Woah there. Feels like forever. I'm glad I finally got to update this for you guys, and don't worry. There's only two days left!
oOoOo
Romano snorted awake.
Tino jolted awake beside him as the car bounced along the dirt road.
For a moment, Romano was confused as to where he was, and half of him wanted to say he didn't snort, because that as embarrassing, but then he remembered.
"You okay?" Tino slurred sleepily, rolling out his arms.
"Yea, I'm fine."
"We'll be there in about an hour." Ludwig stated from the front seat.
"You've been driving all night, I can take over." Tino supplied.
"I could too." Romano grunted in annoyance.
"But you're stressed. We don't need this car going off the road because you're angry."
"That was only once!"
For a while longer, the two bickered lightly over the subject, and by the time they had finished, Ludwig had pulled into a small, budget inn hotel. They quickly checked into the room, Ludwig instantly collapsing on the bed so he could sleep. Tino began to hook up the computer again, while Romano found himself staring out the window and at the shallow river that wound its way past the hill the town rested upon.
He held his phone in his hand gently, almost anticipating a text. Half of him wanted to go take a walk to cool off. But he knew that someone might spot him, and that he would be screwed if he was, and that Antonio and Feliciano would be too. For all he knew, if his location was confirmed, they would be killed on the spot.
Or at least, their captors would try to kill them.
He narrowed his eyes, trying to think of buildings he knew about that could be candidates for the location of the two. The tavern was a gathering spot. So was the square. There where half a dozen homes.
It was a good spot for the mafia to be operating, Romano thought to himself. It was a small town, and far off the highway, and people knew each other.
His phone buzzed.
Two days.
Romano knew he couldn't stand to lay in wait for two more days, he had barely survived the past five.
He marched back inside, plugging in the phone. Taking the text, the program shrunk the map to a smaller size. Closer to San Paolo. Romano was right.
He paused as his phone dinged again.
There was an image this time.
Grimacing, not exactly ready for the images contents, he opened the text. The crappily shot photo displayed Feliciano and Antonio splayed out on what appeared to be the floor of a car trunk. A rather large on at that. They where both bound as before, this time there was a cloth of some sort wrapped around Feliciano's leg where he had been stabbed in the earlier video. It was soaked red, and so was a bit of the floor beside him, the dull rusty color spread across his brother's pale leg like some sort of gruesome art. Blindfolds and gags where tied around each of their faces, leaving them expressionless, mute and blind to the world around them.
Romano set the phone down, pinching the bridge of his nose in an avid attempt to hide his tears. He couldn't break down right now. No, he couldn't, because they where so damn close to the answer, to what Romano needed, to what Ludwig needed, and to what Tino was dedicating his time to. The lives of his lover and his brother where in the hands of strangers, of evil people, and Romano couldn't stand to think that they would have to deal with it for just a while longer.
A few moments later, Tino reemerged from the bathroom, spotting the phone. A silent 'oh' graced his lips, and he said nothing, and Romano didn't say anything either.
They both knew what Romano was thinking either way.