“We can either be your saving grace or your worst enemy. It depends on which way you two want to play this,” Falcon responds. He looks in the rearview mirror, catching Luke’s glare. “We just saved you and your son from a world of pain. As I see it, you have two options. You either work with us, or we’ll deliver you to Atilio ourselves and watch him kill your son right in front of your eyes, but we both know he won’t stop there. He’ll take everyone you love from you.”
“What do you want?” Luke asks, rubbing his jaw.
“Answers.”
“What kind of answers? You don’t understand how dangerous Atilio is. He’s going to lose his mind.”
“Dad, what’s going on? Uncle Atilio called me and told me that he wanted to talk about a summer job. We were going to meet to talk about it.”
“Son, nothing with your uncle is easy,” Luke tells his son. He’s an angry man, and he’s upset with me. He was going to hurt you to get to me.”
“Dad!” Nick says in shock, but Falcon interrupts.
“Be honest with the kid. At best, he would have been beaten to shit, or worse, you’d be dead, and your mother would have to bury her son,” Falcon says.
I get on the phone with Bull, and he reserves a room at a hotel in the next town. We want to be close, but not too close, in case Atilio and his men come looking for Luke. Next, I tell Luke to call his wife and to get her out of town, along with his two other sons.
“They’re not safe, and if Atilio knows you have other property, it’s the first place he’ll look,” I tell him.
“We have about an hour before Atilio will start calling to find out why you didn’t show up,” Falcon says.
A few hours later, Luke’s wife and sons are in a safe place. We don’t even know where they are. One of Falcon’s buddies has picked them up and is keeping them out of harm’s way until we figure out our next move.
Nick is agitated by everything he discovers about his uncle and the mess his family is in. Luke is clearly feeling guilty for putting his family in danger.
“I was a stupid kid and did a lot of crazy shit. My brothers and I grew up with nothing, and we found out fast that if you didn’t take what you wanted, you’d starve. That was fine for a while, but I got greedy and landed my ass in prison. I swore once I got out, I’d never go back to that life,” Luke begins. “Atilio left the United States and said he would help us settle in England.” He shrugs. “I thought, why not. It’s a place to start over.” He sighs, shaking his head. “Everything was going great. Atilio invested in the restaurant, and when my oldest wanted to become a mechanic, I bought the shop. We were doing great. Everyone was happy.”
Luke pauses, dragging his hand down his face.
“What happened, then?” Falcon asks. “We’re running out of time. Atilio’s been calling both your phones, and he isn’t going to stop searching until he finds you. We’re the only chance your family has.”
“I didn’t know Atilio was involved with Vito Di Mille. They had some kind of partnership that turned sour. They went from friends to enemies. It seems that Vito cut Atilio out of a big arms deal. Atilio swore he was going to get even. The two haven’t spoken since, but my brother never forgets who crosses him. I was hoping he’d move past it, but one day, he calls me into his office and tells me he needs a favor,” Luke says.
“Go on,” I urge.
“It seems that one night, when Vito and Atilio were still good friends, and drinking, Vito told him about a woman he had as a mistress. Her name was Maria. Vito was married and would never leave his wife and kids for another woman, but he cared for her. When she got pregnant, though, Vito told her to get rid of it. Instead of doing what he said, she took off. Once Vito and Atilio severed ties, Atilio thought he’d get even by finding Maria and taking something of his that Vito cared about. He asked me to find her for him. At the time, I didn’t know why he was looking for her or how much danger she was in.” He pauses. “Maria was a ghost, but then I found the trail of a woman who left Italy and came to London, only this woman had a kid. It was a long shot, but I followed the trail. When I saw this child, I realized that Franco is the spitting image of his father, and I knew I’d found Maria.”
“You told Atilio that you found her.”
“I had no choice, he was putting pressure on me and my family. He was threatening to hurt my boys. My wife is terrified of Atilio, and she has every right to be. Atilio mistreats his wife, and his daughter lives in fear of him. I think his wife is waiting for their daughter to finish school before running away. I hate to say this, but there’s no place for Maria to go where he won’t find her.” He looks me in the eye. “I was protecting my family. I swear to you, I came to England for a clean start. I was staying out of trouble. We were happy.”
“So, he plans to get his revenge on Vito by killing his son,” Falcon finishes for him.
“I was so relieved that Maria and Franco were gone when we showed up at the motel that day,” Luke says. “But Atilio was so upset, he lost his mind, he said that if I didn’t find them, he’d kill my sons one at a time until I brought Maria and Franco to him. I tried to reason with him, but he was set on finding this woman. I did what I could to stall for time and get my family out of the country, but I ran out of time. Tonight, he was going to kill Nick. I just know it.” Luke covers his face and begins to sob.
“Does Vito know about Maria and Franco?” I ask.
Luke shakes his head. “No. Atilio’s plan was to record Maria pleading for her life and for her son, then send him the dead bodies.”
Falcon sighs. “That’s not going to happen.”
“So much for an easy-peasy mission,” I say with a sly grin. “I think we need to call in reinforcements.”
“I’ll call Phoenix to make plans. In the meantime, we need to string Atilio along.” Falcon looks over at Nick and Luke. “We’re going to need your help. I’m not going to lie to you; we’re taking Atilio out. It keeps Maria and her kid safe and gives you a chance to keep your family together.”
This might seem like a choice, but Luke knows there is no other option.
Chapter 19
