Chapter 38 (Alyssa)
“Alyssa's been shot. Come quick,” Ricardo shouts from the backseat of Lou-Lou's car before he hangs up the phone.
I point my gun at his chest. “Really, you couldn't have done better than that?”
“It got the message across. He won't be with Ford anymore.”
I dig the gun into Lou-Lou's temple. “Now it's your turn.”
She pulls up Ford's contact information and hits send. He picks up right away. “Lou-Lou?”
“Hi, Ford. Alyssa's holding me hostage and she knows what you're up to.”
“I don't believe you,” he snarls.
I grab the phone from her. “Hello, Ford. Or should I say—special manipulating bastard agent Ford?”
His breathing becomes uneasy but he stays silent.
“I'm going to make this real easy for you. Meet me down at the docks. Leave Jackson alone. This is between you, me, and DeLuca. If you bring Jackson, I swear on my father's death...it will be the last thing you ever do.”
“Alyssa, no. Don't do this,” he whispers. I don't respond.
“Alyssa,” he screams.
That's when I hang up and look at Ricardo.
“You still have one more phone call to make.”
I see his adam's apple bob and it's the first time I've ever seen Ricardo look nervous.
He puts the phone up to his ear. “Yeah, it's me.”
I hear some murmuring on the other line.
“I know you're busy. But something's come up.”
Just knowing that it's DeLuca on the other line makes me want to vomit. I have to force myself to breathe and not pass out.
“I'm being held hostage,” Ricardo says before he adds, “I know you don't care.”
Uh-oh. This is not the way I saw this going. I counted on Ricardo being my advantage.
“Tell him who's holding you hostage and tell him he better be unarmed when he shows up or I'll kill you.”
I wish I could see the look on his face when he hears that it's me behind all this.
Ricardo looks at me before he says, “Listen, you need to meet us at the docks near Jersey. Alyssa Tanner's holding a gun to my fucking face.”
There's more mumbling on the other line.
Ricardo closes his eyes and lets out a frustrated sigh. When he opens them, he gives me that murderous look before he screams, “I know you don't give a fuck about me, Babbo...but she's got Lucianna! And she will kill her. Make sure you come unarmed!”
There's silence on the other line and my stomach lurches. My plan is going downhill, fast.
“Okay. I'll be there...unarmed. Make sure that bitch doesn't touch a hair on Lucianna's head or I'll be bashing hers in just like her father's,” DeLuca's gritty voice shouts before he hangs up.
I look over at Lou-Lou in shock. And to think, I almost didn't want to drag her into this. I was only holding her hostage as a way to get Ricardo to cooperate. I was going to have her drive us to the docks and let her go.
She's the last person I ever expected to be DeLuca's soft spot.
“Damn, Lou-Lou. I sure as fuck underestimated you.”
She looks up and gives me a wink. “Yes you did, bitch. And if you want DeLuca brought to his knees, I'll be glad to help you do it. But if you hurt Ricardo; trust me—I'll make your life even more of a living hell than it already was.”
I'm not sure if I have a newfound respect for her...or if she's just managed to scare the crap out of me.
“Noted, now start driving.”
I adjust myself in the passenger seat of Lou-Lou's car. I have one gun pointed at her head and one gun pointed at Ricardo in the backseat. “Either one of you try and pull something, I'll be reenacting my own version of Romeo and Juliet, got it?
They both nod and I gesture between them with my guns. “So, what's the story between you two? I gotta hear this.”
Ricardo lifts his chin and glares at me. “None of your fucking business,” he grits through his teeth.
I crinkle my nose at him. “Well, seeing as I'm the one holding a gun to your face, call me crazy but I'd say it was.”
“Oh, I'm calling you crazy alright,” he mumbles.
“Seriously,” Lou-Lou chimes in. “You got a set of cajones, Alyssa. I'm impressed.”
“Thanks, I think. But I'm not crazy,” I say softly. “I'm just protecting Jackson and getting my revenge.”
We stay in silence for the better part of an hour. And all I can think is—what makes Lou-Lou so important to DeLuca? Even more important than his own son?
She can't be his daughter. That would make Ricardo and Lou-Lou's relationship beyond twisted, especially if it was mostly based on sex.
Unless? Well, I'll be damned.
“Are you guys like step-brother and step-sister or something?” I wiggle my eyebrows. “I'm not judging, that's kinda hot.”
“Fuck off,” Ricardo barks.
“He's not my step-brother,” Lou-Lou whispers.
“Why are you so important to DeLuca?” I ask. She grips the steering wheel and winces. “Probably the same reason you're so important to Ford.”
I have no idea what she means by that, but I have to put it on the back burner because we start pulling up to the docks.
My eyes automatically look at the spot where my father died and I start dry heaving. For a moment, I feel just like that little girl trapped in the car who watched it all happen.
Surprisingly, both Ricardo and Lou-Lou put a hand on my shoulder. “Breathe, Alyssa. DeLuca will be here any minute; if he's not here already and you'll make one hell of an easy target if you're passed out. Then all of this will be for nothing,” Ricardo says.
“It's true,” Lou-Lou whispers. “It's time to get your payback. DeLuca deserves everything that's coming to him,” she says before she gets out of the car.
Ricardo looks in her direction before he closes his eyes and sighs. “Go big or go home, right?”
“I don't think I can do it out here. Not in the same place my father died. It just feels...wrong.”
“I get it.” He gestures his head to a small run-down building. “There's a warehouse over there.”
When we get out of the car he says, “By the way, I'm not letting DeLuca kill you. So, just know that whatever happens, I got your back.”
I guess Ricardo's been armed the whole time after all.
We begin walking toward the warehouse and I place both my guns to their heads again and have them walk in front of me.
Seeing as I didn't notice DeLuca's car anywhere, I almost piss my pants when I look down and see a pair of metal tipped shoes.
“Back the fuck up,” I command in his direction, surprising myself.
He takes a few steps back and the look he gives me could burn through glass. I take in his jagged scar, which still hasn't faded much over the years and his evil eyes and my stomach recoils.
How can a single person be the source of every nightmare? I can't help it, I start sweating and breathing erratically.
Before I can say another word, he looks at Lou-Lou. “Are you okay, Bambina? Has she hurt you?”
Clearly, he really doesn't give a fuck about Ricardo.
“I'm fine,” she replies icily.
“Don't take that tone with me,” he barks, almost causing me to jump. “You know I worry about you, Lucianna.”
Lou-Lou looks up at him and it's like she transforms into a servant right before my very eyes. “I'm so sorry, mio amore. It's been a long day.”
I see Ricardo's entire body tense in front of me and I gotta say, my heart goes out to him.
I haven't taken much Italian...but I do know what 'mio amore' means- 'my love.'
It's obvious DeLuca and Lou-Lou are in a relationship of some kind.
Wow. That's just...holy shit balls.
Not to mention...odd and kinda gross.
Lou-Lou's my age. DeLuca's in his late 50's, at least. Not that I should really be one to judge. But now her statement about me and Ford makes perfect sense.
Poor Ricardo.
I can't focus on that right now, though. I have a bastard to kill first.
“Sit over there,” I tell them, motioning to the wall.
They do as I say, but I don't miss the look in Ricardo's eye, telling me to get this over with.
I have to take a long deep breath when I realize that it's just DeLuca and I facing one another.
It's surreal. I don't know whether to pinch myself because it's finally happening or scream because a part of me is petrified.
“Alyssa,” he says.
I internally shiver because hearing him say my name sounds like nails on a chalkboard. “So we meet again.”
He gives me an evil smirk. “Only much closer this time.”
“I'm not afraid of you,” I say, my voice surprisingly strong.
He puts his hand in his pocket but I point the gun toward Lou-Lou and he pauses.
Dammit, I should have done this earlier. Stupid fucker already showed his cards. “Stand by me, Lou-Lou,” I order.
“No!” DeLuca shouts. Ricardo narrows his eyes at me, but I ignore him.
Lou-Lou ignores DeLuca, stands up and walks over to me—staying true to her word. I don't miss the look DeLuca gives her. He's pissed.
I pull her in front of me. “It's safe to say that you might not want to make any sudden movements again. I specifically told you to come unarmed.”
I glare at him. “Granted, it's not a crowbar, but I swear you'll feel every second of the impact when I kill her.”
Lou-Lou's lower lip trembles and I don't know if it's an act or the truth, but either way, it makes DeLuca remove his hand from his pocket.
“You'll never get away with this,” he says.
I laugh at him. “I beg to differ.”
That's when I hear the sound of someone's footsteps and see a large shadow walking through the back entrance of the warehouse. My heart and my stomach reel when I see a gray suit come into focus and I look up into a pair of blue eyes.
Then I notice the barrel of his gun is pointed at me. “Drop the gun, Alyssa,” Ford sneers.
My 10-year old heart breaks all over again. “You gonna kill me, Ford? That's what it's come down to?”
I hate that there's a small part of me that can't kill him because he's the tie to my dad and my dad loved him.
His eyes waver and he sighs. “You know I could never do that. But I can't let you kill DeLuca, either.”
“Why not?”
“Because then how would you find out the truth, Alyssa?” DeLuca sneers behind him.
I hear a gun cock and DeLuca laughs and says, “I appreciate you volunteering to be my bodyguard, Ford.”
Ford curses under his breath and closes his eyes.
“However, I suggest you stay right where you are, special agent. There's something I've been meaning to tell Alyssa.”
Ford moves the gun toward Lou-Lou. “If you do, then I'll take out Lou-Lou.”
That's when Ricardo stands up. I breathe easy because I know he's on my side.
Or at least, I thought he was.
Ricardo cocks his gun and stands behind me. “And I'll take out Alyssa,” he says to Ford.
Over Ford's shoulder, I see DeLuca smile. “Good job, son. I'm proud of you.”
“Shit,” I mutter as Ricardo jabs the gun into my lower back.
“Sorry, Alyssa,” Ricardo says. “But I'm not letting him kill Lou-Lou.”
It's safe to say, my plan has officially gone to hell in a hand-basket. Everyone has a gun pointed at them except for fucking DeLuca. Everyone's going to die, except the one person who should. This situation is completely fucked.
DeLuca claps his hands. “Good. Now that we've got that all sorted out and everyone knows where the other stands. Alyssa, I would like your attention.”
Ford's eyes meet mine. “Don't, Alyssa. Whatever he says isn't true. You have to trust me. I love you. I have always loved you.”
Behind me, Ricardo coughs. “You are one fucked up person, Ford. And I've seen some shit, but this right here...this takes the cake.”
Against my better judgment, I look at DeLuca.
“Please, DeLuca,” Ford pleads. “I've never asked you for a single thing, other than sparing her life. If you tell her everything. It will kill her.”
“I'm counting on it,” DeLuca sneers.
I look back to Ford. “Do you or do you not work for DeLuca?”
“Technically, yes. But I didn't always. I am a member of the FBI first and foremost.”
Behind me, Ricardo says, “Yeah, he's what we like to call a flipper-flopper. You know, when it suits him.”
“Why, Ford? How could you do that after you saw what he did to my father?”
“Because I became too powerful for him to keep trying to take down,” DeLuca interjects.
Ford's face pales. “I couldn't beat DeLuca. So, I had to join him. There was no other way.”
DeLuca takes a step forward and his face hardens. “Go ahead, Alyssa. Ask him what his first job for me was.”
Ford's face contorts in pain and I feel so lightheaded white spots form in front of my eyes.
I shake my head and point my gun at him. All thoughts of Lou-Lou as my leverage forgotten. “No,” I shout. “You wouldn't do that to my dad. He was your best friend. You grew up together. He loved you. You wouldn't set him up to get killed.”
“I'm so sorry,” Ford whispers. “I had no choice.”
“There's always a choice!”
DeLuca grins and it looks so sickening I have to look away. “And what a choice it was. He obviously chose to save his own ass. He came to me, worked out a deal and gave up your dear old dad in the exchange. You know, he was the one who suggested we do it right here, too. He said your dad liked the water.” DeLuca chuckles. “He even set up the two gang members to take the fall for it. I'll admit that was brilliant.”
I look at Ford, not even trying to hold back my tears. “You're fucking sick.”
Behind me, Ricardo whispers, “Yup.”
“I won't deny that,” Ford says. “But I love you, Alyssa. You know that I do.”
I'm more certain than ever that what he felt for me wasn't love, it was some gruesome combination of guilt, fixation, and control. I look Ford right in the eyes. “No, what I know...is that you were on the phone with me when it happened. You heard me cry my heart out. You heard my screams as DeLuca took my father from me.”
I have to put my hand to my chest just to make sure my heart's still beating and it didn't physically crack into a million pieces. “You picked up that scared and destroyed little girl and held her in your arms like she was your own. You held her like you would protect her...all while knowing you did this to me. To him! How could you?”
A guttural cry rips from my throat and DeLuca laughs like it's the funniest thing in the world. “And that's not even all of it.”
“What else could there possibly be?” Lou-Lou whispers. Then she gasps.
DeLuca gives me a sinister smirk. “Alyssa? Besides your father dying, can you think of anything else that might have ruined your life?”
“Shit,” Ricardo mutters.
“You were behind the sex tape, Ford?”
He stays silent.
“Answer her, Ford.” DeLuca directs. He shakes his head.
“You tell her the truth now. It's the least you can do, you fucking scumbag,” Ricardo says, low and deadly.
“DeLuca promised Gaffney that he would win the run for mayor if his son Dean did it,” Ford says. “However, it was my idea in the first place. I paid the Gaffney's off and promised that Dean would never get busted on a DUI charge if he fucked you and filmed it.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you do that to me?”
“I needed to do something to—” he pauses like he can't even say it.
DeLuca gives me a shit-eating grin. “To make sure your pretty face would never end up on the evening news. Where you could slip up and tell the whole world what I did to your daddy. Live from New York. You know, you really should have chosen a different major at NYU.” His eyes blacken and I take a step back, not even caring that Ricardo's gun is still digging into me.
“I run this city,” DeLuca shouts while taking a step forward. “It's mine. My greed, my hunger, my money...but most of all my control and power. I let you live as a courtesy to Ford; after certain assurances were put in place, of course. But, I wasn't going to have your stupid fucking ass mess up what I worked so hard to build. I couldn't take that chance.” His lips turn up in a snarl and he winks. “However, I would like to thank you for being such a willing participant. Nice tits by the way.”
I blink back impending tears...but there aren't any left. There's only darkness and pain.
I look at Ford again. “The way you treated me after it happened. I went to you for help and you—”
“Made her believe she was nothing but a whore. Broke her trust in everyone and everything. Hurt her beyond all repair. And this was all after you had already ripped her heart out. You really are one despicable motherfucker,” Jackson's voice booms from somewhere in the distance.
“No,” I say with my hand on the trigger. “He's one despicable dead motherfucker.”
“No!” Jackson shouts, coming into view and halting me at the last possible second. “Don't do it, Alyssa.”
In my peripheral vision, I see Ricardo aim his gun at DeLuca.
“He deserves it,” I argue as Ford's eyes close and he clutches his stomach.
“He does, baby. I know he does,” Jackson says. “But you need to let me do it.”
“What? No.”
“Yes,” he insists. “You're not a killer, baby. I am. Your soul is still untarnished and I want it to stay that way. You don't know what it's like to take a life, Alyssa. Mike deserved everything I did to him and I would take his life again in a heartbeat. But, murder is a burden that I never want you to bear. I won't let you destroy yourself again because I love you.”
He walks behind Ford and lowers his gun to his head. “And you need to let me do this for you. And after this, I'm going to take out DeLuca. I'm going to take every single nightmare away, baby. I promise.”
“No,” Ricardo barks in DeLuca's direction.
Ricardo moves closer to DeLuca and grabs Lou-Lou right before DeLuca has a chance to shoot Jackson. “Don't you even think about it, Babbo,” he says before he puts the gun to her head.
Everyone's attention turns to DeLuca and Ricardo at that moment.
As thankful as I am to Ricardo for not letting DeLuca shoot Jackson, I'm equally petrified for Lou-Lou. I never thought Ricardo would kill her. I regret ever bringing her here now.
Then, before anyone's brain can catch up to what's happening. Ricardo leans down and kisses Lou-Lou's tear-stained cheek. “Ti amo. Sii libero,” he whispers in her ear.
Lou-Lou reaches behind her and pulls a gun out of her waistband.
She lifts her chin and aims the gun directly at DeLuca's head. He's so caught off guard, he doesn't even have time to aim his gun at her. “Brucia all'inferno. Burn in hell, Bruno,” she says as she pulls the trigger, four times.
In slow motion we watch DeLuca's brain splatter all over the warehouse, his body falling to the floor with a heavy thud.
I can't contain the smile on my face. I think it's the brightest it's ever been. I barely even hear the sirens in the distance.
I open my mouth to thank Lou-Lou but she runs out the back door in the blink of an eye.
The sirens get louder and blue and red lights illuminate the warehouse.
“Jackson Reid, put your hands behind your head. You are under arrest,” a voice says over a megaphone as the doors burst open.
My heart shatters like glass and I drop to my knees.
That's when Ford lifts his head and smiles at me.