“I’m going to Charlotte’s room. We’re going to rent a movie.”
“Toni, call your mom and dad first.”
“I’ll call them before I go to bed.”
“Call now. I told your mother you’d call when we got here.”
“Shiv, I…”
“Don’t. When we’re going to a tournament, it’s Coach, not Shiv. And I’m not asking you, I’m telling you. Call your mother, then call your father. Spend time on the phone with each.”
She stared at me for a minute. “Okay.”
“Okay, who?”
Sighing with exasperation, “Okay, Coach.”
Plopping herself down on the couch in that boneless way that teens had, she called her mother and they spoke for about 20 minutes. Her conversation with her father was much briefer.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah… I don’t know. Dad sounded weird.”
“Weird how?”
She looked up at me, cradling the phone in her hands. “Like, sort of like he wanted to get off the phone and almost like he was about to cry. He wasn’t going to cry, right?”
“I’m sure he’s fine. We’ll call again tomorrow.”
Her father was Michael Ambrose. I’d hated that man for almost two decades. When my brother was a teenager, he had dated Toni’s mother for years. She cheated on him with Ambrose. When Finn confronted them at a teen club in the Hamptons, Ambrose beat the crap out of him. Toni was soon pregnant, they got married, divorced and he had to move to Las Vegas, and then Reno to find a job as a choreographer.
I was pretty confident that my Aunt Cynthia ensured that he wasn’t able to find anything closer.
What I couldn’t do, was fault Ambrose as a father. My sister-in-law is straight-up paranoid. She keeps track of everyone that intersects with her family, including people that had beaten up her husband as a teenager. We knew that he lived in near poverty and that he spent every penny possible on Toni. They spoke almost daily and he was in New York at least three times a year to see her and to try to find work on Broadway so he could be close to her.
The old anger was reflexive now. Whenever Toni spoke of her father I felt a flash of irritation, thinking of my brother taking a beating. The truth is, I had a grudging respect for Ambrose and I hoped that he was okay.
Toni went to her friend’s room to hang out with her and Charlotte’s flighty mother. I stayed and reviewed videos of the opponents my girls would likely face. My husband had taken our daughter to Brazil for a family wedding. I used the tournament as an excuse not to go. His extended family was cordial but didn’t seem to like me much.
I took the girls and Charlotte’s mom to dinner at the hotel restaurant. The three of them spent their time watching videos of my husband on their phone. He was something of a Jiu-Jitsu phenomenon and had competed at the highest of levels. His was one of three families in Brazil that were known for their mastery and Tommy was the best they had to offer.
On the other hand, I was one of the first female black belts in the US, I was their coach and I was sitting right in front of them. What was I, chopped liver? I almost dropped my fork and leaned back in my chair. Chopped liver? Where the hell had that come from? That was something my mother said. I loved my mom, but I didn’t want to be my mom. She was… Mom.
I shivered before continuing to eat my salad.
It had been a fun but tough two days. Toni had been sloppy, but she was still a lock for second place. Charlotte wasn’t doing as well, but Toni had years of training on her. She was disciplined and worked hard and it was paying off. I was proud of both of them.
This was a gi tournament and when Charlotte’s opponent twisted and took her down, Charlotte spun to avoid her back being taken. It was unintentional, but the girl’s forearm connected with Charlotte’s face. The girl popped up immediately and looked horrified. Blood was all over her white gi.
I immediately ran out on the mat. Her nose was broken and this tournament wasn’t a feeder. It meant nothing. Charlotte was laying on her back, her hands over her face. Her poor opponent just kept repeating how sorry she was.
“It’s not your fault, honey. It’ll be fine. Go see your coach.”
Charlotte took her hands from her face. They were covered in blood. “No. I’m okay. Don’t let her go. Coach, I can take her. I’m okay.”
“I’m sure you can take her, Charlotte, but we’re done for today. You’ll get her next time.”
“No, really, I’m okay. Just give me a second.” She tried wiping the blood from her face and winced in pain.
“Charlotte, we’re done for today.”
“I can take her, Coach.” I wasn’t sure if the tears were from the broken nose or the frustration.
Flashing back to when I was Charlotte’s age and Tommy’s father stopped my match when I mangled my index finger, I wondered if he felt the same mix of concern and pride. I’d needed three surgeries to get that fixed and it was still crooked.
“I believe you and I’m really proud of you, but we’re done. Let’s go see a doctor.”
Helping her off the mat, we met her mother who was standing there horrified. She was about to hug Charlotte but backed off, clearly afraid of hurting her further.
“There’s a medic on staff.” He was walking towards us as I was talking. “It’ll be okay.”
The medic stopped the bleeding and recommended we head to the hospital for a follow-up. They had an ambulance parked outside for situations just like this. Looking behind me, I tried to find Toni. We got to the vehicle and Charlotte was lifted in while her mom climbed in the back with her.
Still no Toni.
“I’m gonna meet you there, okay? You’re going to be fine. I’ll find Toni and we’ll be right behind you. Charlotte, I couldn’t be more proud of you. Really. You did great.”
Her face was swelling and the nose was affecting her voice. “Danks Oach.”
If Toni was watching more videos or flirting with some boy I was going to kill her. Charlotte was a teammate and training partner. She deserved better.
I walked the gym and couldn’t find her. She wasn’t in any of the bathrooms either. I went over to the concession stand thinking she was getting something to eat, but that was a dead end. Going outside, I walked the perimeter of the building. Toni was gone. I was going to retrace my steps. There had to be something I’d missed.
I felt my phone vibrate and yanked it from my pocket. It was her. My breathing slowed and I started to calm down.
“Toni, where the hell are you?”
Her voice was shaky. “Coach Daisy, I’m fine. Listen, my last match was over and you were dealing with Charlotte. I didn’t want to bother you. Tell her I hope she’s not hurt too bad. Dad was at the tournament. Coach Daisy, we’re going to Disney in Florida for a week. Isn’t that cool? A whole week. So, I’ll see you when I get back. As much as I like it when I’m there, Coach Daisy, it’ll be fun to not be in Reno this time. Okay?” She sounded near tears. “I’m sorry.”
I wanted to sound natural. I really did, but I couldn’t stop the iron from entering my voice. “You have nothing to be sorry about, Toni. Nothing. I understand. You have a good time with your dad and I’ll see you soon. Okay, Toni? I’ll see you real soon.”
Smart girl.
She hung up and I hurled my phone against the wall. Toni’s mother and stepfather were on a second honeymoon. They had trusted her with me. I was such a big deal. Everyone trusted me, because I was the magical Siobhan. How could anyone worry about their child when they were with me?
Now my student, the girl who idolized me, was taken from right under my nose. Did they want money? Aunt Cynthia had left me around 80 million dollars. My brother was a billionaire. If they wanted money, I’d give it to them. If it was something else… I stopped that train of thought.
I was 13 when I met my husband. He immediately started calling me Daisy because of my yellowish blonde hair and my round face that hadn’t lost its baby fat yet. It was innocent and sweet coming from him. No one else called me Daisy. No one. When my nephew was born, everything in my life changed. Until then the two most important people in my life were my brother and my soon-to-be husband. Looking at that infant, I knew that if it was needed, I would give my life for his. He called me Aunt Daisy, and I was fine with it. His younger sister followed suit.
Three people in my life call me Daisy. I make damn sure that everyone knows that it’s only those three people. Toni wasn’t one of them. And yet, she called me Coach Daisy when she said she was fine. She called me Coach Daisy when she said she wasn’t going to Reno, where her father lived.
To the world, I was Siobhan Corrigan Oliviera. To my friends, I was Shiv. To a select few, I was Daisy.
I’d been responsible for the death of good men because of my ego. They still haunted my dreams in spite of the forgiveness offered by their families. I’d killed a legendary assassin under a giant statue of Moloch and I’ve killed cultists who wanted to see the world burn. I’ve taken down hired mooks and would be-CIA agents. I’ve killed slavers in the rain on a Hong Kong rooftop and I’ve killed a mob enforcer in Queens. I’ve killed pimps, pornographers, drug dealers, and Yakuza.
Now I was going to fly to The Biggest Little City in the World and, if necessary, I was going to kill the men who took my protege.
“Pick up the damn phone!” I didn’t realize I was speaking aloud and the woman I had borrowed the phone from backed up. I’d known her for 15 years and she was happy to help when she saw my broken iPhone. Thankfully, Finn had the same number since his first cell as a teenager. I couldn’t forget it if I wanted to.
“This is Finn, who’s calling?”
“Finn, it’s me. I broke my phone and had to borrow one from a friend. I need you to send the jet here right now and I need you to look into chartering another one to get Charlotte back home as soon as she’s out of the hospital. I’ll pay for it.”
Although I’d known the woman who loaned me the phone for a long time, it was through tournaments and I only saw her once or twice a year. She raised her eyebrows when I mentioned the jet. I try to live a low-key life and don’t like to flaunt my money.
“Hospital? Is she…”
“She’ll be fine. Just took a shot to the nose. They’re setting it. I’ll call you from the jet with…” I looked up at my friend and realized I had to be circumspect. “the other information.”
“Is this your sort of a problem?”
“Yes.”
“You haven’t mentioned Toni. Does it involve her?” He was my big brother and I sometimes forgot how scary-smart he was.
“Yes.”
“Okay. I’ll have them fuel it and leave immediately. Where are you going?”
“Reno.”
“Her father’s involved?”
“Yes.”
“Son of a bitch. All right. I’ll start digging out some information. Get a cheap throw-away and I’ll have a new phone waiting on the plane.”
I’d protected my family for as long as I could remember but I was hit by the sudden realization that my brother had never, ever let me down. I turned my back to my friend so that she wouldn’t see my tears.
“Finn, thank you. I… if anything happens to her…”
“You’re not alone, Shiv. I’ll get to work right now. Get to the airport.”
I found the security guard at the soda machine.
“I need copies of all video footage from today.”
“Uhm, what?”
“All of it. And I need it now.”
“Lady, I just can’t hand that out.”
“You can and you will. Child Protection Act of 2017.”
“What?”
“One of the other coaches groped my student. My female student. My underage female student. Are you getting the picture? Unless I get that video, and get it right now, I’ll be suing the district, the school and you.”
“Me? What the hell did I do?”
“You did nothing. Not a damned thing. While a child was being groped. And now you’re obstructing justice. Child Protection Act, man!” I flashed him my PBA card from my grandfather.
I was trying to talk faster than he could detect the stench of bullshit.
“Look, you have two choices. I’m rich. Straight up rich. I’ll either sue you for everything you’ll ever own, or I’ll leave here with the video and you’ll have a check in your hands for $15,000. I don’t want you, I just want the perv.”
I was soon on the way to the hospital with a set of flash drives filled with video.
Charlotte had been x-rayed and was seeing a doctor when I found them. I waited for him to step outside.
“Okay, good news and bad news. I guess the bad news comes first. I just found out that there’s a family emergency. I have to leave for the airport right now. I know how horrible that is. Trust me, I know. If there was any way at all, I’d be with you. Please believe me. All of your bills will be taken care of. I’m leaving you my credit card.”
What sort of a coach was I? She’s sitting there with half her face covered in bandages and I’m about to abandon her.
“The good news is that my brother is sending a private plane for you. Use my card for absolutely everything. Get a meal, take an Uber to the airport, whatever. Charlotte, Mrs. Abilene, I’m really sorry. I’m going to leave you with Finn’s phone number. Call him for anything.”
“Id eddyding ohgay doach?”
“Everything is fine. Toni’s with her dad. You guys enjoy the flight and I’ll check in soon. A couple of days, max.”
I felt horrible as I walked out of the hospital. The plane would be arriving soon after I got to the airport. Standing on the tarmac, I felt like a complete loser. Someone I cared about was abducted while under my supervision and I had left a student at the hospital.
Some subhuman was messing with Toni, forcing me to abdicate my responsibility to Charlotte and putting me in a headspace I’d tried to abandon. They were going to regret this day. The plane stopped and a large vehicle pulled up next to it, hooked up some hoses and began the refueling process.
Walking over, I waited for the doors to open and the stairs to be lowered.
“Ms. Corrigan! Nice to see you again.”
Vic was our pilot. He was a kind man, but extremely forgetful. I didn’t remind him of my married name. Sometimes he called me Jennifer or he’d make sure the plane was stocked with scotch because it was my favorite. I don’t even know anyone who favored scotch. What he did remember was my daughter’s name, her birthday and her favorite cartoons. He was an excellent pilot and he was kind to my daughter. To hell with anything else.
“Thanks, Vic. You too.”
“Heading to Reno?”
“Yeah, as soon as possible.”
“We’ll be wheels up in about half an hour. In the meantime, we have your egg-salad and wholewheat bread.”
“Great. Thanks.” I hated egg-salad. “Did Finn send a phone?”
A voice called out from further into the plane. “I’ve got it, Shiv.”
For the first time in a while, I actually felt a bit better. “Hey, Jim. Thanks for coming. How long can you stay?”
“What sort of question is that? I’m with you until we’re done.”
Taking a deep breath, I relaxed muscles I hadn’t realized were clenched. Except for my husband, there was no one I would trust at my back more than Jim. We’d both been trained by George and Jim was in charge of my brother’s security.
“Jim, this is my responsibility. If you want to skip this one, I’ll understand.”
He looked insulted and shook his head. “You’re going to stand there and insult me? No wonder George liked me best.”
I laughed.
True to his word, Vic had us in the air within an hour. Eating six or seven bags of peanuts while Jim ate my egg-salad, I explained what had occurred. Jim had the plane loaded with whatever we might need. When we finished talking, I called my brother.
“Thanks, Finn. I… Hold on a second.”
Getting up, I walked away from Jim, getting some privacy. “Uhm, I don’t want to talk about this too much, okay? I’m just going to put this out there, ’cause it needs to be said. You and I have a certain, I don’t know, dynamic. I’ve always been protective of you, which is weird for a little sister. I don’t know why, maybe it’s hard-wired in me. It struck me earlier that maybe I wasn’t looking at things the right way.” I paused. “Gimme a second, okay?”
Taking a few deep breaths, I wiped my eyes before I started speaking again.
“Maybe I never thought too much about what you’ve done for me, you know? Even when we were kids, there was never a time you weren’t there for me. Remember when you walked from your junior high to my school to argue with my fifth-grade teacher? You were so… firm, I don’t know. Righteous. You’d helped me with my project and were convinced I should have gotten an A. After George died, and the problems with Tommy and when I let those men die… Good times and the worst times, you’ve always been my big brother… Look, I’m getting… I just want to say that I love you, okay?”
Was he crying? There was a quaver in his voice as he responded. “Shiv, I…”
“No, you don’t get to talk. It’s… this isn’t about you saying something nice in return. I just needed to let you know how I feel. I think I’ve had my head up my ass about this whole being the protector thing. There was never a time you weren’t there for me. Never. I need you to know that I know that. We got that covered. You have any info for me?”
He was quiet for a minute before replying. “Yeah. Toni’s father? I’ve got his credit card records and a bunch of other info. He hits one diner every single day. He’s a creature of habit. I’m going to send you everything to your phone. Jim also has a laptop for you. I’ll email copies.”
“That was quick. Okay. I’ll call when we find something out.”
“Sounds good. Shiv? I love you. I’m going to tell you something and you can just shut up, ’cause now it’s my turn to talk. The most important things in my life are Jennifer, William, Cynthia and you. If I could pick anyone in the world to be my children’s aunt, it would be you seven days a week and twice on Sunday.”
I sniffled. “You had to do this to me? All right, let me go. I’m gonna get some tissues and go over the data. I’ll call you later.”
His hands were shaking as he tried to drink his coffee. There was a huge plate of food in front of him as I sat down on the other side of the booth.
“I never really liked you, Michael. Want to explain to me why I don’t just kill you?” I was hoping he wouldn’t realize that I needed him alive.
He clutched his hands together and his eyes grew wide. “You… you need to get out of here. They can’t see me talking to anyone. For God’s sake, Siobhan, you’ll get her killed!”
“Calm down. I’ve been here for 40 minutes. No one is watching you and I have someone in the parking lot. Tell me what’s going on.”
“They have Toni!”
“I know. I need you to tell me who they are and why they want her. Take a deep breath and eat some of your toast. Calm down, Michael.”
It took him a minute and he kept looking around as if the boogeyman was going to pop up out of nowhere.
“I owe the wrong people a lot of money. A lot. They know I work at the Gold Strike casino. They’re having a controlled collapse of the Mapes hotel tomorrow. It’s next door. The Strike is closing for safety and they’re going to rob it blind. I had to get them what they wanted. Floor plans, my ID, security details, everything.”
Shaking my head, I stole some of his home fries. “How much are you into them for? Gambling or drugs?”
“Neither. I know you don’t like me, and to be honest, I don’t really like your family either. Toni talks about you like you walk on air, but you people have blackballed me from every place in the New York area where I could work and be near my daughter. But I’m not a bad guy. I’m not. They… I don’t know. It was a girl. She was maybe 13 or 14. I was here. She came up and started hitting on me. She was 14 fucking years old, Siobhan. What’s wrong with this world?”
“So… what? I’m lost. What does that have to do with anything?”
“She was a pro. The girl looked like she was two steps away from anorexia. I bought her as much food as she could eat and gave her $100. She.. she looked just like Toni did when she was that age. It tore me up.”
I nabbed some more of his food. “I’m still not seeing the connection.”
“I fucked up. I saw her a few more times and I kept thinking of Toni and how much of a disappointment I am. I never wanted to be an absentee father. I’d go through a drive-through and get her meals, slip her some cash, that sort of thing. About two months ago I found out who she was working for. I approached them and offered to buy her out. They wanted $25,000 and I didn’t have it. They said I could pay it off. That’s when things started going downhill. The vig was running and I couldn’t keep up.”
Leaning back, I shook my head. “So, they wanted you to help them with the casino. You’re such a dick. I’ve really enjoyed hating you and now you’re helping abused kids. So, where’s the girl?”
“I’m a choreographer. She’s with one of my dancers.”
“I know what you do. You trust this dancer?”
“Of course you know what I do. Your family has been hounding me for 16 years. And yeah, I trust her. She has two kids of her own.”
Reaching out, I nodded towards his plate. He pushed it towards me and I spoke while eating. “Okay. And I’m guessing they took Toni when you tried to tell them no?”
“Siobhan, I’m so damned scared. I’ll do whatever you want if you get Toni back. I’ll walk away and stay out of her life. I’ll never see her again, I know that’s what your family wants. Just… please, get my little girl back.”
Shit. “No, that’s not what I want. I’ll talk to Jennifer. She’s a little…obsessive. If someone hurts or has hurt Finn, she’ll do everything she can to make their life hell. I’ll fix whatever she’s been doing with you and I’ll do my damndest to get Toni back. Tell me everything.”
He did. What the casino was doing to prepare, where guests were being moved to, the timing of the demolition, the skeleton crew they had on security. He’d been surprisingly good at getting pertinent information without making people suspicious.
“Wait. Go back. They’re doing what?”
“Transferring the money. It’s all going to the bank in the morning.”
“And they’re going to be there in the afternoon when the other building goes down? That doesn’t make any sense. Why would they be there when the money is gone?”
“That’s… I don’t know. That’s a good point.”
“Well, what’s in the casino that’s worth more than cash? Any jewelry or anything will be moved to vaults at the bank, right? Or taken by the customers when they’re moved out. So what else is there?”
He didn’t have any answers.
After texting Jim to see if anyone was watching the exits, I went out the back door and got in the car. I told him exactly what Michael told me.
“So, he’s in this shit because he tried to help a girl that was being turned out? How am I supposed to hate him now?”
“Right? I said the same damn thing. Let’s figure this out. What could they be stealing if all the money and valuables are gone?”
“Chips?”
“No, they’ll just have new ones made.”
“Uhm, fixtures and stuff in the high-roller rooms? Do they have, like, diamond chandeliers and stuff?”
“I can’t imagine it would be worth this.”
“Maybe we’re looking at it backward. What about stuff that they could move, but didn’t want to?”
“What do you mean, Jim?”
“Well, they’ve got all sorts of vaults and safes and lockers, right? Mostly for rich guests. They keep their fur coats and fancy watches and shit in them and art and stuff, right?”
“Uhm, no. Rich people don’t travel with art. But I get what you’re saying.”
“What if someone who had a safe or vault or whatever didn’t want the contents known or moved?”
“That’s… that’s pretty good. Like proprietary business stuff?”
“Sure. Or illegal stuff.”
“I think you’re onto something. I’m going to call Cherie. Maybe she can find out who the vaults are rented out to.”
“That woman is a freak.”
“She’s perfectly nice. Why would you call her a freak?”
“I don’t know. Just a vibe. She’s some high-end hacker and she makes custom videos for kids on the side. Fell for Stacey in like, what, a week?”
“You’re just a bigot. You hate LBGT people. Why do I get saddled with all the bigots?”
“I don’t know, Shiv. I’ll ask my boyfriend.”
“Don’t. I like this one. I don’t want him to know what a bigot you are.”
He was laughing as we pulled out onto the highway.
Finn and Cherie were working on getting a list of people who rented vaults. Their next move would be to try to get past the fake names or false fronts and see who was actually renting them and what they might be storing.
Jim had spent his formative years as a Ranger, then Special Activities Center for the CIA and finally working for “Group R”, Fort Defense Group Corporation. I’m not sure what had happened and why he took the job that Finn offered, but he only dated men that were the opposite of those you’d expect he’d worked with. He preferred the quiet, intellectual type but none of his relationships lasted.
From things he’d said here and there, I’d guessed that something had gone wrong and he’d lost someone important to him, possibly on a mission. My guess was that the man was likely cerebral and kept to himself.
Calling upon some contacts, Jim had some operators flying in from New Mexico and Guatemala. He only reached out to the very best and if they balked at the short notice, we threw more money at them.
It’s good to be rich.
We had one day to get our shit in order. Getting a copy of floor plans for the casino was easy. Getting a copy of accurate floor plans was not. Finn managed to pull a rabbit from his hat and got me architects’ plans. I would have loved to have Michael go over them, but we left him alone in case he was being watched. The men who had Toni wanted him to go through his day like normal and would be taking him with them the next day.
It was a little after midnight when we got the call from an exhausted Cherie and Finn. My brother cleared his throat.
“Can you put me on speaker, Shiv?”
I did. “We can both hear you.”
“Okay, it took a while, but Cherie got us a list of people currently using vaults. Jennifer’s financial people went through everything with a fine-toothed comb. There’s only one that really stood out.”
We waited for him to continue. “Who, Finn?”
“It’s Regina Macleod. We had to…”
“Are you fucking serious?”
“Yeah, she had three shell companies it went through, but it’s her.”
“Look, talk to Jim, okay? I need to step outside for a minute.”
“Sure. Shiv, you all right? Shiv?”
Within two minutes I was at the end of the hallway. If I were prone to panic attacks, I’d be having one. Regina Macleod was the head of a criminal syndicate until I had killed a bunch of her people and went hunting for her. They had abducted my husband’s niece, got her hooked on drugs and had her performing in videos. Jim and I burned them to the ground, literally in one case.
I’d been merciful. As long as she stayed out of the country, I was going to let her live. I had no idea how she was involved, but if I had simply killed her, Toni might not have been put in danger. It had been a judgment call.
I’d felt like my life was spinning out of control and I was slipping into darkness. Father Chakowski and I had always had an odd relationship. He was a friend of the family, and I wasn’t as religious as Finn, but for some reason, the priest and the agnostic found meaning in one another. He felt like I was the daughter he never had and I found someone I could talk to about my darkest moments.
He begged me to step back and hold onto what was good and right.
And with his words whispering in my mind, I’d let her go.
When I got back to the room, Jim spoke quietly. “She’s with me again.”
Finn’s voice was full of concern. “You there, Shiv? You okay?”
“Yeah, just needed a minute.”
He filled the silence, avoiding awkward pauses. “Okay, so our best guess is that she is using the casino to store drugs. If they have 500 pounds of coke stored there, which is entirely possible if we’re just considering volume and some of the sizes of the vaults; that’s a street value of over 25 million.”
I was stunned. “25 million?”
“Possibly more. That’s going off 115 a gram.”
Confusion tinged my voice. “We left her nearly destitute. How… Finn, what’s going on?”
“I’m not sure yet, but we believe that she made a deal with Comando Vermelho out of Brazil. She’s probably their front person, handling things for them.”
“Your wife had the plane Regina was on rerouted to Brazil so they would kill her, and they end up hiring her?”
Finn sighed. “Looks like.”
I paused again. “What happens if she loses their drugs?”
“Heh. I have a hard time believing that they will be all that forgiving.”
We decided that I needed to get to the top floor as quickly as possible. Two huge benefits were found there; it had the room I wanted to use as a control center and it also had the most expensive guest rooms, two of which contained panic rooms. If I could stash Toni in one of them, we’d be set.
I could get to the top by sneaking up or fighting up, but we decided that going to the top from the outside would be easiest. The additional men Jim recruited were arriving at six in the morning. The hotel was serving breakfast until ten before relocating guests and then was closing down and evacuating. The demolition was scheduled for three in the afternoon.
Our schedule was beyond tight.
Hoping he was awake, I was on the phone by six.
Father Jesse’s voice was rough as he picked up the phone. “Siobhan?”
“I’m sorry, Father. I was hoping you were already awake.”
He cleared his throat. “My alarm is set for 6:15, so no harm done. Are you okay?”
“Me? Sure. I just thought that, you know, maybe we could talk for a bit? You remember how you told me how Finn wanted to name me when I was a baby? Or how you used to show tapes of my matches to the other staff in the rectory? Maybe something like that?”
He was quiet for a moment. “Of course. I’m going to walk and talk so I can get a glass of water.”
“You know, this was way too early. I’ll call you back tomorrow.”
“Don’t you dare, Siobhan! Don’t hang up that phone. Hearing from you is a treat and it makes my day.”
“Jesse, why don’t you ever call me Shiv?”
“I don’t know. It’s… I don’t feel like I’m one of your friends, exactly. I am, I know that, but maybe something else, too.”
It was my turn to pause for a minute. “You can call me Shiv, if you’d like. Maybe, if you want, you could call me Daisy.” I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I’d been an emotional wreck lately. “If… if we lived in a different world and I didn’t have my folks, you’d have made a great dad.”
“I… I don’t think anyone has ever said anything so kind before. Where are Marissa and Tommy?”
“Tommy’s cousin is getting married. He took Marissa down there for the wedding.”
“They still don’t approve of you?”
“Not really.”
“Siobhan… Daisy, Finn called me last night. He’s concerned. So am I. Are you all right?”
“I think so, yeah. I’m just getting older. Maybe it doesn’t make sense, but I feel like I need to let the people closest to me know how I feel.”
“I can understand that. May I ask why now?”
“It’s… I may have to do some things today. It’s just…”
“Siobhan, are you there?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you talking about things like when you dealt with that madman?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I come to you?”
“No, thank you, Jessie. I’m in Reno. This will all be over by tonight.”
“I’m going to clear my day and start praying. I have some friends that will join me. I want you to remember who you are, okay? Do what you need to do, but don’t lose yourself. I trust you and love you. You wouldn’t be doing this if you weren’t helping someone else. I’ll be praying… Daisy.”
“Okay, okay. I… I gotta go.”
Hanging up, I sat there staring at the wall. It took me ten minutes to get myself together and then I endeavored to do the most difficult task in my life. I created a video for my husband and daughter in case I didn’t make it home. I couldn’t hope to equal that challenge, so I was satisfied doing the best that I could to let them know how much I loved them. That was followed up by another for my parents and then one for Finn, Jennifer, William, and Cynthia.
When I was done, I made another video for Marissa, my daughter.
“Hey, baby. I don’t know how to tell you how much I love you. You’ll understand when you’re older and have babies of your own. This isn’t for you and Daddy, like the other video. This is just me to you, okay? I’m going to have my friend Cherie get this to Uncle Finn if he needs to show it to you.
“Without a doubt, you are the most important thing in my life. When the walls were closing in and the darkness was encroaching on the edges of my soul, I’d sit and watch you while you slept or simply hold you and everything was okay again. Thank you for coming into my life. Thank you for letting me be your Momma.
“If something bad happens to me, know that I’ve loved you with everything that I’ve had and anything that is worthwhile in me is in you. The best of me and the best of Daddy is in you. We’re gonna sing your song again, okay?”
Wiping away the tears, I began the song that I used to sing to William when he was a baby.
“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You’ll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don’t take my sunshine away
“From the first moment I knew you were in me and every second from then, I’ve loved you. Please… Please listen to the good stories from Daddy and Uncle Finn and think of me that way, okay? Mommy loves you.”
I was emotionally exhausted. Stopping the recording, I cried until I was out of tears.
By the time I was done, Jim was back with eight men and two women. He assured me that they were all professionals and he either knew them or they were vouched for. We ordered a huge breakfast to be delivered to the room and went over things.
“Here’s what you all need to know. First off, if you check your accounts, you’ve all been paid in full. If Jim says you’re good, you’re good. I don’t need to do any half now, half when we’re done crap.”
I swept the room, looking each person in the eye.
“I need to thank you. This is personal and it means a lot to me. You’re going to be set-up outside possible exits. Your only concern is protecting Toni. I have photos for each of you. If they try to escape with her or continue to use her as a hostage, you get her. That’s it. End of story. If we storm the interior, they’ll kill her. That’s why I’m going in alone. One person, stealth, snatch and run. Hopefully, you’re going to be paid very well for sitting on your ass. Okay? We all clear?” There was nodding of heads. “Last thing. Jim is in charge. Not me, Jim. Do what he says.”
I’d dyed my hair the previous night. While Jim was going over the details with them, I went into the bathroom and shaved my hair short, dressed in black, strapped on what was needed and then pulled on baggy white coveralls and a white baseball cap. As I dressed I went through my priorities. Keep Toni safe and get her out. Get her father out if at all possible. If they were a continued danger, kill the men who took her.
Cherie had altered the casino’s scheduled maintenance on their computers. We were now officially scheduled to be there at 12:30. The parking lots were closed, but I flashed my new ID when we pulled up to the guard.
“Dink Highrise Cleaning. Gotta do the windows. Demolitions are a pain in the ass. Gonna kick up dirt for blocks. We’ve gotta stand by and wait till after the building goes down then get to work.” I hitched my thumb to the other vans. “They’re with me.”
He confirmed our story on his tablet. “Good luck.”
“Thanks, buddy.”
We drove to the building as the last few employees were exiting. Using the remote, I lowered the scaffolding that Jim had set up before he went to the airport that morning. It slowly made its way down to the ground floor while I pulled out my duffle bag that I hoped appeared to be filled with cleaning supplies.
As I passed the 27th and final floor, I dug out the equipment I had discussed with Cherie in our walk-through. Climbing over the small abutment, I stepped onto the roof and jogged over to the huge satellite dish.
“Just don’t shut the fucking door. My luck, it’ll lock automatically.”
Immediately dropping into a crouch and holding still, I scanned the rooftop. On the other side of the dish was a fat guy in an ill-fitting security uniform. He was dragging a corpse or an unconscious body towards the dish.
Another voice called out. “It’s fine. I’ll put a brick in front of it. I’m heading down. Hurry up.”
“Yeah, I’m doin’ the draggin’, you’re doing the door watchin’ and I gotta hurry up? Go on, ya lazy fuck. I’ll be down in a bit. ”
I moved from one large heating duct to another in a half-crouch. When I got close enough, I saw him stripping the body of its uniform. There was a bullet sized hole in the head. Once it was naked, he rolled the body over twice and was standing next to the dish. Having to move to get a better view, I scrambled to a closer vent.
There were at least ten more corpses, all naked.
They were killing the skeletal security crew left to watch the building during the controlled demolition. I guessed that hiding the corpses on the roof instead of in a random room might buy them some time if anyone thought it was an inside job. Pulling out the Ontario MK3, I flipped off the button-latch with my thumb and pulled the blade from the sheath.
There was a large transparent section of the roof that sunlight must stream through for at least a few floors. I had no idea what the material was; probably some sort of plexiglass. There was a helipad on the other side of that section. I obviously didn’t want to be seen by anyone looking up, so I was grateful that the guy was walking towards a door near me.
He was a dozen feet from the entrance when I stepped from behind a duct, yanked his head back and jammed my knife into his throat. Angling and pulling it back, the blood splatter made my white window-washer uniform look like a Jackson Pollock experiment in reds. That was one down that wouldn’t be touching Toni. After seeing the bodies near the satellite dish, I wasn’t going to take chances. After dragging his fat ass to where the other corpses were, I stripped him and pushed his body amongst them, face down, hoping that no one would recognize him if they came looking.
It bothered me that I didn’t feel anything.
Hopping the short fence surrounding the dish, I went to the central panel and popped the lock with bolt cutters. I plugged the cord into the phone Cherie had sent with the plane and then the second cord into the slot in the panel. After a few minutes, the intermittent red to green light stayed steady at green and I headed towards the door.
Floor 27 was a short walk down. Opening the door, I peeked down the hallway, spotting a man slowly walking my way. I hoped he was just heading my way instead of doing a full sweep. There were probably 500 rooms and I knew that they didn’t have the time to check them all. I needed them to stay out of my destination and I also needed to verify which suites had panic rooms.
The bag I was carrying was to my feet and to my left. My back against the wall, staying out of sight, I waited.
The door popped open. “Hey! You almost done? What the hell is taking you…”
He was taller than I expected and the blade hit his kevlar and slipped up. Instead of entering his throat, it nicked it. Immediately clutching at the minor wound, he backed up. As he reached for his gun, I stepped in and slammed an elbow into his head and went low with the knife, below the armor and into his crotch. When his hands dropped, I slipped the blade into his throat, pulled and waited almost seven seconds before he stopped moving.
Leaving him crumpled on the floor, I grabbed my bag and went to the first door. Pulling out an electronic device that had a cable attached to what looked like a room key-card, I flipped the power on and inserted the card. A series of numbers flashed on the display and after 20 seconds the door clicked open.
After dragging the body inside and shoving it under a bed, I searched the suite. I couldn’t find a panic room. The next suite had one and I used the device to open its door. Leaving the door ajar, I checked the other suites until I found what I wanted.
They clearly knew about the Camera Room. Three of them were in there when I last checked. What they didn’t know about was the Executive Control Room. I’d helped myself to the snacks in the fridge and closet and I was eating while scanning through the up to 1,000 cameras they had throughout the casino and hotel.
The executives needed to be able to watch the security, and they did it from here. I had everything I needed except time. There was a bank of 25 monitors and I was keeping one on the Camera Room and others on each of the exits. Scanning was taking way too much time. I needed to find Toni and get her out.
I went through two bags of jerky, three bags of peanuts and four bottles of Gatorade before I spotted her. They were holding her in an office in the industrial kitchen that serves the hotel. Toni’s eye was swollen shut and the one guy with her had his hand on her thigh. She was tied to the chair and leaned slightly back, as if in defeat. He moved closer and his hand slipped to the inside of her thigh.
Toni suddenly lunged forward, slamming her forehead into his nose. It was as broken as Charlotte’s had been. I was insanely proud for a minute until I saw him stand from the chair he had next to hers. As he raised his hand to hit her, I hurriedly grabbed the microphone.
“Attention shoppers! Shop smart: shop S-Mart! Oh, and I’m going to find and kill every one of you pieces of shit.”
They both stopped all movement. He turned and looked around and when his back was to her, Toni looked directly at the camera and mouthed “Help me.”
Smart girl.
So much for the element of surprise, though. It was okay. I couldn’t let him hit her again and where his hand was heading… Fuck it. I’d just be more careful as I hunted them down.
Something was definitely off. It was early afternoon and I’d already killed two men. I just promised death to an undetermined number of others. I felt nothing. Not a damn thing. Was I growing accustomed to this or were they that deserving? Why did I find a need to come to a place of peace and resolution with those that I loved? Why was it so important for me to let Finn know how grateful I was and let Father Jesse know I love him?
There was a fear pressing at my periphery. Not of my surroundings, not of the men and not even for Toni, but of myself.
I was terrified that I had come to Reno to die.
Grabbing my phone, I went to the panic room and closed myself in. He picked up on the third ring.
“Siobh… Daisy. I’m walking out of the rectory right now. We have nine people here praying for you. What can I do?”
“I, uh, listen, I know that I walked away a while ago, but things are about to go down. Do you think that maybe you could listen again?”
“Daisy, you may have walked away from the church for a while, but God has never walked away from you. He will always be there for you and I’ll do my best to be able to do the same. Are you ready? Do you need some help?”
“No, I think I have it. Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It’s been years and years since my last confession.”
I went through my failings with the man that had been my confidant my entire life. When I was finished, I felt lighter, unburdened. He gave me my penance and told me that I was forgiven.
“Daisy, if you don’t come back, I’m going to have to tell Finn.”
“He’ll know. I have people here who will tell him I didn’t make it out.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. He can’t go through life thinking that he may have driven you to do what you do. I’ll have to tell him.”
I was stunned. “No, you don’t have to tell him, and you won’t tell him. You’ll keep your mouth shut. There’s a reason why I spoke to you. Don’t tell him a damned thing.”
“You don’t think he deserves to know?”
“Know what? That his little sister has been fucked in the head her whole life? That our grandmother hung herself when she was supposed to be watching me and I was the one who found her? That I’m as fucked up as she was?”
“Yes. He deserves to know that. If for no other reason than to have William and Cynthia checked. But he should have never been sheltered from it to start with. He thinks she had a heart attack. He thinks you’re moody. It’s not right. He can handle it. Finn’s not a little boy anymore. Daisy, I’ll also tell him why you do these things.”
“What are you talking about? I do them because they need doing.”
“No, you do them because you idolize the man that protected your Aunt Cynthia. You loved George and wanted to be just like him. More importantly, you feel like you failed your grandmother and you’ve lived with that your whole life. No one else can die on your watch. Finally, you’re afraid that you’re going to take your own life, like she did, and you’d prefer to go out as a hero. I’m going to tell him everything.”
“YOU HAVE NO RIGHT!”
“Then come back to me, Siobhan Corrigan Oliviera. None of that was discussed in the confessional. You come back and I won’t tell him. You’re the daughter I never had. Live, Daisy. Come back and tell him yourself.”
“So, you’re okay because your betrayal doesn’t involve the sanctity of the Church? You’re a hypocrite. We’re done, priest. Don’t ever talk to me again.”
My grip tightened on the phone. Enraged, I disconnected.
After watching them carefully to ensure that no one was lurking, I turned off the cameras for the stairwell I’d be using. They were scurrying like rats who realized that they might have a cat in their midst. I paused when I saw a man holding the hood a woman was wearing. I thought it was Toni at first, but she was smaller than my student.
I was looking at an angle, over his shoulder and he ripped it off her head. It was Regina and she’d been worked over. The man seemed to be yelling at her and pointing in various directions. They were on the first floor and when he pivoted to point towards the main entrance, I could make him out.
He was tall, blond and lean and had an eyepatch. I recognized him immediately. He was responsible for the huge scar down the side of my arm and I was the one who took his eye. Noah Jorgensen. The last time we had crossed paths, he had been trying to kill me as I worked my way up the flunkie mountain to Regina, the bitch who sat on the throne at the peak of that fetid hill.
They didn’t seem to be getting along as well this time. Such a shame. Just like last time, I had Jim covering my back; albeit from outside this time.
Hail, hail, the gang’s all here.
I didn’t feel any elation and I didn’t feel any excitement. I didn’t feel at all. I was off my meds and when that happens I usually felt everything slip into hyperfocus. Attention, emotions and intensity were off the charts. This time, I didn’t care about the men that I’d killed or that I’d be facing a man who had almost killed me or that I had another opportunity to put an end to Regina.
The only thing that I cared about was my loved ones and the overwhelming fear that Father Jesse would tell Finn who I really was. I knew mentally that there shouldn’t be a stigma attached to mental illness and I knew that Finn wouldn’t judge me, but that didn’t dissolve the rock in the pit of my stomach.
Switching to the camera in the industrial kitchen, I took a deep breath as I looked at Toni, trussed up like an animal, the bruise on her face pulling my attention. These people fucked with the wrong woman.
I could do this blindfolded, so watching her while I worked was simple. The velcro went around my right thigh and held the base of the sheethe down. My thumb ran over the blade before I slid it into place. My custom 3A soft armor was next. The dual holsters went over my shoulders. Picking up the Jericho 941 that George had left me, I held it in my palm, almost reverentially, and looked in the mirror. Not liking what I saw, I went back to watching Toni as I holstered the gun and it’s twin over my black turtleneck.
Another knife went into my boot and I slung the Mossberg 500 across my back. After cinching my webbed belt, I pulled on the gloves. They were also custom, lined so I wouldn’t break my hand while punching someone and with the finger holes shorn short. I thought about saying a brief prayer, but realized how much of a hypocrite that would make me.
After kissing my middle and index fingers, I touched the screen showing Toni. Turning off the bank of monitors, I then turned off the ones they were using.
It was time to go to work.
Pulling open the door, I took a step into the hall, paused and stepped back into the room. Screw it. Being a hypocrite never stopped me before. Leaning against the wall, I didn’t verbalize my simple prayer.
“Lord, I know that I’m not the sort of person that you help. I’ve been avoiding you for years. It was easier to blame you than me for what I should have blamed Grandma for. Who does that to a kid? If you can see your way to helping me out, I’m just going to ask for three things. Please help Toni get out of here, please make sure my family knows how much I love them and please keep my daughter safe. Thank you.”
Floor by floor, I made my way down the stairwell. This wasn’t like last time. I wasn’t at the casino for revenge. If someone had to go, they had to go; but my goal was simple. Get Toni and get out. I stopped at every landing and paused, peeking around the corner to see if anyone was waiting. It felt like it was taking forever, and I was on a clock.
When I was on the first floor, I tapped my headset.
“Cherie, you with me?”
“Yeah, I hear you.”
“You have control of the cameras?”
“Yup.”
“Toni still in the kitchen?”
“Sure is.”
“Okay, I’m on the first floor, she’s at subfloor two. Can you give me a count to 60 and then some sort of distraction?”
“I can do that.”
“Start your clock now.”
Racing down two more flights, I stood by the door and waited. Suddenly speakers throughout the casino started playing the jack-in-the-box song. There was something seriously wrong with Cherie. When it went through its third repetition, she yelled, scaring the crap out of me.
“POP GOES THE WEASEL!”
Cracking the door open, I lowered my head and looked around the corner. Nothing. I hustled to a long stainless steel table and crouched down. No movement. I hustled, still crouching, towards the rear door and to the offices. The scenery changed every 20 feet, the huge kitchen having stations for prep, for dishwashing, for equipment like immersion blenders and sous vide machinery and finally the refrigeration room.
Seeing his breath puff out from behind an Avantco refrigerator next to the walk-in, I hurled myself backwards just as his knife came sweeping forward. Stepping forward as he came around the corner, he lifted his gun. I pushed my back against the metal and the shot went past me. I punched him the jaw as hard as I could and he tried to turn the gun on me again. Reaching across his body, I put my back to his chest, slid down as I lifted his gun arm, twisted the arm and pulled it down over my shoulder, breaking his elbow.
Quickly pulling out my knife while kicking the gun away, I waited while he clumsily tried to swing at me with his left. Stepping in, I sliced his leg near the crotch, opening up the femoral artery. He turned to run and fell to the ground. Stepping forward, I put my foot on his back.
He turned his head to speak. “Who… who are you?”
“I’m just a cook.”
On the off chance that his shot wasn’t heard, I used the knife to end him.
Using a working-class London accent, Cherie was still entertaining them as I continued to the office. “Knock-knock… C’mon guys, you’ve gotta play along. Knock-knock. Seriously? All right, I’ll do your part.” She spoke in a deeper voice. “Who’s there?” She went back to her normal voice. “Orange…. Oh, for crying out loud. Really, kidnap people? It’s Orange who? You’re not even trying, are you? Hey, guy sneaking towards the elevators, don’t bother, I turned them off.”
I hoped that she was driving them nuts.
Stepping into the office, I saw the terrified look in Toni’s eyes as the man behind her lifted the gun to her head. He had his other arm loosely around her neck and kept her body between us.
“So, you’re the bad-ass rescue woman. Noah was practically dancing when he found out you were her coach. Unsling the shotgun and place it on the floor and slide it over here. Do it. Very. Slowly.” He plonked her on the head with the barrel of his gun. Asshole.
“You got it. Not a problem.” Watching Toni, I did as he asked. “Do us both a favor, okay? You accidentally shoot her, you lose everything. You lose your hostage, your leverage over me and your leverage over her father. On the other hand, you shoot me and you’re a hero. Point the gun at me, not Toni.”
He paused, seemed to think and then pointed the gun at me.
Toni spoke up. “Coach… I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t…”
I had my hands up and away from my body. “You know better than that, Toni. If we’re not on the matt, you don’t call me Coach. It’s Ō goshi. You know that. Only Ō goshi.”
Watching the understanding dawn in her eyes, she executed the Ō goshi hip toss perfectly. We fired simultaneously. He managed to hit my arm and I shot him just below where the spine met the shoulders.
The speakers piped up again. “Hey, what are you two doing heading downstairs? I have lots more jokes for you!”
My headset resounded with her voice. “Shiv, can you hear me?”
“Damn. Yeah. Let me adjust the volume. It’s like you’re yelling.”
She paused before speaking again and I dialed it down a bit.
“Good?”
“No. I’m using some questionable cloth to slow the bleeding in my arm, but yeah, volume’s better.”
“You were shot? Somebody… Okay, you have two coming down. Looks like to the doors to the far left. Can you block it up or something?”
“I’ll do what I can. Thanks.”
“Uh-huh. They’ve also sent someone upstairs. If he’s going to do something to the dish, I’m going to lose you and control of the systems.”
“Yeah, I gotta lot of stuff going on. Thanks, Cherie. Do your best.”
“Stay strong, Shiv. We’re all praying for you.”
“Pray for Toni instead. Look, I gotta go.”
There was radio silence.
“Toni, I’m going to cut you loose and then we need to push things against that door over there. You gonna be able to make it?”
She looked at me tying off my arm before answering. “Yes, Coach.”
I smiled. “Good girl.”
When I was close enough to cut her bound wrists, she started shaking them to get the circulation going. I picked up the gun from the corpse.
“Toni, if this wasn’t insane, I would never do this, but… well, we’re doing what we have to do.” I held up the gun. “This is the safety. Here’s how you turn it off. Extend the gun like you’re pointing at someone and gently put pressure on the trigger. Aim for the center of the torso. Okay? We’re going to get you through this.”
“Got it. Coach, I…”
I could smell the urine. “Don’t worry about it. You’ve been amazing. Let’s get going.”
She found a metal bar that we were able to put through the two door handles, holding them closed. We then pushed a bunch of prep tables against the door and ran to the third stairway. The quickest way out would be right through the front doors. They had rolling metal floor-to-ceiling gates, but they were controlled electronically.
“Cherie, can you get the front door?”
“On it. Listen, that guy is definitely heading to the top floor and he’s carrying a bag.”
“Okay, stay with us as long as you can.”
Toni was probably panicking, but she kept it all inside. I was proud of her. We made it up the two flights of stairs and I slowly peeked out and took a look. There was a bar ahead of us and then some table games. Past that was a small stage, some coin games, the lobby and the main exit.
“Toni, if something happens out there, you run like hell for the front door. Just do it. I’ll be fine.”
Cherie’s voice spoke in my ear. “Shiv, her father is on the second floor in a restaurant. They worked him over good.”
“Okay.” Fuck. “Okay. Okay.” I was repeating myself. “Thanks. I’m going to get her to the main entrance and I’ll come back for him.”
“Shiv, the guy is up on the roof and it looks like he has an explosive or something. Gate’s up and front door is open. I’ll stay with you as long as I can.”
“Okay. We’re moving. Thanks for everything.”
Toni and I crouched as we moved quickly between tables, hoping that they’d camouflage our approach. We were making good progress when some steroidal freak popped out, blocking our progress. If he was hoping for a fair fight, he was deluded. I was pulling out the Jericho as I stood and a shot rang out, just missing me. Someone was firing from our left. I dove to the ground.
I gestured to Toni. “Stay down!”
Scurrying behind a craps table, I tried to get a glimpse of the shooter. He fired again and I returned fire in the general direction. I could at least keep him wary. We stayed there for a while, exchanging sporadic shots. I had to get going again. Sitting up, I was about to gesture for Toni to start moving while I covered her when I heard some crazed yelling.
Steroid-Man was holding a huge table in front of himself and running towards me. Three shots didn’t get through the table and my attempt to shoot his ankle failed. At the last minute, he dove on top of me, keeping the table between us. It hurt like hell and knocked the wind out of me.
As soon as I got some air, I yelled. “Toni, go!”
He got to his knees, lifted the huge table from that position and slammed it down again. He didn’t have much leverage, but it still hurt. I waited for him to do it again and shot him in the thigh. He dropped the table and held his leg with one hand while reaching into his jacket with the other. I put one in his head and looked towards the entrance.
She wasn’t there. Turning, I saw her by the lobby. She was being pulled by a man who had clearly punched her in the face. She was bleeding and limping severely. Hoping he was the shooter and I wasn’t about to get a bullet in the back, I began running.
The speakers rang out. “Well, it looks like Air Cherie is ending broadcasts for the day. I’m going to sign off by saying that if anything happens to his sister, Finn Corrigan is going to put a bounty of five million dollars on each of your heads. Look him up. He’s a billionaire. He spends that on Japanese steak every year. Yippee Ki-yay, Motherfuckers.”
Rounding the corner at full speed, I saw the two of them go through a doorway to the stairs. Running full steam, I was passing a pillar as something struck me in the head. I hit the ground and rolled to my knees on instinct. Pulling loose the new Jericho, I was about to raise it when someone to my right kicked my hand and then the side of my head.
Noah Jorgenson stood there, looking down at me like a damn pirate. My head was aching and I was too dizzy to stand. Steadying myself, I forced a laugh. “Hey, Noah. How’s the eye?”
He started reaching for the patch and stopped himself. “Any answer I give you won’t matter. You’re about to be dead, Mrs. Oliviera.” He raised a pistol. “I’m going to be very wealthy. The bitch that abandoned me also kept her cash here. The men get the drugs, I’m taking the cash, Comando Vermelho will torture then kill Regina and I’ll kill off your family at my convenience. What a lovely day!”
All I could think of was my daughter as he raised his gun. Then there was an explosion. He looked up at the transparent atrium and I followed his gaze. A few seconds passed.
“Well, that was more than I expected. Guess that satellite dish is gone. And so are you.”
Another explosion shook the ground, muffled this time but more expansive. The controlled demolition had begun. He staggered slightly and we heard a thunderous clashing as the dish fell onto and partially through the plexiglass atrium. When he looked up, I surged.
It wasn’t pretty, but I got him to the ground. The gun sucked at such close quarters. He tried to stick it into my side, but I got ahold of his pinkie, twisted it back and broke it. I then pulled his gun hand to me and bit his wrist as hard as I could. I spit out blood as the gun fell to the floor.
I had my hands around his throat, still fighting the vertigo from my swimming head. “Going to… going to kill my family, Noah? Going to kill my family? How’s that working out for you?”
Shifting his hips, he swung his leg up, trying to get it around my neck. His ground game wasn’t strong. He had a knife on him and tried to stab me in the kidneys. The blade slid off my armor. His face was turning purple.
“My family, Noah? My family!”
He managed to stick the knife into my thigh. I wasn’t going to let go. He’d escaped last time. Noah wasn’t going to escape my hands around his throat.
A bullet struck me in the ribs. It hurt like hell, regardless of how much I’d spent on the armor. I fell back, clutching my side. Some mook was standing there aiming and fired again. Behind him, two sets of two men were carrying large fiberglass chests out the front door.
I looked from Noah to his friend as another bullet hit the marble behind me. Son of a bitch. Clambering to my feet, the knife fell from my thigh. I hustled as fast as I could to the door the other guy had taken Toni through. I heard Noah’s raspy voice behind me.
“You’re wearing jeggings? Amateur!”
Flight after flight, I made my way up. Toni’s blood was a substitute for Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs. I was thoroughly exhausted halfway up and I had no idea how much blood of my own that I’d lost.
When I got to the roof, I saw Noah and another man standing near the helipad. He must have gotten the elevators working. God has to hate me. I was sucking in ragged breaths. They each had a rucksack that I assumed was filled with cash. As fast as I could, I moved towards them. Noah took a shotgun from the top of his bag, pivoted and shot to my right, shot again and then once more.
I slung my Mossberg over my shoulder and he just smiled and shook his head. I could hear the sound of the approaching helicopter.
It was a beautiful clear sky and the debris from the demolition was still floating in the air. He yelled across the rooftop. “Make a choice, Siobhan! Me,” He pointed. “Or her.”
Toni was laying near the hole in the plexiglass, seemingly unconscious.
He called out again. “It’s falling apart. I’ll follow your lead. Do we continue to dance or do you save your protege?”
I used every curse I could remember, regardless of language and made my way towards Toni. Noah was right. The structure was falling apart. I tried to follow the lines of the support beams, constantly edging closer to her. He’d fired near her, speeding up the destruction of this section. I got to a point where I had to crawl. My arm was hurting like hell and I couldn’t feel my leg.
When I got to her, I shook Toni gently and then slapped her face. I unhooked my belt and cinched it around her waist. There were cables all around us, stretching from where the dish had been set up to where it now hung, three floors down. As best as I could, I tied a loose cable that I hoped was permanently dead around the belt. The last thing that I wanted was for the power to come on and electrocute her.
I slapped her again. “Hey! Get up! Wake the fuck up, right now!”
She slowly stirred. I slapped her again. “Toni, wake up!”
The two of us slowly crawled back towards where the satellite dish used to rest. I looked over my shoulder as the helicopter landed.
“Be seeing you, Siobhan!”
Yeah, fuck you, too.
The first piece didn’t fall, it slid. When I shifted, another piece slid, and then fell. “Toni, keep going! Keep going!”
Another piece near me slid and then the whole panel under me came loose and I was falling. I grabbed a random cable and tried to hold on. It slowed me down, but I couldn’t support my weight. I kept sliding then stopping, slipping then gripping. Finally I lost control and fell. My back slammed into the dish that was suspended about 200 feet in the air by the countless cables. I must have broken at least two ribs and my bleeding arm was now out of the socket.
The dish pushed in one direction when I hit it and then swung back in another. It pulled loose from some of the cables and fell another two floors. I tried to hold on with my good arm. It swung again and when it was near the apex of the arc, I let go. I fell another dozen feet and landed on my back on a walkway in front of a gift shop.
I had no idea how long I was laying there. I thought my spine was broken until I realized that I felt someone kicking my foot. I didn’t think you could feel your feet with a broken back. Marissa and Tommy were standing in front of me and she was wearing the dress from her Christening. Tommy, why would you do that? She’s too big for that. My daughter was reaching for me and the two of them began to fade.
Beyond them lay the cables in the open air atrium holding up the wreckage of the dish.
To the right of the dish hung my grandmother.
I felt the kicking again. “…ake up, bitch. Wake up.”
Something was wrong with my head. I was able to open my left eye a bit and the light blinded me. Closing it, I waited and tried again. It took four attempts, but I finally had it open.
“Awake now, psycho?” Regina stood over me, .22 in her hand. Figures. A .22. I would have laughed at her if I could move anything other than my eyelid. She looked like I felt. Noah must have put a hell of a beating on her.
“You stole everything from me and when I finally scraped something together, Noah comes out of nowhere and takes what I regained. And he did this! This!” She gestured towards her broken face.
“Yes, Comando Vermelho will kill me. I know that. But you’re getting to hell before I am.”
“Skay. Skay. Skay”
“What? What the hell are you saying?”
“Skay. Pll da trger. Do it. M’ready.”
“You don’t tell me! I’m doing this! I decided and now I’m going to end your miserable life!”
I let out a weak, sad imitation of a laugh. “Jm’s gunna kll you.”
“Fuck Jim and fuck you.” She lifted the pistol and aimed at my head. It was okay. They were better off without me.
The sound of the shotgun preceded the bullet that landed next to my ear. Regina was almost cut in half. Michael stood behind her, holding my Mossberg. Tears were streaming down his face.
“I… She was going to shoot you. I…” He turned and puked. Amateur.
Nineteen months had gone by. I’d needed three surgeries and Stacey said I was down to twenty percent hearing in my left ear. That likely wasn’t going to change. The cops had found seven ambitious thieves with 321 pounds of cocaine and bullet wounds in their legs outside the casino. Jim got me, Toni and her father back to Montauk.
Regina’s corpse was found in front of a 24 hour diner in Reno a week later. Comando Vermelho had made an example of her and the remains were gruesome. I’m guessing that few knew they had nothing to do with her death.
Noah?
He got away clean. He was into the wind, literally. I was never sure if he was unaware of my relationship with Toni or if drawing me in was part of his plan.
I sat in a comfortable chair with my leg propped up on the bed, George’s Jericho 941 in my lap. That leg was never going to work the same again. The warm Carribean breeze flowed into the suite from the patio. I could smell the sea as I waited patiently. The room’s phone rang and I ignored it.
He was dressing better these days. The closets were filled with bespoke suits. The phone rang again, once more ignored. I’d raided his refrigerator and enjoyed some macadamia nuts and coconut milk. They were really pimping the whole tropical paradise motiff.
When the phone rang again, I limped over and picked it up, wincing at the pain in my shoulder. He didn’t wait for me to speak.
“My compliments to your brother, Siobhan.”
I walked out to the patio. Noah was wearing white cotton pants, a yellow and blue button down and a straw hat. He looked up at me as I stood six floors above him. Pulling his hat off, he gave me a slight bow.
“I don’t know how he keeps finding me. Your aunt was some sort of information broker, right? I guess he followed in her footsteps. How long are we going to play this game?”
“We’re done, Noah.”
“We have an agreement? You don’t come after me and I don’t come after your family?”
Maybe I was finally growing up. I didn’t need to watch the light dim in his eyes as he left for his final judgement. There was no push for him to have me be the last thing he sees. I just wanted it over and to get back to my husband and daughter.
“I won’t be following you for quite a few years and you certainly won’t be going after my family. Say hello to Regina, Noah.” I hung up.
I’d seen him make more difficult shots. The sound of the report wasn’t as loud as I’d expected. Jim shot him three times within a couple of seconds. A fourth struck the head just to be sure. He’d be disassembling the rifle and heading off the roof by the time I was out of the room.
Jim beat me to the tarmac. I had no idea how, but then he was better than I was at a lot of things. It galled me to no end. If it ever came up, he would just smile and tell me that’s why George liked him better than me.
I was sitting in the dark and it smelled vaguely like PineSol. I don’t have any issues with claustrophobia, but this was a bit much. I heard the door open and then close and I began before he could speak.
“Forgive me Father. It’s been one year and seven months since my last confession, since I cut a man I love out of my life. I… I need him back. I need my friend. I need my advisor. I need my confidant. I need to tell him how sorry I am.” Leaning back, I rested my head against the wall. “I need him to come back into my life.”
“He never left, Siobhan. He just waited patiently, loving you from a distance.”
“It’s Daisy, Father.”
“Welcome back, Daisy.”
As always, with thanks to the Left Foot, Right Foot Society. My gratitude also goes out to Steve M for his always salient feedback. Cherie courtesy of Todd. This story is dedicated to Mad Dog for prompting me to write it.
This is my 50th posting to Literotica. The readers, fellow authors, volunteer editors and critics have been very kind. I appreciate their generosity of spirit.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.