Property of the Mafia

[45] - Finale

The air was muggy. Perspiration clung to my shaking figure. Fear wasn't the only emotion riveting through my body now. There was anticipation. Excitement. A lingering restlessness in my entire being that just kept telling me it's almost over now. I had no idea what the odds were now.

My body, wrapped around the girth of the tree felt almost hyper-aware, reacting to the slightest twinge and rustle around me. They weren't firing at each other any more, requiring me to act even more stealthy. They were either out of bullets or were saving their last few shots for the final blow.

C'mon Linette, you can do this. Don't draw any attention to yourself. Just tail them until Leon and the others come back.

I began to feel some nostalgia for that moment in time a similar situation happened with Ares. I smiled meekly to myself. To think that just a few months ago he and I were bitter enemies. My thoughts began to wander back to the start of everything. I had always thought the whole situation was strange from day one. My mom wedding me to a mobster's son for a million dollars? To think it had all been a ruse for a grander scheme this entire time. Besides, if I thought about it logically, considering the volume of transactions and deals being made a million was a petty amount. Definitely not enough to sell your only daughter for. Makes me look pretty dumb, if you ask me. I giggled.

And meeting Leon for the first time... wow, did we not like each other. At least I know I sure as hell didn't. But things turned out pretty smoothly in the end. A little too smoothly if you ask me. My mom couldn't have expected things to go that well, could she? My mom was the true mystery here.

I almost yelped instinctively as a fat, cold drop of rain fell flat on the end of my nose. A few stray drops continued to fall until it became a constant, light drizzle. I could see the grass and mud grow slick and wet around me. Not exactly ideal for any high speed chase.

Either way, wandering after them aimlessly would be fatal. I had to come up with some sort of plan in case I needed to retaliate. If I somehow trapped them I could keep an eye on them without putting my neck at risk. The only viable solution (which was not realistic in the slightest) was to dig a giant pit, put leaves over it, and whistle them over like some bizarre mobster shepherd.

Okay. What tools did I have to work with? Plants. Some sticks. Mud. One arm.

Unless I magically found out in the next few minutes I was a Disney princess and could summon animals at will I was royally screwed. Lovely.

I almost fell over in surprise as an angry, pain-stricken shriek cut through the air like a sharpened knife.

Peeking past the cluster of mangled trees behind me, I gasped as I spotted Van, coated in a thick layer of glistening blood, clutching his shoulder in agony. Frey hadn't shot him--he had stabbed him! With a freaking spear, nonetheless! He had managed to shove a sharpened splinter of wood through the man's flesh and muscle! My stomach twisted in a knot at the thought. How the hell was I going to even scratch this guy? It was like facing off a damn bear! Well sure, I had pissed him off before, but...

"F*CK!" Van screamed in pain, falling to a knee. The man had certainly seen better days. Being mauled by an actual bear would have probably been less painful.

"So the mighty have fallen." Frey smirked, looking absolutely terrifying. His dark hair, matted to his face, concealed the upper part of his face so only a white grin peered out past his hair. Flecks of red were sprayed across his abdomen and hands. "Looks like our roles are reversed now, aren't they?"

"F*ck you, Frey! You piece of sh*t!" Van sputtered, about to cough up blood.

"Sh*t? That's funny, since I'm the one still standing. Where does that leave you?" Frey sighed, kneeling over the man with a tyrannical grin. He proceeded to kick Van repeatedly with the blunt of his foot, kicking the man across his chest and ribs relentlessly. As much as I hated the guy, it was like seeing someone hit an abandoned puppy. Van's face contorted back and forth from hatred, to anger and misery until his face simply froze, mid-gasp, and a horrible realization dawned over me.