The ride back wasn’t quiet.
“Who are you?” Palo asked quietly.
Simple question. The best kind of question. But at that moment, it wasn’t the kind of question I wanted to answer. My answer wasn’t going to be simple.
We were back on the expressway with the pedal to the floor. It was a quarter past four in the morning. There was no traffic. We had left Anna’s hideout worried about several things. I explained a lot of it to Palo, who took it all in with a very unresponsive attitude. She sat buckled up, staring forward, chin down, hands held together in her lap. She had a lot to think about.
Anna was in bad hands. I was frustrated and angry. I tried to talk myself out of it, because really, I got there when I could. Still, I was the one they had counted on. I was the one that failed them. I felt terrible. God only knows what they had planned on doing to Anna. And by the time I found her…
If I find her.
It was hopeless at best. I gave my word to Palo again that I would do what I could. I promised her in the car that I was going to bring Anna back. Palo had kept quiet though. The kind of quiet that spoke volumes.
She looked at me. Her eyes said it all.
Who are you?
My response back to her stayed in my head. I have no idea.
I had heard her ask the question but I had purposely kept talking about the need to get back quickly and get Sally Rhode out of town. I told Palo that none of us were safe until Andrik and The Bear were underground. She understood. Probably far better than I did. She agreed to it, but what else was she to do? Where could she go now?
Who are you?
I looked over to her. She kept staring straight ahead, almost looking lost in a trance. I had to tell her the truth. I had to tell her that I wasn’t the person she had trusted and that I had lied to her all along. I didn’t want to. I felt bad. My conscious had gotten the best of me.
I took a deep breath and tried to tell her, as I had practiced the words in my head repeatedly, but what came out of my mouth was, “Anna will be okay.”
Palo gave me a look. Her eyes were distant. She said nothing. We were quiet for a few minutes as I built up the courage, hating myself for being a coward.
We exited the expressway when she asked again. Her voice was smooth and even and her words were not bitter or questioning, but rather filled with a moderate intrigue. She had a genuine interest to know. I owed her at least that.
I took a deep breath and words spilled out.
“I’m just a simple man who came looking for revenge on whoever killed Pamela. I found a big mess and decided to do something about it. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Andrik thought I was the man you hired. It was a pretty good coincidence. But I’m not.” I looked over to her. She was looking down at her hands. “I wasn’t. But I am now, Palo. I came here looking to do the one thing you needed done. And I will.”
We were quiet for a brief moment. I gathered she was letting it all sink in.
“I know.” She turned to me slowly. “I knew the moment I saw you.”
I was stunned. “How did you know?”
“When I talked to hitman on the phone he was nothing like you. His words were harsh and cold. They did not match your eyes.”
“My eyes?”
“The man I hired was a killer. The man I saw did not have a killer’s eyes.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because I knew I had the right person.” She smiled warmly.
“How?”
“When I come here, I find many contacts and discover a man for hire, a killer, like my father. The timing was perfect. Everything fell into plan. And then I saw you.” Palo repositioned herself. She looked right at me. “I prayed for a killer, but what I needed was an angel. You were it.”
“But you didn’t even know me.”
“In the room when Anna was going to hurt you, I walked in, and when I saw you, for a moment, what I saw was an angel.” Palo smiled. “You think I am crazy, but it is the truth. I believed I had been given what I needed.”
I almost cried. I felt strange. I felt important. I felt needed. I felt as if everything I was doing was actually much greater than I realized. Palo was next to me, just as beautiful as any woman ever made, and she trusted me to save her life. It was such an honorable feeling that I had no response.
“I am safe with you, Hitman. I believe with all of my heart.” Palo’s warm left hand reached over and took my right hand and simply rubbed it. A soft and comforting touch. It sent chills throughout my body and made me quiver with excitement.
I looked into her deep blue eyes. “Thank you, Palo.”
She smiled a wondrous and authentic smile and slid over to press herself against me, resting her head against my right shoulder. She smelled amazing.
It hurt.
And I loved it.
There were lights on in Sally’s home. I saw them before we reached the driveway. I made a left turn off the empty road and sped up the driveway to her garage, braked hard, scrambled out of the car quickly, and dashed to the front door with Palo a step behind. The door was locked. I felt better knowing it.
I used a key to get in. I opened up the door and rushed inside. Palo walked in and shut the door behind us. The running water of the shower was heard. The kitchen light was on and through the half open bedroom door light spilled out into the hall. No sign of foul play.
I exhaled with relief and gave a half smile to Palo. We walked to the kitchen and I offered her something to eat and drink. She gracefully declined, but said she was tired. I was tired too. I stepped by the bathroom door, closed, probably locked from inside, heard the shower running hard and knew I would talk to Sally once she got out. We would gather some things and get out of town. Maybe hole up with Frank and Belsay until I finished business. Regardless, we had to leave fast.
I helped Palo into the guest bed where I had been sleeping. I tucked her in. She was falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. I would give her time to rest, until Sally and I were ready to walk out to wherever we were heading.
“Get whatever sleep you can,” I said softly.
“Thank you.” Palo’s eyes closed. I brushed a few strands of hair from her face. I walked out and shut the door behind me.
I headed into the kitchen for a drink and something to eat. The shower was still running. It was nearing five in the morning. I was dead tired and starving. I poured a giant glass of water and looked for something to eat. I was too tired to cook, so I had a bowl of cereal. I sat at the table and ate and looked out the window. I set my Glock 17 on the table in front of me and tried to think of where Anna would be.
The running shower filled the silence.
Anna was presumable now in the hands of Andrik. Being so early though, I figured she was in a warehouse, or a basement, or a trunk, until Jeff could drop her off. The problem was that we didn’t know where. The Red Square was a big place, and these guys didn’t have an issue with working in abandoned parts of the city either. They could be anywhere.
Which got me thinking that Jeff Dimeglio could be anywhere too. It made me nervous. My gut was telling me that something was wrong. I was anxious to the point where I thought for a moment I would vomit. I could no longer sit still. He knew where Sally lived. We needed to get out of her house soon.
I had finished eating and drinking and I walked around, checked the windows, peered hard into the dark pools of shadows outside. There was more traffic now. Early risers heading to work. Probably hating the fact they were working on Saturday. Maybe they were slightly hung-over and tired. I was tired. My head hurt. The shower was a soothing sound though. Some people had devices that played the sound of running water. I wouldn’t waste the money. Though people with houses near the ocean or near waterfalls swear to the relaxation given by the sound. It was simple. On second thought, maybe I would waste the money.
I was anxious as hell and the shower was helping.
Shower.
/> Warm and relaxing.
I wished then that Sally had a hot tub. I had never been in one, but I wanted to. Especially at night in the winter under a blanket of stars. Palo might have one.
I smiled. I wouldn’t spend five seconds in a bathtub, yet I would sit in a hot tub all night.
The minutes dragged on. I paced back and forth. I held my gun in my right hand, ready, listening to the shower.
Shower.
I couldn’t seem to think of anything else. It was the only sound in the early morning stillness. It had been running now for over twenty-five minutes.
How long did it take for her hot water to go cold?
Dammit!
I bolted out of the living room and through the hallway with my heart in my throat. I had a panicked feeling pulling me under like quicksand. I raced to the bathroom door and grabbed the handle, expecting it to be locked, but it turned easily. I threw the door open. I yelled Sally’s name, though I knew it didn’t matter.
The bathroom was empty. There was no steam against the mirror. It wasn’t hot or humid. Sally had a separate bathtub and shower. The shower was small, with a glass door wide open. A struggle had definitely taken place. Shampoo bottles were open and leaking, scattered across the white linoleum floor. Thick, plush towels, white and pink, were on the floor along with the wall rack. Frilly white rugs were crumpled up against the tub and toilet. Items were tossed across her sink countertop. Sally was in trouble.
My heart pounded. I was breathing hard and sweating. I reached in the shower and shut the water off. It had been set on hot. The water was freezing.
I ran out in panic. I was shaking. I raced down the hall to the guest bedroom and yelled for Palo to get up. She sprung up quickly with fear in her blue eyes. I didn’t wait for her, I turned back and dashed through the house to Sally’s bedroom. I barreled through the half-opened door and stopped dead in my tracks.
The room was a mess. A disaster. The 12 gauge was lying on the bed, several red spent shell cases were around the floor, probably buckshot due to the size of the holes in the wall and closet doors. Sally had made a dash to her arsenal, I thought. She must have screamed for me. She must have been scared. I heard Palo breathing hard coming down the hall towards me, I turned and saw on the wall behind me was blood splatter and a trail smearing down to the plush white carpet.
Then the vomit came.
My hands trembled so hard that the gun slipped out of my hand. On the floor with a bloody handprint lay Jeff Dimeglio’s file. Maybe it was Sally sending me a message, trying to point me in the right direction. But I knew already.
I felt something wrap around my arm and then the sensation of being pulled away, but it all was a blur. I was looking at it in slow motion through foggy glasses. I was slipping into shock. Anna! Sally! I was struggling to breathe. I was drowning and unable to move my arms fast enough to save my life.
I turned and noticed Sally’s bedroom door moving further away. I was in the hallway then, moving fast, being pulled by Palo. Her wondrous eyes were wide and filled with something unpleasant. She was more than worried; she was terrified and panicked. Her full lips were parting rapidly, frantically talking, but I heard nothing. I was slipping further into a protective state of mind. I was shutting everything out.
Suddenly I stopped moving.
I saw Palo’s arms fly away from me.
I turned my head in their fleeting direction. I saw Jeff Dimeglio. He had the eyes of a killer and the smile of a bloodthirsty wolf. His hands were swinging something black towards my head. I shut my eyes. I felt a sharp sting race from my head straight down to my feet, then a flood of dizziness sent me down. I fought it for a moment. But I was too tired. Too weak. I let go completely then. I collapsed into the blackness swallowing me.
I felt heavy and dizzy. My eyes opened but wouldn’t stay so. I saw glimpses of Sally’s ceiling. I was moving slowly. A few inches at a time. My arms were up high. I made out someone’s hands around my wrists, a firm grasp. I was being dragged through the kitchen. I tried to scream. I tried hard to yell for Palo. Then I felt the stickiness of the tape against my lips.
I yanked my arms down, but the grip holding them was like iron. I was helpless. I was an idiot. I never looked through Sally’s house. I should have checked everything out the moment I returned. I wondered where Palo was.
“Paybacks are a real bitch.” The deep voice rang through my head like a massive bell in a tower causing waves of pain to flood through me. I stopped and my arms fell hard to the floor. Jeff Dimeglio stepped over me, and looked down. “All I wanted was the money. I warned you, cowboy.”
His right shoe swung back, then fast and hard towards my head.
A lot of things can go through your head in a split second.
The only thing I was thinking then was how much I hated the sound of running water.
Chapter 18