Page 11 of They Found Us (Found #5)

Leo

“Van. What the fuck?”

“Boss.” Van has a slight smirk on his face. He is obviously pleased to see me.

I, on the other hand, am not pleased to see him.

“Why are you here Van?”

“Van Alboni?” Alex questions. “What the hell is going on? This isn’t some holiday camp that allows visitors. Why the fuck are you here?”

Van looks towards Alex. “Alex Guerra. Well, kill me now.” Van laughs.

Alex lunges towards Van.

Quickly intervening, I pull him away before he does any damage.

“Do you think this is some kind of joke?” Alex demands.

Van loses the amused expression but doesn’t answer.

He just stares at Alex. Van is a ruthless killer.

He’s very well built and uses every muscle to his advantage.

Personality-wise, he is a little immature and can often lack common sense.

But he makes up for that with his sharp sniper aim, his ability to kill someone with his bare hands, and his undetectable talent of killing a room full of people without making a sound.

“Boss.” Van turns his attention to me, ignoring Alex. “Sorry for the unannounced intrusion, but I have been ringing the radio phone, and there has been no answer.”

Alex huffs behind me at the mention of the phone.

“There has been word amongst the Martelé that you are in fact alive.”

My gut churns with dread. My family are in danger.

“Do they know where I am?”

“As of yet, I don’t think so. But they are getting close. Put it this way—Marco doesn’t know I am here. I managed to find you.”

I pace the room, thinking of my options. We could leave the island and go somewhere else. But if the Martelé know I am alive, they won’t stop until they find me. My family would always be in danger.

“The Martelé have yet to appoint their next leader. The next in the bloodline is too young to take over. Therefore, it goes between three cousins. Their challenge is to find you. Whoever gets your head is the new leader.

“Fuck!” Alex bangs his fist against the wall. “See what you have done, Leo? You had to have that phone!”

Fury builds inside me. “Just leave, Alex. This doesn’t concern you. Nobody knows you are still alive. Go back to your wife.”

“Doesn’t concern me! You are my brother. The whole reason I am here in the first place!”

Alex punches me square in the jaw. I return it with a punch to his stomach. He then charges towards me but is thrown to the floor by Van, who has ripped his restraints from the chair.

“Enough!” Van shouts. “If you continue with this, there will be no need for the Martelé to come after you. You need to work together. Come up with a plan.”

Alex charges towards Van, but Van throws one punch to the side of his head, and Alex stumbles, losing his balance.

“Van!” I dive to catch my brother, preventing him from hitting his head on the floor in his unconsciousness.

“He will be fine. He needed taking down a peg or two.”

I remove my jacket and place it under Alex’s head while he regains consciousness.

Van explains what he has heard in regard to the Martelé knowing I am still alive.

“The new Chief of Police is an old acquaintance of Marco. Marco trusts him. Well, more than the last one anyway. He told Marco the Martelé approached him and offered him money and security if he told them what he knew. Thankfully he doesn’t know anything, and Marco already has him in his pocket.

His wife works for Mia at the sanctuary.

I then did some digging around. There was a leak at air traffic control.

The Martelé have had someone tracking the jet.

The location was not found, as all evidence was destroyed, but they managed to get hold of one of the air stewards, who admitted she had seen you.

She was found dead in her home two days ago. ”

“The source at air traffic control?”

“No longer breathing.”

“Nobody as yet knows our location?”

“No. But like I said, it didn’t take me long to find you.”

I pace the room again, racking my brain for a solution. Any kind of plan to keep my wife and children safe.

“You need protection, boss,” Van admits. “What’s the plan?”

“We go back.” Alex’ grunts as he sits up from his lying position. “It’s our only option.” He rubs the side of his head where Van knocked him out.

“No. I will not take my family back there to be slaughtered.”

“You’re just going to wait for them to come here and do it, then?”

“I will protect them.”

“How? When an army of Martelé turn up at your house, while your children and wife are sleeping in their beds, how are you going to protect them?”

“I have guns.” I’m getting more aggravated by my brother who, unfortunately, is right.

“You have guns.” It’s Alex’s turn to laugh now. “What about when they launch a missile straight through your son’s window that blows up the entire house?”

The thought makes me sick to the stomach. What have I done?

“If you come back to the Guerra, we can protect you.”

“And how are you going to do that, Van? You and Marco have already destroyed the organisation.”

Van looks annoyed at my outburst. He takes a moment and then explains his plans.

“We have the new Chief of Police in our pocket. That was a big downfall with the last one who was with the Martelé. We have the government on our side, with new deals happening as we speak. Recruitment has already started. We have pulled in all our men from across the continent and have a new training programme in place. One of which is with Ministry of Defence, who is sending all recent discharged armed forces to us.”

The plan sounds commendatory. But I’m surprised at how quickly this has come about and why it hadn’t been done before the chaos that unfolded, resulting in me being summoned to Italy.

“I know what you are both thinking,” Van continues.

“But Marco has his head on straight now. We were attacked from too many sides before, what with the Martelé and Lorenzo, the last Chief of police who corrupted the government. Don’t forget the greatness of the Guerra name, which has been created over countless generations.

The Guerra isn’t just about the size that we are.

It’s about what we stand for. The country loves us.

We do more for the civilians than the Martelé, the police, and the government put together.

We have the backing, so we have the power. ”

“The man talks some sense,” Alex agrees.

“It seems you have everything under control. But I still don’t see how my family would be safer there. As soon as we land, the Martelé would target them. They would live a life in fear. You said it yourself. The Martelé don’t know where we are. They may never find us.”

Van and Alex look at each other.

Alex stands and brushes himself down. “This has been a lot to take in. We need to think about everything before making any decisions. Van, you return to Italy. I will discuss the best route with you. We don’t want you being tracked back.

When you return, continue with your plans and get them done quickly.

We need the Guerra strong. For now, we are safe.

But we will come up with a plan for if or when that changes. ” Alex looks to me for agreement.

I nod.

Alex continues. “Van, you will keep your ears to the ground, and anytime you hear about Leo and his whereabouts, you ring the radio phone. We will set certain times so it will never be missed again. Agreed?” Alex looks to both Van and me.

“Yes.”

“Affirmative.” Van salutes Alex in a condescending way.

“You were always annoying as a kid, Van. Hey, did you ever learn to ride that bike of yours?”

Van grows red in temper at Alex’s remark.

The memory of us playing out on our bikes as kids burns brightly in my memory.

Van and his sister Mia are the children of my father’s number one.

When my father was in charge, their mother and my mother spent a lot of time together, so us children were forced to get along.

Van was big even as child and could never quite get the art of riding a bike.

It was like his wide frame was too large for such a narrow frame.

“No, I broke it after I wrapped it around your head. I then started cage fighting. More of a manly sport than cycling.”

Alex still bears the scar across his forehead from when Van threw his bike at him. Alex was a very good cyclist and often teased Van. He competed professionally for a while. Hence Van’s reply.

Alex shakes his head. “Right. You get back to your wife and children. Van and I will finish up here. Take the car. I’ll sort my own way back.”

Alex throws me his car keys, and I catch them with ease.

“Will you two behave?” I ask, hoping Alex doesn’t still plan on escorting him off the island and disposing of his body.

“Yes, boss,” they both reply in unison.

Katie

“They’ve been gone a while?” I say to Vanna, more of a question than a statement as I watch her read a message on her phone.

“Yes, Alex said they had to run an errand. But Leo is on his way back now.”

“An errand? What kind of errand?”

“I’m not sure, but like I said, Leo is on his way back, so I’m going to leave you to all to rest now.” Vanna says goodbye to Mark, not that he’s paying any attention, too busy watching cartoons on the television.

“Thank you for coming. Will I see you again soon?”

“Of course. I will pop in tomorrow.”

“Great. See you then.”

Vanna gives me a hug and leaves.

An unsettled feeling starts in my stomach. Where is Leo? Just as I begin to worry, Leo walks through the door.

“La mia ragazza.” My girl . Leo’s face lights up when he looks at me, and the unsettled feeling disappears.

“Where have you been? We’ve missed you.”

“Papa,” Mark shouts and runs over to his father to hug his legs.

Leo picks him up and kisses his head. “I have been preparing for your return home,” he tells me. “The doctor said that, providing your test results are fine tomorrow, he will discharge you.”

“Thank goodness. I can’t wait to get back into a routine. Mark is climbing the walls, being stuck in here.”