“I should come along,” Sal announced, eager to join the search party.
“No, you stay here and keep your eyes open,” Beck informed him. “Anything happens, hit the ground then make your way to the poolside bar.”
“Why the poolside bar?”
“Because that’s where Zack’s going to be,” Beck replied then took off.
†
Belle paced within the lobby while her father watched, looking slightly nervous himself. The bridesmaids collected in a group and giggled while checking out the groomsmen on the patio.
Belle turned toward her father with an annoyed look. “Where is he?” she demanded.
“He’ll be here,” Matt announced. “You know your brother. He’s always fashionably late.”
“He’s still hounding that girl, isn’t he?” she demanded while staring at him with hostility in her eyes. “I told you not to leave him alone with her.”
“Whether he’s here or not is irrelevant,” Matt gently informed her. “Once the wedding is official, none of this matters.” Matt then frowned and muttered under his breath. “If that bastard doesn’t double-cross us.”
“I don’t care,” she snarled. “I still want my wedding to be perfect, and Luke is ruining it.”
“Honey, trust me,” he announced boldly. “Your wedding is going to be the most talked about, remembered wedding ever. It’ll even make the history books.”
She eyed her father while maintaining her frown. “You promise?”
“Absolutely,” he announced while gently rubbing her bare shoulders. “You’re going to be famous.”
Belle grinned at the comment.
†
Pinto sat on the plush chair within Matt’s suite with her wrists duct taped together in front of her. A piece of duct tape covered her mouth to keep her quiet as well. Luke said something to the guard, who grinned then left the room. Pinto watched Luke approach her where she sat in the plush chair. He sat on the edge of the glass coffee table before her and smiled his intentions.
“No one’s going to hurt you,” he informed her. “I won’t let them; as long as you play your cards right.”
Luke placed his hand on her bare knee just below her dress. Pinto kicked him in the knee with her high heel. He bellowed and leaped off the coffee table while clutching his leg. Luke straightened while glaring at her with rage. He punched her in the face. Pinto struck the back of the large, plush chair, cushioning the blow, but she was obviously dazed from the hit. Luke flexed his hand while glaring at her.
“I don’t have to be nice,” he informed her. “Nothing I do to you matters. Once my sister marries that pushover, Marco, she’s part of Giovanni’s family. When Giovanni dies, she’ll be giving the orders.” He glared hatefully at her. “You’ll be just another victim among the massacre.”
Pinto stared at him with concern, although she was unable to respond.
Luke chuckled in an evil manner. “Yes, that’s right,” he informed her. “Once the happy bride and groom walk back down the aisle, it’s open season on Giovanni and his guests. It’ll be a massacre they’ll talk about for decades, and Nelson Banks will take the fall for it. Of course, he’ll be dead too, but it’s easier to frame a dead guy.” His evil grin turned angry as he grabbed her arm. “I haven’t got all day, so we’ll just speed our courtship along, if you don’t mind.”
Pinto fought against him as he pulled her from the chair and attempted to drag her toward the bedroom. She drove her high heel into his foot just above his expensive shoes. He cried out and again punched her. He knocked her off her feet and into the glass coffee table. It shattered beneath her weight. For a moment, she lay on the floor battered and bleeding. Luke toppled the coffee table, tossing her onto the floor with the broken glass. He grabbed her arm and attempted to pull her to her feet. The guard entered the room and looked around. Luke pointed a warning finger at him.
“This doesn’t concern you!”
The guard flew across the room, surprising Luke. Jackie leaped over the plush chair and kicked Luke in the chest with both feet. He hit the floor with tremendous force, rolled across the room, and struck the entertainment cabinet. Pinto was now able to free her hands from the duct tape and weakly pulled herself onto her hands and knees. She stared at Jackie while covered with glass and blood. The guard was already jumping to his feet.
Jackie held her hand up near Pinto while keeping her eyes on the guard. “Just stay down,” she ordered.
Pinto managed to pull the duct tape from her mouth and barely had enough strength to nod. As the guard lunged for Jackie, she went into a series of forward and backward kicks, striking him with speed and force. The guard attempted to pull his weapon on her. Jackie twisted his arm and knocked the gun from his hand. Pinto watched the semiautomatic hit the floor near her. Jackie kicked the man without releasing his arm then flipped him over her, using his arm as leverage. The guard struck what remained of the coffee table, shattering the wood frame. Luke grabbed a decorative candlestick and attempted to strike Jackie. She caught his arm and kicked him in the face, dazing him.
Pinto stared at the unfolding assault with hateful eyes as blood seeped from the corner of her mouth and other cuts along her body. “Balls,” she growled softly with anger.
Jackie barely looked back at Pinto before punching Luke in the groin. He gasped and doubled over. She then punched him in the face, causing him to straighten, and kicked him in the groin with enough force to elevate him from the floor before allowing him to drop. He didn’t move from the moment he hit the floor.
“Thanks,” Pinto whispered, barely able to hold herself up.
The guard grabbed his discarded gun while springing to his feet and aimed it at the back of Pinto’s head. Beck entered the room, took only a moment to see his girlfriend’s condition, and then fired the semiautomatic, unloading the entire magazine into the guard before he had a chance to hit the ground. Pinto again watched the gun fall to the floor near her. Beck replaced his empty gun to his pants and ran for Pinto, dropping to his knees alongside her. He assessed her injuries with horror.
“Are you okay?” he gasped.
She sobbed while painfully throwing her arms around his neck and clinging to him. Beck held her against him in his arms.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “We’ll call for a medivac for you. You’re going to be okay.”
“I’m fine,” she gently replied then pulled away to look into his eyes. “You have to stop Matt. They intend to kill Giovanni and use the massacre of his guests to cover it up. It’s going down right after the bride and groom are out of the way.”
“We need to stop that wedding,” Jackie gasped.
“It’s already started,” Beck informed her. “I heard the wedding march as I was crossing the lobby. We have to find the shooters.” He gently took Pinto’s battered, bleeding face in his hands and stared into her eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay? I don’t want to leave you.”
“Go,” she gasped softly while breathing heavily. “I’ll be fine. Stop them from killing the guests. Save my father.”
Beck fought his tears while caressing her bleeding face then nodded. “I’ll save him. Stay here. You’re safe now.”
Jackie and Beck ran from the room. Pinto slowly pulled herself to her knees while grasping the discarded semiautomatic laying on the floor. She clutched it in her bloody hands and stared at it while sinking into her own thoughts.
Chapter Thirty-eight
The wedding was straight from the pages of a fairytale. Belle looked like a princess bride in her excessively elegant, white wedding dress with a lengthy train, while Marco was her dashing Prince Charming in his hand-tailored, designer tuxedo. The beach and ocean provided the perfect backdrop behind the bride and groom at the makeshift altar covered entirely in tropical flowers. The nearly two hundred guests sat in white folding chairs lined up along the entire grassy area between the hotel and the sand. They watched the young, wealthy couple with envy. No one even noticed that the
groomsmen were one man short. Their attention remained happily focused on the beauty of the bride and her amazing dress. Beck and Jackie ran onto the second-floor balcony overlooking the wedding just before the beach. Both scanned the area for possible snipers while Beck frantically alerted the men through their handheld radios to the danger.
“We need to stop the wedding,” Beck announced. “I need options.”
“We can lure Giovanni away from the wedding,” Gil suggested through his radio. “It won’t be easy.”
“Anyone gets near Giovanni and they may start firing,” Beck replied. “Anyone see any snipers?”
“We have over twenty armed guards,” Zack reported from his perch above the poolside bar. “They’re all potential snipers. None with itchy trigger fingers yet.”
“We need a diversion,” Jackie told Beck then offered a concerned look. “But almost anything that interrupts this wedding will almost certainly provoke the snipers.”
“Who’s closest to Giovanni?” Beck asked through the radio. It was apparent he was starting to feel the pressure with each passing minute.
“I am,” came a soft, familiar voice yet definitely not one of their team.
Beck stared at his radio with surprise. “Sal?”
Jackie and Beck scanned the guests and saw Sal sitting in the second row behind Giovanni with several people between them. He wasn’t quite close enough to pass a secret warning without alerting the snipers.
“You shouldn’t be anywhere near Giovanni,” Beck snarled into the radio.
“Do you have my daughter?” he casually responded back, keeping his hand radio neatly tucked into his jacket near his shoulder, so he could speak softly into it without being noticed by those around him. He had somehow secured an earbud to keep sound from his radio leaking out for others to hear.
“She’s safe,” Beck informed him. “Damn it, Sal. You’re in the combat zone. Get out of there.”
“You let me worry about my own safety,” came his muttered response. “Do what you do best.”
The bride and groom exchanged rings and ‘I dos’. Any minute, they would be leaving the guests and the massacre would begin.
“We’re running out of time,” Jackie muttered to Beck. “Let me go down there and stop this.”
“And do what?”
“I’ll think of something.”
“Oh, fuck,” came Kirk’s voice over their radios. “We have a situation!”
Jackie and Beck looked back at the wedding venue. What they saw was beyond shocking. Pinto walked barefoot down the aisle in her torn dress and her moderately battered body covered in blood. She carried a bouquet of fresh flowers strewn with blood as well. As she passed the rows of guests on either side of the aisle, all eyes were suddenly upon her. She approached the makeshift altar and caught the attention of the wedding party as well. When the minister fell silent just short of making the nuptials official, the bride and groom simultaneously turned and looked at Pinto. Loud murmurs came from the crowd of guests as they stared with horror at the battered, bleeding woman.
Sal stared at his daughter with horror as his mouth hung open. “Pinto,” he gasped.
“Someone stop her,” Matt cried out with anger covering his fear.
“She’s going to ruin the wedding,” Belle pouted, practically pleading for someone to take Pinto down quietly.
“She’s been injured,” Marco announced to his soon-to-be bride and hurried toward Pinto as she got closer.
Pinto looked into Marco’s eyes as he stopped before her. “She intends to kill your father,” she whispered to the groom.
Marco hesitated a moment and stared at her with a bewildered look while clinging to her elbows despite the blood. Belle ran for them, looking more angry than concerned.
“Get away from her, Marco,” Belle cried out demandingly as she approached them. “You don’t know what she’s up to.”
“Up to?” Marco bellowed with surprise and barely glanced at his future wife. “She’s a close family friend. Why would she be up to anything?”
Belle stopped before her future husband and Pinto, glaring at the injured woman. “I don’t trust her!”
Pinto suddenly sneered while dropping the bouquet of flowers and aimed the semiautomatic at Belle’s face. She whirled around the bride-to-be, caught her around the neck, and held the gun to her temple while standing behind her.
“Call them off,” Pinto cried out while glaring at Matt. “Call off the hit on Giovanni or I’ll kill your daughter!”
There were several gasps followed by frightening silence. Sal leaped over the chairs and tackled Giovanni to the ground. Marco looked from Belle to Matt with horror.
“Did you order a hit on my father?” Marco suddenly demanded and took a step toward Matt.
Kirk and Monroe moved along the crowd from opposite ends while keeping their rifles aimed in the direction of the guards surrounding the venue in an attempt to keep the guests safe.
“Everyone inside,” Monroe ordered. “Now!”
The crowd panicked by his words and started running for the safety of the hotel. Bogart moved in and stood in front of Sal, who was covering Giovanni on the ground.
“Go! Keep low,” Bogart ordered.
Sal helped Giovanni to his feet. Giovanni ran for his son, collected him despite his protests, and attempted to follow the others with Sal running interference. Bogart backed up behind them at a fast clip and kept his rifle trained on the hidden guards, waiting for any of them to move.
Matt sneered and tapped his ear transmitter. “Take the shot,” he ordered.
Several men started firing, causing the remaining guests to scream and scramble for cover, creating chaos everywhere. Sal, Giovanni, and Marco joined Banks, Valerie, and Wade now under the protection of Corbin. Corbin fired back at the guards shooting at them along with Beck’s team. It was now obvious that all the guards were on Matt’s payroll. One of the guards shot Pinto, grazing her shoulder, forcing her to release Belle. The plan backfired when Pinto clutched Belle’s wedding dress and took her to the ground with her. Belle immediately elbowed Pinto in the chest then scrambled to her feet. The guard who’d shot Pinto now had a clean shot to finish her. He was about to fire the fatal shot when his head suddenly snapped back from a precision shot to his temple, exploding out the other side, taking most of his skull with it. Zack lowered his rifle from where he now stood on the roof of the poolside bar.
Pinto pulled herself to her hands and knees as Belle leaped for the discarded gun. Pinto grabbed the excessively long train of her dress, yanked back with all her strength, and knocked her to the ground. Pinto leaped for the gun as Belle recovered and lunged for her. Pinto barely had time to aim and squeezed the trigger several times. All three shots found their way into the evil bride, although not dropping her to the ground. She took two shots to her abdomen and one to the chest just above the neckline of the elegant dress. Blood saturated the front of her once white dress. Belle stood still a moment and stared at Pinto with horror in her eyes. Blood seeped from her mouth as she gasped her last breath. Pinto held the gun firmly in her hands and, without flinching, watched the bride fall to the ground. A rifle shot exploded the ground alongside Pinto, causing her to scream and shield her head.
Beck was suddenly crouched alongside Pinto and fired at the men attempting to kill her. The others gave them some cover, allowing Beck to pull Pinto to her feet and take her to the safety of the poolside bar. When they looked around, Corbin had already led Sal, Giovanni, and the others to safety, but they were gone, causing Beck to panic. Beck held up his hand radio while his team continued to fire at the guards.
“Sal, do you copy?”
“Beck,” came Sal’s unusually calm voice over the radio. There was an unnerving pause of silence from Sal. “It’s too late for me, Beck. Tell Pinto I love her.”
They heard a gunshot over the hand radio followed by silence. The faint gunshot echoed from somewhere beyond the resort, possibly from the jeep parking area.
“Dad, no,” Pinto cried out with horror.
†
Corbin’s men herded the others away from the resort, taking them as prisoners. One guard held a gun on Sal where he partially lay on the ground clutching his bleeding arm. The hand radio lay several feet away from him. Sal stared at the man standing over him and showed no fear despite his obvious pain.
“They’ll find you,” Sal informed the man and offered an unsettling smile despite his situation. “And when they do, they’ll kill you.”
“We’ll deal with them when and if that time comes,” the man replied and tightened his finger on the trigger while aiming the gun at Sal’s head.
Sal closed his eyes and held his head up proudly, waiting for the sound of the shot and the sting of the bullet. The guard suddenly groaned. Sal opened his eyes to see Mac kick the guard several times before tossing him to the ground and disarming him. She aimed the pistol at the guard and, without hesitation, shot him in the head. She looked back at Sal and tossed the gun before him.
“We’re even,” she announced then hurried for the dock.
Sal stared after her with a look of surprise. “Mac?” he gasped in disbelief.
Chapter Thirty-nine
The once elegant wedding venue was scattered with nearly two hundred toppled chairs, a dozen dead guards, and covered with crushed flowers. The bride lay dead in what was left of the aisle, her expensive white wedding dress soaked with blood. The long, elegant train of the wedding dress cascaded alongside her dead body in picturesque beauty. Pinto sat on the ground and fought her tears near the poolside bar while Emily Banks tended to her injured shoulder. The bullet had only grazed her shoulder, but the wound was deep enough to require stitches. Emily did her best to clean and dress the wound with a first aid kit from the resort. Both women watched Beck and Jackie patrol the area with their rifles cradled in their arms. The rest of the team, minus Zack, hurried across the resort grounds and joined them. Darth ran to Pinto, licked her bloodstained hand, and then lay alongside her while placing his head on her lap.
O-Dark-Hundred Page 20