The Box

by Robert Swetz

  “Francesca!” a man’s voice said loudly.

  Brian recognized the voice. It was the voice of the man who had been talking to the woman that didn’t want to be seen. He turned and saw an older man approaching. Something about just looking at him told Brian the man was important.

  “Samuel,” Francesca greeted him. “It’s good to see you again.”

  “And you,” Samuel Scuderi replied as he came right up to her and gave her a hug. “Welcome back.”

  “Thanks,” Francesca replied, although back wasn’t where she wanted to be.

  “I must say, you look as beautiful as ever?”

  Francesca was long past telling people otherwise. “Thank you, you’re looking well yourself.”

  Scuderi looked down at the boy standing next to her. “And this is Brian?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  Samuel stuck out his hand toward Brian. “Samuel Scuderi. Owner of this modest little abode.”

  “Modest?” Brian replied as he shook the man’s hand. “I think it’s beautiful. I keep wishing Father Joseph could see it.”

  “Father Joseph?” Samuel asked.

  “He’s a priest at one of the churches downtown.”

  Samuel laughed and looked at Francesca. “I see you’ve been bringing him up right!”

  Francesca didn’t say anything. She had never heard of Father Joseph, and as far as she knew, Brain had never in his life been inside of a church, except for that soup kitchen. What other secrets was her son keeping?

  “I must say,” Samuel, said, still looking at Brian, “he does resemble his father.”

  “More than you know,” Francesca told him, just like she had told so many others at the party.

  Their conversation was interrupted by word spreading through the room that dinner was ready. Brian found his mother holding his hand again as she led him along with everyone else into the dining room. Another fancy room, and it had to have the biggest table he had ever seen. The plates, glasses and silverware were fancy enough to let him know he didn’t want to touch any of it. He found himself sitting between his mother and his uncle. The food on the table smelled delicious. Once everyone was seated, he saw everyone starting to eat. As hungry as he was, he sat and watched.

  “Aren’t you hungry?” his mother asked.

  “Very!” he replied.

  “Then eat.”

  “I will.”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “I don’t know. It’ just…all different.”

  “Better get used to it,” she told him. “Now eat! And go easy on that wine.”

  Wine? First he could have champaign, and now wine? He picked up a fork. The food tasted better than it smelled. And when he tried the wine, he wasn’t sure which he liked better, the red wine or the champaign. He wasn’t that crazy about either of them, but they were both interesting to try.

  As much as possible, he remained silent and listened to the polite conversation around him. Everyone seemed to be interested in talking to his new uncle. Almost as many talked to his mother. Nothing anyone was saying seemed to interest him much. It was all just polite conversation. His eyes often roamed the people around the table. Three killers, all sitting together. An uncle he didn’t know he had. And his mother seemed to be somebody she wasn’t. She had told him he was somebody important too, but he knew he wasn’t. No matter what name anyone called him by, he was still the same person. He was still Brian Winston. And he liked it that way.

  --- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

  The house wasn’t huge, it was humongous. Brain was so tired he could barely stay awake. For some unknown reason, he felt a little dizzy. He hoped he wasn’t getting sick. He didn’t know why, but his mother had told him no more to drink over an hour ago. The wine the maids kept filling his glass with had been starting to grow on him.

  The older woman, the one his mother kept calling Isabel, led them to a couple of bedrooms on the third floor. She opened a door for his mother first, then led them to the next room where he was supposed to sleep. He wasn’t surprised anymore to see a fancy room, but was he supposed to sleep on that bed? His backpack was lying on top of it though.

  “Good night,” Isabel Scuderi told them. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Thank you,” Francesca told her gratefully. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

  Once Isabel had turned away, Francesca pushed Brian into his room and closed the door. She led him to the bed and moved his backpack to the floor. Despite the chairs in the room, she had him sit on the bed while she sat next to him. “How drunk are you?” she asked.

  “Drunk?”

  “Yes. You’re not used to drinking wine.”

  He smiled. “Is that why I’m dizzy? A little, I guess.”

  “Too drunk to talk?”

  “No. I’m just tired.”

  “You can sleep in a few minutes,” she told him.

  “Now, what was that you were saying about the men who killed the Scorpions?”

  “All three of them were here tonight. Josh, Pete, and the important guy, Michael.”

  “How do you know they killed the Scorpions?”

  He was a little drunk, but not drunk enough to want to tell her.”

  “Mom, I just know. Okay? Can we leave it at that?”

  She pursed her lips. Sometimes she wished he wasn’t so much like his father. “For now,” she told him. But this was just the start of a conversation she needed to have with him, and she needed to have it now! “Brian,” she said. “Men like that. Men who do things like that. I’m afraid you’re going to be meeting more than a few in your life. Mostly, they’re going to just be around, but you’ll never know what they do. This time, somehow, you happened to see them. Whatever you do, just don’t ever talk about what they do or what you’ve seen. Ever! Do you understand?”

  “It could get me killed?” he asked.

  “Maybe, but probably not. You’re Brian Bianchi, and that means something.”

  “I don’t understand how that can help,” he told her, but I wouldn’t say anything anyway.”

  “Good. I just need you to realize that people like that may be around more often than you know. They’re going to be a part of your life. I grew up with men like that around me. So did my brother. So did your father. Everyone you’re related to grew up much the same way.”

  “In other words,” he said, “I’ve got some interesting family members.”

  “Yes,” she said. “Very!”

  “And you said I’m going to meet my father tomorrow?”

  “Yes. And Brian, I hope that won’t be difficult for you. Just remember, he’s a very important man. Act respectful. He used to love you greatly.”

  “But not anymore?”

  That was a troubling question. “I really don’t know. To be honest, it’s not you I’m worried about, it’s me.”

  “Because we ran away?”

  “Yes. Exactly. Now go to bed. I’ll be right next door if you need me.”

  “Mom,” he stopped her. “I need to tell you something else too.”

  “What?”

  “Tonight, at the party…well, not at the party. There was a woman who was really worried about being in the same house with you. She was worried about you seeing her there. She talked about it to Samuel Scuderi, and he said she was right. He told her to go out the back door so she wouldn’t be seen, and he would call her when it was safe to come back.”

  Francesca was suddenly more concerned. “You don’t know who she was?”

  “No. I never saw her before.”

  “How do you know about this?”

  “I heard them talking.”

  “At the party?”

  “No, when I went to the bathroom. I saw her going into another room, so I went to see what kind of room it was. I heard the two of them talking. Before she could see me, I came back to the party to find you.”

  Francesca thought about what he had told her, but she didn’t know enough to make anything of it
. “Okay,” she said.

  He was tempted to tell her about the missing driver’s license then, but he decided not to. His mother seemed to have enough to worry about.

  “Now go to bed,” she told him. “We’re going to have to meet with your father in the morning, and then I’m sure we’ll be going back to where we started.”

  “Where we started?”

  “Chicago.”

  Chapter 10

  The house was quiet. Too quiet for him to sleep. Especially since he needed the bathroom so badly. The clock next to his bed said it was seven o’clock. It was time to get up anyway. He dressed quickly in the clothes he had worn to the party the night before, then went out into the hallway. The door to his mother’s bedroom was still closed. He was sure she was still sleeping. He looked all around for a bathroom, but all he saw were closed doors that looked just like the door to his room. The only bathroom in the house that he knew about was the one downstairs that he had been to several times last night. As quickly and quietly as he could, he went down to the first floor and straight into the bathroom.

  When he came out, he looked around him again. He poked his head briefly into the room where the party had been held, where he’d had his first glass of champaign. The room was easier to see now that there were no people in it. He started to move down the hallway towards the dining room when soft voices caught his attention. He followed the sound to the same door where he had heard the conversation the night before. Not listening wasn’t an option for him.

  “We could hold the kid here for ransom,” Brian heard a man’s voice say. A voice he recognized. Michael Scuderi.

  “Good God no!” Brian heard Samuel Scuderi reply. “If we did that, we’d start a war, not only with Vincent but with Gerald Giordano too. Two houses against us. We don’t need that.”

  “No,” Michael replied. “But she knows where the money is. I know she does. She just won’t say.”

  “Would you?” Samuel laughed.

  “For that much money? Probably not, which is why we need to pressure her. And I don’t know of a better way than through her son.”

  “But her son is Vincent’s son. He’s also Giordano’s nephew. He’s untouchable.”

  “That’s what you said about Dominic.”

  “That was different. We couldn’t stop the deal without getting rid of him.”

  “Pop, we need to put pressure on her now! Before Vince gets here.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Samuel told him. “You’re probably right, but don’t do anything yet. The first thing we need to consider is finding some way to keep them all here for a day or two. Maybe then we can get some answers out of her. But one way or another, you’re right, the pressure will have to come.”

  “Okay Pop. Anything else?”

  “I took the precaution of sending Iris away last night so Francesca wouldn’t see her.”

  “That was a good idea. I should have thought of it.”

  “Yes, you should have. If Francesca had seen your sister, it could have led to a catastrophe.”

  “Okay. I’m going to get something to eat. Are you having breakfast today?”

  “Later, after Francesca and her son get up. Isabel and I will see them then. Michael…” Samuel said, then paused.

  “Yeah Pop?”

  “I think you’re right about Francesca and her son, we need to hold them, and I doubt she’ll talk without pressure, but let me think about it.”

  “Okay Pop. Let me know. I’ll see you later.” As Michael left, he was glad that for once his father might actually listen to him.

  Brian moved off as quickly and as quietly as he could. He headed straight back upstairs and straight back into his room. What had he heard? There were so many things going on he wasn’t sure he could remember it all. One thing he knew he’d never forget was that they were going to somehow hold him, and he knew who they had been talking about when they had said the word ransom. He knew he needed to tell his mother. Did he dare knock on her door and wake her? But it was so much that he knew he had to tell her.

  He went out to his mother’s door and knocked softly, then he quickly knocked again.

  “Yes?” he heard his mother’s voice.

  “Mom?”

  A moment later, the door opened. “Brian,” she said. “Is everything okay?”

  “No,” he said. “I had to go to the bathroom.”

  She smiled. “It’s right over there,” she said as she pointed at one of the doors that looked just like every other one.”

  “No,” he said. “Can I come in?”

  “Sure,” she replied. She noticed though that he watched her carefully until she had closed the door behind her. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “I had to go to the bathroom,” he told her.

  “You said that. So?”

  “So I didn’t know where it was up here, so I went back downstairs.”

  “I don’t see how that’s a problem.”

  “That isn’t, but what I heard is.”

  “What you heard?”

  “Yes. The two guys, Michael and Samuel Scuderi were talking, and the first thing I heard them talking about was holding me for ransom.”

  “Brian!” his mother breathed.

  “But there’s more.”

  “What?” she replied, the anger quickly growing in her.

  “It all has to do with something about money that they think you know about. But the guy’s father wouldn’t let Michael do anything to me because it would start a war with both my father and Uncle Gerald.”

  “Yes, it would.”

  “Samuel called me untouchable.”

  “That would be about right.”

  “But Michael said something about someone named Dominic that they had thought was untouchable too, but Samuel said something about having to get rid of him to stop a deal.”

  Francesca breathed in quickly. “They said that? They said they killed him?”

  “They didn’t say they killed him. I just heard them say they had to get rid of him. Who’s he?”

  “Never mind,” she told him. “What else?”

  “Just that Samuel is going to try to find some way to keep us all here for a few days so they can put pressure on you. And they’re going to hold me somehow while they do it.”

  She pursed her lips. “Was there anything else?”

  “Only that they mentioned that woman I told you about last night. They called her Irene or Iris or something. Evidently she’s Michael’s sister.”

  “Michael doesn’t have a sister.”

  “I don’t know. That’s just what I heard.”

  She looked at him. She considered yelling at him for listening where he shouldn’t, but she had a feeling that his listening may have just saved their lives. “Stay here,” she told him. “I need to talk to your uncle.”

  She went across the hall and knocked on the door. “Gerald?” she said.

  The door was opened a moment later. “Sis. What’s up?”

  “She dragged him across the hall into her room and closed the door. Brian has been listening at keyholes again,” she told him. “The Scuderi’s killed Dad.”

  “They what?” Gerald’s good mood vanished in an instant.

  “Brian heard them say they had to get rid of him, even though he was untouchable.”

  Gerald looked over at Brian, but before he could say anything, Francesca said, “There’s more. The Scuderi’s are plotting against us, including possibly holding Brian for ransom. One way or another, it sounds like they’re going to hold onto him somehow to put pressure on me about the missing money.”

  “Okay Sis. Thanks.”

  “And one other thing.”

  “What?”

  “Did you know that Michael has a sister?”

  “A sister? No. Not that I ever heard. Who is she?”

  “According to Brian, someone named Irene or Iris.”

  Gerald looked down at Brian. “And Brian told you all that?”

  �
��Yes.”

  “You really are a lot like your father,” he said to Brian.

  Brian wasn’t sure if that was a complement or not.

  Gerald looked at the two of them. “I need you both to act like you don’t know anything at all. Got that?” He looked at Brian. “Can you do that?”

  “Of course. No problem,” Brian told him.

  “Good. And Sis, when you see Vince later, before you two start arguing about anything else, you’ve got to tell him.”

  “That was my plan,” she replied.

  “Good.” He looked at the two of them again. “For your safety, we can’t let them know we know about any of this,” he told them. As far as they need to be concerned, you’re both having a wonderful time.”

  “I know I am,” Brian replied.

  A little while later, all three met in the hallway.

  “Vince is already in the air,” he told them. He should be here in an hour. After I take you to the plane to meet him, I’m going to head home to look into a few things. Fran, you’re going to have to manage here. I don’t know what Vince is going to do. You’re going to have to figure that out when you see him, and I already know it’s going to be difficult enough.”

  “As much as I’m not looking forward to this,” Francesca said, “It won’t be soon enough.”

  Gerald nodded and led them downstairs to the dining room.

  “Gerald. Francesca,” Isabel Scuderi enthusiastically greeted them. “Did you sleep alright?”

  Francesca’s sleep had been anything but alright. She had been too troubled. “Yes,” she replied. “It was very kind of you to let us stay.”

  “Nonsense,” Isabel replied. “I enjoy having company. And how about you Brian. Did you sleep well too?”

  “It’s too quiet,” he replied. “But I slept okay.”