The Reynolds/Bradshaw Connection - Chapter 13: Loss
The Reynolds/Bradshaw Connection
So you wanted action? You’ve got action aplenty. Remember though, that action comes courtesy of the darker half of me.
The Albert Einstein story is true - he used to purchase groceries at the A&P where my grandfather worked in New Jersey. My grandfather loved to tell the story (May he rest in peace).
Opening lyrics come from Meat Loaf’s I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That); end lyrics belong to Coldplay’s Fix You
Chapter 13: Loss
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I would do anything for love
I'd run right into hell and back
I would do anything for love
I'll never lie to you and that’s a fact
But I'll never forget the way you feel right now
Oh no, no way
And I would do anything for love
But I won’t do that, No I won’t do that
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Lucy’s POV
Waking up that morning, for the first time in ages, I felt content. Next to me on the bed was an angel, and I must have been in heaven…there was no other explanation. She was awake; her eyes were open and she was staring at me. I returned the stare - it was just too good to be true. Pinching myself and feeling the pressure, I realized this was reality…I had regained the only person who made my life worth anything. There were times when I thought that I had lost her, but here she was, the perfect score, facing me in all of her nakedness, just inches from my body.
I reached out my hand and brushed aside a few stray strands of silky, golden hair from Amy’s face. No words needed to be said - we knew each other’s thoughts. As I retracted my hand, Amy brought her head forward and kissed my knuckles, a silent message conveyed. Staring into the eyes that held me captive, I inched forward in the bed and curled my arm around Amy’s body, bringing us together for a slow, sensual kiss. Before the kiss grew and my mind turned blank, the only thought running through it was the question of how I had managed to survive without waking up to this. This was magical, this was pure…this was love. I would do anything for Amy Bradshaw; if she said ‘jump,’ I’d ask ‘how high.’
Leaving her lips, I slowly trailed kisses downward, slightly biting and teasing the area around Amy’s neck, the only sound elicited was a cry of ecstasy in which Amy exclaimed my name. Otherwise we knew each other’s thoughts intimately, the connection was back intact. Working my way from Amy’s throat back up to her mouth we locked in another passionate kiss. Not only was saliva shared in that kiss, we shared our souls. Amy Bradshaw was a part of Lucy Reynolds, just as much as I was a part of her.
Rising slowly, and reluctantly drawing my mouth away from Amy’s, I placed a knee on either side of her thighs, straddling her. I bent down until I was inches away from her mouth, preparing for another soulful kiss when the phone rang.
“Shit! What a way to ruin a moment!” I exclaimed at the phone, furrowing my brow and frowning as a frustrated look was drawn on my face. Amy giggled, and finding it extremely cute, I couldn’t help myself as my face lightened into a sadistic smile, “Oh, you think it’s funny, do you…just you wait.”
I rolled off Amy and the bed as I picked up the black wireless phone without looking at the Caller ID. “Diamond here…this better be good.”
“Oh, I assure you that it is, Diamond,” sneered the unmistakable voice of Ms. Petrie. “Can you be of some use and put Andy on the phone?”
For a second I wondered who Andy was, until I remembered something Amy had once said. Miguel at the docks had called her by the wrong name, and she responded with something akin to ‘You’re as bad as Ms. Petrie.’ I walked back to the bed and handed the phone to Amy. “Who is it?” Amy whispered.
“Your old boss - she wants to talk to you,” I replied, in a sibilant whisper. A slight look of shock registered on Amy’s face as her eyebrows lifted slightly and she raised the phone to her ear.
“Hello Ms. Petrie,” Amy said tentatively, her voice wavering slightly. Realizing that I could only hear one side of the conversation, I walked to our guest room and picked up its phone, which shared the same line.
“Annie, we have a job for you. We received reports from a mole within Pink Thunder’s Lithuania branch that Alfonso Kavalek, also known by the aliases Dr. Corleone and Dr. Head, has been usurped by his second-in-command, Charitine LeFleur, alias Chastity Red.” Oh my God! That was her plan! I realized. She needed me out of the way, because she knew that my family’s obligation to Corleone would have forced me to stop her…the bitch! “We have a Search and Rescue team down in Barcelona now, but they have not been able to recover Kavelek’s body. We know that you have…connections, and we would like you to survey the area and any known Pink Thunder buildings, see if anything possibly turns up.”
Amy hesitated for a second before answering, “I don’t know, Ms. Petrie.”
“Addie, don’t forgot who gave you that pardon. You’re free because of us,” Petrie reminded Amy in an authoritative voice. I hated that woman; she was just as manipulative as Corleone or Chastity, the only difference was that she worked for the “good guys.”
“Alright, Ms. Petrie, we’ll check it out,” Amy sighed, resignation in her voice.
“Good, Ally, we’re expecting good results out of you.”
“Wait, Ms. Petrie, why didn’t you just beam in here?”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to interrupt your lesbian fling, would I?”
“How’d you know?” Amy asked with amazement.
“I know everything, Amy.” Ah, you finally got her name right for once, dipshit, I thought callously as Petrie hung up the phone.
“Lucy!” Amy called from the other room. “Luuuuucy!” Amy called again, her voice louder this time. I walked out of our guest room and into the hallway to find Amy waiting for me. She looked at me quizzically for a second. “Lucy? Why were you…” suddenly her features expanded as she drew her eyebrows up and her eyelids opened wide as realization dawned. “Lucy…you didn’t.”
I didn’t answer out loud, but the smirk I gave, lifting the right half of my mouth, gave my actions away. Amy rolled her eyes, but, to her credit, she didn’t chastise. “Alfonso Kavelek, huh…strange…I always thought Head was his real last name. Guess he never showed his full deck of cards.”
“Who really does?” Amy asked. It was a valid point. “Anyway, I think we should check out Pink Thunder’s Barcelona headquarters…that is, if you don’t mind,” Amy added on cagily.
“Amy, of course I’ll show you. Plus, it’s probably for both of our benefits as well. Something tells me that if this is true, Chastity hasn’t finished her pursuit of power.”
Amy and I returned to our room and got dressed, making sure to remember our guns before heading out to the car. Upon arriving in Barcelona about a year ago, Amy and I had purchased matching Glock 23 shotguns. I had found that I liked it better than the Beretta 92 I had previously carried, so the Glock had taken over as my weapon of choice. I especially liked the polymer framing typical of Glock guns; it was lighter and more practical than the metal receiver of the Beretta 92. After packing our heat, we hit the road headed towards Pink Thunder headquarters and presumably Chastity.
Once on the road, a notion buried itself in my mind, it was more disbelief than thought. There was no way that the Corleone that I knew would have not known about Chastity. People thought many different things about Corleone, Alfonso Kavelek, or whatever other aliases he possessed, but the one universal observation was of the man’s striking genius. Corleone just had a mind for crime; his superior intellect was unrivaled. I had never met anyone quite as brilliant as he was. Corleone more than likely could have easily matched wits with the like of Albert Einstein and won. Where Albert Einstein’s genius failed him was at simplicity - often in the grocery store, he would bafflingly have to ask the individual price on an item marked three for five dollars, or anything in that vein - Corleone’s genius was all-encompassing. There was no way that Corleone, in all his wisdom, could not have seen it coming. Knowing Corleone, he would had seen it coming and he would have taken care of it…he wouldn’t have willingly given his life.
I was still mulling over the question as we pulled into the deserted parking lot of the dreary warehouse headquarters of Pink Thunder. On the outside, nothing looked out of the ordinary. There were no guards patrolling, no one around. Hopefully on the inside, it would be the same - the worst-case scenario would be if the reports were true. I, along with anyone else, would be forced to shudder at the thought of Chastity taking over the organization. As criminally maniacal as Corleone was, at least he had ideals. Chastity was not only as ruthless as they come, but she was ruthlessly selfish - a lethal combination.
Turning my head to the left and staring into the deep, expressive pools that were the eyes I loved so much, I told her the only thing that came to my mind, “Amy…whatever happens in there…stay safe.”
I watched intently as the corners of Amy’s mouth lifted into a playful smile. “I will if you will,” she teased, leaning her head in for a quick kiss. I would have loved to continue that kiss, but it wasn’t the time or the place for that. Amy and I exited the car and started a trepid walk to the warehouse doors, which surprisingly, were unlocked.
Pushing open the doors, my fears were relieved for a split second. Everything in the warehouse seemed to be in order - the cubicles and computers were as I had remembered them. Snapping me out of my calm state, Amy’s hand grabbed my shoulder, exuding fear as it did so. She pointed to the desk at the far end of the warehouse, the desk at which had sat one of the world’s greatest minds. It was a sheer and utter disaster zone.
Cautiously making our way to the desk, Amy nearly tripped over a stray bishop on the ground. Corleone’s desk was in shambles, and blood was everywhere. The lamp that had been on his desk was overturned, papers and folders strewn everywhere, and an overturned chess board lay on the ground.
“Zo…‘ere you are,” a voice stated, reverberating throughout the walls of the warehouse. Swiftly turning around, I saw the speaker’s silhouette in the open doorway. I didn’t need to see the details of the individual; that voice belonged to Chastity. She was wearing a blue turtleneck sweater that seemed a bit too bulgy. “I must zay, I’ve been expecting you.”
“Chastity…” I began shakily, my voice betraying me. “What…what have you done?”
“I did what I should ‘ave done years ago. Ze fool was losing eet, Lucy. Ze man needed to die.”
I turned my head to Amy, who seemed to be in a state of shock, horrified by her surroundings. “I can’t believe you did this…why?” I asked.
“I told you, ze fool was not fit to rule any longer. Eet was my duty to dispose of ze trash and take my position as head of ze organization,” Chastity said, walking towards Amy and me.
“You’re crazy!”
“No, I am not crazy, Lucy. Just doing my job.”
“So drugging me, splitting Amy and I up, and killing Corleone was your job? You’ve got to be kidding me?” I asked incredulously
“Kidding with you? You really do not know me well, Lucy. For too damn long, I ‘ave been in the shadows of zat man, and for too long, he ‘as taken credit for my success. For years, I did his jobs, and never once did I fail him. But was I ever treated like I was his successor? NO! Ze asshole praised everyone, and zen he puts zose damn idiots on my team. He puts incompetent pigs on my team, zen you leave, and I am stuck with zem! For years, I ‘ave wanted to kill him, but ‘aven’t, because keeping him alive and calling the shots made me look better, but now…now he’s lost eet, and I came down like lightning.”
“I was right, you are crazy,” I reiterated.
“If you insist, mon amour,” Chastity said. “Now, I have a simple proposal for you, Lucy. Join me, together, you and I can rule ze criminal world.”
“Um…didn’t I ask you that a long time ago myself, Chastity? You’re getting the same answer you gave me - no.”
“Join me, and the D.E.B. lives,” snarled Chastity.
“She said no!” Amy shouted, springing to my defense. “Besides, I doubt you can take both of us.”
“So be eet,” Chastity said. Her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth lifted as she flashed an insidious, crooked smile. “Who said anything about both of you?”
Her arm made a quick movement, and heard something akin to a shot from a gun. Then my world went dark.
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Amy’s POV
“Who said anything about the both of you?” Chastity asked. With reflexes to rival a cat’s she reached into her jacket withdrew a black gun and fired off a shot. The loud noise was like no gun I had heard before, it sounded more like a rush of air and gas than the noise given off by the typical handgun. The quickness of Chastity’s attack had caught us off balance, and next to me I saw Lucy collapse as she let out grunting noises. My eyes opened wide. “LUCY!”
“Don’t worry, eet ees only a little bit of barbiturate. She ees only unconscious,” Chastity explained. A cursory glance at Lucy revealed her words to be true. A small syringe was sticking out of Lucy’s abdomen. “What I will do to you, zough, ees much worse. She will wake in a few minutes to find you dead.” The clatter of the tranquilizer gun on the floor caught my attention, and was my only warning as I ducked and narrowly avoided a screaming bullet. I took a quick glance around the warehouse, my situation would only allow a minimal search. Finding my destination, I ran over to the nearest cubicle in a crouched position. As I was running, two more shots missed their mark.
I crouched under the desk of the cubicle nearest the wall. I couldn’t see anything, but I knew Chastity was still out there, and judging by the footsteps she was approaching me fast.
“What’s wrong, little D.E.B. doesn’t want to play?” Chastity mockingly sang. “Come out, come out wherever you are!”
I palmed my Glock and inched forward, ready to come out from the cubicle and surprise Chastity. Another sound of a shot pierced the stale air, quickly followed by the sound of shattering glass and plastic before a deadening clank as the bullet lodged itself and created a dent in the desk right above me. Chastity’s action had the desired effect as I reflexively rolled out from behind the cubicle back into plain sight. Before she could fire, I pulled the trigger on my gun and fired a sloppy shot that completely missed her.
“Ah, a bit tougher than I thought, but zat will just make eet more gratifying when I kill you,” Chastity stated, as I jumped onto my feet and started running down the warehouse, a few bullets flying by as I ran. Halfway down the warehouse I found a rectangular column that was wide enough to hide behind. Running to it and pressing my back squarely against the pillar, I quickly caught my breath before pivoting and firing a shot at Chastity, who quickly dove under the nearest cubicle, avoiding the bullet. Unfortunately, I only had four more bullets. Lucy and I never loaded our guns to the fullest capacity. We had hoped never to need them, and I had no ammo on me.
A flash of color and Chastity popped back up from the cubicle, firing a round that caused my instinctive reflexes to fire another pointless shot. Damn it…only three more. A metallic ping rang out after that shot, as I clearly hit something. Turning my head in the direction, I saw a small refrigerator to the right of Corleone’s desk swing open, the airtight seal destroyed. Inside were multiple bags of blood. It looked like someone may have recently have taken some, as a small area on the top shelf was empty. Tearing my attention away from the blood, I pivoted back behind the column as I waited for another opportunity. If I couldn’t get a clear shot before I fired my next three shots, I was dead. Another shot rang out, followed shortly by the sound of cracking dry wall as Chastity’s shot lodged in the column. Swiftly I pivoted again on my right foot to face Corleone’s desk and the cubicle sheltering Chastity. I fired a rapid shot as Chastity ducked back down. The bullet must have at least grazed her as a cry of pain pierced the air and reverberated around the walls. I put my back square against the pillar again and waited for her next move, which didn’t come. The room was deathly silent; the only noise audible was the beating of my heart in my chest.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a fierce, almost warlike cry pierced the room as Chastity jumped out from her hiding place and, with a crazed fire in her eyes charged forward with a long machete raised high in her hand. I stepped out fully from the pillar, aimed a careful shot and pulled the trigger, hitting Chastity’s exposed chest.
Chastity was thrown backwards, stumbled and fell. A groan escaped her lips and I walked forward to her body to investigate. When I was about two steps from her body, Chastity swung herself back on her feet and swung the machete over her head, straight down at me in a blind rage. Surprised, but agile enough to evade the swing, I sidestepped to the right of the blade and managed to get Chastity off balance. Taking advantage of the situation, I stepped to Chastity’s side, slipped my left arm under her left arm and put my right arm on the outside of her arm. Pulling with my left forearm and pushing with my right, the crack of breaking bones broke the silence in the room. Holding onto Chastity’s arm, I noticed for the first time the Kevlar vest she was wearing. A tear ran down her face as she felt the pain from her limp left arm and dropped the knife.
Exerting enough pressure on the arm to keep Chastity in pain, I attempted to fully catch my breath. Abruptly, Chastity raised her leg and kicked it out to the side, hitting me square in the solar plexus. I attempted to breath, but found it impossible to do so. Even though I had had the wind knocked out of me before, the panic-inducing effects remained, and I doubled over. Chastity took the opportunity to move and bent down to the floor, executing an action that I wasn’t paying attention to.
Regaining my ability to breathe, I bent back up, in time to see Chastity’s arm snake out towards me. I attempted to block or parry her strike, but it was in vain as I felt a sharp pain and pressure right below my right breast. Daring to turn my head down, I gasped in agony as I felt the wetness trickle down my stomach and saw the six-inch blade sticking out of my chest. I entered a state of shock, barely able to move or breathe. Removing the blade, Chastity must have struck three or four more times while my shock rendered me completely helpless. My knees buckled and my vision turned blurry as I fell to the ground, a few feet from Lucy’s body, feeling my life drain away.
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Lucy’s POV
I regained consciousness just in time to see Amy fall. My mind and reflexes still extremely slow, my horror was brushed aside for a second as I reached for my Glock and fired a groggy shot at Chastity. The shot completely missed her but had the intended effect of surprising her.
“Eet’s not over, Diamond,” Chastity spat as she ran over to the exit-only side door, threw it open and disappeared into the light of the sun.
That was when my mind fully registered the body lying next to me. My vision was still extremely blurry as I blindly groped for Amy’s body. Finding it, the first thing I felt was a wetness familiar to me; a wetness that made my throat constrict, my mouth dry and my heart race a thousand beats per minute as I lifted the hand to my face and recognized the dark redness of blood.
Quick as a flash, I ripped out my cell phone from my pants pocket and called 112, the Barcelona equivalent of 911.
Trying to express to the operator the disaster in front of me turned out to be extremely more complicated than I thought. Words were just escaping me, and I couldn’t answer the woman when she asked about the emergency. “Amy…stabbed…ohmygod the blood!” were the only words I managed to say. At that moment, I was extremely grateful for the GPS device installed in the newer phones. I was in no condition to be able to describe my location.
Following the instructions and leaving my phone connected, I placed it on the floor and flung myself over Amy, wrapping my arms around her as I sobbed, emotions completely taking over me. If this was fate, it was the cold, cruel, twisted kind. I had just gotten Amy back, and now she was being wrenched away from me. As I rocked back and forth, holding a seriously wounded, bleeding Amy tight to my breast, hysteria soon set in with my sobs and I was completely disoriented by the time the sirens of the ambulance could be heard in the distance.
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EMS Staff Member Perez’s POV
The ambulance arrived at the location indicated by the GPS device in the cell phone, from which the call was made. With a rushed order, I, along with the rest of my crew exited the ambulance, retrieved the stretcher from the back and ran into the decrepit warehouse.
Once in the building, we ran to the two figures on the floor, both covered with blood. The brunette had her gun raised, clearly in a state of hysteria and dementia. I cautiously approached the severely wounded blonde she was holding tight to her. The gun was then pointed in my direction.
“Don’t you touch her…don’t take her away from me!” the brunette screamed, understandably crazed.
“Ma’am, we need to get her to the hospital right away, she’s going to need a blood transfusion.”
“I SAID, don’t you touch her…I don’t want to lose her,” she sobbed.
I turned my head to Miguel Olivia, my second-in-command in the squad, and gave him a silent, understood order. He walked over to the brunette, placed a hand on the small of her back and placed a hand on the brunette’s arm. The gun willingly came down as she turned and sobbed into Olivia’s shoulders.
Seizing the opportunity, we rapidly lifted the blonde onto the stretcher and wheeled her out to the ambulance. Just looking at her, I realized that we needed to rush our way to the hospital. If we didn’t, the girl didn’t have even a small chance of surviving.
As my crew hastily wheeled the blonde to the ambulance, a haunting, despaired wail reverberated throughout the warehouse. “Aaaaammmmyyy!”
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And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?
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Yes, I know I used these lyrics before, but I used them again intentionally - see if you can figure out why.
Please don’t hate me, but yes - I’m evil, if you haven’t figured that out by now…
~Dan
Next Chapter - ( Chapter Fourteen: Revenge )
So you wanted action? You’ve got action aplenty. Remember though, that action comes courtesy of the darker half of me.
The Albert Einstein story is true - he used to purchase groceries at the A&P where my grandfather worked in New Jersey. My grandfather loved to tell the story (May he rest in peace).
Opening lyrics come from Meat Loaf’s I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That); end lyrics belong to Coldplay’s Fix You
Chapter 13: Loss
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I would do anything for love
I'd run right into hell and back
I would do anything for love
I'll never lie to you and that’s a fact
But I'll never forget the way you feel right now
Oh no, no way
And I would do anything for love
But I won’t do that, No I won’t do that
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Lucy’s POV
Waking up that morning, for the first time in ages, I felt content. Next to me on the bed was an angel, and I must have been in heaven…there was no other explanation. She was awake; her eyes were open and she was staring at me. I returned the stare - it was just too good to be true. Pinching myself and feeling the pressure, I realized this was reality…I had regained the only person who made my life worth anything. There were times when I thought that I had lost her, but here she was, the perfect score, facing me in all of her nakedness, just inches from my body.
I reached out my hand and brushed aside a few stray strands of silky, golden hair from Amy’s face. No words needed to be said - we knew each other’s thoughts. As I retracted my hand, Amy brought her head forward and kissed my knuckles, a silent message conveyed. Staring into the eyes that held me captive, I inched forward in the bed and curled my arm around Amy’s body, bringing us together for a slow, sensual kiss. Before the kiss grew and my mind turned blank, the only thought running through it was the question of how I had managed to survive without waking up to this. This was magical, this was pure…this was love. I would do anything for Amy Bradshaw; if she said ‘jump,’ I’d ask ‘how high.’
Leaving her lips, I slowly trailed kisses downward, slightly biting and teasing the area around Amy’s neck, the only sound elicited was a cry of ecstasy in which Amy exclaimed my name. Otherwise we knew each other’s thoughts intimately, the connection was back intact. Working my way from Amy’s throat back up to her mouth we locked in another passionate kiss. Not only was saliva shared in that kiss, we shared our souls. Amy Bradshaw was a part of Lucy Reynolds, just as much as I was a part of her.
Rising slowly, and reluctantly drawing my mouth away from Amy’s, I placed a knee on either side of her thighs, straddling her. I bent down until I was inches away from her mouth, preparing for another soulful kiss when the phone rang.
“Shit! What a way to ruin a moment!” I exclaimed at the phone, furrowing my brow and frowning as a frustrated look was drawn on my face. Amy giggled, and finding it extremely cute, I couldn’t help myself as my face lightened into a sadistic smile, “Oh, you think it’s funny, do you…just you wait.”
I rolled off Amy and the bed as I picked up the black wireless phone without looking at the Caller ID. “Diamond here…this better be good.”
“Oh, I assure you that it is, Diamond,” sneered the unmistakable voice of Ms. Petrie. “Can you be of some use and put Andy on the phone?”
For a second I wondered who Andy was, until I remembered something Amy had once said. Miguel at the docks had called her by the wrong name, and she responded with something akin to ‘You’re as bad as Ms. Petrie.’ I walked back to the bed and handed the phone to Amy. “Who is it?” Amy whispered.
“Your old boss - she wants to talk to you,” I replied, in a sibilant whisper. A slight look of shock registered on Amy’s face as her eyebrows lifted slightly and she raised the phone to her ear.
“Hello Ms. Petrie,” Amy said tentatively, her voice wavering slightly. Realizing that I could only hear one side of the conversation, I walked to our guest room and picked up its phone, which shared the same line.
“Annie, we have a job for you. We received reports from a mole within Pink Thunder’s Lithuania branch that Alfonso Kavalek, also known by the aliases Dr. Corleone and Dr. Head, has been usurped by his second-in-command, Charitine LeFleur, alias Chastity Red.” Oh my God! That was her plan! I realized. She needed me out of the way, because she knew that my family’s obligation to Corleone would have forced me to stop her…the bitch! “We have a Search and Rescue team down in Barcelona now, but they have not been able to recover Kavelek’s body. We know that you have…connections, and we would like you to survey the area and any known Pink Thunder buildings, see if anything possibly turns up.”
Amy hesitated for a second before answering, “I don’t know, Ms. Petrie.”
“Addie, don’t forgot who gave you that pardon. You’re free because of us,” Petrie reminded Amy in an authoritative voice. I hated that woman; she was just as manipulative as Corleone or Chastity, the only difference was that she worked for the “good guys.”
“Alright, Ms. Petrie, we’ll check it out,” Amy sighed, resignation in her voice.
“Good, Ally, we’re expecting good results out of you.”
“Wait, Ms. Petrie, why didn’t you just beam in here?”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to interrupt your lesbian fling, would I?”
“How’d you know?” Amy asked with amazement.
“I know everything, Amy.” Ah, you finally got her name right for once, dipshit, I thought callously as Petrie hung up the phone.
“Lucy!” Amy called from the other room. “Luuuuucy!” Amy called again, her voice louder this time. I walked out of our guest room and into the hallway to find Amy waiting for me. She looked at me quizzically for a second. “Lucy? Why were you…” suddenly her features expanded as she drew her eyebrows up and her eyelids opened wide as realization dawned. “Lucy…you didn’t.”
I didn’t answer out loud, but the smirk I gave, lifting the right half of my mouth, gave my actions away. Amy rolled her eyes, but, to her credit, she didn’t chastise. “Alfonso Kavelek, huh…strange…I always thought Head was his real last name. Guess he never showed his full deck of cards.”
“Who really does?” Amy asked. It was a valid point. “Anyway, I think we should check out Pink Thunder’s Barcelona headquarters…that is, if you don’t mind,” Amy added on cagily.
“Amy, of course I’ll show you. Plus, it’s probably for both of our benefits as well. Something tells me that if this is true, Chastity hasn’t finished her pursuit of power.”
Amy and I returned to our room and got dressed, making sure to remember our guns before heading out to the car. Upon arriving in Barcelona about a year ago, Amy and I had purchased matching Glock 23 shotguns. I had found that I liked it better than the Beretta 92 I had previously carried, so the Glock had taken over as my weapon of choice. I especially liked the polymer framing typical of Glock guns; it was lighter and more practical than the metal receiver of the Beretta 92. After packing our heat, we hit the road headed towards Pink Thunder headquarters and presumably Chastity.
Once on the road, a notion buried itself in my mind, it was more disbelief than thought. There was no way that the Corleone that I knew would have not known about Chastity. People thought many different things about Corleone, Alfonso Kavelek, or whatever other aliases he possessed, but the one universal observation was of the man’s striking genius. Corleone just had a mind for crime; his superior intellect was unrivaled. I had never met anyone quite as brilliant as he was. Corleone more than likely could have easily matched wits with the like of Albert Einstein and won. Where Albert Einstein’s genius failed him was at simplicity - often in the grocery store, he would bafflingly have to ask the individual price on an item marked three for five dollars, or anything in that vein - Corleone’s genius was all-encompassing. There was no way that Corleone, in all his wisdom, could not have seen it coming. Knowing Corleone, he would had seen it coming and he would have taken care of it…he wouldn’t have willingly given his life.
I was still mulling over the question as we pulled into the deserted parking lot of the dreary warehouse headquarters of Pink Thunder. On the outside, nothing looked out of the ordinary. There were no guards patrolling, no one around. Hopefully on the inside, it would be the same - the worst-case scenario would be if the reports were true. I, along with anyone else, would be forced to shudder at the thought of Chastity taking over the organization. As criminally maniacal as Corleone was, at least he had ideals. Chastity was not only as ruthless as they come, but she was ruthlessly selfish - a lethal combination.
Turning my head to the left and staring into the deep, expressive pools that were the eyes I loved so much, I told her the only thing that came to my mind, “Amy…whatever happens in there…stay safe.”
I watched intently as the corners of Amy’s mouth lifted into a playful smile. “I will if you will,” she teased, leaning her head in for a quick kiss. I would have loved to continue that kiss, but it wasn’t the time or the place for that. Amy and I exited the car and started a trepid walk to the warehouse doors, which surprisingly, were unlocked.
Pushing open the doors, my fears were relieved for a split second. Everything in the warehouse seemed to be in order - the cubicles and computers were as I had remembered them. Snapping me out of my calm state, Amy’s hand grabbed my shoulder, exuding fear as it did so. She pointed to the desk at the far end of the warehouse, the desk at which had sat one of the world’s greatest minds. It was a sheer and utter disaster zone.
Cautiously making our way to the desk, Amy nearly tripped over a stray bishop on the ground. Corleone’s desk was in shambles, and blood was everywhere. The lamp that had been on his desk was overturned, papers and folders strewn everywhere, and an overturned chess board lay on the ground.
“Zo…‘ere you are,” a voice stated, reverberating throughout the walls of the warehouse. Swiftly turning around, I saw the speaker’s silhouette in the open doorway. I didn’t need to see the details of the individual; that voice belonged to Chastity. She was wearing a blue turtleneck sweater that seemed a bit too bulgy. “I must zay, I’ve been expecting you.”
“Chastity…” I began shakily, my voice betraying me. “What…what have you done?”
“I did what I should ‘ave done years ago. Ze fool was losing eet, Lucy. Ze man needed to die.”
I turned my head to Amy, who seemed to be in a state of shock, horrified by her surroundings. “I can’t believe you did this…why?” I asked.
“I told you, ze fool was not fit to rule any longer. Eet was my duty to dispose of ze trash and take my position as head of ze organization,” Chastity said, walking towards Amy and me.
“You’re crazy!”
“No, I am not crazy, Lucy. Just doing my job.”
“So drugging me, splitting Amy and I up, and killing Corleone was your job? You’ve got to be kidding me?” I asked incredulously
“Kidding with you? You really do not know me well, Lucy. For too damn long, I ‘ave been in the shadows of zat man, and for too long, he ‘as taken credit for my success. For years, I did his jobs, and never once did I fail him. But was I ever treated like I was his successor? NO! Ze asshole praised everyone, and zen he puts zose damn idiots on my team. He puts incompetent pigs on my team, zen you leave, and I am stuck with zem! For years, I ‘ave wanted to kill him, but ‘aven’t, because keeping him alive and calling the shots made me look better, but now…now he’s lost eet, and I came down like lightning.”
“I was right, you are crazy,” I reiterated.
“If you insist, mon amour,” Chastity said. “Now, I have a simple proposal for you, Lucy. Join me, together, you and I can rule ze criminal world.”
“Um…didn’t I ask you that a long time ago myself, Chastity? You’re getting the same answer you gave me - no.”
“Join me, and the D.E.B. lives,” snarled Chastity.
“She said no!” Amy shouted, springing to my defense. “Besides, I doubt you can take both of us.”
“So be eet,” Chastity said. Her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth lifted as she flashed an insidious, crooked smile. “Who said anything about both of you?”
Her arm made a quick movement, and heard something akin to a shot from a gun. Then my world went dark.
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Amy’s POV
“Who said anything about the both of you?” Chastity asked. With reflexes to rival a cat’s she reached into her jacket withdrew a black gun and fired off a shot. The loud noise was like no gun I had heard before, it sounded more like a rush of air and gas than the noise given off by the typical handgun. The quickness of Chastity’s attack had caught us off balance, and next to me I saw Lucy collapse as she let out grunting noises. My eyes opened wide. “LUCY!”
“Don’t worry, eet ees only a little bit of barbiturate. She ees only unconscious,” Chastity explained. A cursory glance at Lucy revealed her words to be true. A small syringe was sticking out of Lucy’s abdomen. “What I will do to you, zough, ees much worse. She will wake in a few minutes to find you dead.” The clatter of the tranquilizer gun on the floor caught my attention, and was my only warning as I ducked and narrowly avoided a screaming bullet. I took a quick glance around the warehouse, my situation would only allow a minimal search. Finding my destination, I ran over to the nearest cubicle in a crouched position. As I was running, two more shots missed their mark.
I crouched under the desk of the cubicle nearest the wall. I couldn’t see anything, but I knew Chastity was still out there, and judging by the footsteps she was approaching me fast.
“What’s wrong, little D.E.B. doesn’t want to play?” Chastity mockingly sang. “Come out, come out wherever you are!”
I palmed my Glock and inched forward, ready to come out from the cubicle and surprise Chastity. Another sound of a shot pierced the stale air, quickly followed by the sound of shattering glass and plastic before a deadening clank as the bullet lodged itself and created a dent in the desk right above me. Chastity’s action had the desired effect as I reflexively rolled out from behind the cubicle back into plain sight. Before she could fire, I pulled the trigger on my gun and fired a sloppy shot that completely missed her.
“Ah, a bit tougher than I thought, but zat will just make eet more gratifying when I kill you,” Chastity stated, as I jumped onto my feet and started running down the warehouse, a few bullets flying by as I ran. Halfway down the warehouse I found a rectangular column that was wide enough to hide behind. Running to it and pressing my back squarely against the pillar, I quickly caught my breath before pivoting and firing a shot at Chastity, who quickly dove under the nearest cubicle, avoiding the bullet. Unfortunately, I only had four more bullets. Lucy and I never loaded our guns to the fullest capacity. We had hoped never to need them, and I had no ammo on me.
A flash of color and Chastity popped back up from the cubicle, firing a round that caused my instinctive reflexes to fire another pointless shot. Damn it…only three more. A metallic ping rang out after that shot, as I clearly hit something. Turning my head in the direction, I saw a small refrigerator to the right of Corleone’s desk swing open, the airtight seal destroyed. Inside were multiple bags of blood. It looked like someone may have recently have taken some, as a small area on the top shelf was empty. Tearing my attention away from the blood, I pivoted back behind the column as I waited for another opportunity. If I couldn’t get a clear shot before I fired my next three shots, I was dead. Another shot rang out, followed shortly by the sound of cracking dry wall as Chastity’s shot lodged in the column. Swiftly I pivoted again on my right foot to face Corleone’s desk and the cubicle sheltering Chastity. I fired a rapid shot as Chastity ducked back down. The bullet must have at least grazed her as a cry of pain pierced the air and reverberated around the walls. I put my back square against the pillar again and waited for her next move, which didn’t come. The room was deathly silent; the only noise audible was the beating of my heart in my chest.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a fierce, almost warlike cry pierced the room as Chastity jumped out from her hiding place and, with a crazed fire in her eyes charged forward with a long machete raised high in her hand. I stepped out fully from the pillar, aimed a careful shot and pulled the trigger, hitting Chastity’s exposed chest.
Chastity was thrown backwards, stumbled and fell. A groan escaped her lips and I walked forward to her body to investigate. When I was about two steps from her body, Chastity swung herself back on her feet and swung the machete over her head, straight down at me in a blind rage. Surprised, but agile enough to evade the swing, I sidestepped to the right of the blade and managed to get Chastity off balance. Taking advantage of the situation, I stepped to Chastity’s side, slipped my left arm under her left arm and put my right arm on the outside of her arm. Pulling with my left forearm and pushing with my right, the crack of breaking bones broke the silence in the room. Holding onto Chastity’s arm, I noticed for the first time the Kevlar vest she was wearing. A tear ran down her face as she felt the pain from her limp left arm and dropped the knife.
Exerting enough pressure on the arm to keep Chastity in pain, I attempted to fully catch my breath. Abruptly, Chastity raised her leg and kicked it out to the side, hitting me square in the solar plexus. I attempted to breath, but found it impossible to do so. Even though I had had the wind knocked out of me before, the panic-inducing effects remained, and I doubled over. Chastity took the opportunity to move and bent down to the floor, executing an action that I wasn’t paying attention to.
Regaining my ability to breathe, I bent back up, in time to see Chastity’s arm snake out towards me. I attempted to block or parry her strike, but it was in vain as I felt a sharp pain and pressure right below my right breast. Daring to turn my head down, I gasped in agony as I felt the wetness trickle down my stomach and saw the six-inch blade sticking out of my chest. I entered a state of shock, barely able to move or breathe. Removing the blade, Chastity must have struck three or four more times while my shock rendered me completely helpless. My knees buckled and my vision turned blurry as I fell to the ground, a few feet from Lucy’s body, feeling my life drain away.
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Lucy’s POV
I regained consciousness just in time to see Amy fall. My mind and reflexes still extremely slow, my horror was brushed aside for a second as I reached for my Glock and fired a groggy shot at Chastity. The shot completely missed her but had the intended effect of surprising her.
“Eet’s not over, Diamond,” Chastity spat as she ran over to the exit-only side door, threw it open and disappeared into the light of the sun.
That was when my mind fully registered the body lying next to me. My vision was still extremely blurry as I blindly groped for Amy’s body. Finding it, the first thing I felt was a wetness familiar to me; a wetness that made my throat constrict, my mouth dry and my heart race a thousand beats per minute as I lifted the hand to my face and recognized the dark redness of blood.
Quick as a flash, I ripped out my cell phone from my pants pocket and called 112, the Barcelona equivalent of 911.
Trying to express to the operator the disaster in front of me turned out to be extremely more complicated than I thought. Words were just escaping me, and I couldn’t answer the woman when she asked about the emergency. “Amy…stabbed…ohmygod the blood!” were the only words I managed to say. At that moment, I was extremely grateful for the GPS device installed in the newer phones. I was in no condition to be able to describe my location.
Following the instructions and leaving my phone connected, I placed it on the floor and flung myself over Amy, wrapping my arms around her as I sobbed, emotions completely taking over me. If this was fate, it was the cold, cruel, twisted kind. I had just gotten Amy back, and now she was being wrenched away from me. As I rocked back and forth, holding a seriously wounded, bleeding Amy tight to my breast, hysteria soon set in with my sobs and I was completely disoriented by the time the sirens of the ambulance could be heard in the distance.
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EMS Staff Member Perez’s POV
The ambulance arrived at the location indicated by the GPS device in the cell phone, from which the call was made. With a rushed order, I, along with the rest of my crew exited the ambulance, retrieved the stretcher from the back and ran into the decrepit warehouse.
Once in the building, we ran to the two figures on the floor, both covered with blood. The brunette had her gun raised, clearly in a state of hysteria and dementia. I cautiously approached the severely wounded blonde she was holding tight to her. The gun was then pointed in my direction.
“Don’t you touch her…don’t take her away from me!” the brunette screamed, understandably crazed.
“Ma’am, we need to get her to the hospital right away, she’s going to need a blood transfusion.”
“I SAID, don’t you touch her…I don’t want to lose her,” she sobbed.
I turned my head to Miguel Olivia, my second-in-command in the squad, and gave him a silent, understood order. He walked over to the brunette, placed a hand on the small of her back and placed a hand on the brunette’s arm. The gun willingly came down as she turned and sobbed into Olivia’s shoulders.
Seizing the opportunity, we rapidly lifted the blonde onto the stretcher and wheeled her out to the ambulance. Just looking at her, I realized that we needed to rush our way to the hospital. If we didn’t, the girl didn’t have even a small chance of surviving.
As my crew hastily wheeled the blonde to the ambulance, a haunting, despaired wail reverberated throughout the warehouse. “Aaaaammmmyyy!”
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And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?
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Yes, I know I used these lyrics before, but I used them again intentionally - see if you can figure out why.
Please don’t hate me, but yes - I’m evil, if you haven’t figured that out by now…
~Dan
Next Chapter - ( Chapter Fourteen: Revenge )