by Emma Quinn
“Besides,” said Jules, walking over to the minibar for a beer. “Have you even thought about little Luca?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like... Could you handle being a father? It's not easy you know.”
Jules cracked open his beer and took a sip before sighing with satisfaction and sitting back in his seat.
“By the look on your face you've not really thought about it at all.”
“Actually as a matter of fact I have thought about it. And I think I'd be an ace dad.”
“Good on you. You know me and Helena were commenting the other day about how you got on really well with Luca at the picnic.”
An uneasy look came over his face for a second.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You look like you're holding in a fart.”
“No I don't!” he laughed. “Do I?”
“Well, you look like you're holding something in.”
He squirmed in his chair and stared into his beer bottle.
“Okay, I promised Helena I wouldn't say anything,” he began. “But we were actually talking about Luca recently. Saying that you and him look so cute together. At the picnic the other day the three of you were like a proper little family.”
I'd felt the same way too, but I hadn't realized it had been so obvious to everyone else.
“But, erm... Helena mentioned something else.”
Jules wavered for a second and started nervously picking at the label on his bottle.
“She mentioned that Luca looked a lot like you.”
The words hung in the air for a second. Slowly, Jules raised his eyes to meet mine.
“Tell me you noticed,” he said.
If I was being honest, I'd have to say that part of me had noticed. It was the eyes I saw the similarity in first, but I'd pushed my suspicions down and ignored them.
After all, wouldn't have Sophia told me if I was his father? She wouldn't have kept something like that from me... Would she?
“You have noticed!” burst Jules.
“I might have seen some similarities between us,” I admitted. “But Luca isn't my son. He's too young. Sophia said he's only six.”
But then it hit me.
“I'm not six. I'm seven!” Luca had shouted at me.
Seven... When he'd said it I'd thought he was maybe joking. Just thought he was a silly kid fooling around.
“You okay?” asked Jules. “You look as though you're about to pass out.”
“I... I...”
It felt like my whole body was being squeezed with the realization of how stupid I had been. I tried to breathe but couldn't. It felt as though the walls were moving. As though my limbs had stopped working.
“Shit!” I exploded, jumping out my seat. “Oh, God, Jules! How have I been so dumb? Luca is my son!”
As I stood outside Sophia's apartment, I had no idea what I felt. Was it fear? Excitement? Shock? Or a mixture of all three? But underneath all the emotions there was an element of anger making its way into my mind.
She never told me.
That was seven years away from Luca that I could have been his father. Seven years of missing birthdays, Christmases and endless memories I should have shared with him. I'd not seen his first steps or heard his first word. Hadn't held him as a newborn.
Well I'm not going to miss out on another single second!
Outside her apartment, I hovered my hand in front of her door. What do you say when you're in this situation? My hand grew sweaty as I knocked. From beyond the door, I was aware of the sound of people moving and voices carrying down the hall.
It felt like an eternity as I stood there, my heart ready to burst. What would Luca say when he found out I was his father? What would I saw when I saw him?
The door opened and I tried to arrange the words in my head. But I couldn't think of the right thing to say. It all just felt so surreal.
“Ethan?” came a croaky voice as Sophia appeared in the doorway.
Her face was red from crying. In her hand her phone was held so tight her knuckles were white. She was shaking uncontrollably.
“Sophia, what's wrong?” I asked, instantly rushing to her.
She fell into my arms sobbing. Over her shoulder I could see Emily emerge at the bottom of the hall wiping blood from her nose.
“Luca's been kidnapped!” cried Sophia.
“Kidnapped? What are you talking about?”
“He took him! He held a gun to Emily's head and took him and-”
“Woah. Woah! Slow down. Tel me exactly what happened?”
“He turned up and told me to collect Luca from school,” explained Emily, stepping into the doorway.
“Who?”
“I don't know who he was. Big guy. Dressed in black. Had a scar along his forehead.”
“Are you being serious? What are the police saying?”
Sophia wiped the tears from her eyes and said, “He'll die if we call the cops. That's what the ransom call said. They said they want twenty million dollars from us.”
Bile rose up from my stomach.
This couldn't be happening. Not in real life anyway. This was the kind of thing that only happened in my movies.
“What do I do!” she cried. “I don't have that kind of money.”
“Follow me.”
“Wait! Where are we going?”
“Come with me! I'll sort this out!”
I took off running at speed, dragging her behind me. I may have been terrified, but among the chaos of my mind I tried to think rationally.
What would you have done in The Rampage? What would one of your badass characters do?
Don't think. Just act!
Rushing out to my car, I called the only person I could think of that could help me.
He answered on the third ring with his usual chipper greeting.
“Yo, Ethan!”
“Gary! I need your help.”
“Sure, buddy. Anything you want. What you need me to do?”
“Something you probably never get asked to do anymore. I need you to trace a number.”
Gary's computer was set up in his spare bedroom. Except it looked more like a radio shack than a bedroom. The place was filled with all sorts of tech. Most of which I hadn't a clue what to do with.
Beside me, Sophia stood shaking with her phone held out for Gary. He took one look at it and narrowed his eyes in thought.
“I've not worked with one of these, but I don't see it being a problem.”
“Are you sure you can trace the phone number?” she asked, handing over her phone. “Ethan told me you're ex-CIA.”
“I've done a lot of stuff that's weirder and harder than trace a phone number. What surprises me is that the dumbbell who called for the ransom didn't withhold their number.”
“They probably didn't anticipate that we'd attempt to trace it,” I said, watching Gary type at speed on his computer.
He brought up a program on the screen that looked like pure gibberish to me.
“Geez, you really know what you're doing,” I said, watching him type in the cell phone number.
“Honestly, this is pretty standard stuff. Well, for me anyway. I've got access to a whole bunch of databases. Although technically it's not official anymore.”
He gave us both a wink and tapped the side of his nose.
“Databases?” asked Sophia.
“Phone records. That kinda thing,” he explained. “All I gotta do is find out if the number that called you was from a contract phone or not. If it was a burner phone, then we're outta luck I'm afraid.”
“But if there was a contract?”
“Then it'll lead us right to a name, address and bank account. Okay, here we go.”
Sophia linked her hand into mine as Gary worked.
“This might take a few minutes,” he said, looking over to us. “Ethan, how about you put on a pot of coffee? I think we all need some.”
“Sure. Sophia, wanna give me a hand?”
“I know,” I told her.
She looked at me puzzled, cocking her head to the side.
“I know about Luca,” I said. “I know he's mine.”
Freezing in position, fresh tears came into her eyes.
“How did you find out?”
“Luca,” I said. “He might have let slip a little clue whether he realized it or not.”
She held a hand to her mouth and let out a sob.
“When were you going to tell me?” I asked. “Or were you never going to?”
“I... I wanted to but... It was so complicated. I found out I was pregnant right before I left for Harvard and not long after that you went to Hollywood. Then you were this big star and how was I supposed to tell you then?”
“You could have told me anytime!” I insisted. “I would have been there. Would have supported you. Would have given the both of you the best life I could have! You should have told me, Sophia!”
“Erm... Excuse me guys,” said Gary from the edge of the kitchen. “Don't mean to interrupt you but we've got a hit.”
“You have? Already?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “You might wanna come in and see this.”
We both ran into his room and stared at the computer.
“You're never going to believe this,” he said, pointing at the screen. “But the number was registered to a guy named Jonny Lem.”
“Who the fuck is that?” I asked.
Gary turned to me and shook his head in disbelief.
“I did some digging and it took me less than ten seconds to discover who he is... Vincent Roberts' bodyguard.”
What did twenty million dollars look like? If you would have asked me an hour ago I would have said it was enough cash to fill a house. But now, seeing it in front of me, I saw it could neatly fit into two large, though extremely heavy, suitcases.
“I can't believe you're doing this,” said Sophia. “How did you even convince the bank to give all of this in cash?”
“Let's just say the bank manager was a big fan of mine. Now come on. Let's do this.”
I climbed out the car and looked up at the Adelphi building. From the outside, it looked like nothing more than an abandoned warehouse, but I could hear voices coming from inside.
“Twenty million dollars,” said Sophia as we approached the corrugated iron door. “That's an insane amount of money to hand over.”
“It's a small price to pay for my son.”
Banging hard against the door, I waited. Footsteps sounded from within, then a second later there was a rattling sound as the door was pulled open. In front of us stood a man that looked more like a grizzly bear stuffed into a suit than a human. A long scar snaked its way around his forehead above his piercing blue eyes.
“We've been waiting for you,” he said. “Hand over the money.”
“I see Luca. Then you can have the money.”
He stared into my eyes for a second trying to intimidate me.
This is just like that scene in one of your first movies, The Reckoning. Remember when that big Russian gangster was gonna kick your ass in that submarine, but you beat the crap out of him even though he was twice your size? It's just like that!
I stared back at him, willing him to crumble. Something in my face must have got through to him, because he eventually flinched and stepped back.
“Okay,” he said. “Come in. But once you see the boy, we get the money.”
He stood back and gestured for us both to enter. Sophia took off ahead of me, her heels slapping against the wet floor.
“Wait!” I called out, but she was on a mission to see her son.
Running around the corner, she entered a room that was little more than a shell of a building with water dripping down the walls. It was so big that at first I didn't see the small chair at the back of the room.
“Luca!” she cried and ran at him.
I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Gradually, they focused on a small shape huddled over.
“Luca?”
I ran and kneeled in front of him. He was tied to the chair, but to my immense relief, there wasn't a mark on him. But he wasn't moving. Was barely registering our presence.
“Luca, honey?” said Sophia, shaking him by the shoulders. “Oh, God I think he's been drugged.”
“Nothing more than sleeping pills,” came a voice from the shadows.
Footsteps sounded from the corner of the room. We both looked up to follow them and saw a familiar figure step out of the darkness. I caught sight of the graying hair and the faded looks.
“Vincent you bastard!”
“Do you have the money?” he asked. “You've seen the boy. Now you hand over the cash.”
Propelled by rage, I lunged at him.
“Uh uh uh...” Vincent said, smugly, pointing behind me. “Take another step toward me and Jonny will blow your fucking head to pieces.”
I turned round and saw the meathead in a suit with a Glock pointed right at my face.
“Now you're not going to do anything stupid now, are you?” asked Vincent. “Let's all just remain calm and this transaction should go smoothly.”
“Why are you doing this? Why would you put an innocent boy through all of this?”
“Because you stole what was mine!” he seethed. “You stole my ideas. Destroyed my creative fruits! You know full well you took that plot from me, but of course no one would believe me. I'm just old Vinnie Roberts. Some old guy who used to be big around Hollywood. But you... You're hot shit right now and everyone wants a piece of you. Well I got news for you. You'll fade away to nothing soon enough! We all do! Hollywood will wreck you like it wrecked me.”
A stream of spittle fell from his mouth as he yelled, his entire face turning crimson in anger.
“Woah, Vincent. Take a breath. You can have the money. We just want Luca back.”
I kicked the cases over to him and he grabbed them greedily, tearing them open to reveal the bundles of notes folded immaculately inside.
“There, you got what you wanted. Now your goon can drop his weapon.”
Vincent looked over at Jonny and gave me a silent nod. The gun was dropped from my head and I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Honey, will you look at this!” beamed Vincent to someone out of sight. “We're rich!”
Vincent held up a wad of cash and marveled at it.
“Honey? Where are you?”
“I'm right here, Vinnie baby,” someone purred.
The sound of high heels on concrete echoed throughout the room and we all turned to see a lithe form slink out the shadows.
At first, I thought I had lost my mind. I couldn't be seeing who I thought I was seeing.
“Mila? You were... You were in on this?”
She took one look at me and laughed.
“I wasn't joking when I said I was going to get my hands on your money.”
She joined Vincent at his side and picked up a handful of cash, her eyes widening lustfully at the sight of all the money.
“You... You told Vincent Luca was Ethan's son!” gasped Sophia.
Mila laughed again as she rubbed the money between her fingers.
“It was a good little plan, wasn't it? I did tell you someone would pay good money to know about Luca's secret child. Well that someone was Vincent. I guess you could say we both had a vested interest in Ethan's assets. Isn't that right, Vinnie baby?”
“Absolutely. You know, Ethan. You really fucked up losing this girl. She's a real mastermind. I couldn't think of anyone to make a better deal with.”
But I couldn't help but think he'd made a deal with the Devil.
“You're a fucking monster!” screamed Sophia. “How could you do this? How could you take my son from me!”
Quick as a flash, Sophia ran at Mila. The first thing that connected with her face was her lo
ng nails that tore three strips down the side of her face.
The two of them toppled onto the floor, Sophia in a blind rage that saw her fist pummel into the side of Mila's face.
“Jonny!” yelled Vincent. “Stop her!”
The meathead was upon her straight away, his gun raised.
“Don't shoot!” I shouted, running at him.
In the moment, I didn't care for myself. Didn't even think about my own safety. All I could think about was Sophia and how I couldn't let her be in harm's way.
“Shoot her!” urged Mila as she struggled to fight back. “Kill her!”
Jonny looked down the sites of his gun, closed one eye and tried to focus on Sophia. But as the two struggled across the floor, he struggled to hone in on his moving target.
“What are you waiting for?” asked Vincent. “Just shoot!”
He bit his lip in concentration, cocked his gun and narrowed his eyes. I saw the tip of his index finger squeeze ever so slightly against the trigger and it felt as though my heart stopped.
“No!”
With all my strength, I threw myself at him as the sound of the gun blasted in my ear. All I could hear was the ring of the gunshot as it reverberated around my skull.
I landed on top of him and for a moment, he looked up at me stunned as the gun fell from his hand. Thinking fast, I punched him hard in the left eye and his head crunched back against the concrete as he fell unconscious.
Slowly, my hearing came back to me as though it was traveling down a tunnel. Inch by inch, I turned round, my eyes falling on the figure of Sophia on the floor. Beside her, a pool of blood exploded across the floor.
“Sophia!” I ran to her, falling at her side and pulling her close to me. “Sophia! Talk to me!”
“I'm okay,” she said. “I'm not hit.”
My eyes quickly scanned her body for a bullet wound, but I soon saw there wasn't one. It was then that I saw the blood wasn't coming from Sophia at all.
We both turned to follow the path of blood, watching it trickle toward us.
“Vinnie baby...” came Mila's weak voice. “I don’t... want…”
In horror, I glanced up as Mila staggered toward me holding her chest. Her hand was held tightly over the wound, but it did nothing to stop the flow of blood that pumped out of her.