When Vito reached his house, half a dozen squad cars were already parked along the road next to it. Dozens of policemen were camped around the small suburban house, filling the small yard and spilling into the street. Captain Ramsey was waiting for Vito in the driveway. He started talking before Vito was fully out of the car.
"Don't go running in, Vito. Nobody was home. Michelle and Christy are safe," he said, and Vito slowed to a walk. Even catching Carver was unimportant compared to that. Michelle would be at work, and Christy would be out with one of her many friends.
"What's the situation?" Vito asked.
"Kilkenny phoned in the threat, but he's not in there. As far as we can tell, nobody's in there. The bomb squad is already inside trying to locate the explosives. It doesn't look like the bombs are set to go off when someone enters the house. Our theory is that Kilkenny has a camera by the bomb and he's waiting for you," Ramsey said.
Of course. Though they'd hardly met, Vito and Carver were already mortal nemeses. Carver wanted to make sure he got his target and no one else.
"Let me go in and help them," Vito said. It wasn't right for anyone but himself to oppose Carver.
"Are you nuts? That's the last thing you will do! You want to go in there and look for a bomb aimed specifically for you? Park your ass outside, Vito. You're a spectator this time," Ramsey said. Vito sullenly came to a stop, glaring at his house and anyone who went by.
Shouts and movement from inside the house caught his attention, and he watched hawkishly as three men dressed in padded fatigues and bomb armor exited the house carrying a bundle of wires and tubes. Policemen scattered around them.
"It's okay. It's just a fake," one of the bomb squad said. He poured out one of the tubes of "explosives"
"It's just charcoal," he said. Vito examined the powder from his perch, his mind already calculating why Kilkenny would pull such an absurd stunt.
"Charcoal? What is this? You checked the rest of the house? There's nothing else?" Ramsey demanded.
"It's clean," the bomb squad leader confirmed. Ramsey buried his head in his hands and shrugged helplessly.
"All right, everyone. Fall out. We'll let the CSI team take a look and then everything can go back to normal," he said. Vito resumed his course toward his house, and this time Ramsey didn't even try to stop him.
"Hey, don't touch anything," he halfheartedly warned. He knew by now that Vito would do whatever he wanted, and that he had to pick his battles.
He would have been surprised at how obedient Vito was. He waited until the CSI crew was through with the house before he did any investigating of his own. Of course, it wasn't because he cared about Ramsey's warning. He just wanted to be alone if he found anything. Kilkenny had made this personal, and he didn't want the police interfering in their fight. He picked his way around roped-off segments of rooms and baggies full of possible evidence, poking through each room and looking for anything out of place. More than anything else, he was furious that anyone would encroach upon his home. It was his stronghold, and the invaders would pay dearly for their crime.
It was late when Vito finished his rounds and returned to the living room. He was somewhat surprised that Christy wasn't back yet, but it was nothing to be worried about. She often stayed out late with her friends, but she was always careful. If she decided to stay over with one of them, she'd call to check I and gain permission. Vito glanced at the phone as he thought, and he noticed the answering machine was blinking. Somewhere in all the fuss, someone had called. Most likely before, or the bomb squad would have raised hell at the possible remote detonation. The house was cleared, so Vito knew it was safe to play the message. He pressed the button.
"Hello? Who is it?" he heard Christy's voice. Something was strange, and it only got worse as the message went on.
"Do you have a minute to discuss a petition?" a polite voice joined the recording. Vito strained his ears to capture every detail of what came next, and he soon wished he hadn't.
"Thank you, but I'm not interested- Hey! What are you doing? You can't come in!" Christy's voice came from the machine, and then the message deteriorated into a series of panicked screams and sounds of struggle. Something crashed against the wall, and Christy yelped with pain. Vito gripped the machine with such ferocity it nearly shattered, and the only thing that stopped him from throwing it against the wall was the hope that Kilkenny may have let slip some valuable clue. The screams and thrashing stopped, and there was a moment of silence.
"You think you're willing to do anything for your cause, just like me. Now we'll find out who's right," Kilkenny's Irish accent broke into the recording. "It's a shame when innocents get pulled into these things. I know that all too well." the recording clicked to a stop.
The plastic casing of the answering machine crackled and popped under Vito's grip. He shook with silent fury, and the heat radiating from him scorched the room. Kilkenny thought he had him nailed down. If he had Christy, Vito wouldn't dare to act against him. What Kilkenny didn't know is that he'd done the worst thing he possibly could have. He'd wounded the bear, but he hadn't finished the job. Before, he was a mortal enemy. Now, he was an unstoppable force.
