Chapter 63: Chapter 63

I wake up to someone persistently knocking on the front door.

I roll over and slowly ease myself into a sitting position on the bed being sure to keep the screams of agony suppressed. I run my hands through my tangled hair when Conrad walks in with a shadow close behind him.

“Hey, Nessa.” He looks at me apologetically. “Detective Reeves is here to see you.” He steps aside and a middle-aged female steps forward.

“Hi Vanessa, I’m detective Amanda Reeves.” She thrusts her hand forward and I shake it. “Look, I know this isn’t an appropriate time in the morning to do this.. but I would appreciate it if I could have your co-operation so we can get this case cleared.” She says as her eyes scan the room.

Amanda Reeves looks to be in her mid-thirties, She looks a lot like Cameron Diaz with brown eyes but when the light hits them and look close enough there are bits of green and orange embedded deep within the iris. Her eyes are stunning. She has urban black hair with blue tips that gives her an off the edge kind of look. She looks like someone who will break protocol just to get the job done, making her a dangerous and cunning opponent to be up against.

“Sure,” I say clearing my thought.

“Great, Is it okay if we talk here or would you like to go somewhere more private?” She looks at me before she looks over to Chrissy then back at Conrad.

“It’s okay, I need coffee anyway,” Chrissy says as she pulls her blankets back.

“You care for one, Detective?” Conrad asks as Chrissy brushes past him and he grabs her hand pulling her up against him.

“That would be great actually. Two sugars and no milk thanks.” Detective Reeve nods appreciatively to him.

“I’ll just have a tall glass of water with a hand full of happy numbing pills please.” I smile sweetly towards Conrad and he nods once before he kisses Chrissy on the head and leads them out towards the kitchen.

“Nice little set up you have going on in here.” Reeves looks around nodding.

“Yeah, Conrad removed most of the furniture and replaced them with our beds.”

“That’s cool. I’ll just...” She looks around the room again and she eyes up the old bean bag that’s seen better days slouching in the corner. “Sit on the bean bag.” She drags it across the room and shakes it before she lowers herself onto it. “Haven’t sat on one of these bad boys in a long time.” She wiggles her butt getting comfortable.

“It belongs to Conrad, He prefers to sit on it and eat while we watch movies instead of sitting on the floor as the rest of us.” I laugh and it causes a ripple of pain to shoot up the side of my tender ribs.  Damn it!

“Hm... Can't say I’m surprised.” She laughs.

Conrad walks in with her tall cup of water and hands it to her.

“I told you it will come in handy,” Conrad murmurs as he hands me my pills and glass of water.

“The only thing it’s handy for is keeping your sissy lard arse comfortable when you should be tolerating the hard floor like the rest of us.” I sneer before I swallow the pills with my water.

“You’re lucky I’ve grown immune to your charming sense of humour Nessa.” He winks playfully at me as he takes my empty glass.

“I’m gonna tell Chrissy you’re sharing her winks with me if you don’t beat it.”

“There’s plenty to go around...Nessa.” He winks at me again and I scoff.

I pick up the cushion at the end of my bed and throw it at his head. He puts his arm up and blocks it then walks out of the room laughing. If I wasn’t in pain I swear I would have got up and tackled him right then and there. It’s all fun and games till someone gets hurt right? Yeah... He can count his blessings for now.

“So.. shall we get started?” Reeves asks as she takes a sip of her water.

“Sure, But I’ll be honest... There’s not much for me to tell you that you haven’t already gathered from my medical reports. I mean... I only met Mikal once and then he shows up here trying to... trying to uh..”

“It’s okay Vanessa, Take your time. Look I know this is hard for you and I wish I didn’t have to be here to question you after everything that happened and especially because you are still fresh out of the hospital.” She looks at me with pity. “But.. I really need to get this case closed so we can release his body to his family.” She flips open her book and starts to write.

“What do you mean when you say you want to release his body to his family?” I ask confused.

“I think it’s best that I tell you what I know.” She gets up off the bean bag, stands in front of me and takes a deep breath. “The night you were beaten and sexually assaulted we received an anonymous phone call from a payphone up the road. This person... the ah.. anonymous caller was very descriptive. He told us the exact time and place where Mikals execution was to take place. We arrived at the allocated warehouse four minutes after the deadline time was placed. When we entered the warehouse Mikal was tied down to a chair, his face had been beaten to a pulp, and was covered in blood. His teeth were ripped out and one of his ears were cut off, in slices. His nails were ripped from his fingers and his tips were burned, leaving no prints for him to be I.D. The son-of-a-bitch died from a heart attack, not from being tortured. I can only imagine the horrible death he would’ve succumbed to if his heart hadn’t failed him. . I don’t want to make any assumptions but I have to ask. “Did Luca have anything to with Mikals death?” She stares at me intently.

“We all thought he was still alive.” I look at her confused.

She sighs. “Because he carried out a hit order from the Mob, we thought it would be wise to work the case under the raider. But, the case has gone cold and the big bosses want answers.”

“Luca wasn’t in New Zealand. He flew back from Italy the moment he learned what had happened”

“He owns a jet doesn’t he?” She flips through her notepad and her eyes scan over her pages.

“Yes, but I don’t know how he arrived. I never bothered to ask him.”

She sighs and closes her book. “If you have anything else to add..” She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her personal card. “Please... contact me. Personally, I don’t care if Luca had a hand in Mikals death. That’s one less scum that pollutes our streets. But the law is the law and you can’t go around killing people without suffering the consequences.” She says sternly.

I take the card from her hand and place it inside my bedside drawer.

“I understand,” I say honestly.

“If I may, I would like to offer you one piece of advice.” Her voice is soft and I find myself nodding, accepting what she has to offer. “A man like Luca Venturi will always have you looking over your shoulder in fear. I think you owe it to yourself to cut him loose and live a carefree life.”

“I’ll take your words into consideration.” I smile weakly at her.

Detective Reeves takes one last look around the room and lets herself out.  My brain is in shambles, could Luca really have had a hand in Mikals death? Could he really be that cold and torture a man, even if it was for me? Shit... I mumble. There’s so much I still don’t know about Luca, I get up and walk over to my dressing table and pull out the small box that holds the ring Luca gave me. I sit back on my bed and open the box placing it beside me. I stare at it for a long period,  ingraining the image in my head, I snap it shut and pull out my phone texting Rosalia.

Vanessa: Hi babe, do you think you can sneak away from your uncle for a bit?

I nervously nibble on my fingernails, anxiously waiting for her reply.

Ding...

Rosalia: I’m on my way.

She replies instantly and a large grin appears on my face.