Chapter 30
CHAPTER 30
“ A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
—Shakespeare
Beckett
What the fuck was wrong with me? I’d been an absolute fool to think I could have a normal life or that those around me wouldn’t pay the ultimate price. Mallory was scared, her chest was rising and falling from her difficult breathing. While she’d been through a lot in her life, she wasn’t prone to panics or seeing things.
“Let it go,” she said as both she and Brady pulled me toward the rows of booths.
“What else did you notice about him?”
“I don’t know. I think I was just manifesting nerves and nothing more.”
“Look! I want dat one!” Brady pointed to a huge bear stuck on a wall behind the shooting range. Toy guns as opposed to the one I had in my jacket pocket.
I continued scanning the area as we waited in line.
“I don’t know. He was dressed in all black, but he seemed nice enough, very polite.”
“Does that mean you talked to him?”
“He was at the clinic when I was leaving with the roses. He helped with the door.”
“And then he followed you.”
“That’s what I thought, but why bother?” she threw at me. “But yes. I led him away from Brady’s school. You’re scaring me. What are you trying to say?”
“Just trying to be prepared.”
“This really will never be over with. The thought of living a normal life is a pipe dream. Isn’t it?”
“Not a pipe dream.”
She sighed, heavy on the exaggeration and turned her head away.
I paid for the game, cognizant Brady was tugging on my jacket. If the man had been watching us here, he knew what my son looked like.
“Beckett. Can I shoot?”
The little boy’s vocabulary was far too extensive. “Not this go-around, bud. But let me see what I can do about winning you the bear. Okay?” I took another look from right to left, finally settling on her eyes before moving toward the counter. I don’t know what the kid behind the counter had expected, but when I hit every target with no deviation, his mouth hung open.
I just pointed toward the bear, waiting as he yanked it off the pegboard wall.
Brady was screeching so loudly I couldn’t talk with Mallory.
I crouched down and handed him the giant stuffed animal, taking a minute to look into Mallory’s eyes. “Here you go, buddy.” As I stood, I inched closer to her. “We should go.”
“And ruin this for Brady? Not a chance. For all I know the man is just a new client and nothing more. How are we supposed to live our lives if we constantly need to look over our shoulders?”
I wasn’t going to belabor the point. What I would do was make contact with Mike. Just like before, he was the only man who knew what the hell was going on and that I’d returned.
“Mommy. I’m thirsty,” Brady said.
“Then let’s get you something to drink.” Mallory eyed me carefully, obviously still nervous. Her lower lip quivered while anger spiraled up from deep within my system.
“I need to make a phone call,” I told her.
“Who?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just stay with Brady,” I instructed.
She gripped my arm. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m just checking on things, Mallory. Nothing more.”
“Hey, guys!” I heard Marjorie calling us from a few feet away and felt a sense of relief. At least I could handle the call without worrying that something might happen to them. A scarred man. My hackles were more than raised. They were electrified.
“Don’t be gone long,” Mallory pleaded.
“I have no intention of it.” I yanked out my phone after feeling my weapon. I only had the one magazine of ammunition inside. Mallory’s two friends were right there, marveling over the bear while I walked toward one of the crossroads between the various gaming units.
As I dialed Mike’s number, I constantly scanned the perimeter.
“Jesus Christ, buddy. I’ve tried calling you for over an hour. I didn’t know what to do.” Mike was exasperated. There were other sounds in the background that I couldn’t quite make out.
I pulled the phone away, checking through the recent list of calls. “That’s funny. I don’t see a single phone call from you, buddy. What the fuck are you up to now? Sending someone else to terrify Mallory and her son? I’m not going to allow that to happen.”
“What? No! I called you. I also sent you an email with photographs. Maybe the data point is too large. I did what you asked. I found out what’s going on.”
“And?”
“Hold on. Just hold on.”
What the hell was the man doing, exercising? I listened closely to the background noise and scowled. “There’s some asshole with scars following Mallory. You’re going to tell me you have nothing to do with it?”
Mike was panting. “Look. There’s not much time. I checked out those rumors I told you about and went out on a limb.”
It sounded as if the man was running. “What are you doing? Where are you?”
“Brooklyn. I’m heading to my car. I know you don’t trust me, but you need to listen to me.”
“Just spit it out, Mike. I’m finished with playing games.” I noticed a figure dressed in black and immediately headed in their direction.
“You’re not going to believe this. Ava’s dead. He killed her.”
“What? Who?” The man wasn’t making any sense.
I heard voices in the background, angry Italian voices.
“You’re not safe! You’re not safe.”
Mike’s breath was raspy and there was no doubt he was running along some pavement. “Who’s chasing you, Mike?”
“I got too close. I wanted to prove I had nothing to do with betraying you.”
“Get out of there. Go. Now!” Shit. Mike wasn’t the kind of man to delve into the area of violence.
“I’m almost to my car. He found her.”
“Who are you talking about?” I demanded.
Suddenly, there were gunshots. “He found his son. I’m sorry, Beckett. I’m sorry.”
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Shit. The news hit me hard, but how in the hell could it be true? My mind was spinning, anger and confusion rattling around in my brain.
The background voices grew louder. I remained on the line, listening carefully as I stopped where I was, turning in a full circle. Where the hell had Mallory gone?
“Well, well. If it isn’t the crown prince who fucked up his life.”
The voice on the phone was one I recognized from a long time ago. One of Gio’s men. “What the fuck do you want?”
“It’s not what I want, Michaelangelo. Or should I call you Beckett now? By the way, the woman and her child, Gio’s child. It’s only a matter of time before we find them and when we do…”
“Hear me. You touch a hair on that woman’s head and I’ll burn down New York.”
He laughed. “I’d like to see you try. Say goodbye to your friend, rat. It’s the last time you’ll hear his voice.”
“I’m sorry,” Mike gasped, his voice slightly muffled. “I had no choice.”
A single popping sound forced my muscles to twitch. With the call ended, I shifted to the email, praying to God Mike had actually done what he’d said. There were several pictures that had populated my email only minutes before.
The moment I opened the first one, I reached for my weapon. Gio was alive. I shoved my phone into my jacket pocket. The last thing I needed to do was to terrify the innocent folks at the carnival. However, I had to get Mallory the hell out of here.
“Beckett! Beckett!” A blur was close, hair flying in the wind and I was hit with a solid thud as a woman rushed into my arms.
“Jenny. Right?”
She nodded, completely out of breath. “He took him.”
“Slow down. What are you talking about?” I lifted my head, able to see over the majority of the crowd.
She was gasping for air. “This guy came out of nowhere. He scooped up Brady when he was coming from the bathroom. Mallory ran after them as soon as she realized what had happened. Marjorie went to find security. What is going on? Who would want to hurt little Brady?”
“Stay right here in case they come back.” I didn’t have time to coddle her. “Which way did he take Brady?”
“Toward the Ferris wheel.”
Fuck. I took off running, zigging and zagging my way through the crowd, almost knocking several people to the ground. There was no sign of them, the Ferris wheel on the backside of the carnival. I’d scoped out every entrance and the lay of the land because that was my training.
I rounded corner after corner, keeping the Ferris wheel in sight. What the hell did the fucker have planned?
As soon as I made it to the gate where the line began for the ride, I heard a scream. Mallory. My blood immediately boiled. With no time to waste, I bolted through the crowds, searching the entire area. She was scrambling to get to her feet, too many bystanders hovering around her. I yanked them aside until I had her in my arms.
“Baby, it’s me.”
“Beckett! Brady is gone! Our son is gone.” Mallory was close to being hysterical. “That horrible man took him. Why? Why?”
“It’s okay, baby. Where did the asshole go?”
She gasped for air, pummeling her fists against me before pointing up at the Ferris wheel. “Save him. You need to save him.”
“I will. Keep everyone back.” I pushed away from her, staring up at the ride. Well, fuck. The two of them were in a compartment that was heading to the top. I rushed toward the attendant. “Don’t let anyone else on. There’s a little boy who was taken from his mother.” There were still a few riders, enough to be concerned about, but I had no time to waste.
“I can bring it down,” the guy said.
“Don’t. Not yet. He’ll toss the child. Get security here.”
The man was like a deer in the headlights, but nodded.
Gio meant to take my life from me as he believed I’d done to him. Fuck the man. With few other choices, I moved to the structure, starting to climb.
I heard gasps coming from down below as I crawled up the interlocking pieces.
The weapon was ready to fire, but I’d need to be extremely careful or innocent lives could be lost. “Get down!” I yelled to the remaining riders. Fortunately, they all reacted to my demand, the passengers crowding onto the floor of the capsules, which would protect them to some degree.
Brady was crying, Gio laughing as I continued climbing.
“Stop right there, buddy. If you don’t, the boy will die.” Gio’s voice rang loud and clear over the roar of the people below.
I lifted my head. “You’re not taking my son away from me.”
“Like you did mine?” He was staring at me with utter hatred on his face. “What’s wrong, Beckett? You didn’t think I’d find out or survive the explosions?”
Exhaling, I stood quietly as I calculated the distance. “As if you cared about your son.”
“I guess we’ll see how much you care about yours.” He laughed insanely.
I climbed a little higher and suddenly, Brady was lifted off the seat, Gio acting as if he was going to hang my little boy over the edge.
I stopped, throwing out my hand. “It’s just you and me, buddy. This has nothing to do with Brady. I don’t give a shit about the Valenti regime. You can have it.”
He laughed again, the bitterness coming through. “You don’t get it. Do you? I’m a dead man anyway. The Russians are taking over. You just couldn’t let me take my rightful place.”
He’d been scarred by the fire, but his injuries weren’t that severe. That was an indication he’d sensed what was coming. “You were happy Lucian was killed.”
“Yeah, so what? Did you know he told me that day he was changing his mind about Ava?”
Brady was struggling and I was hesitant to move any further. “What are you talking about?”
“You convinced him you were the right man to marry her. He wanted me dead. That’s why I was there at his house. He had a gun to my head and would have killed me had you not come along. I guess I should be thanking you.”
I found that difficult to believe, but it honestly didn’t matter at this point. All that did matter was ending the hunt and saving my son. “Your boy is thriving, Gio. He’s a happy kid. I made certain of it.”
He looked away, becoming somewhat emotional. “I cared about Tessa, but she blindsided me with her goddamn pregnancy.”
“And your son?” I took the chance to climb a little higher, placing my finger across my lips to try to keep Brady as quiet as possible. He was close to hyperventilating, but the kid was as resilient as his mother.
“I wanted to love him. I did. I just… I was told to get rid of him. Do you know what that does to a man?”
“I can imagine. He’s a strong kid and growing stronger by the day. Maybe you can see him.”
His laugh was full of hollowness. “That’s not going to happen. You know that. You ruined my life. Now, I’m going to ruin yours.”
I was close, almost close enough, climbing another two feet when Gio decided to hang Brady from the capsule. I had one chance at this. I lunged up to the capsule they were riding in, jarring the enclosure. Gio lost his grip.
Brady screamed as I managed to snag his arm, yanking him against my chest. There was no chance I could reach for my weapon, not now.
Gio had his in his hand, leaning over the capsule and pointing it at my head. “For old time’s sake, buddy.”
I had no idea what possessed the attendant to ignore my plea, but he did and the moment he started the ride back up, Gio lost his balance. So did I.
Only I had an advantage. I tumbled forward, somehow managing to wrap one hand around the capsule below. Fuck.
As Gio tumbled over the edge toward the ground, the crowd screamed. Suddenly, hands were right there, helping pull Brady and me to safety. As I pulled him to the floor of the ride, I peered up at the person who’d provided assistance.
“Hank.”
He peered down at me, shaking his head. “You had me worried there, bud. But I gotta give it to you, you’re my kind of hero.”
I laughed and hugged Brady, who was only sniffling at this point. As the ride began to slowly make its progression down, I sat up, pulling Brady slightly away from me. “Hey, little man. Are you okay? You went on a little adventure.”
He nodded, tears streaming down both sides of his face. Kids would never cease to amaze me. Suddenly, his little eyes lit up. “Can we do dat again?”
Fuck. Fuck. “Not for a little while, buddy. Okay?”
As we neared the platform, bystanders began clapping. By the time I stood, there were a half dozen security men surrounding the area, two trying to do their best to keep everyone away from the body.
I scanned the crowd as Mallory pushed through, her two friends right behind her. She was remarkably calm, but I could tell it was just the beginning of the storm.
As I climbed out, Hank tousled Brady’s hair, even squeezing his shoulders. Brady acted like a big kid when he climbed into my arms and the clapping and cheering started all over again.
Mallory wrapped her arms around both of us and we were surrounded by love and support. Now she allowed herself to weep.
“Mommy. I’m o-tay.”
We both laughed as Brady tried to disengage himself from us, peering up as if no worse for the wear.
Mallory wiped her eyes, reaching out to squeeze Hank’s hand.
“Now, that was a date, Hank,” the man’s female companion said. “You’re my hero.”
I took a deep breath and pulled Mallory to me once again, kissing her head.
“Is it over with? Is this nightmare over with?”
“It’s over with.” I glanced over at Gio’s broken body. In the few minutes I’d seen and heard the agony in the man. He’d sold his soul to the devil as I had, only he’d never been given a second chance.
Right now, I knew I was the luckiest man on earth.
And I would never take anything for granted ever again.