We’ll have to have a serious talk about the ranch too. If this book deal goes like they are saying, well, again, I don’t want to jinx it.
Talk soon brotha.
— John
Wolf shook his head and stood up. There’s no way he killed himself.
Looking at his watch, he was hit by a wave of dizziness. He exhaled and thumbed the phone number he’d received from his mother earlier. Italy was eight hours ahead, and nine am seemed a respectable time to call.
“Pronto?” The voice sounded distant, like an old vinyl recording.
“Hello, my name is David Wolf. Do you speak English?”
“David Wolf?” Dahveed Vowlf. “Un momento…”
The phone rustled and he waited for five full minutes. He heard bustling activity in the background. After a while, he wondered if he had communicated anything at all to the person who answered the phone.
“Hello? Mister Wolf?” It was a young male voice with a thick Italian accent.
“Yes, this is David Wolf. We received a call earlier today, I mean, yesterday, with the news of my brother’s death. His name was John Wolf.”
“Oh yes. I am a-so sorry for you.”
“Can you tell me what happened exactly?”
“I don’t know too much. I was a not-a part of the team who found him. But I know he killed heemself.”
“Okay.” David squeezed the phone. “Can I speak to someone who found him? Someone who was on the team that found him?”
“I am-a sorry, everyone is gone.”
Wolf raised his watch and studied it carefully. “Okay. Is there a specific time I can call back?”
“Uhh, yes. I would try back tomorrow in the morning.”
Wolf blinked, looking again at his watch, “In the morning? Tomorrow? Isn’t it the nine in the morning there now? They won’t be back later in the day?”
“I think so, yes.”
Wolf inhaled deeply and switched phone hands, “You think they will not be back?”
“Yes.”
Wolf’s blood pressure climbed. “Do you have a direct phone number for someone that was on the team?”
“I don’t think I am allowed to give-a those numbers.”
David clinched his teeth, holding back a tirade he desperately wanted to unleash. “Okay. What is your name?”
“My name uh-eez Tito.”
“Tito, I am in desperate need to talk to someone in the next few minutes. I cannot wait any longer. There is no way I can wait until tomorrow. You guys have told us that my brother has killed himself. He is dead. My mother and I need to get answers as soon as possible, or we are going to go crazy. Do you understand what I am saying, Tito? Can you please, please help me out with a phone number of someone who was on the team that found him? Or is there something else you can do for me?”
A beat. “Okay, I will give you the cell phone number of detective Rossi.”
Wolf closed his eyes. “Thank you so much Tito. My mother and I very much appreciate it.”
Chapter 6
David got the number and gave it a call, immediately getting a recording of a pleasant sounding Italian female voice, sounding like a long-winded reason why the cell phone company couldn’t put the call through. After thirty minutes and six tries later, he got a ring — a two second high pitch single tone followed by a pause, then another single tone.
“Rossi,” a husky male voice answered.
“Detective Rossi?”
“Yes?”
“Hello, my name is David Wolf. I received news of my brother’s death today from someone there. His name was John Wolf? Was that you who called us?”
“Yes. That was me.” He exhaled. “I also found your brother in his apartment.”
“Okay, as I just got done telling Tito at your station, my mother and I are desperate for some information, and we are going crazy. Can you help me?”
“Uh, yes. Of course Mr. Wolf. How can I help you? Please, you can call me Valerio.”
“Okay, thanks Valerio. Well, I guess, what happened? I’m a police man here in the States, so you don’t need to sugar coat details with me because it is my brother. I just need to know what happened.”
“Uhh, we were called by a person who lives at a-di apartamento…So we went to there and found him, where he had killed himself.”
“Okay, I’ve got that much. How did he kill himself? ” Wolf tried to restrain any frustration from seeping into his voice.
“He was found hanged. It looks like the time of death was Friday night.”
“Okay. Thanks. Can you tell me anything more about the scene? Did he leave a note?”
“No, there was no note. We did not find one. He was hanged with a belt, from a light in the ceiling, but the light fell out so he was on the ground.”
David was beyond confused. “He was hanging from a light from the ceiling? A chandelier?”
“Ah, yes. That is right. But he was on the ground. The light pulled from the ceiling,” Valerio added.
“Okay. So he was on the ground when you entered his apartment and found him,” David stated.
“Yes. Mr. Wolf, we also found drugs…cocaina? How do you call…”
“Drugs? I hadn’t heard about that yet.”
“Yes, well, I-a was the one who spoke to your mother earlier, and I just didn’t have the heart to tell her that after I told her about your brother’s death. I am sorry for your loss, Mr. Wolf. I have no idea how you must feel. I will personally help you with the transfer of the remains to your home. There is a lot of, ah, paper work and procedure to follow here in Italy, but I will make sure it happens fast and smoothly. I have a brother myself…”
“Uh, thank you…” Wolf held the phone to his ear in silence for a moment.
“I am sorry I did not tell your mother about the drugs. I did not have the heart to tell her.”
“Okay, yeah, thanks. It was obviously a difficult phone call for you to make. Thank you Valerio.”
Wolf asked some favors and made some plans. They hung up after a half hour and Wolf went into his bedroom and collapsed into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter 7
After four hours sleep, Wolf got up and grabbed another cup of coffee, got his fleece jacket and went to the front porch. The sun was just lighting the sky, the air bitter cold. A few Elk were milling about sixty or so yards away. They all turned his way as the screen door slammed. He held up his coffee to them and took a seat. He pulled out his cell and dialed his mother.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
“So, I spoke with a Caribinieri last night, a cop, from Italy. He was first on scene to John’s apartment. He’s helping us expedite John’s delivery back to Colorado.”
She responded with an exhale.
“You doing alright?” he asked, immediately regretting the question. “Never mind. Stupid question.” They sat in silence for ten seconds. “We are going to get through this. You and I.”
Silence.
“I’m going to go to Italy to get him.”
“You are?”
“Yeah. I’m going to have Nate, Gary, and a couple of the boys check on you when I’m gone, alright?”
“When are you coming back?”
“I think I’ll be gone a week.”
Chapter 8
Sarah’s parents house was lit up inside and out in the early morning light. Venus gleamed just over the pines in the eastern sky, the sun following close behind the mountains.
He rang the doorbell and heard muffled conversation inside. Sarah’s face appeared in the ornate window set in the hand crafted wood door. She opened it a crack.
“Hi David. What’s going on?”