Chapter 43: Chapter 43

Mount Carmel Hillside Cemetery

◇ KEL ◇

Multiple organ failure.

Five and a half years of hospitalizations, regular trips to the doctors,  dozens and dozens of medications.

It was tragic, of course, but essentially easy to comprehend. Jim Nielsen, 64, had passed away in peace. After three nights in the hospital ICU again,  Dr. Chase delivered the sad news before I could make it to my father's deathbed.

Our semestral break was just in time, though, so I went back home to help my family with the interment. It had been a couple days of exhausting sleepless nights, busy evenings attending to guests and relatives who paid their respects, explaining my Daddy Jim's illness and final weeks to those who needed clarifications.

Now we all gathered around and spent the entire afternoon with relatives and friends, praying over my Daddy Jim's remains.

Thick clouds dulled the mild afternoon sun on the blurry blue sky. I glimpsed the time and kept silent. It seemed the better option while my somber thoughts tried to drown out the muffled sobs, the constant sniveling, and the muttered prayers of people around us.

My sister, Jill, stood by the tomb with Mom, their long dresses covering up their slender figure. Jill's fingers held a crumpled tissue onto her nose. She held onto the tearful widow and rubbed Mom's arm in a comforting manner.

The veiled and grieving widow, Mathilda, stood over her late husband's grave.  Her lean shoulders sagged and trembled amid muted sobs.   Prayers of hope and sorrow were mumbled incoherently after the priest ended his consecration. Then he left Jim Nielsen's freshly covered grave after another Sign of the Cross.

I watched my sister thank the priest while Mommy Tilda stayed kneeling beside Daddy's tomb. I glanced around the graveyard.  The tombstones all around us looked as gray as the weather, dull and devoid of warmth. Soon enough, the twelve or so funeral guests disappeared behind us one by one—mostly Dad's work friends, my aunts, uncles, and cousins on the paternal side of our family.

My unease only got replaced by a sense of comforting familiarity when Gaia, my childhood best friend, was the only one left standing beside me.

Jill remained at Mom's side while Jill's husband, David, stood in silence near the two women.  Mommy, now the only person sobbing in the middle of the cemetery, knelt close to Daddy's grave.

I watched and sat down. I was supposed to be drowning in sorrow, grieving, audibly crying like everyone else. Dad and I were close, even though Jill was his favorite. Strangely, the tears wouldn't come.

Of course I was grieving as well, but, at this point, it just felt like I'd been grieving from the time Dr. Chase told me Dad's condition wouldn't improve unless his lungs miraculously recovered and got a total reset. I'd probably cried over the fact several times in the previous weeks, but I didn't tell Mom. She was already dealing with a lot. She didn't need another emotionally troubled person to console.

Truth be told, I no longer felt that grief-stricken, nostalgic, or lonely.  Maybe it's Dad's way of comforting me, wherever he might be now. As I chose to side with that thought,  I tried not to mind the uncanny feeling of someone watching us from afar—or watching me from afar, hiding somewhere in this quiet, dim, and wide graveyard.

"What's the plan?" Gaia put an arm around my waist. We stood a few chairs behind Jill and my Mommy Tilda.

"Go home. Hibernate." I sighed. In my head, I was trying to justify my lacking sympathy with the constant fatigue I'd been dealing with since my last exams before I got back home for this break.

"I mean after that,  smartass," Gaia mumbled.

"Graduate. Start residency here. Get a more stable job. Pay off debts. Work till I can't anymore." I turned to my best friend. "You?"

"Same. Except Mama wants me to head straight into Uncle James' law firm once I get my license." As she leaned in, Gaia's dark braided hair covered her cheek and she stared at me with a quizzical look. "Seein' someone new?"

"No." I faced front again and watched my sister console our mother.  The sight of our mom barely coping with the loss of course hurt me, too, leaving a constricting feeling in my chest, but I couldn't make myself shed more tears over the grief.

My Daddy Jim had been ill for years.  For a while now, we'd known of the probably outcomes. We knew that him reaching his 60s wouldn't do his ailing physical health any favors, especially after his last surgery. The idea of him finally in peace, free of constant pain and suffering, gave me much relief.

At least his kind soul was going to a better place now.  At the thought, I glanced skyward. Large gray clouds hovered above us now. Whistling gusts fluffed my shoulder-length hair. My exposed arms and neck were growing cold so I buttoned up my coat.

"Hey. David takes care of the finances. Right?" Gaia glanced to Jill and leaned on my shoulder.

"Most of the bills, I think," I mumbled while my mother clasped the gray tombstone. Jill wasn't working right now, but she told me she still had some money saved up before she took a maternity leave from her managerial position at the marketing firm.  "Jill said he's been trying to be more involved, even before the wedding."

"He's a big-shot executive, so, I don't see the issue there," Gaia muttered. "And when's it gonna be your turn to tie the knot?"

My best friend's question rang an alarm in my brain. I pulled a face at the imagery.

Marriage?

Still too far-fetched for my career-oriented viewpoint.  I'd rather stay single for another decade than commit myself entirely to one person for the rest of my life.  But if ever Miles gave me an option...

"How's it goin' with Mr. Rich Kid?"

I squinted after the question sank in. My best friend's tone sounded teasing as much as her question seemed borne from sheer curiosity.  "Miles is...still Miles."

"Of course." Gaia snickered and pouted her pale lips. "The utter vagueness of that is so you." Gaia pinched my cheek. "But we're talking this through 'cause we haven't hung out in ages."

"Well...life happened."

"Yep. So spill. Every single detail. I'll get you drunk if I have to."

◇

"What about his parents?"

I locked the car doors with one push of a button beside the driver's seat. Our conversation had turned from "longtime BFFs randomly chatting about guys" to "legal repercussions of having insider knowledge about a mafia family" in just five minutes.

It sounded better and safer to discuss my situation in private. So now we hid in Gaia's car.

"You said you've heard about them."  I cleared my throat and checked my phone. Still no texts or calls from Miles. Fine. He's busy.  "What else d'you find out?"

"I have, but it was just generic business articles and some suspicious comments I've read on websites promoting their hotel chain, Luxoria." Gaia squinted her  beautiful brown eyes at me now.  "I'm asking what you've found out."

"Um..." I scratched my forehead.

Okay. Now's the time. I had to make a decision. Conscience and honesty first?  But wouldn't Gaia feel obligated to contact the authorities after this? After hearing whatever information I would share about the Falcos?

"Not a lot, but, I got the gist."

"What gist?" Gaia rested her cute chin on her knuckle, then scoffed when I didn't say anything more. "Passing the bar doesn't mean I've gained psychic abilities, too, y'know."

"His cousin...from what I heard...tried dealing drugs with another mob group's suppliers." I looked away. There. I said it.

"I knew it," Gaia whispered with a smirk. "There was something fishy with their business connections. I just didn't have the facts yet.  And you have proof of this? Tangible, substantial proof?"

"Like a video? Or a recording?"

"Yes. Audio. Photos would be good, too."

"No." I tried to sound certain. Mr. Falco's warning to me back in their countryside estate just popped into mind. Should I do the right thing?

But, what was the right thing? Report the Falcos to the Italian police?  I was a foreigner, while the Falcos were already a clan of big-deal businessmen in Italy before I was even born.

Plus, the ambush incident happened months ago. Reporting it to the authorities now, and while I was outside of Italy, would only make them suspect I had ulterior motives. And I didn't want Miles to get in trouble with the police.

"I kind of...just want some legal advice."

"Why?" Gaia mumbled, staring into my eyes.  "Somethin' else I need to know?"  She sighed when I kept mum for a moment. "Mykaela! Talk."

"I'm asking 'cause...  Hey. Should I worry about Mom and Jill?"

"What? They're blackmailing you? Miles and his family?" Gaia pressed on, her dark brows furrowing above her widened eyes.  "Since when?"

"No. It's not like that."  Oh dear. Lies again. If the Italian police or Interpol would force me to testify against the Falcos or the Tomassinis, would I have it in me to commit perjury in court? Just to keep my entire family safe—I would. I probably would.

"Then why are you worrying?" Gaia crossed her slim arms. "Stop lying. I know your tells."

I sighed and looked ahead. My sister and mother still sat by my dad's grave, their shoulders  hunched, faces still pinkish from all the crying.  "Miles' parents took us to his cousin's estate to celebrate Miles' birthday. We were stuck there for two days."

"And? You found drugs in their ridiculously huge mansion?" Gaia lowered her voice. "Did you take photographic evidence?"

"No. I-It was an accident. I only saw some of it," I muttered.

"D'you ask Miles what it was? Or did you...have a talk? About his father's business associates?"

"No. I never asked him about their...connections." In fact, all I knew about the Falco family's alleged involvement with the mafia was that business deal gone wrong, which resulted in Cloe and Enzo getting fatally injured before they got to the Falco estate.

If the Russians were indeed the culprits, I had no clue if Ricchar and Miles had enough proof, or if the police were investigating the ambush. I couldn't find any reports of it online. I'd tried a couple times in the past months.

"But did he specifically share information about his family's mob connections? Like underground deals, contracts..."

"No," I replied to my utterly curious best friend. "Not really."

"Find out anything else?"

"There was this box of vases in the room I slept in. Broke a vase and found something." I hesitated briefly. "Never seen hard drugs before, but, it may've been cocaine. Or some opioids, crushed into powder form."

"But you didn't even take a single picture." Gaia's frown flattened her plump lips.

"I-I was confused, in shock."

"Whatever you say, Nielsen." She scoffed her disappointment. "What else? Miles didn't know about it until you saw it?"

"No. But that same day, his cousin's wife, Cloe, drove back to the estate, with one of the Tomassinis, real estate moguls. The family Miles' father wants to merge with."

"Then what? A deal happened? You witnessed it?"

"No. They got ambushed before they even reached the estate. Some armed and masked men in a truck and a Hummer, they said." I closed my eyes and tried to remember what else Enzo had told me about what happened during that ambush some months ago. "Only three survivors out of a dozen: Cloe Falco, Enzo Tomassini, and his bodyguard."

"Did they contact the police?"

"Miles said his cousin did. Or..." Probably not? I hadn't come across any reports from local police as of yet. Or maybe I just didn't look hard enough?

"What's your involvement?" Gaia leaned closer. "Did they tell you specifics? Aside from what the perps looked like?"

"No. Not that I remember. I just...I helped them."

"How?"

"I had to do something. They were severely injured, Cloe and Enzo. Just hurt and bleeding profusely."

"They forced you to help? Miles' parents?"

"No. They wouldn't take them to the hospital. So I stitched them up. Gave them meds. Made sure they didn't get major infections." I paused. I should stop herself from saying more. Mentioning the Tomassinis were probably a mafia family would just make me sound meddlesome and accusive, even to my open-minded lawyer best friend.

"That's...actually cool and heroic of you, but, if they made you do it and forced you to sign an NDA after..." Gaia tilted her small head. "That's not somethin' we should just keep under the rug forever."

"No. Nothing like that happened." I gripped the steering wheel and stared at the bluish dashboard lights.

"You sure? You didn't report it to the local cops before you flew back here?"

"No, and, Miles keeps telling me to...just forget about it and move on. Live normal."

"But you don't want to.  'Cause it means you'll have to stay away," Gaia supposed with a cheeky grin after I fell silent.  "And you don't want to."

"He showed up outside campus last week." I glanced around the cemetery.

Still no sign of Miles. We hadn't been texting each other or talked over the phone since he left for Italy again. Just precautions to lower risks, he said.  I had no choice in the matter, apparently.  It saddened me as much as the thought of not seeing my dad alive again.

"Can I keep contacting him? Or should I just...pretend he doesn't exist?"

"Can you?" Gaia arched her shapely brow. "The rest of your life? Forget about him, just like that?"

"I have to try. Right?" I covered my face. "I didn't even know he dated girls."  I glanced out the tinted window, ready to zone out again.  "Now I'm just this...jealous wreck."

"Shocker." Gaia scoffed.

"I can't even talk to him without sounding irrationally upset, or sarcastic."

With her phone in her hand, Gaia chuckled and casually scrolled through some photos on her phone. "You always fall for the bad boys;  it's funny."

"Really not that funny." I frowned. Why were my neck and armpits suddenly warm and sweaty? Geez.

A quiet, comfortable moment lingered in the car, with Gaia seeming relaxed in the passenger seat, passing the time with me and her cellphone.

I sat back. Guilt pricked my chest at the thought of having been keeping secrets from her, my best friend.  Gaia could keep a secret for life. Like that time we threw pebbles at a bully schoolmate's bedroom window for an entire week. Nobody ever found out it was us. The memory made me grin for a moment.

"Anythin' else I should know?" Gaia asked after a long silence.

"Just wanna move on. But I can't...just pretend I never met him, lived with him for almost a year."

Where on Earth was Miles now? In another business meeting? Making deals in behalf of his father?

Did he think staying away from me was the only thing that'd keep me and my family safe? Did he think of me at least once before he went to bed?

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