Chapter 85: Mafia Kings: Massimo: Chapter 86

Several hours later, the car stopped and the engine shut off.

When Zollner opened the trunk, I blinked against the light of dawn behind him.

Around him stood several guys in dark suits – men I didn’t know but who were indistinguishable from the ones who worked for Nona.

Mafia thugs.

“Jesus,” one of them muttered when he saw me. “What did you do, drag her through the mud?”

“Actually, yes,” Zollner said with a big smile as he pulled me out of the trunk and set me on my feet.

“She’s got a black eye.”

He must have meant where Zollner had socked me with the butt of his rifle.

“You’re very observant,” Zollner said pleasantly, without a trace of sarcasm – which made his reply all the more sarcastic.

“Aurelio’s not gonna be happy about that.”

“Then he’s free to take it up with me, gentlemen. As long as he pays me.”

We were near a boat dock on a deserted shore of the Venetian lagoon. I could see the outline of the city in the distance.

I assumed the speed boat tied to the pier was how we would get to our destination.

“You gonna cut my feet loose, or you want me to hop over there?” I asked sardonically.

Zollner looked at me sideways and waggled a finger at me like I was a naughty child. “Don’t try anything, Fräulein. I would hate to give you another black eye.”

He knelt down behind me and used a knife to cut the zip ties around my ankles.

I thought about kicking him… but decided I wanted to be in good shape when Massimo got there in case we needed to run for it. And having both of my eyes swollen shut wouldn’t help.

“Let’s go,” Zollner said as he gently pushed me towards the dock.

We got into the speedboat with him holding onto my arm. The mafia goons followed, and soon we were racing across the lagoon.

As we circled around the larger island of Murano, the much smaller island of San Michele came into view. It was only 1200 feet from the northwestern shore of Venice – and around half a mile from my grandmother’s palazzo, which was slightly farther south.

I wondered if that was why Aurelio had chosen it. If Nona didn’t agree to his demands, maybe he planned to make her watch through binoculars as he executed me.

Just wait till Massimo gets here, assholes.

The island was basically one giant graveyard, although it had some nice gardens, too. The most striking building on San Michele was the church that the island was named after. It had a 130-foot-tall bell tower and a white-domed façade. While they paled next to Venice’s more impressive cathedrals and palazzos, both the bell tower and white dome were still pretty iconic.

Somebody else on the boat had obviously been reading up on the topic.

“Did you know,” Zollner said excitedly, “that the island – named for Saint Michael the archangel – was originally two smaller islands. They were connected in the early 1800s when the channel between them was filled in.”

“Is that so,” I muttered.

“Ja! Neither of the islands was used as a cemetery until 1804, when Napoleon Bonaparte – who conquered Venice in 1797 – decreed that all corpses should be buried outside Venice for the sake of hygiene.”

“Fascinating.”

Zollner didn’t seem to catch my sarcasm. Either that, or he didn’t care. “What is even more fascinating is that in the decades after it became a cemetery, seawater would erode the island from underneath. Coffins would be sucked underground and out into the bay, where they would float in the water until they could be retrieved and reburied!”

I stared at him. “You’re a weird motherfucker. Do you know that?”

“I’m merely passionate about the things that interest me, Fräulein.”

“Like killing people?”

“Hunting them, mostly.” He looked me in the eye and smiled. “But killing them is fun, too – especially when I’m paid to do it.”

A shiver of dread went down my spine, and I had to look away.

The speedboat pulled up to the dock outside the white-domed façade of San Michele. Two mafia thugs helped me onto dry ground, after which Zollner marched me through a walled courtyard into the church.

We entered the sanctuary – but I could hear two voices arguing before we even got there.

“This is intolerable!” an older man raged.

A younger, colder voice replied, “You need to do what I tell you to do, Father, or you’re not going to like the consequences.”

…Father?

As we rounded a corner, I saw what was going on.

A man wearing an expensive suit was arguing with a priest.

The guy in the suit was tall, though not as tall as Massimo. And he was nowhere near as built.

He was handsome… but his face was cruel and arrogant.

I was guessing this was Aurelio, Massimo’s cousin – and the asshole behind everything that had happened over the last three weeks.

All around him were other mafia thugs in black suits.

The priest was middle-aged. He wore glasses, and his face was red with indignation.

Five nuns cowered in a group 15 feet away.

“You can’t just shut off the island to incoming traffic!” the priest raged.

“It’s a cemetery, not a tourist attraction,” Aurelio said in a bored voice. “Call whoever you need to – just make sure the water buses don’t stop here.”

“And give them what reason?!”

“Tell them everybody has Covid. Tell them there’s a fucking cholera outbreak. I don’t give a shit – just keep all traffic away from the island.”

“Why?!”

I could tell Aurelio was losing patience. “Because I told you to, that’s why.”

“You Cosa Nostra thugs don’t scare me!”

Aurelio smiled. His psychopathic stare chilled me to the bone. “I’m not the kind of Cosa Nostra ‘thug’ you’re accustomed to, Father.”

“I don’t care!” The older man looked away from Aurelio and started shouting at the other mafia goons. “I’m not going to let you desecrate this holy place with whatever evil plans you – ”

As the priest continued to yell, Aurelio casually pulled out a pistol and shot him in the head.

I flinched in horror and all the nuns screamed.

The priest collapsed. He was dead before he hit the ground.

“Too late. Already desecrated,” Aurelio joked. Then he looked over at the nuns. “Somebody needs to make that phone call and shut off all traffic to the island. Who’s going to volunteer?”

The oldest nun in the group raised a trembling hand.

“Good,” Aurelio said, then looked at several of his men. “Take her wherever she needs to go – and make sure she doesn’t double-cross us.” Aurelio turned back to the nun and stared her down. “If you try to tell anyone about what’s going on, I will torture and kill the rest of these women… I’ll make you watch… and then I’ll do the same to you. Do you understand?”

The nun whimpered and nodded.

“Good.” Aurelio gestured with his hand like he was bored. “Lock up the rest of them so they can’t get in our way.”

One mafia thug pulled away the oldest nun and two more goons herded the other women away.

“Somebody find a place to stick this asshole,” Aurelio said as he looked down at the dead priest. Then he smiled darkly. “Shouldn’t be too hard. I mean, it is a fuckin’ cemetery.”

The goons laughed. Two dragged the priest away by his feet, leaving a bloody trail across the tiled floor.

“Herr Rosolini,” Zollner said cheerfully.

Aurelio turned around. “Oh, you’re here. Finally.” Then he turned to me, and his nose wrinkled in distaste. “What the fuck did you do, throw her in a pig sty?”

“You paid me to retrieve her – not have her perfectly groomed.”

“Maybe I should’ve kicked in a little extra, then, so she didn’t show up looking like a sewer rat.”

Aurelio walked over and put one finger under my chin.

I immediately jerked away from him.

“Easy, princess. Just checking to make sure the merchandise is in order so your grandma doesn’t throw a fit.”

“Fuck you,” I snarled.

“Careful, or I’ll take you up on that. Jesus, Zollner – did you have to fuckin’ hit her in the face?”

“She was being difficult,” the Swiss hunter explained without a hint of remorse.

“Next time, hit her somewhere the bruises won’t show.” Aurelio snapped his fingers and pointed at two of his men. “Take her to the nun’s quarters – or the priest’s, or wherever – and have her shower up. I don’t want her looking like shit when the Widow gets here.”

I felt the blood drain out of my face. “My grandmother’s coming here?”

Aurelio smiled coldly. “If she wants to keep you alive.”

My skin crawled as he said it.

“By the way,” Zollner piped up, “Massimo is still alive… and what’s more, he and the Fräulein are engaged!”

Aurelio stared at Zollner –

Then looked at me and burst out laughing. “Oh my god – this is too good to be true.”

Zollner smiled. “I thought you might be pleased.”

I glared at Aurelio. “Massimo’s coming for me.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it.”

“And when he does, you’re fucked.”

Aurelio gave me a vicious smile. “You know, the two of you getting hitched would make you my cousin by marriage. That is… IF it actually happened. Too bad your fiancé’s not going to make it to the wedding.”

Then his smile disappeared and he motioned with his hand. “Take her away.”