Ride to Redemption (26 page)

Chapter
50

W
ith
everyone at the banquet table, Josie began bringing out eggs Benedict, spinach
and Swiss omelets, hash brown casserole, fresh fruit, fresh baked pastries,
link sausages and whipped orange juice. “Stop!” I demanded. “Enough! We’ll
never eat all of this. Sit down Josie and join us.” We
 
ate
 
quietly, but heartedly, then retired to our rooms to prepare.

Gathering
in the front hallway a short time later, everyone hugged Josie and thanked her
for kindness and hospitality. “I’m sure I speak for everyone here, Josie, these
last 18 hours we've spent with you will last us for a lifetime,” I told her.
“You’ve made us feel like family, and after today, I hope we always will be.”

“Let’s
do this,” stated Frank.

“We’re
right behind you,” Terry chimed in.

“Shotgun!”
Vic yelled.

Following
the GPS, we made our way to the courthouse, while I crisscrossed the blocks on
each side, looking for something or someone out of place.

“So
far, so good,” I announced, dropping off Vic, Frank, and Terry, a block away.
“There’s a back entrance that connects to the parking garage. Stay away from
the garage, Frank. Best you stay in the open at all times and call me when
you’re done.”

“Will
do, D.”

“Good
luck, Vic,” offered Candi, while giving her a hug. “Hurry back girl, we got
lots more to talk about,” she added, as both turned to look at me.

“Got
an idea,” I said to Candi and Ron, “we need to go get my bike. No one has
really seen me on it, so I might be able to use it to our advantage.”

Pulling
up across the street from the hospital, I grabbed a baseball cap from my
daypack. “I’m gonna wander in through the employee entrance and make my way to
the bike. That will give me a chance to scout out the area and see if anybody’s
waiting on us. Who has the biggest balls when it comes to aggressive driving?”
I asked both Ron and Candi.

“I
do, D,” Candi said quickly. “Remember when I drove your M3 across Lookout
Mountain in record time? I was pretty aggressive then. I remember how tight
your pucker string was when I pulled up to the hospital.”

“Okay.
You’re it, Candi. I remember that day fondly. Ron, pass me a weapon and a box
of shells. I’ll put it in my pack. Are they all loaded?”

“Yes,
sir. Seven shells each; just as you instructed, Mr. D.”

“D’s
just fine, Ron — no mister required. Best you put them all up front in
the floorboard with you,” I suggested. “That is if you have room.

“Stay
here, baby. I’ll be back in a few with the bike. Just pull in behind me when I
drive by,” I said before kissing Candi on the lips. Looking at the trepidation
in her eyes, all I could say was, “I know, baby. I know.”

Maneuvering
through the hospital’s main floor unnoticed was relatively easy, because I was
able to blend in with shift change. I saw Mike, aka Mr. Muscle, in the front
entrance lobby sitting far off to the right, inconspicuously watching the front
door. Because of where Mr. Muscle was sitting, I was able to roll my bike away
unnoticed and out of earshot, before cranking it. Riding up beside the
Suburban, I blew Candi a kiss and motioned for her to follow me.

My
plan, still coming together in my head, was to use my bike as a very loud and
menacing distraction if Joseph and Donny made a move on Vic when she came out
of the courthouse.

I
tossed a hundred different scenarios around in my head before reaching the
conclusion that the easiest way to get to me without a fight was through Vic. Besides,
it was Joseph’s path of least resistance, while in a foreign country and
outside his comfort zone.

Stopping
two blocks away from the courthouse in a Tim Horton’s parking lot, I got off my
bike and jumped in the back of the SUV, behind the driver’s seat and waited for
my phone to ring.

“Nervous?”
I asked Candi.

“A
little, D. Nothing would happen if Joseph knew I was in the middle of all this.
He wouldn’t, I mean, he couldn’t take a chance he’d hurt me.”

“Collateral
damage,” offered Ron. “I mean, if your ex can’t get to D, then he’s still not
going to have you. What I’m trying to say is, don’t count on it.”

“I
have to agree with Ron, baby. Joseph is thinking irrationally. His honor has
been impugned and he’s out for some blood. Unfortunately, it’s mine.”

Chapter
51

M
y
phone rang. “Mission accomplished,” declared Vic. “Now what?”

“Give
me five minutes, then walk out the main entrance and wait near the front door.
If you see me drive up and back on the bike, walk to the south corner and Candi
will be there to pick you up. If I drive by and disappear, go back inside the
courthouse and wait. Did you get that, Vic?” I asked, while looking at Candi
and Ron to make sure we were all on the same page.

 
“Got it. It’s show time.”

Jumping
out of the Suburban, I yelled at Candi through the driver’s window, “Follow me
to the corner and wait.” I jumped on the bike and headed out. Easing into
traffic, I rounded the block and turned right, stopping just short of the
corner. Pointing to the ground, I directed Candi to wait while I took off
around the corner. Looking up and down the street, I saw nothing out of the
ordinary. I rode down the street and saw Victoria standing on the sidewalk
talking to two men.

Wait
… Something was terribly wrong with that picture. She wasn’t talking to Frank
and Terry — it was Joseph and Donny. I immediately did a slow speed U
turn and jumped over the curb onto the sidewalk and headed straight for them.
If I could separate the three by playing chicken, it might buy me enough time
to grab Vic and ride off. At least that was the plan until Donny began running
straight at me, arms flailing. He had an automatic of some sort in his hand,
and was preparing to shoot me off my bike.

Quick-releasing
my helmet with my left hand, I pulled it off and swung it like a club just as
Donny raised his weapon and fired. My sudden lean to the right made him miss
with the first round and startled him just enough to allow me to steady my hand
as my Kevlar reinforced helmet made contact with his face at 25 mph.
One down,
one to go,
I thought, as I righted my bike in time to see Joseph pulling
Vic back into the building. “Dammit!”

Reaching
the corner, I jumped the sidewalk and made a sharp left, pulling up beside
Candi and Ron. “Go around to the back and pull into the parking garage. Joseph
has Vic. We can’t let them leave the building.”

I
did a standing 360 and took off on a side street, then parked my bike in a
vacant driveway. Leaving my helmet and jacket on the bike, I headed back to the
courthouse. Walking along the all too familiar sidewalk, I saw a crowd of
people gathered around a motionless body, just as an ambulance pulled up.

I
joined in the fracas. They were looking at a well-dressed man, lying perfectly
still on the ground. He was missing most of his front teeth, and seemed to be
out cold, or possibly dead. I couldn’t tell.

Moving
beyond the fray of my making, I strolled into the building and canvassed the
hallways for any sign of Joseph and Vic. To the right of the courtroom, I
stumbled upon Frank and Terry wrapping up what I can only assume was a third
degree interrogation of an officer of the court.

Chapter
52

“I
give up! What just
happened, Frank?”

“Don’t
ask. Right after Vic called you, two well-dressed dicks walked up to that guy
we were just talking to and told him we were here illegally and might be armed.
Suddenly all hell broke loose and I yelled at Vic to continue with the plan.”

I
grimaced.

“What?
I knew you’d be right outside the door, D. I had this itchy feeling that it was
all too easy. Terry and I went into the bathroom right before court started and
buried those scatter guns in the trash bin. Man, if those cops had found those
guns on us, we’d be under the prison, not in it.”

“I’m
glad you’re okay. Joseph has Vic somewhere in this building. We need to fan
out. Everybody take a floor. Candi and Ron are watching the parking garage and
rear entrance in case they exit there.”

“What
about the guy who was with him?” asked Ron.

“Oh,
you mean Donny? We’re good. He and I hooked up earlier. I’m sure he’s resting
comfortably somewhere, unawares.”

Joining
up, after scouring every floor and office and coming up dry, I said, “I’ll go
grab your hardware. You go find Candi and Ron.”

As
I reached the second floor men’s bathroom, my phone rang. It was Vic.

“D,
I’m sorry. We’re at the hospital. We rode by ambulance with Donny. Here,
someone wants to talk to you.”

“You
did a number on my guy, I want you to know,” Joseph growled. “He’ll live, minus
most of his front teeth, two fractured jaws and with one hell of a headache. I
want to make a trade. You and Candice for Vic. Meet us at the Springbank
Airport in two hours. Candice’s mom wants her little girl home, almost as much
as she wants to talk to you. If you bring the authorities, we’ll take off
immediately. Oh, and you can pick up Vic somewhere between here and the border.
I’ll send you the coordinates right after I toss this smart-mouthed bitch out
of the plane … minus a parachute!”

Click.

That’s
my girl, veracious with a V
, I thought. I knew I really didn’t have a choice. I
had to go along with the jerk’s plan.
It’s been a long time coming. I might
as well get it over with. I will
not
risk either of “my girls” getting
hurt on my account.

Walking
into the parking garage, I found everyone standing around, looking glum. “I
found them,” I announced. “They’re at the hospital. They rode in the ambulance
with our pal Donny after I rearranged his dental work. I didn’t see that one
coming. Good move on his part.”

“So,
are we going?” Candi asked.

“Kind
of,” I replied. “Joey wants us to meet him at the Springbrook Airport in two
hours. He wants to make a trade — you and me for Vic.”

“I’ll
go back with him, D. You can’t, I won’t allow it,” Candi, continuing to rapidly
come of age.

“It
is what it is. I don’t think anything will happen to me, as long as you’re in
the picture. Joseph’s instructions, per your mom, were to bring us both back,
along with Gio and Mile. That’s what he intends to do.

“Frank,
Ron and Terry are all here because of me — Vic, too, for that matter. I
can’t ask you to do any more, except to make sure Vic gets home safe. I’m tired
of running and hiding after all this time. We’ve been able to do some good
things over the last two years. I’m satisfied with that. Besides, I still have
one card left to play.”

Reaching
into my bag, I handed Frank my Sat phone, “Once you’re close enough to get the
tail number off the plane, press and hold the number 8 button. A guy named Jim
will answer, I hope. He’s a U.S. Marshall. Give him the tail number and tell
him I’m on board. He’ll take it from there.”

“There’s
got to be another way,” Frank stated confidently.

“I’m
sure there is, but I’ll take my chances over U.S. skies,” I confessed, trying
to convince everyone it would all be fine.

“Candi
and I will take the bike to the airport. Ya’ll follow, but not too close.
Joseph is having a bad day. If he thinks just one thing is amiss, he promised
to toss Vic from the plane.”

“He
said that, D? In all the time we were together he never once threatened to kill
anyone,” Candi confessed. “What’s to stop him from doing that to you if you get
on that plane?”

“You,
Gio? I don’t know. I guess it depends how much he listens to your mom. He’s
supposed to bring us back. Of course, he didn’t say if that was dead or alive
when it came to me.”

“Let's
go get the bike, Candi. Gentlemen, once we’ve got the bike, we’ll meet you at
the entrance in ten.”

“This
is all my fault, D. If I hadn’t dreamed up this harebrained scheme, we wouldn’t
be here right now. I can fix this; I know I can. I won’t let anything happen to
you. You’re a hundred times better than I’ll ever be.”

“That’s
the spirit, baby. You keep on believing that. Everything will turn out just
fine.”

Chapter
53

N
ot
another word was spoken between Candi and I after we got the bike. The guys met
us at the entrance and followed at a safe distance to the airport.
I just
hope I live long enough to see an intercept and escort from the nearest U.S.
Air Force Base. That escort might be my only saving grace, because as long as
I’m alive, I am an ever-present threat to Joseph and his efforts to rekindle
the flame with Candi.

Woo-hoo
— you’re killing me, in more ways than one.

Arriving
at the private airport, I slowed almost to a crawl and waited for Frank to
catch up before heading to an outlying parking lot belonging to an airfreight
business. This is where we stopped. Giving them time to get in position, I
located the private Learjet, idling off to the right of the runway on the
tarmac.

Pulling
up next to the runway fence on the bike put me within twenty-five yards of the
plane.
Shit! Who am I going to get to take my to bike home? Like I’m going
to need it, but I might, you never know.

While
getting off the bike I heard the engines throttle up, preparing the jet for
takeoff. Grabbing my daypack from the trunk, I shouted, “It’s show time! Act II
… let’s do this!” I kissed Candi on the cheek, before we eased slowly across
the tarmac, hand in hand.

Twenty
feet from the plane, Victoria appeared in the doorway with Joseph directly
behind her. “Let her go!” I demanded. “We’re here, just like you requested.”

“You
take orders very well,” shouted Joseph smugly, as he nudged Victoria out the
door of the plane. He directed her down the steps with the Glock .45 in his
right hand.

Without
warning, Candi broke free from my hand, running to meet Joseph at the bottom of
the stairs.

“We
did it, Joseph! We did it!” she shouted over the jet engines roar, while
pulling two strangely familiar jeweled disk boxes from her back pocket and
holding them into the air. She then wrapped her arms around Joseph’s neck and
exclaimed, “Ten million dollars, baby! We did it! The ledgers are ours!”

Victoria
looked dumbfounded at me just as I looked equally dumbfounded at her. The two
of us mouthed the words, “What the Hell?” at the exact same time.

“Joseph,
baby, we don’t need them anymore. Let them go, please. They’ve been loads of
fun, but nothing compares to you. I mean like, I know where there’s a BOA when
I need one. And I’m gonna need one pretty soon.”

Joseph
countered, “What did you just say, Candice? Oh, never mind. You heard the lady.
It’s been a pleasure doing business with you. D, Donny says he owes you one.
I’m sure when he gets out of the hospital, you’re the first person he wants to
see. If I were you, pal, I’d sleep with one eye open from now on.”

With
that, the jet’s door retracted and they taxied off, leaving Victoria standing
on the edge of the tarmac, speechless, while I made my way to the fence rail,
trying my best not to throw up.