“I thought you had no relationship with him? He’s a stranger to you, Eva. It isn’t worth risking your life just to see him,” Sal lectures me. “Besides, he’s in a coma. He wouldn’t even know you were there.”
“I don’t care,” I say through gritted teeth. “This could be my last chance to see him. My last chance to say… what needs to be said.”
“Even if he can’t hear or understand you?” Sal says pointedly.
“Yes.”
“Even if it puts your life in serious danger?”
“Yes.”
“Even though I am warning you that this is absolutely the worst idea in the world?”
“Hell yes.”
Sal groans and pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. I stare at him defiantly. “I trust your judgment, I really do, but this is my choice, Sal. He’s my father. Regardless of what our relationship is like, he’s my dad. I need to see him. It’s imperative.”
He stares at me for a long moment, then sighs. “Fine. You can come along. But you must listen to every word I say and do not disobey me for any reason.”
“Got it,” I reply.
“Now, let’s get going,” Sal says. “We’ve got a murder plot to divert.”
When we arrive at the hospital, it’s nearly midnight. I’ve been lying in the backseat of the car the whole ride, hiding out in my black clothing. The hospital has Christmas lights twinkling in the trees out front, reminding me that this is Christmas Eve. For all the children of the area, this is prime Santa time. They’re all probably lying in bed too excited to sleep, dreaming about the presents they’ll find under the tree in the morning.
Meanwhile, Sal and I are stealthily sneaking into a hospital the only way we know how: through the front door. We walk into the hospital, which has only a few lights still on dimly. Being that it’s Christmas Eve, there’s only a skeleton crew working tonight, and it’s eerie to see how empty and lonely the hallways are. Sal moseys up to a nurses’ station and sweet talks the elderly nurse into telling him what room my father is in. At first, I think he’s crazy. There’s no way that could work. But it does. Sal is so charming and handsome he could probably get any information out of anybody anytime. It’s impressive and a little bit frightening how convincing he can be. Still, the nurse tells him that it’s way past visiting hours, so we’ll have to come back in the morning. But that’s not the plan.
Once the coast is clear, Sal and I sneak down the hall and take the elevator upstairs, searching for my father’s suite. It doesn’t take us long to find it, the two of us pressed against the walls, peeking around corners, checking to make sure nobody is watching us. I’m sure somewhere there are video cameras rolling, but I have a feeling the security crew might be a little distracted and sleepy this time of night on Christmas Eve. They’re all probably antsy, thinking about how badly they want to go home and be with their families. I know the drill. I’ve pretty much always been at work over the holidays. It’s a lonely gig, working while all your coworkers are home enjoying themselves.
“Just down the hall there,” Sal whispers to me, his voice barely audible. The hallways are so quiet you could hear a pin drop, except for the occasional cough or groan from a hospital room or the beep of a machine. So we need to be silent.
I follow Sal down the hall to stand in front of my father’s suite. I stand in tiptoes to look through the little square window, and if I crane my neck I can just barely catch a glimpse of his body lying stiffly on a bed, a blue blanket pulled up to his chest. He looks so frail and small, nothing like the authoritative man from our legal meeting. I don’t know what illness he has, but whatever it is, it’s ruined him. Despite everything, it brings tears to my eyes. We may not be close, but it’s still difficult to see one’s father this way.
“I need to get in there,” I murmur. Sal puts a hand on my shoulder.
“No, Eva. That’s a bad idea and you know it.”
I turn to look at him, frowning. “Why? Why can’t I go see my father?”
“Because he’s got a target on his head and I’ll be damned if I let you stand in harm’s way,” he growls. “It’s not happening. You’ve seen him, now go back down to the car while I figure out how to stop this hit from happening.”
“No. Hell no. I’m going in there whether I have to pick the lock myself or not.”
Sal groans, shaking his head. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“No, I’m not. I didn’t come here and risk my life just to stare at him through the window. I need to be in that room, Sal,” I explain quietly. “The door is locked. How do I get in?”
He holds up a set of master keys and my eyes widen. “Where the hell did you get that?”
He smiles faintly. “I poached it from the nurses’ station while that old bird was gawking at me,” he explains. I roll my eyes and take the keys from him.
“You’re lucky you’re so good-looking,” I tell him, fiddling with the keys until I find one that fits in the door. It clicks open and I walk into the room. My father’s breathing is shallow, ragged. He’s hooked up to all kinds of machines. Normally, with my nursing training, I could probably make some sense of them. But this isn’t just some random patient. This is my father. My own flesh and blood. All I can do is stare at him and try not to cry.
Sal steps in behind me and locks the door. “Go ahead,” he says. “Say what you need to.”
Hesitantly, I pull up a stool and sit down by his bedside. This is the first time in my life I’ve ever gotten a good look at my father. He has the same straight nose I have, but apart from that, he looks nothing like me. It’s hard to believe that I’m related to him. This is the man who helped give me life and then turned away from me like I was nothing.
I try to be angry at him, but right now, all I feel is sadness.
“Hey,” I begin softly, reaching to take his cold hand. “It’s me, Eva. Your daughter. I know this is weird because we hardly know each other, but I had to see you for myself. Here’s thing: I want to hate you. In fact, I think when I was growing up, there were times I might have even succeeded in hating you. But honestly? I’m not even that angry. I’m just confused. And sad. I don’t know why you never wanted me in your life. I don’t know what happened to make you turn away. I’m sure if you were awake right now, you wouldn’t care about what I’m saying. But I’m going to say it anyway, and luckily, you can’t run away from me this time.”
I take a deep breath, looking at his wrinkled, peaceful face.
“My mother was a wonderful person, and I can’t even be that angry at you for abandoning me because it just meant I got to have my mom raise me. She made me the strong, tough, smart, independent woman I am today. I know I’m the kind of lady she’d be proud of, but I don’t know what you want for me. And it shouldn’t matter. You made it clear all those years ago that I don’t matter much to you. But still. You’re my father. I have spent way too long being angry and hurt and letting that pain make me bitter. Because of you, I have never really let anyone in. Never let anyone get close enough to know the real me. But you know what? I’m done with that. I’m finally learning what it feels like to be vulnerable, and it’s scary sometimes, but I think it’s good for me. I’m undoing all the pain you left me with. And that will probably make me a better person in the end,” I say.
I take another deep breath and continue. “Dad, I’m working really hard to forgive you. I want to. Not necessarily for your sake, but for mine. And if you ever wake up from this, I hope you’ll finally see me for who I am, for how well I have survived even without you in my life. But if you don’t wake up… just know that I may not forgive you right now, but I’m working on it. I don’t want to carry this anger forever. Please wake up. We’ve got a lot of lost time to make up for, you and me. I don’t know if you want that, but I think I do. I think we could try.”
A tear rolls down my cheek and drops onto his hand. He doesn’t move. I sigh and look back, expecting to see Sal behind me. But he isn’t there.
I’ve been so caught up in talking to my father that I somehow misplaced Sal. My heart starts to race. I don’t know where he went or why, but now that I’m alone with my father, it’s hitting me just dangerous this is. If my father is the target, then I’m standing directly in the crossfire.
17
Salvatore
I move through the shadows of the half-lit hospital, lights dimmed in the late hours of the night to let the patients rest. My footsteps are silent. I pull on the pair of black leather gloves from my pockets.
Now is the time to hunt.
It’s Christmas Eve, and many of the non-essential staff are at home rather than working or visiting in the dark halls of the hospital.
But there are other hunters about, and I have to make them my prey.
We’ve come at a time that would be good for them to strike—if I were the one carrying out this job, it’s when I would come, and I never assume that my enemies aren’t as smart as me. That’s what’s made me so successful over the years. I never underestimate my foes.
I step behind a corner as I hear footsteps approaching, and I watch a group of three nurses discussing some charts pass by. They head down the hall without having seen me.
They’re likely nearby, moving with the crowds, but not too closely.
I stay out of sight or look inconspicuous as possible as I watch a few other groups move by. A doctor who looks haggard on his way to change out of scrubs. A small family leaving one of the rooms with emotional looks on their faces. More nurses.
But as an older couple passes by, I spot two figures behind them who catch my eye.
They’re dressed like patient care techs, the people who transport and clean patients. Each wears scrubs, but they don’t fit very well—one of the outfits is clearly too small for one of the men, and they aren’t walking like people who know their way around very well.
I’m not sure yet, though. Once they’re a ways ahead of me, I start tailing them, keeping a slow pace and pretending to be distracted by my phone. Every now and then, I glance up at them as they walk.
They’re heading in a circle, doubling back around to the ward where Kirk and Eva are. They must be waiting for the foot traffic in the hallway to die down.
When they get to one of the large doors that’s operated only by the barcode scanners on their badges, I get the confirmation I need.
They speed up nearly to a jog to catch up with a nurse and follow her through the doors. They don’t have security badges.
As soon as they’re through the doors, I jog to catch up with them, and as soon as I slip through the doors, one of them turns his head toward me.
We lock eyes, they look at each other, and they take off in opposite directions.
Fuck.
One of them is heading directly toward where Kirk is, and he’s the one I go after first.
He darts down a hallway that’s all but abandoned. I don’t know how long it will be that way, so I burst into a full sprint after him. He’s quick, but I’m quicker.
When I catch up to him, he must have heard me, because he spins around and tries to throw a punch at me wildly. As I dodge it, I notice the gun he has strapped to his torso. I have to act very, very fast.
With a quick jab, I hit him in the nose, making him grunt, and he tries to tackle me, but I sidestep him. He hasn’t gone for his weapon yet, knowing what kind of panic drawing a gun in a hospital will cause, but a desperate man will do anything.
Instead of trying to fight me further, though he takes off running again.
Within a matter of seconds, I catch up to him and grab him around the neck with my arms, wrapping him in a sleeper hold. He struggles fiercely, but the hold I have on him is tight as iron.
Before he has even stopped moving as he slips out of consciousness, I look around at the rooms nearby. I see a sign for a bathroom, and I make my way toward it as the hitman goes limp in my arms.
I drag him inside and prop him up on one of the stalls, locking the door behind us. When I’m sure that he’s out cold, I take his head in my bare hands and snap his neck with one hard, swift motion.
Every second counts, and I don’t have time to deal with him otherwise. Besides, I can’t have killers waking up after we’ve left.
With the first man dead, I slide out from under the stall and rush out the door to find the second man.
I reason that he has probably looped around toward Kirk’s room. I have to head him off. I make my way down the winding hallways back to where I started my hunt.
Surely enough, as soon as I step out onto the hallway, I see the second man halfway down the opposite side.
We lock eyes once again, and he bolts, running carelessly in the opposite direction. He collides with a doctor, sending her and the papers she was carrying flying. Before the doctor even realizes what’s happening, I rush past her after the second hitman.
This one is faster than the last, and it’s a struggle to keep up with him. He knows as well as me that if we get seen by too many people, we’ll be caught, or the police will get involved, so he darts off to the right and heads down a set of stairs.
I follow him, bounding down several stairs at once to keep up with him. Three floors down, he darts out one of the doors, and it’s several seconds before I can follow him out.
As soon as I step out onto the floor, I have to hold myself back—this floor is packed with people moving around.
Carolers, if I were to guess based on how they’re dressed.
I curse and move through them carefully, my eyes scanning the crowd to find the man again. I can’t lose him, not now.
The sound of electric doors moving brings my attention to the elevator, and I turn in time to see the doors of one closing.
The hitman is watching me from inside, standing calmly next to a couple of other nurses with a triumphant look in his eyes.
I clench my jaw. There’s no time to wait for an elevator. I dart back into the stair shaft and bound up the stairs as fast as my legs can carry me.
When I make it back to the top of the stairs, I hurry toward the hallway, rounding the corner in a matter of seconds. My mind races with what could happen if he gets to Eva and Kirk before I do. Eva is tougher than she looks, but this man is armed and dangerous, and he already knows that this isn’t going to be a quick and clean job. He’s liable to do anything.
When I round the corner, I see him.
His back is facing me, and he’s heading for the door to Kirk’s room.
I wonder at first why he’s not running, but then I see the reason from the opposite side of the hallway. Another nurse is approaching, her head down and eyes focused on a chart in her hands.
I don’t have time to lose. I move as silently as I can up behind the hitman, feet not making a sound as I close the distance between us.
My legs carry me closer with every step.
I’ll reach him.
The only question is whether I can do anything about it once I’m there, once that nurse is close enough to see us.
18
Eva
The hospital room door clicks open and my blood runs cold.
I jump up and turn around with a gasp, expecting to see some masked man with a knife or something. And in a way, I do see a man like that. But he’s a familiar face.
“Sal,” I breathe, relief washing over me. “You’re back.”
“Yes,” he says simply, reaching out his hand to me. “I’m here now. Everything is fine.”
“Did you…?” I trail off, biting my lip.
He nods as I take his hand. “It’s taken care of. The threat has been eliminated. No one will come in and hurt your father. His illness is his only concern now.”
I glance back at my dad, lying motionless and calm on the hospital cot. His eyes are shut, his lips slightly parted as he breathes slow, rattling breaths. If not for those breaths I might think he’s dead at first glance. I can’t help but wonder how long he has left. It seems unlikely that he will ever recover from thi
s. Tears spring to my eyes again and I quickly swipe them away. Sal comes to stand beside me and put an arm around my shoulders.
“It’s okay,” he whispers, kissing the side of my head.
“Is it?” I ask tearfully.
“It will be. I promise. But Eva, the longer you’re out in public, the more dangerous it is for both of us. We need to get you home,” he says.
“Home,” I repeat. It feels like I hardly know what that word means anymore. Home doesn’t seem to be a physical location. If anything, Sal is my home. He’s my comfort, my solace, my safe haven. Anywhere I am with him is home. I have nowhere else to go.
“Yes. Come on,” he nudges me. Finally, I give in and start to walk away.
I glance back over my shoulder at the sleeping man on the bed, the near-stranger who gave me life and then dismissed me for twenty-three years. I don’t know exactly how I ought to feel about any of this. “Bye, Dad,” I murmur as we step out into the dimly-lit hallway. Sal guides me down the hall to the emergency stairs, presumably because everyone else would be taking the elevator. As he opens the door to the staircase, my eyes are drawn to a heaping cart of scrubs. It’s such a massive pile that it actually confuses my eye. The shape is strange. Bulky. Shaped almost like… a person.
A body.
My heart starts to race as I realize there’s a body in that cart. Probably put there by Sal.
“Come along,” he says softly, jolting me back to reality. He might be a dangerous man, but he’s a dangerous man who seems to be willing to stop at nothing to protect me and my father. I can hardly fault him for that. If not for him, the two of us might not have survived this night. So I tear my eyes away from the body in the scrubs cart and follow Sal down the many flights of stairs to the first floor.
We wait until the coast is clear, and then we quietly pad down the hall to the exit. Once we’re out, we break into a run, darting to his car and getting in before anyone can see us leave. I’m sure we’re on the hospital video surveillance system, but at least this gives us a head start. Sal drives us home quickly, but not so quickly as to attract the attention of traffic cops. It’s a fairly long drive, the highway getting darker and less maintained as we move farther away from the city and into the woodsy upstate New York countryside. It’s still pitch-dark outside, but I know in a couple hours the sun will begin its slow ascent into the sky, casting pale light over the landscape. It strikes me suddenly that this is Christmas Day, technically.
Abducted: A Mafia Hitman Romance Page 15