He walked for hours, staying under street lamps as often as he could. The accident happened just before the exit for Keele Street, which he walked up and then went north on Keele until around five in the morning. He fell asleep for two hours behind a building on Ashwarren Road.
Once up, he continued along Keele until he saw a drive-thru Tim Horton’s.
The line inside was short, but the place was hopping as cars lined up over twenty deep at this early hour.
He got his large double-double and went looking for a pay phone. He found one, pulled out his wallet and used his Visa for the charges.
Sure, they can check my records to see where I am, but I’m pretty sure it’s not instant and by the time they figure out what pay phone and race over here, I’ll be long gone.
He sipped his coffee while he dialed his father’s home phone number. After three rings, he was about to hang up, when someone answered.
“Hello?”
FBI.
“Hello?” the man said again. “Can I help you?”
Darwin hung up. They were probably tapping the line, waiting to see if there was a list of demands.
Oh, Dad. I’m sorry you got mixed up in this. I’m so sorry.
He leaned against the pay phone’s Plexiglass shelter and wondered who he could call for help. His friend Bill would already be gone to work, and he couldn’t remember that number by heart. He knew Bill would extend a hand, but did he really want to involve someone else he cared about?
Finally, he decided to call Rosina’s parents’ number to see if the FBI would answer that one too.
He dialed and drank more coffee while he waited.
The phone was answered after three rings.
“Hello?”
Rosina’s mother? No fucking way. Impossible.
“Isabella?”
“Yes, who is this?”
“Isabella Capote? Is that you?”
“Who’s calling please?”
“Darwin.”
“You. What have you got my daughter mixed up in? FBI agents came by. They wanted to set up stuff in my house. I told them to get out. This was between you and someone else. Ohhh, Darwin, I’m so frustrated right now. Where is Rosina?”
It was so good to hear her voice, such a relief, that he wasn’t formulating a proper response.
The FBI said they had kidnapped you. What the fuck?
“It’s so good to hear your voice.”
“What? Darwin, are you on drugs?”
“I was told you were kidnapped-”
“Kidnapped? How absurd.”
“Tell me about it.”
His thoughts were coming together. They were lying to him. Everyone was lying to him. The FBI had set him up, and Greg was involved at some level. Greg had called the hotel room and told him that Rosina’s parents had been taken. The men in the car at the Park ’N Fly had told him that four agents were dead and two were missing and that they needed his help to bring Greg down, yet it was Greg who called him in the hotel. No one told Rosina that her parents were kidnap victims except Darwin. In that moment, he realized he was their fall guy.
“Darwin, are you still there?”
“Yeah, sorry. I need your help.”
“My help?”
“Something big is happening and you’re the only one I can turn to. I need to see you. Can we meet?”
“What’s this all about? Is it Rosina?”
“I will tell you everything. But you can’t say anything to anyone about where you’re going. Come alone and I will explain it all.”
“Um, okay. Where do you want to meet?”
“How about the food court at Square One Shopping Center? I’ll be sitting in front of the Tim Horton’s.”
“Oh, Darwin. I hate Tim Horton’s.”
“Well, you don’t have to order anything,” he said, completely offended.
“Meet me at the Starbucks in Chapters across the street from the Square One. Do you know where that is?”
“Yes,” Darwin said. “When?”
“In an hour?”
“Good. But come alone. I need to talk to you and only you. Isabella, I’m sorry, but if I see FBI or any of your friends, I’ll have to leave because what I need to tell you is secret, okay?”
“My husband is out at the shop and I’m alone at the house. Why would I bring anyone? I’ll just see you there in an hour.”
“Bye,” Darwin said and hung up.
He walked away from the pay phone and looked for a cab.
Why would they lie to him? What were they up to? Was Greg on their side or working for Fuccini?
Rosina would be so glad to find out her parents were alive.
Was that some sort of plan? Why did they have Darwin tell her about her parents?
He swung back to the pay phone. After inserting his card, he dialed information.
“Quality Suites Airport, please.”
When the front desk answered, Darwin asked to speak to Rosina Kostas and told the desk clerk their room number on the fifth floor. After three rings, it was picked up.
At first he heard nothing.
“Hello?” Darwin said.
“Darwin?”
“Yeah, who’s this? Put Rosina on.”
“Where are you?”
“Fuck you. Put Rosina on.”
“Not until you come in.”
“What’s your name? Who are you?”
“Not important. Where are you?”
“Not important, eh? How can I trust you? After what happened on the highway, eh? How can I trust you? Now, put my fucking wife on the phone.”
There was a moment of silence. Darwin figured the guy was thinking about it.
“Rosina’s not here.”
“Yeah, right. Stop fucking around and put her on, or I’m hanging up.”
“I’m serious. She’s not here. She was moved to a safe house.”
“A safe house? Where?”
“You know I can’t tell you that or it wouldn’t be safe now, would it?”
“I’m her husband, asshole. You can tell me where she is. In fact, you can tell me where she is right the fuck now, or I will assume you dickheads are the enemy because taking a woman away from her husband and not telling the husband where she is really is kidnapping now, isn’t it?”
“Darwin, tell us about your connection to the Gambino family. Tell us everything and we’ll put you both in the program somewhere in the states. Help us out here and we can help you.”
“The program? Gambino family? What the fuck are you talking about?”
“The witness protection program. We can keep you safe. Protect you and your wife. You can live a long life together. Safe. What do you say? Come on in.”
“Are you mad? Have all of you gone mad? I don’t even know the name Gambino? And talking about safety, I sure was safe last night in a car with a Federal Bureau man. Sure, I was real safe. You guys have a knack with keeping folks safe.”
“That was an accident. We can fix this. Just tell us about your connection-”
“Fuck you!” Darwin screamed into the phone and slammed it down.
He hustled away from the pay phone before he tried to tear it off its mount. He had to get to the Chapters in Mississauga.
“Fucking credit card.”
He’d left it in the phone slot. He ran back, grabbed it and then used the phone to call a cab.
Ten minutes later he was in the backseat of a cab, heading to Mississauga to meet with Rosina’s mother.
On the way there, he had the driver stop and wait at an Army surplus store. He needed a weapon. One that wasn’t sharp or had pointy edges. One that wouldn’t be lethal, but one that would still be effective enough to repel attackers.
He found exactly what he needed and ran back to the waiting cab.