problem.
He hustled to the other end of the mall and saw, through the double doors, a taxi sitting idling.
He ran out and hopped into the backseat.
“Termini Station, please,” he said.
The cab driver was writing in a pad of some kind. He looked up and said, “My time off.”
Darwin reached into his pocket and pulled out a fifty euro bill.
“Take me to Termini. Then have your time off.”
The driver shook his head. “You want to go to Termini, one hundred euro.”
Fucking crook.
Darwin looked out the back window to make sure the cop wasn’t right behind them and then grabbed another fifty, thought again, and reached in for a twenty. He handed the driver the whole one hundred and twenty euros.
“Termini Station. And do it fast.”
The driver turned in his seat and said, “You got it.”
It took thirty-five minutes to get to Termini, making it almost three in the afternoon when he got there. He jumped from the cab and walked into the station, having no idea what he was looking for or how he would find it.
They would find him. That he was sure of, but he needed something to negotiate with before that happened. Or, he needed a weapon. Something to defend himself with, because he was prepared to deal, but they weren’t. He would need to take care of himself.
I’m convinced I can talk to them. Without that, there’s no hope. I can’t live on the run, so I have to try.
People rushed past him pulling luggage, yanking on their kids’ hands. Beggars asked for money. Uniformed policemen stood at the entrance to the station in pairs. A normal day at Termini.
He entered a McDonald’s where he ordered two cheeseburgers for a euro each. After getting his food, he headed for the downstairs. He needed a pay phone with relative privacy.
The call he was about to make was the first move in solving the Fuccini family problem.
Knowing Rosina was in Greece was such a relief that he felt he could do this. He was so happy she hadn’t run off that plane. Sure, she’d be pissed, but after he told her what had happened and filled her in on what he was about to do, she’d understand, forgive him, and they could really start to live.
He made it to a bank of phone booths, picked one at the end of the row and slipped his credit card into the slot.
He dialed Special Agent Greg Stinsen’s number and waited. On the third ring, the time zone thing hit him. Three thirty in the afternoon would be nine-thirty in the morning in Toronto. Would Agent Greg even be at the office yet?
On the fifth ring, Agent Greg picked up.
“Yeah?”
“Hi, Greg Stinsen?”
“You got him. Who’s this?”
“Darwin.”
“What? The Darwin? Our resident hero? How the hell are you? How’s life treating you?”
“Not good. I’m lucky to be alive.”
“What? What’s happening? Talk to me.”
“You know the man I killed with my Mustang?”
“Of course I know him. Go on.”
“His family is hunting me. They have tried to kill me twice in the last four days and stopped the highway traffic this morning to try to get to me. They actually kidnapped me hours ago, but there was a car accident and I was the only one to walk away. Two men are dead. I need your help.”
“How come this is the first I’ve heard of this? No one has told me about any renewed activity-”
“That’s because it isn’t happening in your jurisdiction. I’m in Rome.”
“You mean Rome, as in Italy?”
“The very one.”
Darwin looked around. No one paid any special attention to him.
“What the fuck are you doing in Rome?”
“Rosina and I came here to get married-”
“You have Rosina with you? And they still tried to take you out? Are they going after her too?”
Greg sounded incredulous.
“I don’t think they’re too worried about her. I need your help.”
“Tell me everything. Wait, you’re on a pay phone right?”
“Yes.”
Darwin started with the attempts on their life and finished with sending Rosina off to Greece and the accident in the van in more detail, leaving nothing out.
“You bit the fucker’s ear off? You are one crazy bastard. But you are one alive crazy bastard. I always knew I loved you, Darwin.”
“I got lucky, Agent Greg. I could’ve been killed.”
“I know. Listen. Call me Greg. No more Agent Greg, okay? Now, I’ll catch the next plane out. Don’t do anything without me. Stay low. Do not go anywhere more than once. Check into a ritzy hotel. They won’t expect that. Stay away from the cops. They could be on the payroll. Stay low until I get there, okay? Don’t do anything without me.”
“Got it. How do we get in touch again?”
“You have my cell number, don’t you?”
Darwin looked at Greg’s business card.
Fucking dummy.
“Yeah, it’s here on your card.”
“Good. Call me this time tomorrow. I should be on Italian soil. But be prepared for resistance.”
“Resistance? What are you talking about?”
“I’m FBI, Darwin. I work for the American government. I had special clearance in Toronto to work the Fuccini case. The FBI isn’t a global police force. When I get to Rome, I’m going to have to ask for clearance. It is a professional courtesy. If they deny me, I’ll be just like you, a tourist. I’d have to have some serious shit on the Fuccini family to be able to pursue them in Rome. Serious shit does not include your word that they’re trying to kill you. Get it?”
“Got it.”
Everything sounded good until that. Things seemed to be going downhill fast. Did the Fuccini family have to kill him to get on the police radar?
“Okay, stay low and stay alive. I can’t have my resident hero dead because I couldn’t get there fast enough. We cool?”
“We’re cool.”
Darwin hung up, discouraged. Sure Greg was coming to Rome and it only took a phone call to get him there. But the chance that he had no power over here, and Rosina was alone in Greece, made him feel like he had failed. Things were all wrong. He didn’t have a plan. He had no idea what the next step was and yet his life hung in the balance.
Sorry, Rosina. Some man I turned out to be.
Chapter 5
Rosina rolled, tossed, and turned to a splitting headache. She lay on a small mattress on the floor of an adjoining office. Two men were posted outside her door. The room had no window, or at least it was boarded up. The only light came from a small lamp beside her mattress.
