Page 20 of They Found Us
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.”
Leo laughs as Mark climbs his shoulders. “Yes, we need to get this little monkey back to chasing those goats.”
“What have you got there?” I ask, noticing a bag in Leo’s hands.
“These are for us. Mobile phones. One for you and one for me. Not that I plan on leaving you again, but I would feel better if we had a way of contacting each other at any time.”
“Thank you.”
And I agree that it’s time. Leo was very against us getting phones when we first moved here. Safety, I suppose, as phones are trackable. But he is obviously feeling more secure about having them now. Maybe it has something to do with Alex and Vanna being here.
Leo takes two phones out of the bag and passes one to me. They are unwrapped and switched on. I was expecting a brand-new one in a box.
“Are they second-hand?” I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but it’s been a long time since I had a new phone. The excitement of opening a new phone and peeling the screen sticker off is the best feeling.
“Yes, they are new. I’ve just set it up ready for you. My number, Alex’s, and Vanna’s are already in your contacts.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Lighting up the screen, I see it’s an iPhone. Thank goodness. I’ve never been an Android girl. But there aren’t many apps. In fact, the only thing on here is the green phone icon to make calls and the messaging speech bubble.
“Where are all the apps?”
Leo dismisses my concern. “No apps. Just calls and text. You don’t need anything else.”
