Reno Gabrini: I'm Losing You

by Mallory Monroe

  “Josie?” Brizio asked. “Josie Supino? Hell no, Boss. You know Josie wouldn’t have nothing to do with this.”

  “What about Garry Marshall?”

  “Garry Marshall? That stiff your wife was fooling around with? I told you I did the hiring. There was nobody else.”

  “What about out back? You said the crew is waiting out back with the getaway car. Is there a setup out back too, Briz?”

  “No,” Brizio said. “I swear.”

  But if he thought he had absolved himself, he was fooling himself. Reno lifted his gun as if he aimed to use it, aimed it at Brizio’s head, and used it. He shot Brizio through the side of the head with a powerful shot. Trina was horrified as Brizio fell down the remaining stairs. She looked at Reno.

  “Come on,” he said, reaching for her hand. “His ass was in it too.”

  “But he said he only hired them,” she said, as she walked down and took Reno’s hand. “He said he refused to do any more. Are you certain he did more, Reno?”

  But Reno didn’t deal in certainty. He dealt in instincts, in gut, in common sense. And all three were telling him the same thing. “Yes,” he said as he grabbed Trina and they continued to race down the stairs, bypassing Brizio’s dead body as they did. Besides, hiring those fuckers to take out his wife was enough for Reno.

  But Reno felt some kind of way, for some reason, as he passed Brizio. And he couldn’t help himself. He stopped, turned back, and kicked Brizio in his balls as hard as he could. So hard, in fact, that blood gushed out. “I’m certain,” Reno said again, and then they kept on running.

  When they opened the door at the bottom of the stairs and entered the lobby, Reno could see his men in the backside of the lobby waiting for them to come down. Reno, instead, took Trina by the forearm and walked as normally as he could, not toward the back of the lobby, but toward the front, where they hurried out of the front door.

  Out front, Reno quickly hailed a cab. He and Trina got in quickly, and the cab drove off.

  “Where to?” the driver asked.

  “Airport,” Reno responded, looking back even as the cabbie drove further and further away. When he was comfortable that his men didn’t realize he and Trina had slipped away, he turned back around.

  Trina looked at him. “What’s going on, Reno? Why would Brizio turn on you?”

  “Drake’s paying his ass major money,” Reno responded. “Why else?”

  “He didn’t think you would figure it out?”

  “Money make men think they can get away with murder,” Reno responded.

  Trina studied him. “Those men in that hotel room,” she said, “you said they used to work for you.”

  Reno couldn’t deny it to her. “Yes,” he said. “They used to work for me years ago. Why they were suddenly hooked up with Brizio? I don’t know.”

  WHAM!

  An SUV crashed into the side of the taxi, rocking it violently to one side. The cab driver passed out on impact, causing the age-old taxi, after rocking to one side, to fall back on all fours and drive along with no one at the controls.

  “Reno, he’s out!” Trina yelled as they, too, felt the sting of the impact.

  When Reno looked up and saw what was happening, he jumped over the seat and pushed the driver aside with all the strength he had.

  “Jesus take the wheel!” Trina was crying as they began careening wildly down the streets of Miami.

  But Reno took the wheel and righted the cab. Trina’s heart, that had been pounding, eased back up. And as Reno picked up speed and then more and more speed, it was obvious to both of them that whomever was targeting them, wasn’t about to give up.

  Reno pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and handed it to Trina. “Call the pilot,” he ordered, “and tell him to get the plane ready. Tell him to not let anybody on board unless it’s us.”

  “Not even your men?” Trina asked.

  “Especially not those fuckers,” Reno responded. “I don’t know who’s with us or against us. As far as I’m concerned right now, every one of them is against us.”

  “Which pilot, Reno? Yours, or Sal’s?”

  “Sal’s. He’s waiting at the airport. Mine will have to get to the airport. We can’t wait.”

  And Trina did as she was told. She notified the pilot.

  By the time they made it to the airstrip where Sal’s plane rested, there had been no additional attacks.

  Reno stopped the cab right at the foot of the plane’s stairs. He pulled out his gun and turned to Trina. “You’re going to run, crotched down, up those stairs, you hear me? I’m going to cover you, but you’ve got to move fast. I don’t think anybody’s out here, but I’m not taking any chances.”

  Trina understood. And she was ready.

  They got out of the cab and then began a swift accent up the stairs. They both were crotched down, and Reno was behind Trina. But he kept looking from side to side, up and down, anywhere anybody could try and ambush them. But no ambush came.

  When they got onto the plane, and saw that the pilot and crew were intact, with no reports of any interferences, he exhaled. And the doors closed and the plane began its taxi along the runway, and then up and away.

  Reno and Trina sat down, laid their heads back, and caught their collective breaths.

  After a few more minutes, Trina looked at Reno. “Do you have any idea who was behind all of that?”

  “Brizio said Drake,” Reno said, “and that’s who I’m thinking too. I’m going to force that worm out if it’s the last thing I do. They said it was about destroying my business. All of the dons I spoke with in that meeting were certain it was strictly a business affair with Drake.”

  “You think it turned personal after you burned down The Bryant?”

  “Hell no,” Reno responded. “I know that’s the line Brizio fed us, but it doesn’t feel like that to me. It was personal all along.”

  “Then why would those mob bosses give you misinformation?”

  “They probably didn’t know,” Reno said. “They were only telling me what they heard.”

  The head stewardess arrived with a beverage tray. “Coffee?” she asked.

  Trina smiled. “Yes, please,” she said. “Thanks.”

  “Sir?”

  “Nothing for him,” Trina said, knowing Reno.

  The waitress began pouring her a cup of coffee. Reno pulled out his cell phone.

  “Who are you calling?” Trina asked.

  “Sal,” he responded. “I want him to have security on the ground to meet our plane. I already have Security beefed up at the penthouse.”

  Trina was shocked. “You think it’ll continue in Vegas?”

  “It might,” Reno said regrettably. “I’m not taking any chances.”

  Trina exhaled, as she took the glass of coffee. “Thanks, Jane,” she said.

  “I hope it’s not too strong. He said you like it strong.”

  “I do, actually, thank you.”

  But as Trina was about to sip the coffee, she thought about what Jane said. She looked at her. “Who said I like it strong?”

  “The advance man,” Jane said.

  Reno, who was about to phone Sal, looked at Jane. “What advance man?”

  “He said he was your advance man,” Jane said. “He said he knew how you liked everything.”

  Reno was befuddled. “He was on this plane?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Reno angrily stood up. “Didn’t I tell you fuckers not to let anybody on this plane?”

  “You don’t have to use that language, sir,” Jane said.

  Trina angrily stood up. “Bitch, forget the language! Didn’t you hear when I said on that phone that my husband didn’t want anybody getting on or off of this plane?”

  “But it was his advance man! What were we supposed to do?”

  “How many times have I used Sal’s plane?” Reno asked her.

  “Many times,” Jane said.

  “How many times have my advance man come up in th
is bitch?”

  Jane had to think about that.

  “Never!” Reno answered his own question. “You know why? Because I don’t have any fucking advance man!”

  “Who was he, Jane?” Trina asked.

  “I don’t know,” Jane said. “None of us knew him.”

  “But you let him on anyway?” Trina asked.

  Trina shook her head. She was as surprised as he was. “What all did he do while he was on the plane?” she asked Jane. “You said he made the coffee?”

  “Yes, ma’am. He said he knew how you liked it.”

  “What else did he do?” Reno asked.

  “He looked around, made sure everything was tidy, he made the coffee, talked to the pilot, and then he left.”

  Reno’s eyes stretched. “Did you drink any of this?” he asked Trina as he snatched it from her grasp and sniffed it.

  “No,” Trina said. “Why, Reno?”

  As Reno sniffed the coffee. His expression changed.

  “What is it?”

  “Almonds. Poison. Empty this shit, and all coffee,” he said.

  “Oh, my God!” Jane said.

  “What?” Reno asked.

  “The pilot. The pilot drank a cup of coffee just before you arrived.”

  Reno took off, running to the cockpit.

  Trina took the coffee cup and, with Jane on her heels, hurried to empty it.

  Reno hurried into the cockpit. When he saw the pilot in the midst of violent convulsions, his heart dropped. That bastard had poisoned the pilot, knowing that it wouldn’t take full effect until they were well in the sky.

  Reno hurried to the pilot and lifted his head. He continued to convulse; he continued to have foam oozing from his mouth. And then everything stopped. The twitching, the convulsing, the oozing. He was dead. And with his death, his hand fell from the controls, and the plane began to descend.

  “Jesus, no,” Reno said when he realized they had no pilot. And there was no co-pilot on the plane!

  “Reno, what’s happening?” Trina yelled. “Reno!”

  Reno was mortified when he heard Trina’s voice. All he could think about was Trina’s safety; Trina’s wellbeing; how in the world was he going to save Trina?

  He grabbed the poisoned pilot and moved him out of the chair. If they were going to survive this, Reno knew it was going to be up to him. The stewardesses on board couldn’t fly a plane. Trina couldn’t fly a plane. And he couldn’t either. He couldn’t even figure out where the radio was! He tried to take the controls and lift the plane back up. But elevation continued to drop.

  Trina ran into the cockpit, along with Jane and the rest of the crew, as the plane continued to lose altitude. When the crew saw that the pilot was dead, and Reno Gabrini, of all people, was behind the wheel, they began to scream.

  “We’re doomed!” one of them cried.

  Trina ran to Reno. “Do something, Reno,” she cried.

  “I’m trying,” Reno said as he continued to press buttons, and push on levers. He was trying to do anything and everything to make this bucket stop its descent. But nothing was working!

  Everybody looked through the cockpit window. They were in a freefall.

  Reno jumped up. Trying to find a way wasn’t working. His stupid ass couldn’t fly a plane, he thought miserably. “Everybody to the back!” he yelled. It was too late for that too. But at least they could brace for impact. “Everybody to the back!”

  Reno, Trina, and the entire crew ran to the back of the plane, holding onto chairs and poles and whatever they could to balance themselves. Trina and the crew got on the floor, and covered their heads. Reno got on top of Trina, using his body as her cover.

  When Trina turned and looked at him, and tears welled up in his eyes, her heart dropped. She knew Reno. She knew what this hellishness they found themselves in was doing to him.

  “I’m sorry, Tree,” Reno said in tears. “I can’t save you.”

  But Trina fought back her tears, for his sake. “You’ve been good to me, Reno,” she said. “You’ve been a wonderful husband to me. And a wonderful father.”

  “Our children,” Reno said miserably. “What about our children?”

  “They’ll be fine, Reno,” she assured him. “Jimmy and their grandparents will look out for them. And Sal and Gemma and Tommy and Grace and Mick and Roz and Big Daddy and Jenay, they’ll all take care of them. They’ll have more love than they can ever need.”

  Reno nodded. But he still couldn’t deny the truth. “We won’t see them again, Tree. I want to see my children again. I want to see you again.”

  “Yes, you will, you hear me, Reno? In heaven. We’ll see our children in heaven. And we’ll see each other there too. It’s not over. It’s just beginning.”

  But Reno knew he was a bad man. He knew heaven wasn’t meant for men like him. But he had to hold on. He had to believe it too. He held Trina so tightly that he could feel her very soul cry.

  Then the plane, Sal Gabrini’s Cessna Citation CJ2, kept going down and down, faster and faster, until there was no more air left. It crashed with a thunderous crash, breaking apart on impact, as it dived like a strange flying ship, into the sudden, harrowing, unforgiving sea.

  First, there was no life. And then, within seconds, three of the four stewardesses came above water and crawled onto the floating wing of the shattered plane. They had survived, but just barely.

  Then silence ensued again. Eerie silence. And then Reno, like a whale out of the depths of the sea, came up for air too. But he came up searching. Looking around. “Trina,” he cried, looking for his wife. “Trina!”

  When he realized she was not among the lucky two on the only part of the plane above water, he went back under. And searched and searched again. But there was no sign of Trina.

  He came back up for air, praying that she had managed to come up too. But there were still only the three stewardesses above water.

  He went under again, searching for Trina again. But still no signs of her. But he found the pilot, and pulled him onto the wing. He went back down. Saw the other remaining stewardess, and grabbed her. He came back up for air and hoisted her onto the wing. But there was still no sign of his wife. There was still no sign of Tree!

  He went down again. And came back up again.

  Down again, and back up again. But when he came back up this time, and didn’t see her, his heart felt as if it was going to explode. “Trina!” he cried. “Trina!” He was in tears and didn’t care. This could not be her end. This could not be her end!

  And like a man refusing to accept what was obvious to all, even to the beckoning sea, he went back under once again.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Sal Gabrini sat with his wife Gemma, his arm around her waist. His older brother, Tommy Gabrini, sat beside his wife Grace, his arm around her shoulder. These two men were as close to their cousin Reno as close could get, and their wives and Trina were that close too. They were stunned. They still couldn’t believe this turn of events.

  Sal and Tommy’s uncle, Mick Sinatra, and Mick’s big brother Big Daddy Charles Sinatra, were there too, sitting side by side, shoulder to shoulder, while their wives, Roz and Jenay, sat side by side also. Reno was a strong man, as strong as it got, but they also knew how deeply he loved Trina. They knew how horrifically devastating this had to be for him.

  Reno was standing at the bedside, with his son Jimmy on one side, his son Dominic on the other side, and his baby girl Sophia in his arms. Both of his sons had their arms around Reno, with Dommi’s head resting against his father. Trina’s parents, Cecil and Earnestine Hathaway, stood on the other side of the bed, hugging each other too; resting on each other too.

  The only non-family member in the room was the doctor.

  “She’s on life support,” the doctor said again to Reno. “To be clear, she’s not breathing on her own. If we remove that machine, she will die.”

  Jimmy wiped away a tear as it trickled down his face. The women in the room had been cr
ying so much that their eyes were swollen. And even Sal and Tommy were looking at Reno, and then looking at poor Trina in that hospital bed, hooked up to that machine, and wiping away tears too.

  “You have two options,” the doctor said to Reno. “You can pull the plug now, and take her out of her misery, or allow her to die a slow death. But either way, sir, she is going to die.”

  “No,” Reno said calmly, and then looked at that doctor. Where everybody else was tearful, Reno’s eyes were filled with fire. “She will not die. And if you pull any plug on my wife, I’ll pull a plug on your life. You understand me? She will live.”

  He looked at Trina again, as she laid lifeless on that bed, breathing by way of a breathing machine. “You do everything in your power to keep my wife alive. Because you’re wrong, Doctor. There’re no two options. There’s only one. Keeping her alive. That’s the only option.”

  The doctor knew better than to mix it up with a man like Reno, even if he knew better. But he nodded. “We’ll do everything we can, sir,” he said. And then he left the room.

  Although everybody, except Reno, were shedding tears, Dommi was outright crying. He was shaking he was crying so hard. Reno placed his arm around his son, and pulled him closer, but Dommi could not be comforted. “Mommy can’t die,” he said. “Mommy can’t die!” And then he moved out of his father’s embrace and jumped onto Trina’s bed.

  Jimmy was about to grab for him, but Reno stopped him. Dommi laid beside his mother, and placed his arm around her waist. Reno was a different kind of father. He wasn’t going to hide his children away and sugarcoat what was happening to their mother. They were going to experience what was happening to her. They had a right, he felt.

  It had been three days since Reno surfaced out of that water, letting out a harsh breath, with Trina in his arms. She was unconscious, was fading fast, and he had no more strength left. But he still hoisted her dead weight body onto the floating wreckage, and held on for dear life, unable to hoist up himself. The three stewardesses, and the close-to-death pilot and fourth stewardess were unable to aid him themselves. They had no strength either. If it had not been for the quick response of the coast guard, he might have gone under again. For the final time.