Six
The invasion of the Carvelli estate began with the
arrival of Karl Garko and his men. They swarmed through the house and
over the grounds like human roaches. Bernard Carvelli leaned against a
wall in the den, too exhausted to climb the stairs and too fearful of
bloodying his feet on the soaked carpet to try. His heart palpitated.
Pain from his oxygen-starved heart had numbed an arm and sent his lower
jaw to aching fiercely.
Karl Garko ignored him during his initial inspection
of the den. He and an associate raised the nude corpse of the woman by
one arm and discompassionately discussed the tiny exit wound of the
rapier. “Pierced the liver for starters,” Garko’s friend muttered.
“Looks to me like we’ve got a holed artery. Has the coroner been called
in on this yet?”
“The police were called from elsewhere,” Garko said.
“The girl’s business manager, shall we say. They’re on their way, but we
had a witness and Dimitri went after her, so I think we’ll want to handle
this one on our own. Get your men down here. Dispose of the body. Do a
thorough job, but don’t put a sicko on it. The situation’s loathsome
enough as it is. Cut up the rug and take it with. Don’t leave stains
behind.”
The two men looked up at Carvelli. “Is he going to
be okay?” Garko’s associate said. “He doesn’t look good.”
“His personal physician is on his way,” Garko
muttered unhappily and rose to his feet. “Get a move on it.”
They worked around Bernard until his doctor arrived
and gave him an unceremonious injection in the buttock to ease the strain
on his heart. Within seconds, tension and pain drained away. Garko and
the doctor helped him up the stairs while Garko’s men put the girl’s body
in a plastic bag and then began to cut and carefully roll up the carpet.
The police were waiting upstairs. Garko abandoned
him to shake the hand of a police captain and murmur apologies. “Give us
a few more minutes.”
“You sure you’re not overstepping yourself?” the cop
grumbled in nervous displeasure.
“We’d like to handle this as an internal affair. If
it gets away from us, we’ll backtrack and give you anything you need to
cover yourself. You have our word.”
“Is Dimitri’s kid involved in this?”
“I’ll have a man on the way to deal with him by
morning. He’ll be gone before he’s a problem to anyone.”
The uniformed officer nodded his satisfaction and
looked embarrassed when he saw Bernard staring at him. “Evening,
Commissioner. Sorry this had to happen.”
The situation was out of Bernard’s control. Garko
had taken over completely. Garko had a way with people. He was a
troubleshooter, a jack-of-all-trades for an underworld government of
evil. Bernard had lived with their kind his entire life. When he thought
of Garko and his friends and the Nazis of his youth, he thought of lamprey
eels sucking on the underbelly of humanity. Only on rare occasions could
they be deemed symbiotic rather than wholly parasitic. Now was such an
occasion. An incident that would have otherwise destroyed his career was
being glossed over before his eyes.
When the crowds left the house, Garko stayed behind
and poured him a small bourbon. Garko was a small, gaunt man, but he had
the narrow eyes of a predator.
“This incident will not sit well with my employers,”
Garko said. “Or yours.”
Bernard took a seat with his drink. “I know what has
to be done.”
“You will resent Dimitri’s death.”
Bernard shook his head frantically. “I won’t. I
won’t have my life ruined because of this terrible incident. I’ve warned
my son time and time again that this would happen.”
“He’s a bad seed, Bernard.”
Bernard stared into shadows and collapsed inwardly
upon himself. “I know what has to be done.”
“There will be only one way you can demonstrate to us
your full understanding and cooperation. The finger that pulls the
trigger will have to be yours.”
Bernard clutched the arms of the chair, feeling his
heart begin to pound and the pain spread despite the sedative his doctor
had administered. He could see the young doctor pacing nervously in the
hall. His shadow flowed across wall as he paced.
Bernard gave Garko a firm nod. “I understand what
you are saying, Mr. Garko,” he said, eager to settle the issue and bring
the doctor to his side for more medication. Left unchecked, the horror of
what Garko was suggesting would stop his weakened heart and kill him, and
he feared death above all.
“You needn’t look him in the eye when you do it,”
Garko said. “He will not have to know that you are present. But his
blood must be upon your hands and not ours. We will come for you when we
are ready.”
Garko walked away. He paused halfway across the
living room and turned. “Was he drunk?”
“Not so drunk that he did not know what he had done,”
Bernard said. “Not so drunk that he couldn’t chase after that unfortunate
child.”
“I’m having trouble understanding what has happened
here tonight, Bernard. The wound inflicted upon the girl was a clean and
deliberate thrust. I suppose it could have been an accident. It doesn’t
seem likely. Why would Dimitri need to murder the girl? He enjoyed inflicting pain.
Dead women don't feel pain.”
Bernard turned his head aside in shame. God had
punished him for his weakness by allowing the evil of the men he
associated with to infect even his seed. He had given birth to a monster.
His own soul would be as damned as Dimitri’s the day he put a gun to
Dimitri’s head and pulled the trigger. And still he lacked the courage to
stand up for himself. He did not even know what it was he wanted from
life. He had never known for certain.
“Why one of Francis’ Peugeot’s girls?” Garko said.
“Francis would never have done willing business with Dimitri. Her
standards are a bit higher than that. Do you have any answers for me,
Bernard?”
Bernard shook his head hard enough to send his jowls
flapping against his neck. “I know nothing of such carnal sins.”
“Bernard, we don’t want unexpected developments
rearing their ugly little heads at a later date. The death of the woman
in your house this evening remains a mystery to me. As long as the
mystery exists, there exists the potential for unexpected problems.”
“I know nothing more,” Bernard said, his eyes on the
doctor standing in the doorway with his little black bag of magic. “I
know nothing except that Dimitri will die for what he has done. Isn’t
that enough?”
Garko brushed past the doctor on the way out.
“Isn’t that enough?” Bernard called out after him.
