by Rimmy London
The last page was signed at the bottom, a scribbled hand that I didn’t bother trying to decipher, beneath a letter politely threatening exposure of every individual within the pages. I swallowed. So we were blackmailing them? That was the plan? The idea sent chills burning down my spine, and I stuffed the folder under my mattress.
* * *
When the sun had just begun to rise I dressed quickly and headed to the kitchen, stopping when I saw Enrica’s door wide open. She was kneeling by the dresser with her eyes already on me. “Good morning, Loriel,” she said cheerfully. “I hope you don’t mind, I stepped out early and purchased a few things.” She closed the dresser drawer. “I’ve already eaten so don’t worry about me.” I ignored the prying urge to ask what she had.
“No problem. Hopefully, it wasn’t too hard getting around?” I asked. I had a mental picture of her hot-wiring my car.
“Not at all, it’s surprisingly easy to get a cab.”
“Okay,” I answered. Not sure she was talking about the same city, I left to find a bowl of cereal.
A drop of milk landed on my chin as Enrica sat down across from me, but she was busy organizing papers. I hurried through the last few bites, dropping my spoon in the bowl with a clatter and pushing it aside. “I was able to print these off at the city building this morning,” she started, looking energized. I felt like I needed twenty more hours of sleep, and stifled a yawn. “They don’t even know what they have.” Shaking her head dramatically at the stupidity of such people, she rested the papers in front of me, and a name caught my eye. “Do you see anything familiar?” she asked, looking at me instead of the pages. I glanced at her warily.
“May I?” I asked, before picking up the stack of papers. Flipping through the twenty or so pages, I found a page with vehicles on it. The last image had my breath catching in my throat. Setting down the other pages I lifted this one up and examined it closer, even though I knew I was right. “I know this car,” I whispered, my head flooding with the memory. “And this man,” Enrica said nothing, and when I finally did look up, I saw her eyebrows knit together as she glared at the page.
“This one?” She pointed to the image. I nodded. “Are you sure?” I nodded again.
“Yes, that one. The inky black with windows tinted to its exact shade and the man looking out with his scarred face and severe eyes. I have seen that car and that man.” She let out her breath and shook her head, her shimmery hair dancing.
“I don’t see how that’s possible,” she said again, although with less strength.
“They tried to kill me,” I blurted out, feeling dramatic but finding no other way to phrase it. “It was the first time I had…” I stopped…the first time I had what? The first time I had been attacked? The first time anyone had attempted to kill me? It all sounded a little fanatical. “But they most likely thought it was Mr. Ginette in the car.”
“So he must have been the target,” she said. “Maybe they even persuaded or suggested that he hire a secretary, and then made sure you had no family connections in the city and that you were alone. That way there would be no one to notice, should anything happen. But it would be enough to persuade him to do their bidding.”
“I’m sorry, but who was the target?” I asked, sure she had merely pulled her guess out of a hat.
“Marco, of course,” she answered. I felt my cheeks flush. So I was the secretary with no connections? Was I that manipulated? Did they really never have any intention of placing me in as financial manager? “Marco is a powerful man,” she continued. “But a bit of a coward. It wouldn’t take much for him to cave. Now that they have moved on to Givanni, things might be a bit different. Which would explain why you are no longer in danger, at least not as long as Givanni keeps his part of the bargain.” Enrica gathered her papers and pulled one from the pile.
“This here,” she said, holding it up in front of us and pointing to a building plan. “At the bottom of the plan, there are these.” She traced along three large seemingly detached rectangles. “Do you know what these are? There are exact replicas here at Shellbrook and also in Mexico. They’re storing oil, but it’s not documented. It’s underwater.” Her eyes flashed with excitement. “I’m going to find out what they are.” She whisked the paper away and headed back to her room. “Just give me a little time. I’ll come back here. Wait for me.”
“Ok,” I said, a little unsure. What did she think we were doing? Enrica rushed back into the living room, scrambling about - there was no other word for it. And gathered enough to strain the seams of her duffel bag. She spit out a tumble of words in such a rush it was hard to catch.
“You need to stay here. Act normal. Go to work. Don’t try to contact me,” she said. A car horn sounded outside and she sprang to her feet. “That’s the taxi. I’ll see you later then.” Without another glance she bolted out the door, followed by the sound of tires skidding in the gravel. I was left in complete confusion.
I sighed, secretly glad there wasn’t anything more I could do until she returned. I was forced to sit and wait. With a plaid and flannel throw, two things that reminded me of home, I slumped into the couch and switched on the TV. A reality show was on, the contestants like weight-lifting strippers playing out high school crushes and broken relationships on some dangerous island somewhere. I yawned, blinking as the main character ranted about betrayal to his best friend. In seconds I was asleep.
A buzzing sound made my eyes pop open. It took a few moments to realize my phone was vibrating in the bedroom, but I knew it was something else that had woken me. I tried to pick from my foggy memory what was so unsettling. With a glance at the clock, I wondered who might be trying to call me... at three a.m. The buzzing stopped. I cautiously slid off the couch, cringing at the squeaky spring. After one step I hopped back and looked down at the TV remote, and suddenly my breath came harder. I hadn’t turned off the TV. So either the power was out - which was unlikely. Or someone else had turned it off. The minutes ticked by and my phone buzzed again. A thump and a small gust of breath from down the hall had me spinning towards it. I gripped the couch in front of me. I knew for certain that someone was inside - and I knew where they were.
“Who’s there?” I yelled, my voice shaking. The buzzing of my phone was the only answer, and I imagined the intruder was listening as hard as I was. “Who is it?” I demanded, “I know you’re there!” The loud strength of my voice was comforting, even though I had no idea what I would do if someone did answer. The light switched on. Blinking, I recognized immediately the tall, perfectly shaped silhouette at the other end of the room. Givanni’s voice, however, sounded foreign.
“What’s going on?” he growled. I stared back, silenced. “Loriel, what is going on?” He took a few strides forward, the intimidating look on his face matching the tone of his voice. Anger swelled inside me with more force than I was ready for and I pushed against his chest, surprised when he stumbled back. Now that he looked more approachable my fears escaped through watering eyes. Brushing tears away, I glared back.
“What is going on is that you broke into my house in the middle of the night. If you really want to know what’s going on, why don’t you try calling me?” Silence followed, and I brushed at my cheeks again, waiting for an answer.
“It’s not safe,” he said mildly, all the demanding in his voice gone.
“And this is safe?” I screamed, a little out of control. “Sneaking into my house while I’m sleeping and having a conversation that anyone within a mile could hear?” Although he tossed his hands in the air, the volume had completely left his voice.
“There’s no other way for me to contact you,” he answered, sounding defeated. I rolled my eyes, still angry.
“So, you’re just here for a friendly conversation?” I asked. Taking a cautious step forward, he placed his hands in his suit pockets, and I realized for the first time how strange it was that he was still wearing his suit at three in the morning. Givanni shook his head, his eyes looking worried.
“I’m going to get that,” I said quietly. Scooting around him, I rushed down the hall, leaving him in the middle of the room. I glanced at the familiar number.
“Dad?”
“Loriel,” he said through a gust of exhaled breath. “It doesn’t sound like I woke you,” he hinted, and then with uncharacteristic swiftness, he continued. “I’ve been worried about you, Ella. I feel like something’s wrong. Are you okay? Do you need anything?” My mouth was open, waiting for the words to fill it, but I couldn’t think of an explanation.
“I’m okay,” I managed. “Things have definitely been a little crazy right now at work and, well honestly I don’t know how much longer I will have my job.”
“Oh,” This didn’t seem to be as much of problem to him as whatever he had been imagining.
“Yeah,” I said a little more confidently. “It’s really too bad, but I guess Shellbrook has been going through some difficulties, and I’m kind of caught in the middle.” That was one hundred percent the truth.
“Well, I’m sorry about that, hun. Make sure you call me and let me know what’s going on. And don’t be such a stranger, you know you’re welcome home anytime.”
“I know that Dad, thanks.”
“Uh-hum. Love you, Ella. Bye.”
When I returned to the living room, Givanni’s shaggy head was slumped down on the couch. His eyes flickered open from their half-closed state as I sank into the closest chair. “I’m so sorry, Loriel. Really, I am,” His voice was whispered, deep and sincere. “How you can still tolerate my presence is a mystery to me.” I nearly choked, finally seeing the real Givanni in front of me, finally hearing the smoothness in his voice. He rubbed one hand across his forehead, looking hopelessly drained. “Things are impossible for me right now. I honestly can’t take a single step that might look suspicious.” I lifted an eyebrow.
“This doesn’t look suspicious?” I replied. This time his smile was more characteristic.
“I’ve taken care of it.” He glanced at his watch, leaving me to assume that he had only ‘taken care of it’ for so long. I decided to speed things up.
“Enrica is here, but she’s going to be gone for… I don’t really know how long. I guess she got into some trouble in Italy and needed to leave the country. She wasn’t sure who else to go to.” Givanni nodded politely.
“Okay,” he said. “That sounds completely unlike her to ask someone for help unless she planned on using them to further her plans, but I hopefully can assume that you know at least this much about her by now?” This time I nodded back.
“I know that,” I answered quietly. “But, Givanni, if I told you what was going on, what would you do?” He didn’t answer. “You would get yourself in trouble, and that’s the opposite of what we’re trying to do. We’re being careful, so don’t jump to conclusions. It’s nothing you need to worry about.” The look in his eyes made it clear that he could tell my last sentence was a lie. I sighed. “Givanni, despite the fact that you’ve decided to ditch me for some unknown reason that I just can’t figure out - I still trust you. But it’s clear that your hands are tied, and you can’t even talk to me anymore. About anything.” I felt a lump forming in my throat, and my gaze fell to the floor. Hearing him stand, I didn’t bother looking up, sure he would drop the sincerity and disappear any minute.
“El…” He lifted me from the couch and pulled me into his arms, burying me in the familiar fragrance of his suit. But too soon he stepped away. “Be careful,” he continued. “Enrica knows what she’s doing.” Dizzy, I nodded. “But I still want to know what’s going on. I can still help, even if my hands are tied.” I hated seeing the actual Givanni leave and wondered who he would be the next time I saw him. His arms around me had felt different…real.
I wandered to the bedroom and stood at my dresser, watching the girl in the mirror as color swelled in her cheeks - her eyes vibrant with adrenaline. My heart raced relentlessly, but I squeezed my eyes shut, shaking my head. There wasn’t anything to it. Givanni had already said he wasn’t attracted to me like that. Just friendship. Did friends act like that? Maybe in Italy? My confused face stared back at me. Maybe, I wasn’t sure. But it hadn’t felt like friendship to me. I sighed, dropping my head on the dresser with a clunk. ‘Stupid girl… don’t think about it anymore’.
Chapter 20
The drive to work was excruciating with the thought of seeing Givanni making my stomach twist into knots. My breath alternated from gasps to complete silence. In the two short days that made up a weekend, I hadn’t relaxed one bit. But all my worrying seemed to be pointless as the garage was empty. And the hallway. And the office. Once settled in my chair I rolled forward but stopped when a paper crinkled under my hand. I pulled out a small sticky note from under the desk, and read it quickly.
“Call me as soon as possible”
A cursive lower case e was looped around the last of a procession of numbers. Enrica. My phone only had time to ring once when she answered with a breathless voice. “Loriel! Thank goodness! I didn’t know where you were,” she said quickly, the words tumbling out. There was a short pause. “Loriel?”
I took a quick breath. “Yeah, it’s me.
She blew into the phone. “Good,” she said, exasperated. “I’m back, and we need to… well, we need to get moving. I think I am going to need your help with a few things. Do you think your busy schedule could allow you a few days off?” I rolled my eyes - how did she always know everything about everything?
“I’m pretty sure,” I grumbled. “I can be at the house in an hour or two.”
“Good! Don’t stop anywhere, just come straight home.” I was suddenly reminded of an overprotective babysitter.
“Yeah,” I said shortly. My phone beeped at the same time, signifying the end of our call. I pushed the intercom button to Givanni’s office.
“Yes?” he asked, his voice sounding absolutely delicious.
“Giv - Mr. Alarrno,” deep breath. “I just wanted to see if it would be convenient for me to have the rest of the week off? I know this is short notice, but something has come up.” The door to his office opened in a gust, and my hand dropped from the intercom. All I could think of was the smell of his suit and I stared back silently, my face feeling flushed.
“Is there a problem, Ms. Lane?” Givanni asked. I was suddenly sure he could see right through me. I tried to stop my cheeks from turning red, but it was no use. I could feel them flame.
“Not at all, I j-just have some things I need to catch up on at home,” I answered. He didn’t respond, just simply stood there looking amazing and completely in control. I felt my jitters harden at the thought. “If it’s a bad time,” my voice had noticeably strengthened, and his head lifted at the tone. “I am perfectly able to stay and help with whatever you might need.” I tried not to roll my eyes, because really what did he need me for? He hadn’t given me one task since we’d been back from Italy.
“Yes, I’m sure it would be fine,” he answered quietly. “I will handle things until your return.” While he had finished speaking, his eyes bored into me with more strength than usual. I instantly felt defeated and nearly confessed the entire plan. But before I could crumple to the floor, he gave up and retreated into his office. The door swung closed. It took me the entire ride home to stop shaking. ‘Pathetic’, I thought angrily. ‘Why can’t I control this?’
“You’re here!” Enrica met me at the door and pulled me from my thoughts. She waved me in, making me feel more like a visitor than the actual resident. “Everything was exactly as I’d thought. Guess what’s under there? Oil!” Inches from my face, she was talking quickly and looking very much like a conspir
acy theory addict. I edged back a couple inches. “We have everything we need. When they think they have ruined our plans I will pull out this!”
She reached into a black bag at her feet and pulled out a small device like a remote control. I stared at the suspended countdown on the tiny screen, hoping she wasn’t talking about what my mind had immediately contrived. “We take the power,” she said darkly. She turned it over in her hands and admired it as she spoke. “There is literally tons of stored oil just offshore. It would be too much of a risk for them to lose all that liquid gold with an explosion that they can’t hide from the world. It would be investigated by everyone. Their hold on Shellbrook would be broken. There hold on everyone would be broken. There hold on me...” she said, her voice shaking. I stared back horrified.
“So you’re going to, what…. blow up tons of stored oil? In the ocean? Just to get back at them?” I jumped as she dropped the black object into its bag with a clunk.
“No, not just to get back at them. To stop them. I thought this was what you wanted as well. We can never be free without providing an adequate threat to their way of life!” Her statement sounded more like a warning, and I didn’t answer. Instead, I asked her a question, one that had been in the back of my mind since I had seen her standing in my doorway.
“Enrica, have you slept at all in the last couple days?” Her expression was dazed for a moment.