Maltese Steel

Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

Forest travelled south-east on the long and winding road from the San Lawrenz, stopping in Victoria’s city at the heart of Gozo. As he drank deeply from a newly purchased bottle of water, he looked around the town. Time could have stopped here in the 1930s. If only time could have stopped before Lucy died. The air thick and humid. Foster was reminded of bringing his daughters here when they were little girls and felt the loss deeply.

Foster remembered the day trips they used to take to Gozo when they first came here. He smiled, clinging to the memory. The horn of a car pulled him back, and the smile faded.

With another bottle of water in hand, he returned to his car, headed to the quaint coastal village of Mgarr and the only route to Malta. As he drove onto the ferry, he could feel the temperature change. The coolness of the interior was a blessing; Gozo had been hot.

The ferry took around twenty-five minutes to reach Cirkewwa on Malta itself. Just enough time to grab a coffee from one of the onboard kiosks.

The sun was unforgiving, and the lack of a cold breeze made it worse. Foster used to laugh how the guy he replaced would complain about the heat. Foster knew what twenty-five degrees felt like in New York. It was nothing. But on Malt, even the heat was different. Twenty-five in Malta could feel like fifty.

Foster opened his car door and left it open for a moment, allowing some of the dry heat to escape from the vehicle before he got into it. He wasn’t in a rush; his boss had given him time off, given the circumstance. He leaned against his car and took a draw from a cigarette, anything to calm him for the drive home. It was that or drink. Smoking seemed the safer option.

He stuck the cigarette in his mouth, climbed into the driver’s seat, and started it. Foster waited before moving off, allowing the sweet, cooled air to circulate from the car's air-conditioner. The drive back home would take a few hours over the harsh but beautiful countryside due to some narrow roads and bad drivers. Foster put the car into drive and headed off. He had no idea how he was going to break the news to his wife. Lucy was the eldest of his two daughters by ten years, but the two girls had always been close. He feared this news would crush Abby.

His mood made the journey back home seem longer. How could Foster tell his family what had happened when he didn’t even know? He checked his watch. It was early afternoon, and the sun was high in the cloudless sky. He had stopped several times to gather his thoughts and to delay the inevitable.

Foster felt a sort of relief. Steel was on the way, and he would do what he could not. Foster would ask Steel to investigate what had happened to Lucy. This would be off the books, so he could not risk the Bureau finding out.

This was a difficult time, and he needed Steel here, someone he could trust. The two men had been in the same unit. They had been through hell and back. Steel had said he would catch the next available flight, but that could be anytime. Foster figured Steel would transfer in London and hoped for a quick turnaround, though flights did not always work out that way. He knew Steel would be here as soon as he could.

Foster knew Steel better than most. He could be a cold bastard. That’s what made him good at what he did. Cold and calculated, but also as loyal and protective about his family.

Steel had saved Foster’s life more times than he’d care to remember.

Which made Steel perfect as Lucy’s godfather and Foster thought it only fitting. He knows what had happened.

Foster felt better when Steel had said he was coming over. Steel was always big on taking care of people who meant a lot to him. Since the tragedy of losing his own family in a brutal murder, Steel had come to think of the Foster’s as family. As for the men who had killed his family, those Steel had found, Foster had imagined, went screaming.

Foster finally pulled into his driveway and parked. He turned the engine off and just sat. His gaze fixed on the large house. His large hands gripped the steering wheel, causing the covering to creak under pressure. He sucked in a large gulp of air and got out of the car.

It was time.