Page 11 of Sinister Savior

MARIO

Istand near the window, peering out through the crack in the smoke-stained drapes. The tiny, dirty motel isn’t the safest place, but it is all I could muster on such short notice. I have contacts, but I’m not sure who is safe and who isn’t, and I’m waiting on a call back from one man I know will have my back until the day I die. For now, this single-bed motel room is all we have. That and an unmarked church van parked two blocks away. It may draw attention, but Alice protested stealing someone else’s car to be truly hidden.

She’s showering now after a long day of stress and worry. I got her out of the church less than an hour after I killed that man and hid his body in the bushes. She was a wreck. She still is. Death is easy for me when it’s not my own I’m facing. It’s simple despite being horrific and evil. I learned to separate my emotions from reality a long time ago. It was the only way to survive in my father’s world. That practice still serves me well to this day, helping me stay calm in the face of the worst things I face, which up until the past week or so has been listening to dramatic people complain about their boring lives.

My phone, buried in my pocket, buzzes, and I take it out. The number is unknown, but so is mine. This burner phone will serve me for a fewweeks. I haven’t had one in years. There’s no need to have a phone when you hide yourself away in a church building and focus only on serving others to make amends for your past. I’ve had no friends and largely no life for so long, I don’t remember what it feels like, but as I bring the phone to my ear, it all comes back to me like riding a bike.

“Mario, my God, I thought you were dead.” Ervine’s voice hasn’t changed a bit, though he has aged. We’ve both aged, and I’ve matured.

“Erv, I need a favor…”

My years of ordering hits and cleaners may have been over long ago, but a man like Ervine never gets out of the game. He probably still pulls jobs for Paolo or others who need the work done. He’s the best in the business because he doesn’t just work for men like me. He also works for the police as a crime scene clean-up guy. It makes him privy to all the trade secrets. It makes him one step ahead of the rest.

“Anything, man. God, it’s been so long. Where you been?” I can’t—I won’t— answer his questions, but it’s good to know he still has a good opinion of me and that my brother hasn’t tarnished that. It gives me hope that there are more like him who linger. I just have to find them.

“I’ve been around… Listen, I need a clean sweep. If I send you an address, can you send a team out? There can be no trace at all of my presence, the crime that was committed, or the victim. Can you make that happen?” I hear the water in the other room shut off and know Alice is almost finished. I only have seconds to finish the call and act like nothing has happened.

The truth of who I am will come out eventually, anyway, though I like to be in control of those sorts of things. So, I’ve already decided to have a talk with her before we go any further together. If she is unaware of who I am, she’ll never realize the danger she’s placing herself in by trusting me, and all of this should be her choice. I’m not like my brother.

“Sure, sure. Are you in trouble?” Ervine, always the loyal friend, is someone I can count on. I always could, and I will continue to do so even if we don’t speak again for twenty years.

“Nothing I can’t handle. Now, tell me. Are you staying in the loop? Any guys you think I can count on to be loyal to me and not my brother?” This is the real test. I know just how tight my brother’s grip on this city is, and if I can’t sway one measly cleaner to shun him and help me, I’ll never flip my former associates.

“Yeah, of course, Mario. I know a dozen at least. Everyone was shocked when you vanished. We all know you are the rightful leader of this Family.” Ervine’s words surprise me that I still have some loyal within my brother’s ranks, a faction of dissenters ready to turn on him at a minute’s notice. That’s a good thing, because I’m going to need them.

“Good. Put out some calls, arrange a meet. I’ll give you details soon. Just don’t tell anyone you’ve heard from me. Just assemble those you know will be loyal.” I wait for his affirmative reply and hang up as soon as Alice walks out of the bathroom. She’s wrapped in a white towel with a matching one piled on top of her head.

I try not to think about her body, how beautiful she is, the fact that she’s a single woman in a vulnerable position in my motel room with me, and she’s practically naked. I try to think tactically, what we need to do to get out of here and force my brother to leave her alone. But it’s a losing battle. It’s been too long for me.

“I, uh… I forgot to take my clothes in there.” She fumbles with her words in embarrassment as I walk toward her. Her bag rests on the foot of the bed, folded open. She sorts through it and pulls out panties and a bra.

“Can we talk?” I ask her, disregarding her state of undress. I used to have women parade around in front of me naked and never balked at it. Now I avert my eyes, hoping to stave off the worst of the arousal simply by avoiding the sight of her skin covered in droplets of water.

“Sure?” she says, but it’s more of a question. She stands at the foot of the bed holding that damn silk fabric in her hands, watching me, and I stare at her feet.

“I’m not who you think I am, and I need to tell you who I am so you don’t think I’ve been deceiving you.”

I am under no obligation to cut her into my secret, but if I lie and she goes along with me and that lie gets her killed, her blood will be on my hands. And I have enough blood on my hands to atone for.

“What do you mean?” Alice’s question is calm, like she’s been expecting this for a while. She knows my name is Mario, but she doesn’t know my last name isn’t Clemmons. She knows I have a secret past, but not what it is. And she knows that I’m forcing myself to serve others because of my guilt—she made that much clear the other day.

“Sit. Please.” I push the suitcase aside, and she perches on the end of the bed next to me. The scent of her shampoo stirs me, making me have to fight the beast inside me who longs to be released. I’ve already given her a hint of how attracted to her I’ve become, but I’ve been fighting that as much as possible. Alice doesn’t understand the animal I am—sinister and dark. Angry, brooding, dangerous.

“What is it?” Now she sounds nervous, and it’s probably the right response for her to have.

“I’m Mario Gatti, brother to Paolo Gatti… the man your former husband worked for.” I let the sentence hang in the air as the verdict it is. I’m guilty, worthy of punishment and damnation, and fully expecting all of that and more from her.

Alice’s hands shoot to her face and she begins crying, hiding herself from me. The towel falls from her head, landing on her lap before dropping to the floor beneath her bare toes. It isn’t what I thought she’d do, but it isn’t an altogether incorrect or inconceivable reaction. She’s scared. She’s been through a lot.

“Are you okay?” I ask, not sure how much more to share, so when she doesn’t respond, I continue. “I disagreed with my brother’s ethics—the fighting and killing, all the bloodshed. I believe he murdered my father just to take his position as head of the Family, but when he began trading human lives, I was out. I couldn’t do it. Father Grieshop gave me a shot, and I never looked back.”

“I don’t… I don’t understand.” Her body shakes and trembles as she looks up at me, and I see the pain in her eyes, betrayal, mistrust, hurt.

I cup her cheek, feeling guilty for bringing more pain and disillusionment to her already war-torn heart. She deserves so much better from this world—from me.

“I need you to understand, Alice. I’m not like my brother. I’m not one of them. I don’t want to be a part of that life, and while maybe being a priest wasn’t my calling, it kept me. It made me the man I am today, the man who knows that the people chasing you aren’t going to stop without getting what they want and harming you in the process.” I brush a tear off her cheek. “I’m the man who is here to save you. I’m on your side. You’re safe with me.”

I can barely contain my urges. I’ve spent so long away from this life, a life of passion and hedonism. She’s right here, her skin warm beneath my touch. Her heart is pliable and easily manipulated, but I refuse to be like him. I won’t. I can’t.

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