Chapter Nineteen Bloody Angel
Henry
A couple of hours later…
We all sat in Mr. Mancini’s study and ate lunch.
It was an awesome meal of course. Not entirely Italian as I expected but close.
Sub sandwiches and meatball soup. The room itself was almost too intimidating to sit in, however.
How could a room be intimidating, you ask?
All mahogany wood. Leather chairs and a sofa, glass, brass fixtures and expensive looking paintings that I felt sure were originals. Mostly of Italy.
“I recognize Sicily,” Maya said and pointed at a painting as she gave Mr. Mancini a shy smile.
“Si!” He smiled back at her. “I was raised there. One of my closest friends painted them. She is talented, si?”
Nodding as she set her drink down, Maya agreed, “I think I saw her work in a gallery when I was just a kid. I truly believe I did as her paintings have this unique style. They stand out from the rest.”
“So you have been to Sicily?” he asked her while looking curious.
“I have. My father used to say, what loyal Italian would skip seeing Sicily?”
Mancini smiled broadly at her. The change it made to his austere face was absolutely astonishing. He looked friendly and warm.
“As the famous writer Goethe noted, ‘To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is not to have seen Italy at all.’ And I could not agree more,” Maya gushed. “We only had three days and a person would need three weeks to simply start seeing all the glory of that island.”
Mancini set his coffee down and leaned forward to ask her, “How can a la signorina your age be so wise and good?”
Blinking at him, she replied. “Good? Maybe not. But the wise part I might agree with. I was a schoolteacher in Italy, signore.”
He waved his hand at her. “I can believe that. So intelligent. The kids told my wife that they learned three languages from you. Then I must say that you are familia now and as such, you must call me Alberto.”
Her eyes rounded at him.
I’m sure mine did too as I glanced at Rain to see he also looked stunned by this friendly and warm attitude from one of the most notorious Italian mobsters there ever was. Then again, this involved Maya and it should not have surprised us.
She gave him a very respectful nod. “Yes, Signore Alberto.”
He chuckled. “Bene, I can see why those kids are so smart and well behaved.” Mancini looked over at me and narrowed his eyes. “If you ever hurt this woman…you will not live to tell of it.”
I froze in the comfy leather chair I sat in and could not find my voice for a tense minute. Then I found myself declaring the truth, “Maya is the best thing I have ever been blessed with, Mr. Mancini. I intend to honor her and protect her with my life.”
Maya gasped from the chair beside me.
I did not look over at her as I met his eyes to be sure he could see my steady gaze.
He stared at me for another full minute, then he finally gave me a nod.
I tried hard not to exhale in total relief and slump in my chair, lest I would embarrass myself.
A knock sounded on the door.
“Entra!” Mancini called out.
A small woman entered quietly and picked up our plates then put them onto the trolley that had been by the door.
Maya spoke to the girl as she smiled at her, “Thank you so much, Signoria.”
The maid paused to give her a quiet nod and smiled back at her. Then turning, she pushed the cart out the door.
“Your manners are impeccable, Maya,” another compliment from Mancini.
“Oh no, it is not for politeness’ sake. I know how it feels to be a…” Her voice faded away. Then she added, “Servant. So anywhere I go, I make sure to appreciate them.”
He stared at her as if he couldn’t fathom someone who seemed so genuine and gracious.
“Maya is one in a million,” I said.
“Henry!” Maya exclaimed.
I turned to look at her. “I am sorry I embarrassed you, but I am just being honest here. The reason we are all sitting here in this study to help you is because you are simply put… the kind of person that reflects the best of humanity. In fact, I cannot wait to meet your parents as they raised you to be…” I almost ran out of words to impart how special she was. “…Just an incredible person.”
The study went quiet.
“Here, here,” Rain chimed in with his agreement. “Although I have to wonder how you got so lucky, Henry.”
More silence, then Mancini broke into laughter.
I looked over at Rain and rolled my eyes.
Mancini was still smiling as he announced, “Now, as we are finished with our lunch and our appreciation of the Maya Angel. We can discuss the plan.”
I vowed to stay quiet now as I had said enough to embarrass my Brit ass for a while. All I did was nod.
“I have called in a team,” Mancini explained.
“However, you will not see them at all until they take action. I have called forth many favors to get you the tactical help you need in order to survive this. They will be in the background. I also commandeered a jet from a friend that will take you to a private airport just outside the rain forest on the far side of Catemaco. It is mostly unknown to the public. Then your guide will meet you and escort you to a hidden safehouse.”
The three of us simply stared at him in total shock. A rescue team, a private jet, then a guide and a safehouse? How in the fuckall had he accomplished all of that in just four hours?
“Also, keep the false identities that Rainmaker informed me of earlier today,” Mancini went on in that smooth Italian timber he had.
“You may need them as the League could already be aware of you. Even if you do not go through customs at an airport, you still need to be invisible.” He paused when his laptop pinged.
Tapping some keys, he stared at the screen for a minute as his expression showed surprise.
The room remained quiet as we all waited for him to speak again.
It took several minutes. I felt like I might burst with frustration.
This man looking surprised at something indicated that it was very big news.
Did whatever he saw on that screen have to do with us and this proposed trip?
The longer it took the more I felt like it did. I braced myself for bad news.
Finally, Mancini raised his head to look at Maya. “Mia cara, you especially, need to stay in disguise and remain as hidden as possible.”
She gave him a nod. “I have no one that might recognize me. And even so, I was a local in Catemaco for a few years.”
He took a breath and let it out slowly to finally share what he’d read on his laptop, “There has been a development in Mexico that is not good news for you.”
Looking afraid, she scooted forward in the chair to ask, “I-is it...” She paused to swallow heavily. “M-my family?” Obviously, she was afraid to hear that they died.
He shook his head. “No, la mia ragazza, it is about you,” Mancini told her in a very soft voice that the world probably rarely heard from him. “You are wanted by the Mexican government.”
Staring at him with her dark eyes appearing huge in her beautiful face, her mouth popped open.
“What in the bloody hell?” I exclaimed.
Mancini turned his laptop around and showed us whatever it was that made him look this upset.
Maya looked a bit ashen as she read the Spanish wanted poster aloud, “El ángel sangriento. Se busca: Asesina en serie. Maya Perro.”
I looked at the screen, then over at her ashen face. I knew a little Spanish. But not enough to read this much of it.
“Holy crap…” Rain whispered as he knew several languages and he did understand.
In a shaky voice, Maya kept reading it, “Posiblemente haya asesinado a más de una docena de personas. Una recompensa de cien mil dólares por su captura.”
“What? What does it say?” I even heard the panic in my voice.
I leaned forward and tapped the keyboard on the translate button.
Then I read it aloud, “Wanted for murder. The Bloody Angel. A female serial killer. Maya Perro. She has possibly murdered more than a dozen people. There is a hundred-thousand-dollar reward for her capture.” I stared at the words as if I hadn’t just read them in English because they just could not be real.
“Bloody hell,” I grumbled in shock. They did have a picture of her.
It looked like it came from a passport photo.
Then I looked up at Maya who seemed to have lost all the color in her face.
“The report below it says, they found her victims buried in the basement of a house,” Mancini informed us. “The two older ladies who owned the house, then several other bodies of men who had been declared missing for the last few years. They also found more bodies buried in the backyard.”
Maya leaned back in the chair as she looked like she might pass out. “T-they are blaming me for the murders that t-those two old women committed? Yes, the local authorities came around asking about a few men who were missing. But t-they killed a dozen people?” She visibly shuddered.
“The Castillo family were natural born killers,” Mancini stated.
“So this does not surprise me. I admit my Italian compatriots are notorious for this as well. However, Santiago himself, reportedly killed not for business reasons or out of necessity. It has been reported by many that he did it for the joy of it. He killed hundreds during his miserable existence. You all know the story of what he did to the twin’s father and he was very young.
Like twenty-years old. My Gabriela lived through that and I am grateful she survived it.
But there is a long history of this in that same family.
In Mexico, Santiago’s grandfather was called El Carnicero Negro.
The Black Butcher. Before him, the family hailed back to a black hearted general in the Mexican army that was involved in the historical killings at the Alamo in this country. ”
“This is so.” Rain nodded.
Mancini looked up at him.
“I do my research and especially on cartel members,” Rain explained.
I reached over to take Maya’s hand in mine and told her, “Maybe you should stay he––”
“No!” She cut me off. “I have to be there. I spent three years in servitude to the witches from hell so that I could be there on the blood moon, Henry. I cannot allow this to stop me. I would go insane waiting here. Do not ask me to stay.”
I wasn’t surprised by this statement as I knew this had been something she had spent years waiting for. But it made this endeavor even more dangerous and I had not believed that would be possible.
“I knew this would be your reaction,” Mancini said.
“So, all I can do is aid you and your friends here, Maya.” He waved his hand at Rain and I.
“Remain in disguise and please for the love of God stay in between these two men to keep yourself from harm. If…” He paused then went on, “The twins lose you? The loss would deeply affect their lives. And therefore, it would affect my wife’s life.
It might…” He sighed. “…Do irreparable damage to my world in the end. So, you can see why I am so invested in this.” He looked up at me then at Rain to give us instructions, “Watch for these men I have sent, when that seven-point star is lit and the ritual starts. They will be masked in balaclava but they will have a gold X on their masks and clothing. So you will know them instantly. If you see others dressed in black or otherwise, they may be the League. So the X’s will be the good guys.
Then it will be your job to rescue her family.
And by the way, Carlos and Selena left the estate about an hour ago.
They only said that they had a pressing matter to attend to? They said goodbye to Gabriela.”
Rain took his phone out and tapped the screen. “They didn’t text me.”
I dug my cell out from my pocket and checked it. “Me either.”
Mancini stood and came around his large desk to where we sat in the leather chairs.”
I felt surprised when he extended his hand and I shook it.
Next, Mancini did the same with Rain. “If they return, I will tell them to call you. Then let me know before you leave if there is anything at all that you need. If it is within my power to provide it, I will.”