Chapter 44

Dane

I walk into the barn. I see Fith on the other side of the room and I see Sal and Guido standing close together. Sal looks composed but Guido looks like his face is about to explode. Sal pushes Guido and he falls. His man Johnnie, the fucker that took Emily, helps Guido to his feet. Then all hell breaks loose. I didn’t hear what Johnnie said but one of Sal’s men goes after him. Then Guido tackles him and manages to get a gun.

Guido has it pointed at Sal. The whole barn goes quiet and I hear Guido say, “Golden boy?” He pauses. “Let’s see if you bleed like the rest of us.”

Sal’s number one, Tony, tackles Sal to the ground. Tony is wounded, lying on top of his Boss. I am moving across the barn, headed for Guido. He has is back to me then he turns. I stop moving and he points the gun at me.

“How about you, Prez, do you bleed too?” He looks deranged and his smile is that of a madman. I glance to my left and I can see Fith headed for Guido.

“Put the gun down, Lamberti, you aren’t getting out of this alive, and killing me won’t change that.”

He laughs and says, “No, it won’t change that but I’ll have company in hell.”

He pulls the trigger as Fith gets in front of me. Fith’s body collides with mine and he makes a gasping noise as though he has been winded. I clutch his bleeding form and lower it to the floor. Jonas and Judge stride towards Guido. Guns raised, and locked onto their target, they empty their clips into him. He drops the gun, laughter still coming out of him as his knees give way and he slumps to the floor. Sal is on his feet, gun in hand; he walks up to Guido, points his gun at his head and pulls the trigger. Blood, bone and brain matter splatter everywhere. Sal goes back to his man Tony, and I look down at Fith.

“It was under control, brother, you didn’t need to sacrifice yourself for me,” I say as I stare into his eyes.

“I could see Dirt wasn’t going to get to you in time. One of my jobs is to protect you. That’s all I ever did

Prez, I protected you,” he whispers to me.

Dirt is my Sergeant at Arms, my right hand, and Fith’s correct, he was too far away. “What do you mean, Fith? How did you protect me?” I ask.

Blood is flowing out of his chest and he begins to shake. “Loft,” he whispers and then the light seems to go out of his eyes.

Sal stands in front of me and I look up. He offers his hand as I get to my feet.

“Are you alright?” he asks.

“Yeah, Fith took the bullet for me.” I look at his shirt and there is blood on it. “You hit?”

“No, Tony tackled me and got himself shot in the shoulder. You know a good doctor who won’t report us?”

“Is it a through and through?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

“Dirt was an army medic; he’ll be able to look after him.”

“Prez! What do you want to do with this fucker?” yells Jonas.

I turn and they have Johnnie on his knees. Sal walks towards him. Johnnie looks up at Sal and taunts him with lies.

“She’ll always remember me. When you’re fucking her, it’ll be me she sees. She has a tight little cunt. I finally understand why you like her, I mean she has no tits and her ass isn’t that—”

I watch as Sal points his gun at him, pulls the trigger and empties his clip to the bastard that dared to fuck with my sister. Johnnie is a bloody mess on the floor. Most of Sal’s bullets went into his head; his own mother wouldn't be able to identify him.

Bear makes his way to me and examines me for wounds.

“Bear, I’m not hit. Fith put himself in the firing line. He sacrificed himself to save me.”

Bear looks at Fith’s still body and says, “He wouldn’t tell me where the money was.”

I look around the room and take stock of my men and Sal’s. No one else got hurt. I place my finger into my mouth and whistle. All eyes come to me.

“Okay, cleaners, you know who you are, start doing your job. Anyone with blood on them needs to strip and be hosed down. Take your shoes off too. Dirt, you need to have a look at Tony and patch him up. Let’s get moving people!” I shout.

I start taking my clothes off and a few of the others do the same. “Prez,” says Bear.

“Yeah.”

“Fith put himself in the way to protect you; surely he should get a proper funeral?”

“I see what you are saying, brother, but it’s too hard. How would we explain his death?” I ask.

“Doesn’t feel right, Prez.”

“His name can go on the wall. He will be honored that way. You know we can’t give him a proper funeral, we just can’t.”

He nods and walks away.

Sal comes over to me. He’s taken off his clothes and I can see his muscled body has no small amount of ink.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here, yeah?” he says.

“Yeah, brother, let’s go home.” I walk to the middle of the room and shout. “Those that don’t need to be here, get out. Cleaners, you let me know if you need help. I’m out of here.” I walk to the barn doors and most of the men inside follow me. I need to get home to my woman.