Chapter 2

It has been three months since Kay was shot and Luca was still mourning her death. He had disappeared. Tom couldn’t find him and Luca’s friends were giving him plenty of space. Luca knew Kay’s death was far from solved. Things didn’t seem right. He needed to get away and sort things out. He knew he missed something. They all did but what? Sonny wasn’t the root of the problem. He was a loose end. Sonny’s last words, “It’s Barzin,” kept playing in his mind. Nobody knew who Barzin was or what he looked like. Barzin could be anyone. He should have tried to get more information from Sonny, before his tragic fate with death. But Luca wasn’t thinking clearly. All he was thinking about was Kay.

Tom was desperate to find Luca, so he asked Luca’s friends to meet with him at his office.

“Have you found Luca yet?” Tom asked.

“No.” Sal looked at the others. They all shook their heads no.

“We have to find him. There is something I need to tell him. Something he needs to know.”

“We looked in all the places he would normally go.” Peter replied.

“And not so normal.” Paulie cleared his throat.

“This isn’t a normal situation. We need to find him. I have to tell him before he finds out from someone else.”

“What?” Sal cocked his head and looked at Tom. “What could be so important? The man just lost the woman he loved.”

“And that is what I need to talk to him about.”

“They can’t pin the death of Sonny on him. He was found in the middle of the desert.”

“Sonny was found lying on the ground with both legs and arms broken.” Tom threw in.

“That doesn’t prove a thing.” Moe said.

“There were plane tire tracks in the vicinity. We all know that Luca has a pilot license.” Tom said.

The room got quiet. They all knew it was Luca. But there was no proof otherwise.

“Sonny was found with a large sum of money on him with a small quantity of drugs. The authorities figured a deal gone wrong.” Tom said.

Peter cleared his throat. “There’s a rifle tournament coming up next weekend. I will stake it out see if he shows.” Peter knew Luca would show especially to this tournament. It was the NRA championship for pistol and rifle shooting. Luca has held the title for the past couple of years.

“Listen. I know all of you stick together like glue.” Tom looked around the room at Luca’s friends.

He knew they all had a bond. They all held something important between them. They were more than brothers and comrades. Tom has seen them work together on many occasions. And not once did any of them miss a beat. It was as if they were inside each other’s heads. He knew they could find Luca. But if Luca wanted to be left alone, then they are honoring that.

“Eight years ago, that’s when I meet Luca. He ran into some legal problems.” Tom stated.

“We remember.” Moe spoke out.

“Do you also remember how serious, who was involved and what it took to clear his name?”

“Yes.” Was heard around the room.

“Do you have any idea, what situations I put myself in to help him?”

Everyone nodded.

“After that ordeal was over and Luca’s name was cleared, he came up to me and told me if there was anything that he could do to repay me he would be honored. We became friends. No, not just friends, good friends. When my daughter was being threatened the only person, I trusted was Luca. He protected her. After that we started working together on small issues. And things just transpired from there. I would never do anything to jeopardize the friendship, the bond we have. Now I say this again. It is very, very important that I get a hold of him.”

The room was quiet for a few seconds. Peter cleared his throat. “So, what does this have to do with Kay?”

“That I cannot tell you because of security reasons. I need to talk to Luca. Then and only then it will be his call to fill all of you in.”

The four men stood. They could hear the desperation in Tom’s voice. They looked at each other and nodded.

“We will see what we can do.” Sal said. They turned and left Tom’s office.

Tom sat down in his chair and put his hands on his head. Tom knew when he saw Luca and told him what was going on, he would be one hell of a pissed off man. And that he wasn’t looking forward to.

Peter waited for Luca to show up at the tournament. Peter stayed out of Luca’s sight, he didn’t want to distract to him. He also wanted to study him. He could tell from a distance that Luca was angry, hurt and confused. He knew he was playing the events from Kay’s death over and over. He himself understood things didn’t seem right. They all did. But in the mind state Luca was in right now he wasn’t thinking clearly. Luca needed to relieve his frustrations and this tournament will help him do that.

At the pistol and rifle tournament, Luca was in the lead defending his title. The rifle division was the last part of the tournament. This was Luca’s area of expertise. He had one last shot to go to win this part of the tournament and be the overall champion. He glanced up into the crowd and froze.

“What the fuck Luca?” Peter whispered under his breath. He has been watching from the stands. Luca never froze. He followed Luca’s gaze, but he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“Oh, My, God, Kay is that you Kay?” Luca said softly as the image disappear into the crowd.

“Hey Green Giant, finish your turn, or did you lose your nerve?”

Luca heard what his opponent said. Luca glared at him and fired the last shot. There was never a doubt that he would be the champion. The bullet flew straight and true and Luca walked away with the trophy for first place. He glanced to where he thought he saw Kay.

“Hey, Luca!”

He turned to see Peter walking towards him.

“You okay bud?” he looked at him with concern in his eyes.

“Fine.”

“You don’t look fine. Looks like you saw a ghost. What did you see?”

Luca shook his head. “Nothing.” As he stared into the crowd.

“Listen, Tom needs to talk with you.”

“About what?”

“He wouldn’t say. All he said was it had to do with Kay.”

Luca snapped his head around. His eyes grew dark. “What about her?”

“I don’t know. He wouldn’t say. We think it would be best if you went and spoke to him.”

“We?”

“Yes. He called us all in for a meeting last week pleading with us. He sounded desperate.”

Luca turned back and looked over the crowd.

“Kay’s dead. What could he want to tell me about her?” His voice was low and chilling.

“Hey, don’t shoot me, I’m just delivering the message. Whether you see him or not that’s your choice.”

Luca stood silent for a moment gazing into the crowd searching for Kay. He turned toward his friend but Peter was gone. Luca suddenly felt chills run through his body. He looked over the crowd one more time and his feet started moving. It seemed as if he wasn’t in his own body. He was searching for something or someone. He found himself standing in front of what remained of Kay’s restaurant. ‘What’s going on here? Am I going crazy?’ he thought as he looked around. Nobody seemed to notice him. They were moving about their business. Luca turned and started walking again trying to make sense of what was happening to him. He has been so out of touch with everybody since Kay’s death, trying to figure things out. He felt like he was losing his mind.

That night as he slept, he kept hearing her voice. It was soft and she sounded frightened. “Luca ... Luca ... I am scared. I am lost...”

“Kay, where are you?” he called out in his sleep.

He was tossing and turning. He was running towards her voice trying to find her. She was calling for him. She sounded close but seemed so far away. He can see a shadow, but it’s running from him. He called for her chasing after her. She disappeared. “Kay!” He jolted himself awake calling out her name loudly. His heart was racing. He couldn’t catch his breath. Sweat beading up on his forehead. His mind was going crazy. “Son-of-a-bitch!” he shouted as he tried to calm himself down. He got up and went to the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror and thought ‘What’s wrong with you?’ But his reflection had no answer. He started the shower and enter trying to wash away the nightmare.

Luca was waiting for Tom at his office when he arrived.

“Luca! My God it’s good to see you! You look like hell.”

“I feel like hell. So, I am here.”

“Come in.” Tom quickly opened his door and they both stepped in.

“So, I hear you have been looking for me?”

“Yes. I need to tell you something before...”

“Before what?”

“It’s Kay.”

“Kay’s dead.” he said in a low voice.

Tom closed his eyes. “Luca...”

“What! What kind of game are you playing?” Luca’s voice was haunting.

“Listen and listen careful. I don’t play games.” Tom said.

Luca and Tom had a stare down. Whatever Tom wanted to say, Luca knew it was going to be hard hearing it.

“I am listening.” Luca said.

Tom turned and took a deep breath. “The night Kay was shot. We all were there, we all witnessed it. We know she was dead.”

“This is nothing new Tom. I know she was dead. I held her in my arms.” The sound of his voice was anger and pain. “Get to the point.”

“We know it wasn’t Carlo, so someone else must have fired the shots.”

Luca cleared his throat. “Yes.”

Tom lifted a brow as he turned and looked at him. “While you were off on your little escapade, I got a call.”

“A call from?”

“The Sheriff’s Department. The officer in charge of Kay’s case is a good friend of mine. I know you don’t want to hear this but listen to me before you say anything.”

“Okay.” Luca nodded and waved his hand for Tom to continue.

“I got a call, from my friend. They sent Kay’s body down to the morgue. When the coroner went to do his autopsy, he put his knife...”

Tom suddenly found himself held up by Luca. Face to face. Luca had his fist buried in Tom’s suit under his neck. He pulled him up off the floor staring at him. His eyes were dark with fury.

“This better be worth it Tom because, I don’t need to hear the details of Kay’s autopsy!” he said through gritted teeth.

“Let go of me Luca.” Tom growled.

Even though Luca towered over Tom he wasn’t afraid of him. Tom knew all the pain he was harboring. But he needed to tell him.

“I will say it one more time. Let go of me.”

Luca finally released him. ‘What the hell was Tom getting at.’

“Get to the point. If there is one.” Luca snapped.

Tom cleared his throat and straightened his clothes.