AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I stare horrified at the bodies.
Luca comes back. “So?”
Chapter 10
Luca
Sophiejuststaresatthe bodies the whole way home. She doesn’t utter a single word.
Once my anger cools off I feel bad for her. I pity her that this is the first dead body she’s seeing. It’s not a relative, it’s not the right time, it wasn’t pleasant, any excuse really. Not that seeing a dead body is ever pleasant. The first one I saw was my grandfather. He had a heart attack in the back garden when I was a kid. Then he was dead, his coffee knocked over by the bench he’d been sitting on. I had been playing with my toy truck, I suppose it was why I still never ride in a big rig.
But the bodies Sophie had been looking at are bloody and sad. Some guy and his kid, I now assume. They’re noses were the same. Similar hands too. More than that though, they were hired by someone to kill us.
It was sloppy. But even then, something niggles me about them. It’s the matches. It’s such an odd thing …
The lights of Key West come into view and I direct us towards the point where I know the port begins. There’s the lane lights guiding us. I can only imagine the sight this little boat will be when it comes in. I almost laugh just thinking about it.
“Key West is a few minutes away,” I say. Sophie doesn’t respond and I turn back to the lights. I can see myself reflected in them. My eyes are hooded and dark. Business mode. “Leave this all with me. I’ll handle it. You just get out.”
She nods. But still doesn’t say anything.
The memory replays in my mind, and I wonder if there was anything I could’ve done differently. Could I have done anything different to stop their deaths? Could I have avoided shooting them?
I look at the gun the kid had. The thing would’ve blasted a hole in my chest the size of my fist. But even then, I know the kid’s young. Or at least, he looks young. My guess is he’s actually closer to twenty, just born with a baby face. It makes me feel somewhat justified …
I scratch my chin and switch on the radio. I’ve been trying it while I drove for the last hour. There’s been growing chatter across the channels, all the expected talk between fishermen and captains, of weather fronts and tides. But there’s still nothing from our private channel on the yacht. I can only think the receiver is broken, or sabotaged …
“Sophie?” I say, looking back at her. She raises her head. The shock is still in her eyes. “Come here.”
She stands woozily, looks at the bodies one last time, then comes to the dashboard with me.
“I’m going to handle all this, okay?” I say. The anger of her identity is still there, but deeper down, I see myself in her. She’s just a kid in the mafia life. No one really needs to see these things, I just grew up with it. I’m not sure what’s worse. “And before you go, let me run and get your clothes,” I say, bringing the knots down on the boat throttle. We enter the entry lane for the port, the lights guide us towards the growing lights of the marina. It’s late, clearly after midnight by the lack of action around, but there’s a light on an enormous yacht I know is mine.
“Why are you being so nice? Don’t you hate me?” she asks, finally looking at me.
I sigh. “I’m still not happy with you. And I still don’t fully understand what happened, but how you’ve reacted here shows me you didn’t know them. If not, then you weren’t aware or directly involved.”
She goes to talk and then closes her mouth. She looks off and swallows thickly. She stares at the marina with glazed eyes, finally frowning. “My father will know,” she says.
I shake my head. “Everyone will know. Someone just tried a hit on the two heirs of the largest crime families in Florida. There’s going to be a fucking storm from this.” The anger grows in my voice as I talk and I have to remind myself that she’s been through enough. “But what your father knows intrigues me.”
“I don’t mean it like that,” she says. “He’ll know I was out. He’ll figure out that I was on the boat.” She shakes her head and looks down at her body. “I mean, I’ve only got a fucking bikini on!”
I can’t help it, but a snort comes out of my throat. She looks at me dangerously, I see for the first time the flame that exists there. But then she softens, realizing the humor of it too and smiles.
“I’ll get your things from the yacht. Don’t worry.” I guide the boat into the marina and the pandemonium begins to unfold before us. “Again, do not mention who you are.”
We arrive by the yacht, which is parked at the nearest bay. Large flood lights light up the enormous boat and I see all the people on the dock running around. A single person points us out and soon men are flooding down onto the lower wooden docks for smaller boats. I see Marco and a few of our bodyguards, pistols already out. I wave.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Marco says. He’s still sporting the shorts and Hawaiian shirt he was wearing on board. At least the coke has been cleaned from under his nose. “It’s been fucking pandemonium.”
I pull the boat up alongside the dock and a few men jump aboard. They move past us with expert precision, guns at the ready despite the two bodies behind us. They soon return and nod to Marco.
“So?” he says, impatiently and staring at me like I’m a child.
I note the condescending tone. He’s not addressing me like I’m the second in our fucking mafia.Andin front of the men.
My blood simmers, but there’s no need to show aggression here. Just presence. “There’s a jetski of ours, probably floating on its way to Cuba,” I say, stepping out of the boat and returning a hand to help Sophie. “We ran out of gas. I radioed to the yacht but there’s no receiver. I activated the GPS but no one came.” It’s my turn to stare at him. “Which, considering whose GPS was activated, is very interesting …”
