His family was originally from Palermo, Italy. When his brother, Paolo, married Natalie Daliani and inherited this amazing piece of property, Antonio fell in love with it right from the start. Besides, this was a great place to be, away from Palermo and the Grimaldis—another Mafia family that had been in constant war with the Rosettis for generations. So he persuaded his brother to renovate the mansion and move into it. Antonio moved here, along with Paolo, and remained on the island, even after Paolo moved back to the States, unable to stay away from his mistress, Maria. After Paolo’s death, his illegitimate son, Adriano, took care of business in the States, and Antonio spent most of his time on Kefalonia, flying to their mansion in Nevada only whenever it was absolutely necessary.
“Mr. Rosetti…” The timid voice of the maid drew Antonio from his thoughts. “Mr. Reynolds is calling.”
Antonio grabbed the phone and brought it to his ear, watching the maid disappearing inside the house. “Where the hell have you been?” he barked. “I’ve been expecting your call for hours,” he exaggerated, as usual. It had only been a few minutes since he called Adriano on his cell phone and got a busy signal.
He listened carefully as Adriano explained to him about Christina.
“Where is she now?” Antonio asked abruptly.
“On board our private jet,” Adriano replied, and Antonio didn’t miss the fact that Adriano considered the private jet of the company as his.
“Bring her here,” Antonio ordered, without a moment’s hesitation, and hung up the phone. It was time he met this missing niece of his.
Of course, he was aware of Adriano’s ulterior motives. He knew Adriano was responsible for Paolo’s death. But that served Antonio just fine since he was not on good terms with his brother, and after he was out of the way, Antonio took over the leadership of the organization.
Antonio drew a deep breath. He couldn’t believe that he was so rich and still, the only place in the world that mattered to him—this mansion on Kefalonia—didn’t belong to him, but to his brother Paolo. He had offered to buy the property on several occasions, but Paolo had stubbornly refused, even though he didn’t care for Kefalonia. It seemed that Paolo enjoyed denying him the only thing he wanted most.
Now Antonio had a chance to acquire the property, after all. That’s why he wanted both Adriano and Christina on the island—where he was the law, having the police chief on his payroll—to take care of things once and for all.
Having them out of the way, nobody else could stake a claim to the multi-million dollar fortune of the family, not to mention this paradise.
Throwing the phone on a lounge chair, he walked over to the edge again and leaned against the railings, smiling. Everything was working out just the way he had planned it.
***
A loud noise woke Christina up. The door swung open, and Adriano stormed inside. Seeing his face distorted by hatred, she drew back in fear. He peered down at her for a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity to Christina, and then spat on the floor in front of her.
Christina stared at him, feeling her temper rising. “What the hell do you want from me? Where are you taking me?” she hissed.
“She’s a feisty one, isn’t she?” Roberto, who had appeared at the door, pointed out.
Adriano didn’t respond. He just gave Christina a hard look.
Christina stared right back at him, drawing strength from her desperation. “I said where are you taking me?”
“To Kefalonia,” he replied simply, and Christina was left speechless. “What’s the matter, darling?” he asked sarcastically. “Don’t you want to go home?”
“Home?” she inquired, carefully.
“Yes, home,” he responded. “Isn’t that where that bitch mother of yours was from?”
Christina felt the blood rushing to her head, and she launched at him furiously.
Adriano grabbed her by the wrists and threw her back on the bed before she had a chance to scratch his face. “Now be careful,” he hissed. “I keep you alive, at this moment, because that serves my purpose,” he spat out. “Don’t make me change my mind.”
“Don’t you threaten me!” she yelled at him, fighting back the tears from the excruciating pain on her wounded arm and wrist. “I’m not afraid of you!”
“You should be!” he barked and pulled a knife out of his pocket.
In a state of panic, Christina scanned her surroundings to find something to defend herself.
Adriano stepped closer, waving the knife in front of him. His breath stank sourly of whiskey. “You little bitch!” he hissed. “I could kill you right here and now.”
“What have I done to you?” Christina cried out, realizing that he was drunk out of his mind.
“You haven’t done anything to me,” he replied. “Your father did, however. Or should I say our father?” he added, and Christina stared at him shocked.
Adriano was her brother? But she didn’t even know that Paolo had another child. She hadn’t read anything about that in the papers. Besides, her mother would have told her. She would never have run away and leave a child behind. Or would she? Christina wondered.
“Yes, Paolo was my father,” Adriano continued, spitting out the words. “But he abandoned me and my mother.”
“He abandoned you?” Christina inquired, puzzled.
“Yes!” he cried out and waved the knife wildly in the air. “He used my mother and then abandoned us to come back to you and your mother. My mother never got over that. She died a few years later.”
“I’m sorry,” Christina said, trying to calm him down.
“I don’t give a shit whether you’re sorry or not. I don’t need your pity!” he yelled at her. “I killed the bastard, and when I’m done with you, I’ll kill you, too. It’s too bad that he had already killed your mother. I would have enjoyed doing her, too!” he added, and Christina felt a shiver caressing her spine.
“I have nothing to do with all this,” she pointed out.
“You’re Paolo’s daughter; you have everything to do with all this,” he replied. “I’m not going to allow anyone to cut me out of what is rightfully mine.”
“What about Antonio? Does he know who you are?” Christina asked, trying to buy some time.
“No, the old fool doesn’t know anything. I’m the boss now. I was going to kill him, too, and come out as Paolo’s son to claim the Rosetti fortune and the leadership of the organization. But now, I have a better plan…”
“What do you mean? What kind of plan?” Christina asked, cautiously, knowing that she wasn’t going to like the answer.
“I’ve told Antonio about you, and he’s anxious to meet you…”
“So?”
“So I’ll take you there and pretend that I have his blessing to marry you!” he added triumphantly.
“Marry me? Are you out of your mind?” she burst out. “I’m not going to marry you!”
“Oh, but you will…” he hissed.
“But besides everything else, you claim to be my brother,” she reminded him.
“Nobody knows about that, except a few people I trust,” he replied and turned to glance at Roberto, “and you, of course. But you don’t count. You won’t be able to talk to anyone.”
“Why would you do that? Why not kill me?” she inquired desperately. Even death was a better fate than marrying him.
“You’re so naïve,” he said. “Taking over an organization like ours is not an easy business. There’re a lot of suitors. Why have to fight them when I can pretend that Antonio nominated me for the position.”
“I don’t understand,” Christina admitted, confused.
“If Antonio gives me his niece in marriage, it’s like declaring to everyone in the organization that he’s chosen me to succeed him when he’s gone… And he will be gone, soon!” he laughed.
He’s totally out of his mind, Christina realized.
At that moment, she heard another man yelling to Roberto that they were about to land at JFK to refuel
.
Adriano cursed out loud and left, slamming the door behind him.
After he was gone, Christina climbed out of bed and checked the door. Damn! It was locked again. Landing at JFK was her only chance to escape, but how could she?
She checked the room for something to use as a weapon. No luck! Then she walked to the bathroom and checked there. She found a pair of scissors in a drawer and grabbed it, drawing a deep breath. I’m not going down without a fight, she promised herself.
As the plane started to descend, she rushed back to the bedroom, sunk into the reclining chair, and put the seatbelt on. Soon enough, she felt it touching the ground.
Before it even stopped, she unbuckled her seatbelt and rushed to the window. The terminals were visible from far away, and planes were scattered all around them. The plane came to a full stop, and a refueling truck approached on the side. Two men came out of the truck, and Christina waved frantically and knocked on the window, trying to draw their attention. No luck!
Squeezing the scissors in her hand, she rushed to the door and tried to pick the lock. She didn’t know how, but she was determined to try, mimicking what she had seen in the movies. After a few tries, however, she gave up. It wasn’t as easy as it looked.
Oh! My God! Please help me… Christina thought, desperately. She closed her eyes and prayed that Dan would find her in time. But how could he? He had no idea where she was. And what about Johnny? she wondered. He had scared her to death. How could he do this to her? He was probably working for Adriano, all along.
She leaned back against the wall, closed her eyes, and drew some deep breaths, realizing that there was no way out…
***
Dan drove back to Atlanta and straight to the police department. He was furious. They hadn’t been able to find any sign of Christina.
He was pacing back and forth in his office when Miles walked in. Dan stared at him, but Miles just shook his head in denial, without saying a word. Nothing yet! Dan thought and cursed out loud for the hundredth time.
“Where could they’ve gone?” he shouted, slamming his fist on the desk. “We have covered every possible route.”
“Try to calm down,” Miles urged him. “We’ll find them. They can’t be that far. Sooner or later, we’ll get them.”
“I just hope she’s still alive by then,” Dan pointed out and exhaled heavily.
Miles kept quiet; there was nothing to say. They both knew that the chances of finding the girl alive were minimal.
James walked in and told them that Meyers was going to be all right. The bullet had gone through his shoulder, and even though he had lost a lot of blood, there was no serious damage.
“Let’s go!” Dan said and rushed out of his office with Miles following right behind him.
They jumped in the car, and Dan drove like a maniac to Grady Hospital.
“I need to have a talk with this guy,” he said, determined to get some answers.
“Be careful!” Miles warned him, but Dan didn’t pay any attention to him.
They arrived at the hospital, and Dan jumped out, leaving Miles to park the car. He rushed inside and up the stairs to the first floor that Meyers’s room was on.
Meyers was lying on the bed all wrapped up in bandages, talking to another guy. They stopped as soon as Dan rushed inside the room.
“Federal Agent David Cole!” The other guy introduced himself and offered Dan his hand.
“Detective Mallory!” Dan responded, accepting the handshake.
“Meyers has been briefing me on the case,” Cole said.
“I need to talk to you,” Dan said, turning to Meyers.
“I’m taking over the case,” Cole cut in, but Dan kept his eyes on Meyers, totally ignoring the other agent.
“It’s okay,” Meyers told Cole. “I’ll handle this.”
Cole glanced from one to the other and then walked outside the room, leaving them alone.
“You better start talking,” Dan hissed. “We don’t have much time.”
“I know,” Meyers replied and breathed out heavily. “Of course, everything I tell you is off the record.”
“Yes! Yes! I know!” Dan burst out, impatiently.
“I’ve been on the Rosetti case for over four years now,” Meyers started. “I’ve been investigating their illegal dealings, as well as Paolo’s death. I was trying to gather enough evidence to convict Antonio for Paolo’s murder. But working on the case, I came across some new information. I found out that it was Reynolds who had killed Paolo.”
“Same thing!” Dan pointed out. “Reynolds works for Antonio Rosetti.”
“Not exactly,” Meyers replied, and Dan stared at him, inquiringly.
“Reynolds is Paolo’s illegitimate son,” Meyers said.
“What?” Dan asked surprised.
“Yes,” Meyers said. “Reynolds is Paolo’s son with his mistress Maria Reynolds. It seems that he never forgave his father for abandoning them, and he killed him.”
“So Antonio didn’t know anything about all this?” Dan inquired.
“Apparently not!” Meyers continued. “I was trying to find details on Reynolds and his relationship with Paolo when I came across information on his murdered wife and his missing child.”
“So you got to Christina,” Dan said.
Meyers stared at him surprised. “She told you?” he asked.
Dan nodded his head and waved to Meyers to go on.
“Yes,” Meyers continued. “I finally came to Christina. I started following her about three years ago when she was still living in Birmingham. I kept my distance because I didn’t know if she was involved in any of this. Two years ago, I followed her here to Atlanta.”
“And pretended to be her friend,” Dan finished his sentence.
“And became her friend,” Meyers corrected him, staring Dan straight in the eyes. “Christina is an exceptional woman, and when I realized that she had nothing to do with all this, I kept close to her, trying to protect her.”
“And instead, you mired her in grave danger,” Dan said and stared back at Meyers angrily.
“I know,” Meyers admitted, lowering his eyes, and breathed out heavily. “Unfortunately, my partner was working for them. He must have given Reynolds information on Christina.”
Dan was furious now. It wasn’t enough that the kidnappers considered Christina a dangerous witness, but now they knew who she really was. Reynolds would kill her for sure.
“I’ll help you any way I can,” Meyers offered and tried to get out of bed.
“You’ve done enough already,” Dan pointed out, sarcastically.
Meyers ignored his comment and tried to stand up, calling for Cole, who was standing outside the door.
“Where are you going?” Cole inquired, seeing Meyers trying to climb out of bed.
“I’m coming with you,” Meyers said.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Cole said. “You need to stay in the hospital for a few days to recuperate.”
“I’m coming with you,” Meyers insisted stubbornly but could hardly stand on his feet. He let out a deep breath and sank back down on the bed. “You guys go on,” he said. “I’ll just rest for a while and catch up with you in a little bit. We can’t waste any time.”
“We’ll see you later,” Dan said, turning on his heel to leave.
“Cole is going to give you all the information we have on Reynolds. You need to check the houses they have. They have probably taken Christina to one of these locations. Unless…”
“Unless, what?” Dan stared Meyers down.
“Unless they’re taking her to Greece,” Meyers replied.
“What?” Dan couldn’t believe his ears.
“Yes,” Meyers confirmed. “Antonio Rosetti has a house on the Greek island of Kefalonia, and he spends most of this time there.”
“And what makes you think they would take Christina there?”
“Well, they had plenty of opportunities to kill her, but they didn’t. It seems tha
t they want her for some other reason, and I don’t think it’s only to blackmail me for the tape. I’m afraid they have something else in mind…”
“Damn!” Dan cursed out loud and stormed out of the room, with Cole following right behind him. They met Miles outside, and all three of them went back to the police department.
***
The humming of the engines coming to life sent a chill up her spine. That was it, she thought. Adriano was taking her to Kefalonia, and there was nothing she could do about it. At least, I’ll get to see my mother’s birthplace before I die, she thought. Ever since she had found out about her biological mother, she had searched on the Internet about the island and its history and had seen numerous photos. It seemed liked a paradise, but Christina knew that it wasn’t going to be like that for her. She was going to be a prisoner of that lunatic half-brother of hers until he had no more use for her, and then he would kill her.
Then again, she thought that Kefalonia was a big and very popular island—the largest island in the Ionian Sea and the sixth largest one in Greece—not some out of the way, deserted place. They had to land at the airport and then drive to the house, wherever that was. Maybe she would find a chance to run away or draw someone’s attention. The thought lifted her spirits, and she felt a little better.