We head into the communal area where everyone is already gathered. Most have beers in hand, and I relax a little. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. Maybe an interrogation or something. Or another lecture. Perhaps a spanking for getting myself kidnapped again.
Cruz’s jaw ticks as he takes in all the men, and when Nate stands and comes toward us, Cruz growls and pulls me into him, an arm coming around me protectively.
Nate snickers and holds out a hand. “I’m Nate, Dutch’s brother. The one you shot at.”
Cruz just stares at him for a moment, then puts his hand out to shake Nate’s. “Sorry about that.”
“No problem. Thank you for bringing Dutch back. We’ve only just met, it would have been a shame to lose her already.”
Cruz snorts, then coughs to cover it up. Pulling him further into the room, we make introductions, then everyone settles on the couches when I raise a hand to speak.
“Before we start, I owe all of you an apology for escaping and taking my bike out for a ride. I felt like a prisoner, as if I might lose my mind if I didn’t get outside. But that’s not an excuse for putting myself, and all of you in danger. I’m sorry. I was reckless and unthinking, and I promise it won’t happen again. I appreciate each and every one of you for being here and helping me with my father. I’ll do better from now on.”
Susannah shouts out, “We forgive you!” while others nod or murmur their agreements. I feel immensely lighter and turn to Cruz, gesturing for him to start.
Cruz explains his relationship to Dante, and when I see the understanding on everyone’s faces, a weight comes off my shoulders. I wasn’t exactly sure of Cruz’s welcome, and I’m sure there will be a few bumps in the road, but it looks like he’ll be one of us in no time.
I’m going to take a stab in the dark and guess that the hackers in the room thoroughly investigated him and filled everyone in on what they found.
We tell them about the tunnels under the buildings, and how we went through them to gain access to Dante’s house. “He had a heart condition, one that had to be monitored carefully. We knew if we killed him outright, Vincenzo would come after us with a vengeance. We wanted to eliminate Dante in a way that allowed Cruz his revenge but wouldn’t alert Vincenzo. So, we used his heart against him.”
Several eyes gleam in anticipation, and I can feel the blood pumping in my veins as excitement kicks in.
I hand Jase the USB stick, then wave my hand dramatically. “For your viewing pleasure, Dante’s death.”
Using his laptop, Jase loads the movie, then dims the lights. The picture comes up, the screen divided into six camera angles so that nothing will be missed.
Cruz sits on a vacant seat, pulling me onto his lap as we go back in time and deliver Dante’s retribution.
Three Days Ago
Dante sleeps peacefully in his bed, completely unaware of the two figures dressed in black sneaking around his house.
We leave a glass on the table, leave the toilet seat up in a bathroom, move files in the office. And on it goes. Quiet as mice, we race through the house, our goal to make Dante scratch his head. To wonder if he did these things himself and just doesn’t remember. To make him question if he’s losing it.
“Ooh, I love the psychological aspect of it,” whispers Tessa.
Two Days Ago
The following morning while we hide in the attic, Dante yawns, stretches his arms above his head, and gets out of bed. He stops short when he sees the shoes he wore the day before tossed on the floor, when he had put them in the closet the night before.
Dante shakes his head and puts them away, before going about his morning routine. When he comes out into the hallway, he steps backward, a comical look of disbelief on his face when he notices every door on his floor is wide open. They had been closed when he went to bed.
And so it goes. Dante spins around, his brows lowered, a hand to his forehead when he sees the milk left out on the counter. The dirty dishes sitting in the sink.
“Well, we got hungry,” I say, and the room breaks out in laughter. Cruz forwards it a little, then lets everyone see as we put the house back to order.
When Dante gets home from work, you can see the worry in his eyes as he looks around in bewilderment. Did he only imagine everything?
Once Dante is fast asleep, we once more race through the house, changing clocks, removing batteries, swapping pictures in frames to ones of celebrities.
“They might be harmless, simple pranks, but that wasn’t the point. We wanted him to be nervous, looking over his shoulder. We wanted him to feel unbalanced, unsure of himself. We wanted to raise his heart rate,” I explain to everyone, so they would understand what they were watching.
One Day Ago
Dante wakes up, and as he goes through the house, you can see the panic in his eyes. He rushes through the house, throwing doors open, before scurrying out the front door. We had the feeling he was getting one of his brothers, so we quickly descended the stairs and raced through the house, putting it all back to rights.
When Dante returns twenty minutes later with Cesare in tow, the astonishment on his face is laughable. Cesare lays into him, gesturing wildly before storming out of the house. Dante’s shoulders slump as he looks around, but then a look of determination crosses his face.
