by Rimmy London
* * *
Keeping still, I watched a stranger below. I’d found my way into Shellbrook using an air vent, but now I was trapped. The scene below was checkered through the scattered holes. Too nervous to continue on and risk being heard, I waited. They were in Givanni’s office, although it had obviously changed hands since his departure. The books were gone, as was any personality that might have remained. Instead, the room was as sterile as an operating room.
With his back to me, the sandy-haired man was moving his shoulders enough to let me know he wasn’t just standing there. But his boxy frame kept the mysterious occupation hidden.
“Andiamo,” Another man brushed through the door from the hallway, giving away a lot with one heavily accented word. They were Italian, so I could assume they worked for Conner—and that they were not supposed to be there. The first man grunted, not looking like he was in a hurry to go, unlike his comrade.
Intent on their work they didn’t see the back closet door inch open. A hooded figure melted from the darkness and moved like a ghost, drifting closer so slowly I shivered. They had to turn soon, and then they would see him. I wasn’t sure who to be concerned about. They were likely both criminals, but I sympathized with their ignorance. A pistol appeared in the hooded man’s hand, and my heart jumped to my throat.
With quick, silenced shots the two Italians fell without even a reaction. Looking at the bodies on the floor and then this new man, I breathed through the beating in my heart. He stepped over them, gathering what looked to be stacks of bills on the desk. With a fist, he rapped on the wall and a second hooded person, more stocky than the first, joined from the hall.
I was in shock from what I had witnessed. It seemed so pointless. So trivial for them to kill two men without even a word. After collecting every last stack of cash, they nodded to each other and left the room. The two men on the floor they hadn’t spared a glance, leaving them for whoever might stumble upon the scene. I swallowed the repulsion gathering in my throat, not liking the option I was left with. This was now the safest room to enter, as I doubted they would risk returning.
I waited for what I hoped was long enough before loosening the screen. I didn’t look past it, not wanting to see the growing pool of blood below—and the lifeless faces of those men. I pushed the thought from my mind, catching the screen frantically as it nearly slipped from my hands. My arms ached as I lowered myself slowly. I held my breath and let go, landing with a soft thud. The odor of blood was revolting. But as I began to move forward, a whispered sound of voices came from the hall.
With a start, I tripped across the room and wedged myself behind the desk. I glanced up at the ceiling and the painfully obvious hole there. My eyes darted from one corner to the next, not daring to move another muscle. I searched for any type of weapon I could find—not that I would stand much of a chance against them. Inching my hand across the desktop, I pulled a pair of scissors from the small cup of pens. It would have to do. I could tell when they entered by a creak in the door frame, but that was it. They didn’t make another sound. Surely they were deducing my every last move, judging the hole in the vent and the missing scissors. I could barely breathe with the beating of my heart threatening to strangle me.
And then he was upon me, gripping my shirt he ripped me from the floor. I hardly had the nerve to keep hold of the scissors. Bringing my arm back I knew my life was over. At least I had a weapon, however pathetic it was. But the hooded figure gasped, jumping back from me like I’d shocked him. The hood fell back too, and white-blonde hair flung forward.
“En - Enrica,” I choked, staring back at her in disbelief. She was the smaller of the two. She had… “You killed these men.” I shook my head as I spoke, and my mind twisted to find the facts that would make this right—make things somehow okay.
She spoke in Italian, cursing my name no doubt with how the words flew from her mouth. The second hooded figure stepped forward and I strained to see the shadowed face. Maybe she couldn’t do it. Maybe he was going to finish this. But he stopped just behind her, not coming any closer.
Lifting his hands he pulled the hood back from his head and exposed his shocked face.
“Max!” I nearly screamed. My gaze fell to the bodies motionless on the floor, but before I could ask the question Enrica reached into her vest, pulling a small gun. My eyes widened but there was no time for any other reaction. She pulled the trigger.
Chapter 13
“Loriel, get up!” My body jerked violently, and with a gasp I was upright. I was on a boat that looked so rickety that it might sink at any moment. I remembered everything—vividly. Enrica stood in front of me with such an innocent expression. Maybe she thought I wouldn’t remember. That I would just brush aside the memory of her shooting me.
She pulled me to my feet and I lunged forward, pushing against her with as much force as I could muster. Stumbling back her foot caught a rope and she fell to the deck. A shrill laugh burst from her and chills scattered down my arms.
“Givanni doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” She mumbled, brushing at her slender legs. “You don’t need protection. Look, we are on the same side Loriel. If you would just let me explain.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I cut in. “Maybe you didn’t get the chance because you were too busy shooting me.”
Again she laughed, and I shook with anger. “And yet you’re still alive.” She said, looking into my face with her icy blue eyes. “Why do you think that is? I’m a pretty good shot—and you were right in front of me.”
I know you’re a good shot, I thought darkly, remembering the two men who fell without a word.
“Enrica, that’s enough,” Max strode forward, passing Enrica and pulling me into a hug. I sagged into him—exhausted. “I’m sorry Loriel,” he whispered, not letting go. “We couldn’t risk you being seen. Enrica is telling the truth. We just hadn’t planned on seeing you. That was such a shock, and there was no time for an explanation. We weren’t the only ones at Shellbrook, and that tranquilizer saved your life.”
“Tranquilizer?” I asked. The realization that Enrica hadn’t been trying to kill me was a little disconcerting, and I tried to put her in the perspective of hero. It was difficult.
Bracing my hands against Max’s sides I pushed away, swaying a little on my own two feet—It’d been a couple days since I’d eaten. “Who were those men?” I looked at Enrica. She lifted her chin, irritated. “Why did you have to kill them? And what are you doing now? Because clearly, you have some type of plan—that I wasn’t included in.”
“Of course you weren’t included,” Enrica huffed.“Why should you be? You think since Givanni is important to you that gives you the right to know every detail of his escape?!” Her eyes had narrowed and I didn’t miss the fact that she hadn’t answered my first two questions.
But with a start, I repeated her words in my head. “Wait, his what? Escape?” I glanced back at Max. “He’s free?” Max looked uncomfortable, and I had about reached my breaking point. They needed to start talking.
Enrica’s face didn’t hold the compassion that I could clearly see in Max’s, and she walked forward haughtily. “Yes, his escape,” she said. “But just because he escaped, why should that mean he is free? We learned where he was kept, and what he had been told—which were two different things entirely. He was led to believe the IM had taken him across the sea when really he had hardly traveled down coast more than a mile. They wanted to torture and then brainwash him, but he escaped before that point.”
My stomach turned with the word torture, and I tried to keep the conversation moving before the images flooded my brain. “So, he was in the sewers.” I said. “I’d heard that from an extremely unreliable source, but I guess Cal was telling me the truth.”
They both gawked, but Max eventually nodded. “I have no idea how you came to have that information, but yes he was in the sewers. We got word that he escaped and we had only the time to collect some valuables at Shellbrook before headin
g to…” His glance at the ground was uncustomary. “To where we think he went.”
“So you, what, kill whoever crosses your path?” This time I looked back at Enrica. To my astonishment, she grinned.
“That’s right. I kill whoever is deserving of death—it suits me just fine. Those poor men,” she mocked. “Those poor heartless killers. Those poor torturers who didn’t get the chance to finish Givanni off. Those poor filthy crooks who forced the President of your country into agreement after agreement just so he could keep his family safe.” My face felt cold at the reality she created, and I swallowed as she stepped aside Max. “There are ten of them around every corner, and so yes, I will kill them when I get the chance—as many as I can get my hands on.”
For a shocking moment, Max reached his arm around her and I watched her anger crack into pieces, crumbling into despair. But it was only a moment, and in the time it took me to feel sympathy her strength had solidified again. She looked at me like I was the cause of her anger. “But you have grown up away from all that. Your life has been carefree and safe, and so I doubt you could handle this next adventure.” She turned to Max. “What should we do with her?”
Max shook his head. “Hold on Enrica, we can’t brush her aside like that. From what I understand it was her that liberated yourself and Givanni back in Italy. Let her decide.” He glanced at me, measuring me up quickly before plunging in. “We are headed to Guadalupe Island. That is where the IM—where we think they took him. It was a previous headquarters for…”
“For Shellbrook, yes I know. But I thought you said he had – ” He silenced my question with a lift of his hand, looking nervous.
“Let me just explain first and if you want to commit yourself to this, I will answer any questions you might have.” I nodded, crossing my arms at Enrica’s obvious disdain. “If they have Givanni here, it will be in an attempt to use him or brainwash him. If they wanted him dead they would have done that already. Torture must have been for a purpose. They either want something from him or they want to change him.”
My stomach twisted again and I tried to stop it, but scenes played out in my mind even as I listened. I blinked back the moisture in my eyes, concentrating my whole self on Max’s words. “…dangerous than Italy, because we have no idea who we are going to meet out there. In Italy they are organized and, although it’s a bit hypocritical to say it, civilized.”
I couldn’t care less who we would meet or what we needed to prepare for. My entire life revolved around Givanni now, and getting him back to where he belonged, right beside me, was worth anything. “…stay to the deeper parts of the ocean, it’s not something I would count on.” I brought myself back to his words, not putting them together like I knew I should be. “But with what I’ve heard from Jordyn—”
“Jordyn, from Givanni’s team?” I asked, remembering the stylish, ever-confident poster boy from Italy.
Max nodded and continued in the same breath. “Jordyn, who is already on the island—we can almost guarantee he is at the volcano's peak. There is a small outpost building there. So if we do this, it will be on foot. Well, on rope. We climb from the backside of the mountain where it is steepest, and where they will be less likely to see us coming. Whatever weapons we need, we carry, and most likely everyone who sees us will be trying to kill us.” His eyes focused on me, unmoving. He was gauging my reaction. The information repeated again and again in my head, flashing through my mind like an attack. It wasn’t hard to imagine death. I was almost certain to die. But then, I was also certain to fight with every ounce of life I had.
Slowly I nodded, not feeling the least bit conflicted. I would be there for him like he’d always been for me.
“Okay,” he sighed. “Givanni will pummel me for this, but let’s get going.”
“So what does Jordyn know?” I asked.
Max shrugged, disappearing behind an old wood door.
“Jordyn has been on the island for a week and he’s sent…” His muffled voice was hard to hear. “Messages.” He stepped back out, holding an ice chest. My mouth watered like a river. “From what we think we’ve been told, Givanni escaped once, but they have him again.” Enrica and Max glanced at each other for a moment, and I saw an exchange of some sort, but it didn’t matter. They wouldn’t tell me everything, and that was fine. I was satisfied that they would allow me to come—all I could do was hope to be of some use.
For once I studied the vessel we were on. It was ancient, looking more like a retired fishing boat used in the days of casting nets by hand. Ropes were everywhere, and while I was sure they had a purpose, it left things in disarray. The cabin Max had escaped to couldn’t be very large, judging by the lack of deck space. Enrica had abandoned me the second she had seen me nod. I didn’t care, although I would have liked to ask her some questions.
“Here you are,” Max pushed a paper bag into my hands, and the weight was encouraging. I could hardly keep from ripping it open right in front of him. Instead, I sat beside him and tried to eat as casually as I could, although it had to be obvious by the way I finished the sloppy meat sandwich in two bites.
Max cleared his throat, but instead of the smile I assumed was on his face all I saw was concern.
“This is dangerous Loriel,” He’d hardly touched his food, maybe one swallow from his soda can. I drained mine at the thought. “We don’t have much to work with. Sure we have weapons, but how in the world will we get out of there? In this?” He swung his hand across the dilapidated scene.
I shrugged. “Then why did you take it?” I asked. They had the resources to procure the most advanced boat out there, and we were in a half sinking box.
“I know, but it makes sense for one reason.” Max answered, waiting for me to stop surveying the hideousness. “Anything with more muscle would draw attention. We are hoping to pass as mainlanders, just out for a little fishing trip around the island.” He stood from his untouched food and sighed, looking grim. “That’s what we’re hoping.”
Our trip was nothing like the one with Givanni had been – when he’d pulled me into the ocean just to lessen the tension, and Max had talked with me through the night. For one, Max and Enrica, although it was clear they knew each other well, didn’t get along. They constantly bickered about whatever they could, which direction they were headed. What the weather would do. If Givanni were even on the island. When conversation faltered, they would stand or sit rigidly, clearly not at ease. It left me tense and didn’t instill as much confidence as I would have liked. I was glad that at least the trip would be short. We wouldn’t even spend a single night on the boat.
Gathering my thoughts during a particularly tense moment, I sat across from Max. He didn’t look up and instead sat brooding at the wood under his feet. My thoughts never strayed from Givanni for long, and I could feel another wave of memories about to surface. I needed Max to be honest with me. “Are you sure he’s on the island?” I whispered, knowing that even though he and Enrica argued about this fact, his assumptions were usually correct. His face looked a bit angry when he lifted his gaze to meet mine. But I hoped he was only preparing for whatever lie ahead.
“I… believe he is,” he said with difficulty, studying my face before continuing. “But whether or not he’s alive, I honestly don’t know.” The pain in his face almost undid my strength, a flood of anguish pressing down on me. Givanni was his closest friend. I knew that. But their history together was mostly a mystery. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, although he didn’t take it back. I shook my head, partly to clear it and partly to move the conversation along.
“When we get there, what are you planning? What will we do?” If they had a plan, and I was included, I was sure they would have told me by now. Which left me wondering if they were going to either leave me on this rotting boat or ditch me somewhere. Neither of those were options in my mind.
“We stay with Jordyn tonight. He will meet us at the base of the cliff, and since his communications have been somewhat riddled, we ar
e hoping he can clear up any questions.” With a rather awkward pat on my shoulder, he stood and began to pace the perimeter of the boat. My breath let out steadily, and I forced every thought from my head—except for the words repeating like a chant.
He’s alive… he’s alive… alive.
An enormous splash had me on my feet, mesmerized by the huge rope that was jerking and pulling, zipping across the railing of the boat until it suddenly stopped. Enrica lifted an eyebrow at me, already irritated. “We need to stop here until nightfall—it will be safer that way.” Although she appeared angry, it was considerate of her to answer my questioning face at all. It was almost nice. Her posture relaxed as she faced the fading light of the sun, leaning against the aged railing as a breeze pulled through her silky hair. She looked like an angel, but something else raged inside. That kind of contrast had to be difficult.
With a sigh I faced the sun as well, seeing it had already dipped into the sea, leaving a trail of yellow and orange behind. The water was opaque, reflecting the brilliant color of the sky. Impulsively I kicked off my sandals, stepping up and leaning over the railing. The boat jerked, bumping into something below, and I scanned ahead.