LEO
I see red. Not because of the blood dripping down my face. Because of the way they’re handling her. How dare they? Four of them.
One has hold of her by the hair, the rest gripping her squirming limbs, dragging her out of the front of the house. Five seconds is all I need to deal with them all.
I pull the trigger twice before they have time to react to my appearance. The one holding her hair lets go but doesn’t drop to the ground.
One second.
The one next to him is a gutshot, and that’s a pain like no other. He doesn’t care about anything but his stomach. His scream is already bursting into the night air.
Two seconds.
I fire twice more. I’ve two left in the chamber. The scream cuts off. Hit in the head as he was falling. The first guy is still fumbling for his gun.
Panic is slowing him down. He is groping to pull it loose. The two at the back are letting go of her, getting ready to rush me.
Three seconds.
Another shot at the first guy as he finally raises his gun at me. He’s got a look of triumph in his eyes, but it’s the last thing he will ever do. The bullet hits his nose, and it just disintegrates. He drops on top of his buddy.
Four seconds.
Final shot in the chamber and I move forward. I fire the last bullet into the guy on the left and as the guy on the right swings his gun up; I hit him on the nose with the butt of the pistol.
Five seconds.
As he screams, he loosens his grip on his gun. I get it out of his hand and fire at him. He drops.
It’s all over.
Amelia throws herself into my arms, panting for breath, sagging like all the strength has gone out of her. She cries. “I was so scared,” she says, refusing to let go of me.
I can barely hear her after the noise of the shots. My ears are ringing. I look down at her and I want to keep hold, but the clock’s still ticking. “We need to move,” I tell her.
“Okay,” she says, looking back at the four men on the ground out the front of her house. “Where?”
I manage a smile. All of this and she’s got a hold of herself so fast I’m surprised she hasn’t gotten whiplash. I take her hand and get her into my car. “We need to deal with Franco,” I tell her as we set off.
Already doors are opening and people are looking out. By the time the sheriff’s deputies get here, all they’ll find are bodies and us missing. By the time the dust settles, it won’t matter what they think. All that matters is that Amelia is safe.
I should never have brought her into this. I know that now. I was a dumb fucking asshole who was thinking with his prick instead of his brain. Because of my need to get laid, she might get killed. Already men have tried. I’ve taken out several tonight already.
“Franco is going back to his hired goons,” I tell her as I race away from the house. “He’s done this behind the Don’s back, brought in associates to try to get it dealt with quickly. He wants me dead.”
“But why? What have you done wrong?”
“This is my world, Amelia. Someone gets whacked and there are a hundred different theories why. You learn not to ask questions. Just be glad it’s not you this time.”
“But it’s me. Why does Franco want me dead?”
“If he wanted you dead, I’d have found your body at your place. No, this is something else.”
“So where are we going?”
“To deal with him and Louie.”
“How?”
“When he gets to the meet point, he’ll find his goons are dead. I left him a note to meet us at the casino. I want him caught on camera coming for me, so I have proof to show the Don once this is all over. We get to the casino first and then we wait for him.”
I look across at her. She’s staring out the windshield. There’s something she wants to ask. I can tell. “What is it?” I ask her.
“You haven’t mentioned Molly. Is she… is she dead?”
“No idea. I haven’t found her. She wasn’t at home. No sign of her back at the diner. I broke in to check.”
“Fuck, I bet she’s dead.” She looks like she’s about to cry again, but she gets a hold of herself. I admire the way she can do that.
Only people who’ve known a real trauma are this good at swallowing down their emotions. If we get out of this, I make a note to ask her about it.
Not now. We haven’t got time to talk much about anything. I need to think.
“You still got your gun?” I ask.
“Franco took it with him.”
“Never mind. I’ll show you how to disarm someone when we get there.”
I take the long hill up to the casino, moving fast. All the while, I’m calculating where Franco might be. By now, he’s probably at the meet point, kicking the corpses and cursing my name.
“What if Franco gets there first?” Amelia asks, bringing me out of my thoughts. “What if we’re the ones walking into a trap?”
“I know him. He’s a predictable motherfucker. He’ll want his goons with him. Shame they’re all dead except Louie. Yellow streak of piss ran when he saw the way the wind was turning.”
“He scared me, Leo. Scared me real bad.”
“He fucked up doing that. He might be the consigliere but no one is untouchable.”
“Are you allowed to kill him? What will the Don say about it?”
“There are consequences for whacking made men, that’s true. But pulling the trigger on one? Nothing can stop that from happening if you want to make it so. No one is safe in this world. Even the Don has a target on his forehead by virtue of being in charge.
“Every day he gets up, knowing it might be his last. Takes balls to even walk out the door knowing that. When he finds out what Franco’s up to, Franco better be dead. There are far worse fates where the Don’s concerned.”
I remember screams I’ve heard over the years from men who’ve crossed the Don. So many screams.
We get to the casino. I kill the engine and get out of the car, scanning the entrance. “It looks quiet,” she says. I reload the gun ready while she talks, make sure it’s running smooth. Safety on for now. “Where is everyone?”
“This time of night, there’s few inside. It won’t matter. No one will hear the shots until we’re done. Over there. That’s the perfect spot.”
It’s higher ground, overlooking the parking lot but with plenty of foliage hiding us from view. I left the car right in the middle. “Why’d you leave the car doors open?” she asks.
“So he thinks we just got here. While he’s looking inside, I take him out. I bet he brings Louie, last guy still on his side. The two of them will want to take us out fast. That way the sheriff can make up any story he likes in his report, make it look like I was trying to whack him.
“Look,” I say, pointing down the road. Twin lights of a single car are approaching. “Get down.”
As I watch the car, I whisper to her. “Always rush someone with a gun, never try to run. You’ll just be shot in the back. Get close and you’ve got a chance. They might wing you or they might hit the air or the ground, but run and you’re dead. Got it?”
“Uh-huh,” she whispers back.
I take her hand and put the gun in it, safety still on. “Point it at me,” I tell her.
“What? Why?”
“Just do it.”
She does as I ask, and I grab it from her hand. “See what I did?”
“It was too fast.”
“Again, slower.”
She holds it again, and I move so she can see my motion. I lean in past it, knowing her arm off balance. As she corrects, I flick my fingers back over her wrist, pulling her hand and the gun. By the time she knows what’s happening, the gun is sliding into my hand, turning as it goes. “Like a magician,” she says. “Neat trick.”
“Remember it. Might save your life sometime. Hush up. Here they come.”
The car turns into the parking lot and stops next to mine. Doors open and it’s Franco who’s been driving. He’s alone, no sign of Louie. He’s looking into the car and from our vantage point, I can see him perfectly.
There’s a crack and Franco is ducking, hiding behind the car, looking left and right, his gun in his hand. “What was that?” Amelia hisses in my ear.
“Sniper,” I tell her. “Somewhere on top of the casino.”
“Come on out,” Franco shouts. “We can talk about this, Leo. Come, make a deal.”
I say nothing. He keeps talking. “The Beluccis are happy to bring you in. You’ll make more money. Be a big hitter. Mikey’s dead in the water, Leo. He’s a pussy. You know that. His pissy little deals are small time.
“The Belucci famiglia is where the big money is. Come on out and let’s talk. We can work together. I always loved you, Leo. You’re a hell of an underboss. Come on, let’s talk about this, can’t we?”
I look up at the roof of the casino. I can just make out the slight silhouette as a shape shifts against the skyline. Who the hell is up there?
“You’re a stupid asshole,” Franco is shouting. “You’ve no idea what you’re doing. That chip is worth millions and you think Mikey would let you live once he has it? You know too much. The minute you get back to the city, he’s going to whack you himself. You know that, right?
“Just tell me where it is and Don Belucci will pay you whatever you want. Come on, Leo. If you don’t come out, this whole fucking town will burn. You know that. Belucci wants his casino back. He wants his town back.”
It’s hard to see the Don’s consigliere talking like this. The one man the Don trusted more than any other. Joining another family. It’d break the Don’s heart to see this. And over what? Money?
I glance at the roof again. The figure is shifting position. Franco is moving too much. His head’s wobbling as he shouts at me. It wobbles too far from his hiding place.
There’s another crack and his neck shoots back, blood and brains splattering the parking lot asphalt. He falls dead. Another shot hits him.
Two, to be sure. No loose ends.
More cracks sound. A branch next to me explodes.
“We need to move,” I say, grabbing Amelia’s hands. “Fast.”
I crash further into the undergrowth, expecting another crack at any moment. When they come, they’re to the left of where we are. We dive down the hillside, leaving the casino behind us, vanishing into the darkness.
“Where are we going now?” Amelia asks.
“Away from the sniper.”
“Who was that?”
“I’ve no idea, but I bet we’ll find out pretty soon.”
We continue downhill. The undergrowth is thick, which is helpful. Too hard to take a shot at us in here. I move fast and when Amelia flags, I scoop her up into my arms.
One thing for sure, I need to get her somewhere safe while I get word back to the Don about what’s going on out here.
“We can’t go back to yours,” I say. “The bodies are still on the doorstep. Where can we go?”
Her cellphone goes off in her pocket. She jumps and looks up at me.
“Whoops. Lucky it didn’t go off at the casino.”
“Yeah. Lucky.”
She pulls out the phone and answers it. I can hear a woman’s voice on the other end. “Amelia, where are you? I’ve just been to your place and there’s police tape around the front door.”
“Where are you, Molly?”
“At home, why?”
“We’re coming over.”