure there would be enough men to cause a distraction in case anything happened. And he would still be able to slip away. Not on Davide’s watch.

  The two men seemed to be talking agitatedly about something. Davide crept back the way he came, there would have to be a better view of Pedro and Hector from higher up. He wished he’d thought about it earlier.

  Once on the other side, slightly on higher ground, yet still close enough to run after Hector if he tried to leave, he settled down. The two men had started moving to where he’d suspected, towards the hangar. The driver was still in the car.

  He had to act fast. He took out his already assembled sniper rifle and aimed. He would not shoot Hector, no. Hector would die slowly. He aimed and shot. Pedro fell down in an instant. He would have loved to kill Pedro slowly but if there was one thing he understood, it was that we didn’t always get what we wanted. He’d live with it.