Miles Away (Carrion #1)(4)

Snap!

Miles’s fist collided with Knox’s nose as he sent his brother falling to the kitchen floor.

“Fucking put your hands on a woman! Especially mine!” Miles yelled as he glowered at Knox with a hostile glare.

Blood covered Knox’s face and shirt as he glared up at him. Before his brother could say a word, Miles grabbed Letty’s hand, pulled her up from the floor and started running again.




The echoes of footsteps falling upon the concrete sidewalk were drowned out by the approaching sound of the subway as Miles Capadonno and Letty Alves raced hand in hand, fleeing from an unseen danger.

“C’mon, Letty! Run! We gotta get back to the car!” Miles screamed.

Letty fought to keep up with Miles’s swift stride as he pulled her forward, desperate to get her out of South Philly alive.

Miles’s voice was drowned out by the approaching train as the 7:17 Broad Street Line rushed under the street below. Miles’s and Letty’s feet slapped the pavement as they charged south on Broad Street. This was supposed to be a fun night out. A break from all the chaos that had broken out in Carrion. The last thing Miles and Letty thought would come from a visit to a restaurant in celebration of Miles’s birthday was an execution attempt on Miles’s life.

“Miles, wait!” a deep voice shouted from behind them.

“Ignore him, Miles. We need to just go!” Letty screamed.

“Fuck off!” Miles spat back at the man he once considered his best friend.

“Miles!” the voice called again.

“Knox, back off!” Miles shouted over his shoulder.

“Miles!” Letty screeched.

It took a moment for Miles to understand what was happening. His chest heaved as he continued to run, but something stopped him dead in his tracks. A vintage black Cadillac curled the corner of Broad and Mifflin Streets, Miles attempted to identify the driver, but the windows were tinted and it was impossible to see. The passenger side window rolled down slowly as the tip of a gun pointed out at Miles. Immediately, Miles recognized the man’s face.

“MILES!” Letty screamed.

Grabbing his girl by her waist, he ran faster ducking into an alley. Three shots were fired, each hitting the pavement just feet away.

“Miles!” Knox’s voice cried out again.

As the car pulled off again, Miles and Letty darted from the alleyway and raced down Broad Street with Knox still on their tail. The black Cadillac had turned onto the opposite side of Broad Street and was now traveling south. The driver had rolled down his window now. Letty’s mouth dropped when she saw the man’s face. The tears didn’t begin to flow from her eyes until she saw the passenger.

“I don’t believe this!” Letty screamed. She ran as fast as she could beside Miles, barely able to keep up. “It’s Vendetta Vic and the Butcher. Why the f*ck are they after us, Miles?”

“Don’t worry about that, just run, Letty!” Miles screamed. The fear was apparent in his voice, though he was trying not to let it show for her own benefit.

Letty was only seventeen, and scared out of her mind. Miles was holding his composure a little better, though at eighteen years of age, Miles was nothing more than a kid, himself. Miles could see the lights of Broad and Snyder fast approaching. Letty’s knuckles blanched as she clasped onto him, running for dear life. The Cadillac screeched up Broad Street, fast approaching on them. Another shot was fired. It hit the ground just inches from where Letty stood.

“Miles! Listen to me!” Knox screamed. It was a terrible blood-curdling cry.

But as Miles turned around to face his brother, the one man that Miles had grown to love and trust, he realized that his trust was misplaced. Three officers on foot raced up the sidewalk behind Knox, shouted at Miles to drop his weapon.

“I don’t have a weapon!” Miles shouted with a perplexed look on his face.

“He didn’t do anything!” Letty shouted.

Out of the corner of his eye, Miles watched as the black Cadillac rolled off with not even a second glance from the officers.

“I’m sorry, Miles,” Knox said with a look of guilt on his face.

“Yeah, you are sorry,” Miles said in a voice of total disgust.

As the officers rushed past Knox, they cuffed Miles, Mirandizing him, leaving Letty in a state of shock.

“What am I being arrested for?” Miles asked with a dark edge to his voice.

“The murder of Giancarlo Rigatti,” one of the officers said as they led Miles to the patrol car that sat idle in the shoulder of Broad Street.

“What?” Miles spat. “I had nothing to do with that!”

“Fifteen witnesses, Capadonno. Let’s go.”

“Miles!” Letty screamed.

Giving his girl a glance back, Miles gave Letty a cool wink.

“It’ll be all right, Letty. You’ll see. Everything will be all right. Wait for my letter.”

Quickly, Miles flicked the keys to his car to Letty, as she ran off, fear ripping through her body.

“Miles!” Knox called out.

Turning his glare in Knox’s direction, Miles spat, “Don’t ever speak my name again. You’re dead to me!”

As Miles was loaded in the back of the squad car, he grit his teeth, hell bound and determined to gain revenge on the men that had framed him. As the patrol car sped off, Miles watched as the black car slinked off Broad Street, rolling east down Passyunk Avenue.