The convoy was seven SUVs deep as they struck out on the Via Cassia to travel fifty miles north of Rome, to the medieval village of Bianco. Sal and Gemma, along with Tommy and Grace, were in the fourth car of the convoy. Although Sal had on jeans and a bomber jacket, Tommy had on another one of his uncle’s long, white coats, with a black suit underneath. He was ready for action. Cassius, on the front passenger seat beside the driver, was with them. He was ready for a reunion.
But as they rode hard, through narrow streets of cobblestones, and where the cement buildings were so old that some dated back as far as the twelfth century. But for Sal it all seemed surreal, as if those very buildings were so close to the road they traveled that it felt as if they wanted to swallow him up. It was a heady ride.
But it became a harrowing one as soon as they entered Bianco, and then headed for the outskirts where Neeco lived.
“We’re being followed,” said Tommy, who was monitoring the screen on the back of the SUV seats. It was a live-view video screen depicting all activity beyond the last car in their convoy.
“How many?” Sal asked, pulling out his walkie talkie.
“Three,” said Tommy.
“Close behind?”
“Close enough.”
Sal got on the walkie talkie, and spoke to all seven cars in the convoy. “There’s a possibility we’re being followed,” he said. “I repeat: there’s a chance we’re being followed. Employ option one on my signal.”
“Signal now,” Tommy ordered.
But Sal found that strange. “You don’t think we need to make sure first?” he asked.
“Grace and Gemma are with us. No,” said Tommy.
And Sal acted without hesitation. He got back on his walkie talkie. “Initiate Option One now!” he ordered. “All cars: Initiate Option One Now!”
And with that said, all seven cars changed their trajectory. Cars one and two suddenly swerved around to where they were facing in the opposite direction of the convoy, and began driving toward the cars that were further back, following them.
Cars three, the fourth car carrying the Gabrinis, as well as cars five and six, sped ahead of the convoy. That was by design, too. Given the cargo onboard (Grace and Gemma), Tommy had plotted it that way. He wasn’t taking any chances. Car seven remained in place, with no changes, as backup to cars one and two.
It was an elaborate security scheme, created by security expert Tommy, and it worked like a charm. Tommy quickly pressed several buttons to change the point of view to the cameras on the front of cars one and two, rather than behind car seven.
And with he and Grace looking at the car screen in front of them, and Sal and Gemma looking at the car screen in front of them, they caught the action. They saw the cars that were following them slam on brakes, and attempt to make a U-turn away from the convoy. But cars one and two were upon them before they stood a chance.
“They got’em!” Gemma proclaimed happily.
“Not so fast,” said Sal, who knew it wasn’t over yet. He was staring unblinkingly at the screen. He knew those cars still had options, to get themselves out of that situation.
And the men in the two cars that were following the convoy did just that: they slammed their cars in reverse, and began speeding backwards away from cars one and two. Cars one and two, however, kept up the pressure by flooring it and making chase, too.
But this was no isolated road. The cars that had slammed in reverse were now barely avoiding crash after crash. They were swerving and running into grassy plains. They nearly, twice, lost control. Until they found themselves coming into a curve in the road, a steep curve, just as a transfer truck was coming around that same curve, on the same side of the road they were speeding backwards on.
Tommy immediately grabbed Grace’s face, and turned it into his chest just as the transfer truck crashed into the back of the first car, causing it to go airborne. The trucker tried to slam on brakes after the impact with the first car, but the second car was traveling in reverse much too fast, the truck was too big and bulky to stop on a dime, and that impact was just as deadly. While the first car crashed into the side of a guardrail and burst into flames, the second reversing car burst into flames on impact with the truck. The truck jackknifed with the second impact, lost control, and ended up sliding right side down across the road.
Cars one and two had already stopped in their tracks and moved over to the side of the road, out of the way. As soon as it was over, they immediately turned around, and, along with car seven, headed back toward the speeding convoy.
It was a violent scene, but Sal and Tommy nodded their heads in approval. “Good plan, Tommy,” Sal said.
“Good execution by your men,” said Tommy.
Cassius looked back at them. “Venetti’s men?” he asked.
“Who else?” asked Sal. “Unless they’re your men. Unless you aren’t telling us everything you know.”
“I have no men,” Cassius said. “I told you everything I know.”
“Then it fucking has to be Venetti,” Sal said, and looked at Tommy with that get a load of this guy look.
But it was only then did Sal realize that Tommy had shielded Grace from seeing those horrific crashes, but Sal had failed to shield Gemma. He was so intensely watching the episode unfold, that he had failed her once again! And he felt awful.
He looked at his wife. He could see the terror in her eyes. “You okay, babe?” he asked her.
Gemma wasn’t okay. It had been too horrific. But she knew how Sal would beat himself up if she said otherwise. She smiled, and leaned against him. “I’m okay,” she said.
Sal smiled too, and put his arm around her, but he knew nothing could be further from the truth.
He looked at Tommy and Grace. Tommy still held Grace’s face against his chest, and was holding her tightly, the way a man cherishing his woman should behave.