Falling Deep Into You Trilogy Box Set

by Terra Kelly

  Right before Danny could beg some more, Dego shot off the second round.

  “Now who plans to help me find the bitch?” he asked, wiping blood off his face and placing his gun in the holster at his side. “I have some fun plans for her.”

  Eleven

  “What changed your mind?” Ricky asked as he turned onto the main road.

  “A couple things, but it may take a while to share,” Ella said, turning in her seat.

  “We have a long drive ahead of us.”

  She gave a half smile and glanced out the window. “For starters, the picture on your table.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that picture, too.”

  “Have you met the guy who was holding me?”

  “Funny you should ask that.”

  “I’m not finding any of this situation funny.”

  “I was being facetious,” Ricky said and turned on his blinker. “The guy in the photo was the owner of a popular Italian restaurant. The place was considered a hidden gem with the locals in the heart of Toronto.”

  “He’s been living a normal life and running a restaurant?”

  “Well, from what my partner shared, nothing about what he did was normal.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When he bailed, the Emergency Task Force ransacked the restaurant. They found many of his secrets he had hidden.”

  Ella turned her head to the side. “Does this include the brother part of the story?”

  “It does.”

  “Do I have a mom somewhere in this equation?”

  “You did.”

  She rested her head back in the seat.

  “Ella, I’m sorry.”

  She shook her head. “No, I get it. If you get messed up with the likes of Giano…well, you know the rest of that sentence.”

  Ricky did know the rest and all too well. The family he was assigned to protect several years ago was the answer to what can happen when you let your life get tangled with the mob. He could still see the father begging for his life. Ricky learned the hard way that Giano didn’t care; you could beg till you were blue in the face.

  As he took the exit that would dump him onto the freeway, he thought about why he left law enforcement. He failed to protect his assignment, and four lives were lost in the process. After fifteen years serving his community, he realized he was in the wrong field. If he couldn’t save four lives, how could he save anyone else?

  “Ricky?”

  “Huh?” He turned toward Ella.

  “I said you may want to slow down. We are trying to stay under the radar not on it.”

  He backed off on the gas. “Sorry.”

  “Giano did something to you?”

  “It was a long time ago.” He cleared his throat. “You mentioned a few things changed your mind?”

  Ella let out a small laugh. “Yeah, I fucking hate Dego.”

  “Should we be more concerned about him?”

  “You should be worried about both Giano and Dego. They don’t hesitate. They shoot to kill.”

  “What can I get you both?” the waitress asked, tapping her pen on a pad of paper.

  “Turkey club and hold the fries,” Ella said, closing her menu.

  “I’ll take the special and add her fries to my order.”

  The waitress winked and reached for the menus. “Coming right up.”

  “Have you met my brother and cousin?”

  “I have,” Ricky said, reaching for a spoon to stir the sugar in his iced tea. “They have been in hiding for close to a year now.”

  “Wow, really? Can you tell me anything?”

  “I really can’t, but I didn’t work the case.”

  “Why are you now?”

  “Vikki.”

  “Wait, are you the guy she was all hot and bothered over?” Ella’s eyes went wide. “Oh, my God, you are.”

  Ricky turned his head to the side. “Care to elaborate?”

  “Ricky. The Ricky. I just didn’t put two and two together. Holy shit.”

  “So, Vikki has had a thing for me for a while?”

  “More like full-on orgasm at the mention of your name.”

  He had the same problem but didn’t plan to share that with Ella anytime soon. “Okay, let’s discuss something else.”

  She straightened up in the booth. “Listen, Vikki is a good person. I couldn’t follow through on my orders. That’s all, plain and simple.”

  “Simple, eh?”

  “Well, not simple, but it’s the truth.”

  All through lunch, Ricky was scanning the place, looking for anything out of the ordinary. When they were done eating, and the check was dropped off, there was a black SUV that pulled up in front of the restaurant. He watched as the two men hopped out and made their way into the place.

  “Hey,” he whispered. “Can you wait to use the restroom?”

  “Sure. What’s up?”

  “That SUV seems out of place.”

  Ella played casual and reached for a napkin that was in the same direction as the vehicle. She turned her head a fraction and sucked in a breath. “It’s them.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “Trust me, I know.”

  Ricky placed two twenty-dollar bills on the table. “We need to act calm, but let’s get the fuck out of here.”

  Ella stood from the booth and kept her head bent. Ricky followed closely behind with his hand on the small of her back. The moment they reached the vehicle, they scrambled to get inside.

  “Buckle up. This could get bumpy,” Ricky said as he backed out of the parking space.

  “How did they find us so quickly?”

  “It’s the Nesta mob.” Ricky glanced in the rear-view mirror. “Fuck.”

  “Quick pull into that alley.”

  He turned the corner quickly and parked behind a restaurant that was next to several other buildings and about a mile from the freeway. There was enough distance between them and the assholes to hide. When Ricky pulled into the alley, he turned off the vehicle to ensure all the lights were off. There was a dumpster in front them and one directly behind to keep them hidden. They stayed there for about two hours.

  “Think it’s safe to leave?” Ella asked.

  “They have to be long gone by now,” Ricky said, buckling his seatbelt. “Let’s take another route.”

  Twelve

  Ricky waited to get on the freeway for about twelve miles. Then he took the exit for north I-75. “I think we lost them.”

  “Don’t be too sure. They’ll find us eventually.”

  “Think you could handle driving around the clock? We can switch off driving.”

  “Sure. How much longer do we have until we arrive?”

  Ricky turned his phone toward her and pointed. “Twenty-two hours if we drive non-stop.”

  “We need snacks.”

  He reached behind the seat and pulled out a bag. “Already planned for that.” Ricky noticed how she was hesitant. “Listen, I made a promise to get you to Miles safely, and that’s what I plan to do.”

  “Why do you trust me right now?” Ella asked. “I mean, I could easily drive the SUV back to Dego’s place.”

  “But you won’t.”

  Ricky was facing the road because it had started to rain. He noticed Ella rest her head back and close her eyes. This whole situation was fucked up. He knew she wouldn’t go back to Dego. She had this look on her face when she saw the picture in the middle of the table earlier. There was more to her story.

  “What kind of music do you like?” Ella said, reaching forward to turn on the radio.

  At that moment, everything happened all at once.

  Ella’s head hit the dashboard.

  Ricky lost control of the SUV.

  And everything went black.

  “Mr. Jackson, can you hear me?”

  Ricky wanted to push the light shining on his eyes away, but he couldn’t move his arms. He didn’t know where he was or why every part of his body was in she
ar pain.

  “Sir, can you hear me?”

  “Huh,” Ricky mumbled.

  “There he is. He’s conscious.”

  He still had no clue who was talking and why they were yelling next to his ear.

  “Can you feel this, sir?”

  There was sharp pain at the bottom of his foot, so he pulled it away quickly. “What the?”

  “He has feeling in his extremities.”

  “What’s going on?” Ricky whispered, unable to get the words out quickly.

  “Sir, you were in an accident. Do you remember?”

  “Accident? Where’s Ella?”

  The loud noises stopped suddenly. “Ella? Was someone with you, sir?”

  Ricky wanted to push everyone out of the way. He needed to find Ella. Dego had her; he knew it. The assholes had to be the ones who hit them. He needed to call Miles.

  “My phone,” Ricky said, moving his hand around.

  “Here, sir.” The woman placed his phone in his hand. “Let me help you?”

  “Can you find Miles in the contacts?”

  He could hear the woman pressing a few buttons by the beeping sound. Then she placed the device by his ear. On the third ring, he heard Miles.

  “Hey.”

  “Ricky? Are you okay?”

  “I was in”—he coughed—“in an accident.”

  “Where are you located?”

  Ricky glanced up at the woman. “Can you tell my friend where I’m at?”

  The woman must have been a paramedic with the clothes and surgical gloves she had on.

  He could hear her hit End on his phone. “He said he’ll be here soon.”

  Ricky let out a heavy sigh. “Thanks.” Then everything started to go black.

  “There he is.”

  Ricky heard Miles and smiled. “I may be here, but I would rather be on an island far away.”

  “With me?”

  His eyes shot open at the familiar sound. It was Vikki. “You’re here?”

  “I am. You think I would let Miles leave me back at the house wondering how you were doing?”

  Ricky coughed. “I understand that feeling.”

  All through the night, he had dreams about Ella picking out the perfect song on the radio right before the SUV was blindsided. He tried to play the moment over and over in his mind, but everything came back empty. He never saw what hit them.

  “Where’s Ella?” he asked and tried to move up higher in the bed.

  “She’s gone,” Miles said, moving a chair over. “Like no sign she was ever in your vehicle.”

  “What now?” Ricky asked and tried to reach for the cup of water on the little table in front of him.

  “Here,” Vikki said, placing the straw on his bottom lip.

  Ricky glanced up at Vikki; she took his breath away. “Thanks.”

  “Ella really was okay traveling with you?” Miles asked.

  “She was. It was weird. She came to my motel trying to be all tough and hit on me.” Ricky gave a sideways glance in Vikki’s direction. “Of course nothing happened.”

  “Of course.” Vikki chuckled.

  “Then she noticed the photo of her with Johnny on the table. She left quickly and came back a few hours later. She had been roughed up and insisted we leave quickly.”

  “Ricky, do you think they will hurt her?”

  “Oh, fuck yeah. She told me Dego and Giano don’t think, they just shoot to kill.”

  They sat there talking for a while. Miles shared with him that Giano had finally surfaced and was on a plane back to Canada. They speculate the asshole was hiding out in Italy the whole time. He probably had a house somewhere in a small village.

  “So now what?” Ricky asked.

  Miles cleared his throat and sat up. “Well, Finley and I have an idea. Which is why Vikki is really here.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Finley has already left with Letizia. I will head back to grab Preslie and the kids.” Miles stood and walked over to the window. “I plan to take them back to Toronto to hideout. You, Vikki, Finley, and Letizia need to hideout somewhere else completely. We all will have burner phones and dump them every week.”

  “I’m fine with that, but how does that find Ella and Johnny?”

  Miles turned to face Ricky. “It doesn’t, but right now your safety is more important.”

  “Well, right now I’m a sitting duck in this hospital bed.”

  “We put a different room on your chart.”

  Ricky scowled. “So, someone else can get killed instead of me?”

  “No, it’s an empty room, but we staged it to look like you are staying in there.”

  Miles pulled his phone from his back pocket. “Shit. Listen, I have to get back to Preslie and the kids.”

  “Go. Vikki and I will be fine.”

  Thirteen

  “What the fuck was that?” Vikki squatted down beside the bed.

  “I think that was a gunshot.” Ricky flinched as he pulled the IV out of his arm. “We need to get out of here.”

  When Miles had told her Ricky was in an accident, she’d grabbed her purse and hadn’t given him the chance to argue. She had been holed up in the safe-house for several days and couldn’t stop thinking about him.

  “Ricky, are you sure you can handle walking?”

  “Only one way to find out.” He threw back the covers. “But maybe I better put pants on first.”

  Vikki ran over to the little closet and grabbed a small bag. She reached in and grabbed his T-shirt and jeans. “Here.”

  There was a lot of commotion on the other side of the door. Just then the door knob turned, and Vikki ran back over to the bed. “Tell me what I need to do?” She had taken a self-defense class with Preslie after her friend was attacked by her ex. Of course, she had not used any of the moves in a real-life situation. She glanced around and noticed several objects that could be used as a weapon. Vikki eyed the IV stand and pulled the saline bag off the hook.

  “What are you doing?”

  “What do you think I’m doing?”

  “You’re about to injure yourself with an IV stand.”

  She rolled her eyes and stood behind the door. As the door slowly opened, she stepped her legs apart and held her arms up at the ready.

  “Vikki, put it down. It’s a nurse.”

  The woman held her hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry. We need to get you both out of here. There’s been a shooting in one of the rooms.”

  Vikki set the stand down. “Was anyone hurt?”

  “Yes.”

  She glanced over at Ricky. “I thought that room was supposed to be empty?”

  “Yeah, that’s what Miles said. I guess someone wasn’t paying attention to the orders.”

  Vikki ran over and let Ricky rest his body against hers. “Are you sure you can do this?”

  “If you stay with me.”

  “Baby, I don’t plan to leave your side ever again.”

  Ricky glanced down at Vikki. “Really?”

  “Why do you sound so shocked?”

  He shook his head. “Because I took my sweet-ass time giving you any kind of attention.”

  “We’ll discuss that later.”

  “I’m not sure if I should look forward to that conversation or be very afraid.”

  The nurse stepped back into the room. “The hallway is clear. You need to take the stairway. Can you go down the stairs?”

  “We’ll be fine,” Vikki said, peeking out of the room before stepping into the hallway with Ricky. “Which way is the stairwell?”

  “Just go down that hallway.” The nurse pointed in front of them. “Then take a left. There is a sign on the left at the end of the hallway that says, stairway.”

  “Let’s go, kitten.” Ricky winked and held his side.

  “You have two broken ribs, so don’t go all macho on me.”

  “Macho?”

  Vikki smiled and carefully took each step. Ricky had almost all his weight resting on h
er, so she was finding it difficult to stay upright. “Sweetie, are you really this weak? Should I get a wheelchair and try the elevator instead?”

  There were heavy foot falls coming down the hallway from behind them. When Vikki turned slightly to see who was fast approaching, there was a man with a gun in a suit who looked pissed off.

  “Fuck, Ricky.” She increased her pace. “They’re right behind us.”

  “Go in there.” He pointed to a room.

  She opened the door, half expecting to see several people huddled in a corner. The room was a supply closet or something with a door on the other side. Vikki leaned Ricky up against the wall and moved the heavy rack over in front of the door. Then she grabbed Ricky, and they made their way to the other side of the room.

  When they stepped into the hallway, it was quiet, and two nurses were quickly moving a patient still in bed toward the elevator.

  Vikki held her hand up. “Hold the door for us.”

  There was only an inch left before the elevator door closed, Vikki could see the same man running toward them. You could hear him slam something against the metal surface, which made her jump.

  “Okay, I’m sorry to do this.” Then Ricky hit all the buttons. “You three need to leave first. She and I will wait before exiting. Is there a floor that leads to maybe an adjoining building?”

  The one woman nodded. “Yeah, get off on the fifth floor. There is a sign that says, restaurant. Just follow that sign.”

  Vikki leaned Ricky back, so she could give her shoulders a quick break. The man on the bed was asleep. “Will he be okay?”

  “He can be unhooked from the monitors for only thirty minutes, so we are pushing it right now.”

  Just then the elevator beeped, and they all stood there silent. Vikki felt her insides turn at the thought that someone was waiting on the other side of the door. Instead, the door opened to complete chaos. There were doctors, nurses, and patients walking in every direction.

  “I hope he’ll be okay,” Vikki said, helping move the bed out of the elevator. She watched the door close. “Seriously, I can handle the ride; it’s the unknown as the door opens.”