CLAUDE
“What?! What did you say?!” I exclaimed to Ramiro, whom I was speaking to on the other line.
“I’m sorry, Claude. But your wife was kidnapped,” Ramiro said softly.
“What the hell happened? I thought she was being watched by your men. You told me you could take care of her. I trusted you, bro! And now you’re telling me my wife got kidnapped! What kind of surveillance are you doing?”
If Ramiro was in front of me right now, I might had thrown some punches towards him. He was lucky weren’t face to face.
“Calm down, bro. I just arrived here in Kauai. I just finished talking to my caretaker. She’s the one who told me about what happened, so I rushed here immediately. I’ll pass the phone to Adrian. Talk to him first so I can also call the owner of the supermarket where your wife went missing.”
Before I could react, I heard a familiar voice from the other line. “Dad, Mom is missing,” Adrian said, crying.
My heart shattered upon hearing my son’s voice. I felt tears welling up in my own eyes.
“Baby, hold on. Your Uncle Ramiro and I will find your mom. I’ll come there first thing tomorrow. Wait for me, son.”
My son continued to cry as he recounted what happened. I could only listen.
I regretted that Ramiro didn’t use a video call to contact me. I was in a meeting earlier, so my cellphone was on silent mode. Ramiro called my office landline.
“Baby, give the phone back to Uncle Ramiro. I just need to talk to him. I’ll call you again later, or you can call me. Use your mom’s tablet. Ask for Miss Lucille’s help.”
My son agreed immediately.
“Hey, Claude!” Ramiro called out when he returned to the line.
“What information did you get? Can we find Sia?”
“The owner of the supermarket agreed to give me the CCTV footage they have. He’ll send it to me later. Once I have the footage, I’ll track down whoever took your wife. Hopefully, you can get here as soon as possible.”
I sighed heavily. “I’ll talk to the owner of Zadkiel Airlines. Maybe they can arrange a special flight to Hawaii for me tonight or tomorrow morning. But please don’t wait for me to arrive before you take action.”
“Sure, sure. I will do my best.”
“Take care of my son too. He might be the next one to disappear. I’ll talk to my mom and tell her to follow me so they can take my son home before anything bad happens.”
“Okay, as you wish.”
After finishing my conversation with Ramiro, I immediately called Zadkiel.
“Hey, Chaos! You called. Is there anything I can do for you, bro?”
“I need your help, man. My wife is missing.”
“Huh? Again?”
“Yeah, she’s missing again. It’s that damn mafia’s fault!”
“Mafia? Who?”
“Cyclone’s cousin, Ramiro Martin.”
“Oh! How can I help you?”
“My wife and my son are in Hawaii. That’s where my wife got kidnapped. I need to get there now.”
“Okay, but the private jet is currently running some maintenance works. I’ll check the available flights. Give me fifteen minutes to find a seat for you.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, albeit somewhat tense.
“Thank you, Holocaust.”
“No problem, bro.”
After I hung up my phone, I started packing. I needed to go home. It was already five in the afternoon. I would prepare my things in case Zadkiel called back with a flight.
I was close to my house when my phone rang again. Zadkiel’s name appeared on the caller ID.
“Hey, man,” I greeted.
“Chaos, I got a flight for you. We don’t have any available flights tonight. The earliest flight we have is at two in the morning. Is that okay with you?”
I am somewhat disappointed. But it is better than waiting longer for a flight.
“Yeah, sure. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll send you the flight details in your email.”
That night, I left my house by ten. I had my driver taken me so someone could bring the car back home. Despite the late hour, we still encountered some traffic Jan, so it took us an hour to reach the airport. We arrived exactly at eleven. I checked in immediately. After a few hours of waiting, the plane departed.
Ramiro greeted me at Honolulu International Airport.
“How’s the search for Sia going? Any leads?” Ramiro asked eagerly.
“Take a rest first. Tomorrow, we’ll go to the house where my people saw your wife,” Ramiro assured me.
“Someone saw her?”
“Yes. One of my men followed your wife. When she was being put on a plane, he called my other men here in Honolulu. They watched your wife at the airport, so they knew where the kidnappers took her.”
I felt a surge of hope. “If that’s the case, why don’t we go now? Why do we still have wait until tomorrow?”
Ramiro shook his head impatiently. “We can’t do that. Everything is planned for tomorrow. Don’t worry, I’ve placed a man inside Francesco Rinotti’s house. He won’t let anything bad happen to your wife.”
“Who is Francesco? Why did he have my wife kidnapped?”
“Well, according to my research, Sia supposedly looks like the missing wife of the mafia boss.”
My jaw almost dropped at what I heard. “Mafia boss? Are you serious?”
Ramiro just nodded.
“So there are three of them? Sia, your former secretary, and this apparent wife of a Mafia Boss?” I asked feeling confused.
Ramiro could not give me an answer, I knew everything seemed a blur to him as well.
I felt a shiver run down my spine. “Why is my wife being mistaken again? How many doppelgangers does she have? And how in the world could Sia be mistaken for the wife of that damn mafia?”
“I don’t know, bro. Remember when I mistook Sia too? She really looks like Cali.”
I rubbed my temples. “Can’t we go and find my wife now? Who knows what that guy might do to Sia. She’s pregnant, for God’s sake.”
“We should be thankful that Sia’s pregnant. It means Rinotti won’t harm her easily because she’s carrying his child. He might think your wife is carrying his child,” Ramiro explained.
My ears perked up at what I heard. I stared at Ramiro intently.
“What did you say?”
“Hey! I’m just guessing. I didn’t mean anything bad. Let’s just trust that nothing bad will happen to Sia. Your wife isn’t weak. I’m sure she won’t allow herself to be hurt by anyone.”
I found some comfort in what Ramiro said. But I still didn’t want to let my guard down. So, to ease my worry, I decided to call Adrian. I video-called him until my son fell asleep. When I lay down in bed, I tried to force myself to sleep. I needed to be composed when facing the mafia boss who kidnapped my wife.
I woke up early the next morning. Ramiro told me that we were leaving at nine in the morning. But even though it was only seven, I was already dressed and I had my breakfast already. I could hardly swallow my food because of my worry for my wife.
By half-past eight, Ramiro arrived with some of his men. We left immediately. We reached Rinotti’s house around nine-thirty.
I raised an eyebrow as our car entered the compound of the man who took my wife.
“Rinotti agreed to let us come here because I used my connections. But stay calm so as not to derail our plan,” Ramiro reminded me as the maids ushered us into the mansion.
I just nodded. However, I was not sure if I could stay calm when I saw my wife with bruises or any injuries.
The maids led us towards the back of the house. There, we found a man sitting on a garden seat with coffee served in front of him.
“Buongiorno, signore!” Ramiro greeted the man as we approached him.
The man stood up and extended his hand. Luckily, I understood some Italian and knew a little to say.
“Buongiorno anche a lei. Come sta, signor Martin? Sono Francesco Rinotti, al suo servizio.” (Good morning, too. How are you, Mister Martin? I am Francesco Rinotti, at your service.)
“This is my friend, Claude Xavier Robinson,” Ramiro introduced me, pointing at me.
“Piacere di conoscerla, signor Robinson. Mi chiamo Francesco Rinotti.” (Nice to meet you, Mister Robinson. My name is Francesco Rinotti.) Francesco shook hands with me, which I promptly accepted.
“Anch’io sono felice di conoscerla, signore,” (I am also happy to meet you, sir.) I returned the greeting.
“Siediti. Unisciti a me nel mio caffe,” (Sit down. Join me for my coffee,) Francesco gestured to the chair in front of him.
“Grazie, signore,” (Thank you, sir,) Ramiro and I both said as we sat down.
“Posso fare qualcosa per te?” (Can I do something for you?) Francesco asked. We exchanged glances with Ramiro.
“Il mio amico qui possiede qualcosa che ora e in tuo possesso,” (My friend here owns something that is now in your possession.) Ramiro spoke up, glancing at me.
Francesco raised an eyebrow. “Davvero? Cosa puo essere?” (Really? What can that be?)
I took out my phone and placed it on the table facing Francesco. Sia’s picture was on the wallpaper.
Francesco’s eyes widened. “Quella e mia moglie, Cali. Perche hai una sua foto?” (That is my wife, Cali. Why do you have her picture?)
I shook my head forcefully. “Quella non e tua moglie. E mia moglie e si chiama Alessia Harris.” (That is not your wife. She is my wife, and her name is Alessia Harris.)
Francesco’s eyes narrowed. “Sciocchezze! Non e vero!” (Nonsense! That is not true!) Francesco stood up. “Fuori di qui! Ora!” (Get out of here! Now!) He pointed to the exit.
I also stood up. “No! Non me ne vado senza mia moglie!” (No! I am not leaving without my wife!)
Ramiro was about to restrain me, but I pushed his hand away.
“Allora preparati a morire!” (Then prepare to die!)
We heard the click of guns from Francesco’s men around us. They approached with their long rifles pointed.
“Possiamo parlarne amichevolmente. Dite alla vostra gente di mettere giu le armi,” (We can talk about this amicably. Tell your people to put down their weapons.) Ramiro pleaded.
“Vattene subito da qui! Potrei cambiare idea e uccidervi entrambi!” (No! Just get out of here now! I might change my mind and kill you both!)
Ramiro pulled me away, but I seemed reluctant to move. I continued to stare at Isaiah.
“Let’s just come back another day. Let’s plan first,” Ramiro whispered, so I reluctantly complied.
We walked away weakly from where Francesco stood. We were already in front of the house when suddenly we heard a familiar voice.
“Claude!”
I immediately turned around, startled by what I saw. Sia was running towards me. I quickly embraced her tightly.
“Sweetpea, you’re here! I thought I wouldn’t see you again!”
I peppered her face with kisses.
“What the hell is going on!”
Sia and I quickly separated when we heard that voice. My heart nearly leaped out of my chest when I saw Francesco raised the gun he was holding and pointed it at us, with Sia caught in between.
I quickly turned to embrace my wife, and then there was the loud sound of a gunshot.
“Claude!”
I heard Sia screamed before I went blank.