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  Hector didn’t even look behind, he took off towards the direction of the hangar. The car he’d come in was already reversing. Davide dropped the rifle and took out his pistol. He rushed after Hector. He had to imagine there would be more men waiting for Hector. He entered the hangar and immediately saw Hector rushing towards the only helicopter inside the hangar. An impressive Eurocopter Twin Squirrel AS355.

  There seemed to be no one else around, and Davide didn’t think Hector could fly the helicopter. So how did he intend to leave? Something seemed very off.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said loudly. Hector was attempting to open the small door on the opposite side of the hanger closer to the helicopter. Not one to cower, Hector stood to his full height and turned.

  “Davide!” He exclaimed, as if truly surprised to see him. “I should have known you’d be here. Never one to miss the big shows.” Hector leveled that steely gray gaze on him. “I’m so sorry about what happened to Raffaele. I’d wondered why you chose to work for him when I treated you like my own son. But I couldn’t compete with the man who actually raised you now could I?”

  Davide moved closer and Hector inched closer to the door.

  “I said stop Hector.”

  Hector stopped moving but continued with his narrative. “I’d hoped after all these years, Raffaele would have forgotten about what happened to Isabelle.”

  “Don’t you fucking dare say her name!”

  “Calm down. It makes sense you want to avenge her death. What’s with you D’Amato men when it comes to women? Don’t you realize what liabilities they are?” He tsk tsk-ed.

  Davide moved closer still, “Turn around Hector!” He’d seen the subtle move Hector had made trying to reach for his gun. “And drop the gun to the floor. Nice and slowly, kick it towards me”

  Hector did as asked but kicked the gun to the far end where they both couldn’t reach it. Stupid act of defiance, and all this with a smile on his face. Davide was getting more and more uneasy. He had to end their little chit chat soon before whoever survived the shoot-out outside came in.

  “Did you have him killed?”

  “Ah. So now you want answers. But see, I have nothing to lose so I’ll tell you. Nico has many men on the inside. All we had to do was get him arrested and he’d never leave again, at least not alive.”

  Davide frowned. “And what? You grew impatient with the plan and set up the car pile up on the highway?”

  “Stroke of pure luck. Either somebody hated him more, or the universe decided to rid us of scum.”

  It was very likely that somebody else had gotten to Raffaele first. He was not lacking for enemies, from small time Nico Rodriguez, to members of the Five Mafia Families who were not thrilled to have an organized faction of the Camorra. Yet still, he couldn’t afford to believe a word Hector said. It was time to finish this. He almost regretted how easy it was. He raised his gun in the air, he wanted to see fear in Hector’s eyes, as he was sure Hector had seen in Isabelle’s and Lori’s. But the motherfucker just smiled.

  He aimed at the leg, just to incapacitate him, he still wanted to suck the life out of him. He pulled the trigger and felt a searing pain on his left shoulder. He turned just in time to see a man he didn’t recognize come in.

  Hector laughed. “That would be my pilot. Multi talented man that he is. He was a sniper for the army. So he has a good aim.” Hector pointed to Davide’s bloody shoulder. “I guess you now know just good his aim is. Better than yours in fact.”

  Davide held his arm pain shooting up all the way to his head, then in a millisecond turned and shot Hector’s leg just as intended. Hector fell with a howl, just as Davide heard another shot that went straight to his midriff. Falling from the impact, he lowered his gun.

  CHAPTER THIRTY - SEVEN

  The pilot came closer and raised his gun. Hector was still howling but Davide could only see the raised gun, hear the measured breaths of the pilot. His sight was getting fuzzy.

  “Shoot him!” Hector said, still howling with pain.

  The pilot lowered the gun and smiled.

  “Davide D’Amato? Very nice to meet you,” he said.

  What the fuck? Davide felt as if he was in an alternate universe. Was the guy going to shoot or not? Must be a wacko wanting an introduction first. Both him and Hector dying of blood loss would be a mighty shame.

  “My name is Lucio De La Rosa. I’m the husband to Amata, Giorgio’s cousin. Vinny would have told you about me.”

  Davide laughed. Or tried to, he wasn’t sure. God, this was so messed up. Their informant had either turned out even handier than they could have imagined or had come to kill him. But he didn’t have time for more chitchat.

  “So how does this play out Lucio?”

  “Came to help you of course.” Lucio said looking offended that Davide expected anything but.

  Davide stood up on unstable feet, warily shaking off Lucio’s proffered hand. “Lucky I wore a vest or I’d be dead by now,” he said, pointing to his midriff where Lucio’s second shot had landed.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a still bleeding Hector dragging his feet in an effort to escape. Chit-chat time really was over. He ran towards him and wrestled him to the ground. He was lucky to get to him just as he was about to reach his gun. Just as he was about to stand up and drag him up, he felt a searing pain on his arm, place where Lucio had shot him.

  “Fuck!” He held Hector down and glared at Lucio who just smiled. Weirdo.

  He tried to hold Hector down with one arm but the struggling motherfucker still had some energy in him. “Lucio! Stop standing there and make yourself useful! He shouted.

  Right then a man dressed in all black came in, gun raised. Davide’s shout must have drawn the man into the hangar. Fuck. Luckily Lucio was fast. He aimed and shot and Davide heard both their guns fall to the ground. They rushed at each other like two bulls in an arena.

  Davide was momentarily distracted which gave Hector the opportunity to raise his uninjured leg and kick it straight to Davide’s balls.

  Davide fell backwards groaning in pain and at the same time his gun fell a few feet from where they both lay. He immediately reached for the knife tied to his calf. Hector launched himself at Davide but Davide was a second too late too move. He heard a crunching sound and crippling pain shoot up his arm. Hector seemed determined to sever Davide’s injured arm so he needed to incapacitate him else he’d leave his arm on the ground.

  Lying flat on the ground trying to push Hector off, he saw boots in his line of vision. Should I shoot him Davide?” It was Lucio, but no, this was his fight. He threw Hector off and charged towards him noticing the gruesome sight of what minutes ago was the man in black. “No, go keep watch!” This was Davide’s fight and he wanted to be the one to finish it. Lucio rushed off to the entrance.

  Davide launched his entire weight on Hector driving his fist into Hector’s breastbone. Hector wheezed and teetered backward without actually falling. He was out of shape but still clearly well trained. Holding him by his shirt, Davide pulled his face back and thrust it forward connecting with Hector’s nose in a powerful head butt. Hector was now bleeding but so was Davide. He could taste the coppery tang of blood in his mouth.

  Hector’s head snapped back and his entire body sagged like a rag doll. Davide wasn’t done, he lifted his elbow whipping it to the side of Hector’s face resulting in a grunt then a groan from Hector. He dropped him to the ground. Right at the same moment, he heard footsteps running towards him. He had to do this fast though in all honesty, he’d lost any sense of time. He’d waited so long for this. He wanted Hector dead, then they could do whatever they wanted to him.

  He put his hands around Hector’s neck. “Look at me you motherfucker!” Hector opened his eyes but because of the fast swelling on his face, it was only halfway. He crunched up his face and spit blood from his mouth to Davide. “Hijo de puta!” he rasped.

  Davide laughed. “Not more creative even when yo
u’re facing death Hector? This is for Isabelle, and Lori, and all the other girls who were unfortunate enough to be in those containers.” He started squeezing Hector’s neck then, thrilled by the dulling of his eyes and the twitching of his limbs.

  The footsteps he’d heard were almost at the entrance now. He wondered if Lucio could hold off whoever it was on his own. He turned just in time to see Vinny, Lucio and a few of his men.

  “Have to leave now Davide, it got pretty loud out there, someone might have alerted the police.”

  Still squeezing Hector’s neck and delighting in the rasps of breath coming from the man’s mouth, he asked, “Hector’s and Nico’s men?”

  “All dead, and three of ours.”

  Davide looked at Hector. “I wanted this to go slow but you just might be a lucky bastard after all. He doubted Hector could hear. He looked already halfway to the grave. Eyes closed, faint sounds coming from blue lips.

  He stood up and walked towards his Beretta, aimed it at Hector’s heart and shot three times. He finally allowed himself a sigh of relief as all adrenaline abandoned him, leaving a sense of calm in its wake. It was over. He felt good. Purged. Without a backward glance, he joined his men and they ran out.

  “Did you grab the bodies of our three men?” he asked Vinny.

  “Yes, already in the van.”

  “Alright, let’s get out of here.”

  “They got into their cars. His arm looked bloody and there was definitely more seeping off him. But instead of lethargy, he felt the same sense of calm. He couldn’t even feel the pain. He was just happy to be leaving the area and going back to Lori. Anything else would come after. He got into his rental and looked through his rear view mirror to the man at the back, Lucio De La Rosa.

  “Thanks man. Vinny here will make sure you’re handsomely compensated.”

  “No worries Davide. I was glad to do it.”

  Davide turned and started the drive back to Queens. “You should get target practice though.” He gestured to his arm.

  Lucio laughed. “I could see you were wearing a bullet proof vest, but I had to shoot something or else Hector would have been suspicious if there was no blood.”

  “A small twitch to the right and I wouldn’t be having this discussion with you.”

  “Hector hadn’t lied. I was a sniper for the army. I never miss, so no target practice needed. Unless it’s for the fun of it.”

  “Good.”

  And it was damn lucky too.

  CHAPTER THIRTY – EIGHT

  I was excited to go swimming. In a big blue swimming pool. No. Ocean. I wanted a larger mass of water. I wanted the freedom of not being in a confined place. The turquoise color of the ocean would calm me. The salty smell would energize me. I’d been in the swimming team in high school but college had proved too busy for extracurricular activities. So it was good to finally go for a swim. And the funniest thing? Wherever You Will Go was playing on rewind. A sound track to my thoughts. But why did I feel so confined still?

  “Please, please wake up.”

  What was that? I thought I heard someone speaking to me. And wait, who was that holding my hand? I couldn’t swim like this. No wonder I felt confined. Whoever it was needed to let go.

  “I need you baby. You have to wake up.”

  That voice.

  “I don’t have anyone else now. So please… you’re all I have. Please…”

  Davide. I tried to turn my head to tell him that I wasn’t going anywhere. But I couldn’t, something was restraining me. I tried to speak, tried to scream. Nothing. It was as if someone had stuffed my mouth full of cotton. Unless… unless I was underwater already which would explain the faraway sound of his voice.

  A loud sigh reached my ears and the pressure on my hand eased.

  No. Don’t go! Stay with me!

  But no words came out. What was happening? No longer in the ocean, just fuzzy black surroundings. And in the distance, a beep beep beep of a machine. Faintly I heard the door open. Then the blackness enveloped me.

  ***

  “She’ll be fine. We just need to give her time to wake up.”

  “I don’t have time! I need to get her out of here now. The FBI is all over this story.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you Davide. You just have to be more patient.”

  Davide? Davide was here! I had to try and reach him. He’d come for me. Finally come for me.

  “Why are her eyes moving like that? Is she coming to?”

  “It’s something akin to REM sleep. Rapid Eye Movement sleep. The brains neurons are working almost as they would work if she was awake. Again, a very good sign. It’s believed that the eye movement is related to shifts of gaze in dream imagery. Almost as if she’s watching a movie in her sleep.”

  “So this is good?”

  “It is.”

  A sigh of relief followed by more pressure on my hand. Why couldn’t I open my eyes and ease his worry? He sounded so faraway. So alone. So distressed.

  “I’ll leave you two alone.”

  I felt more pressure on my hand. God I loved that pressure. He was staying right by my side. He was staying. That’s all I needed.

  “I’m so sorry Lori. God I’m so so sorry. You just… you need to wake up. I can’t leave you and I have to leave. We have to leave. If you can hear me, please wake up.”

  The agony in his voice. The pain. I wanted to cling to that voice. To be drawn closer to it. To be anchored by it. But it was fading. I felt as if I was moving adrift.

  “They’ll come for me soon Lori, so I need to go and I’m not leaving without you.”

  He was getting further and further away. My mind was shutting down. No. please. No.

  CHAPTER THIRTY – NINE

  It had been three days since killing Hector. The joy of that had been overshadowed by the fact that Lori still hadn’t woken up. Davide desperately wanted to leave New York. The longer he stayed there, the more chances there were that he would be linked to the deaths at the airport.

  The NYPD had been called to the scene and soon enough the FBI were involved. According to the news and a few snippets from Vinny, they’d found the bodies of Hector and Pedro and through whatever investigations had found out about the Barcelona Cartel.

  Patrick Miller had even called to tell him that Raffaele’s name might be cleared. According to Patrick’s sources, no one could find a link to Raffaele and the murders in Hoyt. And since the incident at the airport in Jersey, the NYPD, maybe even the FBI, were starting to believe that Nico Rodriguez had found more enemies in the Spaniards. Which to them explained Hector’s and Pedro’s bodies.

  By some weird stroke of luck they’d also found Ignacio’s body somewhere near Hoyt which tied their theory in a pretty neat bow.

  But Davide wasn’t holding his breath. Sooner or later somebody from Nico’s camp, maybe even Nico himself would show up with the real truth. Ratting was dishonorable. Led to death in their business. But from what Davide had seen, there was no honor in Nico’s men.

  He also worried that the Barcelona Cartel no longer had a leader and that the repercussions might reach him. Which is why he needed to get out of New York fast. But no way was he leaving Lori. Luca had told him that for her own good he should avoid moving her and he was trying to be patient.

  The doorbell rang and he knew it was Vinny coming to check in.

  “Davide. I have news for you.”

  “Good or bad? Wait… don’t answer that, it’s always bad these days.”

  “Unfortunately more bad news brother. Nico was arrested somewhere near El Paso. Since his disappearance, the FBI has been on the lookout at the Mexican Border. They’d assumed that he’d try to get back to the Dominican Republic but rumor has it that he was apparently trying to get to his connections in Sinaloa.”

  “Fuck! That’s all we need.”

  “That’s why I thought I needed to warn you. He’s not like the rest of us, he’ll sing if need be. And you’re well aware that they would prefe
r bigger fish, so expect him to get a plea bargain.”

  Davide sighed. It was time to get out of New York.

  “At the risk of sounding like a broken record, you need to get out of here Davide. Just until it all dies down.”

  Davide nodded. Just as he was about to voice his agreement, his phone rang. Patrick Miller.

  “I have bad news.”

  “Seems to be all I’m getting these days, what’s wrong now?”

  “They’re closer to getting that warrant to search Raffaele’s property. I tried delaying it but now that the FBI is involved, things seem to be moving that much faster.”

  There was a significant pause on the line.

  “You know what this means Davide. You have to leave.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Fuck! He had to do something about Lori.

  “I don’t think they’ll come in tonight. At least that’s what my sources tell me. But knowing them, they’ll be there as soon as they get final clearance, not later than tomorrow evening.”

  “Thanks for the heads up Patrick,” Davide said and hung up. He sat down and put his face in his hands. He was so damn tired. Hadn’t slept in days.

  “Anything you want me to do?” Vinny asked.

  “Call anybody you know Raffaele trusted in the organization. We need to have a meeting.”

  “Sure thing.”

  Davide watched Vinny make the calls. It was time to do this. He knew that. Whether it worked out with Lori or not.

  “They’ll all be here in ten minutes or so.” Vinny said coming to stand next to Davide.

  “Good. I’m going to check on Lori. Call me when they arrive.”

  He went upstairs and sat on his usual chair next to Lori. Most of the bruises on her face had started to fade leaving yellowish undertones on her skin. Her ribs still bore a sickly purple shade but Luca had assured him she’d be fine. He’d also encouraged him to talk to her, so he did just that.