FUGITIVE

CHAPTER 2

We stop at a rundown barn, which looks like it hasn't been used for ages. I get out of the vehicle slowly wincing at the pain. He comes to my side to help me stand but I recoil at his touch. He looks at me with hardened eyes and slowly loses his grip on my arm. He walks to the door of the barn and opens it with a key which was stowed away in a plant. As we enter the barn, I let out a soft gasp. The inside looks spotless clean, like our visit was already expected. I look at him with questioning eyes and he realizes that the time has come for him to answer my numerous questions.

He drags two chairs to the middle of the room and gestures me to sit down. I pull the chair away from him and sit still, a guarded stance, ready to run. I know he is my best chance, but at this point I'm not sure I trust him.

I run my eyes over his face, but I don't see any resemblance of the man I used to know. I doubt he even remembers me, but maybe it's best that way.

My voice is still hoarse from not speaking for the past couple of days since I woke up, but I try to form words and force them out of my mouth.

"Where are we?", I croak, painfully. He winces at the sound of my voice. "We're in a small village in Spain. It's not populated much and the only place for miles is a small farm, whose owner died a couple of years ago. So we're kind of the only people here," he says, with a small shrug. I feel anger radiating off of me at his nonchalance.

"The last I remember I was at home in Germany, making Sauerbraten, for god's sake! How the hell did I end up here?", I yell angrily. "I'm broken, bruised, and in pain all over. I have scars all over my arms that I can't explain or even remember getting in the first place. I'm thousands of miles away from my husband and for all I know he's dead!"

I take a few deep breaths as I feel the sharp pain in my stomach return.

He looks at me with a straight face, no sign of emotion in the least. He gets up and walks over to a table in the corner of the room. He picks up a folder, walks over to me and places it on my lap. I open it to find pictures of my husband and my brother-in-law, shaking hands with what looks like a Hispanic dealer, in character with gold chains around his neck and a cigar between his teeth.

I point to the pictures and look at him angrily. "I don't even know what this means. Why do you have pictures of my husband?"

He points to the foreign man, "That's Javier Sánchez. He's a businessman in Germany, but he runs the drug business for a Turkish mafia in España (Spain). We don't have any mafias of our own here. The entirety of the underworld is ruled by mafias from Russia, Turkey and Middle East countries. Javier was working for the Turks. Your husband was one of his dealers in Germany."

i open my eyes wide in horror and disbelief. "That's not possible. My husband works in a brewery. I've been there. He's Head of Supply and Distribution there. I know his boss. My brother-in-law works with him!"

"The brewery was a cover, Talia. Everyone was dealing and they started a brewery to maintain an alibi during their drug busts. For a long time, the cops could not figure out their supply and transport but then, they figured out it came hidden in their beer crates, between the plies of wood."

I inhale a sharp breath. "What does my husband have to do with this?"

"According to Javier, their cover was fool-proof and there was no way the cops could have figured it out unless someone ratted them out. He accused your husband and your brother-in-law, because they were the only ones who were not in the brewery when the cops raided them and took everyone into custody. One of Javier's men escaped and came to your house with backup to kill your husband and your brother-in-law. That is when they must have injured you. When I found you in the closet, you were bleeding from multiple places."

He pauses to take a sip of water. "I wanted to take you to the hospital right away but Javier's men came back to your house. I pretended I was one of the men who came from Spain and rode back with them here, with you in their custody. I knew the only way you would be safe, was with me."

I rub my hands over my eyes. This was too much for me to process. I was beyond shocked. The fact that my Luca was part of a drug dealing business was insane. Luca was the kind of guy who couldn't even hurt a fly. He was the best husband anyone could hope for, and the day those men came to our house, I was going to tell him something so important, it would've changed our lives forever.

I look at Lorenzo. "How did you even know where to find me?"

He gives me a hard stare, "I've been following this case since I knew you were Luca's wife, Talia. And besides, nobody forgets their first love."

I stare at his retreating figure as I settle down in the makeshift bed he made for me. The past 48 hours have been gruelling and surreal. Not only do I find out that my husband worked for a mafia gang, but I get stuck with the one person I wished I never would see again.