CHAPTER 14: LUKE SAYS GOODBYE TO AMANDA

Gina POV

Everything felt like it was going down in slow motion. From Mateo turning around to the three gunshots we heard. Mateo falls to the ground and as Marcus and I run towards him, we notice that there's no blood or anything. I look up towards where the gunshots came from and I see one of Red Mask’s guys standing there. He was clutching his chest before he fell on the ground dead.

Right behind him stood Detective Luke Hanson. He was holding his gun in his hand. “You! What the hell are you doing here?” Mateo asks Luke as he gets up from the ground. “A thank you would be nice. If it wasn’t for me then you would be dead by now.” Luke sneers at him sarcastically as he puts his gun in his holster before walking over to us. Mateo looks at him as he crosses his arms over his chest. “Thank you.” Mateo sneers back at him. “You’re welcome.” Luke says as he smirks at him.

"What are you doing here Detective?" I ask him. Marcus wraps his arms around my waist. "You know him?" He asks me as he looks at Luke. "Yeah, we met this afternoon." I reply. “Uh huh.” Marcus says. “I saw the video you were watching at Lawrence’s condo and I thought that I should follow you here. Sounded like you would need my help. Damn you can drive.” Luke says as he looks at the several dead bodies that are lying around in the yard.

"Plus one of your neighbors called us and said that there was a commotion going on at your house so we’ve sent a few units over here. They should arrive shortly.” Luke says. “Who was the neighbor?” Marcus asks. “Mr. Jenkins from next door.” Luke replies and Marcus nods at him.
"How'd you know that guy was going to come and shoot us?" I ask him. "I was hiding on the front porch when I saw these guys running out onto the road but that one turned around and ran back here with a gun in his hand. I had to wait until the other two got in their car and drove off before I followed this guy. I saw him take out his gun and aim it at you so I shot him first." Luke says as he points at the guy that he just shot.
“I came here because I wanted to talk to you as well.” Luke says as he looks at me. “What for?” Marcus asks him as he tightens his hold on me. “It’s none of your business.” Luke replies. “It is if you want to talk to Gina.” Marcus replies. Amanda appears right next to Luke. I know that Luke wants to talk to Amanda through me and he doesn’t want to do it in front of Marcus and Mateo. “It’s okay Marcus. We won’t be long.” I say as I take his hands off me. A bunch of police cars starts arriving. "Why don't you talk to the cops so long.” I say and Marcus sighs as he looks at me. “Okay.” He says.

Luke and I walk to the front of Marcus’s house to a quiet area where no one will be able to see us. “Look I know that we got off on the wrong foot and I’m sorry that I called you crazy. Can we please start over?” Luke asks. “It’s not the first time that someone had called me crazy.” I say and he looks at me. “Is she here?” Luke asks. Amanda is standing right next to him.
“Yes. She’s standing next to you on your right.” I reply. Luke looks to his right. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve protected you better.” Luke says. “Tell him that it wasn’t his fault. I should’ve listened to him when he warned me about Lawrence.” Amanda says. “She says that it wasn’t your fault and that she should’ve listened to you when you warned her about Lawrence.” I say as I look at Luke.

“I’m your big brother and it was my job to look after you Amanda.” Luke says. “I know but it was my decision in the end. Tell him that I just want him to promise me a few things.” She says. “She says that she knows that but it was her decision. She also says that there are a few things that she wants you to promise her.” I reply. “Like?” Luke asks.
“First and most important thing is that I want him to stop drinking.” Amanda says. “She says that she wants you to stop drinking.” I say to Luke. “I won’t drink another drop again I promise.” Luke says.

“I want him to promise me that they will send Lawrence to jail for good. I also want him to promise me that he’ll make things right with Lina, marry her, have some kids and also grow old with her.” Amanda says.
“Got it. Amanda wants you to promise her that you’ll send Lawrence to jail for good.” I say. “Lawrence will see his ass in court. We gathered so much evidence against him now there is no way that he’ll get away with everything that he did. I can promise you that.” Luke says.

“The other thing that she wants you to promise her is that you’ll make things right with Lina. Apologize for how you treated her. Marry the girl and grow old with her.” I say. Luke sighs as he looks down at the ground. “Lina will never take me back after what I did.” Luke says. Amanda puts her hand on his cheek. Luke puts his hand on hers as well. “I can feel you. It’s so warm.” Luke says. “Tell him that he should go and talk to Lina. I know for a fact that she misses him a lot.” Amanda says.

“Amanda says that you should go and see Lina. She says that Lina misses you.” I reply. Amanda looks to her left side. “I can see the light. I think that I’m ready to cross over now.” Amanda says as she looks back at me. “That means that your unfinished business is done with. Amanda says that she is ready to cross over now.” I say. Luke looks at me with tears in his eyes.

“Tell him that I love him and also that I’ll see him again one day.” Amanda says. “She says she loves you and she’ll see you again one day.” I say to Luke. “I love you too sis.” Luke says. “You have to tell pretty boy over there about your gift.” Amanda says as she points at Marcus who is standing in his backyard talking to the police. “Maybe I will someday. I'm just scared that he'll think I'm crazy." I reply. "No, he won't. I can promise you that, he loves you too much.” Amanda says and I smile at her. Amanda starts walking into the light until she disappears. “She’s gone.” I say as I look at Luke. “I’m just glad that she’s in a better place now.” Luke says as he wipes the tears from his eyes.

Just then Lawrence’s other four victims appear to me. “We want to say goodbye to our families as well before we cross over.” Sylvia says. “The other four victims are here as well. They said that they would like to say goodbye to their families. Do you think that you could help me with their addresses?” I ask Luke. “Sure. I can take you to all their families tomorrow?” Luke says. “Is that alright with you girls?” I ask them.

“Yes perfect.” Sylvia says. They all smile at me before they disappear again. “Miss Rossi your secret is safe with me.” Luke says. “Enough with the formalities. You can call me Gina. And thank you.” I say as I extend my hand to him. “Luke. I have a feeling that I’ll see you a lot.” Luke says as he shakes my hand. “Maybe.” I say. Luke then turns around and walks back to the backyard. I start following behind him. My phone goes off and I see that I received another text message from Pavlo.

‘I thought you might want this.’ The message says. I open the file that he sent me. I see that there are two photos in that file. ‘The first photo is the real one that April Masterson took at that party where she was kissing some random guy and the second one is the photoshopped one with Marcus’s face on the other guy. Your mom had me investigate it back then and she told me to hold on to this file until you were ready to see the truth.’ Pavlo’s message says.

I look at the two photos. They look the same except for the second one that has Marcus's face on it. As I look at the first photo I see that April was making out with Michael. "That asshole never liked the fact that Marcus and I were together.” I whisper to myself. “Who are you talking about?” I hear Marcus asks me. I look up at him as he is standing in front of me now.

“You were telling the truth about April and I didn’t believe you. I’m so sorry Marcus.” I say as I look down at the ground. Marcus wraps his arms around me. “Hey look at me. I’m not angry at you at all. Let’s just forget about what happened back then and move on.” Marcus says. I look up at him. His beautiful eyes are looking back at me and I can’t help but melt in his arms. “What do you say? Shall we try giving this relationship thing another try?” Marcus asks me.
“Is that your way of asking me to be your girlfriend?” I ask him as I raise one of my eyebrows. Marcus bends down on his knees while he holds both my hands. “Gina Rossi will you please be my girlfriend again?” Marcus asks. He has this pleading look on his face.

I stay quiet for a few seconds just to see his reaction. Marcus's forehead starts sweating so I decided to take the poor guy out of his misery. "Yes." I say. Marcus smiles at me before he stands up and he picks me up from the ground. His arms are around my waist. "Oh thank God. I thought that you were going to say no." Marcus says as he swings me around in the air.

“I missed you so much Marcus.” I say as he puts me down on the ground. “I missed you too.” Marcus says as he smashes his lips against mine. The kiss doesn’t go on for long because we hear screaming coming from inside the house.

“You were the one that punched me in the face for no reason asshole. Right there in front of my father and his clients. Do you know how embarrassed I was?” We hear Mateo screaming. “Oh no. We better go and make sure those two don’t kill each other.” Marcus says as he takes my hand and leads me inside the house. We walk into the kitchen just as Mateo was going to punch Luke in the face. Detective Saunders was also there and he was holding onto Luke while Marcus grabbed Mateo and held him back. “I’m sorry I thought that you wanted my girl.” Luke yells at Mateo.

“I told you that Lina and I were just friends. She’s my colleague for goodness sake. That girl loves you too much, she wouldn’t cheat on you.” Mateo replies as he rips himself out of Marcus’s hands. “How many times must I say that I’m sorry?” Luke says. “It’s not me that you should apologize too.” Mateo says. “You’re right. I was drunk that day and my jealousy got the best of me and I hurt the woman that I love.” Luke says. “You think? Maybe you should go and tell her that you’re sorry.” Mateo says as he glares at Luke. “You’re right. I’ll go see her tomorrow.” Luke says.

“But right now we need to figure out who these fuckers are.” Garrett says as he points to one of the dead bodies on the ground. “They have this symbol tattooed on their arms." Mateo says as he picks up one of the guys' arms and he rips the sleeve off. Luke bends down and he looks at the tattoo.

“I don’t recognize this tattoo. I’ll have to run through the LAPD database. Maybe something will come up.” Luke says as he takes a picture of the tattoo. “We’ll run it through our database as well.” I say as I also take a picture of the tattoo. I send the picture to Gavin at my LA office. ‘I need you to run this image through our database. I want to know who these people are.’ I text Gavin. ‘On it boss.’ Gavin replies.
‘Let me know as soon as you find anything.’ I text him back.

“You can let us do our job.” Luke says and I look at him. “Trust me my guys are faster.” I say as I put my phone back into my pocket.

“Did these guys say anything to you?” Luke asks as he looks at Marcus and Mateo.

“Yeah. The leader of the gang wore a red mask and he told me that I was going to pay for what I did to him. I honestly don’t know what that delusional asshole was talking about.” Marcus says. My phone starts ringing and I look to see that it’s Dax. Maybe something happened at the house where we put Tatiana. “I have to take this.” I say to Marcus and he nods at me. I answer the phone as I walk away from Marcus.

“Dax how is Tatiana….” I say. “Boss something happened. Tatiana’s husband found us and he came to the house with some other men from the Mexcian Cartel. I had to get her out of there.” Dax says as he cuts me off.
"Are you guys alright?" I ask him. "Yes, we are. Joey and Sam stayed behind to take care of those guys. I’m on my way to the airport with Tatiana. Boss we have to get her out of New York. It’s no longer safe for her here.” Dax says. “Alright. I’ll call John and I’ll tell him to have the jet ready. Bring her here to LA. I’ll have Pavlo pick you guys up.” I say before I hang up the phone.
Yes, I have a jet and I mostly use it for when I'm going on a mission. We also use it just in case we have to transport someone who is under our protection.
I then call my pilot John who is always on standby. "Hi boss." He says as he answers. "Hi, John listen Dax will be at the airport shortly with someone. I need you to get the plane ready and bring them to LA." I say. "Yes, boss. It's a good thing that the jet is fueled and ready." John says. "Good.” I say as I hang up the phone. Poor Tatiana must be in a bad state again.

I feel arms wrapping around my waist and I know exactly who it is. I turn around and I wrap my arms around his waist as well.

"Are you alright? You look stressed." Marcus whispers in my ears. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's Tatiana that I'm worried about." I say. "What happened?" Marcus asks me.

“Just another abusive asshole problem. I intend to take care of that soon.” I say as I look up at him. “Want to tell me what’s happened to her?” Marcus asks me. “I can’t. It’s her story to tell. I’m having her brought here to LA. She’ll be safe here until I can deal with the problem.” I say as I look at Marcus’s back door.

“Yeah. I’ll have to get someone to replace the door tomorrow because Mateo’s phone is smashed.” Marcus says as he looks around. “And also to fix the walls and tables.” Marcus says.

“No need for that. I’ll call my cleanup crew to come and fix everything tonight after the cops leave. They’ll be done within an hour.” I say as I take out my phone.

Someone else’s phone starts ringing and I see that it's Luke's. "Hi, this is Detective Hanson." Luke says as he answers the phone. He turns around and looks at Mateo. "It's your dad. He knows about this and he wants to speak to you." Luke says as he points at the bodies around the yard before he hands Mateo his phone.

“Shit how does my dad know about this?” Mateo says as he takes the phone.