by Meagan Fink
“You could see the resemblance, especially in the girl,” says John, with a sneer on his face. Isaac nods, he doesn’t need to wait for the call to come in that the kids spotted with Luca are the Laskos. He just knows that they are; they must be, but mainly he knows that Luca wouldn’t dare to deviate from the plan.
After so long of waiting for vengeance, he didn’t know what to do now that he was so close. Part of him thought that all he was ever going to be doing was just chasing after them, but here he was.
There’s a knock on the door and Isaac stands up and clears his throat, he then calls for the person to enter. He wipes his sweaty hands on his pants waiting for the information that will change everything. It’s Lisa, telling them dinner was ready. Isaac sits back down with a sigh of frustration. Why was he so nervous? This is what he’s been waiting for since he was in charge.
He rubs his hand over his mouth, thinking.
“The train they were going to take was to D.C.?” he asks.
“Yes sir,” says John. Even after three years of being in charge, it was still strange for Isaac to have authority over his elders.
“Why would they head to D.C.? There’s nothing there of any importance.” he says, as he glances at the large map on the wall to his left. They were stationed in New York to be closer to Luca. Isaac had taken some men with him to America, while the rest of his organization was still back in Germany being run by his finest officer. There’s another knock on the door and Victor comes in. There’s excitement in his eyes. Isaac looks at him expectantly, there’s a pad of paper in his hands where their next move lies. Isaac nods.
“We have confirmation, sir. The girl and boy spotted with Luca, they are the Laskos---” Isaac stands up and claps his hands.
“Alright then. We will find out what station they will stop at in D.C., and then we’ll send in all our forces to take them out,” says Isaac, with finality in his voice. This is it; I will finally take out Luca and the Laskos, and finally be rid of Blackson, he thinks.
“Um, sir,” Victor raises his hand hesitantly, “that’s not all he said, there’s one other thing.” Isaac looks at him, then at John and Michael.
“OK, and what is that?” he asks, as he sits back down in his chair and leans back to put his feet on the desk. It doesn’t matter what else the boy has to say, the plan is final. I will destroy them all.
“They’re not heading to D.C. anymore, they’re heading to Florida. They will stop in D.C. but only to change trains; however, their final destination is Tallahassee, Florida. That’s where he is.”
Isaac grins. The kid came through, he actually did it. That would have been his chance to make a run for it and make a clean start, but he didn’t.
“Greg Blackson, so they really are going to see their grandfather; that’s the only choice they have now, everything is going perfectly. The meeting at the train station has sent them into a panic,” says Isaac.
“So then should we send people to D.C.?” asks John.
“No, no, give them a clear passage through D.C. Then we’ll come for them in Florida, that’s what I told the kid the plan was,” says Isaac.
The telephone on Isaac’s desk rings, startling him. He glares at it and picks up the phone.
“What?” he growls.
“Hello Isaac, this is Jason,” says an annoyed voice on the other end.
“Jason! Oh, uh, hello sir, how are you?” asks Isaac, his heart beating faster.
“Not well, why is it that I do not have Blackson?” he asks. Jason’s voice is calm, that’s bad. If he had yelled at Isaac, at least then he would know that would be the end of it. But calm, no, calm was bad, that meant he had other plans to let out his anger. And Jason was angry.
“Well the plan is going as previously hoped, our intel tells us that the Lasko children are on their way to see Blackson. Once we have a location, we will finish this once and for all, I assure you of that sir,” says Isaac, trying to sound confident.
“You assure me, huh? You sound pretty confident in your plan Isaac. The only thing is that I’ve been informed of what your plan actually is, and well, all I can say is, I’m not pleased,” says Jason.
Isaac swallows hard and scratches his forehead, how could he possibly know the plan? “And why is that, sir?” asks Isaac carefully.
“Your plan has too many flaws! So I’m sending in some of my own men to give the girl some, incentive, I guess you could call it. I’m predicting you will get a call sometime tomorrow by the person who gives you your intel. You are right in the aspect that this job will get done; the only question is who will need to finish it, you, or will I need to step in myself and clean it up for you? It’s up to you Isaac,” says Jason before he hangs up. Isaac wipes his sweaty hands on his pants. A call from the boss was not good.
“So will we still go to Florida, sir?” asks John anxiously.
“Yes,” says Isaac in a daze. What will Jason do? What incentive was he talking about? “But I have a feeling things won’t go according to plan.”
12
Tita sits across from Luca on the train and looks up and down the aisle searching for Dyton. He had been exploring the whole train and would occasionally stop by and tell her about something he had seen.
She glances at Luca, while thinking about their conversation last night. He had reacted the way she had expected, surprised.
She had decided she could trust him. He had opened up to her and told her how he felt about the things his family had done; and, as far as she could tell, it was the same way her parents had felt.
And, something about him just said “approachable.” It was something behind his eyes; the way they always seemed to be looking at everything at once, including her. She couldn’t deny that she had caught herself glancing at him that way too.
“So did your family know we were in New York?” she asks him. He had been staring out the window and would once in awhile nod off, but he seems to wake up in response to her question.
“I don’t think so. Isaac, my brother, had his suspicions of where you guys could have gone; but, no, I don’t think he had any sure location,” he says, shaking his head.
“Do you think he knows now?” she asks anxiously. He shifts in his chair and leans his head against his hand, thinking.
“You know I had thought about that. He might, but it would be a long shot. Someone would have to know for sure, and I can’t think of anyone who would. John and Michael might mention it to him.”
“The men who came after us at the train station?” she asks.
“Yeah, but, if it isn’t confirmed, then I don’t think he’d get his hopes up,” he says.
“His hopes up?”
“Well yeah, my brother has been searching for you guys ever since he’s been in charge, and that was what, three years ago? Before that it was my father, so finding you guys would be like a dream come true to him,” says Luca, shaking his head. He really does seem disturbed by that thought.
For some reason they also want Grandfather, so would it really be a good idea to gather at one spot? She wonders. But they had no other options.
“So I’m guessing your relationship with your brother is, touchy?” she asks with a grin. Every time he had mentioned him, Luca said his name with a sneer.
“Touchy is a nice way of putting it; he wants me dead, and I can’t say I don’t sometimes wish the same for him,” he says.
“That’s a little disturbing, maybe Dyton is right, you might be a psychotic killer after all,” she says, with a small laugh.
He grins, “I don’t think so, or at least I hope not.”
Three hours later they pull into the D.C. train station. Tita grips Dyton’s hand as they all shuffle their way forward. Tita looks back at Luca and smiles; he grins and then looks at everyone around them, checking for any familiar faces.
They get off and Tita looks
for the ticket booth. She squeezes Dyton’s hand one last time and then walks over to stand in line. Some people glance at her but nothing more than just taking in their surroundings. She walks up to the lady and asks for three tickets to Tallahassee.
“Here you go, your train leaves in an hour,” she says. Tita takes the tickets, but then looks at the clock. It’s 1:52 p.m.
“But the train leaves at two o’clock, that’s in just a couple minutes,” she says, frowning.
“Yes, but we were alerted to a possible German suicide bomber; but not to worry, everything will go as planned, in an hour. Now please move aside miss,” she says, motioning with her hand to leave.
Tita glances over to where Luca and Dyton were supposed to wait. They’re not there. She turns in a complete circle searching for their faces; they’re nowhere to be seen. She rubs her locket trying not to panic. Where are they? They should have been right there; she looks again at the bench where she had left them. She runs over there and again looks around.
“Dyton?” she says and looks to her left, and a few feet in front of her lies Dyton’s hat. She runs over, picks it up, and keeps running looking everywhere; any possible place they could have gone.
“Dyton!” she yells. She sees a police officer a little ways away and she runs up to him. She was desperate and, if she had to talk to an officer to find Dyton, that was what she’d do.
“Excuse me sir, have you seen two boys; one has dark hair, he’s 11, the other maybe 18 or 19 with blond hair?” she asks. Don’t panic, you’ll find them, just don’t panic. Her breathing starts to pick up and her heart rate increases, she’s panicking.
“There were two boys that came running through here a few minutes ago, could’ve been them,” he says, scratching his head.
“Okay, which way did they go?” she asks. He points to an alley a little ways ahead of them.
She nods and runs to where he directed. She slows down and leans forward to look around a corner and sees three men running down the alley toward the street. Ahead of them are two people they’re chasing; one of them looks back, and she sees that it’s Luca. She chases after them and starts to gain some ground, but then Dyton and Luca take a wrong turn, and they hit a dead end.
Luca pushes Dyton behind him and turns to face the first man that reaches them. Luca aims for the man’s jaw, but he ducks to the side and Luca catches him on the temple. Luca raises a leg to kick, but the other two men take up defensive positions around them.
Dyton looks around for something that he can use to help but comes up empty. Tita runs in and kicks one of them in the stomach and he falls back. She grabs Dyton and pushes him out of the alley and yells at him to run, but he doesn’t move.
She doesn’t have time to yell at him again, when one of the men tackles her to the ground from behind. She hits her head on the concrete and her vision goes dark for a moment, but she quickly snaps out of it and elbows the man in the ribs.
She throws the man off of her and he runs down the alley. Luca suppresses a cry as the other man hits him in the side. She runs forward to help but Luca doesn’t need it. He throws one of the other men against the wall, and he falls to the ground. Tita and Luca both face the third one.
Tita can hear footsteps going down the alley as the second one runs away. Luca’s about to tackle the third one when there’s a scream.
Tita’s heart stops. A chill runs down her spine, she knows that scream. She turns and sees the two men dragging Dyton down the alley and out to the street. Everything seems to slow as she focuses on one thing and one thing only, Dyton. He struggles to get them off but they’re too strong. She starts to run toward him, completely forgetting about Luca and the third man. She locks eyes with Dyton; she can see the fear in his eyes. He’s scared. Those men are scaring him. She watches as her brother is being dragged down the street toward a car that has pulled up, and one of the doors opens.
He yells her name and she runs faster, but her feet won’t move as fast as she needs them to. They just couldn’t take him; her mind couldn’t grasp that possibility, but the reality becomes clearer as he keeps screaming her name as he’s pushed into the backseat.
“Dyton!” she screams, running after him, but she’s not fast enough. The door closes and the car speeds down the street. She runs into the street completely ignoring the other cars that swerve to miss her. She keeps running. They can’t take him; they can’t; it’s just not possible. The logical side of her knows full well that it could be and that it was. The car that held her little brother was speeding down the street, but she kept running with tears streaming down her face.
Despite everything against her, she kept running.
13
Luca glances at Tita as she runs after Dyton. He then looks back at the man in front of him, who holds up his hand. On his palm is an insignia, the mark of the Morans. Luca glares at him; they were supposed to have clean passage through D.C., what is going on?
“Who are you?” he growls.
“Easy kid, we’re on the same side,” he says.
“Isaac said we’d have a clear passage through D.C., what’s going on?” Luca glances over as Tita runs into the street screaming Dyton’s name.
“Change in plans, Isaac just doesn’t know it yet, call him after you get her under control,” he says and motions down the alley toward Tita.
“Why’d you take Dyton? Isaac promised the two of them wouldn’t be hurt, we’re only after Blackson.” Luca frowns as all the things that have gone wrong hit him. He was only supposed to have Tita and Dyton take him to their grandfather’s, then they would be let go and his brother would forgive him for for his mistake.
Everything was going wrong; the plan had been so simple.
“Well there has been a change and you need to go along with it; contact Isaac, he’ll tell you what to do,” he says, after which the man runs down the alley the opposite way from the others.
Luca stands there for a second, thinking of what the man meant, when the sound of screeching tires comes from the road.
Tita. His footsteps pound down the alley and he runs out onto the street. He sees Tita still chasing after the car a little ways ahead of him, and he runs faster. She’s going to get herself killed, what is she doing? She can’t save Dyton now.
He pushes past people on the sidewalk until he’s running parallel to her. He yells her name but she doesn’t hear him, she just keeps running.
Luca glances ahead at the cars flying down the street; so far they’ve all missed her, but she won’t be that lucky for much longer. The crowd that he is pushing through is becoming thicker. He looks ahead to see an intersection; he glances back at Tita; she’s still not stopping.
“Tita!” he yells.
He then sees a large military truck coming into view. The driver blasts its horn but doesn’t stop, and Tita still doesn’t move.
“How many times do I need to save her life?” he mutters and runs out into the street. The truck speeds toward them; it’s going to be close. He starts to panic as he realizes he’s not going to make it. We have gone too far for her to get herself killed by a truck, he thinks, as adrenaline fills his body. And, with one final burst of energy he tackles her to the ground. The air rushes past them as the truck speeds away.
He clutches his side as he slowly gets up and helps her to her feet. He pulls her toward the sidewalk away from the speeding cars. He bends over catching his breath; and, when he stands back up, Tita shoves him.
“I could’ve saved him!” she yells, directing her anger at him.
“You would’ve gotten yourself killed!” he says, trying to calm her down. She glares at him through her tears and tries to punch him, but he easily ducks aside. The anger leaves her as sadness takes its full form, and she bursts into tears.
“It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have left him,” she says between sobs.
“Tita you couldn’
t have done anything, it’s not your fault,” he says, trying to comfort her. He reaches out to grab her arm, but she jerks away and shoves him again.
“Don’t! It is my fault! It’s my fault he’s gone, my fault we’re in D.C. If I had just stuck to my gut, then we wouldn’t have come here! If I had just forgotten about that stupid letter, we wouldn’t be going to Florida, we---” she says, but he doesn’t let her finish her rant. He grabs her by the shoulders and hugs her to him. She tries to push away again, but he just holds on tighter. She gives up trying to get him to let go and crumbles. She falls against him, sobs into his shirt with her shoulders shaking, while she keeps mumbling, “It’s my fault”.
No it’s not, it’s mine, he thinks. He keeps hugging her, trying to calm down himself. He hadn’t realized how much he had come to like the kid; but, now that Dyton was gone, he left a void. His own reaction surprised him, he hadn’t known them that long. He shouldn’t care that Dyton was gone or that Tita was heartbroken, but he did.
After at least five minutes, he takes a deep breath and whispers in her ear, “We’re going to get him back; I’ll call Isaac and make a deal, OK?”
He expected her to perk up, at least a little, knowing that her chances of getting her brother back wasn’t an impossibility. But she doesn’t; she looks up at him, and where she had been crying, a big wet mark is left on his shirt. Her eyes were red and the contrast seemed to make the blue iris glow. Her face is wet, like someone had taken a hose to her. Instead of seeing hope in her eyes, he sees worry.
“What kind of deal?” she asks, her voice rough.
Why does she want to know? As long as she and Dyton are OK, that’s all that should matter to her. But looking at her and seeing the worry in her eyes, he wonders if that’s all she cares about.
“Anything to make sure Dyton’s OK. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get him back, I promise.”
He shouldn’t have used that word. I’ll try; I’ll do everything in my power, that would work; why did I say promise? He took his promises seriously and would do everything to keep them. But watching as Tita nods and lays her head back on his chest, he wonders if that would be such a bad thing.