Aftermath

by S. W. Frank

  Nico nodded, “Half an hour, no later.” Then he exited the van followed by his cousins. Cloaked in shadow they hurried to townhouse ten to the entrance.

  Alfonzo reached inside his jacket for the weapon concealed there and went to the side as Nico went in without incident. He followed and Giuseppe took up the rear. Nico of course knew the lay-out, it was his job to know these things and he led the way up the stairs of the finely decorated home as if he lived there.

  Alfonzo scanned every corner of the corridor for anything lying in wait, but it’s as the driver said. The occupants appeared to be asleep, in a very deep sleep, judging by the eerie quiet.

  “Second door to the right,” Giuseppe reminded Nico when they reached the third landing and his cousin hesitated.

  Nico’s foot paused. He heard something. Someone entered the house. They stood very still and listened as voices filled the lower level.

  Workers making a shift change. They didn’t have much time. The countdown was on. Nico peered in the corridor and found it empty then marched to the designated door. It opened with a slight twist of his wrist and he glanced inside. On a bed with a woman lie Fedrik, without a care in the world. The stench of sex and booze also emanated from the musty room and Nico wondered if the man used antiperspirant because the funk was disgusting. He nodded to Giuseppe to go in, waited for Alfonzo to do the same, cast one last look up the hall and then quietly locked the door.

  The men below would not wake their boss. It’s usually how they operated. When it was time to leave then they’d deal with the lot.

  Giuseppe walked to the bed, tapped the man awake and when Fedrik came alive, Giuseppe’s fist is what he met. The woman stirred, did a little moan then continued to slumber. Alfonzo couldn’t stifle the chuckle. Women!

  “Miss me?” Giuseppe asked as the man struggled to sit up holding his jaw.

  Fedrik spit and another chuckle sounded, but this time it came from Nico who stood near the door, hands in his pockets and shaking his head. “Bad move.”

  A loud cracking noise came from Fedrik’s face when Giuseppe socked him repeatedly and this is when the woman awakened. Alfonzo seized her from behind, and cupped his hand over her mouth. “Ssssssshhhh.” He said to her ear.

  Nico’s eyes already adjusted to the dim lighting and assessed the entire bedroom. Fedrik was a user. The speckles of the white substance dotting the dresser, not to mention the bongs, and multi-colored pills keeping company lie atop the shiny surface of the night stand. And if Fedrik was a user, the extremely pale woman Alfonzo kept silent was as well.

  Apparently, Fedrik liked drug dependent women with emaciated bodies and medicated minds. The woman looked sickly, attractive only to a blind man. Her hips were extremely narrow, bones jutted from her ribcage and her breasts hung limply just like his flaccid dick. He smirked, Ari was curvaceous and womanly, soft and perfect in his eyes. 

  Shit!

  His body instantly reacted to the carnal image and he cursed himself, then suddenly Selange’s face appeared and he slammed shut the door in his brain. He loved Ari, she was without question the love he sought, and Selange was forbidden fruit, tempting and destructive to his flesh. She’d caused him to lose reason with those innocent eyes and seductress’ body. Ari’s refusal to trust him was his own doing; he was the most selfish of men. No, he would never journey that course with Selange ever again. The woman is where she belonged. Alfonzo is the guy equipped to handle her scorching love flames. Nico had flown too close to her sun and like Icarus, nearly perished.

  It’s his ex he wanted back, but apparently he screwed-up royally and there wasn’t any chance of a reconciliation it seemed.

  Dammit Nico, cut the shit. Get back to business and stop thinking about damn women!

  Nico walked over to assist Alfonzo and the movement distracted his mind from the sudden arousal. He removed duct tape from his pocket, unrolled a few inches, ripped it with his teeth and covered the frightened woman’s lips. She stared up at him, and the bloodshot doe eyes were grossly dilated. He recognized a junkie and his eyes narrowed into mean slits, causing her pale skin to flush pink and she quickly turned away.

  Alfonzo held her immobile as Nico bound the skinny wrists tightly together and then the ankles. Nico stood. “There’s a closet right over there. Lock her in.”

  Alfonzo nodded and Nico returned to take up post near the door as the whacking noises continued. He watched and listened, ensuring the job got done properly. Had he come alone, the entire job would have taken lesser time and he’d be on his way to the airport. But, Giuseppe wanted the hands-on approach and that’s exactly what was occurring as he beat Fedrik with such viciousness he squint because it was obvious Fedrik was already dead.

  Alfonzo spot the door Nico mentioned and carried the woman there and placed her down on the floor. He put a finger to his mouth the woman found extremely sensual. He was striking for a man and the uniform he wore could not hide his physical conditioning. It’s his posture and the muscles protruding from his neck and hands which were signs he worked-out daily. His whispered words, “Stay quiet and you won’t get hurt,” she believed but she did not trust his friends.

  She whimpered, staring at him with trusting eyes, praying he would not let them harm her.

  She quieted.

  It never crossed Alfonzo’s mind to lay a hand on the woman. She wasn’t their target. As far as he was concerned, she’d give an inaccurate description to the authorities. Besides, she was strung-out, probably as a result of Fedrik who supplied his prostitutes with drugs as a means of control. There were Fedrik’s in every city. Giuseppe’s refusal to do business with the likes of him reflected the true depth of his cousin’s soul. They were alike in this respect. Prostitution rings and human smuggling weren’t businesses either cared to partake in. A woman’s body wasn’t a commodity to exploit, especially when there were other opportunities for a savvy man to make money.

  Nico’s ears twitched at voices speaking in a harsh Russian dialect beyond the locked door. Nico interpreted the conversation. The men questioned why nobody was on guard downstairs and slept instead. They were concerned for their drug-dealing pimp of a boss’ safety.

  Nico glanced at Alfonzo approaching with his weapon drawn, just as a knock sounded at the door.

  “Sir, it is Viktor. May I speak with you a moment!”

  Giuseppe straightened, and the bed squeaked as he kneed off and tossed the cover over the battered corpse. He shook his gloved hand then wiped the blood on the edge of the sheet and leisurely joined his cousins.

  “Sir…Fedrik!”

  Giuseppe retrieved the weapon from his waistband.

  “Sir!”

  The doorknob jiggled.

  Nico drew a half sword from his leg scabbard and gestured the others to the other side of the door. He wanted a Vincent kill in homage to his deceased brother. Usually, when he slaughtered men, his methods were less messy. His work was the accidental kind, the car crash, the fall, heart attack or a person simply disappeared. Of course, when it came to torturing someone for information that on the other-hand got rather bloody.

  Today, he thought of Vincent and in memory steadied his hand and nodded for Alfonzo to unlock the door.

  “Crazy ass!” Alfonzo mumbled and pulled inward and the foolish Russian took the step in with his gun out.

  Alfonzo used the crack in the door and aimed at the man in the hall. Two silent shots to the head and heart and the man dropped to the floor. Meanwhile, Nico’s blade severed the man’s gun hand clean off. The handless man’s mouth formed an O and it’s uncertain whether it was to scream or whether it opened in shock, either way, no sound emitted from it. Instead, a ringing like a coiled wire released emanated in the brief silence. Nico’s weapon went smoothly into the heart and downward then retracted with the delicacy of a gentleman slicing butter. The body collapsed in a death heap at Nico’s feet. Vicious eyes of a killer locked with blue ice of the youngest man. Raised to bring death is far deadlier than a
man raised under pretense of having his own life. The years reversed and his heart softened for the youth, in his eyes Alfonzo would always be the boy unaware of his parentage. A kindred soul in many ways because they were both placed in a life neither would have chosen and could not escape. He nodded, gestured they had five minutes to get downstairs and Alfonzo’s body came alive.   

  Giuseppe spat toward the bed and followed Alfonzo out death’s bedroom, unaware of Nico’s lingering pace to complete what the man with a heart left undone.

  Alfonzo was in the corridor moving with stealth toward the stairway when the air shifted and Giuseppe swiveled and blasted a hole through the head of a man who suddenly emerged from one of the rooms. The body bounced against the frame of the door then crumpled to the floor.

  “Pay attention, cugino. Your woman will be inconsolable if you are killed. That is something I do not want, capisce?”

  “He would’ve shot you, not me.”

  “Eh, silenzioso. Stay alive and do not get shot. I can see that woman of yours crying like an Italian mother falling on her knees, putting hands to the sky asking why…why?”

  “You’re too much Geo.” Alfonzo couldn’t help but laugh at the image and jogged down the stairs to the first floor.

  Nico’s short delay to the van was the result of a clean-up. He could not leave the room untidy and elimination of their sole eyewitness was in order. The strung out woman cowered in the closet, backing away at the sight of Nico. She whimpered, tears running rivers as he loomed there. Devoid of emotion, the man she had not trusted, thrust –and she felt the stinging cut.

   

   

   

  ****

   

   

  Sal was angry. He had fun but Evangeline drank at the party and she was driving them home. He didn’t like her. She was mean and he refused to call her Evie like everyone else. She laughed at him when he told the story about the burglars breaking in his house. She giggled louder and snorted at the part where he led everyone to the safe room, but she didn’t do that to Aaron when he told his story. Big deal he had a gun. Guns were dangerous, but they thought it was cool to kill people and he frowned. She was really dumb!

  She was mad at him because he snatched her car key after that and refused to give it back. Aaron and Madeline took her side and forced him to hand over the keys. Apparently, a kid was too stupid to know right from wrong. Now, he was sorry he came because of her.

  He sat quietly in the backseat, seatbelt on, staring out the window watching the sun come up, listening to the sisters laughing and talking about boys and their stupid music.

  Aaron met a girl and got her number and was asleep with a huge grin on his face and a leg stretched out on the seat which poked Sal in the side each time he shift his foot.

  A musical ringtone interrupted their conversation and the silly one Evangeline squealed, “It’s him. It’s him!”

  The dummy answered her cell and held it to her ear, chatting away as she drove.

  Sal stuck his head between the seats, “What are you doing Evangeline?”

  “Sit back and be quiet you little brat!”

  “This is a brand new car. It has VCD; don’t you know how to work it?”

  Evangeline pushed against the seat really hard, “Be quiet!”

  Madeline asked, “What’s VCD?”

  “Voice Activation Device, it’s a hands free feature on almost every new car.”

  Evangeline glared at him in the rear view mirror, “I’m on the phone.”

  Sal crossed his arms and stared back, “Well, that’s really smart, driver.”

  “I’m sick of your mouth Salvatore!”

  Evangeline spun around to grab him and Madeline screamed, “What are you doing?” She reached for the steering wheel and turned it too hard. The vehicle went out of control. They were screaming like girls so loud it startled Aaron from his slumber. He looked around in a confused daze, saw Sal’s frightened face only seconds before the car struck a tree.

  Aaron went flying against the rear of the driver’s seat upon impact and landed on the floor. The entire incident happened so fast that all Sal could do was pray he wasn’t dead. When Aaron sat up and shouted, “What the hell?” Sal sighed with relief.

  They were stunned, but overall nobody was badly injured and the worse damage occurred to Evangeline’s precious car.

  “Oh no,” she shrieked when they piled out to survey the crumpled hood and saw steam billowing from the radiator. “This is very bad.”

  “It’s a car. Just be glad it’s not your face!” Sal glowered at the simpleton.

  “Be quiet Sal!” Aaron yelled.

  “No, if she’d been paying attention and not talking on her stupid phone, this wouldn’t have happened.”

  “Ooooh, you are such trouble Salvatore.” The girl fumed.

  Madeline cried, “Stop it. We are in trouble, unless we get home before mama finds us missing.”

  Sal dug in his pocket for his cell. He wanted to go home. The teenagers pounced on him, screaming and chasing him around the car, “No, Salvatore,” Evangeline pleaded, “por favore, do not call tuo padre.”

  “Sal listen we’re going to be in trouble and you will too for coming.” Aaron reasoned.

  “Let him call, we can’t stay here all morning. The polizei will come and we will be found out anyway!” Madeline interjected.

  Sal frowned, he already pressed the screen and his dad was on speaker. The group went silent when Alfonzo’s baritone voice echoed in the quiet, “What’s going on, hijo. What’s this about the police?”

  Sal looked at the frightened faces of his relatives. Their expressions implored him not to tell. Finally, they were afraid of him and weren’t laughing or teasing now, were they?

  Aaron mouthed, “You can’t drop a dime on family, come on that’s not right!”

  “Uh, dad….promise you won’t be mad…”

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  CHAPTER SIX

   

   

   

   

  Giuseppe snored loudly with his head against the car seat and it collided with the window when the car struck a pothole and he woke with a start, “Cosa?”

  Alfonzo shook his head, when Giuseppe immediately returned to his nap without waiting for an answer to his question.

  The mail carrier plane had landed in Catania, where a car awaited as scheduled. During the ride, Nico and Giuseppe slept, but Alfonzo was livid and found sleep impossible. Sal’s disturbing call was the reason.

  The vehicle exceeded the speed limit as it raced across the Autostrada toward Palermo. He was going to Giuseppe’s villa, where the kids were taken in lieu of their beds. Giuseppe after learning about the incident immediately sent his guys to clean up the teen’s mess while he and Nico concocted cover stories for the mothers, a morning outing with the kids to let the women rest is the best they could think of.

  They were out of the car, Alfonzo leading the pack, furious at his son and the guards for not having the home secure. How the hell did they sneak out in the first place? Obviously, security at Bianca Luca’s was lax.

  Alfonzo was the first to enter Giuseppe’s swanky home. The kids were huddled together on the sofa guarded by several of Giuseppe’s scariest men. He instructed the guys to deny them water, food, phone usage and even a piss!

  Alfonzo walked in front of the juvenile delinquents, stopped and shoved his hands in his pockets and glared at their innocent expressions. “Anyone hurt?”

  “No dad.”

  “No sir.”

  “No.�
�

  “No Signore Alfonzo.”

  Giuseppe entered, looked at the bunch and went to take his ass to bed. Thank the saints he did not have children.

  Alfonzo noticed Giuseppe climbing the stairs and scoffed to himself. Yeah, he should’ve listened to his gut and not Giuseppe who didn’t have any children. The village elder my ass!

  Nico sat at on the arm of the sofa, nearest his son. He was so tall he had to extend his legs, “Which one of you wrecked the car?”

  “Um,” Evangeline began and suddenly Aaron cut her off, “I did.”

  “Aaron, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

  “Dad…”

  “Yeah…I’m listening.”

  Alfonzo listened too.

  “I wanted to see the Fountain of Shame and…and…”

  “And a goat ran across the road,” Evangeline said in an effort to help out her brave cousin but only served to make the situation worse.

  “A goat?” Nico the skeptic asked.

  “Um-hum,” she said shaking her lying little sixteen year old head up and down.

  Alfonzo found nothing humorous in their ignorance. He was a teenager once and knew they were full of shit. A goat my ass! The girls were dressed for a party. He bypassed the bull. “Were you guys drinking or getting high?”

  “No!” One of the girls exclaimed. They were identical twins and the make-up and style of dress hinted at their personality types. It’s irrelevant, anyway, they were equally held accountable for sneaking out of the house and being involved in a questionable accident. The outcome could’ve ended with a death. He and Nico discussed punishment and a trip to the morgue they decided was an educational must for the teenagers. Sal wasn’t of driving age, yet they planned to have him along for the ride since he’d snuck out, too.

  “How’d you guys get past the guards?” Nico wanted to know.

  They didn’t answer and Nico scoffed. “Not telling, huh. Alright, gimme the phones.”

  A chorus of protests and mumblings of, “it’s not fair,” and “this is bogus” and “I just got this phone” and “I’m expecting an important call,” were some of the nonsense ramblings from their mouths, yet in the end, the devices were placed in Nico’s outstretched hand.