Dante's Redemption

by Jaime Whitley

  “Is there a problem, officer?” I speak first, making sure Riggs doesn’t expose me.

  “What are the two of you doing out here?” Looking between the two of us, he rests his hand on his holstered gun.

  “I don’t believe that’s any of your business.” I place my arms down to my side.

  “Tell me, officer, is it illegal to stand on public property and have a conversation these days?” Angelo taunts.

  “What’s with the extra cars? Who else are you meeting?” Riggs demands answers.

  “Let’s just call it added security. Now if you’ll excuse us.” Angelo looks at me with a pissed off look. “Dante, let’s go. I’ll give you a ride.” Seeing Riggs’ jaw tick, I know he would prefer me to stay, but that’s not an option. Something went wrong today and I need to find out what. This is why we made an extraction plan and he needs to trust that if I need it, I’ll use it.

  Following him to the town car, we get in and drive out of the lot. “Mind telling me what that was all about?” Angelo is looking out the back window making sure we don’t have a tail on us.

  “Drive around until I tell you otherwise.” He says to the driver.

  “Shit man, my car is still there with all the supplies in it. This is not good.” I pretend to stress about getting arrested.

  “Relax, Killian is there and as soon as everyone clears out, he’s going to hot wire it and bring it to us.” He grins at me like he’s my damn savior.

  “Thanks, man. So what the hell happened? How did they know we were going to be there? Why didn’t you warn me? You’re Mr. Onorato’s right hand man, you had to know this was going on.” Angelo is the type of guy who needs to feel like he’s important, so if you build him up he will tell you whatever you want to know. Except for today, apparently. Not answering my question, he remains silent and only speaks when giving the driver an address.

  Pulling up to the docks, the driver parks the car but leaves it running. I have a sick feeling in my stomach and I know something is very wrong. Thankful that I have my gun on me, I make sure to walk behind Angelo so he doesn’t have a chance to grab it when I’m not looking. Sweat is dripping down the sides of my temples and I quickly wipe them away with my shaky hands before we enter the building. My chest is tightening as my breathing becomes heavy. Shit, I need to pull myself together or else they will see right through me. I think of Ava and our baby and how I need to focus so I can make it home to them. That thought alone helps me calm my nerves and makes my breathing easier.

  As I enter the room, I see Sal, Michael, and a girl I’ve only seen in photographs before. They are all seated in chairs around a folding table and I eye Michael when I walk in, but he doesn’t make eye contact with me.

  “Angelo, there you are. Thank you for bringing our guest. Dante, please have a seat.” Sal’s voice sounds warm and welcoming but I know it’s anything but. Regardless, I do as he says and take the empty seat. Angelo walks around the table and stands behind Michael and his sister Nicole.

  “Am I interrupting a family thing? I can wait outside if you prefer.”

  “That won’t be necessary. This shouldn’t take long.” Nodding his head, Angelo pulls out his gun and places it to the back of Nicole’s head.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Standing abruptly, the chair slides back and tumbles over to the floor. Reaching my hand behind my back, I rest it on my gun waiting to draw it if I have to.

  “Dad! Have you lost your mind?” Michael goes to put his hand on Nicole, but Angelo moves the gun towards him. He freezes in his chair as the gun is turned back onto his sister. Nicole is hysterically crying, looking to Michael for help. She has no idea what Michael has done and she is an innocent bystander in all of this. We are all yelling at Sal and our booming voices all blend together.

  “Quiet! Everyone!” Sal smacks the table standing up. The yelling stops but the sound of Nicole’s hysteria remains. “It seems we have a leak amongst our midst. After waiting for you two to try and figure it out, I decided to take matters into my own hands. There were only three people who knew about the deal that was going down today and you are all here in this room.” I don’t move a muscle and remain silent. If there’s ever a time to not look guilty it’s now. Michael is looking between all of us and he keeps looking back to his sister. I have a good idea where is head is going and I can’t let that happen.

  “So if it’s just the three of us, then why is your daughter here with a gun held to the back of her head? If she has nothing to do with this then why are you threatening the life of your own daughter? Why not just let her walk out of here?” Sal walks around the table and stands next to Nicole placing his hand on her shoulder. She squeezes her eyes shut repeating ‘oh God’ over and over again.

  “That’s a great question. You see, Angelo brought it to my attention that Michael sometimes just needs the right…motivation. How am I supposed to catch a mouse with no cheese? I can ask Michael day in and day out if he’s been talking to the police but he would just lie and say no.”

  “So you hold your own innocent daughter’s life on the line? Some father you are.” Looking to Michael I can see it in his eyes that he’s going to tell Sal everything. I can’t let him do that. If that happens, then everything we’ve been working for will be shot to shit. Drawing out my gun, I aim it at Sal. “Lucky for you, I wouldn’t let an innocent girl lose her life. You want your leak, well here I am.” As Angelo is about to switch the position of his gun in my direction, I aim it at Sal and as suspected, Angelo lunges for Sal, knocking him to the ground behind the table. Michael jumps out of his chair grabbing his sister and drags her out of the back of the building as I exit the front, firing shots as I go. Jumping into the waiting town car, I hold the gun to the driver’s head, yelling at him to drive. As he takes off, I dial Riggs’ cell phone.

  “Dante, thank God.” Ava’s voice comes through on the other end. It’s such a relief to hear from her. I know I’m not going to be able to see her for a while and it kills me to have to say goodbye to her over the phone.

  “Hey, babe.” I keep my voice calm. “Where’s Riggs?”

  “Hang on.” The sound of shuffling replaces my sweet Ava’s voice before Riggs comes on the line.

  “Dante, what happened?” His voice is full of worry and I feel utter disappointment as I’m about to tell him the bad news. I know I’m letting him down.

  “Sal knew. He knew we were going to be there. It was all a set up. He only told Michael, Angelo and myself where the meet was going to be. Shit Riggs, he had a gun to his own daughter’s head. I couldn’t let him kill Michael and Nicole, they are Ava’s family whether she accepts it or not.”

  “Fuck, Dante. This is bad. You remember the extraction plan?” As I’m about to answer, I hear Ava’s frantic voice in the background.

  “Extraction plan! Give me the phone. Dante! What the hell happened? Please tell me everything is okay?”

  “Pop Tart, everything is okay. We just had a little hiccup.” I assure her.

  “Hiccup? A hiccup doesn’t need an extraction plan. Please come home Dante, now.” She’s crying and it kills me that I can’t be there to comfort her. I know Riggs will step in for me, but it’s not the same.

  “You know I can’t do that. Riggs will fill you in on what happened. Right now I just need to worry about getting off the gird. When this is finished and taken care of, I’ll be right back by your side calling you annoying pet names and rubbing those pregnant, swollen feet of yours.” The line is silent. “Baby?”

  “Okay. I love you, Dante.”

  “I love you too. Now put Riggs back on real quick.”

  “You there?” Riggs asks.

  “Yeah. Take care of her please.”

  “You don’t even have to ask. I’ll have someone meet you at the rendezvous point.” Hanging up the phone, I tell the driver to pull over and before jumping out of the car, I point my gun at him and apologize before shooting him dead. He heard too much and at this point I can’t have any
loose ends. I take off on foot toward my freedom in case the car has a low jack on it. I can’t lead them directly to me.

  Trying to get to where I need to on foot is taking forever. I’m staying off the main streets, trying to avoid being seen and I can’t risk calling anyone in the off chance that they are tracing my cell. I ditched it a couple blocks back, smashing the SIM card just in case.

  Seeing that I’m about five miles out from where I need to be, I stop for a minute, placing my hands on my knees, and bending down to catch my breath. I know I shouldn’t stop moving, but I’m winded and need a minute. Lifting my body up, a cold hard object smacks me in the back of my head, sending a ring through my ears and my vision goes dark.

  Coming to, I’m laid out in the back seat of my car with a pounding headache. Sitting up, I reach for the door handle only to see that my hands and legs are cuffed together. There’s no need to look at who the driver is, seeing as the last person who had my car was Killian. Pulling on the cuffs and chains I try to break myself free, even though I know it’s no good.

  “Oh, look who’s awake. Sorry about the head.” Killian looks at me through the rearview mirror, shrugging. He still has his bubbly, nonchalant voice, “You know, when they called me and told me what happened I couldn’t believe it. I actually thought you we’re a pretty cool guy. I guess I’m not that great judge of character, huh?”

  “How did you find me?”

  “I looked at the addresses in your GPS. There was only one that didn’t have a name assigned to it, so I decided to try that one. I just happened to get lucky and get to you before you reached the address.”

  “So what now?”

  He looks at me again. “Come on man, you know the answer to that.”

  “You don’t have to take me to him. We can cut you a deal and protect you. You would have a new name and identity. They would never be able to find you.” I become frantic, trying to convince Killian to let me go.

  He stays too calm, “And be known as a rat? No thanks. I’d rather turn you over and go back to my everyday life.”

  “My blood will be on your hands.”

  “So be it then, yours wouldn’t be the first.”

  Pulling up to Sal’s warehouse, Killian parks my car, opens the back door and undoes the cuffs on my feet so I can walk. There are two other men waiting for us and they grab my arms, half carrying, half forcing me to walk me into the building. As we enter, everyone including Ava is there, my heart drops to my stomach. She doesn’t seem to be in any danger, so I can only assume her cover hasn’t been blown… yet.

  Angelo is seated on a bunch of crates but stands as I get dragged into the building. The men stop walking and hold me in place as Angelo walks over and stands in front of me.

  “Turn around and get on your knees,” Angelo’s words come out cold and icy and I know that there is no way out of this. My time is up and I’m going to die today.

  “Fuck you. If you’re going to kill me you will have to look me in the eyes.” Struggling to get free from the two guys holding me, Angelo punches me in the stomach which causes me to fall to my knees coughing.

  “Oh you’re going to die alright but by the hand of whom, I wonder,” Angelo says, tapping his finger on his chin with his other hand holding the gun. He starts walking back and forth between the six that are lined up. I would like to say Angelo would be a gentleman and not make Ava do it, but I know he’s anything but. I’m hoping his dick will make this call for once and not choose her, but Angelo stops pacing to face Ava and panic starts to rise in me again.

  “Ava,” holding the gun out to her he continues, “Would you do the honors?”

  Ava locks eyes with me and I can see her breathing start to increase. Never did I imagine that my fiancé would literally be the death of me. I can’t allow this to happen. I know my death will break her if she has to be the one to do it, she won’t be able to come back from that. Closing my eyes for a brief moment, I open them and nod my head in approval. I also know that if that is what they want, then there is no other option. Maybe if I give her the okay, that I will be at peace with her killing me, it might somehow help heal her.

  “We’re waiting.” Angelo looks to me, still holding the gun out for Ava to take. Her hesitation makes me nervous and I’m worried about what she’s going to do. She’s been all over the place with her wacked out hormones, I hope she can keep it together.

  “No.”

  All heads flash to look at her. “No?” Angelo seethes, “I’m sorry but I could have sworn you said no.” He points the gun in Ava’s face, causing me to suck in a breath as her body stiffens. “When I give you an order, you follow through with it. You know,” He cocks the gun and I feel like I’m going to pass out, “I’ve always thought there was something going on between you two.” She glances at me and I feel my eyes go wide. I shake my head no to her.

  Standing her ground, she repeats her answer. “No, I will not do your dirty work for you. I’m your gun supplier, not your hit man. And for the last time, there is nothing going on between us. If you want him dead, do it yourself.” Angelo gets a smirk on his face. I close my eyes, I know Angelo is ruthless and I wouldn’t put it past him to kill her for not following his orders. Ava is staring him intently in the eyes and waiting for him to pull the trigger. How she can be so careless knowing she is carrying our child is beyond me.

  “Lower your gun,” Sal’s voice comes from behind me. Angelo grits his teeth, “I said lower it!” Angelo complies and I watch Ava let out a sigh of relief. Everyone seems to take a sigh of relief as Sal continues walking towards us. While everyone else’s attention is on him, I look to Ava, who is trying to get her shaky hands under control. I don’t want to draw any attention to her, but I need to know she’s going to be alright.

  “If anyone is going to kill my rat, it’s going to be me.” Sal steps up to Ava and places his hand on her cheek. Everything in me tells me to lunge forward and grab his filthy hands off her, but that would only expose her. “You’re a fighter. I like it, but next time Angelo gives you an order, you follow it. Understand?” She nods her head and watches as Sal turns to come to me.

  “The police thought they were so smart placing a mole in my organization. Tell you what, why don’t you tell me if anyone else is working with you then you really come work with me. Throw your bosses some false information and point them in the other direction. I could always use more people on the inside. Agree to this and I’ll spare your life.”

  Glancing quickly at Ava, I know his offer is not an option. We have come a long way since we first met and I know she can see the sorrow in my eyes, not needing me to elaborate any further. My eyes tell her everything she needs to know.

  “Go to hell.” Spitting on Sal’s gator shoes, I smirk at him as satisfaction settles in for a moment.

  Laughing, he pulls out a handkerchief from his suit and bends to wipe his shoes. With a quick motion, he reaches over, grabbing one of the guns out of the holsters of the guy to my right. “Have it your way.” The sound of the gun cocking makes everything go blank. Time goes in slow motion.

  I’m kneeling on the ground, staring down the tip of this gun, I know my time is up, and nothing can change that. Taking one last glance at Ava, I can’t risk her being exposed and watch her be killed right before my eyes if that happens. So instead, I close my eyes, I watch the beautiful image that flashes across my eyes.

  I’m in a field surrounded by sunflowers and the sound of laughter. I see a little girl come running up the hill yelling for mommy to catch her. The little girl looks just like Ava. My smile warms my body. Ava runs up the hill behind her and the suns shines brighter, nearly blinding me with her presence. I move my hand above my eyes and watch her scoop up the little angel into her arms, swinging her in a circle before placing her on the ground. Ava’s smile is filled with so much life and her laughter is pouring out with joy. She turns her head as she hears a whistle and leans down, whispering something into the little girl’s ear. I move closer to t
he two of them and stop right behind them. Bending down into the sunflowers, they hide from a man coming up the hill, calling out their names that I can’t make out. After she counts to three, they jump out and tackle the man to the ground, tickling him. The little girl yells, ‘we got you, daddy’ and just as I’m about to see his face, the brightness disappears and everything goes dark.

  Bang. Bang. Bang.

  Ava

  It’s dark, wet and cold and I’m stuck shivering behind this stupid mausoleum to make sure that no one is watching the cemetery. I’ve been here for too many hours to count now and it’s almost two in the morning. I’m pissed that I had to miss Dante’s service. Joe demanded that I stay put, that I could not be there and even though I know he’s right, I wanted to say fuck you and attend anyway. I know Joe is trying to keep me and the baby safe. I am all that he has left of Dante and I feel for him, I really do, but the selfish part of me will never forgive myself for not being there, I need that closure that everyone else is getting. In the back of my mind I’ll probably blame Joe, I know it’s not right but all I have is anger and resentment. Happiness no longer flows through my veins, only the darkness that blanketed me the minute that gun went off.

  The gun goes off and I have to close my eyes or I’ll be sick. Killian actually puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his side. I try not to cry, not to make a noise, but the small squeak that escapes me is inevitable. Thankfully, Killian pulls me off into a side room before I can see the lifeless body of my love on the floor. Everyone has already scattered. Looking up to his eyes, they show sorrow. “I’m sorry Ava, I really am. I know you two had gotten close and you couldn’t have known. He had everyone fooled.” With that, he turns on his heels and leaves me. I sink to the ground and fall apart.