AMELIA
I get the knock on my door. I’ve been expecting it, but it still comes as a shock. The entire time I’ve been sitting here, I’ve been thinking about
running. But where would I go? I have spent my entire life in Gordon’s Cove.
I can’t imagine how I would start again. I have no savings. Everything I ever had went into the shelter. I had all these dreams about what I would do with my future. None of them ever involved living somewhere else.
But is it worth staying if it means I’m going to be tortured and killed? How likely is it that this is going to be my last night on earth? I should never have gone to the casino. I know that.
It’s too late to turn back the clock. If I could, I’d have given Leo back the chip the minute he gave it to me, told him to leave, and never come back.
No good can come from falling for a man like him. I should have trusted my instincts. Men are trouble.
I can’t eat. I feel sick even thinking about food. I don’t know where Leo is. I hold on to the tiny hope that it’s him at the door. I’ve locked it, wedged a chair up under the handle. “Who’s there,” I ask as the knocking continues.
“Franco Greco,” a man’s voice replies. He sounds elderly and friendly, not angry in the slightest. “May I speak with you for a spell?”
I look through the spyhole. He’s got white hair and looks like he might blow over if there’s a breeze. Thin and tall in a light gray suit. I reckon even I could take him in a straight fight. I move the chair and unlock the door.
I think about the gun, sitting just down the side of the couch cushions. I should be able to get it out and shoot in a few seconds. Will that be enough time if it comes to it?
I could refuse to let him in. I know that. But something about his face tells me I can trust him. I pull open the door and he smiles in at me. “Miss
Dooley, I understand?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, have we met?”
“No, we have not. I would remember such beauty.” He leans down and takes my hand, kissing the back of it. “May I step inside? It is cold tonight.”
“Of course,” I say, waving him in. “What can I do for you, Mr. Greco?”
“Please, call me Franco.”
Keep him talking. That’s what Leo said to me. I just need to keep him talking. How long for though? Where is Leo? What the hell has happened to my life. A couple of days ago it was all simple and now?
Now I have a consigliere in my house, sitting in the armchair with his legs crossed at the ankles like he’s my grandpa. He looks at me and smiles, but I notice the smile hasn’t reached his eyes.
He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a knife. It’s long and thin, more an ice pick than anything else. He sets it down on the small table next to him. He puts his fingers together in front of his face and continues smiling. “Where’s Leo?” he asks.
“I’ve no idea,” I reply, my voice higher than I’d like. I keep looking at the ice pick. He is staring at me without blinking. Is that some mafia thing? Do none of them ever blink?
I don’t like the stare. Already I’m regretting letting him inside. He still doesn’t look strong, though. Maybe if it comes down to it, I might fight him off.
“I think you do,” he says. “I told him I was coming to speak to you. I know how he feels about you. Know he wants to write off your debt. He has
no right to do that. Only the Don can do that.”
“I do not know what you’re talking about.”
“The famiglia is close,” he says, his voice still warm and friendly. “We share things. Leo shares things. He told me about you last time he came here, told me he’d left a loose end untied. Didn’t want me to tell the Don.
“The Don trusts Franco. Everyone trusts Franco. I know how to keep secrets, you see. There was a man once upon a time who didn’t want anyone to know he was sleeping with a Belucci girl. Tito, his name was.
“Wanted me to make sure no one ever found out they’d slept together. Begged me to help him. So I did. I helped him. Gave her a new name,
shipped her out of state. Want to know how he repaid me?” I can’t say anything. I can’t stop staring at the ice pick.
“Tried to get me whacked,” he continues. “Thought that way he would tie up all the loose ends. Middle of my favorite restaurant. Don’s out of town. Tito walks up behind me with this ice pick and tries to get it straight in my neck.
“Only there’s a mirror on the wall of the restaurant and the dumb fucking prick hasn’t noticed it. I’ve noticed it though. I notice everything, Amelia. Nothing gets past me.
“That’s why the Don trusts me. I see it all. I saw that ice pick coming for me.” He picks it up and jabs it forward into an imaginary opponent, his face darkening. “And I put this straight through his fucking eye.”
He puts it down again. “That was the last time I believed a liar. I was young then and there have been lots of liars since then but I’ve not fallen for any of their bullshit and if you think I’m going to fall for yours, you’re dumber than you look.
“I’m going to ask you again and you’re going to tell me the truth or you’re going to find out how Tito felt when the ice pick went into his brain.
Where’s Leo?”
“I don’t know,” I answer, my heart thudding in my chest. “I’ve no idea?”
His smile returns, and he claps his hands. “Of course you don’t. What a good girl you are, being honest with me like that. Tell me, can you fetch me a coffee while we wait for him to arrive?”
“Wait for who to arrive?”
“Come on, my dear. I am no fool. I know Leo has been fucking you. I can smell it in the air. Rutting like animals, the two of you. Now I can imagine fucking you, but I cannot imagine fucking over the famiglia to be with you. How long have you two been skimming the casino together?”
“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do. I hear you walked into the casino and bet on a roulette table. That true?”
“Yes, I mean I went to the casino, but I never collected my winnings. I have stolen nothing, I swear.”
“Won twice in a row is what I hear.”
“So? That’s not a crime, is it?”
“Not at all. And if you’d used your own money, I wouldn’t even be here. But you used the Belucci chip. That’s the part that interests me. Where did you get the chip from, Amelia?”
“I… I found it.”
He scoops up the ice pick and starts cleaning his nails with it. “You found the chip? That’s fascinating. Where did you find it, might I ask?”
He leaps up fast for a man his age and before I know what’s happening, he’s sitting on me, the ice pick pressing into my cheek. “Be careful with your answer,” he says. “Or my hand might just slip and put a hole in that pretty little face of yours. Think Leo will want to fuck you if you’ve got a big hole in your face? Where did you find the chip, Amelia?” “Leo gave it to me,” I say, too frightened to lie.
“That’s interesting,” he says, going back to his chair and sitting down as if nothing happened. “Leo gave it to you. Gave you a chip so you could spend money that doesn’t belong to you on a crooked roulette table so you two could walk away with a million dollars of the Don’s money. That about right? Planned it together, did you?”
“No, it wasn’t like that. I didn’t know the chip was anything special. I just wanted to cash it in. Leo gave it to me for saving his dog, that was all.”
“I like you, Amelia. I can see why Leo likes you. If I had time, I might fuck you, but alas the evening must draw to a close. Would you like to know what’s going to happen now?”
“What?”
“Loose ends get tied up. Leo is out there right now, tracking down my snitch. I left him a nice fat clue because this game is getting boring. He’ll find death waiting for him at the end of the rainbow.
“You see, that’s what I like, Amelia. I like all the loose ends neatly tied up. The casino continues to run. The chip goes back to the Don and the Belucci famiglia stay where they belong, in the dirt.
“You might wonder why I’m telling you this. Well, I’ll explain, shall I? You owe us a debt. You owe our family a debt. I’m going to collect tonight. I was going to kill you for shits and giggle, but I think you’ll do much better as one of the whores. I’m sure they can fit another one in tonight’s shipment.”
I lean toward the corner of the couch, wondering if I can get the gun without being noticed. His eyes are fixed on me and I calculate the odds. He doesn’t seem to have a gun, but he’s shown he can move fast.
“You want to get the gun,” he says. “Don’t you?”
“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The gun. You’ve hidden it under the couch, haven’t you? Go ahead. Take it out.” “I…”
“Take it out!” he roars at the top of his voice.
I lean down the side of the couch and pull out the gun. “Point it at me,” he says. “Go on.”
I do as he says. He isn’t even flinching. All I need to do is pull the trigger and he’ll be dead. It will all be over.
“Before you shoot me,” he continues. “You should know something. Killing someone never leaves you. Shoot me and I will be by your side until the day you die. Which won’t be long because the famiglia know I’m here and they know who you are.
“They won’t just kill you either. They’ll torture you first. Some people can survive for days, so I’m told. Then when you beg for death and they finally let you die, they will find everyone you ever cared about and kill them too.
“And that shelter of yours will burn with all those dogs inside howling as they fry. Trapped in their cages, frightened, alone, all because of you. So you pull that trigger if you want to. Or you pass me the gun and we wait for Leo to get here like two civilized people.”
I look at him. I think of everything he just said. Is it true? Or is he playing mind games with me?
“Shoot me or give me the gun,” he says. “Your choice, Amelia.”
I don’t think any longer. I pull the trigger. There’s just a click. In the time I take to work out what’s gone wrong, he’s lunged forward and taken the gun out of my hand. “Safety was on,” he says. “Dumb fucking broad.”
He digs out his cellphone and types something in. The door opens a moment later and four men walk in. They look identical, too big for their suits, faces scarred and pockmarked. None of them are smiling.
“You know what to do,” Franco says, getting to his feet. “Good evening, Amelia. I will enjoy seeing you again. Watching you get fucked repeatedly until you’re in too much pain to think about anything but death. That’s when
I’ll fuck you. The last cock inside you before you die.”
He walks out of the house and the door closes behind him. I look at the four men approaching me as the sound of a car fades away outside. I turn to run. I make it upstairs, but there’s nowhere to go.
I lock myself in the bathroom and try to get out through the window. The door crashes inward and hands are dragging me back to the ground.
The nearest guy has me by the hair, pulling me back down the stairs toward the front door. I yank at his fingers, but he bats my hands away. The others get hold of my limbs.
As one of them pulls the door open, he falls back. Someone is waiting on the doorstep. In the darkness outside a colossal figure is standing dripping with blood, gun pointing at the men. I see eyes glinting in the darkness and I know those eyes. It’s Leo.