The Woman in the Back Room by Jessica Gadziala

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Five

Santi

 

 

 

 

"This is fucking unacceptable," I growled, slamming my coffee cup down on Lorenzo's kitchen table.

"I agree," Lorenzo said, shrugging, unbothered by the outburst. He was likely used to it. We were a "Family" full of hot tempers. "And this is why I wanted cameras outside your apartment building years ago," he reminded me.

He'd wanted to put them outside, in the hall by our door, in the stairwell, and in the lobby.

Brit had called it an invasion of privacy.

I'd agreed because it seemed completely unnecessary since no one had ever bothered with me before.

But that was back when our father ran shit.

When our old man was in charge, he kept the more unhinged Lombardis and the Espositos happy, while ticking off the much more sane and controlled Morellis and D'onofrios.

When Enz took over, and the power shifted, I should have reconsidered the offer. I'd been too wrapped up in my own shit.

And Brit had to pay for me dropping that ball.

It wasn't just me dropping the ball, though.

The company who did the security at my apartment building had as well.

Because the cameras had been down not only for the killing, but also the three days before and after.

Which was what we'd all just learned after Enz had gone back and forth with them since the assassination, trying to get the footage.

It was only after he'd sent his rabid dog, Brio, over to the company, that he actually got an answer.

That the cameras were down.

That no one had caught the car.

"Want me to go have a chat with the doorman?" Brio offered from where he was perched on the counter, legs swinging as he unwrapped a chocolate bar.

I was getting to know Brio well enough that his "chatting" often came with a lot of bloodshed.

"I think he was telling the truth," I said, shrugging. "He's a solid guy. If he knew more, he'd have said more."

"So all we have is a nondescript black SUV with blackout windows," Lorenzo recapped. "Which is fucking nothing since all the families have black SUVs with dark tint. Including us," he added.

"It was fast," I recalled.

The street must have been clear of traffic.

One minute, we were arguing, the next five bullets were slicing through her body.

By the time I turned my head, they were peeling off.

"And the plates from the bodega cameras came back as expired," Emilio said.

"This isn't anyone's first rodeo," Brio said, shrugging. "Only an idiot uses their real plates on a job."

"Yeah," Lorenzo agreed. "That's the problem when trying to track down a pro."

I'd been so angry after the drive-by that I'd been ready to take out every last member of each of the Families.

It had taken more than a couple sit-downs with my brother to convince me that we couldn't go that route. We had to at least figure out which Family had put out the hit. Then we could decide if we were going to take them all—or just the perpetrators—out for it.

But we'd hit nothing but dead-ends when it came to tracking down any leads.

You'd think with everyone and their mother having security cameras these days, that they'd catch something. But, as we'd found out, most of the security cameras in the area were inside the buildings, where the crimes were more likely to take place. The only reason the bodega had them outside was because they kept having their windows broken by some asshole kids.

"And shit is so volatile now," Emilio started, "that we can't even do some poking around the Lombardi and Esposito operations."

"We're going to figure it out," Lorenzo said, looking at me. "It's just going to take longer than we anticipated."

"Ah, can I come in?" Gigi, Lorenzo's woman, asked, pausing in the doorway.

"Yeah, we are pretty much finishing up," Lorenzo agreed, giving her a tight smile.

"Good. You've been working too hard. And keeping Santi too late," she added.

"Yeah, how is that going?" Lorenzo asked. "With the Morelli girl," he clarified.

"My apartment has never been messier," I declared, getting a laugh out of him.

I had a cleaning lady. Not the same one I used to have. Lorenzo had insisted on my using someone he hired, someone he had vetted, someone he knew could be trusted.

But between her visits, things were getting a little rough. Or, at least, rougher than I was used to.

Brit had been a meticulous housekeeper.

I had always been pretty tidy myself.

The changes could be seen as soon as you walked in the house. The shoes were in a pile next to the door instead of tucked away neatly in the cabinet that existed solely for shoes. There were pillows on the couches. There were blankets tossed over them most of the time. Board games weren't inside the coffee table storage space, but scattered on top instead. There were cups or bowls in the sink and random electronics scattered around.

I knew I should have probably felt annoyed by the disorder. But I felt oddly comforted by it. The apartment felt more, I don't know, lived in. It felt like a family was there, that they sometimes got busy enjoying themselves so much that they forgot to pick up after themselves.

"It's only been a week," I reminded them. "But Avi seems to like her. I haven't spent much time with her."

Not since that first night when I'd shared too much with her over cold Chinese food. She'd shared some things as well, enough that I understood why she had such a prickly demeanor. She'd practically raised herself. And I could relate to that more than I cared to admit.

"How is Avi?" Gigi asked.

"He's been open with Alessa. Still shutting me out, but he seems to talk with her. He's always hanging with her when I get home. Then goes off to his room."

"He'll come around," Gigi assured me. "It might just be easier to open up to someone new."

I was worried about him still, about our seemingly strained relationship, but I hadn't noticed swollen, red eyes in the mornings anymore. He might have still cried. And I hoped he did. But he wasn't doing it for so long and so hard that his eyes were just small slits the next day.

It wouldn't happen overnight.

Small changes were all I could expect for a while.

Each one of them was a step in the right direction.

Avi's grief would be lifelong.

But I hoped the edges of it would dull, would stop slicing him whenever he wanted to run his hand against the memories of his mother.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Are we done here? I haven't been home for dinner in two days," I explained. "I don't want to become an absent father."

"Yeah, go. See your kid. Tell him I'll see him Sunday. I'll call if we find anything."

"Great. Thanks," I said, getting up, making my way out, then rushing across town toward my apartment.

I'd been a busy man before Brit's death. I ran a business that demanded a lot from me. Now, though, I had to add Family business on top of that, while trying to catch up on the time I'd taken off after her murder to handle arrangements and taking care of Avi.

I needed to work on finding a better work/life balance. Maybe once Avi was back in school, I could have Alessa stay over at night to see him off to school in the morning, so I could head into the office early, then come home in the late afternoon to be home for my kid.

There would be times when I couldn't. And times when Lorenzo would need me. But at least Avi would see that I was trying, that I was making him a priority. That was what mattered.

"Avi?" I called, walking into the apartment. "Av? Alessa?" I called, finding no one in the common areas, or the rooms.

Curious, I made my way to the island where Alessa would write notes if she was running out.

No note.

No note and no text.

Concern unfurled in my stomach as I dialed Alessa's number, listened to it ring, then heard it go to voicemail.

Over and over and over again.

"Fuck," I hissed, rushing through the apartment again, looking for any signs of foul play.

There was nothing out of place. Well, nothing unusual out of place.

Anxiety thumping through my system, I opened the app that stored the camera footage from the apartment building.

I could see Alessa and Avi heading out of the apartment. I actually paused the video and zoomed in, thinking I was seeing things. But sure enough, that was a giant grin on Avi's face as he looked at Alessa.

I caught them going down the elevator, then out the building, and into a cab.

That was it.

Then where were they?

Why wasn't she answering her phone?

I should have put one of those fucking tracking devices on Avi. Attached it to his shoe or something. I'd laughed when Lorenzo had suggested it, but now I was regretting not taking every possible precaution.

"Yo?" Lorenzo said, sounding half-distracted.

"Do you have any way to trace a phone? I got home and Avi and Alessa aren't here. Saw them leave on the cameras, but she's not answering. I've called like eight times."

"Shit. Alright. I'll look into it. Call Gio while I do. See if he can track her. If they're on the same plan or something, he probably can."

"Right. Thanks."

"Keep me posted."

"Will do," I agreed, hanging up, then calling Gio from the list of contacts Alessa had left.

"Gio," he answered.

"Gio, this is Santi. Do you have a way of tracking your sister's phone? She's not answering," I told him.

"Fuck. Alright. Yeah. Let me hang up and call you back," he said.

Neither of us bothered to say goodbye. And I waited with a twisting stomach for his call.

"Yo, Santi. Fucking Coney Island," he said when he called back.

"Coney Island?" I asked, confused.

"He's a kid. She likes rides. Figure maybe it's loud there."

"Right. Okay. I'll go see. Thanks, Gio."

"Lemme know," he demanded.

"Will do," I agreed, already rushing out of my apartment.

I texted Lorenzo on the way.

It was probably nothing.

I was almost certain Gio was right.

I hadn't been to Coney Island since I was a kid. But it was loud there. And it would have explained the big grin on his face. Avi loved to do shit that scared him. Anytime we took him to an amusement park, he always picked the fastest, highest, and most dangerous-looking ride to go on. Then went on it until it no longer scared him anymore. Much to his mother's dismay.

I had to admit, I liked his spirit. I was fine with him playing piano or even fencing, but I liked to see him just be a kid, a bit of a reckless one at that. It reminded me of my own childhood. Missing mom and shitty dad aside, we'd all had fun back in those days. Did a bunch of illegal shit we shouldn't have, but had fun.

There was nothing to worry about.

I mean, if someone wanted to kidnap or murder my kid, the last place they would do it was a heavily populated area like Coney Island. No one would miss my kid kicking and screaming or Alessa fighting someone.

Still, the knots in my stomach refused to budge even as I walked into the Park.

The sun was down, making the lights flash in a way I used to think was magical as a kid.

The sounds were exactly how I remembered them—loud music from the speakers, screaming from people on said rides, and the relentless sounds of people talking and babies crying and phones ringing.

It wasn't surprising that Alessa hadn't heard her phone ringing.

But she still should have left a note. Or sent a text. Something.

I walked around aimlessly for ten minutes, knowing I should have just gone to a worker and had them call Alessa over the speakers.

But I didn't want to cause any sort of scene if I didn't have to.

It was fate, really.

I was rounding a bend near the swings when I saw Alessa's figure speed walking.

Her hair had fallen out of its ponytail.

It was a ridiculous thing to notice. Especially before my gaze even looked for my son. But her hair was always up and away from her face. I'd never seen it down, the way it fell in gleaming loose waves around her delicate face. It made her look softer, more delicate. Words that didn't suit her, sure, but the look had an impact.

It had an impact on me.

It shouldn't have.

It was inappropriate in so many ways.

But I was a man with eyes.

And she was a feast for them.

"Come on, dude. Get your little ass into gear. Your dad is going to—" she was saying, suddenly breaking off when I stepped into her path, making her jerk to a stop, her head whipping up.

Her golden eyes went wide.

"His dad is going to what?" I prompted as her mouth fell open.

"Kill her," Avi supplied, smirking.

"I'm considering it," I agreed, giving him a smirk back. "Since she knows she's supposed to leave a note or text me."

"She lost her phone," Avi explained. "We have been walking around looking for it, so she could text you."

"I think Avi should get a phone," Alessa declared. "Since I am clearly not responsible enough to hold onto my own," she added, reaching up to pull all her hair to one shoulder.

"She lost her hair tie on the Aviator," Avi declared.

"How'd you find us?" Alessa asked.

"Gio. I had him track your phone."

"It's a shame he can't track it to the exact location," she grumbled.

"How long have you been looking?" I asked.

"Like fifteen minutes," Alessa said. "We're doing the whole retrace your footsteps method."

"Alright. Let's work on that," I said, reaching down to ruffle Avi's hair that was in desperate need of a trim, but I decided to let it go until he told me he wanted it cut.

Another fifteen minutes later, we were walking up to the front of the Slingshot, and Alessa broke away, rushing forward, grabbing her phone off the side of the stairs, hugging it to her chest.

"Oh, thank you, God," she said, her whole body losing its tension in a wave. "My whole life is on here," she added when she caught me smirking at her. "Don't be like me, Avi. I'm a mess," she declared, shaking her head.

"Did you guys eat yet?" I asked.

"No. Less said that we can't eat until we do all the crazy-as—"

"Ass," Alessa supplied, looking only partially guilty for cursing in front of Avi. "Crazy-ass rides. We're buds and all," she added, looking at my son. "But we are not vomit friends," she added.

"I've never thrown up on a ride," Avi declared, chin raising, proud of himself.

"Well, have you ever been on that?" Alessa asked, pointing toward the Zenobio. It was a massively tall crane with a sling-shot shaped edge where four people would be strapped in. So not only did the crane shoot you up in the air, but the people sitting in the sling-shot whipped around in dizzying circles.

"I, ah, no," Avi said, gulping hard.

Ah, so not completely fearless.

"Exactly. So you have no idea if you'd toss your cookies on a ride until you've been on something like that monster," Alessa told him. "We can work our way up to that, though," she said, sensing his hesitance. "That is considered an 'extreme thrill' ride. We still haven't done all the 'high thrills' yet. Wanna do a couple more of those first? Then we can revisit the Zenobio. Or we can go get food and skip it this time."

"Okay," Avi said, nodding.

"How about the Luna 360?" Alessa suggested after walking around for a bit.

Following her lifted arm, I saw a ride that had people strapped in a circle while the ride started to swing side to side, gaining momentum, until it eventually got high enough that it flipped all the riders completely upside down before swinging back toward the ground again.

"That looks fun," Avi decided, voice eager.

"Does your dad want to join?" Alessa asked, knowing what she was doing because the hope that shot into Avi's eyes was impossible to say no to.

"I can if you want," I agreed.

"Really?" Avi asked. "You'll go on rides?"

"I used to go on all your rides with you when you were too small to go by yourself," I reminded him.

Then, as he got older, Brit had set up playdates for amusement park trips. Avi would have rather chewed off his own arm than have his old man go on rides with him and his friends.

"Okay, come on," Avi said, reaching for my hand, surprising me enough that I didn't immediately follow, not until Alessa gave my shoulder a helpful shove.

I didn't remember the last time my kid reached for my hand. I figured it was just one of those things you lost as your kid got older, got closer to that age where they wanted little or nothing to do with their parents.

I held on, waiting for him to drop his hand first as the three of us got in line.

A couple minutes later, it was our turn to climb on. Alessa and I each flanked the sides of Avi. And each of us double-checked his harness even after the attendant did.

"If you need to throw up," Alessa said, giving him a serious look. "You make sure you do so in the direction of your father. Deal?" she asked, offering him her fist, which he readily bumped.

"Here we go," Avi said, practically bouncing with excitement as the ride started to gently sway. "Oh, man," he said as the ride swung up higher and higher.

We were almost to the point of flipping when Avi's hand flew out, grabbing mine in a death grip.

When I looked over, though, I realized he'd grabbed Alessa's as well.

There was a warm sensation spreading across my chest at that sight.

Why, I had no idea.

But I didn't have time to analyze it, either, because with one more swing, we flipped over, making my stomach do the same as Avi let out a scream.

Eventually, we worked ourselves up to the Zenobio.

"You alright there, dude?" Alessa teased with twitching lips. "You look a little green," she added, sharing a knowing smile with me. "Maybe we should just take him home," she said, eyes asking me to play along. "He can't stomach greasy fair food, funnel cakes, and cotton candy right now."

"Yeah, it looks like he might need some plain broth and rice."

"No, I'm feeling better," Avi insisted. "I'm fine. Really. Let's get some funnel cakes."

"Kid, have I taught you nothing?" Alessa asked, rolling her eyes at him. "You put the layer of grease down first. Then you can put down the sugar. Otherwise, the sugar gives you a stomach ache. Get with the program, will ya?" she teased, getting a smile from Avi.

So we ate burgers and fries and funnel cakes. I tapped out after that, but Avi and Alessa hoovered down fried Oreos, churros, and slushes.

They each grabbed a bouquet of cotton candy for the ride home.

Avi passed out in the backseat before he could even taste it.

Alessa shot him a soft look over the seat before giving me a smile. "That's one way to get a kid to sleep at a decent hour," she said, shrugging. "I won't fuck up on the not informing you thing again," she assured me. "I kept meaning to text, and Avi kept distracting me. Then I lost the phone. I'll leave a note whenever we go out from now on. That way, there's no mix-ups or worry."

"Shit happens," I said, shrugging. "I was only worried until Gio said where you were. Then I figured there was a rational explanation."

"You should LoJack the kid," she declared. "They make shit like that now. For people who have kids or older relatives who wander."

"You're not the first person to recommend that," I told her. "I'll look into it. Was this his idea?"

"No. Mine. I'd just gotten out of the shower and I heard some noises from his room. Like the whole sniffling and whimpering type of noises. I'm just... I'm not good at the talking feelings out thing. But I'm a pro at the distracting you from them thing. So, that was what I did."

"He won't let anyone see him grieve."

"Maybe that's an issue. Maybe not," she said, shrugging. "I guess we will just have to wait and see."

"Yeah," I agreed, a movement to the side of me catching my gaze. When I pulled to a light to glance over, I saw Alessa unbuttoning her pants.

Caught, she shot me a smirk. "That kid must have hollow legs to put that much food away."

"But you'd be damned to be out eaten by a kid?" I asked.

"You're starting to get me," she agreed, nodding.

I was.

And that was the problem, wasn't it?