The high pitch buzz of cicadas filled the early afternoon and the river seemed to slow down to a crawl as the summer sun climbed higher in the sky. Jim was sitting just by the river on a smooth granite boulder most likely deposited from a retreating glacier onto the bank thousands of years ago.

  Much had changed in the world since then and much more was due to change, but that particular half ton of granite would be impervious to every flood and storm to come until the next ice age pushes south from the polar region to drag it somewhere else.

  He tried to move as little as possible, even the dense shade from the Black Willows trailing the ends of long branches over the surface of the water did little to mitigate the hot, humid summer afternoon. On the back of his neck Jim could feel the beads of sweat slowly accumulate and then break away down his back to gather at the bottom of his shirt.

  “Are you hungry Amos? I’ve got a trick for cooking over a hot fire on a warm day. Did you wanna’ see how I pull that off?” Jim regretted the question as soon as he had asked it. Asking Amos for an opinion was not likely to lead anywhere and he should really remember to avoid open ended questions with the boy as well. It just left an uncomfortable silence in the air.

  This time Amos surprised Jim. “My Dad knew that trick. Stand in the river while you cook. That is what he did. He also sat on that same rock you’re on while he ate”

  Jim tried not to show his surprise, so far the day had been far more pleasant than he could have hoped for and he didn’t want to change the mood if he could help it.

  “Well then, you take his old spot and I’m going to build a fire and cook up that big trout. While the coals form, I can gut it and stuff it with lemon slices and garlic. Nothin’ beats fresh cooked trout with lemon an’ some garlic if you ask me.”

  It took a little while to get the fire going and for a good bed of hot coals to form but it gave Jim plenty of time to gut the fish and get it prepped and ready. Once it was wrapped up in the foil he had brought he set it atop of the coals to cook in the intense heat.

  “There’s a fox watching us. He is behind that tree just down the bank.”

  Jim looked for a moment but could not see anything. “Where exactly Amos? I don’t see em’.”

  “He’s hidden behind the tree but he keeps sniffing the air and he’s very tense because there’s two crows watching us as well. They all want the fish guts.”

  Jim bent down and picked up the entrails in his hand. “I guess it’ll be a race as soon as we leave cept’ that I don’t like crows so I’m gonna declare Mr. Fox to be the winner.” He tossed the slimy mass into the tall grass besides the tree and then looked at Amos. “Did I get close enough?”

  Amos stared for a moment at the tree. “The fox didn’t hesitate; he ate it in two bites and darted off with the remainder.”

  “Good enough for me. Let’s eat then, Amos you can take your dad’s old rock, you don’t see affected by the heat at all. I’m gonna stand barefoot in the river and cool off some.”

  Alessia sat in the back seat of his Yukon Denali SUV as they crawled through the streets of the North End. Her arms were wrapped tightly across her chest, her hair and skin were still wet from the quick shower Fausto had allowed her and now the chill of the air conditioner had covered her arms with goosebumps.

  “Where did she go Alessia…think now….where did she go?

  Fausto asked in his usual patient way. He was not the type of man to ask silly question or to ask the same question again and again. It was best to answer him honestly the first time.

  “I dunno’ Fausto. So many of her old friends have died and she really hasn’t gone out much at all these past few years. She relies on me to give her all of the news I can from the bar and she always sits at her window and watches the street all day.”

  Alessia frowned, this was not an answer and she would have to do better that that. “Look, maybe she went to church I guess. It’s been a long time, but Father Alfredo does call on her a few times each month. He would take her in for sure and be quiet about it too.”

  “Hmmmn…. Anthony, take us to St. Stephens, go around the back and let’s see if we can’t talk to Father privately then.”

  Alessia shrunk back into her seat, being caught between Fausto and her mother was going to be a terrible experience but maybe it would end this nightmare. Something had to change and it wasn’t her fault. Maybe Fausto would shoot her mother and this would come to an end.

  One could only hope but she knew that would never happen. Things were bad enough now but if Don Luca had to start shooting old women, that would be a terrible stain on the reputation of La Famigilia if that story ever got out.

  Once they were a block from the church things once again became even worse for Alessia as Don Luca called Fausto with news of yet another catastrophe.

  “Fausto, Fausto that little bitch took Pearl. She’s got help, a real pro who knows what he is doing and tossed the doggie daycare. Fausto, they took my wife’s goddamn dog. Do you hear me? They took that little fucking dog and now she won’t shut up about it.”

  There was a short pause and Don Luca began again. “Fausto, you listen to me. This has to stop. This has to stop now. Make it stop Fausto, make it stop. Whatever it takes Fausto. Throw the whole goddamn bunch of em’ into the sea if you have to. Make it stop.”

  Don Luca was shouting so loudly that once the call had ended there was no need for Fausto to explain anything to Alessia. The silence in the car was sudden and oppressive. Alessia was afraid to talk, afraid to breathe. She wondered just how long it would be before she was rolled up into a piece of carpet and tossed into the ocean.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  The worst stories were the ones that told of the victims waking up from the effects of the Chloroform-soaked rag only to find themselves tightly wrapped up in a roll of carpet lying on the bottom of fishing trawler.

  Fausto would have them rolled into the ocean while they shouted and begged for mercy. No one could hear them scream as they went overboard and the waterlogged carpet kept the body on the ocean floor long after the crabs would have picked the bones clean.

  “Anthony, pull over.” Fausto turned to look at Alessia once the big SUV had come to a stop.

  “Alessia, I’m gonna give you one chance to tell me where we might find this girl or anyone that knows anything about her. Your mom found em’ once, you need to find them for me right now.”

  Alessia took a deep breath and hugged her shoulders a bit tighter in the chilly confines of the car.

  “We found them at a farm and followed them back to the City. They were buying eggs and milk there to sell at the market. Silvio had found out where after he had approached them at the market.”

  “Can you take me there?”

  “Yes but it’s over an hour away, maybe more.”

  “Then we are gonna’ go now, you tell Anthony how to get there. I am going to smoke a cigarette and then we go and Alessia….you had better be giving me the best option to find these people. Do you understand me?

  When Jim dropped off Amos at Paul’s place he was more than a bit relieved to see that both Paul and Alanah were safely back and unharmed from their latest outing. He did not expect to find Alanah playing on the front lawn with a small white dog but it was still far better than seeing her covered in blood or smelling like gunpowder.

  The innocence of the moment was quickly lost once Amos stepped out of the old truck. Pearl, the small white Maltese dog took an instant dislike to Amos and started to bark incessantly.

  Amos was unable to come near Alanah or the dog and finally, Paul took the small creature into the house leaving Alanah, Amos and Jim standing in an awkward silent triangle in front of the house.

  Jim was intent on maintaining the good mood from earlier in the day and began to tell Alanah all about the big trout he had caught, and the smaller ones Amos had found.

  “It’s unheard of. To catch four trout, midday in the summer, it wasn’t luck Alanah, Amos knew exactly where to find em’. It was just a matter of casting the fly where he spotted em’ and eventually they came right up. Tell her how you did it Amos.”

  Without any delay Amos began in his flat monotone “most of the trout were just stationary on the river bottom but a few would twitch and flick their tails when the fly landed. They seemed like they wanted to eat so I chose to target them.”

  “Don’t ask me how he sees through river water, I couldn’t begin to guess but it works great for fishing.” Jim held out the cooler he had taken from the back of the truck. “There’s a few trout in here, still quite fresh. Did you want me to cook one up for you?”

  “Ughh no. No thanks. I was thinking if you could run Amos and I back to the building for a second. I wanted to show him around and make sure everything is ok and that the car is still fine where we left it.”

  Jim smiled, “that’s a great idea Alanah, lemme’ give these fish to Paul and we can go. Are you gonna’ tell me how you got that dog on the way over?”

  Paul walked back towards the truck and held out his arm. “I would love to have those fish. Stay for supper Jim if you can and the two of us can finish them off and I’ll explain the dog.”

  “It was our cleanest hit yet Amos. We grabbed Don Luca’s dog and Paul grabbed their security system so they don’t even know who hit them.”

  Paul laughed “oh…they know who hit them, they just don’t have a great idea as to exactly who we are or what we look like but still, we need to be real careful from here on in.”

  “Anyways, we tossed the security system over the bridge before coming here, just like the burner phone Paul was using.” Alanah turned and looked at Paul. “Just how many things have you tossed over that bridge? Any bodies at all?”

  Paul grimaced and shook his head. “Nope… just things that shouldn’t be found but no bodies alright?” He turned back towards the house “I’m gonna check on Pearl, dinner will be ready when you get back.”

  “He’s lying.” Amos was staring at Paul as he walked away.

  “Shhh Amos, why would you say that? He heard you!”

  “His Beetles were confused and agitated. He was lying to you right now.”

  Jim cleared his throat and reached out and pulled Alanah towards the truck.

  “Come on then Almos, let’s go see the home you created, it’s been a while now since you’ve been back.” As the kids climbed into the truck Jim looked back at the house. Paul was standing on his small front porch staring at Amos as he climbed in to the truck. His expression wasn’t angry or defensive, he was lost in thought and kept staring at the truck as it started up and pulled away.

  Anthony made very good time getting out to the farm He drove with speed and precision and with little fear being pulled over by the police. There was a good chance that any police car that attempted to pull over the SUV would recognize who the car belonged to and would leave it be. Anyone who didn’t would only need a moment or so with Fausto before recognizing their error and apologizing profusely for making it.

  “Are you sure this is the road Alessia?” Fausto looked at her warily. He was out of his element on this dusty backroad in farm country and he did not want to be wasting his time on one farm after another. They all looked the same to him.

  “Yes Fausto, just up ahead is the hill where we parked and looked down at the farm. It is just over on the right on the other side. I recognize this old blue barn that we just passed. We are very close.”

  Once the black Denali, now covered in dust, got to the top of the rise Anothy slowed down, anticipating that Fausto would want to take a look at the farm.

  “That’s it. That is the driveway and that white farmhouse is the one the girl came out of.”

  “What do you see Anothony?” Fausto was a judge of people, how they reacted, how they failed and how they pleaded and begged for mercy. He did not understand dangerous environments or how best to avoid them but he trusted Anthony to do so.

  “I see two trucks parked by the house plus another one by the big barn that may or may not be running, looks like it’s been there a while, the grass is grown up around it a bit. Farm looks pretty quiet, we can drive in and if there’s any trouble I can just back down the lane and get us outta’ here right quick.”

  “Ok then, go slow and keep watch, don’t get any closer than one hundred feet from the farmhouse. Alessia, who did you see here the last time?”

  “It was just the girl and an older lady. The girl was angry but she just had a baseball bat when I was here and she didn’t do nothing with it. I didn’t see anyone else.”

  Fausto held his chin and thought for a bit, he didn’t have many options and he couldn’t remember a more frustrating problem to deal with than these stupid kids and the old crone. He had produced zero results for Don Luca since he dealt with Giorgio and things had just gotten worse.

  “Ok Anothony, nice and easy now and keep a good lookout for anyone that wants to surprise us, let’s find out who we are dealing with.”

  “I will Fausto, even in reverse I can be the first down this driveway if we need to go and as long as we stay back of the house then they can’t get the jump on us.”

  Gravel crunched under the wheels of the big Denali and the occasional small rock was ejected from the side edge of the tires with a loud ping as the stiff rubber compressed down onto the stones in the driveway. The SUV rolled down towards the spot on the farmhouse lawn where Alessia had gotten out of her car the last time.

  The centre of the windshield just below the drivers mirror suddenly had a jagged hole in it and a snapping sound filled the cabin of the car. A moment later the loud boom of a solitary gunshot rang out towards them from the barn.