Chapter 20
Allie
Sea water and thousands of years of erosion etched out an arched cave under the rocky shore. The mouth was so low we scraped the top edge of the windshield as Ringo piloted the speedboat he’d stolen under the lip. Luckily, the grotto opened up to give the boat room to maneuver.
Ringo ran it aground on the yellow sand lining the bottom. The silt created a soggy beach that sucked in my boots within seconds of jumping free of the boat. Ringo ignored my complaints and told me quite plainly, “Quit bitching.”
To which I answered with a good old-fashioned, silent finger-bird.
“I’m going to get your husband. Stay put.”
“Take me with you.” He’d threatened to tie my hands if I followed him, and I was reduced to begging.
“No, he’ll kill me if I put you in danger. It’s bad enough I caught you outside the house in the first place. What were you two idiots thinking?”
Maybe divide and conquer, with a bit of switcheroo sprinkled on top?
“Besides, if I showed you the secret back door, I’d have to kill you. Or someone would, because I’m sure Don Conti doesn’t want that information out. Now, let’s repeat this again, what are you going to do while I rescue Mario?”
I tried one more time to get him to see reason. “Go with you in case someone’s injured.”
“No. Jesus. What part of Mario will kill me did you miss?”
“You tried to kill him. It’s only fair he has a shot.”
“I did not try to kill him. If I had, he’d be dead.”
“You’re so full of yourself.”
“For good reason. Which is why you need to stay right here and let the professional handle it. An amateur might get your husband killed. Is that what you want?”
Jerk. Why did he have to rub that in my face?
“Fine. Go.”
“And you’re going to do what while I’m gone?”
“Stay here with the boat.” I eyed it as it wobbled on its quicksand-esque perch.
“I have the keys, you know.”
There went that plan.
“A little tip, I know people think I’m just another pretty face, but you shouldn’t underestimate me.”
“You’re not pretty.”
Ringo laughed as he slipped into an ominous dark crack near the back. His parting words echoed in the space long after he’d disappeared. “Good thing I can tell you two apart because you sounded just like your sister.”
The rising water lifted the boat from its mooring and caused it to drift from the tiny beach. The light streaming from the entrance grew faint.
I perched on top of a dry pile of rocks, worrying about the tide. Was the water level going to get much higher? This was far beyond my comfort zone. And being left all alone without someone to rely on played tricks on my mind. I jumped at yet another strange noise.
Was that rocks falling?
It couldn’t be. It wasn’t nearly loud enough.
But the slight clatter of noise that barely surpassed the roar of the surf outside had me searching the shadows at the end of the cave.
I made myself smaller, wishing for the millionth time that Ringo hadn’t abandoned me here.
But if he hadn’t, no one would be on their way to rescue my husband, would they?
The wait was maddening. No wonder my grandfather had married three times. No woman in their right mind wanted to stay married to a man who put themselves in such danger. And Jaja was only an accountant.
How could I do this? Moreover, why would I do this to myself?
Safe, sensible Allie Jacobs would never want a life like this. Last night’s insanity slapped me in the face. I’d been stupid giving Mario my heart like that. It made me do dumb things like switch clothes with my sister, steal the keys for the sedan, and plot an escape plan…from mobsters no less?
And then what? Somehow sneak into a fortress I had no clue how to find, in a foreign country, and free my husband without getting hurt?
Ringo was right. I was an amateur.
Another scrape of rock and a distinct crunch, crunch of footsteps, had me twisting around to discover the source.
Sound echoed off the walls of the cave, making locating the source confusing.
At first, it seemed to come from the mouth of the cave, but it also sounded near the rear of the cave.
I stared at the darkness for longer than I should have.
“Mostri le mani.”
Shit. I did a quick translation. Hands, demonstrate… damn it. Show your hands. A flashback of one horrible high school party and the stupid FBI agents who’d crashed it flitted through my mind.
I held my hands out and turned toward the mouth of the cave half expecting a police officer.
Instead, Dianora’s cousin, Leandro, held an automatic rifle raised to fire. Adrenaline dumped into my system. I briefly considered racing to the back of the cave where Ringo disappeared, but knew that horse had left the barn even before my brain started on other options.
“There are two of you?” Leandro not only looked confused, but his voice betrayed his disbelief.
Two? I looked around. Then realized he must mean my sister.
“Yes. We’re twins,” I replied before my brain belatedly told me to shut the eff up. I winced.
His face scrunched, and his eyes darted as he translated my words. Then it cleared. “That explains much.”
I was getting better at this whole hearing the words and not translating them thing.
He stared at the back of the cave and the boat that floated out of reach. “Are you…something something… alone?” He didn’t wait for my answer because he answered for himself. “That bastard, Ringo.”
Oh yes, that was an expected response. I nodded along with his anger because I’d been thinking along those lines as well. That bastard, Ringo, left me alone here where Don Conti’s men would find me. Or, that bastard, Ringo, grabbed the wrong twin and left her unprotected.
Wait. How did he know there were two of us? Unless…
Oh. That BASTARD, Ringo. “Where is my sister?”
Leandro’s eyes narrowed. The barrel of the gun had gone slack but he aimed it at me again. “You will find her soon. Walk in front of me.”
Oh… shit. Shit-shit-shit-shit…SHIT. Mario was going to be pissed.
I rose gingerly and struggled to ignore the stains on my pants as I stepped off my little mountain of rocks into the water-logged sand. Each footfall sunk about four inches and covered my shoes then made awfully rude noises as I tugged my feet out.
At the back of the cave, the rocks and sand were solid enough that it made walking easier. I couldn’t pause to clean Ellie’s shoes off because Leandro nudged me with the danger-end of his weapon. I couldn’t see into the darkness.
“Move.”
“But I can’t see.”
He muttered something derogatory about women, or Americans, or American women. It was useless to try to translate because the tone he used said more than any words could.
But he lowered his gun, opting to brace it one-handed as it hung from its harness strap and he raised a flashlight at eye level with his freed hand. The light illuminated an ominously low and narrow opening. My shadow blocked some of the ground ahead, so I shifted to see more of the opening.
He grabbed my arm with his gun hand. His fingers pinched the muscles and ground them into my bone.
I dipped that shoulder to try to twist free, but that only made him dig in harder.
“Do not try escaping.”
“Where am I going to run to? I can’t see more than ten feet in front of me.”
He stared at me blankly.
“Me, run? No. Can’t see.” I waved my hand in front of my face, indicating my eyes.
He shined the light right into them.
Bastardo. Now I really couldn’t see.
A few other choice words ran through my head as I blinked my way forward and stumbled twice.
If he hadn’t had a grip on me, I would have went down.
But we moved too slowly for his taste.
“You will not run.”
He let go of my arm and went back to cradling the gun one-handed.
I rubbed the bruises he left and nodded.
Leandro shifted the light toward the cave floor.
It had sloped upward, but near the end of the space, another narrow opening was visible in his flashlight’s beam.
Once there, the path led to a staircase that must be ancient.
The rock treads were worn into treacherously furrowed ruts sloping downward.
I worried I’d slip each time I placed my foot.
Then it got worse.
The climb ended abruptly with a small opening I practically had to crawl through, and the cave opened up to my right.
I went to my knees to catch my balance at the sudden sensation of space and the threat of falling onto stalagmites likely over hundreds of millennia old.
Overhead, the ceiling was very low. The path twisted along the edge, carved into the wall, and around the stalactites that flowed from ceiling to their counterparts rising from the cave floor.
Leandro quickly caught up to me and put his hand on my shoulder.
I don’t know what he intended, but I suddenly had a mortal fear of being garroted from behind, like Loppa and Firenze had illustrated so vividly.
I spun, leaning into the pivot, just like they’d taught me.
I came at him, swinging my fists into his crotch and working myself up to punching him in the face.
He doubled over, guarding his groin. His flashlight fell and rolled off the edge of the path, plunging everything into shadows.
I kicked out, holding onto the stalactite column next to me for balance.
Leandro wobbled, one foot slipping on the edge of the path. His silhouette was outlined by the faint illumination of the flashlight that had fallen somewhere below.
I kicked again. He caught my leg, but the momentum I’d used tipped him over the edge.
My hands slid down the damp column, wedging at the base where I’d wrapped both arms around the narrowest width. My skin stung and my shoulders ached.
Leandro had a death grip on my leg.
My body hung over the edge and my breathing was tight because I fell hard on my side.
He called me a female dog in Italian.
“You obviously don’t… know… I… like… dogs!” I kicked around with my free foot and found his skull with the last five words. I was thankful I wore Ellie’s heavy boots.
My grip was loosening, and I kicked harder, cussing each time, knowing that either I’d get free or be dragged down with Leandro.
One of Leandro’s hands slipped from my ankle.
I wiggled my whole torso to shake him loose.
“I will kill you, you American whore!”
I slid my free foot right down my leg to strafe his clinging hand with the tread of Ellie’s boot. A horse did that to me once. I was bruised for weeks.
Surprisingly, Leandro had the same reaction I did.
With a cry and a loud noise, his hand slipped free and the strain on my arms lessened so quickly I thought I’d lose my grip just because I felt lighter than a feather without his weight. But I clung more fiercely to the rock column and waited almost a minute to risk looking down.
Leandro’s flashlight was a small puddle of light at the bottom. It landed in a pool of water, and the diffused beam made the stalagmites encircling it like sentinels glow like iridescent moonstones. In any other situation, it might be beautiful.
But I couldn’t see Leandro. And not seeing his mangled body wasn’t a good thing.
If he’d somehow survived the fall, he might find his gun and shoot me as I dangled over the drop. I had to get back onto the ledge.
The wall was uneven, giving me some footholds, but it was also slippery. With extreme care, I planned my next moves while factoring in how to maintain a tight grip on the column as I worked my body higher.
I tested each footing before I shifted my embrace on my rocky lifeline.
Eventually, I was able to wrap a knee over the edge to take the majority of my body weight, and I clung there for much longer this time as I rested my arms.
Then, with a final push, I shifted my hips over the ledge lip and rolled onto my back. I panted as I stared at the shadows that seemed to be growing overhead. The light from below was weakening. Probably due to water seeping into the battery casing. I needed to think about escape routes.
Once I left this room, I’d be blind. If I went higher along this path, I might find the castle, or slip over an edge like this one.
One thing was certain, I didn’t know anything about that route.
And, I was weaponless and vulnerable. Should there be guards at the entrance, given the rare chance I even made it that far, I was sunk.
Yet, if I went down the way I’d came, I ran the risk of running into more armed men and be caught again.
Lastly, if I stayed here, and Leandro wasn’t dead, he’d probably find a way to climb up like I did.
But I’d hear him doing that, wouldn’t I?
The light gave out completely, and I was out of options.
Very slowly, I felt the path by my feet. Using my boots to feel around for the cave wall now to my right, and for the ledge to my left, I slid down the path on my butt only moving a few inches at a time.
When I ran out of path and only walls and empty drop were my options, I sat up and slowly traced the walls to feel for an opening.
But I couldn’t find any.
Had I gotten turned around? Did I miss the opening?
Was I going to die here? That question scared me the worst. I hadn’t done the things I wanted to do with my life because I’d been so busy chasing the things I was supposed to. Or thought I was supposed to do. I hadn’t even been successful at that.
The darkness wasn’t friendly. A light drip of water kept me company as I weighed the volume of my life and came up lacking.
Also lacking was any sign of life.
Surely, I’d hear labored breath, or groans of pain from Leandro?
The silence accused me and found me guilty.