An Echo in the Mafia (Echo Reid, Reid Family Book #1)

Part 6

"Only promises." It was Vic who spoke this time, pulling a dagger out of the desk and beginning to wipe it clean with a rag. "We've heard that before. You're a famous man, Luke."

Luke turned towards Vic to reply but Franco spoke before he could.

"We would rather come to a mutual agreement, Luke. There is no need for any more animosity between us." Franco said quietly, making look roll his eyes. "We would like to believe that a man of your talent and experience would be open to negotiation."

"I'm not." Luke replied.

"Pity. We really are hoping to avoid trouble..." Franco began but Luke was done. He shook his head and cut him off.

"So, If it's not trouble you're looking for, I wonder why you continue to act like this... unless you want to die?" Luke replied. Vic chuckled, making Franco look at him with a grin before turning back to Luke.

"We are now completely aware that death is inevitable today." Franco said.

"I think of myself as a patient man, if you are going to die today it is your own doing." Luke said, taking his hand out of his pocket and pushing his jacket back to reveal the gun on his hip.

"Oh no, Luke. There will definitely be death today..." Franco said, "Just not for us."

At that moment, the office doors were pushed open as the man who let him in dragged in one of Luke's men.

Luke stared down at his lifeless body, his eyes wide in a combination of anger and surprise, before turning to Franco.

"How dare you?" Luke asked angrily between gritted teeth.

"Did you get the other too?" Franco asked the large man, disregarding Luke. The man nodded.

"Both dead." he said, making Luke stiffen. He craned his neck side to side, trying to release some tension.

"I'm going to enjoy doing this." Luke said, reaching for his gun but just then, Vic moved his hand quickly, flinging the dagger across the room and hitting Luke in the arm.

Luke stumbled back and immediately reached again for the gun but the large man then stuck him hard in the face, making him fall to the ground. He felt the kick, straight to the gut, then another and another... over and over again. His mouth began to fill with blood quickly, causing him choke and sputter, slowing him down when he would have stood.

"He out yet?" He could hear Vic asking.

"Not a... chance.." Luke managed to say as he began to push himself off the ground but a resounding thud and a sharp pain as the man's foot hit the back of his head knocked him back down and he finally felt darkness sweeping over.

There was silence now for a moment as the three men looked down on Luke's motionless body.

"Get him out of here." he could hear Franco's voice saying faintly.

"To the pit?" The man said.

"The pit." Franco replied.

Luke felt as he was dragged out by his feet, the sharp pain on his side telling him he had a few broken ribs. He could feel himself slipping in and out, darkness overcoming him in the blink of his eyes, lapses in time... Then, he felt himself spitting up blood he nearly choked on, plenty of it. He was dragged and tossed around like cattle, like a pig but he tried to focus, tried to get a good idea of where they were taking him.

As his broken and bruised body bounced around in what he now knew was the back of a pick up truck, he reached to his holster. The gun was gone.

The pit. He repeated it to himself, trying to jog up a memory. The pit...nothing. He lifted his head, the pounding nearly unbearable but there was not a moment to spare. He forced away the fog that tried to force him into a deep slumber, mustering up what strength he had left- he had to think.

He moved quickly, searching down his legs and then his pockets. With a painful grin, he found a small gun that was hidden at his back. How had they missed it? Those lazy bastards. Luke slipped it into his sleeve and lay still, closing his eyes. They obviously thought he'd passed out, the man had certainly beat him hard enough. Then... the truck stopped and he realized they were at the gravel pit not far out of the town.

He heard the sound of the truck door opening as the man prepared to dump him. Then, when he reached for his feet, Luke sat up, pointing the gun at the man's head and shooting him without hesitation.He winced, suppressing a cry of pain at the kick back from the gun before he watched him stumble back, swaying as the blood began to pour out of him... then he hit the ground hard.

Luke was still, waiting for several minutes before he finally inched off the truck, unsure if the man had come alone to dump him or if they had sent another lackey along with him. He was still for a few more minutes, considering whether or not to jump into the truck and drive off but he had the feeling that the Russo's men would be waiting on the other side and they would not let him pass. he groaned now, every movement physical torture. When his feet hit the ground, he cried out.

He heard a faint buzzing, faint but it sounded so close...

'Steady' he muttered to himself, trying to get a sense of his surroundings. 'Get it together, Luke.'

He leaned against the truck for a few more minutes, waiting for the buzzing to stop, trying to push back the pain that threatened to make him fall over at any moment. As much as he would have liked to rest, he couldn't do that. Instead, Luke took his phone and slowly began to move as far as he could from the gravel pit. He needed to get out of here before they came looking. He held the phone in his hand as he walked, no fucking signal. FUCK. How was it possible that there was still back out areas this day and age? There were phone towers everywhere... weren't there?

Then, with no other choice, he continued to walk, looking at his phone periodically and waiting. With each step, he felt the pain less and less but he was still bleeding and he knew he had to have a fever. The fact that his pain was subsiding was not necessarily a good thing. Luke wasn't sure how long he'd been walking for or how far he'd made it. He hadn't noticed that the road faded away or that he was surrounded by endless green lawns, but he hadn't missed the dark clouds that loomed overhead. He gazed ahead of him, vision blurry as he went past thick patch of trees, stopping as he approached a clearing.

The rain came down then, hard and he leaned against a tree as he took note of the big house in the distance that stood on a massive hill. Perfect, crisp, green grass surrounding it and leading down to a large, rectangular pool. Beyond it was a smaller house with porch... there. He needed to get there.

Luke began to move forward but his legs were numb and the rain was weighing him down. He moved slowly, falling face first into the mud as he did so. FUCK. With a groan, he pushed up, dragging himself to his feet and moving forward. In the distance, he caught sight of a covered terrace in the distance and a slight figure, gently moving about. When he finally made it out of the trees and into the clearing, he stumbled, struggling to stay up. He took a few more step but again, he fell. This time he couldn't not lift himself back up. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could hear a voice calling out to him.

With a tug, he felt his body rolled over and when his eyes fluttered open, he couldn't help but be startled by the eyes staring back.