Page 18 of They Found Us
“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 someonewith 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?”
