Page 22 of A Second Dawn

The movement of the cart is jerky, and even though I’m lying down, I’m jostled around.

Suddenly, the cart lurches, and I’m thrown against the side. The impact is painful, and a yelp escapes my throat.

Oh no! Please let it be drowned out by all the other noises around me.

I hear footsteps approaching, my body tensing. I hold my breath, waiting for them to pass by.

But they don’t.

“Hey, what’s in there?” A gruff voice with an Italian accent calls out. And it’s not Mario’s. My heart drops.

“Just trash,” a Canadian accented voice replies.

“I want to see,” the Italian voice says. This has to be one of Tiero’s men. They’re checking the carts.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

The breathing exercises from earlier… I shouldn’t have bothered.

The panic is back, my heart in my throat.

“Why? It’s waste.” The Canadian sounds puzzled.

“Do not question me.”

Then there’s shuffling and what sounds like a body being slung against a metal cart.

“Hey, don’t tear open these bags. They need to stay sealed,” the Canadian protests, sounding pained.

The smell of garbage fills my nostrils even more than before, and I try not to gag. It’s a pungent odor, the stench of rotting food mixed with the acrid tang of cleaning chemicals.

“Questa puzza mi sta facendo star male.”

“Nessuno si nasconderà lì dentro, è putrido.”

What are they saying? And how many of them are there?

“Take it away,” the goon says.

I let out the breath I was holding, some of the tension leaving my muscles.

Wowsers that was close.

But I made it.

Now I only need to get out of this putrid coffin.

Chapter Six

Gualtiero

IdialTomaso’snumberagain. He better pick up this time. On the fourth ring, he finally does.

“When I call, you fucking answer. Is that clear?” I fume. Not waiting for his pathetic excuses, I ask, “Status?”

“We’re still looking. She can’t have disappeared.” He speaks with forced confidence, trying to mask his ineptness.

They fucking had her and let her get away.