Without a word to him, I hung up and dug out my phone from my pocket and turned it on.
New text.
Your wife:I’m going with Stefano to get ice cream. We can watch an old movie and drink root beer floats tonight. You’re coming home to me, Capo.
“Fucking bullshit,” I said. “She was going the wrong way. Going toward Dolce. She was coming to check on me.” Then I told Rocco to stop the car. As I pulled up a different program on my computer that I’d designed, I gave them the gist of the situation. My voice came out calm, controlled, maybe even cold, but on the inside, Mount Vesuvius had gone off.
Giovanni was right. Her watch showed no signal, and neither did Stefano’s work phone. I even traced his personal device, and it couldn’t be located either. Neither could Mariposa’s phone.
“Come on, my little butterfly,” I whispered. I switched gears, checking my last resort—it was the way I’d always tracked her. Even to Harry Boy’s house.
Her wedding ring.
She never took it off. There was a device located in the metal behind the diamond. Her band, too, if she ever decided to wear one without the other. If whoever did this wasn’t doing it to rob her, he wouldn’t have thought of taking her ring. Her watch. Yeah. Her car. Yeah. But her ring? It was inconspicuous as a device.
As soon as the heart started beating on the screen, I closed my eyes and squeezed the rosary around my neck. Stefano. Stefano had been killed. But then a cold hand touched my neck and my voice was low and tight when I spoke. “Rocco. Bring me to the Hudson.” I told him the area. “As fast as you fucking can. And on the way, call Brando.”
Brando Fausti had once been in the Coast Guard. He had been a rescue diver in Alaska. He was the best of the best. The motherfucker was like a shark in the water. He had all of the right equipment and could see in almost blind conditions.
The second man needed, the doctor, was already in the backseat, sitting forward, listening. He mumbled things, medical things.
Whoever took my wife was taking her to the Hudson River. I could see the heart on the screen, making its way closer and closer to the water. Whoever took my wife, the dead man, was going to drown her.
30
Mariposa
Sicily. I kept think about my time in the water there. Going under just to pop right back up. My head breaking the surface before sound made it fully to my ears.
My head. It was doing the same thing.
Hands groped for me. I fought them the best I could. I clawed and bit and screamed. I wasn’t sure if the screaming was loud enough. I was under and everything was distorted.
Would anyone hear me?
If not for my baby, I would’ve given in, given up. The devil had caught me, and my husband was probably dead.
I was done for. I was sick and tired of the fight, of the chase.
My will to live had burnt out.
I had been so tired when I found Capo. And after he took me in, gave me shelter and food and protection, not to mention what I’d been missing for so long—love and security—I slept. I took refuge. But my will to live was still tired, still aching for sleep, for rest in a safe house, a comfortable bed, and to be held in strong arms.
It wasn’t only me that I fought for, though. He deserved a chance to live a life he hadn’t even tasted yet. Not to merely survive but to live. A life I’d been willing to sell my body to have.
Turned out, I’d given it instead.
Capo. My baby. Saverio.I hadn’t even told Capo how much I loved the name and the meaning behind it.New home.Saverio was the home we’d always share. He was our blood vow in physical form.
I clawed even harder. I hoped my teeth felt even sharper. And my scream—even if it came out hoarse, maybe someone would still hear me.
My back slammed against something hard, the breath escaping my mouth in awhoosh.I lost even more focus, even more control over my limbs. My entire body was on fire.
Mumbling. There was so much mumbling.
Shut up!I wanted to shout. My voice was muted, but his wasn’t. It was right in my ear, screaming inside of my broken skull. It seemed to bounce from one side to the other, making my head ache even more.
I felt sick. Nauseated.
