Page 136 of Married With Malice

Sadie doesn’t question the order. Door hinges squeak and in a calm, clear voice, she calls out the same coded sentence Cale once told me to expect to hear from him if shit ever hits the fan.

Angela was the name of our mother.

Within seconds I hear pounding footsteps and then a rustling noise as Cale takes the phone from his wife.

“Luca,” Cale says, sounding calm and unruffled even though he’s aware of the enormity of this call.

“No time,” I say. “Things went bad between Richie and Barone. Barone’s men are probably on their way to you. Do whatever you’ve got to do.”

“I will,” he replies.

I hear Sadie in the background, fearfully asking what’s wrong.

“You take care, brother.” I swallow hard. “I need to get Anni. I’ll call you when I can.”

“Got it. Love you, kid.” A gruff current of emotion creeps into his voice.

I shut my eyes for a second as the magnitude of everything that’s at stake hits me with the speed of a train. “Love you too.”

Gianni and Silvio have vanished through the door to the deli by now and I stand there alone, consumed with helpless fury, unable to instantly save the people I love.

I try my wife’s phone again and curse up a blue streak when voicemail answers.

“Baby, it’s me. I’m fine but I need you to call me immediately.”

When I saw her at the house earlier, she didn’t mention any plans this afternoon. In all likelihood, she’s still there, waiting for me to come home early like I said I would.

There’s an easy way to confirm whether Anni’s left the house and I don’t know why I didn’t check before. Scrolling to the home security app, I log in and see that the alarm isn’t set. I click on the list of video clips recorded by the security cameras and find the one of me leaving.

The perspective is from the camera mounted over the garage and pointed at the driveway. Sabrina and Monte wait by the car while I run back to Anni and swing her around in my arms. There’s no sound, only the vision of Anni laughing with joy as I spun her around and gave her one last kiss. She watched until we drove down the street and then she returned to the house.

The camera captures a few other cars driving down the street, just ordinary traffic.

Then, forty minutes after my departure, there’s a video clip that makes my blood run cold.

I watch an unfamiliar dark sedan pulled into the driveway. Four men exit and I recognize three of them as Albie’s men. The middle aged balding guy named Sonny appears to be in charge. He issues silent orders to the rest of the men and then disappears out of view while the other men hang around tensely.

Within minutes, Sonny returns and Anni is with him. She’s not fighting. She’s walking calmly with a coat thrown over her shoulders. Strangely, she appears to be barefoot. She climbs into the car without a fuss.

Anni never would have gone willingly if she thought there was any danger. No telling what kind of lies they fed her but she was safe and didn’t appear frightened.

This is cause for significant relief. But now I need to know where they took her. Because that’s where I’m going. I’m getting my wife back and I’m getting her back RIGHT FUCKING NOW!

The back door to the deli screeches open. Monte and Nico walk out with their guns drawn. They must have gotten nervous when Gianni and Silvio returned to the deli without me. The Castelli brothers visibly relax when they see me standing upright and they move to holster their weapons.

I’m about to explain that I’m leaving to find Anni when my phone rings.

As I look at the screen, I need to do a double take because the caller is just about the last person I’d expect to hear from right now.

31

ANNALISA

The sound of yelling coming from downstairs snaps me out of my trance.

I don’t know how much time passed while I was lying curled on the floor with my misery but I’ve already come to one conclusion.

Luca can’t be dead.

---