Entangled with the Mafia Don

FIVE

CHAPTER FIVE.

The man snored.

Melissa stared down at the figure in front of her. Under the heavy layer of clothing wrapped around him, his chest barely moved, his existence being proven by his loud snort-filled snore. If this was a sign that God was giving her, she was going to embrace it. Because how else would she have found an easy target for her petty theft on the night where she was about to reach out to the La'capan club?

Melissa looked around the street, now noticing that she was a few blocks away from her flat. The barber's shop opposite the alley was still open, customers trooping in not only for a hair cut but to listen to Madina's late night stories, which gathered a crowd every night. The woman was as old as Methuselah and had a life's worth of memories and stories to entertain everyone.

She quickly rushed to the alley, canting her head to see if anyone noticed her weird and erratic movement. She knelt on the floor beside him, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear as her index finger came forward, placing itself underneath his nose. She felt it then, the little flicker of his breath on her skin and she frowned. He was definitely out cold and from his breath, she knew that he had overindulged in the cups this night. But she was also very sure that he was drugged. Or he was a lightweight.

It didn't take long for her to drag the heavyset man farther into the alley. He was too weighty for her slight form and it took the little strength she had to pull him along the gravel path. She wheezed as she hefted him a bit and propped him on the wall, surprised that their movements hadn't jostled him awake yet. The only sign to sure that he had been moved was his now muddy clothes and his briefcase that still lay at the mouth of the alley.

Melissa rushed back to it, swinging it up into her arms, surprised at its weight. She hurried back to the comatose man and squatted, her hands immediately going for his clothes and riffling through his pockets. When she came up empty, she drew apart his suit jacket and searched for any inner pockets. She smiled when her hands closed around a velvet pouch filled with tiny stones.

She could immediately tell what it was and she carefully drew it out of his pockets, glad that her plan to visit La'capan would be cancelled as she just struck gold. She stood then and turned to leave just as a shrill sound came from him.

Startled, she jumped and her fingers lost their grip on the velvet pouch and the briefcase. Both items dropped to the floor with a 'splat' and Melissa watched as the diamonds scattered, ping-ponging further down the alley. The briefcase rattled and she was sure that she heard metal strike metal. She really hoped that a gun wasn't inside and after worrying for a while, she left the briefcase where it was on the floor and went for the man's clothes, determined to turn off his phone.

"Capo?" Melissa stared hard at the name, wondering where she had seen that name before. Her Italian was s**t but that word felt so familiar to her. It took her a few tries and she remembered that it meant boss. Not wanting to think too much about it's relation with the books she read, she smacked the phone on the floor hard, till the screen cracked and stood.

The diamonds were scattered all around and even after carefully searching and picking them all, Melissa still felt like she might have left one behind. She put the gems in her pocket and giving the out-cold man a last glance, she walked out of the alley.

The walk back to her flat was filled with suspicious looks. She felt like everyone knew the terrible act she had just wrought and was overly hyper of her surroundings. Yes, taking the diamonds was a stupid thought on her part but she needed it more than the man did, at least, his clothes spoke of wealth and he could easily give some away. Hopefully.

She felt like her door lock took extra long to click and she glanced over her shoulder so many times, she was sure she'd develop a crick. The lock finally clicked and she rushed inside, slamming the door shut. She released a breath and ran her fingers through her hair, feeling the anxiety she had felt wash away. She searched through her bag and counted the diamonds out.

Melissa knew that she had to pawn the diamonds out quickly before it can be traced to her. Thankfully, their street didn't have any working surveillance camera and that was going to buy her sometime. She just needed to get the money to Marcus and make herself scarce for a while.

She ran to her kitchen, rifling through cupboards and cabinets till she came up with a tin of crushed coffee beans. She suddenly remembered that she left the torn pouch in the alley with the man and another bout of worry assuaged her. She thought of how she'd be found out and arrested. Or worse, done away with. Because why else would a drunk man be carrying diamonds in his pockets and then get a call from someone named Capo.

Melissa forced herself to calm down. She was going to change the diamonds for money and give some to Marcus and then make the two of them scarce. She would do anything for Marcus. Anything.

With her mind made up, she wrapped the diamonds in her handkerchief and put it into the empty tin, pouring the coffee grains over the white linen. She had just put the tin back into the cabinet and was about to call Steve who worked in the Pawn shop two streets after hers, when her phone rang.

Her heart skipped and she had to calm her nerves before she took her phone out of her pocket. She sighed when she saw that it was a call from Laura and she immediately answered.

"Did you go there? Or call them? I sent their number to you, right?" Laura got into the questions immediately, foregoing a greeting or pleasantries. Classic Laura.

"No. No. Yes." Melissa answered the questions Laura asked respectively and was surprised to hear the sigh that Laura let out. "What is it?"

"Nothing much. I just knew that you wouldn't reach out to them." Melissa got irritated immediately and wondered if it would be too rude to cut out from the call.

"Look, Laura. I'm so tired and today was pretty much cruel. So I'd give you a call the first thing tomorrow."

"You're not going to reach out to them are you?"

Melissa rubbed her temple, her head felt extremely sore and she just wanted to get some rest and put the whole fail that today was, behind her. "No, I'm not."

There was silence and Melissa thought that Laura had hung up, pulling her phone away from her ear to see that Laura was still on the line. She was about to call her name when Laura spoke up. "So you're not doing anything about Marcus and his condition?"

Melissa knew that Laura wasn't really worried but had been looking for a way to make her excitement. Truthfully speaking, Melissa was curious about what had gone wrong in Laura and Marcus's friendship and she decided that after all these was over, she was going to find out and see about bringing the gang back together.

"I actually got something else going. Don't ask, Laura." She quickly added because she knew that Laura would say something. "I'd tell you about it tomorrow, but I just need to rest. Really."

She wasn't going to tell Laura about the diamonds, she just needed Laura to let her be for a while. "Goodnight."

She didn't wait to hear from Laura again, she ended the call and was about to turn off her phone when she remembered that she hadn't checked up on Marcus today. She quickly dialled his number and when he didn't pick after three tries, she messaged Doctor Paul, trying to sound positive in her message and not like a worried freak.

Doctor Paul assured her that Marcus is okay and that he just went to bed. Melissa turned off her phone and quickly went through her nightly routine. She changed into a nightie and went to sleep immediately. Even while asleep, her thoughts were filled with Marcus leaving her just as her parents had and then it morphed into the drunk man finding her with his 'Capo' and shooting her in the face.

Melissa woke up with a scream, tears streaming down her face and her nightie soaked with sweat. Her hair was plastered to her skin and her breath came in short puffs, like she had just ran a marathon.

"God." She ran her hand down her face and massaged her neck, just looking into the darkness of her room. She checked her alarm after a while and saw that it was four AM. She stood up and was heading to her wardrobe to pull out her clothes and uniform when the previous day flooded her mind and she remembered that she had been suspended.

That didn't deter her though, she had this burning urge to get to Marcus. She had just pulled her hair into a bun and was about to brush her teeth when a loud bang came from her front door. She froze, her eyes staring into the tiled wall of her bathroom.

She heard the same sound and suddenly, loud knocks filled her tiny apartment. Melissa was sure they would soon break down her door and she immediately regretted not taking the drunk man's suitcase with her, she was sure a gun was in there.

She ran for the kitchen, flinging open the cupboard and pulling the tin out. She had just tucked the tin under her arm when her door flew open and two brute men walked in. More like barged in.

Melissa stifled a whimper and begged herself to stay awake. To not succumb to the fainting spell that wanted to pull her under. Their eyes zeroed in on her and her legs turned to jelly. She was so f****d!.