by Sal Bianchi
“Is that right?” I chuckled. “That’s pretty clever of you, Josh.”
He gave me a small smile before he continued to speak.
“I heard something weird,” he frowned. “Like something heavy fell over. It reminded me of--”
He closed his mouth abruptly, and his eyes were hard and fierce. His hands were clenched into tiny fists, and I could see that he’d crushed part of the paper airplane inside his hand.
“It reminded you of what?” I prompted gently. I felt bad, because this was obviously something he didn’t want to talk about, but I had a feeling it was something important.
“Daddy hit mommy,” he mumbled quietly. “He hit her so hard one time that she fell down. After that, we didn’t see him anymore. When I heard that sound, I thought maybe he came back and hit her again.”
I could see Linda on the couch behind him. The expression on her face was filled with grief, and I could tell she was straining not to cry as she listened to Josh speak.
“So what happened after you went downstairs?” I asked. It was killing me to have to continue when Josh was clearly in distress, but whatever he saw could be vital to the case.
“I saw mommy on the floor,” he replied. “She was in the kitchen, and there was a lady looking at her.”
“A lady?” I asked. “Did you see what she looked like?”
“She was pretty,” Josh answered. “She was wearing red lipstick.”
“What about her eyes?” I prompted. “Or maybe her hair? Did you see what color they were?”
“No,” Josh shook his head. “The lights were off, I’m sorry.”
He sniffled, and I realized that he must think that I was disappointed with him for not being able to recall more.
“It’s okay,” I assured him quickly. “You’re being a really big help to me.”
“Really?” he asked me tearfully.
“Of course,” I forced myself to smile at him. Even if I was a little disappointed, it wasn’t his fault. “What happened after that?”
“She got scared,” Josh replied.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Who was scared?”
“The lady,” Josh clarified. “When she saw me, she started saying bad words and walking back and forth like mommy does when she’s nervous.”
“Is that right?” I asked, not sure how else to respond. This was bizarre. Why was the killer afraid? Was it just because there was a witness?
“She told me to go back to sleep,” Josh continued. “She said that my daddy would be here soon to get me, then she put the alarm on and left.”
“She put the alarm on?” I asked, puzzled by that detail.
“Yeah,” Josh nodded. “Our door has a special password. If you open it without using the password, the alarm will go off, and the police will come. Mommy and Daddy put the password on it so that bad guys wouldn’t come into the house.”
“So Daddy knew the password?” I clarified.
“Yeah,” Josh nodded. “After she left, I stayed with Mommy until Nana came.”
I lapsed into silence as he finished his explanation. The silence in the room was overbearing, and I knew that Jase and Linda must be processing what they’d just heard as well.
“Well, let me see your plane,” I smiled cheerfully, unable to take the suffocating silence for a second longer.
“Look!” he beamed as he held the misshapen and tattered plane out in front of me. As expected, his first attempt was a bit of a mess, but he seemed proud of it, so I pretended to be amazed.
“Let’s see who can throw it the furthest,” I suggested. I made a big show of putting a lot of force behind the throw before letting the plane fall weakly to the ground just a foot away from us. Josh cheered with joy when his managed to soar just a few inches further.
We spent the next few minutes making more planes and battling to see who could send theirs the furthest until the chime of a timer suddenly went off and interrupted our game.
“Josh, it looks like it’s dinner time,” Linda informed him kindly. “I think your friend needs to get back to his work now.”
The crestfallen look that Josh hit me with broke my heart, but Linda was right. I couldn’t stay here playing with him forever.
“Will you come to visit me again?” he asked hopefully.
“I’ll try my best,” I answered him honestly. I had no idea how much longer he’d even be in this safe house, so there was no way I could guarantee that I would be. “You’d better keep practicing on those planes in the meantime, okay?”
“Okay,” he replied before turning to Linda to take his sister back from her.
“I’ll walk you gentlemen out,” Linda offered as she stood up from the couch. The three of us walked toward the door, and I could see through the windows that it was completely dark out now.
“Thank you for letting us speak with him,” I turned around to speak to her once I was on the porch.
“I know it was necessary,” she sighed. “I hope it helped your investigation. I should also be thanking you, truth be told. That’s the most he’s spoken since he got here. I guess he really resonated with you, Costa.”
I faltered at the way she’d said my name. It was an alias, since I obviously couldn’t walk around introducing myself as DiFiore, but aside from a select group of people at the SDCT, no one knew it wasn’t my real name. Jase must have caught it too, because his posture tensed beside me.
“You don’t remember me, do you?” Linda smiled mysteriously. I could sense any ill intentions from her, but I still didn’t like being in the dark. “I guess that’s not really surprising. Well, have a good night, gentlemen.”
“Wait--” I called, but she’d already shut the door in our faces.
I felt conflicted. On the one hand, she clearly knew something about me that she wasn’t saying. On the other, she obviously wasn’t my enemy. I’d been trained from a young age to read body language and recognize signs that someone might be about to hurt me, but I didn’t get any of that from her.
“You know her?” Jase asked as we turned around and headed back to the car.
“No,” I replied immediately. “I don’t think so.”
“Well, she seemed to know you,” Jase hummed accusingly.
“I don’t like your tone.” I frowned. “What are you trying to imply?”
“Listen, I knew you were a womanizer,” Jase sighed, “but I didn’t think you were the kind of guy to just forget the names and faces of women you’ve hooked up with.”
“What?” I barked, loud enough that it echoed throughout the quiet neighborhood. “I’m not. I’ve never seen her before. I would have remembered if we’d slept together.”
“I’m just messing with you,” Jase laughed as he got back into the car. “Though I do think that’s the most obvious explanation. I mean, she seemed to know that ‘Costa’ was a fake name.”
“Then she can’t be someone I hooked up with,” I retorted. “I don’t introduce myself as DiFiore to women I pick up in bars. Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“Yeah, I do,” Jase teased. “But I guess you have a point. Should we be wary of her then?”
I hesitated before answering. I wasn’t sure what to make of the peculiar interaction.
“I don’t know,” I replied. The entire interaction had been so bizarre.
“All right,” Jase shrugged. “Why don’t we go for a drink? It’s been a long day, and it’ll be nice to just chill and unwind.”
“Yeah, good idea,” I nodded as he started the car. It had been a long day. It was hard to imagine that the peaceful breakfast I’d had with Roxanne had happened just this morning. Jase was right. A couple of drinks sounded great right about now.
14
Jase
I could tell that Nick had been rattled by the weird interaction he’d had with Linda. To be honest, I really had thought that she must be some old conquest that had slipped his mind, but he’d seemed so insulted by the thought that I’d brushed it off as a joke in
the end.
He couldn’t really blame me, though. I don’t think I’d ever met a woman that wasn’t Nick’s type. It was frustrating, sometimes, watching him dazzle every girl he wanted any time we’d go out drinking. Though, being his wingman did have the perk that I usually ended up going home with someone at the end of the night as well, so in the end, there wasn’t much to be jealous of.
“The killer was definitely a hitman,” Nick declared as he finished off his beer. “Well, hitwoman, I guess. Josh said she disabled the door alarm before she left, right? She must have gotten it from Ryan. That doesn’t really give us anything new to go on, though.”
He had drunk enough by now that he was rambling a little more than he usually did. The bar we’d come to was one of our usual haunts. It was pretty close to both of our places, and it never got too rowdy, so it was the perfect place to come when we just wanted to relax.
“Don’t you think so?” Nick asked me expectantly. I stared back at him blankly. “You spaced out again, didn’t you? What was the last thing you heard me say?”
“Something about the door alarm?” I shrugged. “Stop worrying about the case for a minute. It’s nearly midnight. I thought we were having drinks to unwind.”
“Yeah.” Nick sighed. “I just keep thinking about that kid and the way he was holding onto his sister.”
Of course. I can’t believe it hadn’t occurred to me that he’d be hung up on that. Nick didn’t like talking about his childhood, or really about anything that had happened when he was still with the mafia, but he’d told me enough that I knew it had been rough for him. He and his older brother had spent some time in foster care after their mother died until their father finally got his way and got custody of them again. As a mob boss, his father had incredible reach and influence, so it was inevitable that they’d fall back into his clutches, eventually.
“Hey, those girls at the end of the bar are pretty cute,” I whispered to him in an effort to change the subject. I wasn’t actually in the mood to hook up with anyone right now, but I figured chatting with some pretty girls would be better for him than whatever was going on in his head.
He lifted his gaze toward the end of the bar where a group of three women were speaking together, laughing at something one of the three had said. One of the women looked up at us just as Nick looked over. She had striking green eyes and bleached platinum blonde hair pulled up into a half ponytail, and she smiled at Nick before looking away bashfully.
“Yeah, let’s go talk to them,” Nick replied. He already sounded less sullen, and I almost snorted at how easy it was to lift his spirits.
I could see the trio of girls whispering and giggling as we approached them.
“Hi.” Nick smiled charmingly at the blonde woman he’d made eye contact with just a moment ago. “I’m Nick, and this is Jase. Could we buy you ladies some drinks?”
“I think you can,” the woman hummed after making a show of thinking about it for a moment. Nick ordered a round of drinks for the five of us before he started murmuring something to the woman.
“Excuse me,” one of the other girls caught my attention. I blinked at her in confusion before regaining my composure. I’d been so focused on cheering my buddy up, I’d kind of forgotten about the two other girls. “Do you mind if I ask where you’re from?”
She had short, curly hair that fluffed out around her face, and a full sleeve of tattoos down one arm.
“Mandy, that’s rude,” the other woman elbowed her friend gently.
“No, it’s okay,” I smiled. I’d grown up in the United States since I was a baby, so I didn’t have an accent or anything, but it was a question I was used to hearing, anyway. “My parents moved here from Korea.”
“Wow, that’s cool.” The girl grinned. “Your friend said your name was Jase, right? I’m Mandy, and this is Kat.”
“Nice to meet you,” the third girl said as she leaned forward to shake my hand. She had long, straight brown hair and blue eyes. She hadn’t dressed as provocatively as her two friends, but in my opinion, she was still the prettiest of the three.
“Nice to meet you guys too.” I nodded. “And it’s Jae-Sung, actually, but Jase is usually easier for people to say.”
“That’s so pretty,” Mandy cooed. I grinned back at her. I wasn’t sure if I should be pleased about it, but women really seemed to become more interested in me the more ‘exotic’ I seemed.
“So what do you do?” Mandy asked.
“I’m a federal agent,” I replied. The SDCT wasn’t exactly a secret organization, per se, but considering the types of cases we took on, it was better to keep answers about my job vague to avoid any sensitive information accidentally getting out.
“Seriously?” Mandy gasped. “That’s so cool. Is your friend a federal agent too?”
“No,” I replied. “He’s actually a--”
“He’s a damn traitor is what he is,” a harsh voice cut through our conversation. I was immediately on edge, and my hand twitched as I instinctively reached for my gun. I turned around and found myself face to face with a broad-shouldered man several inches taller than me. His face was red, and he was swaying slightly, and I knew immediately that he was drunk.
“Ah, Domenico,” Nick sighed as he moved to stand beside me and in front of the girls. “What an unpleasant surprise. What are you doing here? It’s rare to see you anywhere aside from the Taverna.”
The man, Domenico, scowled and puffed out his chest in a show of dominance before responding.
“I heard a rumor you’d started hanging around this dump,” he jeered as he took a disparaging look around the small bar. “I wanted a chance to continue our discussion, since you hid behind Colletta this morning like a coward.”
It was clear that he was trying to provoke Nick into reacting, but Nick just stared back at Domenico with a look of contempt.
“Go home, Domenico,” he advised in a bored tone. “Allessandro will be angry if you show up to work late because you’re hungover again.”
“Don’t you dare bring up the boss,” he snarled as he advanced aggressively toward Nick. I moved on instinct to defend my partner, and this time my hand did land on my holster. I didn’t want to draw my gun unless I absolutely had to. There were too many civilians in the bar, and shooting a mobster wasn’t going to make life any easier for Nick or me, but I wasn’t about to stand by and let him hurt my friend, either.
“You must be kidding me,” Domenico spat. “To think I’d see the day when a federal agent would step up to protect a mafioso. You’ve got a pretty well-trained dog there.”
His comment didn’t affect me. I’d heard much worse, and I wasn’t thin-skinned enough to let some weak taunt from a mafia member upset me. Nick, on the other hand, was just drunk enough to lose control of his inhibitions.
“What did you just say?” he snapped angrily.
Domenico smirked when he saw that he’d finally gotten the reaction he wanted, and I gritted my teeth in frustration.
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re out drinking with a fed,” he sneered. “But even I thought you’d be able to find better friends than some squinty-eyed chink.”
“You son of a--” Nick roared as he lunged toward Domenico.
“Stop,” I cut him off as I threw an arm out in front of him to stop him. “He’s just trying to get a rise out of you. Ignore him.”
“You should listen to him,” Domenico taunted. “And stay the hell away from the Taverna and Colletta from now on, too.”
“Who exactly do you think you are,” Nick snarled as he pushed past me to get in Domenico’s face, “to try to give me orders?”
Domenico’s face went red as it twisted into an expression of absolute rage.
“You really think you have any kind of authority anymore?” he roared. “You’re nothing but a stupid little brat! You’d be dead right now if it wasn’t for the boss!”
He reared back as if to punch Nick, and I tensed. As a federal agent, it wasn�
��t a good look for me to be getting into bar fights, but I wasn’t about to stand by and let my friend fight alone, either. Before I could even lift my fists, though, Nick rushed forward. In the blink of an eye, he had dodged Domenico’s fist and punched the other man squarely in the sternum.
Domenico wheezed as the hit knocked the air out of him, but still reached around with his other hand to grab Nick’s arm. Nick twisted out of his grip smoothly and took a firm hold of Domenico’s wrist with one hand before sharply thrusting up against the back of his elbow with the other. In a flash, Nick was standing behind Domenico, one arm around his neck and the other twisting Domenico’s right arm behind his back at a painful angle.
“Stop!” Domenico screamed as Nick applied pressure to his arm at the elbow, threatening to snap the bone at any moment. “Let go!”
“Hmm?” Nick smirked behind him as he applied more pressure. “What was that? I can’t hear you?”
I was honestly in shock as I watched the scene unfold before my eyes. Nick had always been hesitant when it came to provoking the mafia, but now it seemed as though he was outright taunting Domenico.
“You little--” Domenico wheezed as he attempted to pull Nick’s arm away from his neck with his free hand. He was starting to turn an alarming shade of purple, and I wondered if I should step in. I was a law enforcement officer, after all.
“Sorry, what was that?” Nick jeered as he tightened his grip around Domenico’s neck. “Was that ‘I’m sorry’ I heard?”
“Go to hell!” Domenico croaked as he flailed his free arm uselessly backward toward Nick. By now, half the people in the bar had stopped to watch the confrontation, and it was so obvious who had the upper hand that it was almost comical. The girls we’d been talking to earlier were even giggling as they watched the scene.
“No, that’s not the magic word,” Nick sighed dramatically as he twisted Domenico’s arm further behind his back.
“Fine!” Domenico howled with pain. “Fine. I’m sorry. Let go!”
Nick let go and stepped away without warning, causing Domenico to lose his balance and fall backward onto the ground.