We Come Out At Night 3

Chapter 21

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Gates
The Following Night
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Tonight would be the night we got Izzy back. Everyone had their instructions all we had to do was wait til 8pm for Marco to arrive.

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12:30 PM
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I walked into the café to get a cup of coffee. We gave Kristina the day off without telling her why. All we told her was that we needed to use the office for something. We didn’t want to go and tell her that it was because we were going to have her stand face to face with Marco and we didn’t want her to look stressed out. We wanted her to look like Ruby.

We got The Rev to lie to her and ask her to if she would get dressed up and go with him to the auditorium to go and check out a band that we were considering booking. That was complete bullshit; we would never book another “band” to play at “our” casino. She agreed and he told her to meet him down on the main floor at 8pm.

As I stood there paying for my coffee I heard a sound that had my head turning in the direction in which it was coming from. It was Kristina laughing. She was sitting at a table with Johnny having lunch.
I turned my head away before they saw me looking and walked out of the cafeteria. Something about that bothered me.

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2:30 PM
The Rev
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“Get up.” I said nudging London. She opened her swollen eyes wincing at the pain and sat up slowly. I set a tray of food down in her lap.

“You have a phone call.” I handed her the phone and told her to make it quick. It was a relative of hers from New York who had been calling for her all morning and this last time threatened to call the police if I didn’t put her on the phone.

“Hello?” She said to the person on the other end of the phone.

She sat there silently while the woman on the other end of the phone spoke and after a few minutes she started to respond. “Ok.” She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I will. Bye” She handed me back the phone and lowered her gaze to the tray of food that I had set her lap. I hope she was left-handed because I wasn’t giving her the courtesy of uncuffing her right hand.

“Why aren’t you eating?” I asked her impatiently.

“I’m not hungry.” Her voice was barely audible.

So, I picked up the tray and threw it across the room. “Fine, if you don’t want to eat now, then you won’t mind starving later.”

She lay back down and turned on her side so that her back was facing me. “Hey, I didn’t say you could go back to sleep. I told you to get up.”

“No”

“No?”

“That’s what I said.” Apparently, I didn’t do enough damage if she was being that smart with me. From my pocket I pulled out a switchblade. I walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge.

“How’d you like to find out how sharp my knife is?”

“How’d you like to go fuck yourself?”

“buzzzzzzzzz wrong answer! Shucks, now I’m gonna have to punish you for that remark. It this will be nothing compared to the fun I had last night.”

She turned on to her back and looked at me. “Go ahead. That phone call that I just got was my auntie in New York who was so kind to let me know that my mother died this morning. So I’d say I’ve been punished enough, but it’s your fucking call. Go for it.”

I just looked at her while she looked up at me waiting for me to do something.

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4:00 PM
Vengeance
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We stayed in bed all day and Mari was resting her head comfortably on my chest. I had no idea how the night was going to go down, but we had 4 hours left until that time. I had explained what we needed her to do and she was ok with it after I promised her she would be safe. She trusted me so easily and I like that.

“What’s going to happen after tonight?” She asked me as she lifted her head and rested her chin on my chest waiting for an answer.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean after whatever the plan is and my father is out of the picture. You wont need me anymore as leverage.”

I sat up and she moved sitting up with me. I was slightly offended and a little upset by that remark. “Leverage? Do you think that after tonight is over that we are over?”

“I don’t know. I just know that the reason I’m here is because of my father and after tonight, Shadows wont need me anymore.”

Sometimes I forget how young she is. I took her face in my hands and held it there. “You are here because I want you here. Not because Shadows needs you, I need you. God Damn it, I love you. What happens after tonight is entirely up to you. I want you to stay with me. Do you want to stay?”

“Yes.” She smiled with tears coming out of her eyes. “I want to stay with you.”

“Ok then I guess we have our answer.” I continued to hold her face in my hands as I kissed her. If we could stay like this forever, I would have no complaints.

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6:00 PM
Shadows
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“You know what to do?” I asked The Rev making sure he was on point with his task.

“Yeah, I’m on it.”

“Good.” I nodded. “Now, what about our little problem?”

“Our little problem is a bitch.” He was extremely irritated.

“Well, like I said, it’s your revenge to have.”

He looked up at me and pursed his lips. “I already got it.”

“How so?” I asked sitting back in my chair and clasping my hands together.

“Her mother died this morning”

”Ouch” That was harsh.

“Yeah” He nodded. There still seemed to be something bothering him.

“Well, whatever you decide to do with her, I’ll support your decision.”

“Ok”he nodded and got up from the chair. “I’m going to go get ready for tonight.”

I nodded and watched as he walked out of my office. Only two hours left and Izzy would be home. I’d hoped that after tonight we would be ok and she would forget about the damage that was done before she was gone. To have her in my life was a luxury that I would never take for granted again.

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7:30 PM
Christ
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“Do I look ok?” Kristina asked me as she twirled around in her green cocktail dress.

“Are you kidding me? You look fucking great.”

She smiled and slipped her shoes on. “Sooooooooo” She said looking at me with a sly smile.

“Soooooooo what?” I said with the hint of a laugh.

“So what’s new with you? I saw you last night from my window with a certain female friend that you seem ever so fond of.”

I laughed and when I looked back at her I tried my hardest to be serious, but I couldn’t hide the smile that was plastered on my face. “I kinda like her.”

“You kinda like her? I think she kinda likes you a lot.”

“Yeah, she does.”

“I think it’s sweet.” She said with her head cocked to the side. “Does this mean I loose my go to guy”

“Nope. Not a chance. You’re totally stuck with me.” I teased and after glancing at the clock I looked back at her and faked a smile. I knew what she was about to face and she had no idea that it wasn’t The Rev. “It’s show time little darlin!”

I held out my arm for her to take and we walked out of her room down the hall to the elevator. All the while, I felt like I was leading the lamb to the slaughter.

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8:00 PM
Gates
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He was here, right on time and sitting at the table that Shadows had set up just for him. Vengeance had paraded Mari past the table so that Marco could see we had her here and we were sticking to our part of the deal.

There was one thing that we didn’t tell Vengeance about this whole deal. It was a card game. Winner takes all. If Marco loses, Izzy comes home and Marisol stays. If Marco wins, Marisol goes home with Marco and Izzy stays. At least that’s what we told Marco.
The Rev was already at The Maker’s Marc.

All we needed now was the dealer. When the bell rang for the elevator, I stood in front of the door and waited for it to open. Kristina walked out laughing while holding on to Christ’s arm. When he stopped her in front of me she looked at him with a questioning gaze.

“This is where I take off. Good luck tonight, sweetheart.” He kissed her cheek before he walked away and went to go join The Rev at The Maker’s Marc. Kristina looked around and I knew she was looking for Jimmy.

“There’s been a change of plans.” I said grabbing her arm and leading her in the direction of Marco’s table.

“Hey! Let go.” She said.

I turned around to face her and brought my face close to hers. “Listen Ruby, you are going to do what I say, when I say and how I say to do it. Now, you will follow me because if you don’t you’ll be very very sorry.” I’d hurt her when I called her Ruby and I could see it in the expression on her face. I didn’t want to do that, but it was necessary.

I dragged her over to the table where Shadows sat with Marco and brought her behind it so that she was now facing both of them.

“No.” She pleaded with me and took a step back. It was really hard to be tough with her now, especially knowing that she was facing the man who shot her and killed one of her friends.

“Deal” I said as I shoved her back up to the table.

The first one to win 10 games of Black Jack would be the victor and she could walk away. We knew that Marco was un-armed because we frisked him when he walked in, but that’s not to say she shouldn’t be scared because we knew he had people everywhere. He was a sneaky motherfucker.

“Ruby, you look as beautiful as ever.” Marco said making her hands shake as she picked up the deck of cars. Shadows gave her a reassuring wink, but it didn’t make her any less scared.

It had to be her that dealt the game and although she probably thought that we were just being cruel, in truth her skills in counting cards were crucial to the game.
She dealt the first hand and Shadows had made sure that she dealt herself into the game so it would be fair to him and Marco. Not that Marco deserved any kind of fairness.

The first hand she dealt she busted right away. Shadows had a 7 and a 9 while Marco had a 6 and a 3. Shadows opted to stay and Marco asked for another card. Marco’s card was a queen.

“Montes wins” She said with a shakey voice and Shadows smiled at her to try and cheer her up, but still she looked like she was about to cry.

After picking up the card from the table she dealt the next hand all the while I stood behind her never taking my eyes off Marco.

She dealt herself an 8 and a 5. Shadows a 10 and a 2. Montes a King and an Ace.

“Montes has Black Jack” She noted and picked up the cards.

The next hand she dealt herself a 7 and a jack. Shadows a 4 and 5. Montes an 8 and 2.

Montes tapped the table indicating he wanted another card. It was a 6.
Shadows also requested another card. It was a 10.
“Dealer stays” She said and Marco tapped the table again. The next card she gave him was a 4.

“Montes wins.”

That was three hands to Marco and none to Shadows. Not that it mattered; Izzy was probably on her way back right now anyway.

She dealt the next hand and for herself a king and a 5. Shadows a jack and an 8. Montes a 9 and a 5.

Shadows opted to stay while she and Marco took another card. Another 9 for Marco and a 2 for her.

“Shadows wins.”

Marco was smiling at her like she was dessert and it was making her even more uncomfortable. “You know Ruby, I could use another girl at The Maker’s Marc. I’ll make it more than worth your while.”

“Back the fuck off.” I leaned forward and got in his face with a warning before urging her to start dealing the next hand. I wanted this motherfucker out of here before I killed him myself.

The next two hands went to Marco. It was now 5 games for Marco and still only 1 for Shadows.

She dealt the next hand all the while Marco was gloating at the thought of walking out of here with his daughter.

She dealt herself a 10 and a 5. Shadows an 8 and a 4. Montes an Ace and King.

“Montes has Black Jack.”

Four more games and he would win and little did she know, nothing was going to Make me and Shadows happier.

Again, the next two hands went to Montes giving him a score of 8 and Shadows 1.

From behind Kristina, I nodded at Shadows and give him the signal that the plan had worked and all we had to do was finish the game. The smirk that formed across his face indicated to me that he was beyond satisfied.

Kristina was so nervous at this point her hands were shaking uncontrollably.
She dealt the next hand and to herself she gave a 6 and a 10. Shadows got two 7’s. Motes a 10 and a King.

Montes opted to stay and so did she while Shadows requested another card. It was an 8. He busted.

“Montes wins” She said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Let me get that for you” Marco reached across the table to wipe the tear, but she jumped back before he could.

“Don’t touch me!” She yelled and Shadows grabbed Marco’s arm and slammed it down on the table.

“Just trying to help.” He said as he held up his hands in protest.

Kristina dealt the next hand. She gave herself a 2 and a 3. Shadows a 6 and 8. Montes a 9 and 3.

All three opted to take a card. She gave herself an 8. Shadows a king and Montes another 3. Shadows was busted. It was her and Marco now and both opted for another card. She gave herself an 8 and Montes a 10.

“Dealer wins.” Shadows looked at me confused. That wasn’t supposed to happen. We rigged the deck. It should have been over.

She dealt again and this time the hand went to Shadows and Kristina was starting to sob now. Shadows just wanted to get up and go to his office.

She dealt another hand. Herself a 10 and a 9. Shadows a jack and a 6 and Montes an Ace and a queen.

“Montes has black jack” She cried and put her hands over her face.

“Ruby, baby. So nice to see you again.” Marco gloated. “If you change your mind about that job, you know where to find me.”
She walked away from the table as fast as she could leaving Marco alone with Shadows and me.

“Well boys, looks like I win. So I guess I’ll not only be getting my daughter back, but I’ll be keeping my wife.” He was a gloating bastard, but he was in for a big fucking surprise.

Shadows rubbing his chin with his thumb and his forefinger. “Ya know, as much as it breaks my heart to loose Izzy, I gotta say you are one lucky bastard.”

“Of course I am, I’m a Montes. Now where’s my daughter?”

Shadows smirked and looked at me. “Gates, where might the lovely Marisol be?”

I looked down at my watch and back up at Marco. “hmmm, right about now she should be saying I do”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” He yelled.

Shadows started laughing. “You didn’t think we were going to let you have all the fun did you? You see, we heard about your little plan to trade your daughter to some old dude in Colombia so she could be his wife and we thought it would be funny if she married Vengeance just for spite. So while you were sitting here with me, they were off at a little chapel saying their vows. You’re daughter is a married woman now. Congratulations!”

“Yeah, congrats dude! Vengeance is your son in law!” I chimed in. We so lied. Vengeance and Mari were upstairs in his room. Shadows came up with the marriage lie to keep Marco from taking her out of here figuring that once she was married she would be of no use to him anymore.

“You fucking bastards.” He yelled and got up from the table. “You’ll fucking pay for this.” He said as he stormed out of the casino with no idea that Izzy wouldn’t be there when he got back.

Shadows didn’t hesitate to get up from the table. I followed after him as he rushed through the main floor of the casino down to his office. By the time we got there we were both out of breath.

We pushed through the door and there she was. Izzy sat on The Rev’s lap with her arms round his neck and her face hidden in his shoulder like she was holding on for dear life.

“Baby” Shadows whispered and she lifted her head and turned to look at him.

Her face was flooded with tears as she held out her arms for him. When he lifted her up off The Rev he hugged her as tight as he could and left the office with her bringing her right up to the penthouse.

Our plan worked and Izzy was back. Although no one died tonight, there was still one casualty. Kristina.

I left Shadows office and walked out to the main floor on my way to the elevator only to see Johnny hugging her tightly while she cried as they waited for the elevator. Rather than going over there, I turned and walked into the bar.