26. Luca

26

LUCA

" I want a headcount," I tell a soldier as we rally in a warehouse not too far from Trips . I came here as soon as I left Jo at the school to meet with Sonny and Agent Shaw who's supposed to have backup with her.

"It's going to take a while for tactical to get here." She sighs.

"Why? Did you tell them there's a kidnapped child involved?" I ask her.

Guilt overrides her expression. "This investigation went on for about three weeks longer than it should have. My superiors want local PD to handle it."

"We're on our own, then," I confirm. "That's fine, but Quinn, you're not an agent on this."

"I'm still federal law enforcement. You can't think I'm going to turn a blind eye while you all break and bend the law however it suits you."

"You do," Sonny quips. "Being detained without proper cause is a violation of my rights."

"Enough you two."

Agent Shaw speaks up. "I was able to pull a layout of the building. The renderings show the back of the club is halfway underground."

A soldier comes jogging back with information. "There's two women, one kid, and about a dozen guys hanging around with Vito. Six of those dozen are working a set, arguing with the two women."

My heart races, pulse pounding because my gut is telling me that Jo's inside that building even though I left her at the school.

"Identification on key players?" I ask the soldier.

"Yeah, Duke Everett is inside. I can confirm the kid is Jett Hansen."

"The two women?" I ask him, begging to gods unknown that it's not who I can already feel it is.

"Monique Shewster and Josephine Hansen." The soldier confirms my worst nightmare.

Sonny grabs me by the shoulder, spinning me to face him. "Cool it. We need Cool Hand Luke for this one, alright? Not the guy who showed up last night. You don't want to scare that kid."

I nod, turning to the soldier. "Is there any way I can slip inside that building without being detected?"

'Yeah. They're moving film equipment around and trying to sober one of the actresses up. That girl, Monique, is as high as a kite," the soldier says.

"Okay people, listen up," I call out to everyone in earshot. "I'm going in. Sonny, you call the shots out here once I get inside. I want every exit covered. The only person out of Vito's crew that we need alive is Vito. Everyone else is on the menu. It goes without saying the women and child need to be rescued without injury. Pop it."

The gleam in the Marzano soldier's eye is a familiar one as he pops the trunk of one of the cars to show an array of weapons. It's an arsenal on wheels.

"Are all of those guns registered, Mr. Devlin?" Agent Shaw asks, peeking over my shoulder.

"Yes, they are registered to their owners. If you're going to give me issues about saving my family on this, we can toss you in the trunk with the guns for you to verify." My warning to her is absolute and she takes a step back.

The men load up and we make our way toward Trips in the middle of a bright Friday morning. They only stop to give me enough time to sneak inside while Vito's film crew shuffles equipment in and out of the club's side entrance.

It's quiet out front, but I hear the sounds of Jo in the back area. One guy approaches, but before he can say anything to alert the others, I get behind him. With one arm hooked around his mouth to muffle his pleas, I squeeze him in a chokehold until his body goes limp. I drag him into an empty women's bathroom, leaving him in a pile by the stalls.

All seems quiet when I poke my head out and sneak to the back area of the club that's just as spacious as the front. There are tons of lights shining down on a massive bed where Jo's sitting with her arms folded across her chest. Vito's bandaged and sitting in a director's chair with her asshole of an ex, Duke, standing off to the side. Duke has a firm grip on Jett's shoulder even though the kid is tiring himself out struggling to get away. When Duke jerks Jett to stop moving, I have to keep my rage bottled up inside to not give away my position.

"I need a SAG rep on set right now," Josephine states. "These are unacceptable working conditions. My co-star is blitzed out of her mind."

"Yes, I am," Monique slurs. I realize she's lying on the bed behind Jo as she points a finger in the air before letting it drop lazily beside her.

"You know, Josephine." Vito sounds like he's in a lot of pain and that makes me smile, but I'm still going to kill him. He speaks candidly in front of all these people. "I have to eat my lunch, dinner, and breakfast through a fucking straw thanks to that shithead boyfriend of yours. I think your character would get billions of views if I let Duke shove his co?—"

"HEY!" Josephine shouts over Vito's disgusting words. "My kid is here. This is traumatic enough. I don't need you putting garbage in his head. As a matter of fact, I need a trailer. Jett can wait in the trailer and I'll do whatever you want for the scene."

"Don't do anything for these shits, Mom!" Jett shouts. Duke jerks him back again. "Let me go, Duke the Puke."

"That's a great name, kid." Vito grins. "Why don't you leave the kid, Duke? Since the best friend is too high to work, it will be just as devastating to Luca to watch his budding starlet and love of his life, get railed by her ex."

"LANGUAGE, SHITHEADS!" Jo shouts angrily. She points a finger at Duke. "If you come anywhere near me, I promise you'll regret it."

"I like promises," Duke's gaze goes sinister as I pull out my phone to text Sonny it's time to break this shit up. Duke's laugh is obnoxious as he moves closer to Jo. "You know why I like promises, because they can be broken as easily as you."

"Enough of the foreplay. Duke strip. Matteo! Put the kid in the office or something." Vito commands and a guy with a wound from when Sonny pelted him with an ashtray moves closer to Jett. He simply nods his head for Jett to walk and I duck out of sight, waiting for the right moment.

I can see the fear building in Jo's eyes, her courage fading because seeing Jett was her shield. Without him on set, her time to stall is running out. I have to move quickly.

Jett spots me, but I hold a finger up to my lips to keep him quiet, sneaking up behind the guy to take him out as easily as I did the first. This time I have help. A Marzano soldier moves in quietly with his weapon drawn and six others behind him. They spread out to surround the set as I grab Jett away from the Matteo guy.

"Hey, you okay?" I ask him, moving his hair out of his face, a face puffy from the tears he’s shed. His head moves up and down quickly as he wraps his arms around my neck. "You're so brave, Jett. I need you to be brave one more time, okay?"

I pull out my phone to show him a picture of Sonny. "You remember this guy, right?"

"He works with you at the studio."

"Yeah, that's my brother, Sonny. I'm going to take you to the door and he should be right there. You run right to him and no one else, capiche ?"

Jett does as he's told as soon as I open the side entrance. The only problem is opening the door lets a flash of sunlight into the darkly lit back room long after the film crew's done moving their equipment inside.

Chaos erupts as Vito shouts. "That bastard's here. Everyone spread out and if that bitch moves, put her down."

That's the last thing Vito should have shouted. Bullets ring out from Marzano soldiers, taking out Vito's people as everyone scatters. Jo dives over Monique and drags her to the ground. I see Duke's beady eyes scouring the area until I spot what he's looking for. He picks up a gun and points it at Jo and Monique. Jo never sees him as she's trying to get Monique to her feet for them to escape.

I dip low and rush Duke like a football player, knocking the wind out of him as he lets off a bullet which flies into the ceiling. I get on top of him, unleashing my fists the same way I did on Vito the night before. This time, there's no one to stop me.

No one except the sweet sound of Josephine's voice luring me out of the violent abyss of my anger.

"Luca, don't kill him, not here. We have to get Monique to a hospital. Where's Jett?"

"With Sonny, outside," I tell her, moving off Duke's bloody body.

"Another fire tonight?" she asks with a smirk, pinching my shirt as I move to scoop Monique into my arms.

Her body is limp, but she's breathing. I force her eyes open and check her skin. She's sweaty, and her pulse is racing.

"I'm freezing, guys, turn the AC down," Monique mumbles as she swats at my hands.

"You stupid cunt! FUCK YOU!" Duke rages from behind us. "You don't get a happy ending. You ruined my fucking life! You don't get a happy ending! Not with me and damn sure not without me."

Duke runs toward us at full speed. The sound of gunfire beside me makes me flinch. The smoke billowing from the barrel of the Glock in Jo's hand is as shocking to me as it is to her. I let Monique rest on the bed as I move toward Jo, easing the gun out of her hand to wipe her prints off of it.

"Is he…?" Jo asks, a light tremble in her voice.

"Dead?" I finish for her and shake my head, moving out of her line of sight.

Duke's rolling back and forth, gripping his leg as blood pours from a bullet hole in his knee. Jo lets out a sigh of relief.

"You're a shit shot." I laugh. "But we have plenty of time to practice."

The cavalry arrives as we head outside where Marzano soldiers make themselves scarce just in time for the police to show up with Agent Shaw. Paramedics take the wounded while we give statements to Agent Shaw.

Josephine does most of the talking. Her improv skills are phenomenal. "Vito Dacosta was working with my ex, Duke, to blackmail me into doing a porn film. Duke hated me for having his kid and then for moving on without him. Duke told me that with Vito in his corner, Vito and Luca would kill each other and he hoped I'd become a victim in the process of them sorting out their production studio differences."

"Oh, so this wasn't a mob turf war?" Agent Shaw asks from behind the officer taking Josephine's statement.

The officer glares at Agent Shaw from over his shoulder before returning their attention to us. Josephine continues. "No, as far as I know, this was just my ex trying to kidnap our child after I filed a restraining order against him and get me hurt in the process, so he could keep custody of Jett."

"Thank you, Miss Hansen. I'm going to leave you with my card and reach out to you to confirm a few things later." The officer puts his notepad away and walks toward the club where Duke's being rolled out on a gurney.

"That bitch shot me! She’s ruined my life three times now! Not once, not twice, but three times! Fuck. Three times! I want her arrested!" Duke shouts.

"Duke Everett, you are under arrest for unlawful imprisonment, unlawful imprisonment of a minor, child endangerment, violation of your court ordered custody agreement, violation of a restraining order," the officer rattles off a slew of charges to Duke who gets quieter with every offense listed.

As the people clear, Jo finally gets her arms around Jett, and I get my family to safety.