Fatal

As they walked along, Alice felt as if every noise and every movement of the trees was danger lying in wait. Then a sudden sound of a car behind them triggered Alice’s panic. She trembled in terror, sweat pricking at her forehead. She didn’t dare look back, even though the car was getting nearer and she could almost feel the heat from the engine. She tried to push Mac on to go faster, but the hard ground was too much for his unshod feet. Then Alice heard what she’d been dreading, the sound of the car door opening and feet running towards her.

A hand on her arm grabbed her, making her scream.

‘Alice! Alice! Stop, stop, it’s me.’

Covered in Sister Margaret’s blood, Alice stared at Cabhan. Her voice was almost unrecognisable. ‘Dad?’

‘Yes, baby, it’s me.’

Alice broke down in tears of relief as she leant forward, burying her face in Mac’s mane. ‘They killed her, Dad! They killed her! They just shot her and then … and then they began to call out my name.’

‘What?’ Cabhan’s voice was sharp with concern, though his hands were still gentle as he held onto his precious daughter.

Alice nodded frantically, her nose and eyes streaming. ‘Yeah, they kept calling out for me.’

‘Okay, okay, honey. Alice, Sshhh, it’s going to be okay, baby. Look who’s here with me.’

Alice glanced up into the face of Franny.

‘Hi, sweetheart,’ Franny said, her voice full of warmth and tenderness. ‘I’m so sorry you’ve been through all this, but we’re going to get you out of here. Like your dad says, it’s going to be all right, though we need to get you off this road and into the car.’

Distressed, Alice cried out, ‘What about Mac? I can’t leave him. He saved me.’

Franny smiled at Alice, speaking as gently as she could. ‘He’ll find his way home, the convent’s over there. He’ll be okay.’

Panic-stricken and wide-eyed, Alice cried as Franny glanced at Cabhan, ‘But they’re all dead, Franny.’

Wanting to, but not allowing herself to break down, Franny knew that she had to stay calm and she spoke a little more firmly. ‘Okay, baby, we’ll call someone; we’ll make sure they go and look after him. I promise you, he’ll be all right, okay?’

Alice nodded, trembling as Franny continued to talk. ‘But, Alice, we really need to get you off this road. I want to get you to a safer place.’

Franny turned to whisper to Cabhan as he lifted Alice off Mac, watching the woods.

‘It’s got to be them. It’s got to be Salvatore. This isn’t some random, crazed shooting. We need to get out of here before they find us and before the police get here. We need to disappear.’

Cabhan nodded, the full horror of the situation beginning to hit him as well. Why they’d thought it was some American-style school shooting, he didn’t know. Why hadn’t he just put two and two together, or maybe he had, maybe he just hadn’t wanted to believe it was the Russos.

‘Are you hurt?’ he asked Alice, wiping away the nun’s blood still covering her.

Alice shook her head against his chest, cradled in Cabhan’s arms as he carried her towards the car. He kissed her, whispering words he knew in his heart were hollow. ‘It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s all over now. Everything’s going to be all right.’

As Franny got in the car after quickly glancing back towards the woods, Cabhan gently placed Alice on the back seat, covering her with a blanket as she continued to shiver. And in the distance, in the shadow of the trees, stood Salvatore Russo, watching as Cabhan drove away at speed, and he smiled.

14

Nico Russo ruminated as he glanced out of the prison window. He sniffed the bitter espresso that he’d got one of the wardens to make, then took a sip. He sat watching his younger brothers, his expression as usual blank, the only giveaway sign of his seething and burning anger the muscles pulsating on his jaw line as he clenched his teeth, grinding them until they gave out a low screech.

Bobby, uncomfortable with the silence, which had hung in the air for the past five minutes, glanced around the empty visitors’ waiting room, locking eyes with the prison officers in the corner before turning away contemptuously. Trying to keep his voice light, but still with respect, he leant across the table, touching Nico’s hands.

‘Nico, both Sal and I did everything we could to get the girl.’

Laughing scornfully, Nico pulled his hands away before burying his fist in Bobby’s face, the force of the blow knocking him to the floor along with the coffee. Officer Johnstone went to make a move, but Nico raised his hand, indicating for him not to interfere.

‘How dare you come in here to disrespect me! You think I’m stupid, Bobby?’ Nico loomed over his brother, speaking dangerously low. ‘First, Salvatore goes behind my back by not telling me about the cocaine shipment …’ Nico paused as he stared at Salvatore angrily until he dropped his head as Bobby shot him a puzzled glance. ‘Now, you think you can come and give me excuses whilst I sit and rot in this place. She’s a kid. Sixteen. Fucking sixteen and she gave you two the runaround. I want her found, she’s mine. I want her. I want you to bring me her heart. You understand me? No more excuses.’

Getting up slowly and sucking the blood from his lips, Bobby shook his head. ‘Nico, it’s not an excuse, I don’t want you to think we didn’t try.’

Raging, Nico growled out his words. ‘This family was built on success, on honour, on men who could be counted on, but, in turn, this family will be destroyed by failure, by weakness, by motherfuckers like you. By my own brothers.’

‘Nico—’

Nico flew at Salvatore, grabbing hold of his face, squeezing and crushing it between his gigantic, rough hands. He shook, trembling with rage as he spoke, his mouth touching his brother’s cheeks. ‘I love you, Sal, you’re my own flesh and blood. You hurt, I hurt, whatever pains you, pains me, but I’ll break your neck right here, right now, if you continue to disrespect me. Understand?’

Salvatore gave a tiny nod. ‘Sì.’

Then, taking a deep breath and exhaling noisily, Nico let go of his brother’s face and placed a kiss on the top of his head. ‘Good, good. I’m glad that we’ve got that sorted out … Now, give me your cell.’

Clearly relieved, Salvatore gave a small smile as he passed over his phone. Scrolling down the numbers, Nico came to the one he wanted, but just as he was about to click the call button, Officer Johnstone stood up.

‘Nico, you can’t have the phone in here. You’re not supposed to have phones in prison, you know that, and this block picks up unauthorised mobile signals. Use it when you get back to your wing, or we’ll both be in trouble.’

Nico walked over to the officer, his face twisted with rage. ‘You think it’s okay to speak to me like that in front of my family? What are you trying to do, embarrass me?’ He stopped, then walked even closer to the warden and pressed his forehead against his. ‘I know where you live, Officer Johnstone. I know where your mother lives and your children, so don’t push me, because like that –’ he clicked his fingers ‘– they could be gone.’

Officer Johnstone, alarmed, put his hands up, backing away slowly. ‘Okay, Nico, okay, I was only saying, there’s no need to do anything rash. We’ve got an agreement that we’re going to stick to … I’m sorry.’

‘And you’d do well to remember that. Now, get out of my fucking face. Capito?’

As the officer nodded in understanding, Nico turned and pressed call, waiting for it to ring before going straight to voicemail. He paced as he talked.

‘Hello, Cabhan, it’s Nico. Happy birthday. I understand from my brothers that your girl got away, but I just wanted to call and tell you, there’s no hiding place, nowhere we won’t find you. Nowhere revenge won’t touch you. I will find you, Cabhan … or rather, I’ll find your little girl. Hide, Alice Rose, hide, because Nico’s coming, ready or not.’

15

‘Cab, it’s been over four weeks, we can’t stay here. Look at her. She’s getting worse by the day. She’s just a kid and I’m worried about her, I’m worried about all of us,’ Franny whispered to Cabhan as they stood in the tiny motel room just outside Frenchtown in Montana.

When they’d found Alice, they’d driven through Iowa before hitting South Dakota, then finally reaching western Montana to hide out in the tiny, mostly unpopulated area, but not for one moment had she thought they’d still be holed up in the motel a month later. Not that either of them had a plan, and as each day went on it seemed less likely that Cabhan would come up with one. She’d never seen him like this before: he was struggling to cope, blaming himself, and the tension in the air was almost unbearable.

‘So tell me, what the fuck are we supposed to do? What better ideas have you got? Nico’s not playing when he says he’s looking for us. You know what he’s like, he won’t stop until he’s got Alice …’

‘Look around you, Cab, there’s nothing here for us. We have five hundred dollars to our name. That’s it and it’s going to run out soon and then what? We have nothing. The day we went to see Nico, I transferred all of the money. Alfie’s money. And he’s not happy. I’ve given up listening to his voicemails, but when I went through Evaro yesterday, I tried the bank cards and guess what? He’s stopped them all, and I doubt the motel manager is going to be full of understanding if we tell him we can’t pay for the room.’

Cabhan stared at Franny, hissing through his teeth, hating the fact that the bitter anger he felt towards Nico was being directed at her. ‘What the fuck do you want me to do about it? I’m as screwed as you are. I can’t use my account because they’ll know where we are. And besides, my bank account is a business account set up by Salvatore to make sure he knows my every move.’

Franny glanced around the dark, grimy room. Two double beds, a bedside cabinet propped up by a Bible. A threadbare chair in the corner that had seen better days and an en-suite bathroom consisting of a toilet and shower, both barely working.

Refusing to be hurt by Cabhan offloading his stress onto her, Franny kept her voice quiet.

‘Cab, I know this is tough, but we’ve got to think of something. Alice has been through a massive amount of trauma; we need to get her some help. She’s a kid; she can’t just lie there. She’s hardly said a word for three whole weeks.’

‘You don’t think I can’t see that? You don’t think I’m worried about her? She’s my daughter, Franny. Jesus Christ, I’ve only known her a couple of years and look what I’ve done to her life. I just can’t think straight anymore. Every time there’s a noise I think the Russos will come walking through that door.’

Overwhelmed by guilt, Cabhan turned away from Franny, not wanting her to see him breaking down. He continued to speak, his voice cracking on every word. ‘I feel so helpless and I’m so fucking angry with myself. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’m scared. I’m scared for Alice, because this isn’t going to be over anytime soon.’

Franny grabbed hold of Cabhan’s arm, pulling him towards the door of the room, and gently pushed him outside into the warm Montana air.

Looking out towards the vast, rugged hillside, Franny smiled compassionately. ‘Let’s not talk in there, Cab, you don’t want Alice to wake up and see you upset. And we don’t want Alice to know anything about the Russos, you hear me?’

‘So what are we going to tell her?’

Franny shrugged, her eyes darting around as she kept watch on the road. Although she’d never admit it, she felt the same air of unease as Cabhan did, but the last thing he needed was for her to crumple as well. The other thing she didn’t really want to admit, not even to herself, was that she wished Alfie were here. She missed him so much, plus he would know what to do, because right now she didn’t think she was doing such a great job of looking after Cabhan or Alice. Of course, she knew she had to be strong – the problem was she didn’t feel very strong at all. ‘I don’t know, Cab. Why don’t we tell her it was a robbery?’

‘A robbery? More like a fucking homicidal maniac. Have you seen the news? Seen what they’re saying about it? They’re coming up with all sorts of ideas about how it happened. Cults, crazed killers, the other night they were even mentioning terrorists.’

‘Then that’s good, isn’t it? It means they’re not talking about Nico and they’re not talking about us. So we don’t have to tell Alice anything apart from it was a robbery, because nobody knows the truth and that’s the way it’s going to stay.’

Cabhan stared hard at Franny, his thoughts racing. ‘You can be cold sometimes. Does nothing bother you, Fran? Are you really that hard? Just wipe it away like it never happened?’

A flicker of hurt crossed through Franny’s eyes, which went unseen by Cabhan. ‘That’s not how it is.’

‘Really? Because it seems like you’re forgetting those kids, those nuns, are only dead because of me.’

‘Because of Nico, not you.’

Cabhan shook his head as he kicked at the white dusty ground in angry bemusement. ‘You’re something else, you know that?’

‘All I know is that we need to think about now, about Alice and about how we’re going to get out of this mess. The last thing we want to do is start telling Alice any more than she needs to know.’

‘So what you’re saying is tell her nothing and get on with our lives, is that it?’

Feeling edgy as a car appeared in the distance, Franny nodded. ‘If we can, that’s exactly what we do. Look, Cab, someone has to be practical about this. I’m just trying to do what’s best for Alice and if that makes me cold, that’s totally fine with me.’

Emotional, unable to look at Franny, Cabhan continued to stare at the ground. ‘I’m just so fucked off with myself. I mean, how did they know where she was? How did they find her? I was so careful, or I thought I was. I was a fool, Fran, to think that I could’ve walked away scot-free from killing Ally.’

‘Cab, it was an accident, when will you get that into your head?’

Becoming angry again, Cabhan raised his voice. ‘But the blood of so many people is on my hands. If it wasn’t for me they’d all be alive. Have you any idea how that feels, Fran?’

Gently, Franny pulled Cabhan towards her. ‘No, no, I don’t, but you’ve got to give yourself a break. Stop beating yourself up. I know it sounds heartless, but it’s happened now. There’s nothing we can do, so we need to put all our energy into getting out of this mess. On keeping Alice safe.’

Lighting a cigarette, Cabhan nodded gratefully. ‘I know you’re right, but I’ve no idea how. I’ve never felt this useless since what happened to your dad. We’re fucked, Fran.’

‘No, Cab, we’re not, I won’t let that happen. Look, I think we should go back to England. To Essex. At least there we’ve got people around us, and I don’t think they’ll come looking for us there. Once I see Alfie face-to-face, I’m sure I can make him come around.’

Cabhan, knowing Alfie very well, raised his eyebrows.

‘You sure about that? This is Alf we’re talking about. Remember, he told me if I went to work for the Russos, I’d be on my own. He’s made it very clear how he feels.’

Sounding just as unconvinced as she felt, Franny said, ‘It’ll be fine. At the moment he doesn’t know why I took the money, but once he does he’ll understand. Alfie is …’ She trailed off, not wanting to think about his reaction, especially after his last message yesterday, which was full of threats and anger. But underneath it all she could also hear his hurt, which sliced at her heart … Quickly wanting to change her train of thought because it felt too raw, too painful, Franny continued, ‘Anyway … look, we’ve got our passports and I’ve checked the flights. We can get one in four days’ time from Missoula International, then get connecting flights from there. And then it’s back to Essex.’

Taking a deep drag and letting the smoke slowly ebb out of his nose, Cab tried not to sound frustrated. ‘Hate to say it, Fran, aren’t you forgetting one thing? Money. We need money.’

Franny rested her head on Cabhan’s shoulder and sighed. ‘Look, don’t worry about that. Trust me. I’ve got an idea.’

16

‘Alfie, are you all right? I was just wanting to have a chat, run something by you, but I can leave you to it if you like.’

Back in Essex, Bree Dwyer stood in the bedroom doorway looking at Alfie as he threw his phone angrily across the room.

Not realising anyone was there and feeling startled, Alfie snapped, ‘No, I’m fine, darlin’, why wouldn’t I be?’

She walked in, her long blonde hair tumbling over her shoulders as she bent down to pick up his phone. ‘Maybe because most people who are actually fine don’t usually fling their phone away.’

Alfie gave her a half-smile, his handsome face lighting up. He shrugged. ‘You got me bang to rights there … Look, it’s just business. It pisses me off sometimes and now, with Vaughn away in Portugal trying to sort out some new contacts, I’m left to deal with everything on me own. Who knew that setting up a bookie business would be so stressful? Still, once we do it’ll all have been worth it, and some bird fucking off with my money will be just a distant memory … Listen, just ignore me, I get like this when I have me work head on.’

Passing the phone back to Alfie, Bree caught sight of the last number he’d dialled. Although she tried to stop herself, her voice edged on the accusatory. ‘Franny? She’s business now?’

Always hating being pushed on something he hadn’t been completely honest about, Alfie snarled, ‘What is this, have I suddenly found meself in Court Number One of the Old Bailey? What is it with you women, hey? It’s like you’re always looking for trouble. You can’t just be happy with the way things are.’

Bree stared at Alfie, her green eyes pools of hurt. ‘I think you’re overreacting a bit, Alf, I only—’

Alfie cut in, guilt and frustration plaguing him. ‘Am I? Really? I’m overreacting? Oh, so it was me who picked up the phone and started throwing accusations about, is it?’

‘Alf, I haven’t accused you of anything.’

Pacing, unable to stop how unreasonable he was being, Alfie pointed at her. ‘That’s not what it sounded like to me. It sounds like you think I’m going behind your back and somehow playing you against Franny.’

Bree gave a sad smile. Even though it was only very recently she had met back up with Alfie after years of not seeing him, she knew exactly what he could be like. ‘Well, are you? Cos I’d understand if you were unsure about us. Maybe this is all just a rebound, maybe I’m your rebound.’

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