Instinctual 2 (15 page)

Kate watched her dad pour half a glass of water which he then placed a straw in, bless him. That would make drinking so much easier.

He eased it up to Kate’s mouth while Nurse Darla lifted her head. The first sip was heaven. Like the first rains of a dry season. Her mouth moistened, allowing her tongue to move easier. As she went to drink more the nurse stopped her.

“That might be enough just now. Don’t want to overdo it. Your stomach may be a little sensitive for a while after the surgery. Little sips often is the key. We’d hate you to get sick and pop some of those stitches on your abdomen.”

Stitches? On her abdomen? What the hell sort of injuries did she sustain? How many stitches did she have?

“No food for today. Just liquids, but tomorrow we might see about some soup or toast.” Darla spoke even though Kate didn’t respond. After taking her pulse and some more blood she left the family in peace again. It all happened so fast, Kate wondered if she had imagined it.

Jenny spoke in the happy, gushing voice Kate was used to. “She’s been so good to you, honey. She’s really taken good care of you.”

“Good. Nice.” The words came out a little easier now that she’d put some moisture back into her parched mouth. Darla had seemed nice and was easy to understand, given that she spoke perfect English.

Turning her head slowly she opened her eyes and looked over to Jake, who had taken up residence in the corner where he perched on the arm of the chair with his arms folded. He looked at her intensely as their eyes met. Kate felt the pull. He was too far away over there. She needed to be touching him again.

“Come!”

Jake raised his brows at Kate’s request and then motioned with his eyes backwards and forwards to her parents.

“Katie Bear? What are you looking at?” asked Rob, both parents’ eyes moving to the corner where Kate was staring, a small smile on her face.

“Jake.”

“Darling, there’s no one there. I’m sorry. What’s this about Jake? You asked about him earlier.”

Kate glanced at her mom’s strained face before voicing in frustration, “Jake. There!”

Rob walked over closer and took his daughter’s hand in comfort. “I’m sure if he knew you were in the hospital he’d at least send his best wishes.” His eye was doing its funny twitchy thing and his teeth were grinding.

“Jake. There!” Kate’s voice growled out the words.

Jake moved from the corner of the room to Kate, where she unclasped her fisted hand so that he could hold it. Somehow she had to prove that Jake was actually fact three feet away from her mom and dad.

Kate laced her fingers through Jake’s to keep him beside her. “Say something.” She was pleading with him to speak to her parents. “Tell them!”

“Baby, I can’t do that.”

“Why?”

“Because they can’t see me.”

“What? You’re…crazy!”

“Do you remember a conversation we had before you came to the hospital?”

Kate tried to sift through her scrambled thoughts. Had they spoken before she came to the hospital? It was hard to think with that constant beeping of the heart monitor and her parents looking at her as if she had lost her mind and had suddenly conjured up an imaginary friend.

She shook her head.

Jake glanced up at Rob and then back down to Kate as his thumb brushed the top of her hand.

“Listen. It’s a long story, but I’m not technically here.”

Kate screwed her face up, too damn tired for these riddles. She could feel sleep pulling her under again but needed to know what on earth Jake was babbling on about.

He watched her before adding, “I’m out of my body. Not dead, but not fully alive, either. I’m being held in a prison on life support and need to get a message to your father about my whereabouts.”

His words sounded like thick soup as she tried to process it all. If only she could keep her eyes open. The fatigue was rolling over her like a wave too strong to fight.

“Kate?” Jake’s face was only inches from her, and as she lost her surroundings to the darkness, his deep voice carried her away
.

Chapter Twenty-Five

In London The Lord grew agitated as he watched the security camera footage of his patient on Santo Stefano Island. He’d set up the camera, not only as a security measure for his latest project but to ensure the loyalty of Carlos Santini. To make sure he was carrying out the orders he’d been given. So far so good but he was more concerned with his patient.

The Lord’s knuckles cracked as he flexed his fingers before reaching for a Cuban cigar and lighting it.

He tutted several times before talking out loud to himself. “Jake. Jake. Jake. What am I going to do with you, my son? You’ve betrayed me and my family. If we weren’t related by blood I’d have let you die. Now? You’ve left me in a quandary.” Puffs of smoke billowed around his head as his cheeks hollowed out from the width of the cigar as he dragged a few times in quick succession. “You need to be punished, there’s no doubt about that. All actions have consequences. How is a father to punish a son under these trying circumstances?” The Lord tapped the thick gold ring that sat on his middle finger on the edge of the desk as he formed a punishment suitable for such an act of treason.

“Maybe I could start with cutting off a finger for each year you spent infiltrating my Organization. I’ve spared your life, but do not think I’ve done you any favors. There are certain lessons in life one must learn.”

He squeezed in the bridge of his nose to help ease some of the anger he was feeling at being deceived by his own son. It was incomprehensible. If he hadn’t done some digging to find out more about the spy before he was shot, he’d never have found out Jake was his son. He’d long since forgotten about the woman and baby he’d abandoned decades earlier to rightfully fulfill his role as head of The Organization. That stupid bitch! Did she expect such a man as he to succumb to a middle class life in the suburbs of America to raise the little brat? To tie him down like that? Fuck that! It was not his scene and never would be.

Walking to the liquor cabinet that was always fully stocked, he took a bottle of costly Bollinger out and popped the cork, pouring the bubbly liquid into a glass, swishing it around before taking a swig.

His flesh and blood was trying to destroy everything he’d built over the years. It brought with it much emotion, namely rage. How dare he! To go against the family. Yes, he would personally deal with his son, teach him a little respect.

Loosening his tie and picking up his cell, he dialed a number. He took his cigar out of his mouth and spoke. “Hello? Luigi, I need the plane fueled and ready to return to Italy immediately. Get a hold of Adriano and Stavros and tell them to meet me in Rome.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

When Rob and Jenny returned to Kate’s room after eating, they’d discussed booking into a hotel so they could shower and get proper rest. They agreed to take it in turns to stay by Kate’s bedside now that she had woken and it appeared she would recover.

Rob needed to somehow broach the subject of Carlos with his daughter but felt she wasn’t strong enough yet. It could wait another day at the least. He just hoped when he did question her, she’d be able to shed some light on the whereabouts of her boyfriend or give him a snippet of information that may put that asshole behind bars. He still had much work to do and wouldn’t be leaving until he was satisfied that there was no threat to his daughter. He needed to finish what he’d started years earlier and put an end to The Organization.

A wave of heartache washed over him as he remembered the brother he’d loved who’d had his life stolen because of those vermin… a secret he’d kept from his family for way too long. Maybe when this was all over he’d come clean and tell them how he’d really died.

Rob could feel his throat tighten as he recalled his brother’s face. Always cheery. The type of person who would do anything for anyone. An all-round good guy who loved life.

This vendetta he held went way deeper than Carlos Santini. He was going to make sure his brother’s death wasn’t in vain. The need to make those responsible pay was like a disease slowly eating away at him. He needed to finish this. Only then would he be able to rest.

While Kate slept, Jenny was on the phone to a nearby hotel. Rob could hear her struggling to explain the booking but with some repetition of words it sounded like they had both come to a mutual understanding.

Jen ended the call, shaking her head at the effort. “Phew! That’s done. I didn’t realize it would take so much work just to make a booking!”

Rob laughed, switching back to the loving husband. “Maybe we need to brush up on our basic Italian. Might make things a little easier.”

“Yes, well, I’m sure we’re not the first foreigners to want a room. They should have someone multi-lingual answering the phones.”

Rob could see Jenny’s point but figured that if they were to get by in a foreign country, they needed to learn some of the basics.

“Where are we staying, honey?”

“It’s a B&B called Le Vele. It’s got internet access, a supermarket out in front, and we can walk here if we choose. I figured those were the three key elements. They serve breakfast and there’s a shared washing machine.”

“What time is check in?”

Jenny looked at her watch. “Eleven-thirty, so we’re good to go. We might as well leave while Kate’s still sleeping and get ourselves checked in and settled. I, for one, am ready for a shower. We can grab a cab there because I really don’t feel like dragging my luggage down the street.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Rob thought a shower sounded like the best thing at that moment. He’d only managed to splash cold water on his face since leaving Vernazza. He was sure he must be starting to smell.

They both walked to Kate and said their goodbyes, promising they would return in a couple of hours. She didn’t flinch.

On their way out they let the nurses know where they were going in case Kate woke up and wondered where they were.

Darla’s shift had ended some time ago, so they left a message with Maria, who hovered at the desk with a bunch of paperwork in her arm. She smiled at them as they left and seemed to be warmer than the first morning Rob had arrived. Maybe she was finally pleased to see them leave.

Outside, they were in luck to find a cab waiting in a loading bay.

“Le Vele?” Rob asked, hoping the driver had heard of the bed and breakfast.

“Si.” Acknowledgement lit the man’s features as he climbed out to load their luggage into the trunk.

It was nice to be out of the stuffy hospital and breathe in some fresh air. The day was warm with only a couple of puffy clouds gently moving across the sky. Without a dedicated hospital car park and only regular spaces out on the street, there were cars parked any which way. Some were on a diagonal, blocking others in and there were a few up on the sidewalk.

Within a few minutes they had pulled up outside a small, historic guest house close to Market Square. It was to be their home for now until Kate was well enough to return to Vernazza. They were counting on paying by the night as needed but trying to explain that to the woman at the desk might prove to be a trying exercise.

After thanking and paying the driver in what little Italian cash they had between them, they made their way into the guest house.

It wasn’t glamorous by any means, but it was functional. A middle-aged Italian woman greeted them with a warm smile that crinkled her dark brown eyes at the corners. Her ebony hair was pulled back in a tight bun that had started to give way at the edges. She wore quite a bit of eye makeup and red lipstick with a freshly ironed, white collared blouse and black tailored pants.

“Buon giourno!” the woman offered politely as she held out her hand.

Both Rob and Jenny shook it and returned the greeting. They explained as best they could about the booking made over the phone earlier and were pleased to find that their room had been reserved and they could pay two days ahead, which was better than weekly.

The reception area was small and quaint, just like the outside of the building. Definitely with a homely feel.

Their room was on the ground floor, so before long they were both inside, anxious to shower and change their clothes. The guest room had its own bathroom and small kitchenette with a mini fridge and tea and coffee making facilities. The queen sized bed was covered in a green floral bedspread that matched the curtains. A set of wooden drawers sat opposite the bed with a gold oval mirror above it.

“You go take a shower first, honey, and I’ll make us both a coffee,” said Rob, placing his bag in the corner before walking over to the large window and drawing the curtains back to let in some light. There was no view apart from the wall of the next building, but it wasn’t as if they would be lounging around the small room. It would serve as somewhere to rest their weary heads at night and to wash themselves.