by Jonas Saul
“That’s it?”
“No.”
“Let me hear the rest.”
“Are you sure? Weren’t you close to Darwin and his wife?”
“We only met here in Florida, but he saved my life. It was my fault Rosina was snatched. I owe him. The least I can do is hear what happened.”
Williams cleared his throat. “This comes from the report of the officers who followed Darwin in the ambulance. He dove in the canal and only surfaced once for air. After that, he didn’t come back up.”
“And no one tried to help.”
“Of course they did. The second they stopped, two of them tore off their gun belts, kicked off their shoes and even yelled at Darwin when he surfaced that they were coming in. Once underwater, our guys couldn’t see anything. It took them over five minutes to locate the car. Yuri still sat behind the wheel, but Darwin and Rosina were missing.”
“And they found them,” Carson cut in, “at the bottom of the canal beside the car.”
Williams bowed his head. “Yes. Darwin had somehow opened the door enough that he could pull Rosina out and started to bring her to the surface, but we figure he ran out of energy and they sank to the bottom. He was pretty banged up. They fucking tied him to a wall with meat hooks. He ripped himself off the wall to get to his wife.” He smacked the window for effect. “Sorry, it’s hard to deal with. I’m happy Yuri is dead. Darwin and his wife ended up a few feet from the car. That was why it took an extra fifteen minutes to find them. By then it was too late.”
“I heard the Russians really worked Darwin over.”
“They did. Poor guy. You should’ve seen him. Whole patches of flesh were torn out of his back and the backs of his legs.” He paused and rubbed his forehead. “At least the nightmare is all over for them.”
“Yeah, there’s that,” Carson said. “To come so close though …”
“What still rattles me was the diver said Darwin and Rosina were found locked in each other’s arms. It looked like they were kissing as they died. That’ll haunt me for the rest of my life. This fucker really loved that woman and would take down as many Mafia men as he needed to get to her. Too bad that kind of badass doesn’t work for us.”
“We could never have someone like that. Too much bad press.”
“Yeah, but we could send him in underground, off the radar.”
“Wouldn’t work. His love for Rosina fueled his rage. Without that, he would be useless.”
“True.”
Williams knew the small talk was a diversion from the grief they both needed to work through. At least that’s what Carson needed to feel.
“Look, Carson, I’m done here. I’m leaving for the airport but I thought I’d call you myself, fill you in.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I’m truly saddened by this.”
“Me too, man. Darwin Kostas will go down in my books as one hell of a man. The kind I would be honored to call a brother. Much respect.”
“Much respect.”
Williams clicked off and turned around. He set the phone down and met the gaze of his visitors.
“There,” Williams said. “It’s done.”
“Thank you.”
“He was the last one that needed to be told and it was more believable coming from me.”
“We agree. That’s why we suggested it.”
“You two ready?” Williams asked. “Feeling up to it?”
Darwin touched his wife’s cheek. “Baby, you ready for one more plane ride?”
“I’ll go anywhere with you, Darwin.”
The Kostas stood at the same time.
“Take us to the airport, Williams. I want the fuck out of this country.”
Ten minutes later, after exiting the back of the RCMP building with jackets over their heads and armed security flanking their every move, Darwin and Rosina sat in the back seat of a three-vehicle convoy en route for a military plane leaving the Toronto airport for Rome under heavy security.
The two most-wanted people in the world had multiple contracts on their heads from the Italian Mafia and the Russians as far away as Moscow. A Russian boss in jail was even credited with offering a hundred thousand for Darwin or Rosina.
The world thought they were dead. Only seven people outside of the Kostas knew the truth. Agent Williams, his boss who authorized their travel plans and covered the expenses, and the five officers who followed Darwin in the ambulance.
They had located Darwin in the murky water of the canal from the bubbles of his final scream as he started to sink back down with Rosina in his arms. Both of them were yanked from the water and revived within half a minute of Darwin taking the water into his lungs. Rosina took a little longer to recover and only got out of the hospital last night under security that had been military tight.
Darwin and Rosina hadn’t talked much yet, but they held hands and hugged continuously. Their lives would never be the same, but both of them were willing to start anew.
A house awaited them in the green hills of Umbria in a small city called Spoleto. Enough cash was deposited into an American account under their new names. It was accessible from Italy electronically for the two of them to live comfortably for more than twenty years. They were told that the house had a large garden, a car, and a wonderful view of the sunset. A vineyard backed onto the property where the aging owner offered Montepulciano wine from an old Badia at the price of five Euros for five liters.
They thought it was perfect.
With Yuri’s death came a flood of anger and Russian retaliation. The Italians had been calmer, but the Triads warned of a war after their representative had been detained at the meeting gone awry at the golf course.
None of that mattered for Darwin or Rosina anymore.
The world thought they were dead and both of them intended to keep it that way.
At the airport, Williams was flying back to the States, which explained his being there. With nothing left to arrange and nothing left to say, the three of them followed the lead vehicle in silence.
Then Kirk’s phone rang.
He picked it up. “Yeah?” After a pause, he said, “Okay.”
He touched the phone and then set it down.
“You’re on speaker phone. Go ahead.”
“It’s Carson Dodge,” Carson’s voice boomed from the car’s speakers.
“I know who you are,” Williams said. “I’m on my way to the airport. I’m flying out tonight. You asked to be put on speaker. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to have whoever is in the car with you—”
“I’m alone,” Williams interrupted.
“Don’t cut me off,” Carson shouted. “I just wanted to say safe travels to those in the car. I will keep my ear to the ground and if I hear of anything, well, let’s just say, I owe you my life. If the day comes, it is the least I can do for you, my friend. Take care of her as I know only you can.”
Carson hung up.
“How the hell?” Williams said out loud.
“Carson’s no fool,” Darwin said. “But we can trust him.” He looked out the window at the passing cars. “Having Carson back here watching our back makes me feel better.”
“Me too,” Rosina said. “He almost died protecting me at the safe house.”
Williams watched them in the rearview mirror.
“Then it works for me.”
Chapter 24
For three months, Darwin and Rosina settled into their new lifestyle, far from the city, in a little village in Italy. Their house was comfortable with plush chairs, a large kitchen with an island, and a loft bedroom that looked out over the garden.
Being around each other again after so long on the run, trying to stay alive, had been ecstasy for both of them. It had allowed them to open up about what they had gone through individually.
Rosina predicted that the nightmares and waking in a cold sweat would be with them for some time. Darwin countered that as long as they had each other, they would learn
to live with it. Maybe not get past all of it, but live with it.
It was late September, the sun setting off the mountainous hills of Umbria. The air was still. The olive tree ten feet from Darwin’s chair, motionless. A car’s engine revved in the distance down the hill somewhere. He estimated it to be a mile away as he tried to find it among the cypresses that lined the road leading into town.
“Keeping an eye on things?” Rosina asked.
“Always, baby, always.”
Rosina brought the rest of the dinner out to the pergola, set it on the table and sat beside her husband. She sipped her wine.
“Will we ever just be normal people?” Rosina asked.
Darwin set his wine glass on the table and turned to her. He took her free hand and stared into her eyes.
“Honey, we are normal people. Our neighbor, Angelo, if you were to ask him, wouldn’t he say we are normal?”
Rosina nodded. “You know what I mean.”
“I love you, Rosina. We have been through a lot, but I’m grateful for every day that I get with you. It’s one more than I thought I would get.”
She set her glass down and smiled. “I agree. There are no conditions on us. We will choose to be happy and grateful. We made it out of a murderous situation and we’re better for it.”
“Don’t know if I would go that far,” Darwin said, leaning back, a smile playing across his lips.
“You know what I mean. You can use a fork and a knife at dinner now. I can get you to cut the turkey at Thanksgiving. We can turn all the lights off when we go to bed, too. I love the new Darwin.”
He leaned close and kissed her.
“It’s real, isn’t it?” Darwin asked.
“What?”
“You sitting here with me. Neither one of us is tied up or having to wonder if we’ll live to see tomorrow. We’re in our own home, alone, living the life.”
“It’s real, honey. That’s all that matters. But there is one thing that still bothers me.”
“What’s that?” Darwin picked up his wine and cradled it in his lap.
“We have no security here. This isn’t a safe house. There are no guards roaming the property, just us.” She tapped her leg with her fingers. “Do you feel this is the safest solution?”
“Absolutely. People can be bought. Hundreds of thousands of dollars is a huge temptation for any man. All he has to do is drop a piece of paper to someone, get paid and move to Argentina. Then our lives are over. No.” Darwin shook his head. “It’s better that we are the only ones who know where we live.”
“Then how did that letter get to us?”
Darwin looked at the letter laid out on the table beside the leftover pasta. It had arrived earlier in the afternoon when Rosina was in the garden, her iPhone earplugs in her ears blasting Dean Martin sing about Roma. She hadn’t heard the delivery man and didn’t know about the letter until just before dinner. They planned on opening it after dinner, together, and then decide what to do with what was inside.
“It came from Florida. It’s probably from Carson Dodge. Remember on the way to the airport in Toronto? He called Kirk’s line and spoke to us? He knows how to find us.”
“That’s my point. If he can find us, so can anyone else.” She gulped the rest of her wine back and set the empty glass on the table. “And maybe Italy isn’t the best idea, either. I mean, this is the home of the Cosa Nostra, the Italian Mafia.”
“I know. That’s why it’s perfect. They would never expect us to live here.” He drank the rest of his wine and set his glass beside hers. “You’ve heard me talk about the media playing up The Blade and then The Scythe. Rumor on the street, from what I can find online, is if I’m alive, then everyone wants me dead because they’re afraid of me and what I can do. That’s why the contracts are out there for my head. None of them wants to meet me in person unless they have a small army to back them up. You and I both know how silly that is, but rumors get blown up.”
“It’s not rumors, Darwin.” She moved closer to him. “You’re my hero, even with all the scars and the skin grafts you needed.”
She always teased him about that. But he took it as good fun now that it was over.
“Gee, thanks, hun.”
They kissed, the moment of passion welcomed by a soft breeze wafting up the valley.
When they pulled apart, Darwin picked the envelope up and ripped open the top.
“Time to see what news comes from the States.”
Rosina nodded. Darwin pulled the letter out.
“Read it to yourself first,” Rosina said. “Then summarize for me. If it’s bad news, I don’t want to hear it word for word.”
Her eyes expressed a sadness he hadn’t seen in a few months.
“Of course. Give me a sec.”
Darwin finished the short letter, folded it up and stood. He walked to the edge of the fieldstone patio and scanned the horizon as the sun’s light dimmed behind the hills.
“Well?” Rosina said.
He turned back to her.
“It’s not good news. But for us, I think it is.”
“What? Tell me.”
“Remember there were five police officers who followed me in the ambulance that night?”
“Yeah.” Rosina moved to the edge of her seat.
“They pulled us from the canal. They knew we made it.”
“Go on.”
“All five were shot down in the street two weeks later. A bullet was placed behind their right ear, execution style.”
“What does that mean?”
“Someone wanted to know where we are. Since none of those men knew we had gone to Italy, whoever wanted to know executed them.”
Rosina’s hands cupped her open mouth. “Oh, those men, their families …”
“I know. Tragic.”
“Anything else?”
“Williams was killed a month ago on a raid that proved to be a hoax. They were set up. The investigators concluded that Williams was the target.”
“How could they know that?”
“The letter said he was tortured. They found a pen and a pad of paper beside his body. Our names were on it and the names of two cities.”
“Two cities?”
“They concluded he was making up names to stop the torture because even he didn’t know where that military plane was taking us the night he dropped us off.”
“Oh, my …” A tear slipped down her face. “You said this might be good for us. What did you mean by that? It doesn’t sound very good so far.”
“The only people that saw us alive and know about us are dead except Carson. No one on earth knows we’re alive. They only suspect it. There have been no more police executions since these.”
“And Carson wrote the letter?”
Darwin nodded. “He sent it to tell us that everything was finished. Our secret location and our new names are safe. His informants say that the Mafia has moved on. They’re tired of the war with The Blade. They couldn’t find any new information on us after three months and now they’re convinced we’re dead.” He wiped a tear of his own off his cheek. “It is actually over, baby. We can sleep at night.”
He walked over, lifted his wife to her feet, and hugged her. They said a prayer for the lives of the good men lost in their name and he guided her inside their home.
At the stairs, he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom in the loft.
They made love and fell asleep.
Neither one dreamed.
The nightmare was over.
Afterword
*Spoiler alert! Only read this after having read the Trilogy ...
Dear Reader,
Many years ago I read a piece in the newspaper about a UPS driver that accidentally hit and killed a child who had run out into the street. Some time later--I don’t remember how long--that UPS driver was found dead, murdered. The media reported that the child was connected to a crime family in New York. The UPS driver’s killer was never found.
T
here was an undercurrent of darkness to this story--an ominous feeling that at any moment you could fall victim to an organized crime web by accident as was the case above.
A decade later, while my wife and I were at the Fiumicino Airport in Rome, waiting for our flight to Greece where we would live for the next year, I was hit with a glimpse of inspiration. They were about to call our flight for boarding but I needed to use the facilities. I told her to board anyway and that by the time I ran to the bathroom and got back, I could board and meet her on the plane.