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She only had me.
And I stood around here, doomed to do nothing and wait. I had to trust in Emilio and his little hacker, even though he had given me quite little reason to do just that, especially in recent weeks.
"What do we do if she finds out where Gia is?" I asked. From that moment on, there would be no time to plan or discuss anything.
As soon as I had the location, I would jump into the next best car and be on my way. With the support of my own men, if Emilio refused that, too.
Vince shrugged his shoulders. "Depends entirely on where she is and what additional information there is."
"Is he going to do anything?"
"I don't know. I wish I could tell you, but right now he's not easy to talk to." So Vincenzo had noticed it, too.
"I think that started when you told him he made a mistake when he came up with the idea of doing business with the French."
"We'll see how he gets out of it now," he grumbled. He didn't seem to care that he might have been the trigger. "If he doesn't learn to make smarter decisions, he'll soon have more problems than a bomb they send him with a woman."
I reminded myself that Vincenzo spoke from experience. He had experienced all this and what had become of him, I just saw live and in color. Only Emilio he seemed to be blind to the dangers that his life now brought with it.
Did he think he was unapproachable? Did he think he was immune to any dangers? That's how he had been moving through the world for the last few years. It was like a miracle that he had only received bullet wounds so far. Even when they had confined him to a bed for a while, he didn't seem to learn anything from it.
"He doesn't even want to hear these warnings. At least not from us," I replied. Maybe it would make a difference if Flavia whispered these things into his ear and thus talk into his conscience. Or maybe he would just stay stubborn and keep on acting like an asshole. Like a big, stupid idiot who didn't know any better.
"Let's wait and see how everything develops. It won't go on forever, Dario," Vincenzo assured me. For once, I believed him. In all these years, I had never seen him make rash decisions. You couldn't read his cards. His next move was always secret, and sometimes it was so unexpected that it knocked you off your feet.
As far as I knew, he had made only one mistake in his entire career as the boss of the Mafia and it had cost him everything.
If that wasn't a rosy outlook.
Vincenzo patted me on the shoulder and motioned with his head for me to come back inside as well. I decided against it for the moment. In there, between all those people sitting around idly, I couldn't breathe anyway.
17
Gia
It took me a few seconds to regain control of my neck muscles and bring my head into an upright position. I blinked against the bright light. There was still a bitter taste on my tongue. My head was pounding frantically and overall I felt as if a truck had run me over.
My memory, however, was without gaps. The Frenchman, our fight, my escape, and the chloroform he had used to render me defenseless were all still there. I had it right in front of my eyes.
Unfortunately, I also remembered that I hadn't sent Dario a message. It would take days before my disappearance was noticed– and my gut feeling told me that there wouldn't be much left of me to find.
Even though I was still alone in a shabby-looking motel room for the moment, it wouldn't last forever.
At some point my captor would return and I could well imagine how angry he was. Not only had I escaped the bomb, but I had also ignored his order.
I was only surprised that he was still alive. Dario had assured me he had drowned in the river and therefore no longer posed a danger
How harmless he was, I could now experience firsthand.
I wrinkled my nose. I didn't like any of this. However, it was also pointless to get upset or hysterical. I doubted that such behavior would set me free. Rather, I needed my brain to be one step ahead of him and recognize an opportunity before he realized it.
I tested how tight the rope was around my wrists. Too tight to take it off. It was the same with my bound feet.
He hadn't bothered to shut me up, but shouting didn't do any good in places like this, anyway. If there were other inhabitants, they were smart enough not to interfere in other people's affairs. A disadvantage for me, but certainly for their own good. At any rate, I couldn't blame them.
I began by looking around. Was there anything useful within my reach? Were there escape routes I could take if it came to that? Apart from hair on the carpet and questionable stains on the walls, I discovered nothing that could have been of help to me.
I wrinkled my nose and let my head sink into my neck. The ceiling had more stains, but no ventilation.
