This time, I see a tear fall down his face and I let mine fall with it. “How are you not more fucked up? How did you save yourself from becoming just like him?”
“Believe me, he's plenty fucked up,” Lou-Lou whispers.
Ricardo turns around and I read the large tattoo on his back scrawled in black ink. Sometimes there is absolutely no difference at all between salvation and damnation.
“It's from the Green Mile,” Lou-Lou offers.
I ignore her and wait for him to turn back around. “You going to call him?”
“I don't really have much of a choice. I'm not letting him kill Jackson.”
“I swear I didn't know it was him,” Lou-Lou whispers again.
I can't believe I almost forgot. “Lou-Lou finish telling me about your involvement with Ford.”
She clears her throat. “Like I said, he tried to get in my pants and he knew all this stuff.” Ricardo narrows his eyes and she quickly says, “Anyway, he offered me a deal. He said that he would set it up so that I could kill DeLuca. But seeing as he was FBI, he would make sure it wouldn't get pinned on me. He said there would be someone else there, someone with more motive than I had to take the fall. I didn't know it was going to be Jackson because he refused to tell me who this other person was. He said I wouldn't find out until I got there…but I didn't go through with it. I backed out at the last minute.”
Ricardo starts pacing. “Fuck, he was playing you both.”
I always knew Ford was manipulative, but even I didn't think he'd take it this far. “I guess that explains why he planned to take me to Mexico. There's really no doubt in my mind that he's setting Jackson up.”
When they both look at me I say, “Ford and me...our relationship is...was...complicated. It's really fucked up.”
Ricardo looks disgusted. “Trust me, sweetie. You really have no idea just how fucked up,” he whispers.
My stomach knots with those words but I don't have time to concentrate on that. “Ricardo, I need you to talk to DeLuca. Find out where he is right now. Tell him it's an emergency and you need him to meet you at the docks near Jersey.”
“You want to do this there?”
“Hell, yes.” Not only do I like my revenge served cold too but I need to get him as far away from Jackson as possible and still manage to kill him in the next few hours.
I look down at Lou-Lou. “And after that, I need you to call Ford. Tell him the fucking jig is up and I'm holding both you and Ricardo hostage. Tell him to meet me at the docks, but warn him that if he brings Jackson it will be the last thing that he does.”
Ricardo shakes his head. “That's not going to work. He's going to bring Jackson. Especially if he's already targeted him as the fall guy. Also, there's no telling what Jackson will do to Ford if he finds out he set him up. There could be a showdown between them.”
Crap, he's right.
“Well then get a hold of Jackson and tell him that something happened to me. Say whatever you have to say to throw him off the course. Don't tell him about Ford just make sure he leaves.”
“But you said he wasn't picking up his phone,” Ricardo argues.
I smirk. “I'm sure he has a special company phone that you can get a hold of him on.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Jackson
Ricardo: Alyssa's gone crazy! She has a gun and is holding Lou-Lou and me hostage. Ford's a double agent, don't trust him. It's a set-up. Do not attack him just yet, he might be prepared for that. Get away from him and find a way to sneak to the docks near Jersey. We'll be in the small warehouse-sneak in through the back. Address is in my car gps listed under 10/29/01.
Make sure you're armed—check the trunk. DeLuca will be there. Stay safe, brother. And when I call you—sound panicked and go with it. Alyssa's fine...well, physically anyway. Erase this text and do not respond to it.
I have to go into Ford's bathroom and read Ricardo's text message three times to make sense of it. Seeing as he texted the burner phone he gave Tyrone and me for emergencies, I know he means business. A minute later, the phone vibrates. “Yeah,” I answer. I hear mumbling in the background and what sounds like Lou-Lou and Alyssa arguing.
How the hell did she figure everything out? But even more alarming than that, how the hell am I going to protect her now when she's pulling this shit?
“Alyssa's been shot. Come quick,” Ricardo shouts before he hangs up.
My heart explodes in my chest, until I remember him telling me to just go with it. I erase his text and walk back out. Ford gives me an odd look. “Everything alright in there?”
“No. Something's come up. I'm leaving,” I say, walking toward the door
He steps in front of me and it takes everything in me not to deck him. “What the fuck could ever be more important than this? Today's the day. I've set everything in motion.”
I bet you did, you lying motherfucker.
I decide to see if his feelings for Alyssa were ever real or if he's been lying about those as well. “Alyssa's been shot.” With that, I run out the door and head for the Mustang.
He runs after me. “What?” he shouts. “By who? Where is she?”
“I don't know. She's at the hospital. I have to go.”
He's on my heels, but stops to answer his phone when it rings. I open my car door and see his face turn pale. He's so visibly shaken, he has to wipe the sweat from his brow as he whispers something into the phone.
Then he screams Alyssa's name in agony.
His feelings for her are obviously real. You can't fake that kind of emotion. However, whatever he feels for her, fails in comparison to what I feel for her.
Unfortunately for me...his pain will be cut short soon.
And unfortunately for him...it's because he'll be dead.
I peel out of his driveway and head for the docks.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Alyssa
“Alyssa's been shot. Come quick,” Ricardo shouts from the backseat of Lou-Lou's car before he hangs up the phone.
I point my gun at his chest. “Really, you couldn't have done better than that?”
“It got the message across. He won't be with Ford anymore.”
I dig the gun into Lou-Lou's temple. “Now it's your turn.”
She pulls up Ford's contact information and hits send. He picks up right away. “Lou-Lou?”
“Hi, Ford. Alyssa's holding me hostage and she knows what you're up to.”
“I don't believe you,” he snarls.
I grab the phone from her. “Hello, Ford. Or should I say—special manipulating bastard agent Ford?”
His breathing becomes uneasy but he stays silent.
“I'm going to make this real easy for you. Meet me down at the docks. Leave Jackson alone. This is between you, me, and DeLuca. If you bring Jackson, I swear on my father's death...it will be the last thing you ever do.”
“Alyssa, no. Don't do this,” he whispers. I don't respond.