by Terra Kelly
Miles walked back into the makeshift living room. “Not exactly.”
Then both Miles and Finley pointed to the glassed window where the band members were setting up and said at the same time. “That’s where the magic happens.”
Preslie burst out laughing, “They’re worse than a married couple.” Letizia loved how both men just rolled their eyes and walked away.
They all ended up spending about two hours at the studio. It was two blissful hours of not thinking about her past or the last few weeks, but then like everything else, all good things must end. Letizia was nestled in an overstuffed couch with her legs tucked up under her body, her head was bobbing back and forth to the hard beats of the drums and soft rhythm of the base guitar. She felt two hands on her shoulders before she saw them. She jumped, making the whole room go silent at her reaction. When Zia heard a gasp from behind, she wanted to run far away. Could she make her shitty circumstances any worse? Oh, as a matter of fact she could.
Letizia stood up and turned to see Preslie’s apologetic face. “I’m so sorry, Letizia. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Zia shook her head. “What? It’s all good. Is there something you needed?” She was hoping to sound blasé but had a feeling she was failing miserably.
Finley stepped closer to Zia. “We were all just discussing dinner and how we all needed food soon. Want to go across the street and grab a bite with everyone?”
Letizia smiled. “Dinner sounds great.” It sounded like a perfect plan, especially since her stomach had been protesting for the last thirty minutes. Just as Preslie turned away, she assured her, “Hey. I’m good, okay?”
Preslie sighed. “I should know better, hell, I went through a bunch of shit myself.”
Zia shrugged her shoulders. “Sometimes it’s better to forget those things. It makes the day so much brighter.” She squeezed her new friends hand and sat back down on the couch. What she didn’t bother to mention was that her heart still felt like it may pop out of her chest. She cursed under her breath, wishing for different scenarios.
“Hey boys, do we need a few extra pitchers of beer tonight?” Finley watched as the waitress walked up and stood next to the long table.
He smiled at the woman. “That’d be great and whatever the kids want.” Before the dinner plans had become final, Miles and Finley had to check with the rest of the team. Everyone was on the same page about it being safe enough to have Zia out in the open for a short period.
Letizia leaned over and squeezed his knee. “Hey Superman, do I see our waitress checking you out?”
Just then Miles cleared his throat and Finley placed his hand over his friend’s mouth. “No, of course not.” The rest of the band members all grumbled something so Finley closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. “Again…no.”
Zia just shook her head while laughing, “Whatever you say.”
Everyone was talking, laughing, and carrying on. It all felt normal, but then Finley noticed something or more like someone from the corner of his eye. He tried to seem casual, but he knew the moment he looked toward the suspicious bar patron, shit might go down—and fast. Since the person in question was behind where Preslie sat, he looked her way. “Hey Pres, how have the twins been feeling?” He waited and asked when it seemed appropriate and not out of the blue.
Facing her, he let his eyes also survey the seating in that direction. Sure enough, there was a man sitting at a table all alone. The guy was tapping his hand up and down continuously almost like he seemed nervous about something, and you could see his knee shaking the whole table. The person of interest had on a black hoodie and black pants. It was hard to make out the guy’s face, but he noticed the asshole looking their way several times.
Preslie didn’t catch that his demeanor changed. “They’re wonderful, but I wish I could hit the pause button. They’re growing too fast.”
Finley gave a half smile, then looked towards Miles. “Sorry Preslie. Hey Miles, want to go grab shots for the guys?” He gave his knowing glance that got his partners attention immediately.
Miles scowled. “What? Um, sure.”
Both men stood up from the table and walked to the bar. Finley leaned against the wood surface and sighed. In a whisper, “See the guy behind me, 2:00, with the dark shades and clothes?” He was feeling nervous. The weird part was, he never had this problem, so what was happening today? Letizia.
Miles nodded, then turned toward the bartender. “We’ll take three shots of your best bourbon.” Finley watched the lady turn to grab the bottle. In a low voice. “Who the fuck is that?”
Finley just shrugged his shoulders. “No clue, that could be the first sign of life since the asshole and his men disappeared.”
He could see Miles surveying the place. “I don’t see anyone else, which seems off.”
Just then the woman sat down three shots and filled them up to the rim. Finley grabbed two of them. “Let’s find out.” Then he headed toward the guy’s table.
Both men had worked together for so long they could finish each other’s sentences. When Finley grabbed the shots, he knew his friend would follow suit immediately. As they both headed over to the table, Finley took a quick glance toward their group and could see Letizia seemed agitated. Preslie and Vikki were sitting next to her and trying to calm her down.
He winked and then went back into character. As they approached the small four top, Finley pulled the chair out and sat both shots down in front of them. “We noticed you looked thirsty.”
The guy seemed startled. “What the fuck? Who are you and why are you at my fucking table?”
Miles rolled his eyes. “I think the question should be who the fuck are you?”
Finley downed the shot, then leaned in toward the mystery man. “Don't fucking play dumb with us, asshole. Why do you seem to have taken a liking to that brunette over there? You better talk and fast?”
The guy just looked around and then back at Finley. “She’s pretty. Is staring at her such a crime?”
Miles laughed. “It’s a crime when we know you’re fucking feeding us a line of bullshit. Care to share the real reason you made shop here tonight in this bar while we’re here all together?”
The mystery guy reached forward to grab the shot, sighed. “What made you all think there weren’t consequences? There’s always a cause and effect for anything.” Then he downed the shot in one swoop.
Finley glanced a Miles and gave a knowing look. “Cause and effect, eh? So, where’s your boss hiding these days? He can’t come out and play?” Finley had known things seemed too good lately.
The guy laughed. “Giano doesn’t play.”
Miles leaned closer to the asshole. “Stop fucking around. What the fuck are you doing here tonight and when did you start this little charade?”
Finley was feeling so pissed off. They all had checked not twice, more like double that, ensuring Giano’s cronies were nowhere in sight. Now this bullshit. He realized they had fucked up, but how? All of a sudden it came to him. He leaned back in his seat and shook his head. “I should’ve known. How did I miss this one?”
Miles seemed confused. “Finley?”
He sat there for a moment, which gave the asshole enough time to talk shit. “I think your partner lost his voice. When did you realize your mistake, old man?”
Finley lunged forward and fisted his hand in the guy’s hoodie and brought their faces just inches from each other. In a low growl, “Shut the fuck up. When did he hire you?”
The guy’s smile faded. “What?”
Miles nodded. “Oh yes, now we’re getting somewhere.”
Finley pushed the fucker back into his seat, then took in a deep breath and let it out. “You know what! So, talk.”
The guy pushed back his seat so fast and started for the door, but Ricky a band member was at the front entrance. “Going somewhere?”
Finley laughed. “Let him go, Ricky.” Looking at the guy, “Hey, tell your boss we figured it out.” Then he
opened the door and pushed the asshole. “Let him know we’ll be talking soon.” He stood there and watched the guy stumble to his car. Without turning around. “We found the leak.” Then he glanced toward Miles and filled him in on the shit. He smiled at how Miles’ eyes went wide at the mention of the person in question.
Seventeen
“Where the fuck is he?” Finley was about to throw things. “How could he vanish into thin air?” He was holding one of those stupid stress balls which was not working. “We had eyes on him all last night.” Then he stopped pacing the room and threw the stress ball against the wall, leaving a blue mark on the white surface.
Miles cleared his throat. “Hey, we’ll find him. We have around-the-clock surveillance on Letizia and Cristiano. There’s no way the asshole can get anywhere near them.”
Finley turned toward his friend. “Don’t be too sure. You know what that family is capable of.” Then he cursed under his breath and sat down in the nearest chair. “Fuck.”
“Hey, Cris?” Letizia had been trying to calm her nerves, and cooking was not working. In fact, nothing was working at the moment. She walked over to the stairwell to the basement. “Cris, come up and help me eat this cake.” Just then she heard something fall and what sounded like a mumble. “Cris? You okay?” Her instincts went on high alert. She thought about calling Finley, but her phone was in the living room right where she’d left it earlier. Looking around, her eyes settled on a butcher knife. It seemed extreme, but if one of Giano’s cronies had Cristiano…well, she would do anything to save her brother. Anything.
Letizia grabbed the knife and started down the stairs, taking one at a time with care, hoping to avoid making too much noise. When she reached the landing, her eyes went wide. “Cris!” Her brother was lying face-down on the floor and blood was dripping from his head. She knelt beside him and checked his pulse. He was breathing. Zia bent her head until she was level to him. “Cris. Talk to me.” A lonely tear slid down her cheek. “Cris. Please. Talk to me.” Just then she heard a mumble and let out a deep sigh. “Oh my God, Cris. I’ll call Finley now. Hold on.”
Letizia went to get up but her brother grabbed her wrist. In a pained tone he whispered, “Wait.” Coughing. “Don’t.”
Letizia sat back down. “What happened, Cris?” She brushed loose strands away from his forehead to find where the blood was coming from. He had a two-inch gash just above his temple on the left side of his head. “Who did this, Cris? One of Giano’s men?”
He rolled onto his back. Clearing his throat, he whispered, “No. I think it was that guy we met at the Italian restaurant the other day.” He placed his hand on the wound. “Z, he gave me a warning and then hit me over the head. He must have sneaked through the slider glass doors when I had the headphones on for the video game.”
She stood up to go grab a t-shirt resting on the arm of the couch, then placed it on Cristiano’s head. “Here, apply pressure. We need to get you to the hospital. This will need stitches.” Looking around, “Where’s your phone?” They needed to contact Finley and fast.
Cris pointed to the couch. “Sitting on the middle cushion. Zia, I’m scared to tell Finley.”
She went to grab the phone. “Scared? We have to tell him, there’s no way we can do this on our own.” Letizia sat back down on the floor beside her brother and dialed Finley’s number. Pausing, “Guy from the restaurant? The one that said I looked like someone he knew?”
Cris said, “Yes. Him.”
Letizia didn’t know what to think. Who was that man and why would he harm Cris? “Huh?” Shaking her head and adding in the last two numbers for Finley. He picked up on the second ring. “Finley, we need you.”
She could hear rustling and then a car engine start-up. “I’m on my way.”
Letizia was trying to keep strong, but the moment she heard Finley’s voice all that faded away. As tears fell one after another, she sobbed. “You may need back-up; we don’t know if they’re gone. I have to call the ambulance for Cris, whoever it was hit him over the head hard.”
The phone went silent for a beat, then he said, “I will call for back-up now. Who was there, Zia?”
She glanced at Cris who seemed to doze off. “Cris, stay with me. Just get here, okay?” Panic was clear in her voice while she dropped the phone and leaned into her brother. “Cris, you have to stay awake.” Shaking his shoulders. “Cris, can you hear me?” Letizia continued to talk to him for the next several minutes and did whatever she could to keep him alert.
Finally, warm hands settled on her shoulders, she screamed and leaned over her brother. Finley put his hands up in surrender. “Letizia, it’s me. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She scurried back toward him and flung herself into his arms. “Oh God, you have to help Cris. He won’t stay awake.” Zia fisted her hands in his shirt and rested her forehead on his chest. “I’m scared for him, Finley.”
There was a loud crash and two men were rolling in a stretcher. They had bumped an end table and the vase full of flowers fell to the floor. She noticed Finley roll his eyes, “Nice.” He pulled Zia back away from his body. “Hey, let’s get your brother to the hospital, we’ll talk there.”
Letizia reached to grab her brother’s hand. “Cris? The paramedics are here to help you now. Squeeze my hand if you can hear me?” She felt an ever so slight tug and smiled. “I love you so much.” She leaned in and kissed his check and whispered, “We’ll get him, I promise you that, little brother.”
Finley was walking to his car when his phone buzzed, he never hesitated, instead he hopped in his car and left. When he reached the bottom step in the basement of his house, his heart sank. How was this possible? Who had decided Letizia’s fate? They needed to be bitch-slapped into next week for their decisions.
The moment he touched her, he knew he made a poor choice by scaring the shit out of her. The fear that was etched in her eyes about killed him inside. All she had left was her brother—her cousin—and now here he was falling in and out of consciousness due to a deep gash on his forehead. Whoever was responsible would pay.
The moment the paramedics placed Cris in the ambulance, Finley turned to face Zia. “Hey, I’ll meet you at the hospital. Okay?” He wanted to do a clean sweep of the parameter inside and out to be sure no one was lurking.
Letizia bowed her head. “Finley, he’ll be okay, right?” God, she looked broken.
Finley placed his hand on the side of her neck below her chin and lifted her head to face him. “Hey. Cris is strongest kid I have ever met. He won’t let you be alone.” He bent down and softly kissed her forehead. “Now, go, we’ll talk in a bit.” He stood and watched her get up into the truck. They both never took their eyes off each other. As the truck inched away a tear escaped and ran down her cheek, and at that moment he felt anger, or rather rage.
He glanced over and noticed his team standing off to the side. When had they arrived? “Anything?” He was determined to sort this shit out. “There has to be a clue somewhere, right?”
Miles walked up to him. “Well, yeah, but an odd clue.” He held out his hand for Finley and sitting in the center of his palm was a dollar bill crumpled up. “Does this mean anything to you?”
Finley grabbed a glove from his pocket to ensure he didn’t contaminate the evidence with his fingerprints. “That was all you could find, but that doesn’t make any sense. Unless the asshole is just sending a message?”
Cooper cleared the distance between them and placed his hand on Finley’s shoulder. “I’m worried you may need to be taken off this case. I was okay with you taking them in because I had the feeling you had a handle on things, but now I’m not sure anymore ...”
Finley backed away. “No, no, you can’t do that. I’ll find the answers with or without your help. That woman is depending on me right now. She trusts me. And let me tell you, trust is hard to come by for her these days.” He paced in front of his team. “Boss, you have to let me continue!”
He noticed Cooper look aro
und. “By the look on your partners’ faces, I’m going to guess they will have your back on this?”
Miles cleared his throat. “Finley never gave up on me when I needed him most, so I plan to do the same.” The rest of the team agreed and clarified that Finley was an important part of the group.
Finley shook his head. “Are we done chatting about this? We need to get to the hospital so we can talk to Letizia and Cris.” He headed toward his car, glancing back, “You all coming?” He shook his head. “We need to know whose ass to kick.”
Cooper closed his eyes and shook his head. “I’ll pretend I never heard that.”
Miles let out a laugh. “Good luck with that. We may remind you once we hear more from Cris.”
Cooper was getting into his car, “Yeah, I figured.”
Finley smiled as he looked around at his team, they all had worked together for so long, they understood one another. As much as he knew he had to tone it down with this case and act more professional, it was getting harder and harder with each incident that had happened over the last few weeks. This case seemed to have something new pop up more frequently than cops ate donuts.
When he arrived at the hospital, there were two ambulances arriving simultaneously; the staff was running to the back of both trucks. Several people were walking in or out of the building; it was noisy, and the sounds made him feel uncomfortable. As he headed inside a woman whisked past him and almost knocked him over. She was holding her hand up in the air and blood was dripping down her arm. He shook his head. Was tonight a full moon or something, or the hospital just the place to be? He waited behind the woman. She was shuffling back and forth, looking very uneasy as she talked to the nurse.
Just then warm arms wrapped around his waist. “Letizia.” He squeezed her against his body and started heading toward a couple available seats. “Did you see Cris?”