been taken. The men in the car at the Park ’N Fly had told him that four agents were dead and two were missing and that they needed his help to bring Greg down, yet it was Greg who called him in the hotel. No one told Rosina that her parents were kidnap victims except Darwin. In that moment, he realized he was their fall guy.
“Darwin, are you still there?”
“Yeah, sorry. I need your help.”
“My help?”
“Something big is happening and you’re the only one I can turn to. I need to see you. Can we meet?”
“What’s this all about? Is it Rosina?”
“I will tell you everything. But you can’t say anything to anyone about where you’re going. Come alone and I will explain it all.”
“Um, okay. Where do you want to meet?”
“How about the food court at Square One Shopping Center? I’ll be sitting in front of the Tim Horton’s.”
“Oh, Darwin. I hate Tim Horton’s.”
“Well, you don’t have to order anything,” he said, completely offended.
“Meet me at the Starbucks in Chapters across the street from the Square One. Do you know where that is?”
“Yes,” Darwin said. “When?”
“In an hour?”
“Good. But come alone. I need to talk to you and only you. Isabella, I’m sorry, but if I see FBI or any of your friends, I’ll have to leave because what I need to tell you is secret, okay?”
“My husband is out at the shop and I’m alone at the house. Why would I bring anyone? I’ll just see you there in an hour.”
“Bye,” Darwin said and hung up.
He walked away from the pay phone and looked for a cab.
Why would they lie to him? What were they up to? Was Greg on their side or working for Fuccini?
Rosina would be so glad to find out her parents were alive.
Was that some sort of plan? Why did they have Darwin tell her about her parents?
He swung back to the pay phone. After inserting his card, he dialed information.
“Quality Suites Airport, please.”
When the front desk answered, Darwin asked to speak to Rosina Kostas and told the desk clerk their room number on the fifth floor. After three rings, it was picked up.
At first he heard nothing.
“Hello?” Darwin said.
“Darwin?”
“Yeah, who’s this? Put Rosina on.”
“Where are you?”
“Fuck you. Put Rosina on.”
“Not until you come in.”
“What’s your name? Who are you?”
“Not important. Where are you?”
“Not important, eh? How can I trust you? After what happened on the highway, eh? How can I trust you? Now, put my fucking wife on the phone.”
There was a moment of silence. Darwin figured the guy was thinking about it.
“Rosina’s not here.”
“Yeah, right. Stop fucking around and put her on, or I’m hanging up.”
“I’m serious. She’s not here. She was moved to a safe house.”
“A safe house? Where?”
“You know I can’t tell you that or it wouldn’t be safe now, would it?”
“I’m her husband, asshole. You can tell me where she is. In fact, you can tell me where she is right the fuck now, or I will assume you dickheads are the enemy because taking a woman away from her husband and not telling the husband where she is really is kidnapping now, isn’t it?”
“Darwin, tell us about your connection to the Gambino family. Tell us everything and we’ll put you both in the program somewhere in the states. Help us out here and we can help you.”
“The program? Gambino family? What the fuck are you talking about?”
“The witness protection program. We can keep you safe. Protect you and your wife. You can live a long life together. Safe. What do you say? Come on in.”
“Are you mad? Have all of you gone mad? I don’t even know the name Gambino? And talking about safety, I sure was safe last night in a car with a Federal Bureau man. Sure, I was real safe. You guys have a knack with keeping folks safe.”
“That was an accident. We can fix this. Just tell us about your connection-”
“Fuck you!” Darwin screamed into the phone and slammed it down.
He hustled away from the pay phone before he tried to tear it off its mount. He had to get to the Chapters in Mississauga.
“Fucking credit card.”
He’d left it in the phone slot. He ran back, grabbed it and then used the phone to call a cab.
Ten minutes later he was in the backseat of a cab, heading to Mississauga to meet with Rosina’s mother.
On the way there, he had the driver stop and wait at an Army surplus store. He needed a weapon. One that wasn’t sharp or had pointy edges. One that wouldn’t be lethal, but one that would still be effective enough to repel attackers.
He found exactly what he needed and ran back to the waiting cab.
Chapter 13
Rosina woke with a splitting headache. She rolled off the bed and got up slowly. The bed had been comfortable, the pillow amazing, but it was the first night since she got married in Rome that she’d slept alone.
That’s enough to give any woman a headache, she thought.
She spied the bathroom door. The house was gorgeous. She remembered not being able to appreciate it as she entered through the front door earlier that morning, Alfred holding her up, as exhaustion had finally won her over.
He’d explained how the house was on a normal city street, surrounded by normal neighbors. She remembered asking him to define normal. He’d ignored her and went on to explain how there were hidden cameras everywhere. There was even one hidden in the clock on the wall.
“Where?” she had asked.
“At the bottom of every number, there’s a little black dot. On the six, that dot is a camera. We’re surrounded by them outside too. In the back, the house is on environmentally protected land. It’s a ravine. If the worst happens, and we’re under attack, we leave through the back and there’s always a car parked for us in a driveway two streets over. We have everything covered.”
“Are we going to be attacked?” Rosina asked. Then she held her hand up. “Wait. Don’t answer that. You said you have everything covered. Did you guys have my husband covered?”
Alfred hadn’t answered her. His phone had rung and he moved away to answer it. She had wandered through the house and fell asleep in the room on the top floor that had an en suite.
Inside the bathroom, she couldn’t find any Advil.
She used the toilet and went downstairs to find Alfred.
He sat in a lounge chair, staring out the front window. He got up when he heard her coming.
“Ahh, you’re up. How did you sleep?”
