“Or…your death is not only imminent…I’m going to cut you up alive.”
Our eyes are locked.
“Tie him up.” I reach into my jacket and pass over a bag of cable ties.
I’ve come prepared.
Val takes them and ties his hands and feet together and they load him onto the back of the skimobile, we drive down the mountain in silence.
We haven’t had a close friend betray us before. This is new territory, another level of fucked up.
“Take him to the main road on the ski, Val and I will pick him up in the car. We can’t transfer him here, someone will see.”
They keep driving down the hill and Val and I go up to the room and grab the keys to the car and go down into the basement parking lot, Val gets into the driver seat and we pull out, it’s snowing again.
We drive in silence.
“Are you sure about this?” he mutters.
“Yep.”
His eyes flick over to me. “What if you’ve got it wrong?”
“I haven’t.” I dig Carlo’s phone out of my pocket and turn it on, I punch in his passcode.
Val frowns as he watches. “You know his code?”
“I’m with him every day, of course I see what his passcode is.”
“Do you know mine?”
“Eleven sixty- five.”
Val smirks. “Not bad.”
I go through his messages until I get to the last one sent.
Bring the chopper,
she’ll be on top of the mountain in thirty minutes.
Three guards tops
I close my eyes, the blinding betrayal hurting more than it should.
Val’s eyes flick between me and the road. “What does it say?”
I read it out. “Bring the chopper, she’ll be on top of the mountain in thirty minutes. Three guards tops.”
“Fuck.” Val runs his hand through his hair and then snaps and punches the steering wheel with force.
We see the skimobile on the side of the road and we pull over, I pop the trunk and they throw him in. Val goes behind the car and I hear him connect some punches as he loses control.
He gets back in the car and I pull out in silence, Val open and closes his hand as he tries to get some feeling back into it.
We drive in silence for a few minutes. “What now?” Val sighs.
“I’m going through the call register now.” I go through the calls made and incoming and one number keeps coming up.
I call my men who are already trying to track Francesca’s phone from the tower.
“Hey, boss. Her phone is still not showing up anywhere.”
“Run this number for me.”
“Okay.”
I read out the number.
“Give me ten.”
“Okay.” I hang up and look over to Val.
“Now what?”
“We wait.” I pull the car over to the side of the road in a parking bay and we sit in silence.
The snow floats down onto the car.
“You alright?” I ask.
“It’s my fault she’s dead.”
I roll my lips, choosing to remain silent.
“I told her she was safe with me.”
“We thought she was.”
His nostrils flare as if grappling for control. “Her mother when I told her….”
Hell.
My phone rings and I answer, “Yes.”
“We’ve got a match; the phone is sixty kilometers from where you are now. I’ll send the coordinates.”
Thank fuck.
Adrenaline surges through me; Francesca’s life depends on us getting this right. “Thanks.” I hear a text arrive with a ping.
“Giuliano…” he says, “Good luck, hey.”
I immediately call Leon. “We’ve got an address, bring the guards and ammunition.”
“On our way.” I hang up and look over to Val. “We can’t fuck this up.”
“We won’t.” He pulls out onto the road and a bang sounds from the trunk as Carlo tries to kick himself free.
“I will be fucking him up, though,” he mutters dryly.
“Get in line.”
29
Francesca
I listen…silence.
Lombardi coughs as he lies on the floor and struggles to get his pills from his pocket and suddenly I’m furious.
How dare he do this to us?
More silence.
What’s happening out there?
The door bangs open and although my view is distorted, I see someone being dragged inside by two men.
“Get your fucking hands off me,” he growls as he struggles. “Francesca. Get her up,” he cries. “She’s injured.”
I know that voice, I’ve missed that voice.
Enrico.
He is alive….
“Let her go,” he yells. “It’s me that you want. Let her fucking go.”
Whack! I see a boot connect at full force to his stomach as somebody kicks him.
I hear the air knocked from his lungs as he moans.
No.
Has he really been bought back from the dead so that I can witness his murder all over again?
Help. Help.
Somebody…help him.
I lift my head to see that he’s been shot in the leg, they drag him up and prop him against the wall while they tie his hands.
What do I do?
His eyes meet mine and he gives me a soft smile and my heart breaks.
No…not you too.
Giuliano
We pull off the main road while we wait for the others, I dial Leon’s number. “Where are you?”
“Just driving in now.”