CHAPTER 15: WHO KILLED ANDREAS CASTELLANO?

Marcus POV

“Shit how does my dad know about this?” Mateo says as he takes the phone from Detective Hanson. He puts it on speaker phone. “Hey dad.” Mateo says. “Mateo thank God I got a hold of you. What happened?” Mateo’s dad asks him. “It’s a long story dad. Marcus and I were attacked at his house when my phone got smashed.” Mateo says. He then picks up his phone from the floor and it’s smashed to pieces.

Those guys must have stepped on it when they stormed into the house. “I’m coming over there.” Mateo’s dad says. “Thanks dad. They slashed my tires so I’ll have to go home with you.” Mateo replies. “I just got in the car. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.” Mateo’s dad says before he hangs up the phone. Mateo gives Det. Hanson his phone back.
“You look pretty beaten up. Come on let’s get you cleaned up.” Gina says as she walks back into the house. She goes to the bathroom and then comes out a few seconds later with my First Aid Kit in her hands. “Sit.” She tells me as she puts the kit on the counter. I sit down in front of her. She starts cleaning my wounds then puts band aids on them.

“How are you feeling?” She asks me. “I’m fine. It’s just minor scratches and bruises.” I reply. She finishes helping me before turning to Mateo. “Now it’s your turn. Come sit here.” She says as she points to the chair that I just sat on.

Mateo comes and sits there. She starts cleaning his wounds. Mateo flinches as she cleans the wound on his cheek. “It can’t be that bad?” Gina says. “I just hate that antiseptic liquid that you’re using. It stings a lot.” Mateo says. “I’m almost finished I promise.” She says. She finishes helping him. “There. Good as new.” She says as she throws away the cloth that she used.

“Gina how did you know that we were going to be in trouble?” I ask her. “Because of this.” Gina says as she takes out her phone. She shows us a video where Lawrence is sitting in a bar talking to two people. Those two people are wearing masks and Red Mask is one of them. The other one looks to me like a woman and she is wearing a golden mask.“I had Pavlo follow him and this is what he managed to find out. Pavlo sent the footage to me and that’s how I knew what they were planning.” Gina replies.

I take her phone and I watch the video with Mateo also looking at it over my shoulder. “Why won’t he take the plea deal?” The woman asks. “He won’t because that asshole friend of his told him not to.” Lawrence replies.

“And now we got a bigger problem.” Lawrence says. “What do you mean?” The woman asks. “They brought in the investigators from Rossi P.I.” Lawrence replies. “They won’t be able to figure out anything if you would just do your job.” The woman says to Lawrence. “They already found out something. You screwed up.” Lawrence says as he points to Red Mask.
“You screwed up when you killed Andreas Castellano and you forgot to change the dates on the video. That little bitch Gina Rossi figured it out.” Lawrence says. “Giovanni Rossi’s daughter is back in town?” The woman asks. “Yes and guess what? She took over her father’s business. She’s working on the case.” Lawrence says.

“I thought that girl was never going to come back to LA.” The woman replies. “You thought wrong. And now we’re going to do things my way. I should have taken care of Marcus the same way I took care of his father.” Red Mask says as he takes out his phone. “What are you going to do?” The woman says as she looks at Red Mask. “What I should have done a long time ago. I’m going to call off the cops and then I’m going to kill Marcus.” Red Mask says.

“What about Constantine Karakizos kid? He’ll probably still be at Marcus’s house.” Lawrence asks. “I’ll kill him as well.” Red Mask replies as he puts his phone to his ear. “Hey I need you to round up the boys. We have a job to do tonight. Be ready at 6 pm.” Red Mask says as he puts the phone down. He then calls another number.

“I’ll pay you two each 1000 dollars if you don’t keep an eye on Marcus Castellano’s house. … Yeah nobody will know about this. It’s our secret.” Red mask says as he puts the phone down again. My guess is he was speaking to the cops who were supposed to watch my house. “Are you stupid? I told you to stop bribing those cops.” The woman says as she looks at Red Mask. “Listen I pay them good money so that they can keep their mouths shut and look the other way. The last thing that we need is some detective breathing down our throat. And you can’t complain because you also benefit from our dealings.” Red Mask says.

“The cops are going to squeal sooner or later. The Captain of the LAPD precinct are already suspicious about some of his officers.” The woman says. “He wouldn’t be if you had just got him on board. Make him an offer that he can’t refuse.” Red Mask says as he stands up from his chair.

“He won’t budge. He refused to take our money.” The woman says. “You’ve got some skills. Use them on the man.” Red Mask says. “Asshole.” The woman mutters. “Listen up bitch. The only reason my father keeps you around is because you gave him good information on Andreas Castellano and his son. And I won’t tolerate anymore disrespect from you ever again.” Red Mask says as he points his finger at the woman’s face.
“I don’t get it. Why are you two so obsessed with destroying this family. You killed Andreas Castellano and destroyed his company from within so why go after his son?” Lawrence asks. Red Mask looks at him. “Because Andreas and Marcus turned their backs on my family. They are the reason my dad’s company went bankrupt.” Red Mask says.

Hearing these people talk about killing my father and then wanting to kill Mateo and I as well, makes my blood boil. I knew that I was being set up and now it fuels my desire to catch these fuckers and make them pay for what they did. This must be some kind of revenge that these guys are trying to pull off. Like a business deal gone bad or something.

“Do you have any idea what they are talking about?” Gina asks me. “I don’t. I really can’t think of anyone who would want to kill my dad and I.” I say. “Okay. You can tell me if you remember anything.” Gina says and I nod at her.

“Do you think that you should warn Captain Baldwin of this woman?” Mateo asks. Luke looks at him. “Yeah I’ll talk to him in the morning at the precinct. My guess is he already knows about this.” Luke says as he turns towards Gina. “Can you please send me a copy of that video?” Luke asks her. “Sure.” She replies.

Just then the front door flies open and then Constantine Karakizos walks into my house. “Mateo.” Constantine says as he hugs Mateo. “I’m fine dad.” Mateo says. “I was scared that something bad had happened to you.” Constantine says. He turns around and looks at us. “I’m glad you boys are alright.” He says.

“All thanks to those two.” Mateo says as he points to Gina and Luke. “Thank you for saving these boys.” Constantine says as he looks at Gina and Luke. “No problem Mr. Karakizos.” Luke says. “Look how you’ve grown. The last time that I saw you, you were about this high.” Constantine says as he shows Gina how big she was when he last saw her. “I don’t think that we’ve met before.” Gina says.

“Yes we have but you’re too young to remember it. I think you were about 4 or 5 years old when you moved to LA with your parents. Your father and I were best friends while growing up. I’m so sorry to hear about his passing. My condolences to you and your mother Isabel.” Constantine says. “Thank You.” Gina says as she shakes his hand.

“Any idea who attacked you?” Constantine asks. “No idea but I intend to find out. All we got is this.” Gina says as she shows him a picture of the tattoo on that guy’s arm. “Ah you want to be a detective just like your dad.” Constantine says to Gina. “I am. I took over the firm from my mom three years ago.” Gina says. “Oh congratulations and good luck with your business.” Constantine says as he turns to Mateo. “Thanks Mr. Karakizos.” Gina says.

“Dad how did you know about this attack?” Mateo asks. “I was having dinner with Captain Baldwin of the LAPD when he got a call saying that there’s an attack at Marcus’s house. And I knew that you would be here so I tried to call you but you didn’t answer your phone.” Constantine says. “That’s because they smashed my phone.” Mateo says. “That’s fine we’ll get you a new one tomorrow.” Constantine says.

“You’ve got your first case next week.” Constantine says to Mateo. “What? But I haven’t got my bar results yet.” Mateo says. “Oh I already got them for you. Perks if someone who works for the ABA owes you a big favor.” Constantine says as he passes his phone over to Mateo. “I passed?” Mateo asks as he takes his father’s phone. “You passed son.” Constantine says. “I passed.” Mateo yells as he slams his fist up in the air before groaning in pain again. He grabs onto his shoulder.

“Hey you take it easy.” Gina says as she points her finger to Mateo. “Whose case do you want me to take?” Mateo asks Constantine. “I want you to the case against Lawrence Smith. I hear that you’re the one who arrested him?” Constantine says as he looks at Luke. “Yes sir. It was me,” Luke says. “And I suppose that it won’t be a problem if you work together with my son? He needs all the evidence that he can get.” Constantine says.

“That is no problem at all. I’m sorry for the way that I acted in your building Mr. Karakizos.” Luke says. Constantine just nods at him. “I see that they slashed your tires so you’ll have to come home with me. We’ll sort out your car tomorrow.” Constantine says to Mateo. “Figures. They probably did that so that we won’t be able to get away.” Mateo says as he gets up off the chair.

“Are we allowed to leave now detective?” Mateo asks Luke. “Yeah we’re done here anyway.” Luke says. I look around and I see that the cops had already picked up all of the dead bodies and took them away. Only a few are left. They’re busy dusting for fingerprints.

“You don’t have to do that. Those guys were wearing gloves the whole time.” I say to some of the officers. “We know but it’s part of the procedure. We’re almost done.” One of the officers reply. “Well I’m off. I have to go and make amends with someone. Let’s go.” Luke says as he looks at his partner, Detective Saunders. “I’ll meet you tomorrow at the precinct?” Luke asks Gina. “Yes I’ll be there around nine.” Gina says. Luke nods and then he leaves my house with Detective Saunders behind him.

“We better get going too.” Constantine says. He and Mateo also leave. Now it’s only Gina and I. Gina looks at the pictures on my wall. They’re mostly of my father, Gina and I. “What happened to your mom?” Gina asks. “I don’t know. My dad divorced her when I was nineteen and I haven’t seen her since she moved out of the house after that.” I say. “Not even when your father died? Did she even attend the funeral?” Gina asks.

“Nope. She didn’t come for the funeral. I honestly don’t know where she is and I don’t care. She used my father for years and tried to manipulate him into getting what she wants. My dad was just a money train for her. Did you know that she cheated on him for their entire marriage?” I say. “No I didn’t. I’m sorry that things worked out for you this way.” Gina says as I wrap my arms around her.
“That’s okay. I have two goals now. One is to find the assholes that killed my father and two is to get Castellano Holdings back on track after the trial is over with.” I say. “I can help you with both of those things. Rossi Designs will be your first client.” Gina says. “What do you mean by that?” I ask her. “I’ll be your first client. I’m the owner of Rossi Designs.” Gina says.

“Really?” I ask her. “Yes. I told you that I was going to be a fashion designer so I did it.” Gina says. “Oh I’m so proud of you! You have to show me your designs.” I say. “I will. I have my designs in my car.” Gina says. “Speaking of your car, where did you park it? I don’t see it in front of the house.” I say to her as I look out of my window. “I parked it down the street and then I ran the rest of the way. I didn’t want to scare those assholes away.” Gina says. “Smart girl.” I say and she smiles at me.
“You still have the most beautiful smile on your face.” I say before I lean in to kiss her. The kiss goes on until we’re interrupted by the cops. “We’re finished here.” The officer says and I nod at him. They then leave my house. Gina and I catch up on old times.
There is a knock on the door. “I’ll get it.” I say as I get up from the chair and walk towards the front door. “I think those are my guys. The ones I called to come and fix your house.” Gina says. I open the door and sure enough there they were.
“The damage was done in the kitchen.” I say as I point towards the kitchen. They nod and then step into my house before walking towards the kitchen. The last guy that walks into my house is holding a folder in his hand. “I’m here to see Gina. My name’s Gavin.” The guy says. I step aside so that Gina can step forward. “Gavin you didn’t have to come all the way over here.” Gina says.

“I know I tried to call you but your phone is off. I got the information that you asked me for plus something else.” Gavin says as he hands her a folder and some video tapes.

“What’s this?” Gina says as she takes the tapes from him.
“Video footage from the night that Andreas Castellano was murdered.”