Chapter 44 #2
I make a face. “Since when has my father listened to me, especially when it comes to this life?”
“He loves you, kid. I think you have more pull than you think you do. But you agree, right? All these crazy thoughts he has? These bogus theories? He’s out there killing people because he thinks I’m working with them. I know I’m next and I’m not ready to go yet.”
It takes a few seconds to register, but it eventually hits me that he knows they just killed people in the Bonetti family. That just happened last night, and he knows about it. Someone is still communicating with him.
I go back to the sink and squeeze the sponge before turning the water up higher.
“I don’t know, Johnny.” I angle my head over my shoulder and see him peeking at his watch. “Like I said, I can try, but he doesn’t always answer my calls.”
Johnny stands up, walking up to the counter that separates us. “We can go see him now.”
“Do you know where he is?” I question.
He hesitates, and I turn slightly to look at him.
“Yeah,” he replies. “You’d have to go in first, obviously. To warn him not to shoot me.”
Liar.
“Oh. Well, I’d have to get changed, and my clothes are at my house.”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” he says, his voice sounding fast and higher pitched. “I can follow you there. Then we can ride together.”
Something is off. He wants to get me to the Bonettis, I know it.
He doesn’t know where my dad is. He’s luring me to the lion’s den instead, but offering to follow me home is strange.
I’d think he’d insist we ride together from here, but maybe this is more manipulation tactics.
Let me think everything is okay just before it’s not.
I see a shadow against the wall behind Johnny. Someone is walking closer.
“I’m glad we were able to talk,” I tell him. “I’m lucky I have someone I can trust.”
His expression falters for just a second, but then the mask is back. “Of course, kid. You know we’ve always been family. I’m sorry your father wasn’t there for you the way he should’ve been.”
I nod.
A snake to the end.
“Well, I guess we should go then, huh? Maybe once it’s all said and done, we can get a drink.”
Johnny grins, happy to be getting his way. “Of course.”
I nod, seeing just how dedicated he is to this lie. How uncaring he is that he’s leading me to my death.
He looks at his watch again, ready to spin around and head for the door. “I’ll meet you at your place, kid.”
I spot Javier round the corner, his steps quiet and calculated. I don’t focus on him, instead deciding I need to further distract Johnny.
Walking toward him, I give him a smile that I hope reads as genuine. “Thanks, Johnny,” I say.
He straightens up and steps away from the counter. I open my arms so he knows I’m going in for a hug. With some hesitancy, he does the same, and then I wrap my arms around him.
Javier’s eyes are on mine as he approaches. He’s wearing leather gloves now, and he’s got something in his hands.
“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?” I say in his ear.
“Huh?”
He tries to pull away, but I squeeze tighter. “You’re getting exactly what you deserve.”
I step back and Javier steps forward, then a wire is wrapped around Johnny’s throat, cutting into his skin. His eyes widen and his fingers immediately go to his neck, trying to save himself.
“Lift his shirt,” Javier says.
When I do, I find a gun tucked into his waistband. As I’m reaching for it, Johnny does the same, but I’m quicker. I take it and step back, putting it on the counter.
He attempts to talk, but all he can do is choke as Javier pulls him back to the chair he was sitting in.
My dad walks in, holding a familiar looking roll of Duct Tape. It’s purple, and it’s the one Father Adam bought when we needed to seal a window before the renovations started. Dad must’ve found it in the closet.
Moving quickly, Dad grabs Johnny’s arms and brings them around the back of the chair, securing his wrists together with multiple layers of tape.
Dad attempts to tape his legs to the chair, but Johnny kicks him. Javier yanks back on the wire, and Dad lands a solid punch to Johnny’s stomach.
Once his legs are taped, they both move away, leaving him with blood dripping down his neck.
“You fucks!” Johnny spits, his voice hoarse.
“I thought you wanted to talk,” Dad says.
“Fuck you, Cortez.”
“Why you in here telling lies, Johnny?”
“None of this would’ve happened if you would’ve just listened to me.”
Dad waves his hand through the air. “I’d rather die than work with the Bonettis. Why you thought it was a good idea to make a deal with them is beyond me. Your ego knows no bounds and now you’ve gotten yourself in trouble.”
“They want to kill me.”
Dad shrugs. “And if you hadn’t gone behind my back and tried to make a deal without my knowledge, I would’ve had your back against anyone. But this was all your doing, Johnny. You can’t throw me under the bus to save your own ass. You should know me better than that. I’d never let that happen.”
“You only care about yourself,” he says.
“Well, that’s not true,” Dad says, his voice calm. “You’ve learned that, haven’t you? You brought my son into this.”
“Like you care,” he spits.
Dad hauls off and lands a vicious punch to Johnny’s face. “You played him like a pawn,” he says, punching him again. “You didn’t care if you put his life in danger.”
Johnny looks at my dad, then spits blood at his feet. “He was never going to get hurt. It was to get you.”
“Like they’d let him live,” Dad says, landing another punch across his jaw. “Don’t be stupid.”
Johnny starts laughing—a hysterical sort of cackle that sets me on edge. “You’ve messed up, Cortez. You’ve really messed up.”
“Nobody’s gonna miss you,” Dad says. “If you think the Bonettis care about you helping them, then you’re even dumber than I thought. They would kill you as soon as you gave them what they wanted.”
Johnny’s eyes meet mine. “You’re gonna regret trying to give him a chance, kid. He’s going to get you killed.” His eyes slide back to my dad’s face. “And I hope you get to watch it happen.”
Javier pulls his gun from his holster and aims at Johnny’s head.
“No!” I say. “Too loud. Too messy.”
Javier slides the gun back in place, his jaw tense, eyes as dark as night. With one swift motion, he pulls his knife from the sheath on his belt and steps in front of Johnny. He looks at my dad, and after he gives Javier a nod, he shoves the knife into Johnny’s chest.
He makes a noise, his eyes going wide as he realizes he’s going to die.
Javier twists the knife before pulling it out and doing it again.
I turn away, moving to the sink where I stare at the water going down the drain.
“I’ll call the guys,” Dad tells Javier. “Get some people out here to move him and clean up.”
“I can start digging out in the cemetery,” Javi says.
“You okay?” Dad asks me.
I nod, trying to keep the nausea at bay. “Yeah.” I clear my throat. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Javier, call George. Let him know what’s going on. I’m gonna call Elio. Hopefully they can be out here within the hour. The sun will have gone down by then.”
Dad walks through the living room and lingers in the hall as he makes the call. Javi stands in the center of the living room, tapping the screen of his phone.
I watch them both move, completely unaffected by the dead man taped to the chair. Unconcerned with the blood pooling on the floor.
Javier’s hand is covered in blood, but his face remains stoic. He’s not the same Javier right now that he is when we're alone. He’s colder. I suppose it makes sense to turn off your emotions in a job like this.
I get a glimpse of Johnny, his lips parted as his wide open eyes face the ceiling.
Doing my best to not look directly at the scene, I walk closer just so I’m able to move past him and into the living room. I avoid the blood on the floor, knowing I need to start gathering cleaning supplies from upstairs.
As I’m about to pass Javier, his eyes find mine. He switches the phone to his blood-covered hand, and holds it to his ear as he reaches out with his other.
I grab his hand briefly, aware my father could walk in at any second.
“I’m okay,” I assure him. “You?”
“I’m glad you didn’t have to do it.”
I hear my father ending his call so I step away from Javier, moving in front of him.
“There’s some cleaning supplies in the front closet,” I say. “I can pull them out.”
“They’re on their way,” Dad says, putting the phone in his pocket as he enters the living room.
“George’s phone is still ringing,” Javier says.
As I’m walking to the closet, the front door explodes. Wood splinters inward as people burst through. My brain short-circuits, unable to figure out what’s happening.
Men with masks pulled over their faces burst in, holding guns.