Chapter 18
Easy-Peasy
Wire
Falcon and I go straight from Heathrow airport to the restaurant on the outskirts of the city, owned by Luke Capone and his wife, Irene.
We park across the street a while and watch as patrons come in and out of the restaurant, but there’s no sign of Luke.
We’re about to leave and see if we have better luck scoping out the auto mechanic shop, they own, when I recognize two men from the photos we have on file.
Luke and his oldest brother, Atilio Jr., emerge from a dark BMW, deeply engrossed in conversation, neither man looking very happy as they head inside.
“Luke and Atilio.” I point them out to Falcon.
“I spotted them. I thought Atilio turned up clean,” Falcon says.
“He did. That could just mean that he’s never been caught.”
“True enough.” Falcon nods. “Now we wait.”
Stakeouts are the worst. Time passes too slowly, and we still need to stay sharp because we’ve learned to expect the unexpected. I’m thinking we’re going to be waiting for hours, but before long, Atilio storms out of the restaurant, Luke striding after him.
“We’ll get it done! The boys are on it. We’ll find her,” Luke shouts in frustration. Even from across the street, we can hear him.
Atilio turns around and grabs his brother by the collar of his shirt, lifting him onto his toes, until they’re nose to nose, their eyes locked.
Atilio looks ready to murder his brother.
I can see his mouth moving, but his voice is too low for me to hear.
When he tosses his brother away from him, Luke stumbles back and catches himself before he hits the pavement.
Atilio doesn’t bother looking back as he climbs back into the BMW. Luke gets up, dusts himself off, and goes back into the restaurant. I open the passenger door to get out.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Falcon asks.
“Luke’s vulnerable. This is where he might fuck up.
Text me where you end up, and I’ll meet you there,” I reply.
Without giving him a chance to argue, I get out and cross the street toward the restaurant.
I look at Falcon’s car in the window reflection and see him hesitate, but he’s forced to leave to follow Atilio.
The restaurant looks like an old-fashioned bistro, with checkered red-and-white tablecloths and flowers in vases that resemble retro wine bottles, complete with rattan wrapped around the bottom half of the bottle.
Soft Italian music plays in the background, and several tables are occupied and being served.
The delicious aroma of tomato sauce wafts through the air.
My stomach growls, reminding me that I haven’t eaten since early morning and the salty peanuts on the plane weren’t going to assuage my hunger pangs.
“Are you dining alone?” I’m asked by a young woman holding a menu in her hand and wearing what seems to be the uniform for the establishment, a pristine white shirt and black pants, her hair up in a tidy ponytail.
“Yes, thank you.” I might stand out wearing dark blue khakis with a white T-shirt, but thankfully, a blue button-down shirt makes me less conspicuous.
“If you’ll follow me,” she replies, and walks in the opposite direction from where I want to be. I see Luke and want to get as close to him as possible.
“I really like the window. Do you mind if I sit right over there?” I indicate a table for two, not too far from Luke, but far enough to make it seem that I like my privacy.
“Not a problem,” the server says with a grin and takes me to my table. “Are you new in town?”
“I’m on vacation and wandered over this way,” I reply nonchalantly.
“Most tourists prefer the cities. You’re a ways from London,” she adds.
“Yeah, and it was great for a couple of days, but I prefer the quiet. I’m thinking that the next time I plan a trip, I’m going to rent a country home instead of staying at a hotel in the city,” I answer with a chuckle.
This seems to satisfy her curiosity. She hands me the menu. “I suggest the gnocchi. They’re my favorite item on the menu,” she says, then adds, “I’ll give you a few minutes, but can I start you off with a drink?”
I order a glass of wine and glance at the menu. Luke is fixated on his cell phone. He’s texting frantically, his gaze never leaving the screen. Obviously, whatever his brother whispered has spooked him.
The waitress comes back with my wine, and I order the gnocchi, as she suggested. I notice the men’s room is right past where Luke is sitting, and I get up to head in that direction. When I walk past him, I can see his hands shaking. He picks up a call as I move by him.
“Where’s your brother?” I hear him ask. There’s a pause, then he asks, “And Nick?” Luke puts his head in his free hand.
I know that Nick is Luke’s son. “Fuck!” he exclaims, “Get your mother and brother and drive to the country house. Stay there until you hear from me.” Another pause, then, “I don’t have time to explain.
We messed up. It was our job to bring the woman and her son to Atilio, and she got away.
Atilio is out of patience. Keep calling Nick, and if you get him, tell him to meet you.
I’m going to see Atilio. If he has Nick, God knows what he’ll do to him just to make me suffer. ”
I disappear into the men’s bathroom and text Falcon that Luke’s son Nick is involved now too.
Then I go back to my table, only to find Luke gone.
I throw a few bills on the table and make a quick exit.
I need wheels. It’s not something I’m proud of, but hot-wiring an older car is another of my talents.
It’s one that I don’t use often, but it comes in handy at times like this.
I call Falcon as I’m driving. “Has Luke shown up yet?”
“Not yet,” Falcon replies. “If we can get Nick and Luke, we can find out why they’re after Maria and Franco. What’s your ETA?” After doing thorough research, we know all about Luke’s family.
He’s heading in the direction of the garage, which isn’t far. I estimate another ten minutes or so. “Luke has a head start. You need to head him off before he goes inside. If what I overheard is true, Atilio won’t hesitate to kill him.”
“Got it,” Falcon responds. He disconnects, and I concentrate on driving.
As I get closer to the garage, I see Falcon’s vehicle, but Falcon’s not inside. I stop the car, get out, and move as quietly as I can toward his vehicle. As I approach, Falcon calls my name in a loud whisper. He’s in an alley, and with him is an unconscious Luke.
“What the hell happened?” I whisper.
“He wouldn’t listen, so I had to knock him out,” Falcon replies. The headlights of another vehicle shine down the road, coming closer.
“I gotta get to Nick before he walks in there and gets himself killed.” I jog over to the hedge lining the edge of the property that is attached to the auto shop.
The lights are on in the shop, which means that Atilio is waiting for him.
When Nick steps out of his car, I see that he can’t be more than seventeen years old.
When Nick starts for the entrance, I sneak up behind him, cover his mouth, and yank him back into a tight hold.
He fights me, but he’s no match for my strength.
I whisper in his ear, “We’ve got your father, kid.
Keep quiet, and we’ll all live through the night. ”
Nick turns his head to look at me and stops trying to wrestle his way out of my grip. I move my hand away from his mouth. “Dad—”
I put my finger over my lips, motioning for him to keep his mouth shut, and move him toward Falcon, who is waiting for us with the motor running and Luke still mostly unconscious in the back. I shove Nick into the back seat, where his father is groaning as he comes around.
“Go,” I say. Falcon doesn’t waste any time getting the hell out of there.
“Who are you guys?” Nick asks, glancing between Falcon and me.
“We can either be your saving grace or your worst enemy. It depends on which way you two want to play this,” Falcon responds.
He looks in the rearview mirror, catching Luke’s glare.
“We just saved you and your son from a world of pain. As I see it, you have two options. You either work with us, or we’ll deliver you to Atilio ourselves and watch him kill your son right in front of your eyes, but we both know he won’t stop there. He’ll take everyone you love from you.”
“What do you want?” Luke asks, rubbing his jaw.
“Answers.”
“What kind of answers? You don’t understand how dangerous Atilio is. He’s going to lose his mind.”
“Dad, what’s going on? Uncle Atilio called me and told me that he wanted to talk about a summer job. We were going to meet to talk about it.”
“Son, nothing with your uncle is easy,” Luke tells his son. He’s an angry man, and he’s upset with me. He was going to hurt you to get to me.”
“Dad!” Nick says in shock, but Falcon interrupts.
“Be honest with the kid. At best, he would have been beaten to shit, or worse, you’d be dead, and your mother would have to bury her son,” Falcon says.
I get on the phone with Bull, and he reserves a room at a hotel in the next town. We want to be close, but not too close, in case Atilio and his men come looking for Luke. Next, I tell Luke to call his wife and to get her out of town, along with his two other sons.
“They’re not safe, and if Atilio knows you have other property, it’s the first place he’ll look,” I tell him.
“We have about an hour before Atilio will start calling to find out why you didn’t show up,” Falcon says.
A few hours later, Luke’s wife and sons are in a safe place. We don’t even know where they are. One of Falcon’s buddies has picked them up and is keeping them out of harm’s way until we figure out our next move.
Nick is agitated by everything he discovers about his uncle and the mess his family is in. Luke is clearly feeling guilty for putting his family in danger.
“I was a stupid kid and did a lot of crazy shit. My brothers and I grew up with nothing, and we found out fast that if you didn’t take what you wanted, you’d starve.
That was fine for a while, but I got greedy and landed my ass in prison.
I swore once I got out, I’d never go back to that life,” Luke begins.
“Atilio left the United States and said he would help us settle in England.” He shrugs.
“I thought, why not. It’s a place to start over.
” He sighs, shaking his head. “Everything was going great. Atilio invested in the restaurant, and when my oldest wanted to become a mechanic, I bought the shop. We were doing great. Everyone was happy.”
Luke pauses, dragging his hand down his face.
“What happened, then?” Falcon asks. “We’re running out of time. Atilio’s been calling both your phones, and he isn’t going to stop searching until he finds you. We’re the only chance your family has.”
“I didn’t know Atilio was involved with Vito Di Mille.
They had some kind of partnership that turned sour.
They went from friends to enemies. It seems that Vito cut Atilio out of a big arms deal.
Atilio swore he was going to get even. The two haven’t spoken since, but my brother never forgets who crosses him.
I was hoping he’d move past it, but one day, he calls me into his office and tells me he needs a favor,” Luke says.
“Go on,” I urge.
“It seems that one night, when Vito and Atilio were still good friends, and drinking, Vito told him about a woman he had as a mistress. Her name was Maria. Vito was married and would never leave his wife and kids for another woman, but he cared for her. When she got pregnant, though, Vito told her to get rid of it. Instead of doing what he said, she took off. Once Vito and Atilio severed ties, Atilio thought he’d get even by finding Maria and taking something of his that Vito cared about.
He asked me to find her for him. At the time, I didn’t know why he was looking for her or how much danger she was in.
” He pauses. “Maria was a ghost, but then I found the trail of a woman who left Italy and came to London, only this woman had a kid. It was a long shot, but I followed the trail. When I saw this child, I realized that Franco is the spitting image of his father, and I knew I’d found Maria. ”
“You told Atilio that you found her.”
“I had no choice, he was putting pressure on me and my family. He was threatening to hurt my boys. My wife is terrified of Atilio, and she has every right to be. Atilio mistreats his wife, and his daughter lives in fear of him. I think his wife is waiting for their daughter to finish school before running away. I hate to say this, but there’s no place for Maria to go where he won’t find her.
” He looks me in the eye. “I was protecting my family. I swear to you, I came to England for a clean start. I was staying out of trouble. We were happy.”
“So, he plans to get his revenge on Vito by killing his son,” Falcon finishes for him.
“I was so relieved that Maria and Franco were gone when we showed up at the motel that day,” Luke says.
“But Atilio was so upset, he lost his mind, he said that if I didn’t find them, he’d kill my sons one at a time until I brought Maria and Franco to him.
I tried to reason with him, but he was set on finding this woman.
I did what I could to stall for time and get my family out of the country, but I ran out of time.
Tonight, he was going to kill Nick. I just know it.
” Luke covers his face and begins to sob.
“Does Vito know about Maria and Franco?” I ask.
Luke shakes his head. “No. Atilio’s plan was to record Maria pleading for her life and for her son, then send him the dead bodies.”
Falcon sighs. “That’s not going to happen.”
“So much for an easy-peasy mission,” I say with a sly grin. “I think we need to call in reinforcements.”
“I’ll call Phoenix to make plans. In the meantime, we need to string Atilio along.” Falcon looks over at Nick and Luke. “We’re going to need your help. I’m not going to lie to you; we’re taking Atilio out. It keeps Maria and her kid safe and gives you a chance to keep your family together.”
This might seem like a choice, but Luke knows there is no other option.