Dust and bits of polyurethane foam were scattered across Alessia’s arms and chest from the jagged hole in the rear seat where the high velocity round had just torn through. Alessia looked at her arms in a state of shock, searching for blood and waiting to see if she would feel a gunshot wound.

  “Stop Anthony, stop! That was a warning shot. Stop right here.” Fausto briefly glanced at the bullet hole between him and Alessia and then held his hand up at her without even sparing her a glance.

  “Lemme back up, get us outta’ here.” Anthony started to reach for the gear shift but Fausto stopped that thought in its tracks.

  “Don’t’ move. They can put the next shot either through you or me. Look at the window. They hit it dead center below the mirror. This is a test and we need to pass it”

  Fausto sat back into his seat. He was close to seventy years of age and in his mind he had little to lose. He thrived on crisis although he would never admit this to anyone. Most people just thought him to be a quick thinker and someone who could always stay calm.

  The truth was that he loved the tension, the adrenaline, the emotions he would experience during high stress situations, and it was one of the few times he truly felt alive. He did not have a wife or any family to live for. All he had was situations like this, where he had outthink, out maneuver his opponent in order to gain the upper hand. He could play it both ways equally as well, either planning and adjusting over years or thinking on his feet in a matter of seconds.

  “Shit…you fuckin’ see that Fausto? Look on the dash here.”

  A green dot had appeared on top of the beige soft touch plastic of the Denali dashboard. Just behind the dot on the damaged windshield was a faint halo of green where the laser sight passed through the glass. Anthony sucked in his breath audibly as the green dot inched over along the top of the dashboard and then disappeared from view only to reappear on the front breast pocket of his dark blue blazer.

  “Stay calm Anthony. Just stay calm. If they wanted to shoot you they would have done it already.”

  “Fuck…Fausto …there is a gate at the driveway that is sliding shut. It looks pretty fuckin’ heavy duty too. They’re not gonna let us leave are they?”

  “We don’t know who they are or what they want. All I know is that they want our attention because of something Alessia’s mother has done on behalf of the family. Well…now they have it so let’s see what they want to tell us.”

  Alessia’s stomach turned at the mention of her and her mother and the feeling of impending doom reached deeper into her heart making her chest ache and her breath labored.

  “Lemme call Joe and Francis. They can get here with some guys and we can really mess em up’”

  Fausto sighed and started to rub his chin again.

  “No Anthony, don’t call anyone. No one is closer than an hour away. We are on our own here so we are gonna wait and see what…..what he wants.”

  Alessia looked up and stared down the driveway to see who Fausto was referring to. Randy was walking towards them with a slow and steady pace. He was holding a shotgun in a relaxed two-handed carry position against his chest and was making his way through the long grass along the side of the driveway.

  Anthony was still staring down at the green dot on his chest, at any moment he realized he could be dead before he even heard the shot. He slowly put his hands up on the top of the wheel to show the approaching man that he was unarmed.

  “Well, just who might you be then?” Randy spoke with the confidence of someone who knows that they have the upper hand and after a quick peek into the car he still did not seem at all worried about who was in it.

  Fausto spoke from the back seat. “I think you already have a good idea. Did you recognize Alessia from a driveway camera perhaps or through a rifle scope?”

  “So Andi’s not wrong then, she had seen the lady before. What brings you back to the farm? We didn’t have the pleasure of meeting the last time and I certainly would have remembered ya if we did.”

  “We just want to talk.” Fausto did not like leaning forwards in the backseat and speaking over Anthony’s shoulder. He felt weak, ineffective and he had very that he could control but he also did not know how he was going to be able to change anything at this moment either.

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  “My dear friend’s mother here has created quite a problem for one of your friends it seems and now he and his…..friends…. are creating quite a big problem for everyone in my …….family.”

  Fausto cleared his throat and reached for his cigarettes. He was desperate for a cigarette but he wasn’t going to ask this farm hand for permission to get out of the car to smoke. Don Luca had strictly forbidden smoking in all of his vehicles but damn him and his rules, he really needed to think right now and not be distracted.

  His window rolled down and a moment later a long exhale of grey smoke provided Fausto the relief that he needed.

  “Don’t you dare toss that outta’ the car when you’re done or Andi just might shoot ya’ herself.”

  “I understand” said Fausto, “don’t worry, we do not want to cause you any distress or hardship. I come here to see how we can end these attacks so we can all move on and go our separate ways. Our lives do not need to be intertwined like this and soon….” Fausto paused and took a long draw on his cigarette and then admired his smoke in a long exhale.

  “Soon, we will all be completely wrapped up in this game, so much so that we might just end up crushing one another and strangers will end up having to pull us apart and pick over our carcasses. Soon, we will all be in a position of …. of no other options”.

  “hmnnnn…well that may be the case but right now my friends are pretty upset about what your old witch did to our boy. You say that you want to help but I’m not so sure I trust ya.”

  Randy shifted the shotgun in his arms so that he was cradling it with just his left arm. He turned and pointed at a large Silver Maple tree halfway between the barn and the small horse paddock.

  “Park under that tree. You’re gonna need the shade. That’s also your bathroom, so go behind the tree if you’re shy about it. Don’t stray too far though. Simon’s a crack shot and he won’t miss. I’m not too bad myself either.”

  “And why would you have us wait?” Fausto asked in his usual, patient style. He did not demand or accuse, right now he just needed to know why and if possible, how long and who would they be waiting for.

  “We need to know if you’re telling the truth and I’ve got just the guy that can help us but he’s going to take an hour or two to get out here. In the meantime, I will run you out some water and some food and you can just hold up under that tree there.”

  After Jim had spoken to Randy and Simon he called Paul and after a brief conversation Paul took down directions to Amos’ building and told Jim that he would call Alanah on the way. When he reached Alanah she had just finished walking Amos through the greenhouse area that he had created for her but had not yet finished.

  “Perfect timing Paul, can you load up your Jeep with as many bags of soil as you can carry and head over here? I’ll load the buckets and you and Amos can haul them up.”

  “It will have to be another day and hopefully someone else. Listen up, it looks like they’ve come begging so we need to keep the upper hand and protect Simon and Andi from alla’ this as best we can. I’m coming to get ya so lock up and be ready in ten on the sidewalk out front.”

  On the way to the farm Paul explained everything that he knew so far. Alessia had returned with a senior member of the family, Randy hadn’t gotten any names but after some thought he was sure it was Fausto. There was also Alessia and a driver who was probably more of an enforcer if he was travelling with Fausto.

  “Listen, Fausto is wicked smart, cunning as a fox and vicious like no one you’ve ever met before. I guarantee you that. He won’t say much but he doesn’t ever get fucked over. He is the guy that outthinks everyone else.”

  After a pause Paul continued “We can’t let him know anything about us. No threats, no promises and do not give him the slightest idea of who you know or how many we are.”

  Alanah leaned back in her seat and folded her arms across her chest. “Ok, I get it, we won’t say anything but don’t forget, he came all the way out to the farm just to find us. I bet he’s desperate.”

  “Yeah, he wants you to think that way, that he’s just an old man, just lookin’ for some peace. No chance, no fucking way with this guy. He’s really looking for weakness, if he finds it he’s gonna’ go for our throats. We gotta’ keep him unsure and guessing. He can’t come away from today knowing anything about us. Remember, he can target the farm now just like we targeted them in the North End.”

  Alanah stared hard at Paul as he drove, her tough fa?ade was gone and once again she looked and sounded her age. “Why did we keep after them so hard then if it puts the farm at risk? I don’t want anything to happen to Simon or Andi.”

  It was a while before Paul spoke again and when he did, he stared straight ahead as he drove and did not look at Alanah once.

  “I miscalculated….no, that’s not true. I ignored the risk. Look, I have been dying a slow death day by day for years, I’m being eaten away by anger and regret day after day. Your situation gave me a chance at revenge, and I took it and I did not think about the danger it put Andi and Simon into.”

  Paul cleared his throat and sped up a little in the old Jeep.

  “I know it doesn’t excuse anything, but I know that Randy and Simon would have wanted us to do what we can for Amos no matter what. I know how they feel about you two and besides, it’s too late now so we need to make sure that we keep the farm safe.”

  “I know how Fausto’s mind works, if we can convince him that targeting the farm is not going to be an easy option then he will let it go. I know what to do and Randy has been working the phones for the last few hours now to get things in place.”

  When Alanah turned to look at Amos Paul didn’t take his eyes off of the road and as she looked at her friend he said “I’m not lying, he can see that I’m not lying.”