Authors: Margaret McHeyzer
“Clean them up. Next time I’m here I don’t want a stain or a stench in the house.”
A few move around and start lifting the bodies, I leave them to it. I don’t need to be here to watch the clean-up.
Marko opens the front door for me and once I’m through, he jogs ahead of me to open the car door. I slide in and wait for G. G gets in next to me after only a few moments.
“We good down there, G?”
“Everything looks fine, I’ll come back tomorrow and check it all out properly.”
I nod but remain quiet. My mind starts thinking about the situation at hand.
Antonio was working for or with someone else to take me down.
Two men stepped forward who were working for the unknown.
The unknown has Jeremy.
The unknown could still be one of my men. A smarter one who’s been plotting to take me down, using the others as puppets by hiding behind them.
Then there’s Betsy, Jeremy’s mother who doesn’t give a shit about him and just wants to line her pockets.
I’ve not heard nor have I listened to any conversation that’s been happening in the car,
if
there’s been any talk. But when I look out the window, Marko’s brought us to the Brent Street storage shed we own.
The storage shed is essentially an old factory unit, surrounded by the same old factory units. The DeLuca family owns the entire block but only one’s been sound proofed, has steel walls and floors with drainage pipes, making blood and broken bodies easier to dispense of. It’s a little different to the chamber I’ve got back at the house, this one’s used more for slow painful extractions of admissions and information.
Jason, Rocky and Lance are already here and waiting inside, but before I get to go through the door that G’s holding open for me my phone pings with a text message. It’s Jeremy’s number, as I open the text it’s another picture of Jeremy looking worse than he was in the first message and video. I can tell by the way he’s slumped and his head’s hanging to the side that he’s not going to withstand much more of whatever they’re doing to him. His clothes are blood stained, his eye has swelled up and is closed, he’s tied to the chair and he looks defeated.
“Who the hell’s behind this, G?” I bring my hand up to my face and run it over my eyes, not believing the shit I’ve put on Jeremy.
“Let’s see what the boys have to say.” G steps in front of me, Marko behind me and I’m in the middle. Like a protection detail. We enter the warehouse and head straight into the holding room where I’ve seen G do some of his finest work.
The steel encased room is cold, the air in here thick with a stale odour and the three boys stand shoulder to shoulder.
“Miss DeLuca why are we here?” Rocky steps forward and asks.
Marko produces his gun and with one shot has Rocky slumped to the ground.
“For answers,” I interject as I put my hand on Marko’s arm and lower the gun. Marko’s protecting me, but I need to know what’s happening.
“Now who will talk and who will die?” G looks at the two remaining, they both look at each other and back to me.
“Mam, I don’t understand,” Lance speaks up.
“Brave man, Lance, speaking up after seeing the bullet go into Rocky’s head,” I step over a lifeless Rocky and come to stand toe to toe with Lance. “Do you want to die, Lance? Or are you going to talk?”
“I don’t understand.” He down casts his eyes but his breath’s hitched and he’s shaking uncontrollably.
“Antonio’s dead,” Marko announces.
“Is it cause of what he’s doing? He tried to bring us in on it this morning, but me and Jason said no.”
Lance states.
“And what exactly did he tell you?” I ask as I circle around them, ready to give the command to have these two killed if they say the wrong thing.
“He said he was working with someone to take you down and we had to choose which side we wanted, me and Lance would never do that to you, Miss DeLuca. We’re cousins and we got so much respect for you,” Jason finally speaks up.
“But Rocky?” I ask them both.
“We don’t know about him, Mam, Antonio just told us to include him in everything we do, so he’s only been with me and Jason today.” I look over at G and shake my head, no, I don’t want them taken out.
“You understand that if you’re fucking with me that I’ll have your kidneys removed while you’re awake and sold on the black market?”
“Yes, Mam.” They answer in unison.
“You two now report directly to me. Your orders come from either G or myself. I’m keeping you close because if I find out you’re playing me, your life won’t be worth living.”
“Yes, Mam.” They both answer together again.
“Clean the mess then come to my house. Marko give them the address.”
G and I walk outside and leave Marko to talk to the two boys.
“G, something’s dirty. Someone close by is watching and screwing with me.”
“Frankie, we gotta find The Senator or this is gonna get too messy and way too public.”
“I know.” We sit in the car and wait for Marko to come out, it’s only a matter of minutes before he slides into the driver’s seat.
“This isn’t right, G, we need to track his phone.”
“Fuck, Frank, I’m doing the best I can.”
All we can do is wait for the next message and instructions to come through for Jeremy. We don’t need to wait too long though. By the time we get back to the house, G has the laptop open and is ready to track when a blocked number rings through.
“What the fuck do you want?” I answer the call knowing it’s whoever’s taken Jeremy.
“Money.” A voice totally disguised by electronic manipulation answers.
“How much and where?”
“One hundred million.”
Fuck, one hundred million. Is this person for real? One hundred million for The Senator? My heart beats crazy and my entire body’s broken out into a sweat. It’s not like I don’t have the money, but one hundred million will certainly put a small dent in my ‘rainy day’ fund.
“No,” I answer and hang up quickly, essentially telling them where to go.
What the fuck did I do? I drop the phone and instantly my hands come to my face covering my eyes, I sink to the floor and know I’ve just signed Jeremy’s death warrant. Bile immediately flies into my mouth as my stomach contracts, thousands of knives feel like they’re stabbing into my chest. My fists ball up and I’m uncontrollably shaking. “What did I do, G?” A small whisper is sighed.
“You did what you had to, Frankie.” He answers with strength.
“I’ve killed him.”
“Most likely. Or……”
“Or what?” I look up at G who’s not moved from the desk as he’s searching his computer.
“Or they’ll call you back with a lower ransom.”
If they call me back with a lower ransom then I have them. I close my eyes and just try to calm down. I mean, Jeremy and I haven’t had the best start to a relationship but his tenacity with me is what drives me to want to spend time with him. I feel almost protective of him, like he belongs to me and I need to ensure no harm comes to him.
He’s mine.
Getting up from the floor and sitting on the couch in my office, my heart starts to regulate its beating pattern and I almost feel a little better that G thinks they may call me back.
It’s then that my phone pings with an incoming message. These fuckers must be damn desperate, in less than a day, I’ve had photos, messages, a few seconds clip, phone calls and black roses. Fuck them, if they’re that desperate for money and they’re bombarding me with trying to get it, they aren’t fucking serious about this. Fuck them and their merry men, whoever the hell they are. They want money, they aren’t gonna get a single fucking cent out of me.
The message is another picture of Jeremy, he’s slumped in the chair and he looks even worse than he did before, if that’s even possible.
“G, I’m not going to give them any money, not going to give them a cent.”
“If you don’t pay them, Frankie, they’ll kill him.”
“I don’t care, I have to stand my ground I can’t let them attempt to defeat me,” I sigh out to G as I put my head in my hands. I know I’ve just signed Jeremy’s death warrant but I also know that’s what I need to do to continue with business.
“Frankie, for first time in your life you’ve found someone who’s challenging, someone who doesn’t take any of your shit, someone you actually care about. You need to get him back.”
“Don’t you understand, G? If I do this, I’ll be letting the flood gates open for every other fucker who wants a piece of me. I can’t risk that, as much as I like Jeremy I have to let him go.” A sense of sadness has overtaken me. My heart feels like it’s stopped beating; the burn I had in my body has now been extinguished. Jeremy’s gone and it’s because of me that a bullet’s in his brain.
I don’t hear back from whoever took him, so I can only assume Jeremy’s now been killed. The rest of the day’s spent wandering and hoping that Jeremy’s death was quick. Completely disinterested in all other matters and pre occupied with the imminent doom that Jeremy must have met, I can’t focus on anything at all except the fact that he’s likely in a shallow grave covered by no more than a few spade fulls of dirt and rocks. I’m spending the remaining hours of the day like a zombie, completely disentangled from human contact. G tries to make conversation but my ability to communicate is heavily clouded with regret and hopelessness. Sorrow and misery easily embodied in me, those feelings I’m sure are going to stay with me for a long time.
Night falls and I’ve not moved from my office, my phone clutched tightly in my hand in case the captors haven’t sent Jeremy to his death. That’s a pretty big ‘in case’, if it were me, Jeremy would be useless and I’d already have the boys cleaning up any evidence.
The hours tick by.
The moon stands tall and majestic as I cower away and question my choices.
As witching hour morphs from various shades of dark and light begins to peep through, I’m startled by my phone vibrating and ringing softly in my hand. I look down and see a blocked number calling but I know that he’s dead and this is a last attempt to extract money from me. I look out over the estate and don’t bother answering the call. It’s a futile effort to reel me in, but the phone rings again. G’s been with me the entire time, he’s not left me, he’s not gone, he’s not said any more to me either, he’s simply allowed me to take the time to mourn a man who could have potentially been my perfect partner.
G’s tapping on the keyboard of his laptop and the phone continues to play the same tune. I flick my eyes over to G and he gives me a tiny nod of his head.
I take a deep breath and let my Frankie DeLuca, Mob Boss persona answer the phone.
“I’m not paying you a single fucking cent.”
“Frankie……” He says.
Jeremy!
Chapter 16
“Darling.” His voice sounds all gruff and scratchy.
“Where are you?” I breathe out a breath I didn’t realise was caught in my throat as I look at G.
“Hospital, they knocked me out and when I awoke I was in hospital.”
“Which hospital are you at?” I’m already running toward the front door as G’s calling Marko to bring the car around.
“I’m at Carney, Frankie, you don’t need to come. Mom will be here soon.”
“You called that woman?”
“She’s my mother, of course I called her.”
“Don’t say a fucking word to her until I get there, I’m on my way.”
“Frankie….”
“Don’t go against me on this, Jeremy. Just trust me, send her out of the room and tell her you’ve got tests to do, actually, tell her I’m on my way.”
“I’m pretty screwed up here and let me tell you, I got no idea what the hell you’re saying.”
“Just don’t talk to her, I’m on my way and I’ll explain everything,” I hang up as I reach the car and don’t give him any more chance to speak. Marko drives fairly quickly and we’re at the hospital within fifteen minutes. G’s next to me as we silently go to reception.
“Jeremy Miller,” G asks the pretty lady sitting behind the counter.
“Sorry, Sir, only family can see him.”
“I’m his wife,” I interject before G starts a war.
Wife, ha. How funny. The first thing I thought to say is I’m his wife and not his sister or his cousin or some other long lost relative.
“Oh I’m sorry, Mrs Miller.”
“DeLuca,” I interrupt again.
“What?” Asks the lady again, I mean how hard is it to get? DeLuca, not Miller.
“Anyway, where’s my husband?”
“He’s in emergency at the moment but the doctors are…”
“Which way to emergency?” G asks. She eyes G and returns her cautious stare to me. “I think I best call through and announce you’re here.” She picks up the phone and starts talking fairly quietly but still loud enough for me to hear. “I see,” she says as her eyes dart over to me. I lean over the counter and snatch the phone out of her hand. G stands close to me but turns his back, watching for any rent a cop that may have been silently buzzed here.
“Who am I talking to?” I command.
“I’m sorry, Mam but Mr Miller says he’s not married.”
“Tell him Frankie will finish the job those fuckers didn’t.” I hear the phone being covered up, probably by the person’s hand. Muffled voices talk for a second before the same male voice comes back to the phone.
“Come right through.”
I hand the phone back to the desk lady and wait for her to point us to Jeremy’s bed. When she hangs up, she straightens her back and smooths down her hospital scrubs. “Down the hall, corridor on the left, first set of swinging doors on the left, the second corridor on the right. Keep going until you see a nurse’s station.” She sits back down and looks away.
G and I make our way down the rabbit warren until we reach the unmanned nurse’s station. We don’t bother waiting for a nurse to show us where Jeremy is; instead G goes ahead and starts opening doors to every room, intruding on the privacy of the sick. I hear a whistle down the corridor and G gestures that he’s found Jeremy.
I start walking down there and I’m not sure what I’ll find behind the door. I don’t know how he’ll look or how damaged he actually is.