Chapter Thirty-Two
As he walked up to my window, I slid it down.
“We want her back alive,” Gio said.
“That’s a joke,” I spat back. “You think we’d let her live?”
“Trust me,” Gio replied as he leaned against the door with his arm, “We have no reason to keep her alive. Lorenzo wants to be the one to do it.”
I nodded my head, “I can’t promise anything. We have a small, limited amount of time and I don’t plan to start off gently.”
“Just try to keep a pulse.” Gio rubbed the back of his head. “Who’s going to tell Aria?”
“Luca said to let her die a hero in Aria’s eyes. Tell her Grace saved their lives by sacrificing hers.”
“You ever heard, two can keep a secret if one of them is dead?”
“If you want her to know, that’s on you,” I put the ball in his court. “Start heading toward the museum. You know the plan.”
Gio nodded and walked toward the car that was waiting for him. Three Escalades drove off, heading toward the museum to keep the plan going as though nothing had changed. Each one was meant to have a member of il codice. Ghost had to believe each one was there.
“This is going to work right?” Alfie asked as he began to drive toward one of our underground cellars used to torture our victims.
“You can’t doubt yourself,” I replied encouraging him to be more positive.
He couldn’t know I was thinking the same thing he was.
If this failed, we were fucked. Once we arrived, I popped open the trunk to see Grace still passed out.
I hauled her over my shoulder and we headed down cement stairs to a door that led to an underground cantina.
I plopped Grace on a wooden cross attached to the wall and tied her hands and legs to it.
Alfie and I waited til she regained consciousness.
“Where am I?” Her voice groggy. When she realized her situation, she screamed out for help. “HEELP!!”
“No one can hear you,” I replied calmly.
She hung on the cross like some holy figure. One thing I loved about this was that it spun around. I adjusted the cross so that she was upside down. This made her panic.
“Why are you doing this?” She asked playing innocent.
“Really Grace?” I questioned mockingly. “Playing both the DeCarlos and the Cassarianos like a game of poker. Did you ever think you’d get caught?”
A flicker of fear on her face as she realized her fate. “This is bigger than you and me.” Her wrists bound by thick rope, she struggled to loosen them with no luck.
I stepped closer to her, my eyes narrowing as I leaned in toward her face, “You think you’re so high and mighty with your little schemes. Now you’ll pay the price.”
“I wasn’t looking to pick sides,” Grace said with a shaky voice.
“Then why help him?” Alfie questioned.
“There are secrets that need to be kept buried.” Grace began breathing heavier as she panicked. “Please, don’t do anything stupid. Aria will never forgive you.”
With a heavy hand, I slapped her across the face. The blood already rushing to her face from being upside down. “Don’t use Aria as your scapegoat.”
“It was all for Aria!” Grace shouted. “I was protecting her. Fuck the rest of you all!”
“What does Aria have to do with any of this?” I asked.
“If I helped him, he’d spare Aria’s life.”
There was this hidden undertone as though Grace was saving her friend’s life not because of their friendship but rather because of something deeper.
It was as though she was in love with her.
Did Aria know Grace had more feelings toward her that went beyond friendship?
Understanding wanting a love you couldn’t have made me understand a part of why Grace did it.
“If you tell us where he is, I’ll spare you.”
I was disappointed that I didn’t need to torture the information out of her but I could tell she wanted out of this scenario just as much as I wanted to get my hands on this ghost.
“I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.” Grace took a deep breath. “Alfie remember that warehouse we went to? You’ll find him there.”
“How do we know you’re not lying?”
“I have no reason to. Once he finds out he’s being set up, he’s going to think it was me. I’m dead either way.”
“Get her down,” I told Alfie.
As we made our way out of the cantina, Gio was waiting for us. Propped on an old Mercedes-Benz W124 with the trunk door open, his demeanor changed when he saw Grace’s face. Whatever he had planned for her was going to be bad.
“No!” Grace screeched. “You said you’d spare me!”
Alfie locked her in his arms and hauled her toward the car to shove her into the trunk.
“I said I’d spare your life. I said nothing about saving you from anyone else,” I replied pulling out a cigarette. “How’d it go for you?”
Gio shrugged as he shut the trunk door muffling Grace’s cries for help. “The explosion went off as planned. So this ghost should believe his plan worked.” Nodding in the trunk’s direction, “I’m surprised she was willing to easily talk. There’s not a scratch on her.”
“Grace knows she’s dead either way. In her mind, she did the right thing.”
We all get into our respective cars, Gio headed in one direction as Alfie and I headed toward the warehouse.