The Mafia Part II: April's Return

Chapter 2

The next morning started off as usual. April was once more plagued by her demons, but she really did have a hangover this time, so she found herself drifting in and out of sleep. A couple of times, it was calls from Raven that jolted her from her slumber. The second time it happened, she simply muted her phone. She knew she was in no mood to speak to her sister that day. Eventually noon hit and she dragged herself out of bed.

As promised, they had left once the yacht docked at the port sometime after eleven. Lance had glared at April accusingly as if it were her fault Zander was leaving early. He staunchly decided to remain with Betty at his side. April thought he got along much better with that entire group as a whole anyway. When the three of them returned, they had kept the party going, so to speak, as they kept drinking until April had to tap out and drag herself to bed, leaving them to do what they did best.

Although she had no plans for the day, she was certain Henry had stayed over and figured she would offer him better company than Zander. She stopped by the kitchen to pick something up to eat and found one of the maids and a chef that were sent by daily. They were whispering to one another and she figured it was gossip, but she had no interest in it considering the fact that she likely did not even know who they were talking about.

She made her way to the fridge and pulled out some cold cuts, sure neither of them even took any notice of her. When she shut the fridge door closed they each jumped in the air, startled. April looked at them in amusement as she made herself a quick sandwich.

“Don’t mind ne,” she said. “Just making something quick to eat.” She noticed them staring at her as if they had seen a ghost. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” the chef said as he cleared his throat nervously. “We just thought you would still be in questioning.”

A shiver went down her spine as she set down the table knife she was using to spread some mayonnaise on a piece of white bread.

“Questioning for what?” April asked.

“You haven’t heard?” the maid asked right back, clearly eager to share some news. “The yacht you went to last night... there was a murder.”

April’s appetite quickly disappeared. “What? When?”

“They discovered the body around 3 AM,” the chef said. “The police are keeping everyone who was present for questioning.”

“We had already left by then” April whispered woodenly even as her mind ran a mile a minute. “We got home before midnight.”

The two looked visibly relieved and she was certain they had somehow heard of Zander’s involvement in the mafia. She pushed away from the kitchen counter and headed for the door.

“Miss, your sandwich?” the maid piped up.

“I think I just lost my appetite,” she responded and set off to look for Zander.

She found both he and Henry poolside soaking up the sun. She sat next to Zander and greeted them both before she got right to it.

“Did you guys hear about the murder?” she asked abruptly and felt the mood switch.

“Yeah,” Henry said. “We heard this morning.”

“What was his name? Did either of you know him?” she asked insistently.

Henry shrugged. “Kind of. We saw him around. He was an American called Tommy Butcher.”

April’s eyes narrowed at the unconcerned way Zander was leaning back with his shades on and taking a sip from his glass. She realised that nothing, but the direct approach would work here. She reached for his shades and pulled them off, folding them closed and wrapping her hand around them. The act forced her companion’s hand to freeze halfway on its way to deposit more of his drink into his mouth. He slowly turned so they were looking directly at each other.

“What did you do?” she asked him outright.

He mulled over his answer before he spoke. “What had to be done.”

April threw the glasses onto a separate chair before getting up and pacing the poolside with her fingers clutching her hair anxiously.

“Where else have you done this?” she asked when she calmed down.

“April, I really don’t think –”

“Where. Else?” she demanded.

“Just Singapore, alright? I did it far enough from where we were staying for the news not to reach you, I suppose.” Zander admitted.

“Are you insane?” she asked in a frantic whisper. “Is that what this trip is about for you? Because I'm trying to get away from s**t like this.”

“This is the price I have to pay for us to be able to do this, April,” he said calmly. “If I refused, they would assume we’ve gone rogue just like your father did. And we know how that ended up.”

Henry’s eyes were bouncing between the two of them, taking in everything silently.

“So is that what determines where we go, then?” she asked “They need a guy offed in the Maldives and off we go flying?”

“Of course not. You picked Monaco and Spain, remember?” he asked. “Out of the eight months we've been home free, this has only happened twice. It’s a small price to pay, if you ask me, and it isn’t anything I haven’t done before. I know it makes you uncomfortable, but you weren’t supposed to find out.”

“I'm not an i***t, Zander,” April spat. “You leave a party before midnight and the next day a body at that party is discovered? It isn’t f*****g rocket science.. What if they find you out?”

“That's never going to happen,” he said confidently. “They’re all looking in the wrong direction for suspects. Even if they weren’t, we have enough contacts to protect us. This will blow over.”

“Did Henry know?” she asked as she looked back at her new friend, who only blinked owlishly back at her. “Did Lance? Was I the only one in the dark about this?”

“No,” Zander said reassuringly. “I didn't want to risk involving anyone else. I'm the only one who knew.”

“I can’t do this right now,” April mumbled as she turned tail right back inside the house. “I need a smoke.”

***

Five minutes later found her on the balcony, overlooking the gorgeous view as the herb coursed through her veins, calming her down steadily. She heard the door open and close as someone joined her. She had memorised Zander’s scent and immediately knew it was not him. Henry held his hand out silently and she slid the joint to him.

“The worst thing about this whole incident is how he involved us. We were unknowingly participants, but why?” April wondered out loud. “He could have done it alone.”

“Probably because he was thinking tactically,” Henry responded thoughtfully. At her glare he decided to explain himself. “He takes you almost everywhere, particularly to events that big. People already know who he is, so he would be a suspect if he went alone. Him leaving early could also be attributed to you since people know you don’t like to spend too much time at these things. It just made sense from a logical standpoint.”

“Oh, great now I know he purposely set out to use me,” April said dryly. “I feel much better.”

Henry only shrugged as they continued to exchange the blunt between them in silence.

“What’s your story, Henry?” April asked after a while. “Are you trying to run away from your family pressures like we are?”

“No, if anything it’s the opposite,” the blonde said thoughtfully. “I have eight older brothers. With them around, there really isn’t much to do that isn’t menial grunt work. My family babies me, so I take advantage of it. I’d rather that than have to fight over a piece of the pie that I’m not even sure I want.”

“How do you know Zander?” she asked curiously.

“We’re allies,” he said simply.

“American?” April guessed.

“Yeah, so I hope you don’t mind if I tag along.”

“Be my guest,” April said invitingly. “We’ll probably need you to help with the friction that’s sure to form between Zander and I. I don’t think he realises how upset I am with him.”

“Well, at least he tried to shield you from the truth,” said Henry, deciding to play devil’s advocate. “He did a piss poor job of it, but he tried. Surely that says something.”

April put her hand on his shoulder. “You should probably know that I’m not a very forgiving person. Hell, I haven’t even forgiven myself for some things in my past, so why would I do so for Zander of all people? He’s a dick.”

Henry laughed at that. “I believe you, but I also think you might need therapy.”

“Oh, trust me, I know,” she responded, but she was not laughing when she did.

***

As she had told Henry, April spent the rest of the day not talking to Zander. It was not a big loss, if she were being honest. It was rare for them to actually sit down and talk anyway. The only one really affected by it was Henry, who had to divide his attention between the both of them, but never at the same time. It may have been childish, but April could not deny the lick of satisfaction she felt every time Zander hit her with a look of exasperation when she would not respond to something he said.

They had dinner together that night, which was more for Henry’s benefit than anything. They usually ate at different times, so rarely together. Zander surprised them after finishing his meal by saying he was going to get ready. April and Henry gave each other looks of shock as he ran up the stairs to his room. He came down shortly after in a casual suit, showing off his chest.

“Where are you going?” Henry asked, vocalising exactly what was on April’s mind.

“Out,” he said curtly. “Lance hit me up. The police let him go, so we’re going to go check out a new club that just opened up.”

“Are you insane?” April spat, breaking her vow of silence towards him. “You just killed a man and now you’re going to show yourself in public? You do realise a lot of people already suspect you, right?”

Zander turned his cold eyes on her. “If we’re being technical about it, that’s exactly what I did last night. I poisoned Butcher and went right back to partying. What makes tonight so different?” He turned to Henry. “Are you coming along?”

“What? Of course not. I might not have been friends with the guy, but we ran in the same circles. This will be seen as disrespectful. Even people who don’t think you did it will raise their eyebrows at this.”

“Will they? Or will it just serve to make me look so unbothered because I'm certain of my innocence?”

“What it will do is serve to make you look like the jackass you really are,” April said scornfully.

“Well, it’s true isn’t it?” Zander asked mockingly. “You certainly seem to think so.

April stormed off while Henry tried to keep convincing his friend not to leave. While Zander thought she was throwing a hissy fit, what she was really doing was locking all the doors in the house and hiding the keys somewhere he would never think to look. She was glad he was too bug to squeeze through the windows. When she joined them once more, Henry was still trying to talk some sense into Zander, but by the stubborn look on his face, she could tell it was not working. His phone was on the table and it lit up as it began to vibrate.

“That’s Lance now,” he said as he patted all his pockets to make sure he had not forgotten anything. “I should get going.”

April reached for his phone and answered it before he could even bend down to pick it up.

“Dude, let’s go,” Lance said in greeting.

“You’re going to have to go alone, Lance. Or find someone else to go with you. Zander is staying indoors tonight,” she said resolutely.

“What? Let me talk to Zander,” he said, clearly not taking her seriously.

“He’s busy,” she said even as she looked at the man in question, who stared back at her with folded arms and an amused look on his face. “Now f**k off, Lance.”

She cut the phone, still looking at her companion. “You’re supposed to look after me, make sure I'm safe, but on the flip side of that coin, I'm supposed to stop you from the stupid decisions you make. Let’s face it, your judgement is skewed.”

“I don’t have time for this,” Zander said as he snatched back his phone from her and walked out of the small dining room. “I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

April and Henry went into the living room and sat down in silence. If he wondered why she looked so pleased with herself, he did not comment on it. Only moments later, they heard footsteps approaching them. Zander stood in the doorway, all his earlier amusement completely vanished.

“Where are the keys, April?” he asked dangerously.

She waved at the many empty seats in the room.

“Why don’t you make yourself comfortable, Zander?” she asked smugly. “You aren’t going anywhere tonight.”