by Gina LaManna
3:58.
“Time!” I cried, pointing at the clock. The Fish’s wild theory had distracted me again from the blinking display. “Add time to keep this conversation going.”
He sighed, then bumped the timer up to 8:58. It wasn’t double digits, but it was better than nothing.
“Maybe it’s not a coincidence,” I said with a slight hesitation. “But I know for a fact that Carlos is not targeting you. He’s looking out for the interests of his family, and if you are going against everything he believes in, you two are sure to butt heads.”
“Then how do you explain your trip out to Stillwater? You just happened to stumble upon the guns that Oleg had hidden in the middle of nowhere? I don’t think so. Carlos and Anastasia have a friendship. It wasn’t an accident she turned you onto Oleg, which led to me.” The Fish stood up, leaning his hands against the table. “He’s leading you through hoops, Lacey. Your entire job has been created for the sole purpose of getting rid of me.”
“That’s not true.” I dismissed his conspiracy theory, hating the fact that my brain took a few seconds to consider any potential truths behind it. “You’re lying.”
“Mmm. And Carlos happened to donate his expensive cabin to you for the weekend when my diamond contacts were going through Tonka?” The Fish shook his head. “Mighty coincidental if you ask me.”
“That was a vacation.”
“Some vacation, huh?”
“It was going just fine until you turned up.” I cleared my throat, remembering the Three Musketeers who’d shown up on our doorstep, courtesy of Nora and her matchmaking aspirations. They’d put a slight damper on the party, but not as much as the dead body in my trunk.
“That’s not the end of it…” The Fish shook his head. “Now you’ve gone and lost me one of my men.”
“Oleg wasn’t one of yours,” I said. “Oleg was terrified of you. He wanted out. He came to me for help and not the other way around.”
“You helped him disappear from me.”
“I wouldn’t have needed to help if you’d treated him like a human.”
The Fish retreated from his hunched position over the table, sliding back into his seat and tapping out the deck once more. “You are taking me down, one operation at a time.”
“I am not. You’re deluded. You’ve built up this whole conspiracy theory which has Carlos and me basing our whole existence on coming after you,” I said. “Don’t flatter yourself, you’re not that important. If you’re doing bad things and we’re doing good, those are opposites, not coincidences. Now add more time to your countdown; Meg and Clay have nothing to do with this, so let them go. Let the girls go. You already have me. Who else do you need?”
The Fish again added some time to the clock, this time without grumbling. He put twenty minutes on, and then he looked up. “That’s the last update. Now, it’s time to prepare.”
“You’ve got to believe me. Neither Carlos nor I have been coming after you.”
“Your entire job has been created to chase me, Lacey.”
“Give me one good reason Carlos cares enough to get rid of you,” I said. “He’s got a lot bigger fish to fry, no pun intended. He doesn’t need money. So why you?”
“I should have Anthony’s position,” The Fish said, his eyes alighting with fire. “I came to this city years ago, and I’ve been building alliances and contacts, raising money and creating businesses. Everything that goes on in this city, you name it, I’ve got my hands in it.”
“Anything dirty.”
“I approached Carlos, and I offered to strike a deal. I brought him everything and laid it out on the table. I offered money, business, contacts – everything I’d built up over the years.”
“Why would you do that? If you were so successful, why not stay the course alone?”
“Because we were both getting too big. Carlos’s reach is massive. He’s powerful, and he’s got allies in other cities. Minneapolis doesn’t have room for both of us, so I wanted to join forces. Together, we could’ve taken the Midwest for ourselves.”
“And he said no.”
“I should be the one at Carlos’s side, not Anthony,” he said. “I should be advising him and strategizing how to build a bigger, better Luzzi empire. But instead, Carlos keeps on a poor farm boy.”
I blinked, trying to hide my surprise. Farm boy?
The Fish scanned me with a knowing gaze. “They’re both full of secrets, aren’t they? Both Anthony and Carlos – the two men who should be the most trusted men in your life, and they’re keeping things from you.”
I stepped right up to the table, and this time I didn’t have second thoughts before I spoke. “What they keep from me is their business. But they give me something in return that is stronger than all of those secrets combined.”
“Now you’ve got me intrigued.”
“It’s the same reason Carlos sent you packing when you offered him everything.” I leaned my knuckles on the table, speaking so softly he leaned in to hear. “The same reason that you’ll never win.”
“I’ve already won.”
“Loyalty.” I rapped my knuckles against the table, the phone dangerously close to my fingers. “Everything you listed – businesses, alliances, money. Carlos either has it, or he can buy it. What he can’t buy is trust.”
“Aren’t you Buddha over here,” he said. “Anthony is no more loyal than I am. He’s just a poor boy who’ll do anything Carlos asks for a few bucks.”
“You’re wrong.” My fists clenched, and my jaw tightened. “That’s why you’re sitting here tonight, and Anthony is with Carlos.”
“Are you sure about that?” Try as he might, The Fish’s lip curved into a smile. “According to my sources, you’re wrong. In fact, Carlos is heading here right now.”
My silence spurred his smile to grow brighter.
“Time to get you and the girls ready for the show,” he said. “You can watch Carlos lose tonight, once and for all.”
My mouth went dry. The timer ticked down. Carlos was headed here and none of my friends were safe. Maybe this was the end. “Carlos won’t lose.”
The Fish gave a falsely sympathetic smile. “Sorry, Lacey. That’s false. See, Carlos is headed here for his weekly poker game. Little does he know that it’s just me here tonight…the rest of his crew received cancellation notices.”
“Carlos always wins.”
“I didn’t tell you the game we’re playing.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“Confident, eh?” He licked his lips, bridged another shuffle, and then splayed five cards on the table: two Kings and three Aces made for a full house. “I’m afraid Carlos has been dealt a poor hand tonight. See, we have a full house here in town, and it’s time we thinned the herd.”
CHAPTER 46
The Fish’s next move was to handcuff me to the banister that lined the staircase leading up to the next level. The banister was sturdy, thick, and virtually unmovable, despite my best efforts to dislodge the entire staircase.
The Fish had disappeared down the back hallway, and I took full advantage by working the wood against the cuff, but I didn’t make the tiniest of dents. I stopped struggling as The Fish came back into sight, two small girls trailing behind him.
“Marissa! Clarissa!” I yanked accidentally against my handcuffs as I lunged for them. The lurch of metal against wood hauled me back, and I landed on my butt at the bottom of the staircase. “Are you okay?”
“We’re fine,” Marissa said, her eyes red, but her face stubborn. Clarissa appeared to be in a bit of a daze, her gaze pointed somewhere into space, following her sister like a zombie. “Sorry we got you into this mess.”
“Hey, none of this is your fault, okay?”
“Talk now, but when Carlos shows up, you’re all silent. Do you understand?” The Fish handcuffed each of the girls to the railing with me.
We each had one free hand, and I used mine to reach over and squeeze the girls’ legs. “Everything’s goin
g to be okay.”
“What’s happening? What does he want with us?” Clarissa asked. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to find you guys.”
Big, round tears in Marissa’s eyes made her look like a puppy dog instead of a Tasmanian Devil. “We only went with this guy because he said that he knew my mom. He promised us that my mom would be here. He picked us up from school in the morning, and made us write a note. He said that she wanted to meet both of us. She texted us to meet, just like he said, but she never showed up. We were good girls. We behaved all week, Lacey.”
“I have a secret,” I said. “You guys stay brave, and you’ll get to meet her. I just talked to your mom, actually. Her name is Adriana.”
“You talked to her?” Marissa’s eyes widened. The tears there were already so big they started tumbling down her cheeks despite the slight smile curving her lips upward. It reminded me of a sun shower. “She wants to meet me?”
I whispered. “She’s at your grandfather’s house right now. We’ll go to the estate after this, and you’ll get to meet her. I promise.”
“But how are we going to get away?” Marissa asked, then frowned at her sister. “Stop it. You know what Dad said. That’s bad for you.”
Clarissa, still in zombie-mode, had used her free hand to fetch a LipSmacker out of her pocket. Bubblegum, if the scent was anything to go by. She uncorked the cap using her mouth and free hand, and the cap fell onto her lap as she applied it. “My lips hurt.”
Her lips were still glossy from the last application, and judging by her shaking hands, it was more of a nervous habit than anything else.
A knock on the front door drew my attention back to the center of the room. The Fish took two steps towards the door before turning and raising a finger to his lips, gesturing for silence.
A second knock sounded on the door. When nobody answered, the handle turned to reveal Carlos standing in the doorway, his suit impeccable as usual, a hat dangling between his fingers. His eyes flicked first over me and the girls. Besides a tightening in his jaw and an unfamiliar rigidness in his shoulders, he maintained a blank, stony expression. For once, I was grateful that he had no visible emotions. Like a robot.
Pushing away the thought of Meg and robots, I stretched to catch a glimpse of the digital display on the table, but from my angle, I couldn’t see the countdown.
“Have a seat, Carlos.” The Fish gestured towards the table with the deck of cards on it, letting the gun dangling from his fingers give off the unspoken threat. “Do you play cribbage?”
“Let the girls go.” Carlos didn’t move. “And then we can talk.”
“I like them where they’re at.”
“Keep the ladies out of this.” Carlos’s voice was a sliver of ice worming its way through the chilled air. “Have you no manners?”
The Fish laughed, then winked at me. “Unfortunately not. It must be the way of the new generation. We don’t believe in manners, do we Lacey?” Without waiting for a response, The Fish turned his back on Carlos and walked around the table, sitting down with a sigh on the other side of it. “This is the twenty-first century. Chivalry is dead, haven’t you heard? Take a seat.”
“No,” Carlos said. “Let the ladies go.”
“You employ women in your business these days.” The Fish shuffled the deck once, letting his gaze wander lazily across the room, stopping first on Carlos, then on me, then scanning the two younger girls before he focused on the cards again. “You didn’t do that twenty years ago. Looks to me like Lacey’s feminism is wearing off on you – she’s trying to play in a man’s world, and you’re letting her. Carlos, you’ve gone soft.”
I swallowed. Normally, I was all about girl power. But right now, a little chivalry might be nice; if not for me, then for Marissa and Clarissa.
“Fine. Lacey stays.” Carlos ground his teeth, still as a statue in the doorway. “She’s one of us. But the younger ones…they’re only children.”
“I don’t have any plans for the two youngest, so they’ll be released after our game. Lacey’s future is up for negotiation.” The Fish began dealing the cards. “If you’re not sitting in that chair by the time your hand is dealt, someone in this room will see the wrong end of my gun.”
Marissa’s hand tightened against mine, while Clarissa cuddled closer, her breath coming in shallow gulps. I shifted slightly, since Clarissa’s LipSmacker was poking me in an unfortunate area. Once the three of us situated ourselves as comfortably as possible, I kept up a steady stream of soft, reassuring words to my cousins, my eyes fixed on the table.
“What are we playing for?” Carlos sat at the table, picking up his cards.
“We’re playing for everything,” The Fish said, scanning his cards. “But before we begin, I have one question for you. When you pulled up to the restaurant tonight, you must have known that something was wrong. Most of the time, you have more guards here than the Pentagon. I’ve seen it myself. But tonight, there was nobody around to open the door for you, park your car, wipe your ass, or blow your nose. Nobody kissed your cheeks or bowed to the floor, yet you still chose to come inside. Why?”
I closed my eyes. As much as I wanted to listen to the conversation, I needed to think. We only had so much time before this game was over, and then all bets were off.
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Carlos dropped two cards on the table, starting the kitty pile. “I didn’t have the choice to come inside.”
The Fish tossed his two cards into Carlos’s pot. “You could’ve walked away. I would’ve let you go.”
Carlos raised up half of the deck to cut it. “You have my girls. So no, I never had a choice.”
The Fish didn’t have a response, except to flip over the top card on the deck. A jack. “Knobs.” He cleared his throat and moved the peg on his cribbage board one spot forward. “How very noble of you.”
Clarissa scooted closer then, and I looked away from the table as she rested her free hand on my thigh and squeezed tight. Her nails dug into my skin so hard I had to bite my lip to keep from groaning aloud.
“Lighter, please,” I said, trying to dislodge her fingers from my leg. I moved a little further away, but Clarissa kept on scooching closer. Her nails dug into my leg, her LipSmacker poked into my thigh, and her long hair smacked me in the face every time she twisted her head back and forth.
I opened my mouth to tell her to shift the other way a little bit, when I suddenly had a better idea. Lowering my voice, I leaned close to her ear. “Clarissa, do you still have your chap-stick?”
She furrowed her eyebrows. “Why?”
I whispered so soft that my lips touched her ear. “Put it in my hand.”
Luckily, thanks to a tense conversation over at Cribbage Central, neither my grandfather nor our captor glanced in our direction as Clarissa wiggled the chap-stick out of her pocket and slid it into my palm.
I had no idea whether my plan would work or not, but I didn’t have any better way to spend my time. I flicked off the cap, situated one of the girls in front of my bound wrist, and went to town slathering the inside of the handcuff with the stuff.
My wrists were naturally small – the only thing dainty about me, I’d venture to say – and with a little extra grease, just maybe I could slip out of the cuffs. What I’d do once I got my hand free, I wasn’t sure.
Marissa watched as I ran one layer of chap-stick over another, until I nodded at the game and mouthed Pay attention.
Carlos’s eyes followed The Fish carefully as he moved a peg forward on the cribbage board. “This game is not fair.”
“Are you accusing me of cheating?” The Fish ran a hand through his hair, his calm exterior showing the slightest signs of cracking. “Let me remind you that you are the one who cut the deck.”
“This isn’t about the cards.” Carlos focused on his hand, never making eye contact. “It’s about the bet.”
“I’m open to negotiation. Do you have a proposal?”
“I’
m not complaining. I’m merely stating a fact.” Carlos laid another card down. “You want to play for all or nothing. However, because my all is so much greater than yours, it’s unfair. I have far more to lose than you do.”
“I don’t think so.” The Fish blinked his blue eyes, a patronizing smile gracing his face as he set a card on the table. “See, I have something that you don’t: youth. You’re old, Carlos, and it’s time for you to get out of the game.”
Carlos flipped down a card, moved a few pegs on the board, and sat back. “The game doesn’t matter to me anymore.”
“Don’t get sappy on me,” The Fish snarled. Then he caught himself and gave a short laugh to cover his angry outburst. “For men like you and I, the game never ends. You were the best, Carlos, but your reign is over. If you think I’m going to let you hand off the family business to your granddaughter, you’re sorely mistaken.”
“You are younger than me,” Carlos said. “But that’s not always a good thing.”
“You’re losing your edge.”
“Am I?” Carlos’s voice was light.
That one question from my grandfather was like a beacon of light. It gave me hope that he had a plan to get us all out of here. I worked the chap-stick back and forth with renewed vigor. If Carlos made a move against The Fish, I had to be ready to help.
The Fish reached forward, scooped all the cards into a deck, and began the next round of shuffling. “Tell me. When I came to you years ago and offered everything, why didn’t you accept? With me by your side, we could’ve taken over the Cities for good. We could’ve expanded to Chicago, New York, LA…” The Fish dealt another hand. “But instead, you have a clumsy granddaughter and a farm boy by your side.”
“They’ve given me more already than you ever could have,” Carlos said softly. “You would’ve forced me to retire by this point, and then what? Do I seem like the type of man to sit in a multi-million-dollar estate sucking up my lunch through a straw? Have Nora wiping my drool as I let my mind turn to mush and see the grandchildren when they stop by out of duty on the holidays? What sort of life is that?”