My Masters' Nightmare, Season 1 / Episode 14 (4 page)

“
Not anymore. My spy in the
Landi household told me the soldiers have pulled out, while Frano’s
running all over the island looking for you. So, I paid a dirty cop
on his payroll to give him a juicy piece of information about you
being seen entering your old home. Of course he’ll go straight
there, where I have men waiting for him.”

I stared at him, panic now brewing in my
chest, the thought of Frano walking into a trap absolutely
terrifying me.

3

FRANO

I phoned the Orsini
Capo
. Georgio answered with a respectful, “How may I help you,
Don?”

I looked out the window as the
soldier drove through the countryside, heading for Rita’s old
home.
“I
need your men to check out the house
Capo
Salvi used to live in,” I said, praying she was
still there.

“
That’s already going to happen.
Suspicious activities have been noticed there. At the moment, my
men are preparing to go in.”

“
What activities?”

“
Black cars have been seen going
in and out of the property. One of my men called the house to check
on the occupants, since they’re civilians, but no one answered. So,
I posted one of my
soldati
in a neighboring house to see if he could get any visuals.
He recognized two men who work for the Donatelli.”

“
Wait until I get there
before you go in.
I’m ten minutes away.”

“
It’s best to meet at my house
first.”

After agreeing, I hung
up,
happy to
have the Orsini at my back, the family trustworthy.

We arrived at
Capo
Orsini’s house in
just under ten minutes. The Landi soldier pulled up to an elaborate
iron gate, its pattern displaying two lions facing each other. A
guard was standing in front of it. He was a solid man in his
mid-twenties, sporting buckteeth. He removed a gun from his holster
and pointed it at the Landi soldier as we got out of the
car.

“
Lower your weapon,” I
said.

The
guard kept it raised. “He’s
Landi.”

“
Are you disobeying a direct
order?”

The guard quickly
lowered the gun,
his expression now worried. “Please forgive me, Don. We’re on high
alert after the Landi threatened the Santini,” he said, referring
to the Orsini’s bosses.

“
He’s helping
me.”

“
Regardless, no Landi can enter
the property. There are women and children inside. My
Capo
will kill me if I
allow a Landi to walk in there.”

I turned to the
Landi soldier.
“Stay at the wheel.”

He gave me a
curt nod and got
back into the driver’s seat.

I pointed at him. “If he’s hurt in any
way,” I said to the guard, “I will do the same to you.”

“
As long as he’s
passive
, he
won’t be harmed.”

“
Bene.
” I walked to the gate, the guard
opening it for me. I entered, spotting Orsini soldiers exiting the
two-story beige, flat top house. Their holsters were full, some of
them holding rifles. On the second floor, the
Capo
’s sixteen-year-old daughter was
watching the activity from the balcony. As soon her father stepped
out of the house, she shouted at him, “
Papà
, can I come?”

“
Silenzio!
” Georgio snapped at her. His
hard gaze moved to his wife, who appeared at the front door,
Mariella a stunning dyed-blonde bombshell. “Get her away from the
window, woman!”

As she
disappeared back inside, Georgio
turned to me, quickly giving me a bow, the man old school, but not
old in age. He was in his late thirties, austere-looking, packed
with muscle, and intensely loyal to the Santini. Originally, his
family had been connected to the Donatelli, until his father had
gone to prison for a crime the Donatelli had committed. His uncle
took over the family, changing their allegiance to the Santini.
After the man died from a heart attack, Georgio took over, his
friendship with Ricardo Santini sealing their connection
further.

“
We’re ready when you are,
Don,” he said.

“
Your plan?”

“
We will circle the property,
going in at different angles. But first, I must deploy my soldiers
to the surrounding houses. I don’t want to be walking into a
sniper’s line of fire.”

“
Bene.
There’s just one thing. I believe my
woman’s in there, trying to get her brother back. She has long
brown hair and is absolutely stunning. Her brother has auburn hair
and looks similar. They are Salvi.”

Georgio frowned. “I thought the Salvi left
the island several years ago.”

“
Two of them are back, so
tell your men to be careful not to shoot them.”

Georgio nodded, then called out
to his men. All of them stopped what they were doing and turned to
him. There was about a dozen, all wearing dark suits. Georgio
relayed the instructions, then snapped, “
Andiamo!
”

We headed out of the property.
I signaled
at the Landi soldier to come. The Orsini ones stopped in
their tracks, a few raising their guns at him.

“
He’s safe,” I said.
“
He’s
helping me find my woman.”

“
I understand you trust him,”
Georgio said. “But my men don’t, and when trust isn’t there,
mistakes can happen. He would be safer staying cuffed to the wheel
of your car than walking amongst my men.”

I nodded. “Just make sure he isn’t
harmed.”

“
As long as he’s cuffed, I give
you my word he will remain safe.”

The Landi soldier
held out his hands.
“Do what you must,” he said.

Georgio gave one of his men an order.
Moments later, the Landi soldier was cuffed to the steering wheel
and we were heading for Rita’s old home.

***

We stopped a few houses away
from the Salvi property,
taking cover behind a row of trees. The first wave
of Orsini soldiers split off from us, following their instructions
to inspect the surrounding properties. A few minutes later, a gruff
voice came over the radio, telling us that a Donatelli sniper had
been taken out.

Georgio snapped out
instructions to his remaining men,
who slipped through the trees, both
the
Capo
and I leading the way, holding our guns at the ready. We
headed for the property, hearing gunfire. It stopped seconds later.
As we arrived at the gate, the gruff voice came over the radio
again. “We’re inside the house. I will radio you once it’s been
swept clean.”

“
Va bene
,” Georgio said.

A few minutes later, the same voice
crackled over the radio. “It’s clear to enter. We’ve killed all but
one Donatelli. There’s also a Salvi hostage in here.”

“
Rita!
” I pushed past Georgio, running
through the gate. Before me stood a two-storied, mottled gray
house, with a flat roof and vines climbing up the side. I burst
through the front door, demanding where Rita was. One of the Orsini
soldiers pointed at the lounge, saying something I didn’t hear,
since I was already running for it. I stopped behind the leather
couch, recognizing Rita’s brother. A soldier was untying him, as
well as trying to calm the hysterical man down. I headed around the
couch, stopping in my tracks at the sight of the two dead bodies
sitting on either side of Lucan, their hair dyed different tones of
red.

The Orsini soldier removed the
remaining rope
from Lucan. “Those two aren’t Salvi,” he said, “they’re
civilians.”

“
I can tell. Let me talk to
Lucan.”

The soldier moved aside. Lucan jumped up,
looking like he was about to bolt. I grabbed him. He started
screaming and struggling against me, trying to get free.

“
Calm down, Lucan,” I
said. “I’m your sister’s boyfriend.”

Lucan stopped screaming. He looked a lot
like Rita, only with a square jaw and long auburn hair. “Jagger?”
he said, squinting his eyes at me.

“
No, his cousin
Frano.”

“
Your brother hates my sister!
He hates her, he hates her!” Lucan started trying to get free
again, his voice childish. Although he looked in his late twenties,
he sounded and acted like a kid.

“
Stop it, Lucan.”

“
Alberto
wanted to kill my
sister!”

“
Lucan!” I
boomed.

He went still, his face
startled.

I lowered my voice again, but kept a firm
grip on his arms. “Alberto can’t hurt your sister, he’s
dead.”

Lucan started trembling.
“
You’re his
brother; you’re a bad man too.”

“
You’re wrong. I’m here to
help
Sophia.
Tell me where she is.”

“
No! I will only talk to Jagger.
He’s good, not you.”

I exhaled loudly, beyond frustrated with
him. But I knew if I bullied him into answering me, he’d just
scream or cry, the man not having matured past childhood. I’d seen
him in the psyche ward once while visiting a relative. It had been
from a distance, but I’d still recognized him. I remembered being
surprised he was on the island, let alone alive, since I’d thought
he’d died. I had wanted to talk to him, but the nurse had said he
was too fragile, so I’d decided not to bother since I didn’t really
know the man, other than he was Sophia’s brother.

“
I’ll call Jagger for you,” I
said. Letting go of Lucan, I pulled out my phone and speed
dialed
my
cousin. Jagger answered a few seconds later. I told him what was
happening, and to ask Lucan if he’d seen Sophia and Christo. Once I
had an okay, I put the phone in Lucan’s hand, saying, “Jagger wants
to talk to you.”

Lucan’s face lit up. “Jagger!”
He put the phone to his ear and started talking fast, asking
questions a child would. He stopped suddenly, then nodded.
“
Sì
,
sì
,
the bad man took my sister. He wants to tie her up in a barn. Barns
have horses.”
Lucan continued talking about horses.

I held out my
hand
, having
heard enough. “Give me the phone, Lucan.”

Lucan jerked
it away. “No! It’s
mine now, you gave it to me.”

I breathed out. “Okay, Lucan, you can have
it.”

Lucan
resumed talking to Jagger, asking him
to save his sister.

I headed around the couch, finding an
Orsini soldier pushing a Donatelli one to his knees in front of
Georgio.

Georgio pointed his gun at the Donatelli
man. “Tell us why you’re here? And why the hell there are two dead
civilians on the couch with dyed red hair, because the last time I
saw them, they had brown hair.”

“
My Don made us dye their hair,”
the soldier replied, staring up at Georgio with wide
eyes.

“
For what
purpose?”

“
To trick a
woman.”

“
What woman?”

“
Sophia Salvi.”
The soldier’s eyes
moved to me, his expression scared. “Don D’Angelo, please show me
mercy. I’m not of Donatelli blood, I’m just an
employee.”

“
If you tell me where she is, I
won’t torture you.” I smiled for effect.

The man flinched.
“All I know is
she’s been taken to a barn.”

“
Which barn?”

“
I don’t know, but it’s got
something to do with the Rossos. That’s all I know, it’s the
truth.”

“
Radio through to your Don. I
need to talk to him.”

He unclipped the radio from his belt and
spoke into it: “Don, I’ve been captured by the Orsini and Don
D’Angelo.”

Christo’s voice crackled over the
wavelength, “Give Frano your radio.”

The soldier held it out for
me.

I took it. “
Where’s my woman?!” I barked
into it.

“
She’s not your woman, she’s
my
schiava.
”

“
She’s not a slave! She’s my
fiancée, and I want her back.”

“
I might consider giving her
back if you repay a debt.”

“
What debt?”

“
You destroyed my
famiglia.
I was going to kill
you for it, but it looks like I need the money more, so you’ll die
instead for what you did to Don Rosso’s daughter.”

“
I did nothing to that
troia
!”

“
That’s not a very nice way to
speak about your dead wife. Even worse, you’re the reason why she
committed suicide, hence why the Rosso Don wants you dead. So, if
you want your woman to live, you’ll meet some of my men, so they
can bring you to me. I will then torture you in front of the Rosso
Don. After that, his son will kill you. Of course, your woman will
witness your demise, which I’m hoping will break her. And by the
way, if you don’t come alone, I will torture her instead, then slit
her throat. Now, the question is, how much do you love
her?”