Nic had managed to position himself behind Giovanni and he had a hand wrapped around the gangster's tie, pulling it tight. Giovanni's eyes bulged and his tongue lolled out. “You get in front of us and start walking or I'll choke the life out of you, you fucking slug,” Nic hissed in Giovanni's ear. “Anyone who wants to take us out will have to shoot through you.”
Nic turned to me, holding out his hand. I took it, resisting the urge to throw my arms around him and kiss him. It was the second time he'd saved my life. I knew that whatever came next, I could never live without him again.
He was my hero and he always would be.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Nic
With Lauren at my side I shoved Giovanni down the hall, keeping his tie wrapped around my fist. As we moved forward, several doors opened and Bonaccorso soldiers ran out into the hall, panicked by the sounds of warfare outside. They all carried their assault rifles and they seemed to be led by the short man with the suspenders.
When the gangsters saw us they stopped in their tracks and aimed their rifles. “Minghia! What the fuck is goin' on here?” the man in the suspenders demanded.
Giovanni tried to answer but I yanked on his tie again, choking his words off in a gurgle.
“What's going on here is fat guys make damn good Kevlar,” I said. “If any of you nimrods want to shoot us, you'll have to blast through Big G here. Except I wouldn't recommend firing a gun when there's a gas leak.”
“He's bluffing, Jimmy! Shoot them!” Giovanni croaked. His face was starting to turn purple.
“I'm not bluffing and Jimmy can prove it,” I sneered. “He's got my phone with the text about the leak.”
Jimmy looked down at my clothes with a confused frown. Then his eyes widened. “Holy shit! That wasn't Eddie. It was you!”
I rolled my eyes. “No wonder they call you wise guys,” I said. “Go ahead and scroll through the texts on my phone. Tell Big G what you see there. Only I'd do it pretty fast if I were you, before something sparks and this place turns into one big pizza oven.”
Jimmy reached into his pocket clumsily, trying to check the phone one-handed while still pointing his heavy rifle with the other. The barrel was waving around and trembling crazily. Speaking of sparks, if he loses his grip on that gun and the barrel scrapes the concrete floor, we might all get charbroiled in the next couple of minutes, I thought.
Finally, Jimmy pulled out the phone and hit the screen with his thumb, scrolling up through the texts. As he did, his eyes filled with terror. He looked at me again and lowered his gun.
“Yeah,” I said. “Run. Fast.”
As he turned to leave, Jimmy dropped my phone on the floor and the screen cracked.
The Bonaccorsos turned around and fled down the hall toward the exit, still carrying their weapons as they screamed and cursed.
“Those are some real brave guys you've got there, Big G,” I said, continuing to drag him forward ahead of me. “At least it'll be easy for us to find our way out of here. All we have to do is follow the trail of piss they left behind.” I turned to Lauren. “Grab my phone and send a text to Bard. Tell him I'm coming out with you and Giovanni, so don't shoot us.”
Lauren nodded and typed in the message. A moment later, a response came from Bard. “Well done!”
We got to the stone steps leading up to the entrance and climbed them slowly. The smell of the gas was much thicker now and I could feel myself getting dizzy. The stairs seemed to spin under my boots and I grabbed Giovanni more tightly, using him to hold myself up. His breath was coming in wheezing gasps and I loosened my grip slightly.
You're not choking to death or dying in a fire tonight, Giovanni. That shit's too good for you. I made a promise to Growler, and you can bet your double-wide ass that I intend to deliver on it.
“Nic,” Lauren called out. I heard a slight slur in her voice and turned to look at her. Her face was a pale shade of green and she looked like she was about to pass out.
“Just a few more feet, Lauren,” I told her. “Keep it together, okay? We're almost there.”
“Okay,” she agreed weakly, holding onto the wall for support.
The bunker's entrance was just ahead. The gangsters had left the door wide open and the cool breeze wafted through. It cut through the murky veil of the gas and helped me clear my head for a moment. Tommy's body was still on the ground with blood seeping from his busted skull. His chest looked oddly caved in and it took me a moment to realize that the others had stampeded over him in their desperate hurry to leave.
“Go ahead of us,” I said to Lauren. “Take deep breaths when you're out there to try to clear your head.”
“Nic, look out!” Lauren shrieked.
While I was talking, Giovanni had made a strange flicking gesture with his right wrist. A thin blade with an ivory handle popped out of his sleeve and into the palm of his hand. He pivoted and the knife flashed briefly in the moonlight coming in from outside. The gas had slowed down my reflexes—I tried to deflect the strike with my hand, but instead the blade disappeared and a moment later my left side felt like it was on fire. Eddie's assault rifle fell from my hand and clattered on the floor.
Giovanni may have been grossly fat—not to mention choking on gas and his own tie—but his urge to live gave him a frenzied speed, and the weight he put behind each stab was relentless. He pulled the knife out and planted it in my side again while I grappled with him. I tasted blood rising in my throat and hoped he hadn't hit a lung.
I could feel Giovanni's hundreds of pounds shoving me backward toward the steps. His eyes were bloodshot and murderous, and his hot breath blasted into my face like a furnace.
“I'm going to finish this!” he roared hoarsely. “I'm going to kill you if it's the last goddamn thing I do and then I'll drag you to hell and spend eternity fucking your corpse! Do you hear me, Nic, you punk?”
I slid backward under his weight and felt the top step under my boots.
Well, I guess this is it, I thought. But even if he punches my ticket, I still won. I beat him and I saved Lauren and our baby, and knowing that will let me die happy. Have a good life, babe. Sorry I won't be there to share it with you. Maybe you can name the kid after me...
As my boot reached the edge of the step, Giovanni stiffened and stopped wrestling with me. His eyes rolled back in his head and he fell backward with a heavy thud, unconscious.
Lauren held Eddie's assault rifle in trembling hands and I saw a spot of blood on the butt of the gun. She'd knocked him out with it.
“I love you,” I said. “Now let's go.”
We ran out into the cold night together. Bard and the other Reapers were waiting for us as the surviving gangsters ran off toward the road. For the second time since we'd known each other, Bard hugged me.
“Ow, take it easy!” I said, touching my side gingerly. There was a lot of blood and every breath made me feel like I was being chainsawed, but at least I was alive.
Bard released me and pointed to Giovanni's bulk. “Boomer! Sperm! Ditch! Grab him and haul him back to the van. Get some extra guys to help if you need to.”
The three Reapers dragged Giovanni limp body out of the bunker, groaning and straining loudly. “Some extra guys?” Boomer asked incredulously. “How 'bout a fuckin' crane an' a backhoe so I don't give myself a hernia or three?” They dragged him off into the night, trading grunts and jokes about Big G's weight.
Bard put a hand on Lauren's shoulder. “I'm afraid we've never officially met, Lauren. My name is Bard. It's a pleasure to see you again. I'm glad you're okay.”
“Thanks to you,” Lauren said breathlessly.
“It was all Nic, really,” Bard replied. “He supplied the real brains and guts on this one. The rest of us were mostly back-up.” He pulled a Zippo lighter from the pocket of his jeans and handed it to me. “Would you care to do the honors?”
“Damn straight I would,” I answered, taking the lighter from him. I stepped into the bunker, picked up one final memento from the floor, and stepped back out again, flipping the lid of the lighter.
“Barbecue time,” I said. I flicked the Zippo and tossed it into the bunker, stepping away from the entrance.
A blue fireball immediately engulfed the bunker, roaring and rippling against the walls. There was a whooshing sound as the flames traveled back inside and down the hallways, and a moment later, an explosion roared out from the entrance into the night.
It was beautiful.
Suddenly, I heard a high-pitched scream and saw something moving deep within the flames. It moved toward the doorway and I saw a black shape with two flailing arms. It looked vaguely female and howled like a vengeful ghost.
Marie burst out of the bunker, the flames trailing from her dress and hair. Her skin was crackling and burning and her eyeballs sizzled, popping and melting down her cheeks. Her fingers were hooked into fiery claws as she reached out for me. Even though her mouth was burning she continued to shriek the same word over and over.
“Vendetta! Vendetta! Vendetta!”
Before Marie could reach me, I heard the silenced thump of a gunshot and a bullet hit her in the throat. She staggered backward and five more suppressed shots riddled her torso. With a final groan, Marie hit the ground and stayed there, her body charring and wavering amid the flames.