Well, I am delving into unknown territory here...the mob! I thought it would be an interesting missing persons story, with a twist. But, I don't know much about the mob so I am going to take quite a bit of creative license with this story! Please be patient.
Again, and as always, I don't own any of the Without a Trace team.
But the Caruso family...Angie, Eddie, Uncle Tony, Theresa, and the others...are all my own creation.
Never Go Against the Family
Chapter 1 - Eddie
The rain pounded against the glass windows, and lightning cracked as it hit somewhere across Manhattan. Eddie Caruso found himself unable to sleep and was once again sitting in the plush chair in the master suite of his home. It was just another one of many nights during these past few weeks when he had not been able to sleep. It was becoming like clockwork.
The thunder rolled across the sky as he sat with a glass of bourbon in his hand, contemplating the next move his family would make against the enemy who threatened to move in on their territory. That too was becoming like clockwork. There wasn't a moment of peace for their family. There never would be, he guessed. When one is in the mob as deep as he was, it would be considered nearly impossible to leave the business.
He had removed himself from the bed he shared with his wife so that Theresa could sleep without being disturbed by his restlessness. Instinctively, he looked over at where she slept and smiled at the sight of her sleeping so peacefully. Eddie hoped she was dreaming sweet dreams about him and their two children, not about the dangers that surrounded their everyday life.
Her soft, familiar voice penetrated the darkness of their bedroom. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked, her eyes still closed but awake.
"Shhh ...I didn't mean to wake you." He told her gently, swirling the bourbon he was nursing around at the bottom of his glass. "Go back to sleep."
She opened her eyes to see the worry on his face and propped herself up on her elbow, reaching for him with her hand. She caressed his face and he leaned into the touch. He saw the concern for him come across her face as he leaned down and kissed her lips. "Everything's okay ... don't worry."
"But I do worry about you, Eddie. I worry all the time."
"I'm sorry. I guess sometimes I forget how this life affects you." he replied, looking away from her.
"I married you knowing full well what your life entailed. I love you, Eddie. And aside from your job, I love the life we have created together. But, I worry about you every time you are not right here next to me." Theresa grabbed her silk robe and climbed out of bed. She went to him, sat in his lap, and wrapped her arms around him, looking out across the city over his shoulder.
"I love you so much, Theresa." Eddie whispered into her hair as he buried his face in the sweet, softness of it. "I swear I won't let anything happen to you or the kids."
"I know ... I love you too." she replied. As his head lay gently on the soft skin of her chest, he felt her heartbeat against his ear and it was the most soothing sound he had ever heard.
She sat cradled in his arms for awhile as they sat in the darkness of their bedroom, their young son and baby daughter safely asleep in the nearby nursery. It was the most secure she had felt in a long time. She knew he would never let anything happen to her or the children. But sometimes she wished that they could go away and leave everything behind. Eddie had been involved with the violence of the mob for so long. He had grown up in the business, and she knew that no matter how far they could try to go to escape it, it would find them. There was no way out ... not anymore.
Theresa got up off his lap and leaned down to kiss him goodnight. "Come to bed." she said as she reached for his hand. He noticed the look in her eye and conceded. He took her hand and he followed her back to the silk sheets of their bed. She climbed in and he followed willingly . He laid down next to her, his arms wrapped tightly around her. Secure in the arms of her husband, she fell asleep quickly while Eddie lay awake and worried about the threat that was lurking in the darkness of the city.
Eddie had been trained as a thinker as well as fighter, and the work he did as an enforcer for his family was as routine as his daily workout. His uncle, crime boss Anthony Caruso, however, mostly valued his physical skills and tended to discount his intellectual ones.
But Eddie knew that it was his mental skills that truly made him valuable, though. If he were an unthinking drone, like so many in his family's organization, then he wouldn't know when and how to disobey orders … like he was going to do now.