by Ws Greer
With a jolt, Jimmy disregards the civilians in the lobby and reaches into his jacket pocket for his gun. Dominic sees it coming, and grabs his hand before he can secure the weapon. The two of them dance around in a circle while the commotion draws the attention of every person in the lobby, including someone who looks too familiar as he stands up from a chair next to the entrance.
Dominic, too distracted by his fight with Jimmy to notice the huge bald man at the entrance, finally decides to stop the struggle. He lets go of Jimmy’s hand and swings a monstrous punch at the capo. Dominic’s fist lands on Jimmy’s jaw, sending him stumbling backwards, and Dominic knows if he hesitates, Jimmy may get the upper hand because of the wounds he suffered yesterday morning. So, he takes advantage of Jimmy’s loss of balance and hits him with another solid punch to the face, knocking Jimmy to the floor.
“Dominic, we need to go,” I scream as I recognize the bald man at the door to be the same guy who put the holes in Dominic in the first place. It’s Giovanni, and the goon that’s with him is already running towards us and only a few feet away.
The goon is a skinny Italian with a gun in his hand, running full speed when he collides with Dominic, sending them both crashing to the floor. I let out a scream as the goon gets up with quick reflexes and jumps on top of Dominic, gun in hand. He’s obviously underestimated Dominic though, because as he tries to aim his weapon, Dominic grabs a hold of it and pushes the barrel to his throat. He pulls the trigger and the lobby goes into a panicked frenzy at the sound of gunfire, while the goon falls to the floor with blood shooting out of his neck like a leak in a pressurized pipe. Dominic pushes the kid off of him and gets up like he hasn’t just shot a man through the neck.
“Time to go,” he says to me, as he takes me by the hand and leads me towards the back of the building. Security comes rushing towards us, so Dominic and I have to speed our way through the oceans of people just trying to go about their daily lives. We rush into the casino and weave through the slot machines and poker tables, but we can hear footsteps close behind us. I take a moment to glance backwards and see Giovanni in hot pursuit. Security must’ve stopped to check on Jimmy and the dead goon on the floor, but Victor’s hitman is still coming, trying not to draw too much attention to himself. Being as big as he is will do that all by itself.
After crashing into a waitress holding a tray of drinks, Dominic and I find a door in the back of the casino. It’s an emergency exit, but I think this qualifies as an emergency, and we push through it, setting off an alarm that blares through the gigantic building. The people behind us don’t know what’s going on, but they don’t waste a second heading for the exits, creating the perfect roadblock between us and Giovanni. As the door starts to close behind us, I steal a glance backwards and see the large man throwing bodies out of his way as he starts to run towards us.
“We have to go faster, Giovanni is coming,” I yell to Dominic, who does his best to pick up the pace. He struggles through the pain of the bullet hole in his leg and manages to break into a half-run, but the pain is obvious on his face.
After the casino, we find ourselves in an alley, because that’s just our luck. It’s dark and quiet, with large dumpsters on each side for the casinos that use it to discard trash. I can see the pain on Dominic’s face as we try to run towards the lights on the busy road at the end of the alley, and I know if we don’t take a quick break, we won’t make it there before Giovanni comes through the door right on top of us.
“Over here,” I say to Dominic, pulling him towards me.
We crouch down behind one of the dumpsters and hope we’ll have some luck on our side for once. Our breathing is heavy and my heart may give out any second now, but the rest is needed. Dominic is in excruciating pain, and I can see blood soaking through the back of his pants. River City is only a few blocks away, but Dominic is gonna need my help to make it there.
While I think of a way to get to the street to flag down a cab, I hear the door to the casino finally open. I can’t see who’s coming, but I know it’s Giovanni. He was faster when he came after us the first time, but maybe he knows Dominic is hurt so he doesn’t bother to waste his energy.
The footsteps stop as soon as the door closes. Giovanni is obviously searching for us, and I hold my breath, hoping he’ll just go back inside when he doesn’t see us. When I hear his footsteps start up again, coming towards us, I know we don’t have that much luck. The footsteps come closer, and I make eye contact with Dominic. He’s obviously weakened, but he’s about to make a move. I shake my head, telling him not to do it, but I see it in his eyes. The decision’s been made, and there’s no stopping Dominic once his mind is made up.
“How much of a bitch have you become, Dominic?” a voice says that I think I recognize. “Hiding with your girlfriend? Wow. I thought you were a boss.”
Dominic doesn’t respond verbally, but I watch him pull the nine millimeter out of the holster under his shirt. He moves slowly so he can’t be heard as the man walks past where we’re seated. We can both see the back of him now, and he definitely doesn’t look as big as Giovanni. I think it’s Jimmy, but I’m not sure, and Dominic doesn’t care.
Completely disregarding my hand on his arm, pleading with him to stay hidden, Dominic gets up and steps out from behind the dumpster. He aims the gun at the back of the man’s head and holds it there.
“Jimmy,” he says in a cold, uncaring tone. Jimmy stops in his tracks, but doesn’t turn around. He knows it’s over for him. “Who’s hiding?” Dominic says, just before he pulls the trigger and fires a bullet that enters the back of Jimmy’s head and exits the front of his face. Jimmy instantly collapses, and blood pools under his lifeless body at Dominic’s feet.
“I never fucking liked you anyway,” I hear Dominic say to Jimmy’s corpse as I step out from behind the dumpster and get an up close view of Jimmy’s body.
The two of us look down on him, and I’d usually feel regret over something like this, but I know if Dominic didn’t kill him, he gladly would have killed us. So, there’s no regret. There’s nothing at all. It’s us against the world, and I stand next to Dominic with pride. But it’s short-lived, because in an instant, the door behind me bursts open and Giovanni steps into the alley.
I feel his oversized arm wrap around my neck and I see the pistol he’s holding aiming at Dominic. His breath is heavy and labored, and his sweaty skin sickens me, but I’m frightened. I’m scared and pissed that he got the drop on us, but it happened, and I don’t know what we’re going to do to get out of this.
“Nice!” Giovanni exclaims loudly in my ear. “Thanks for taking care of Jimmy for me, Don Collazo. Nice gun too. Toss it, don’t fuck around,” Giovanni commands, and Dominic glares at him with fire blazing in his eyes as he tosses the gun at Giovanni’s feet.
“Good,” Giovanni says, satisfied with the ease of this whole situation. “I’ve gotta hand it to you, Dominic, you’re a tough motherfucker. But you were never ready to be a boss. You should’ve killed Jimmy as soon as you found out he took Victor’s truck in the first place, then this whole thing could’ve been avoided. Oh well, it is what it is, I guess. It’s nothing personal.”
Dominic glares at Giovanni, then he glances at me. We make eye contact for a split second, then Dominic looks down at the ground, signaling for me to try to get away by ducking under Giovanni’s arm. I give him the slightest nod to let him know I understand, just before he speaks again
“You don’t know us very well,” he says with a sinister grin. “And I’d hate for you to get the wrong impression, so it’s important that I’m honest with you. Your miserable, fat fucking life will be over in the next sixty seconds. You should’ve never stepped foot in this alley. It’ll be the last place you ever see.”
As if Dominic’s threat is my cue, I lower my chin and bite down on Giovanni’s meaty arm. I immediately feel the metallic-tasting blood shoot into my mouth as Giovanni lets out a horrible scream. He pulls the trigger, but Dominic has already mov
ed, and the next sound I hear is knuckle on bone.
Giovanni stumbles back, giving me enough time to wiggle out of his grip as Dominic comes at him again. Dominic swings another punch, but Giovanni sees it coming and ducks out of the way, countering with a punch of his own. This time it’s Dominic who stumbles backwards, but he regains his footing quickly, the adrenaline of the moment numbing the pain in his leg and shoulder. He charges Giovanni just as the huge hitman tries to raise his gun, and the two of them collide and crash into a dumpster. Giovanni tries to raise the barrel of the weapon to Dominic’s face, while Dominic fights with everything in him to keep the gun down, but Giovanni is nothing like the skinny goon from inside. He is too big and too strong.
I can see the shift happening. The gun slowly starts to move towards Dominic as the muscles in his injured shoulder succumb to being overused and betray him. Dominic lets out a scream as he realizes he’s losing, but my body goes into cruise control, and the next thing I know, I’m reaching down and picking up the gun Dominic tossed at Giovanni’s feet just a few moments ago. I lift it as fast as I can and point it at Giovanni’s face.
“Stop!” I scream. “Drop it, you fucking asshole!”
But Giovanni calls my bluff. I literally see him grin at me as he continues to overpower the weakened Dominic, and the barrel ends up right in front of Dominic’s chin.
“Do it, Alannah!” Dominic screams. Then it happens.
The flash scares me, and once again, I jump at the sound of another gunshot ringing throughout the alley. My heart surges into a panic as the body falls down into a heap in front of me and I realize what just happened, and I feel the urge to scream.
Giovanni is face down on the concrete, blood oozes from the side of his head, and Dominic is still standing.
I’m not sure what to feel, or what to think. My brain is filled with scattered thoughts that make no sense apart or together, and it isn’t until I feel the warmth of Dominic’s embrace that I realize where I am and what just happened. I just shot Giovanni. I killed him.
I killed a man.
“You had to do it,” Dominic says softly in my ear, as if he can read my thoughts. “He left us no choice, and that’s all there is to it. It was self-defense. You hear me? Fuck him. You had to.”
I hear him, but I can barely register the words. I know what he’s saying is true, but I also know it won’t keep the nightmares of this night from haunting me for the rest of my life. I had to kill him, but that doesn’t mean I’m okay with it, or that I ever will be.
As tears start to sting my eyes, Dominic wraps an arm around me and forces me to start walking to the end of the alley.
“We gotta go, Alannah. We can’t stay here another second,” he says as we walk. “We’re not taking a cab either. I don’t trust anybody anymore. We’re gonna stay in the darkness of the alleys until we get to River City, then all of this is over. Let’s go.”
Our pursuers are dead, but we know if anybody else from the Family sees us, it’ll just be another fight for our lives. So, Dominic makes the right move by staying hidden and off the streets, but the walk to River City feels like it takes us all night, although it’s only a couple of blocks. My emotions are all right at the surface, ready to break through the dam, but I have to stay strong. It’s not over yet, and as long as we’re in this city, we’re not safe and there’s no room for mistakes.
Neither of us speak while we walk in the alleys. We had a plan when we left King’s Court Motel, and three people dying was not a part of it. Both of us are emotionally drained, and Dominic is physically exhausted from fighting and the wounds in his body that haven’t had a chance to even begin healing yet. I’m so tired of this craziness that I could just close my eyes and lay down right in the middle of the alley. I want it to be over so badly I can feel it in every step I take, and every breath I breathe. All I can do is hope that the stress from all of this hasn’t hurt the baby. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if it had. It might be too much for me to handle.
“We’re here,” I hear Dominic announce, interrupting my thoughts. I should thank him for speaking, because I wasn’t thinking anything good.
At the end of the alley in front of us, right next to the main road leading to the casino and directly next to the wall of River City, is the Mercedes Dominic bought me only a few weeks ago, when we thought our lives were perfect. It’s there, just like Frankie said it would be. I feel a sense of relief wash over me as we take our first steps towards it, knowing that the car being there means Frankie held up his end of the bargain when he said he’d come to River City and put our stuff in the car before we arrived. I didn’t want to trust him, but the car waiting for us is the evidence. He did what he said he would, now all we have to do is get in.
We approach the Mercedes from the rear, and by the time we reach the trunk, Dominic’s limp is so obvious I’m surprised he can still stand. Blood has soaked through his bandages and is obvious on both his shoulder and leg when he leans against the car, making sure we weren’t followed.
“You alright?” I ask, although I know he’s not.
“Better now,” he says with a playful grin as sweat rolls down his face. He looks nervous, and that makes me nervous. I don’t want to stand out here for another second.
“Let’s put this place in our rearview mirror,” I say to Dominic, who nods his head.
“Fucking right,” he replies. “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”
We smile at each other, and I feel a glimmer of hope for the first time in too long. But that hope fades when Dominic’s smile does. He sees something behind me, and his eyes have locked onto it. We’re so close to being free that I’m almost scared to turn around. I don’t want to see whatever the oncoming threat is—the threat that’s about to ruin our plans.
I force myself to turn around, and it only takes a second for me to see what Dominic is staring at. There, at the end of the street connected to the alley, is an Escalade parked next to the curb. It’s facing our direction with a perfect view of us. I’ve seen this Escalade too many times since I arrived in St. Louis, so there’s no mistaking whose it is.
Frankie.
“What’s he doing here?” I ask Dominic in a whisper, as if Frankie can hear if I say it too loudly.
“I don’t know, but we don’t have time to sit here and try to figure it out,” Dominic replies. I feel his hand on my shoulder as he forces me to turn around and look at him. “We’ve come too far to turn back now. Let’s go.”
I look in Dominic’s eyes and I can feel the desperation emanating off of him. He wants this to be over just as badly as I do. He wants to be safe just like me, and we can’t bring it all to an end fast enough. So, I trust him, just like he asked me to, and I nod my head. I’m ready.
Dominic opens the door to the Mercedes and slowly lowers himself in. He struggles a bit as the pain from the wound slows him down, but after I help him, I climb in right after.
Before I close the door, I glance back at Frankie’s truck one more time, and I feel something in my stomach that almost makes me get out of the car. I almost turn back, but I fight past it, forcing myself to turn around and close the door behind me.
Thirty seconds after I close the door, instead of driving away from River City towards a life of safety and freedom, the Mercedes Dominic bought me the night I moved in with him explodes into a giant fireball.
“I don’t really understand how this could happen. I made these reservations two weeks ago, and I have a confirmation number. I mean, what else am I supposed to do? How could you possibly lose my reservation?”
“Sir, I’m very sorry for the mistake. Just give me a second, and I’m sure I’ll track it down. It may have been deleted by accident.”
“Well, you better find it, because this guy is here now. He has his family with him, he just landed less than half an hour ago, and I need to get them checked in so they can get some rest. I don’t mean to be an asshole, but this is ridiculous.”
“I
understand, sir. Just give me a second. We’ll get it worked out.”
The manager clicks keys on the keyboard, but she knows she won’t find anything. For one reason or another, the guy’s reservation got cancelled or deleted. She wasn’t the clerk who put it in, but she’s the manager tonight, and now she has to be the one to handle this asshole’s issue.
The family standing behind him, however, looks terrified. A young black man with a Spanish wife and two adorable kids, are standing behind the older white guy with looks of horror on their faces. The family has just arrived at their new base here in Anchorage Alaska, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, and they need a place to stay until they find a place of their own. Anchorage has always shown appreciation to the military, so even if the family’s reservation has been lost somehow, she’ll make sure they accommodate them.
“Alright, sir, here’s what we need to do,” the young Asian woman says to the angry customer. “I’m going to book the family in another room, but I need to get approval from my boss first. So, just give me a second, okay? I’ll be right back.”
“Fine,” the balding man says as the manager walks away towards the offices in the back of the Lakefront Anchorage Hotel.
She weaves her way through the maze of hallways in the expansive hotel until she reaches her boss’s office. She’s the manager, but he’s the very hands-on owner who’ll deal with this kind of issue. She knocks on the closed, mahogany door and waits for him to respond.
“Come in,” he says, his accent heavy in his voice.
She opens the door and pokes her head inside, concentrating on breathing properly when she sees the handsome Italian sitting behind his desk.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Mr. Sullivan, but there’s an issue up front, and the customer is a little upset. It seems his reservation was lost and he’s kind of throwing a fit. I need your approval to compensate the family a night, if that’s alright.”
The owner of the hotel weighs her words a moment, then runs a hand over his bearded face as he gets up and walks to her.