Page 27 of She Found Me

“I’m just a driver. Just to and from places, usually. I’ve never been involved in any of their missions before. I was told to park up and wait. Then when the target was in sight, the soldiers in the back would get out, grab her, and put her in the car. Then I would drive to the location given.”

“Soldiers?” I ask.

“Yeah, that’s what they call them.”

“What who calls them?” I move the flame of the torch directly onto his hand, melting the skin until blood and tissue appear. He screams in agony until I stop.

“Carry on. Who were you working for?” I demand.

Crying in pain, he explains. “I never met them directly. I owed some money, a lot of money. I was told if I did this job, my debt would be wiped clean.”

“I don’t care for excuses. Give me a fucking name!” I move the flame to his other hand, holding it there for a few seconds before removing it. Once his screams subside, I ask again. “The name of who you were working for?”

“Mart… something. Mattel, maybe? Th-they never directly t-told me,” he stutters.

I watch him, reading him. He’s telling the truth.

“The Martelé?” I prompt.

“Yes. That’s it. They were foreign. Had an accent like you,” he confirms.

“Tell me what happened.” I put down the torch, encouraging him to speak.

“We were stationed down the road from the bar. There was another car on the next street who were given the same instructions. They were watching the back exit. We watched for hours, waiting for them to leave. One of the soldiers then spotted the targets leaving, they told me to drive towards them, so I did. The next minute the other car came speeding towards us. I thought it was going to stop, but it didn’t—it just kept coming and coming. It went straight into those people and then into us.”

I push for more. “Why do you think the plan changed?”

“I have no idea. One of the soldiers received a call a few minutes before it all happened. I don’t know what was said, as I didn’t understand their language. I was just told to wait. Then the other car came flying towards us. It was out of control, like the driver didn’t know where they were going.”

The pain in my chest throbs as I relive watching the video of Mia being stuck, her helpless body burning in flames. I retrieve the blowtorch and turn it on full, I set the man’s arm alight. His howls of suffering don’t come close to the pain I feel inside.

I drop the torch to the floor, then remove my apron. “You finish him off,” I instruct one on my men. “Find out every detail, who contacted him, times, dates, descriptions.”

When I leave the basement, Van follows me upstairs.

“What the hell was that?” he asks, annoyed.

“He doesn’t know anything else of importance. I need to kill the Martelé.”

“Marco, you can’t kill all the Martelé. They just declared war, yes. But we need to find out more. Going after them now will just be a blood bath for us all.”

“What more is there to find out? They killed Mia, your sister!” I argue, frustrated that he doesn’t also want to rip their heads off immediately.

“Believe me, there’s nothing I want more than to end each and every one of their miserable lives, but there’s more to this. He said they were there to kidnap her, not kill her.”

“What’s the fucking difference. They did kill her,” I reply getting more and more irritated.

“But why? Why did the plan change?”

“Who the fuck knows. All I know is, the Martelé are responsible for her death, and I will bring the whole organisation to its knees if it’s the last thing I do!”

Walking away from protesting Van, I return to my office and go over my revenge. Tonight the Martelé will pay. It’s not the first time I have killed their leader. Three years ago, I killed Antonio Martelé to save my boss and his wife. There’s been conflict between the Guerras and their organisation throughout the generations, for one reason or another. When Leonardo Guerra, the last boss of the Guerras, and his wife died, the hostility of the Martelé leader’s murder died with them. Or so we thought. We knew there would always be bad blood between us, but I’d assumed assassinations of the Guerra were off the cards. I should have known better. I took my eyes off them, and as a result, my Mia paid the ultimate price.

Chapter 16

Mia

So, this is what death feels like. Nothing. I can’t move or open my eyes. I’m just floating around in darkness. Well, this is unexpected. Not that I had thought much about what happens after I die, but I either though it would be completely nothing, where I couldn’t hear myself think, or there would be something—anything. Other people who had also passed, maybe. I’d considered that I might end up in hell, given all the terror I had been involved with in my life. Maybe this is hell. A life of loneliness. At least it is peaceful.

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