Chapter 14
“I trusted you with the truth because I knew you were strong enough to carry it.”
— ROBERT MONROE
Constance
When we arrive back at the estate a few hours later, Trenton parks at the bottom of the stairs and then glances into the back seat at his friend, Van. “You sure you’ve got everything you need?” he asks her.
“Yup. I packed up a bag, and I’ve got dinner.” She smiles at him as she holds up the Burger King bag. She refused any payment for her help but had asked that we pick her up a Whopper and fries. She shoulders the backpack with her clothes and gets out of the SUV.
“You want me to go ahead and bring in the package?” Trenton asks me as I open the door to leave.
“Yes, grab that and bring it in. Let’s go ahead and get it all set up,” I confirm. “Just be careful with it.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he snorts as he gets down from the driver’s seat and then opens the rear hatch. He carefully maneuvers the large, heavy box to his chest and then follows Van and me up the stairs to the front door.
Leonard is already standing in the doorway to welcome us home. “I’m so glad you’re back,” he greets us. “Adeline has been blowing up my phone to get updates on Maximo. Has there been any word on his condition since you left the hospital?”
“No, but I’m sure that’s a good sign,” I reply.
“I’ve got the number for the intensive care unit on a card here, and Maximo is in room four.
Here.” I dig it out of my purse and hand it over to Leonard.
“Give that to Adeline so she can call them directly and ask for updates. It’ll make her feel better. ”
Van walks past Leonard and after looking around briefly heads for the kitchen. Leonard stares after her for a moment, then turns back to me. “Is that a relative of yours or a friend?”
“That’s Van, a friend of mine,” Trenton replies. “Hey, where are Jamie, Tony, and Chris?”
“They’re downstairs with our guest.” Leonard frowns. “It might be a good idea to go check on them. That man seemed to be in bad shape when they brought him in earlier.”
“I’ll take this down there,” Trenton tells me as he nods to the box he’s carrying. “Are you coming with me?”
“Yes, I’ll be right there. Leonard, can you set Van up with a room for the night? Have her stay in the estate, not out in the guesthouse with all the men, all right?”
“Of course, I’ll take care of it.” He turns to Van who we can see standing at the kitchen counter eating her burger. “I’ll make sure she’s comfortable as soon as she eats.”
“Thank you. Come on, Trenton, let’s go set everything up,” I order him as I head for the stairs to the basement.
Tony is sitting at the table in the armory where Maximo keeps his guns.
The big man has pushed all the tools to the side and has a Styrofoam clamshell filled with chicken wings in front of him.
He waves one at us in greeting. “Constance, Trenton, are you two okay? Leonard told us what happened at the hospital. I’m sorry about your man Joey. He seemed like a good guy.”
“He was,” Trenton agrees. “Jamie and Chris back there with our guest?” He jerks his head towards the closed door across the room leading to what I now think of as the interrogation room.
As if on cue, someone curses and moans loudly from the far room. “Yeah, they’ve got that Jacob boy strung up in there,” Tony says as he licks his fingers.
“Has he told you anything useful?” I ask.
“We didn’t ask him any questions.” Tony shrugs. “With Maximo laid up in the hospital, I’m not really sure what we should do with him.”
“Let me worry about that,” I tell him as I motion Trenton to follow me and march across the room.
I open the door to the interrogation room and blink at the flood of bright light.
Jamie and Chris have set up a spotlight in each corner of the room, brightly illuminating the handcuffed man dangling from a chain hung over a rafter.
Jacob is struggling to keep his weight focused on his unbroken arm, but every time he shifts, and his broken limb drags against the cuffs, he cries out pitifully.
He’s shirtless and his chest is covered in small lacerations and blistered patches of burned flesh.
Jamie sets the small blue butane torch he’d been holding down and smiles at us. “Constance, Trenton. Good to see you. How is Maximo holding up? Leonard told us he made it through surgery.”
“He’s still unconscious,” I tell Jamie as Chris, sitting in the corner, shakes his head in resignation. “The doctors are optimistic, but he almost didn’t make it. The only reason he survived was because we were already at the hospital.”
“It’s going to get worse for you,” Jacob rasps at me. “My mother won’t forgive you for what you’ve done.”
“I don’t want that bitch’s forgiveness,” I sneer at him. “I killed your brother for what he did to my family. I ought to kill you right now for what she did to Maximo today. But I’m not inclined to let you off that easily. Jamie, get him down from there and uncuff him for me.”
“Sure.” Jamie shrugs as Trenton crosses the room with his box and sets it down beside Chris.
“Trenton, get the vest ready,” I order him.
“I gotcha, Constance,” he says, already digging out the thick ballistic vest stuffed inside.
“What do you have there?” Jamie asks as he unhooks the chain from the wall and drops Jacob unceremoniously to the floor.
“A bulletproof vest we filled with weight plates, like bodybuilders use,” I explain. “Trenton, how much weight did we load into that thing?”
“At least sixty pounds,” Trenton plays along with my explanation as Jamie undoes the handcuffs binding our prisoner.
“Put it on him and cinch it up tight,” I instruct. Trenton turns the back of the vest to show Chris and Jamie the three large bricks of C4 that are wired into the plate carrier, though he makes sure Jacob can’t see it from his position.
Trenton manhandles the limp and broken man into the vest, then refastens the handcuffs onto his wrists and loops the chain back through them. “Okay, string him back up,” he tells Jamie.
This time, it takes Jamie and Chris both hauling on the chain to lift Jacob back into the air.
He lets out another anguished wail but doesn’t seem to have any other snide comments for me.
I watch him dangle there helplessly for a minute as sweat breaks out on his pale face and he gasps for each breath.
“My first instinct,” I finally tell him, “was to kill you for what your mother did to Maximo today. But this cycle of violence has to end. Give me a phone number to contact Irina, and I’ll propose a trade with her. I’ll trade you for Salvatore Bianchi’s son, and we’ll call a truce.”
“She won’t agree to that,” Jacob wheezes at me.
“She will, unless she wants to lose another son.”
“You just want her number? You just want to talk to her? Fine,” he spits the words, then recites a phone number. I don’t bother writing it down. I just pull Maximo’s phone out of my purse and unlock it with his code, then check the number Jacob gave me against the one Sergei had provided earlier.
When I see that they match, I turn to Trenton. “I need a burner phone. I don’t want this conversation trackable to any numbers we use.”
“Leonard will have one. Let’s head up and make the call.” Trenton picks up the box with the rest of the supplies and leaves the room.
“What should we do with him?” Jamie jerks a thumb at Jacob.
“He’s not going anywhere,” I shrug. “Turn the lights off and leave him hanging there tonight. Lock him in, but have someone check on him every hour or so. And keep him awake. I don’t want him getting comfortable.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Jamie says as Chris gets to his feet and starts turning off the spotlights.
“Guess we’ve had enough fun for today,” Chris remarks.
“Nah, you can be in charge of keeping him up for the first few hours,” Jamie tells him as I leave. “That should be good for all kinds of entertainment.”
“You need me for anything else tonight?” Tony asks me as I walk back through the armory.
“Jamie might, so check with him. Otherwise, though, we should be fine. I think we can manage our guest from here.”
“Take care, Constance,” Tony tells me as I start climbing the stairs. “Text me tomorrow and let me know if you need me, and how Maximo is doing.”
“I will.” I nod to him, then leave him to finish his dinner. Once I’m upstairs, I see Trenton talking to Van in the kitchen and walk over to join them.
“What’s in the box, anyhow?” Van asks Trenton as I approach.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” he replies with a smile.
“Oh, come on, don’t be like that,” Van says with a pout.
“I’m not saying that to tease you. You don’t need to know so the police can’t make you a witness to anything later. We’ve got some things going on the next couple of days. The less you know, the less you can say.”
“So, what did you bring me along for, anyhow?” Van seems to accept his explanation and changes the subject. “Is that something you can tell me at least?”
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing dangerous,” I reassure her as I join them and stand right beside Van. “What do you think, Trenton? We’re about the same size and hair color.”
“You should both wear hats tomorrow, and those surgical masks people are always using at the hospital. With your nose and mouth covered and something to shade your eyes, she’ll definitely pass,” Trenton confirms.
“I need you for an alibi tomorrow,” I explain to Van. “You’re going to go with Trenton to the hospital to visit Maximo during the day, while I handle some other business.”
“That’s all I have to do? And you’re really going to give me five grand?” Van looks at me in wide-eyed surprise. “I was sure you were going to ask me for something freaky…” she trails off as she turns her attention back to Trenton.
He barks a laugh and says, “Are you disappointed?”