by Amy Rachiele
Demetrius licks his pinky finger and dips into the package. He brings his finger to his mouth tasting it. He growls.
“What is the shit?” Demetrius barks. “I told you I wanted the pure stuff only!”
All hell breaks loose, and I am ready for it. Demetrius tosses the shitty cocaine to the ground and pulls out his gun. I do the same, jacking my body forward to grab the guy. He’s skinny and quick, and he dodges my grasp and runs for the door. I chase after him while Demetrius ducks through another doorway, attempting to cut him off in the next room. I grab the guy’s shirt and yank him back. He lands on the ground crunching the broken plaster that litters the floor. I shove my foot on his chest holding him down and train my gun on him in the thick darkness.
He pleads with me as Demetrius walks up and hovers over him, too. The red has already formed over my eyes in fight mode. It takes a few minutes to register what he is saying.
“Don’t leave me with him!” he repeats over and over.
He is talking to me, asking me, the man with the gun on him, not to leave him alone with Demetrius. There is definitely something wrong with this scenario. I look to Demetrius to see what he wants to do. This is his show, not mine. He is eerily quiet as the man on the ground grovels.
If this was my business to take care of, I’d beat him up, and tell him to get better stuff or else. In my mind, it seems simple enough; you can’t get clean cocaine from a dead man. But I have never dealt in drugs, so I am not really sure what’s going on here.
And if this kid was marked, it wouldn’t be my business to take care of it. It would be the cleaner’s.
Then the entire bullshit situation dawns on me.
Demetrius is a Cleaner. Fuck!
A gunshot rings out startling me, but it’s not mine. Blood splatters my jeans and I feel the wetness soaking through to my skin. I realize Demetrius shot the groveling kid in the face. I take a moment to recover and relax my hand. I drop the gun to my side.
Mistake number one.
Demetrius mumbles under his breath, “No body, no crime.”
His eyes, even in the blackness of the grimy room, are vacantly hateful. He shifts his eyes to me, and in that look I know...I’m marked!
I play it cool, paying close attention to where his arm is pointing. I’m not sure what he has planned for me, so I don’t want to alert him that I am onto him. Knowing this sick fuck, he’ll make me help him clean this mess up and then off me. I give him the intro he needs to see where this is going.
“What’s next?” I ask. My hands are steady as always, and I keep my breathing even.
A new shot whizzes by us and embeds itself in the wall behind Demetrius. It startles both of us. I immediately hit the ground and roll close to the wall. A garbled screech roars through the ancient building. I keep moving and stay low to the ground as I scan around me looking for an exit. I don’t know where Demetrius has gone. I’m like a rat in a maze. But my prize for figuring it out isn’t a crumb of cheese...it’s getting out of here alive. I say a silent thank you for my father being a bastard when it came to training.
I keep my gun poised and set. More shots are fired and pump into the walls, shattering and collapsing them. The yelling continues between the shots, and I can finally make out what this person is shouting.
“You killed my brother!”
Sobbing wails bounce off the crumbling enclosure as whoever is out there kneels over the dead body. “You son of a bitch! Demetrius! Where are you?!”
I strain to listen. I definitely know where the shooter is. This person is clumsy and inexperienced. I don’t know where Demetrius is...and that is a problem.
I can’t stay here. I’m too exposed. I stay low and shuffle across the floor, but only get about ten feet when I recognize the shooter is coming my way. I crouch on the floor near a doorjamb. The tip of a sneaker comes into view and slips forward cautiously. I slide my gun in the back of my jeans, needing two hands.
Don’t think, just do!
With another step forward, I lunge and grab the person around the middle trapping their arms. A startled yelp bellows out. I clasp my hand over their mouth.
Holy shit! It’s a girl!
Her cheeks are slick with tears. I tighten my grip, squeezing her as she tries to free herself. She is attempting to raise her gun, struggling. I jerk her over to the wall and press her face against it. She whimpers. I whisper in her ear as her long black hair flies wildly in my face.
“I’m not Demetrius. Stay calm, and I’ll get us out here,” I say, attempting to sound comforting.
She nods her head, but I can’t trust her. She’s too unstable and upset. I keep my hand in front of her mouth and my other arm securely around her, pinning her to me. I hear the familiar crunch of plaster.
He’s coming!
I pick her up, inches off the floor, and make a run for it. I dash over the threshold, and we’re out into the night air. I see two people crouched by the side of the building. I immediately throw the two of us down onto the ground, and grab for her gun. She screams into my hand. Within a second, I’m aiming.
“Tonio! It’s me,” a voice says that I identify instantly.
Vito!
I relax my hand, lowering my gun, as Vito rushes over to me. Behind him is Patrick.
“What the fuck are the two of you doing here?” I spit, angry at Vito for totally disregarding my instruction to stay away.
The girl who tried to blow my head off earlier, although I truly think she was aiming at Demetrius, begins sobbing uncontrollably. The crying racks her body and makes it convulse in defeat.
I’m not sure if the danger was over. I have no clue where Demetrius is now.
“Help me get her up,” I say. Vito reaches down and scoops her up into his arms. I hang onto her gun.
“We need to find cover,” Patrick orders. I agree.
Patrick and I flank Vito as he carries the crying girl in his arms.
“Who is she?” Vito whispers.
“No clue. She was shooting at us earlier.”
Patrick silences us with a look. He stalks cautiously around the side of the building towards my car. Demetrius’s Camaro is gone. It’s a good guess that he probably screwed. But Demetrius is very sly; we still need to make sure that he’s gone.
“Vito, put the girl in Antonio’s car. Antonio and I will check the perimeter and the inside of the building.” Patrick directs. Who the hell put him in charge?
We cover Vito and make it to the Camaro. He slides her in the back seat. Her hysteria seems to have died down, and she just makes the occasional sniff. Vito closes the car door then stays low behind the car. Patrick and I do a sweep and move over the entire area outside, but we find nothing.
We head inside the building. Patrick pulls out a flashlight. Mannegia, he comes prepared! The only thing we find is the corpse of the drug dealer that Demetrius killed. Patrick leans down and examines the body. Then he casts the light of the flashlight around the room.
“What are you looking for?” I ask.
“Something to wrap the body in.”
“Why would you clean up Demetrius’ mess?” I ask incredulously. “Let’s just get the fuck out of here.”
Patrick sighs. “I don’t want there to be any trace of you ever being here.” he says unemotionally. “I need to get a few things out of the SUV.”
We stop by my vehicle and pile in to have Vito drive us over to the other car, which is parked a block away. The girl is curled up, not moving, not speaking, mentally checked out.
“You get any information out of her?” I ask Vito.
“Nah, she is out of it,” he replies as he puts the car in motion.
He drops us off and waits while we get in the SUV and start it up. We head back to get rid of the body, Vito behind us.
“So what is the plan?” I ask Patrick as we get out and stand over the body. “I think that he is that girl’s brother. Do you think she’s gonna want to bury him?”
“We’re just moving
him. Getting rid of any evidence here.” He unravels a large plastic sheet and lays it next to the body. “Help me move him.”
I lean down and grab the legs as Patrick takes the gory area where the guy was shot. On the count of three we lift and place him in the center of the sheet. Patrick carefully wraps the sheet around the guy, then picks him up and tosses him over his shoulder. I open the back of the SUV, and Patrick puts him in the back, motioning for me to get in the passenger seat. We drive for about a mile, Vito still behind us.
Patrick pulls over at another deserted place. He turns the off headlights and the overhead lights in the car so the car remains in darkness when he opens the door. He opens the back and drags the body out, tossing it over his shoulder.
“Stay here,” he orders me. He walks away as if he has done this a hundred times.
A few minutes pass, and Patrick comes back, and I stay silent as pulls up beside Vito.
“Hop in with Vito, and you two drop that girl off somewhere. When she comes to, she’ll find a way home.”
“Where do we drop her?” Vito asks as I get out of Patrick’s SUV and jump in with him.
“Behind a club or something,” Patrick says matter-of-factly.
Cold! That is the only word to describe Patrick. He has daughters. Would he want someone dropping them off comatose behind a club?
“Okay,” I say. Vito looks at me stunned. “We’ll head back to the hotel after we take care of her.”
“You should get a new room,” Patrick clips and drives away. Bye to you too!
Vito looks at me like I’ve grown a second head. “We are not seriously dropping her somewhere...random?”
“Of course not!” I reply gruffly. “Head to the casino. I want to question her. We’ll give her to one of Carlo’s thugs to drive home when she’s awake.”
The events of the last hour hit me. The game is in full swing. I wrestle with the idea of whether or not I should tell Vito about Demetrius. I wonder if Demetrius has marked me on his own or if someone else has put out a contract on me. My adrenaline is slowing down, and the plague of this new information haunts me.
Vito calls Carlo. “We need a secluded room,” he tells Carlo quickly. “And a guard for the door.” He hangs up.
The girl is sprawled across the back seat, very quiet. Her chest rises and falls slowly and her eyes are closed, as though she’s in a deep sleep. So the skinny kid with the bad drugs was her brother. This is the ugly part, the destruction of family through drugs. She could’ve gotten herself killed too. How did she know it was Demetrius though? I have a lot of questions for this girl when she is coherent.
Chapter 10
Hit: To kill
Antonio:
It’s 5 a.m., and there are still people coming in and out of the front door of the casino. Don’t gamblers ever give it a rest?
Alex and Carlo meet us in the underground garage as Vito tries to get the girl to come around. Even the jostling of moving her doesn’t get her to respond, so he carries her into the casino to the elevators. We ride to the fourth floor and make our way a single room down the end of the hallway. Alex opens the door and Vito places her on the bed.
“What do we do with her now?” Carlo asks.
“I need one of you to stay with her, see if you can get her talking. I want to talk to her when she wakes up,” I order, and no one questions my instructions. “Vito and I are going back to the hotel to switch rooms, and then we are going to catch a couple of hours sleep. We’ll be back later to question her.”
“No problem,” Carlo says.
“Make sure the Doc checks her out.”
*****
Megan:
The early morning sun wakes me. I stretch and yawn under the covers, my body tired and limp. I shuffle to the bathroom and come out to find Erin sitting and waiting for me.
“What’s up?” I ask warily. Erin is never up this early.
“What do you think about me going with Clarissa to boarding school?”
I sit beside her. “I think it’s great. You should go back to school, and you and Clarissa will have a great time.”
“I’m afraid,” Erin says, ominously.
“Sometimes we have to face our fears.”
“I spoke with Doc Howie. He thinks it’s the best thing for me, and he tells me he believes I’m strong enough to go,” she says, as though she doesn’t quite believe it herself.
“Once you get involved in classes again and meet new people, it is going to help you to move forward.”
“I’m going to miss you,” Erin adds. Tears fill her eyes.
“I’ll miss you too,” I smile sadly.
Clarissa burst into the suite. “Carlo has a girl in a room downstairs on the fourth floor!” she says excitedly.
I can’t imagine why Clarissa would be so excited that her brother has a girl staying here at the casino. She sees my confused expression explains. “Not a girl for him! There was some big commotion last night. One of the enforcers told me they saw Vito and Antonio drop her off.”
My jaw drops as I go from melancholy to jealous in point three seconds. What the hell is Antonio doing with this girl?! Not only am I green with envy, but hurt that he was here and didn’t come to see me. Anger flows through my bloodstream like a disease taking over my body, even though the rational part of me knows that there has to be some kind of explanation.
“Come on, let’s go see her!” Clarissa encourages.
Even though we’re not supposed to leave the family floor without an escort, I feel rebellious right now. And all of a sudden I’m very intrigued to find out what this mysterious girl’s story is.
Erin and I head to our rooms to change out of our pajamas. I stop short at my bedside table, glancing at the small black handgun on my father gave me. I remember shooting it for him last night in the range. I remember him telling me that he felt better knowing I had protection of my own defend myself. He made me fire the weapon repeatedly, and every time I hit the target he requested. I could tell that he was impressed and proud.
I now hesitate by the gun. My father told me he wanted me to keep it on me wherever I went, so I pick it up. I’m not taking a purse, so I check the safety and slip it into the back of my jeans like Antonio does. It is bulky and uncomfortable, cold against my skin. I pull my sweater down over it. I check myself in the mirror and meet Clarissa and Erin in the hallway.
Since Clarissa lives here, she knows all the elevator codes and taps the right one into the keyboard. Erin is noticeably uncomfortable, but I’m invigorated. This feels like a secret mission, and I’m locked and loaded.
Clarissa gives Erin a playful shove. “Come on. Lighten up! It’ll be fine,” she reassures. “We’re just going to say hi.”
Erin gives us both a forced smile. “I know,” she says.
The ride is quick to the fourth floor. The hallway is just as grand as the one leading to our suite. I see Alex standing at the end of the hallway. It is totally deserted except for him. Clarissa waves, but I can tell by Alex’s stance that he’s annoyed. We shouldn’t be here.
“What are you guys doing down here?” he asks, irritated. Alex is tough and is trusted with many important tasks around here, but when it comes to Clarissa he is a softy.
“We came to see the girl!” Clarissa says pointedly.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he shakes his head. “No, you can’t see her. Go back upstairs.” Alex ticks off his sentences like a list...or maybe they sound rehearsed because he’s had to say them to Clarissa before.
“Come on, Alex!” Clarissa pleads. “We’ll say hello, that’s all.”
“You are a pain in the ass,” he says.
“I know, but you love me,” she smiles with a singsong voice.
Alex hangs his head in defeat. “I was giving her a little time to rest, so, if she’s sleeping, you are NOT going in there. Hold on a minute, let me check.”
He slips a key card into the door mechanism and slowly opens it. Clarissa tries desperately to
see around him.
He speaks softly, “There are a couple people here to see you.” There’s a quiet moment, and Alex steps aside and lets the three of us in.
Resting on top of the covers of the bed is a girl probably about my age with long thick black hair that could seriously use a good brushing. Her eyes are red and puffy with a vacant glaze over them.
“Hello,” Clarissa calls out. The girl continues with her empty stare. “I’m Clarissa. This is Megan and this is Erin.” She gives her a minute, and then tries again when she gets no response. Erin and I stand back waiting feeling uncomfortable. “Can we get you anything? Or do anything for you?” Clarissa asks.
The girl turns her head with effort and says in a ghostly voice, “If you can bring people back from the dead, I’d like my brother please.”
The shocking and unexpected words tear through the tension in the air, filling it with friction. Her words even stop Clarissa in her tracks.
Alex sticks his head back in, he must have heard. “Okay. You’re done. You said hello,” Alex says severely.
I silently pray that Antonio wasn’t the person who killed her brother. The notion creeps its way to the forefront of my mind. But I can’t hold my tongue. “Sorry about your brother. Do you know who killed him?” It is a totally inappropriate question.
“Demetrius...” The words spill from her mouth and past her lips in slow-motion. Tears gather in her eyes. I’ve upset her.
“I’m sorry,” I say again, shameful.
Erin surprises me. She doesn’t even know this girl, but she sits by her on the bed and takes her hand. Erin gazes at her with sympathy and understanding.
“How about we just sit with you for a while?” Erin suggests.
The girl does look like she needs a friend. I can’t imagine what she’s going through losing her brother. Alex backs off when we don’t ask her any more questions. Clarissa goes over to the television and flips it on, then sits on the edge using the remote to find something halfway decent to watch. I sit in a chair by the window, and Erin stays put on the bed. We’re all quiet for a long time. My good mood from this morning is all but vanished. Meeting this poor girl has blackened it. Her tragedy reminds me of the danger around us.