The Day of the Dead
The Aegean Sea
OH, GOD. PLEASE...
please help him.
A cold press of a damp cloth was pressed to his face. He hurt everywhere. The pain seem to radiate hottest around the eye that wouldn’t open.
“Lorenzo,” Marietta whispered. The sound of her voice was additional comfort. He groaned. He tried to move. He couldn’t. His wrists were locked behind his back in iron cuffs. Too tight for him to even wiggle his fingers.
“Thank you, God! I thought... I thought you were dead,” she said through her tears.
“Not yet! He will be.” A male voice remarked.
Lorenzo turned his head despite her tight hug and tug to his neck. He could see out of his good eye. His vision cleared. They weren’t alone. Whoever the man was the bastard held a gun and it was aimed at him and his wife. Marietta continued to hug him to her chest. She kissed his face and turned his head to inspect his bruises. She leaned in closer so her mouth was close to his when she spoke.
She whispered again: “They have us on a boat. They’re Russians
.”
He registered it all. At the top of the list of those who wanted him dead, the Russians, were supposed to be his allies in this war. He had made a deal. It didn’t take long for him to accept that the deal was a trap. It was all a lie. And now he was in the enemy’s hands.
“Please take the cuffs off. He’s hurt. He needs medical attention.”
The man with the gun chuckled. He walked over. Lorenzo anticipated the blow before Marietta did. So he braced for it. The maggot kicked him in the gut with all his might. Marietta screamed enraged over the offense. She dropped her husband. Lorenzo’s head smacked the hard floor sending another spear of pain through his skull. She lunged for the man but received a backhanded slap that knocked her to the floor. Lorenzo again tried to summon enough strength to break free. He could only get to his knees before he suffered another wave of dizziness. The man laughed and spit on him.
“You fucking bastard! He’ll kill you! Do you hear me?” Marietta screamed. “My Lo will kill you!”
“Stai zitta e mantieni la calma, Marietta
,” Lorenzo wheezed.
Marietta stopped with her threats and looked down at him. He tried again to tell her to be quiet and stay calm. Lorenzo was flat to his back now with a glob of the man’s spit on his cheek. He managed to give her a half-smile. She wiped his face with the wet cloth and leaned in and kissed his brow.
“I love you,” she said softly. “Hang on. My momma says it will be alright.”
Her mother?
Lorenzo frowned. He could only see her with one eye. There was a wildness in her eyes; a different kind of madness.
“We’re going to get out of here. Mama, says it’s only six or seven on the boat. We can do this. We just have to stay strong.”
He rested on those words, focused on those words no matter how crazy they sounded as he summoned his inner strength. His bambina was right. The moment he was strong enough he’d get out of his restraints and kill them all.
GIOVANNI WAS THE LAST
to board the boat. Topside were several of his men. He went below and found Renaldo and the others gathered around a map. It covered more than half the table.
“Do we have him?” Gio asked.
“Yes, we should reach them by tomorrow afternoon. We got him.”
“And Marietta?”
Renaldo looked over to one of his capu’s
to confirm the answer. The man nodded. Giovanni’s gaze swiveled to the young girl with Lorenza in her arms. The baby held the bottle she sucked by herself. The girl gave him a reassuring nod that the baby was doing okay with the journey.
“Let’s get there. Now.”
“Gio? Can we speak?” Renaldo walked off toward the tight corridor that led to the cabin on the boat. Giovanni followed him inside the tight corridor.
“What is it?”
“A call. Santoro’s sons have been picked up. Polizia got them at the port in Naples.”
“When?”
“Yesterday. I put in a call in to Carlo. We need to contain this. Don Santoro has reached out. They were undermining business with the Russians. Lately the Santoro’s and Russians haven’t been getting along. Don Santoro feels like this was set up by them or you.”
Giovanni shook his head. “I can’t have anything going wrong now. Make sure Carlo can handle it. Send in Dominic if we need too.”
“And if it goes south, which way will you land? Carlo needs to know.”
Giovanni scratched his brow. He never thought he’d see the day he’d side against a fellow countryman. But the greater plan demanded it. “If Carlo can’t contain it then he is to side with the Russians.”
“The Camorristi may be a problem if we publicly side with the Russians.”
“Don Santoro has never played by the rules since he was allowed into the alliance. I know the relationship is delicate. I know everyone has concerns about my ability to stay loyal to the collective. But if Santoro steps out of line with the Russians, the Camorristi will have to side with me. We’ll make sure of it.”
“I’ll handle it,” Renaldo said.
“What can you tell me about Lorenzo and Marietta? What am I walking into?”
“Lorenzo took a beating but he is alive. No one touched Marietta.”
“Anything else?” Giovanni looked up.
“I’m with you, boss. But if you decide to change your mind—”
“Do I look like I want to change my mind?” Giovanni asked.
Renaldo gave him a respectful nod. He left first. Giovanni dropped back against the door. He itched to call his wife and solve a simple problem for her to give him strength to face his bigger ones. But Mirabella in his ear would possibly weaken him as well. He’d come this far. It was time to see it through. Giovanni removed his gun and held it. He was ready.
LORENZO MAY HAVE BLACKED
out again. He wasn’t sure. Consciousness returned after a deep heat wave went through his skull. And the energy was enough to blast him awake. He heard men arguing. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been out of it but it was long enough for only one of his eyes to open. The swelling in his face was still there matched with the pain. He regained control of his body the more he rested. To his surprise his hands were now free of his restraints. The arguing continued in Russian. One man shouted over the other. And the one with the louder more commanding voice struck the other man in the face with a gun.
“Marie?” Lorenzo wheezed.
“Lo?” Marietta crawled back over to him. It was her response or his question that stopped the melee. The man with the gun turned and looked at them both. Marietta tried to shield her husband. It prevented Lorenzo from seeing him clearly.
“Sit up!” The man demanded through clenched teeth.
“Stay away from him,” Marietta said.
The man leveled the gun at them both. Marietta helped Lorenzo sit up and put his back to the cabin wall. The tall man with a shaven head, missing eyebrows, and long blonde beard glared at them. Two other men arrived. They dragged out the original tormentor, kicker, overall asshole who was bleeding from the face after the beating. The man with the beard pulled a chair and turned it around so he could straddle it as if he wanted to have a conversation.
“I speak Italian. You understand me? No?”
Lorenzo didn’t respond but he could sense that Marietta nodded her head.
“Good. Good. Forgive Igor. He is a nothing. A sewer rat. You are guests of Tarzan the Great. And I am Dorph, your guide,” the man half-joked. “You need food, and clean bandages. My men—” Dorph looked back and two men began to drop supplies to them. “Will see to your needs and care.”
Marietta remained frozen and distrustful. Lorenzo swallowed what tasted like razorblades before he found his voice.
“Who is Tarzan?”
Dorph eyes stretched in surprise. “Tarzan is the one that keeps a bullet from you and your wife. Tarzan is your benefactor. The invited guests of Tarzan arrive to the jungle soon.”
“Jungle? You’re taking us to the jungle? Where? Africa?” Marietta asked.
The man let go a peal of laughter. He turned red as a beet in the face. He shook his head smiling. He had big white teeth. With his yellow-blonde beard, clear grey eyes, shaven head, and pale albino white skin, he looked ghoulish. “The Jungle is the name of the yacht you are traveling on.”
“Where are we going?” Marietta asked.
“We are in the Adriatic Sea. Closest to Croatia. That’s all I can say.” The man stood. He stared at Lorenzo. “You are a fighter. No? I lost two men when we tried to take you down. Very strong. I respect that.” He then turned his gaze to Marietta. “Igor should have never put a hand on you. I don’t believe in violence toward women. I will give him a proper burial at sea and say your name when I spit on his watery grave. Eh? Accept my apologies.”
“Fuck you,” Marietta said.
The bearded man again laughed, and his large teeth sparkled white. “Ah yes. Fuck me. If only you would give me the pleasure. Never had one like you,” he winked.
Lorenzo reached over and squeezed Marietta’s hand to silence her. She lowered her gaze and held her tongue to quiet a sharp comeback.
“This boat is yours. I’m leaving a captain with you and several of my men. They will not harm you if you stay to the back. Try to leave and I’ve ordered them to shoot on sight. Even Tarzan has his limits. There is a room to the furthest back with a bed, and a shower. I suggest you heal quickly. You’re in for a special surprise.”
Dorph left and didn’t bother to close the door. It was then Lorenzo realized the boat wasn’t moving. They must have dropped anchor.
“What is this about? Is it Giovanni? Are these the Russians in Rome you told me about?”
“The man is a Russian Mercenary.” Lorenzo winced. “Help me stand Marie.”
“What? Why are you trying to stand? Are you seriously going to trust him?”
“If he wanted us dead we would be. I have an idea why he gave us food and bandages. I need to be ready. So help me stand.”
His wife did the best she could. Once he was on his feet he gently moved her away so he could try to balance himself. He found he could. But he remained weak. He staggered without falling.
“Lo?”
“Get the things. Let’s find this room. We’ll have company in a day or two.”
“Who’s coming?”
“Who do you think?” Lorenzo said. “Gio’s coming.”
He didn’t bother to look back at his wife. He knew the news scared her to death. He couldn’t focus on her fear or his worry. He would finally meet Gio. He needed to be ready for the conversation to save the life of his wife and child. That was what he needed his strength for.
