Fractured Breaths

by Zoey Derrick

  It takes a few seconds but I nod my head.

  Declan grabs two shovels, hands them to Liam and then he pulls out a metal detector from the trunk. It doesn’t look like any metal detector I’ve ever seen before. This one is bigger and has a wider dish shaped dome on the end of it and there is a larger screen on the handle. “Considering recent information, I was able to get the FBI to provide a GPR scanner versus just a metal detector,” Declan explains as the four of us walk through the gate and into the cemetery.

  There are a million and one different things running through my mind as we walk with me in the middle and the three men surrounding me. To anyone watching it looks like we’re just walking as a group, but I know exactly what they’ve done and guilt slices through me. I’ve done this. I’ve put them in this position and if anything happens to any one of them, I don’t know how I’d live with myself.

  Then I remember the insurance policy in my bag on my shoulder. I’d planned, after what he did for me this morning, my attitude yesterday and then tonight, to give him what I know he needs in order to wrap up his case. Yes, he needs whatever this clue leads him to, but he also needs the book that started it all.

  Liam leads us deeper into the cemetery. It’s not huge by any means and there are parked cars around the perimeter. I take comfort knowing we’re not alone out here despite no one being visible.

  Liam turns down a row of headstones and then stops a few rows in, pointing to the ground near one of the larger of the two stones. I remember my mother’s headstone had her name on the right side and a blank box on the left. I’m assuming the left has been filled in with my father’s name since his passing and I wonder idly who handled his arrangements.

  I can’t bring myself to look at the stone. I simply listen for the machine Declan is holding to start making noise. It doesn’t take long before it’s beeping non-stop and I look up to them. “What’s that mean?” I ask.

  “Come and look,” Declan says. I move in behind him and look at the screen.

  “Well, that answers that question,” Liam says. “She’s really in there.”

  I shudder. “That’s creepy,” I tell them all. No one laughs and Declan begins moving the scanner up toward the headstone. As it draws closer, there is more noise coming from the machine until finally off to the right side of the headstone a solid box takes shape and the beeping doesn’t stop until Declan turns it off.

  “Livia, we need to dig,” Liam says.

  I nod and finally look at the headstone. Tears stream down my cheeks when I see my father’s name, date of birth, and finally his date of death. I have to assume it’s accurate because I don’t actually know what day he died, or rather, what day they found him.

  Liam and Declan go to work digging next to the headstone and I watch as Declan is especially careful with pulling up the grass. Once that’s out of the way, he digs down. Liam joins him as the alternate until one of them hits something metal and they get down on their knees and start digging by hand.

  Panic rises in my throat as they continue uncovering the box and I have this morbid feeling it’s not what we’re hoping it is. What if it is someone’s ashes buried with them? I shudder again.

  After another couple minutes Declan lifts a worn metal box from its resting place. No one says anything as Liam goes back to filling in the hole they just made. Declan brings me the box. “It has a combination lock on it. Any idea what the combination is?”

  I shrug and look down at the tiny wheeled numbers on the lock. There are six of them. “Someone’s birthday, maybe,” I suggest.

  Liam finishes filling the hole and he gently places the grass back over the overturned dirt. “Let’s hope no one steps here for a while,” he mutters. He stands up and starts working on spreading the darker dirt around so that it doesn’t look disturbed.

  “Let’s go,” Bryan, who’s been quietly observing this entire time, says.

  “Agreed.” Liam gives a chin lift.

  He leads us back to the SUV and the safety it provides.

  “Take it back to the hotel,” Declan says. “I’ll meet you guys there.”

  “Aye,” Liam says before he and his brother do their manly greeting where they grab hands and bump chests. I climb into the car with the box on my lap. I look at the lock and wonder what those numbers could possibly be. I start playing with it. First, I try my date of birth.

  04 08 89

  No luck.

  I try my father’s.

  07 21 65

  No dice.

  “This isn’t going to self-destruct if I get the combination wrong too many times, is it?” I ask.

  Liam chuckles, “No, lass. It’s an analog lock.”

  “I don’t understand why we can’t just pry it open.”

  “Not knowing what’s inside, that might not be the best idea,” Liam says.

  “Oh yes, because opening it is a brilliant idea,” I snort.

  “Well, your father sucked at explosives training, so I think you’re safe.”

  I shake my head. “I don’t even want to know how you know that.”

  I go back to the lock and Bryan leans over and asks, “What have you tried so far?”

  “My birthday, dad’s.”

  “What about your mother?”

  I close my eyes, picturing the headstone and then start turning the knobs.

  12 24 69

  There is a click of the lock. “Got it,” I breathe and lift the lid.

  Chapter Thirty

  Breathing, just keep breathing.

  BRYAN

  I let out the breath I was holding while she entered her mother’s birthday. I noticed it on the headstone and noticed that her date of birth and date of death were almost the same, only several years later. She died on December twenty-second nineteen ninety-one.

  Livia slowly lifts the lid. I flick on the overhead light to give her more light to see what’s inside.

  There is another note inside a ziplock bag with her name on it.

  She pulls the letter from the box and underneath it are three more ziplock bags. The first has a key in it. It looks like an old fashioned one. Below that are two bags with money inside them. There is easily more than a hundred grand in there. The top one has a hand-written note in Mercutio’s handwriting. “Can you spot the fake?” I say aloud.

  After a minute, she hands me the letter that she was reading.

  Well done, Livia. I knew you could figure this out.

  If you’ve made it this far, you won’t have a problem deciphering this one.

  I love you with all my heart.

  One last step, I promise.

  P.S. Do you remember my friend Liam? You’re going to need his help with this one.

  161211812522167

  “Well, Liam, it looks like my father was planning on putting you and me back together anyway,” Livia says.

  “What’s it say?” he asks from the front seat.

  I read it aloud to him.

  “Hmph, that s. o. b.. Sorry, Livia,” he laughs.

  Livia joins him, only her laugh is strained. “There’s a key, an old fashioned one, and two ziplock bags full of cash and another note that says, ‘can you spot the fake?’ along with another anagram.”

  “Can you decipher it?”

  She pulls a notebook from her bag, the same one that has my schedule and other stuff tucked inside. She opens to a clean page near the back and digs for a pen. Once she has it, she writes out the alphabet again and then numbers it. It looks the same as it did last time.

  Then she starts working out the numbers. First she starts with one and puts an A down. She goes to six and puts a P down on the paper. She ends up with A P A D A A before she starts again.

  She has a A P H A A but then crosses out the A A and swaps it for an E and she has A P H E. She scribbles it out. Then she starts again with a T followed by an H, then an E. The E is followed by a V then a K, which she crosses out and replaced with an A.

  She has

  T H E V
A

  “Thevadm…” she mumbles.

  Then she combines the two for a U. “The vaudd…The Vee aye u…”

  “The vaults?” Liam asks from the front seat.

  “Hang on…” She takes what Liam has said and writes out The Vaults, then coordinates the numbers below the remaining letters. “That’s it,” she says.

  Suddenly the car turns sharply and Liam steps on the gas. Then a phone ringing comes through the speakers. “You’re not being followed,” Declan’s voice answers over the speakers.

  “Change of plans. Do you remember that place where we used to play as kids?”

  “You’re going to have to be more specific than that, brother?”

  “Down by the docks,” Liam says.

  “Aye, I remember. What about it?”

  “Meet me there, now,” Liam orders.

  “Aye.” The line goes dead.

  “Care to explain?” Livia asks.

  “When your father and I were kids, we used to go down by the docks and run around like idiots. There’s a bunch of run-down buildings that, to this day, are still there. One day we came across this room while running through the abandoned buildings and inside were several heavy metal doors. The doors were all locked but there were keys hung next to them, oddly enough. Does the key have a cloverleaf shape on it?”

  “Yes,” Livia says with hesitation.

  “That’s it, that’s where it’s at.”

  “How do we even know it’s still there?” I ask.

  “Because, those buildings hadn’t been touched in fifteen years before Merc and I discovered them, from there, if he could put the money in there, then I know they’re still there. Believe me, if that book is accurate, there’s more than thirty million dollars in there,” Liam says. There’s an excitement in his voice I haven't heard in a long time.

  “Is this thing big enough for that kind of cash?” Livia asks

  “One of them? No, more than one? Absolutely.”

  “But there’s only one key,” Livia counters.

  “I guess we’ll find out when we get there,” Liam says as he steps on the gas a little harder.

  UNKNOWN

  “They’ve found it.”

  “How do you know?” the gruff voice says into the phone.

  “Because everything I’ve seen points them in that direction.”

  “Or they’re leading you on a wild goose chase around the city,” the voice says followed by a harsh cough.

  “I promised you we’d find it.”

  “Then get it done.”

  The line goes dead.

  Victor Ricci scrubs his face. His uncle has always been a harsh man, but Victor’s patience is wearing thin with the old man. He’s been lying in wait for the last eight years, waiting patiently for his moment to shine and this is it. This is his chance to prove once and for all, that he’s a true Ricci.

  He tried to warn him that Mercutio Fazio was bad fucking news, but he didn’t listen to and look where it got us? It got the majority of the family thrown in jail, killed or scattered in the wind. Without the money, the Ricci family dies once and for all.

  Victor’s phone rings. He looks at the phone number.

  “You better have something for me.”

  “Da. Posylaya adres.” (Yes. Sending the address.)

  “Good,” Victor snaps and ends the call.

  Only one good thing came from Vito’s business dealings with Russia. Spies. Everywhere.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  It’s Over.

  LIVIA

  We pull up outside an extremely run-down building in the middle of nowhere. There are very few street lights visible and the sun is setting quickly. “There are flashlights in the back,” Liam says as he turns the ignition off on the car.

  “Shouldn’t we wait until morning?” I ask. My nerves are shot and I’m starting to freak the fuck out. I’m not afraid of the dark, but I do not like the looks of this. And I still have that bad feeling.

  “The sooner we do this, the sooner it can all be over. Your father left that trail for you to find and if Victor is really after what I’m assuming is in here, then we need to find it and hand it over as fast as possible,” Liam tells me.

  I nod. “I’m done running,” I tell them both as we climb out of the car. We’re in the back of the SUV getting flashlights when headlights pull around the corner.

  “Livia, get down,” Liam shouts. Bryan and I duck behind the car, putting it between us and the oncoming car. Liam pulls his gun from his holster and the headlights flash deliberately. “It’s Declan.”

  “You shouldn’t be here,” I screech at Bryan.

  “I told you, I’m with you until it’s finished. Do you understand me?”

  I try to nod, but I’m trembling with fear. “I don’t have a good feeling about this, Bryan. I will die if anything happens to you.” Tears slide down my cheeks.

  “That’s why we do this together. Understand me? If we stick together, nothing can go wrong. Alright?”

  I nod and Bryan cups me cheeks between his hands, pulling me up and kissing me, hard, feverishly, like it’s our last kiss. My gentle tears turn to sobs, ruining our kiss. “I got you, baby,” he coos.

  “I love you,” I whisper through my tears.

  “I love you.”

  “I called for backup,” Declan calls as he exits his car.

  Bryan and I stand and move around the SUV.

  “Those two really shouldn’t be here,” Declan says to Liam.

  “I’m not going anywhere until this is done,” I tell him firmly. “I’ve lived in this mess for the last ten years; I need it over with. My father left that shit for me to find, and now I’ve found it. It’s my turn to get my revenge for what Vito Ricci did to me and my father.”

  “Feisty, this one,” Declan says with an amused grin.

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” Bryan teases. The moment is too tense to argue with them.

  “Let’s get this over with,” I urge.

  Liam hands Bryan and I each a flashlight and Declan pulls his from his belt.

  “Liam, lead the way,” Bryan orders.

  Liam nods and backs up, closing the hatch on the car and we move into the building. “There was a lot of busted metal in here when we were kids. So watch your footing. But it’s solid concrete so we shouldn’t have issues there.”

  “Aye,” Declan acknowledges.

  Liam leads, I’m second with Bryan behind me and then Declan brings up the rear as we make our way into a dilapidated, dirty building. It’s obvious this place has been exposed to the elements for more than a few years. There’s rusted metal everywhere, and not a spec of drywall remains. Most of the walls are broken pieces of rotting wood.

  “This place is pretty straight forward,” Liam shares as he turns a corner. The deeper into the building we get, the better shape it’s in and the more dust and cobwebs we come across.

  “Would now be a good time to tell you that I hate spiders?” I laugh humorlessly.

  No one comments back, which is fine. The further from the entrance we get, the higher my anxiety rises until we meet a staircase. “Down there,” Liam announces before starting his descent into the basement.

  His feet slip a little. “Watch it,” Bryan says. “Concrete or not.”

  “Aye,” Liam says and he continues the climb down.

  We all follow behind him and eventually, after three flights of stairs, we reach the bottom. There’s only one place to go- straight ahead until we reach to a closed metal door.

  Liam pushes on it, but it doesn’t budge. “Bryan, help me.”

  After a few minutes of pushing against the door, it starts to budge and scrape along the floor as it opens. There is at least four-hundred pounds pressing on the door between the two of them, but it’s taking forever. The longer it takes, the twitchier I get. They get it open far enough that the four of us can squeeze in.

  Liam goes first, then Bryan, then me and lastly Declan.


  When I get inside, Liam shines the light around and sure enough, there are three vaults per wall. Nine in total.

  “Where do we start?” I ask.

  “The one with the missing key,” Liam says as he shines his light a little higher up the wall, toward the top of the doors.

  I see a hook, but nothing is there. Liam moves to the next vault and it too is missing its key. He keeps going around the room. “All the keys are gone,” Liam says.

  “Well, then I guess we start here,” I say standing next to the first one on the left. I insert the key and try to turn it, but it doesn’t budge. “Not that one.” I slide to my right, and the second vault. It doesn’t open that one either.

  I repeat my actions for the third, fourth and fifth. Finally, on the sixth one the key turns. “Got it,” I say and continue turning the key. The locks inside the door click and knock around as they turn until the key stops moving. I reach for the handle on the door and push it down. Nothing happens. I lift it up and it clicks loudly and the door springs open.

  I pull it back, flashlight ready.

  I shine my light inside and scream at the top of my lungs. I bury my head into the first chest I feel. The vision of what I just saw is burned into my brain.

  “Jesus, what the fuck is that?” someone growls.

  “Fuck me,” Liam breathes.

  “That’s a corpse,” Declan says.

  “Yeah, but who?” Liam asks.

  I groan, “I really hate my father right now.”

  “Declan, look!” Liam exclaims.

  Something in his voice makes me look back into the vault. I do my best to ignore the corpse in the vault and see where Liam is shining his light.

  “Is that what I think it is?” Bryan asks.