Page 58 of Lucky
I take a deep breath, staring at the floor for a moment before looking up at him. Lucky’s told me they watched the whole thing on camera footage, but they still want to hear it from me; maybe there’s something they missed in the footage. “They ambushed us,” I say, the words tumbling out of me like a flood. “We were coming back from the meet with Seattle. Everything seemed fine until it wasn’t. We were…I don’t know, maybe a few blocks away from the intersection, when the car in front of us just stopped. Shots rang out…” My voice catches, and I clench my fists, my nails digging into my palms. “It happened so fast. One minute, we were driving, and the next, the car was stalled, and there was blood everywhere.”
Lucky doesn’t interrupt. He leans forward slightly, his attention fixed entirely on me.
“I saw my men getting killed. They were shooting everywhere but at our car – as though they knew where I was and wanted me alive. I pulled out my guns,” I continue, my voice barely above a whisper. “I fought. God, I fought so hard, but there were too many of them. They killed Marco, and…” I close my eyes, the memory of Marco’s last moments assailing my senses.
“They took me to a cabin,” I say after a pause. “Deep in the woods. I don’t even know where exactly. They tied me up, kept me in a room. Daniel Russo was there.
Scar indicates the cuts and bruises on my face, his face hard as he looks at me. “He do that to you?” Scar’s jaw tightens, and I can see the tension in his body, the barely contained rage simmering beneath the surface. I’m sure he already knows the answer to his own question, but I nod anyway.
“We had a fight.”
I close my eyes momentarily as I try to shut out the image of Russo’s palm as it crashed down against my face. I haven’t even looked at myself in a mirror yet, but I know I must look bad for him to be asking. I can’t imagine I looked any better when David picked me up and thank my lucky stars once again that he stopped for me.
“After Russo left, there were three of them watching over me. Rio, Tony, and Preppy. For… I don’t know how long. Hours? Days, maybe? It’s all a blur.” I shake my head in confusion. There were times when I was drifting in and out of consciousness; I have no idea how much time passed before I was able to escape.
“Do you know what they wanted?” Dante asks.
“Me. Alive. My brother. Daniel was desperate to know where I’d sent him.”
I catch the exchange of looks between the men, quick and loaded, like they’re in on something I’m not. I can’t quite pin down which part of my response has them hesitating, but before I can ask, one of them fires off another question. I exhale sharply, the weight of it all pressing down, and then start again, trying to ignore the tension simmering just beneath the surface.
“Where’s Jack?” Dante asks.
I hesitate, and he sees this. This is my most closely guarded secret; my brother Jack’s safety is paramount to me.
“You have nothing to worry about with the men in this room, Jacklyn. I give you my word.”
“Ukraine.”
The men look at each other in surprise.
“That’s a war zone,” Scar points out.
“Exactly. No-one’s going to think to look there.”
A look of obvious pride sweeps over them at the ingenuity of my plan.
“How did you manage to get away from Russo?” Dante asks.
“They left me with Preppy. College kid who had no idea what he was doing. I tackled him after I told him I needed to use the restroom and ran into the woods.”
I replay the escape in fragmented sequences in my mind, reliving the desperate moments as if they’re happening all over again. The icy cold of the night air on my skin as I ran barefoot through the woods. The sound of my own ragged breathing, the pounding of my heart as I stumbled over roots and rocks, half-blind in the fading light. The fear that my captors would somehow catch up to me, shoot me in the back as I put distance between us.
“I don’t know how far I ran,” I say. “It felt like hours. But I ended up on a road and flagged down a truck. The driver stopped; he didn’t ask too many questions, just… he just got me out of there.”
“You did good,” Lucky says, breathing a sigh of relief. He looks up at his older brother and gives him a dark look. “We need to find Russo.”
“We’ve already dug his grave,” Dante says. Hearing this from Mr Seattle himself, I know that Daniel Russo is as good as dead and buried.
“I thought I was going to die there,” I whisper, my voice breaking. “At one point, I considered it an option; wished they’ddo it so I wouldn’t have to live with the loss of my men, my friends.”
“You’re safe here,” Dante says, looking at Scar. The older Gatti brother pushes off the wall and walks toward me, his kind eyes allaying any fears I might have.
“You’ll stay with Allegra and I,” he decides. “At least until all this blows over. Allegra can’t wait to meet you.” He smiles.
“I don’t want to bring any danger to your door.”
“The danger’s already here, Jacklyn. It’s always been here.”