AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I just, I…”
Sal groaned face down on the floor, the drive a few inches from his hand. Francis tore off the belt from around his neck and picked up the drive. And then Sal’s gun.
“C’mon, Father, we need to get you out of here,” Davis said, heading toward the door.
“Vitari—we need to find Vitari.”
“Who?”
Francis blinked at the American. “My friend, the one I told you about. You know what a friend is, don’t you, Father Davis?”
Davis’s mouth twisted down. “I deserved that. But it’s not what you think.”
Clearly, since Father Davis was here and knocking men unconscious. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m finding Vitari…” His voice croaked around the burn in his throat. Vitari… The key… Francis hurried back to Sal and rummaged through his pockets.
“What are you doing?! This place is crawling with mafioso. We have to go. Now!”
“Thank you for the… vase intervention. But I’m fine. I don’t need your help.”
“You mean thank you for saving your life?”
“He wasn’t going to shoot, but yes. Thank you. You can go.” He found the little key—handcuff keys, he guessed—and just hoped Vitari was in Sal’s room, otherwise he might not find him before Sal’s father did, and it seemed as though Little Toni was the one they all needed to avoid. Francis didn’t know the politics of the Mafia, but the very thing Vitari had feared—a coup—was happening, and they were at the center of it. Perhaps whatever was on the drive was a big part of it.
“I can’t go without you,” Father Davis said. “My cover is blown. The Battaglia is about to tear itself apart. You need to leave with me, Francis. It’s now or never.”
“Then never. I’m finding Vitari.” Who was this man? Was he even a priest? He’d been in the Vatican, so he had to be clergy, didn’t he?
Francis hurried from the suite, called the elevator, then stepped inside. Father Davis entered beside him. “I know this is a lot?—"
Francis was still holding the gun. He lifted it, then glanced at Father Davis and saw the man swallow. “Good Lord, I’m not about to shoot you.”
A little bubble of nervous laughter fell out of Davis. “Sure.”
“Although I should.”
The elevator car counted down. Sal’s room was on the second floor. He’d heard that much when Sal had been speaking with the guards. The guards who hadn’t been outside their room. Because Sal’s father had likely recalled them.
The elevator stopped on the fifth floor, the doors opened, and a young couple stepped in.
Francis hid the gun behind his back.
The woman said something in French. Francis smiled at her. Did his appearance show how he’d just been nearly choked out and was on the run? “Peace be with you,” he added, hoping that his being English might help confuse matters.
“You are long way from England, Father.”
“Yes, I am,” he replied, his mind going blank. “A long way. But the weather is lovely here, isn’t it.”
“Oui, yes,” the French lady agreed.
This was going well, even as he was sure she could see right through him to the gun behind his back.
Father Davis was eyeing him as though he expected Francis to use the gun at any moment. Did he think Francis was the villain? Father Davis was the villain, not him.
The elevator stopped at the second floor. Francis smiled and dipped his chin, bowing his head, then backed out of the elevator, keeping the gun hidden until the doors rumbled closed. He breathed a sigh and studied the long corridor. How was he going to find Vitari behind so many doors?
“What are we doing here?” Father Davis asked. “Someone is going to see that gun.”
“You act as though you’ve never seen one before but you were in Giancarlo’s inner circle, so don’t tell me you’re just a priest, Riley. When we both know you’re much more than that.”
