At the moment I could claim innocence but if I actually heard something, that was null and void. What would I do with a get-out-of-jail-free card? If things got tough would I be tempted to use it? I was ashamed of the fact that I wasn’t totally sure, and I didn’t like that about myself.
***
Harry had promised me a night alone. Just him and me. Like it used to be before Tweedledee and Tweedledum came along. Mickey and Riley were almost impossible to get rid of.
I said goodbye to Liss, who was getting ready for a night out with Thor. Being the only night the club was shut, Monday nights were sacred. A warm breeze blew over my skin as I walked back home, but the sun was close enough to the horizon that I wasn’t covered in sweat.
Normally when I walk, I’m in my own little world. Thoughts of Harry or singing keep me so occupied that a comet could land and I might not even notice. But today I kept an eye out for Tristan Penn. I wasn’t ready for an encounter with him yet. My self-assurance still hadn’t recovered from the last one.
I turned the last corner warily, poking my head around to check the street was clear. If I hadn’t, I may not have noticed the strange men coming out of Harry’s and my house.
I’d had a lot of men in and out of my house over the last couple of weeks, but I knew these were strange because they carried three, limp bodies. Harry, Mickey and Riley.
A white van was parked out the front of the terrace, its door already open. They threw the bodies in the back and while four of them scrambled in after them, one slammed the door shut and jumped in the front passenger seat, and the other climbed into the driver’s side and started the engine.
The few minutes it had taken them to kidnap my husband had been the longest of my life. My heart banged around in my chest like a ping-pong ball as cold sweat broke out over my body.
Please let them be alive. Please let them be alive.
Sadly, all I had to cling to was the knowledge that Giuseppe would want to torture them before he killed them. I had to hold onto the very small hope I could rescue them before he got to that part.
As soon as the van left the curb I rushed up the road, running as soon as I was sure they wouldn’t notice me. I dug around in my handbag hoping I had put the spare set of car keys in there that morning with the house keys attached.
My hands closed around them and I shoved them into the driver’s side door and wrenched it open. The van was slowing for the corner at the end of the street as I started the car. It turned left as I roared away from the curb.
Six of them. There were six of them. I was pretty sure it had been Giuseppe who’d climbed into the driver’s side.
Fear, panic, nausea – I pushed them all away as I gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles.
Six of them.
I stayed far enough back that they wouldn’t notice me tailing them. The growing shadows from the setting sun helped. We drove for what seemed like forever but I’m sure was not that long.
Please let Harry be alive. Please.
Finally they turned up a side street and into the back of a building. It looked like a warehouse.
I drove past the entrance and around the corner and then jumped out of the car. I wished I’d had time to get the gun. I wished I’d had time to ring for help. But who would I have rung?
Liss and Thor? I would never forgive myself if something happened to them.
But, six men!
I walked back past the end of the driveway, risking a quick glance as I went. Riley was halfway out of the van, struggling ineffectively at the men holding onto his shoulders and feet. Neither of them saw me.
I waited another minute and then walked back in the other direction. The lane was empty.
Before the logical part of my brain could register what my feet were doing, I darted up behind the van. A quick peep inside showed me it was empty. Any moment now they were going to start torturing them. Chopping off fingers and toes. Working their way around the bodies till there were no more small bits to cut off. Then things would get really serious.
I wouldn’t let them steal my husband away from me. Not like that. Piece by piece. Scream by scream.
The back door of the warehouse was closed but there was a small window to the left of it. I poked my head up until I could see over the window sill. The back room was empty except for one man.
I let out a small gasp as I ducked back down. An anxious couple of seconds passed before I was certain he hadn’t heard me. I’m sure he was meant to be guarding the back door, but from what I’d seen, he was more interested in what was happening in the next room.
It was going to start any moment. I had to hurry.
I looked around for a weapon. Discarded Coke can. Crumpled piece of paper. Plank of wood. Ah, now that had potential. I picked it up and swung it from side-to-side. It was going to have to do.
Standing to the side, I rapped gently on the door. I’ve never been so scared. Not before, nor since. But I knew if I didn’t do this, if I let them all die without trying, that I would never be able to live with myself.
I didn’t even think as that door opened. I reacted purely on instinct, lifting the wood and smashing it down on the Italian’s head.
He went down with an, ‘Ooooph,’ and I smashed him again for good measure. Then I dragged his body back into the room and hid it against the far wall. Blood smeared the floor but I didn’t have time to do anything about it. Any moment now my Harry would start losing fingers.
I felt around the Italian’s waist. Nothing there. His jacket, however, was a different matter. A gun nestled in one of the pockets. I pulled it free and looked at it. It was a Model 64 Smith and Wesson. The same type of revolver Jim had given Harry.
I flicked the open cylinder and checked the bullets. Six. One for each of them. The thought made me smile.
Squeezing the safety, I held it out in front of me as I crept towards the next door.
What had Harry said? Just aim and shoot.
I took hold of the door handle with my left hand and sighted down the gun in my right. Then I threw open the door and stepped into the next room.
Harry, Riley and Mickey were sitting in chairs. Their hands and feet were secured to the arms and legs. Well Harry and Riley’s were. One of Mickey’s legs was still free and a man knelt by his side tying it. His hands were busy. I would kill him last.
The other five were scattered around the room. Giuseppe held a knife in his right hand, its blade throwing light off the razor-sharp blade. He would be slower to draw. I would take him second last.
One of them had his back to me as he watched Mickey’s leg being secured. He would be third last.
Of the other three, one was sweaty and fat. Fourth last.
That just left the two staring at me with mouths open wide. It was tough deciding between the two of them. But one was a split second faster reaching for his gun. Him, I would kill first.
All of this I took in, in a split second; my brain effortlessly cataloguing the puzzle in front of me.
I aimed at my first victim and pulled the trigger. The bullet smacked into his forehead, blood splattering out the back of his skull. Before he had collapsed, I had shot the man next to him.
It seemed to happen in slow motion. Aim. Shoot. Aim. Shoot. Aim. Shoot.
Giuseppe’s gun cleared his jacket, the barrel swinging towards me.
My hand bucked first.
He looked almost surprised as blood bloomed between his eyes.
The final man made it to his feet. He shouldn’t have wasted time on standing. He should have gone straight for his weapon. He might have had a chance if he had.
As it was, his hand was still in his pocket when I took him.
Five bullets, five dead man. I was pleased with the results.
Harry, Mickey and Riley were staring at me with their mouths wide open. Their faces showed signs of a beating. That was going to hurt tomorrow.
‘Christ, Tess,’ Mickey said. ‘Where’d ya learn to shoot like that
?’
‘I aimed and fired.’ I looked at Harry. ‘Just like you told me.’
‘I didn’t think you’d aim for the head.’
‘It’s the best place to shoot them isn’t it?’ I was confused. Had they wanted me to shoot them in the stomach? Then we would have had a room full of dying men and I think the groaning would have gotten annoying.
‘Babe,’ Harry said. ‘Of course it’s the best place to shoot them. It’s just that most people aren’t good enough to carry it off.’
‘Not once.’ Riley shook his head. ‘Certainly not five times.’
Huh. I was glad I hadn’t known that before.
I stepped over a body and picked up Giuseppe’s knife. He really should have thrown it at me. He might still be alive if he had.
‘You boys need to be more careful.’ I started with Harry, cutting his hands and then his legs free. ‘What if I hadn’t seen them take you?’
‘What were you thinking?’ Harry said, taking my face in his hands. ‘You could have been killed.’
‘I was thinking that I didn’t want to get bits of you delivered with tomorrow’s paper. It might have put me off my breakfast.’
He snorted and took the knife from me.
‘What are we gunna do about the bodies?’ Riley stood up and looked around the room. The blood was starting to make quite a mess.
‘We’ll burn the warehouse down.’ Harry finished cutting Mickey’s hands free and stood back up. ‘They’ll find the bodies, but it will erase evidence of us.’
‘We’re going to have to burn the van too,’ I said. ‘The other man is in the room next door.’ I nodded toward the way I had come in.
‘Dead?’
‘Unconscious.’
Harry nodded and held his hand out for the revolver. ‘Leave that with us.’
‘You’re going to…?’ I know it was hypocritical, what with me having just shot five of them, but the thought of the last one being killed in cold blood turned my stomach.
‘Do you want him to burn alive?’
He had a point. That would be a far worse way to go.
He walked over to me and took my hands. ‘You need to go home.’
‘Why? I did good. Didn’t I?’
He shook his head and laughed. ‘I thought my heart was going to leap out of my throat when you came through that door. You did real good, but I want you as far from here as possible before the cops turn up.’
He had a point. ‘Okay.’ I stood on my toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. ‘But don’t be long. We’ve got a date.’
As I was pulling the door shut I heard Mickey say, ‘You’re right. She is good with gore.’
***
By the time Harry got home I had a roast in the oven and a bottle of wine open. He smelled of gasoline and smoke.
I followed him up to the bedroom and scooped up his clothes. It seemed prudent to wash our clothes from the evening’s adventures.
‘Hurry up,’ I said. ‘Dinner’s nearly ready.’
I was still waiting for the shock of the evening to sink in. I had killed five men.
Why weren’t my knees shaking? Why wasn’t I crying uncontrollably?
If you had told me a year ago that this night would happen I would have been in shock just thinking about it. But my hands had been rock steady as I’d cut up the vegetables.
Instead, I felt excited. My eyes sparkled, my skin glowed. And I couldn’t wait to get Harry to bed. What was wrong with me?
‘Don’t think Mickey and Riley will give you any trouble in the future.’
I snorted. ‘They never gave me trouble anyway.’
Hillary was the only one who gave me trouble. Her continued efforts to seduce Harry were really starting to annoy me. But I couldn’t kill her. More’s the pity. I was going to have to continue with my campaign of humiliation.
Harry left early the next morning to sort out some business at the hotel. Jim was coming home from hospital that day and he wanted to make sure everything was in order.
I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face as I made my coffee and carried it outside onto the deck. It turned out the only thing better than make-up sex was shooting-frenzy sex.
Everything seemed to be working out. Jim was coming home, and Harry would hand the reins back over to him. We had pretty much sorted the Sicilians last night. They would be back, but Harry and I would be long gone by then.
We’d discussed it last night. As soon as my passport was ready we were going to use the tickets Jim had given us to fly to Australia, and we were never coming back.
So that’s what I was thinking about when the front doorbell rang. Sex and Australia.
I took my time opening the door. Hillary was standing there in skin-tight jeans and a boob tube.
I looked her up and down and for once didn’t feel the bubbling rage beneath my skin. Not long now and I would never see her again.
‘Harry’s not here,’ I said, taking a sip of my coffee.
She huffed and blew some blonde hair out of her eyes. I hated to admit it but the big blonde curls suited our face. I still preferred my red bob though.
‘So where is he?’ She rocked from one stiletto to the other.
‘The Pink Flamingo.’ I wasn’t giving her any more information than I needed to.
She turned to go and I said, ‘Oh Hill. Be a darling will you.’ I sorted around in my head searching for something for her to buy me. ‘I’m all out of tampons. Would you pick me up a packet?’ The first my brain heard of the request was when the words left my mouth.
‘Here.’ She pulled a packet from her handbag and handed it to me. ‘Don’t bother about returning them.’ She blew her hair away from her face again. ‘I can’t believe we still bleed at the same time.’
She didn’t seem to notice that my face had frozen as she turned on her heel and stalked away.
I hadn’t had a period since we’d been married. What with everything going on I hadn’t noticed.
All the nausea. The glowing skin. The sparkling eyes. The lack of regret over last night.
I put my hands over my belly and looked down.
No wonder I had no regrets. I had been protecting the father of my child. I was a lioness protecting her pride.
Now my knees went weak and my hands started to tremble.
I stumbled back inside and closed the door. My body, as if feeling the need to affirm my suspicions, decided it was high time to throw up.
When I had finished, I crawled from the bathroom to the bedroom and rolled onto my back on the floor. I didn’t have the energy to climb onto the bed.
Pregnant?
Me, a mother?
I don’t know why I was so surprised. I mean it wasn’t as if we had been actively trying to prevent it from happening. I just hadn’t planned for it to happen now.
Maybe I wasn’t. Maybe I just had a bug. The best thing to do before I told Harry was to make certain. I needed a pregnancy test and there was no way in hell I was asking Hillary to buy it for me.
I clambered off the floor, changed and then I headed down to the drug store. I felt like neon-light arrows bobbed above my head the whole time I decided which pregnancy test to buy. Why were there so many brands? And did I really need a five pack? Surely one was enough.
Finally I decided on a test that claimed to let you know within 5 days of conception. I wrapped both my hands around it, trying to hide what it was, and then I scuttled to the registers.
I shuffled from foot-to-foot while the over-friendly checkout lady served the person in front of me. Finally, it was my turn. I handed her the test, expecting her to put it straight into a bag.
Instead she held it up and said, ‘These are really accurate. I used these and knew within days of conception that I was pregnant with all of my children.’
Yep, way too friendly.
I hunched lower and slipped my sunglasses down from on top of my head to cover my eyes.
‘And you get the results within a minute.’ She flip
ped the box over and pointed to the back. ‘Real easy to decipher too. Two pink lines is positive. One is negative.’ Finally, she put it into a bag and rang it up on the register.
‘So two pink lines and I’m not pregnant?’ I guess it showed the state of my mind that to me not being pregnant was the positive.
She shook her head. ‘Two lines means you’re going to be a mommy.’ Her voice grew louder with each word.
I shoved the money at her and picked up the bag. ‘Thanks.’ I scuttled from the shop, too scared to look sideways in case I saw somebody I knew.
I took my purchase to Liss’s. If I was pregnant, and I was really clinging onto that if, this child would not grow up a part of the Mob. I didn’t know much else at that moment, but I knew that. It seemed right that I should find out in a place not bought with Mafia money.
Thor was in the kitchen cracking eggs into a ceramic bowl. ‘Hey Tess. You’re up early.’
‘Harry had to go to the hotel.’
‘You want some breakfast?’ My stomach growled as he finished the question. ‘I’ll take that as a yes.’
‘Liss still in bed?’ I watched as he whisked the eggs and then put some oil in a frying pan. Thor made the best omelettes in the world.
‘In the shower.’ He poured the mixture into the frying pan and immediately turned down the heat. Then he sprinkled on his secret weapon – pre-fried bacon and four different types of grated cheeses.
I could feel saliva pooling in my mouth. The omelette would be ready in precisely three minutes, the lady in the shop said I would know in one. Perfect. It was show time.
‘Need to go to the toilet.’
Thor nodded his head but if he noticed me clutching the paper bag in my hand as I stood up, he made no sign.
I could hear the water still running in the shower as I peed onto the stick. It stopped while I was staring anxiously at the little window.
Please don’t be positive.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want a baby with Harry, it’s just that I’d never thought about it. I mean now that I was thinking about it, the idea was quite appealing. Our own little Billy. It was just that when I imagined it, there was no Tweedledee and Tweedledum hanging around the house, no Mafia hit men kidnapping my husband, no Mob bosses showering the baby with gifts and offering to pay for his schooling.
Tess's Tale (The Chanel Series Book 3) Page 10