Chapter 3 Who the hell is Carlo Martino?

We several times tried calling Kevin, to make sure is he actually kidnapped, or it is just a bait to get to us.

We tried to track his mobile phone, but we were not able to, because it was switched off.

Helena is at home with my mom. She herself is a good attacker and defender, as my mom. But Charles preferred them being at home.

So, here we are, at the entrance of 64D, hiding behind a wall. I am standing behind Charles, with my knees slightly ducked, gun pressed against my outer right thigh, as we slowly moved towards our left.

Two bouncers were standing at the gate, with rifles in their hands. They were facing their back towards us.

We know what to do.

We walked towards them slowly, tip-toed, to make sure we don't make any sound. As soon as we reached, we took each bouncer in control and chopped on their neck with the side of our palms.

This would cause damage to their spinal cord and would cut off the blood supply to the brain. They almost instantly dropped their rifles and fell on the floor with a thump.

Charles pushed open the door, and I was praying to god. God please dont make the door crack. And it didn't. As he opened the door, we instantly directed our guns at the front. But there was nothing, except a dark hallway.

Since our mobiles were switched off, so that it doesn't emit any radiation or stimulation which would give our location, we can't switch on our mobile torch lights. So, I pulled out a small light emitting device from my back pocket.

A door could be seen, around five feet away from where we are standing now. Not finding any other escape, we made our way to that door. For safety reasons, Charles puts his hand kerchief on the door knob first, then turns it.

Slowly opening the door, we could see group of man gathered. They are far enough and arent able to see us. My eyes scanned the room. But no sign of Kevin.

We didnt take the risk, and closed the door. What now?

As we stood there in the dark hallway, a siren rung. Color ran off our faces. Sound of muffled footsteps and voices were heard. We pressed our ears at the doors. About two mins later, all the sounds which filled the room, were silent.

We tried opening the door again. The room was empty. Where did they all go?

We cautiously stepped inside the room. It was filled with cartons, boxes, ropes, tyres and a few chairs. Suddenly Charles hands extended and stopped me in my tracks.

"What?" I whispered.

He pointed towards something on the ceiling. CCTV camera.

Good thing, our faces were mostly covered in black hoodies. Charles further covered his face, and pulled out his switchblade from his pocket. And stabbed the camera.

Oooh, I didnt know, switchblades were able to stab cameras. Switchblade these days, or camera these days.

As we strolled inside, a sound of something shuffling was heard. I whipped my head toward that direction, but nothing was there. But I kept my gun ready. I'm not getting good vibes in here. Obviously.

A gunshot broke my thoughts. It seems like it was targeted towards us. But Charles pulled me to duck in time. I looked around myself. We both are alive, and unharmed.

"Carlo Martino?" I heard my uncle whisper under his breath.

"And who is he now?" I asked him, wondering about how many more jerks are there in this fascinating world of Mafia, whom I don't know.

I waited for my uncle to enlighten me about this person, but there was no response. So, I turned towards him and found him looking shocked and muttering something under his breath. Seeing him like this worried me so I asked him again, "Who I this, Carlo Mi... Ma..., whatever his name is?" curiousness dripping from my voice.

Before he could answer, someone snatched our guns from our grips. And standing there was a man of my uncles age. His 6ft structure, tanned skin, cruel gray eyes, light brown hair, and a smirk plastered on his skinny face, made him appear full of spitefulness.

This anonymous person, did the honor of answering my long-ago asked questions.

"I am that one and only Carlo Martino, you were asking about, Rose. And hello there Charles, its been long since we met isn't it? I hope I could say it's good to see you but alas I can't."

"Feelings are mutual Martino." My uncle backfired, after three literal minutes.

"So, how's life been these two years? How are you? Oh, forgive me, how stupid of me to ask. How can someone be, when their dear son is kidnapped?" He ended with a wicked laugh, which reminded me of Maleficent.

"CUT THE CRAP MARTINO, I KNOW YOU ARENT HERE TO TALK ABOUT WEATHER AND LIFE, AND TELL ME WHERE THE HELL IS MY BROTHER?" I yelled on top of my lungs.

"Easy there, young lady. This isnt the way you talk to someone who has guns aimed right on top of your head to shoot your brains out. Which reminds me you have nothing to protect yourself with." He retorted.

With this he marched out of the room. But before we could process the situation were put in we heard a clicking sound on the door.

Great, now were locked inside a shady room. Not to mention, which belongs to none other than Martinos.

Clearly, he doesnt have good intentions. We tried kicking the door but nothing happened. The room doesnt even have windows. Shit, what if we die, due to lack of oxygen. My train of thoughts came to a halt when my uncle chose to speak.

"Rose are you alright?" He asked. Really?

I smiled gleamingly, my happiest smile ever, and looked into his brown eyes. "Yeah, sure."

He sighed and gave me a dont-be-sarcastic look. We both sat on the ground and leaned our backs on the adjacent wall.

"Uncle who was he?" I asked, no longer letting curiosity kill me.

"The Martinos are the right hand of Verinos. Martinos and Crimsons were never on good terms. But what shocked me the most was, Carlo Martino is still alive." He answered.

"Why did you doubt his existence?" I asked.

"Two years back, he was there in the encounter. At the end when their den blasted, only Nicole, Ivan Verino, and Carlo were inside. We thought he died too, with them. However, they didnt get his body though." After a pause he again started. "Apparently, Carlo tricked and brought Nicole that day there. All these years he did a good job of hiding." His sad, thinking eyes flickered towards me.

I was going to answer but a loud thud cut me off.