Chapter 37
Chapter thirty-seven
If you asked me how I’m still alive, I couldn’t tell you.
I think it was my father watching over me.
The car should have exploded and burst into flames, but instead only one of the charges set at the front of the vehicle detonated early. It gave Dominic enough time to pull me to safety before the other charges blew.
Sinking into the grass, I draw my knees to my chest, and place my back against the side of the house.
I hear Dominic’s voice on the phone as he stands over me. He’s calling 911.
My ears ring.
With every movement, my muscles scream in protest.
But my eyes can’t stop staring at the bonfire that once was my car.
Flames crackle like the devil himself is laughing at my inability to figure out the killer. The fire rises higher as part of my car frame caves in with a shriek of warped metal. Smoke clouds the air.
Thank god I parked back far enough from the house and the fire is contained.
My fingers are burned.
My hands are cut from the windshield shattering.
But I can’t look away from the orange light devouring what’s left of my car.
I can’t stop staring at the shards of glass scattered around the driveway like dying stars under the sun’s rays.
Groaning, I press my hand onto the grass as I attempt to stand up.
“Don’t do that Cipi, relax. The fire department and paramedics are coming.” Dominic kneels down next to me.
“I’m fine.” I wave him off, but he grabs my arm, and helps me to my feet.
“Always so damn independent,” he mutters.
“Thank you.” I barely hear the words coming out of my mouth. My brain is working overtime to try to piece together how someone could have almost killed me twice now at my house and no one saw a thing.
“You’re shaking,” Dominic takes off his jacket and wraps it around me. Then he pulls me into his arms. “You’re okay,” he whispers, kissing the top of my head. “You’re okay.”
But I’m not even close to being okay.
I’m about to lose my shit.
“I wasn’t even inside that long,” I croak. “I didn’t see anyone and no security alerts went off.”
“They probably turned the cameras off and we didn’t even know it because we were too busy arguing,” he murmurs.
I hang my head. The argument seems stupid now.
I feel like a fool.
The Capuano compound is supposed to be impenetrable.
Someone is making a mockery of me.
My hands ache.
Sirens wail in the distance.
Fuck.
How am I going to explain this to the cops?
“Cipi!”
Stepping out of Dominic’s embrace, I see Nonna hobbling across the street in a pink robe. Curlers are wound tightly in her white hair.
Bruno follows behind her, leaning heavily on his cane. His head is still bandaged like a mummy.
She stops short when she sees me. “Madonna, Cipi you’re bleeding.”
I look down at my cut hands as she hugs me.
“We heard a noise, then I looked out the window and saw your car go up in flames.” Nonna shrieks.
Fire trucks pull into the compound. The firefighters jump out in full gear. They begin pulling hoses and grabbing fire extinguishers from the vehicles.
The cops pull up behind the trucks. Dominic goes over to talk to them.
Bruno glares at Dominic’s back, his expression darkening like an oncoming storm.
“Fuck!” He mutters. “That’s the last thing we need is the cops on our ass. I better go over there.”
He hobbles forward when Nonna catches his arm. “Dominic can handle it. Come inside. With his background, he’ll get further than we will.”
Bruno doesn’t seem to like that response but he doesn’t say anything. He turns to me. “What the hell happened?”
“I think someone put a car bomb under the hood of my car when I was inside the house.”
“Fuck.” Bruno slams his cane on the ground.
“What are you doing here at the compound Bruno?”
“Bruno is staying with me for the next few days. His housekeeper is going on vacation and according to his doctor, Bruno can’t be alone. He needs to be supervised,” Nonna explains.
Bruno scoffs. “I’m completely capable of taking care of myself but your Nonna insisted.” His eyes scan my face. “Was it an ignition bomb?”
“How the hell should I know Bruno? I didn’t look under my car.
I had just used the car. I wasn’t even in the house for that long.
There wouldn’t have been enough time to rig it.
I think it was operated by remote. I think someone put the bomb under the hood of my car and when I got in they pushed the button but it didn’t catch at first so the explosion was minor. It only made a noise and caught fire.”
“We’ll know more once they put out the fire,” Nonna whispers.
Looking past Bruno, I see the firefighters using a combination of water, specialized foams, and dry chemical extinguishers to put out the fire. The flames bow under the pressure of the foam and water.
Dominic talks to the policemen who have gotten out of the car.
Nonna latches her fingers around my arm. “We need to get you inside.”
Just then the paramedics pull up. Sirens blaring and lights flashing. A man and a woman get out. They walk over to us.
“We got notified someone was involved in a car fire,” the tall man with sandy blonde hair speaks first.
“Yes, she was.” Nonna nods to me.
“Come sit on the porch and let’s take a look at you.”
I walk up the steps and sit down in one of the comfy chairs on the porch. The male paramedic kneels down in front of me while the female places the medical bag on the table. She pulls out some bandages and gauze.
The male paramedic takes my hands in his gloved hands. “Let’s get these cleaned up first.”
Nodding, I swallow down the sharp pain that pulses through my fingers.
After I’m bandaged, the paramedics do a full assessment on me. They do a smoke inhalation check, a circulation check, a consciousness check, a hearing check, and a burn analysis.
While they take my heart rate, blood pressure, and do an oxygen check, I look at Bruno. He’s nearby on the porch, leaning heavily on his cane while his eyes are locked on Dominic who is still talking to the police.
The firefighters have extinguished the blaze on the car. A skeleton of metal remains in its place, smoke curling off the top of the frame.
“Overall it looks like you’re okay,” the male paramedic declares, his voice slightly muffled.
“Your hearing has been affected by being in the car when the blast went off. It should be temporary. You’ll have some ringing, of course and things won’t sound as clear but that will fade.
Also there will be some bruising and you might have a headache.
If you feel any worse please go to the hospital and follow up with your physician. Have him refer you to an ENT.”
“You’re very lucky,” the female paramedic adds.
They pack up their bags and head toward the truck.
Bruno watches them go. “I’ll have to call Tony and tell him to bring the tow truck,” he mutters.
The firefighters walk back to their vehicles and leave.
Now the police are walking around my car and looking under it. Dominic also aids in the inspections.
Another car enters the compound and parks further down the cul-de-sac on the curb.
Enzo gets out. His eyes widen as he looks at the burned car while cutting across the front yard.
“Boss?” His face is full of questions as he steps onto the porch.
“Don’t ask.” I groan.
“I tried calling you.”
“I was occupied.” I hold up my bandaged hand.
Enzo nods. “ I stopped by to let you know that we located Gigi and Elio. Gigi is being escorted home. She’s not happy about it, but she’ll be here soon.”
“Thank you Enzo.” He nods again and leaves, passing Dominic on his way to the car.
The police are finally getting back into their cars.
“How are you?” Dominic asks as he steps onto the porch.
“I’m okay.” I watch the police drive out of the compound. “They aren’t going to question me.”
“No, I handled it.” Dominic sits down next to me.
“What happened?” I turn to him, wincing a little.
“Yeah, what the fuck happened?” Bruno adds.
“Bruno, shut up,” Nonna shushes him.
Dominic glares at Bruno but ignores his cold tone. “Someone placed a remote control bomb under your car when you went inside the house.”
“I knew it.”
“When you got in the car and turned it on, the person pressed the button and the bomb went off but there was a malfunction so it ignited at fire instead of blowing up. They bagged what’s left and are going to send it to be analyzed.”
I look out to where the police cars were parked moments ago. “They aren’t going to come back with the forensics team and analyze everything are they?”
“No. I handled it. I don’t think they really want to be involved in possible mafia warfare anyway.”
“How could this happen?” Bruno snarls.
“I’m guessing the security cameras got turned off again.”
“You guess?” Bruno scoffs. “Someone just tried to blow her up in broad daylight, on her own property, and you have nothing but guesses? You’re supposed to be the head of this investigation!”
Dominic narrows his eyes and stands up. “I’m doing the best I can. As you know it’s extremely complicated when the person is someone on the inside. We need to have all our evidence in place before making any accusations. We don’t want to come down on the wrong person.”
Bruno grips his cane tighter.
“That’s bullshit. Since you’ve been brought onto this case, we’ve had two attempted shootings, deaths, and now a car bomb.
Cipriani spoke highly of you that you were the only person who could figure out who’s behind this.
But I’m not convinced. It’s been weeks and you still don’t have any answers for us, which is obvious seeing as how you’ve never cared for our kind. ”
“You think I don’t care?” Dominic takes a step closer to Bruno so they’re face to face. “I’m doing everything I can to find out who’s behind this.”
“Clearly, you’re not doing enough, we would have been better off without you. We know you're wrapped around Cipriani’s finger. You’ve always been.”
Dominic folds his arms. “What are you trying to say Bruno?”
“I think you’re more interested in getting into Cipriani’s panties than you are about who’s trying to kill her and all of us,” Bruno snaps.
“Bruno, stop!” I shout.
“Really, Bruno, that's so childish,” Nonna adds.
“I just pulled her out of a burning car!” Dominic shouts.
“No, I won't stop.” Bruno snarls. He points to his bandage. “I took a bullet in the head for this shit. If I weren’t fucked in the head right now I would find someone else to investigate this mess because anyone would be better than you.” He narrows his eyes.
“Personally, I think you’re not trying hard enough to solve this because you’re mad at Cipi for choosing family over you. ”
“That’s not true.” Dominic protests.
“You always were a sellout, Dominic Cartieri. You worked for the feds for years and badmouthed our lifestyle but yet you want to fuck the girl who lives it every day.” A smirk appears on Bruno’s face.
“I find it very interesting how right after you return into her life that the body count starts to rise. Maybe someone is pulling your strings.”
Silence fills the air and I can see Bruno is not holding back. He’s going for the jugular.
Dominic’s eyes turn stormy. “You think I’m working against her?”
“It would seem so seeing as how under your watch someone got onto the property, shut down our security once again, and put a bomb under her car. Your previous job made you very knowledgeable about intelligence operations yet you can’t figure out who’s behind this.
Just admit it Dominic, you hate our way of life so you would be the kind of person to try to eliminate it,” Bruno taunts.
“Me! Are you fucking kidding me Bruno? I love Cipriani.”
“When you love someone that means you walk away and take a job that persecutes our people. You didn’t even have the decency to show your face when her father died and I had to comfort her.
” He points again to his bandage. “I took that bullet for her, you arrogant little shit! What the fuck did you do? You almost got her blown up. Who gives a fuck if you pulled her from the car, she should have never gotten in it to begin with.” Bruno moves his cane and whacks Dominic in his right shin.
Dominic lunges forward, his face looking like he’s going to beat the crap out of Bruno.
I jump up from the chair and get in his way. “Dominic no!”
“Stop it!” Nonna raises from her chair. “Stop it both of you! You’re grown men acting like little boys!
” She smacks Bruno on the back of hus head.
“Give me that, you fool!” She takes his cane.
“Bruno that head injury has your brain all fucked up. You don’t know what you’re saying.
” She links her arm through Bruno’s and turns to Dominic.
“Dominic, my apologies. We know you would never do anything to hurt Cipriani.”
Dominic doesn’t answer and turns away. He walks to the end of the porch, raking a hand through his hair.
“Cipriani doesn’t need all this brainless squabbling. She needs answers. We need to find out who’s behind this shit before we’re all dead. Pointing fingers is only going to get us all put six feet under!” Nonna finishes.
Bruno doesn’t answer.
“We need to get our shit together.” I place my hands on my hips. “Arguing isn’t going to do us any good.”
“I’m taking you back to my house Bruno,” Nonna snarls. “You need a nap, maybe that will get your head screwed back on straight, fool.” She locks eyes with me. “I’ll call Tony once I get back to the house and have him come pick up the car.” She leads Bruno off the porch.
He follows but then stops and looks back at Dominic who’s standing at the end of the porch.
“I’m watching you, boy. One wrong move, and I’ll put a bullet in you. Then we’ll see how you like it.”
Dominic doesn’t turn around. He grips the railing tighter, his voice deadly calm. “Get in line, Bruno. We both know if you were half as good at keeping out killers as you are at placing blame you wouldn’t have a hole in your head right now.”