Chapter12
MATTEO
“The Axe”Caputo is not much of a talker.We’ve been riding for over half an hour, and he has yet to give me more than a three-word answer to any of my questions.
The coast road we’re taking to the town where the Codellis are hiding is pitch black and the grasses growing to the side of it look like weird vertical snakes, swaying in the wind when the headlights hit it.Caputo’s also clearly not one for breaking the speed limit.
“I’m sure this car can go a little faster than fifty,” I tell him.“We won’t get there until morning at this rate.”
He looks at me out the side of his eye and it feels like one of those grass snakes slithered over me.
“We don’t wanna get stopped, now do we?”
I suppose we don’t, but… “I’m pretty sure we’re the only traffic this road has seen since the summer.”
He shakes his head like he thinks I’m an idiot.But that was a long sentence I managed to get from him so maybe he’s finally in the mood to talk.
“So what’s the plan once we get to Irvington?Do our guys already know where the Codellis are hiding or do we still have to sniff them out ourselves?”
He gives me another of those snake-cold looks then fixes his eyes on the road.I’m pretty sure I’m not gonna get a reply by the time he finally says, “The old man was shot.Santi was stabbed.Word is they’re hiding out at a house of a retired doctor.We’ll know more once we get there and rendezvous with our guys on the ground.”
I nod even though he can’t see it.“Rendezvous?On the ground?What are you, ex-Army?”
“Special Forces,” he says.“And I assume you have no formal training?”
“Not as such, no.But I’ve got a lifetime of practice finding men and taking them out.”I lean back in my seat, kinda wishing I hadn’t worked so hard to get him talking.The weird snake grass is still swaying in the headlights to either side of us and the darkness before us is still absolute.But now it’s also filled with all the death I’ve seen and caused, and Goldie’s beautiful but angry face center stage.It’ll be hard keeping her family alive with this guy in tow.I know that much now.
“That’s something, I suppose,” he says and glances at me, with a little less cold disdain.“Once we get there, I’m in charge.”
“Got it,” I say and keep my gaze focused out the passenger window.I don’t feel much like talking anymore.
And we don’t.Not for the next hour or so that it takes us to reach the town of Irvington.
It’s a small coastal place, with a quaint Main Street and pretty houses dotted all over the hillsides.The streetlights are all still on, glowing a diffuse, soft yellow in the moisture-filled ocean air.But they all go out at the same time the moment we clear Main Street.
Everything is pitch black now, the moonlight barely making a dent.But by the time Caputo parks at a scenic spot just outside of town my eyes have adjusted to the darkness.The spot is secluded, with just the ocean gleaming in the night in front of us and trees and shrubs blocking us from the view of the road.Several cars are already here, two more arrive while we’re getting out.
I had no idea where we’d be meeting, how many men are coming on this mission with us and how many are already here.And I didn’t know any of that because Ferro no longer completely trusts me.That’s the only thing that was echoing in my head, so I missed the start of the conversation between Caputo and the guys already here.
But I have to stop zoning out.I have to commit to this shit a hundred percent.Or else all I’ve already done—all the betrayal, all the sacrifice—will be for nothing.
“The address of the house is 32 Sycamore Road,” one of the guys is saying.“It’s a large Colonial house on a cliff, just ahead of here, behind the next bend.”
He points to his left as he talks.
“And you’re sure they’re all in there?All the Codellis and Santi?”
The guy doesn’t answer right away, and it takes me a moment to realize it’s because he’s nodding.He seems to realize we can’t see him well at the same time, because he clears his throat and says, “Yes, they were all in there as of half an hour ago when my guys last checked in.”
“Call them again to confirm,” Caputo says and walks to the trunk of the car we drove here in.“Then we move.I don’t want this to take all night.”
He hauls out two large duffel bags one after another, tossing my bag with the clothes I packed to the gravel.
Another thing no one told me was that we were coming here just to execute the hit, and not embark on a multi-day surveillance op.The key to Gianna’s room hanging around my neck is suddenly very hot and very heavy.What if I’m not meant to come back from this trip at all?What if the last bullet Caputo fires here will be into the back of my head?
I really should’ve thought not stabbing Rafaelle properly through better.But it was the only way I could think of to try and save Gianna and her family.And I’d probably do it again exactly the same way.Hopefully my curse isn’t done with me yet.Because come to think of it, if I die, then it’ll only have my sister left to torment.Unless it already got her too now that she finally got the love of her life back.But I don’t need to add worrying about my little sister to the list of my other worries.She has a whole biker club looking out for her now, after all.
Caputo shoves a rifle and a handgun at my chest.“You wanna start paying attention now, Rovina.We’re here cleaning up your mess after all.”
