~ 42~

Family Reunion

“He said West Lake Drive?” AJ asked Kevin as they picked up speed and raced up the hill.

“Yeah, Brian said it’s what Nick yelled out before they lost the connection.”

“We can’t be that far behind them.” AJ said as he peered out the window, hoping that at any moment he would see their car. When they turned the corner, he got his wish, but it wasn’t exactly what he was hoping for. “Oh my God.” He gasped when he saw the crash site ahead.

Kevin parked as close as he could to the wreck and together the two of them raced towards the car. “NICK!!” He shouted, hoping to find his brother already out of the car and safe.

“Kevin, the car’s on fire!” AJ picked up his pace to a run and within seconds ended up right next to the vehicle and peered in. “He’s still in there!” He said as he climbed on top of the car which was on its side. “Ariana’s in here too!”

Kevin ran over to the front windshield and peered in, “Nicky can you hear me?” He asked frantically. Nick wasn’t moving at all. He was so exhausted and overcome with smoke that he could barely open his eyes. He heard his brothers but he couldn’t respond to them. “AJ, you have to hurry!” Kevin said standing up and moving back to the other side of the car.

AJ removed his jacket, wrapped it around his arm and proceeded to break the glass on the driver side window, sending it cascading down on both inhabitants of the car.

When she felt the glass hit her, Ariana let out a small groan.

“Ariana.” AJ said as he tried his best to reach in and unbuckle her from her seat. “Can you hear me?”

She opened her eyes slightly and was disoriented. “Where am I?” she managed to squeak out.

“Don’t worry about that right now, can you unbuckle yourself?” He asked.

She reached down and tried her seatbelt. The first time she was too weak to get it but the second time the latch clicked and AJ grabbed her before she fell on top of his brother. “I got you.” He said as he pulled her out of the car and to safety. He handed her off to Kevin who laid her on the ground.

Once she was out, he had enough room to make his way down to his brother. “Nick, can you hear me buddy?” He asked once again. The interior of the car was really starting to fill up with smoke.

“AJ, hurry! The car’s really on fire now!”

“Nicky?” He gently moved to his brother who groaned slightly at his touch, “It’ll be okay…I’m here to get you out.” He gently unlatched Nick’s seatbelt and was ready to lift him up when he realized that his brother was cuffed to the door. “Shit!” He said. Any calm he felt was gone. “KEVIN!” He yelled which made the oldest brother jump up on top of the car.

“What?”

“She cuffed him to the door. We need the keys fast!”

Kevin jumped off the car and raced towards Ariana who was still lying semi conscious on the ground. “Where are the keys to the cuffs?” He asked less than nicely as he started going through her pockets.

“Go to hell!” She said quietly.

“He’s going to burn to death if you don’t give me the keys!”

Ariana tried to kick Kevin off of her but she was too weak. She didn’t want Nick to die, she loved him, but she didn’t want Kevin to win either. She was at a crossroads as far as what to do. A mini explosion within the trunk of the car made both of them jump slightly, “Please!!” He begged.

She pointed to her back pocket, “They’re in there.” She said.

He rolled her over roughly, grabbed the keys and ran back towards the car. He knew he was running out of time so he climbed back on top of the wreck as quickly as he could and handed the keys to AJ.

“Here…hurry! You don’t have much time!” Flames started shooting out from the back seat and gradually made their way to the front.

AJ unlocked the cuffs in only one try and swept Nick up into his arms like he was a rag doll, handed him over to Kevin and then jumped out after them. Kevin felt like he had no choice but to just throw Nick off of the car and onto the ground so that’s what he did and the he jumped after him leaving AJ bringing up the rear.

Just as Kevin picked up his baby brother and started running to safety with him, the car let out one final gasp before exploding into a heap of flames. The blast made all three brothers drop to the ground.

“Wow that was cutting it pretty close.” AJ said after a few seconds of quietly laying there.

Kevin had fallen on top of Nick and gently rolled off of him. “Nicky, can you hear me?” He asked as he got a good look at his baby brother for the first time. His eyes were closed and there was blood all over his face, making him look a lot worse off than he actually was. “Nick?” He placed his hand on Nick’s face and tried to wipe away some of the blood.

AJ crawled over towards them both, “Is he okay?” He asked getting his first real look as well.

“He’ll need an ambulance, but I think he’ll be fine.” Kevin said, trying to smile when he saw just a small cut which was where all the blood was coming from. “I forgot how much of a bleeder this kid was.”

AJ looked down at the wound and then gently kissed his baby brother on top of his head. “I told you I’d make it out and come find you, buddy. I always stick to my word.”

“I guess he’ll just have to get used to disappointment!”

Both men looked at each other before glancing over at Ariana who was holding a gun pointed towards both of them.

While Kevin and AJ were struggling to get Nick out of the car, she had managed to sit up and get her bearings. She saw her car in flames and Kevin standing on top trying to get their brother out. That’s when she looked over and noticed his car just sitting there all alone. She did her best to walk over to the car, falling about three times as she made her way, but finally she reached her destination.

She let herself in and was looking for the keys, but sadly they were nowhere to be found. She wished she had paid more attention to her husband when he had jokingly taught her how to hotwire a car. You know, just in case you need to steal someone’s ride he had said over a night of far too much food and wine.

She opened up the glove compartment and smiled when she saw the gun, just sitting there and tempting her. Telling her it was all meant to be. This plan would be even better, she thought as she left the car and made her way back to where she was supposed to be, just as her old car went up in flames.

They had been so worried about getting Nick out of the car they hadn’t noticed her missing. She walked towards the three of them and decided to make her move.

Kevin noticed she was a little wobbly on her feet which made things harder because if she fell there was a good chance that the gun could go off. He was hoping that AJ wasn’t thinking about charging at her because it was clear she had the gun in an unlocked position.

“Ariana…it’s over.” He said as calmly as possible.

“No, it’s not. Not until you take Nick and put him in the car for me.”

“I’m not going to do that.” He said, “Look at him…he needs medical attention. He’s not even awake.” He was kind of glad that his brother looked worse for wear as he continued, “The longer we wait to get him help, the worse it’ll be.”

He could tell she was really thinking about if for a second and he took that opportunity to give a quick glance over to AJ who was just watching intently but didn’t seem to be thinking of doing anything irrational.

“I’ll get him the help he needs.” She said after a few minutes.

Kevin looked down at his unconscious brother and then slowly stood up, “You know I’m not going to let you take him, right?”

“I’m the one with the gun. I don’t want to shoot you Kevin, just like I didn’t want to kill you AJ. I just want what’s mine.”

“He’s not yours.”

“He is now. When my father gave me up and killed my mother, he gave up his rights to be this kid’s father. I can do a much better job raising him than he can!”

“Oh yeah, you’ve proven that already what with the kidnapping and near killing him thing. I’m sure you’ll make the perfect mother.” AJ said sarcastically. She turned the gun on him now, “I should kill you all over again!”

Kevin moved two quick steps to try to overtake her, but she sensed it coming and once again turned his way. “Not so fast.”

He stopped, “Ariana…can’t you see that this is all over? There’s no way you’re getting out of this with Nick. Put the gun down and we can talk.”

She laughed, “Yeah right. Do you forget how long I’ve worked at the FBI Kevin? It’s never as simple as that.”

“Then you know how difficult it can be if you resist.”

She looked shaken again. He could tell he was starting to get to her. His only hope was to keep stalling her until his brother and father arrived. He heard a car coming up the road and he hoped it was them. “Ariana…come on. Put the gun down.”

Brian gasped when he saw the flames. He pulled in behind Kevin’s car and the three of them all ran towards the site of the wreck where they saw Ariana holding a gun pointed at the three siblings.

“ARIANA!!” Kevin senior roared loud enough for all of them to turn towards him. “It’s over! Drop that gun now!” He said as he aimed his own gun right at his daughter.

All three approached the scene cautiously until they ended up right behind Kevin, AJ and the now semi-conscious Nick. “I said drop it! No one else needs to get hurt today.”

Ariana refused to let up, “I’m not going to listen to someone who would abandon their own child.”

“I didn’t know!”

“You lie!”

“I’m not lying. I didn’t know about you.”

“You killed my mother!” She screamed, “Are you going to say you didn’t know about that either?”

“That was an accident. She was part of a drug raid. I didn’t know it was even her until it was too late.” The boys all listened in shock. “I never meant to hurt you or her. I made a stupid mistake. If I had known about you, I would have tried to find you.”

“You’re lying!” She said again, this time her voice was breaking up, “You knew and didn’t do anything and you let them put me in foster home and after foster home. Do you know what they did to me there?”

“I’m sorry.” He said again, “But that doesn’t give you the right to do what you’ve been doing.”

“Oh, you mean killing people? Like your wife?”

“What?”

“You heard me. I killed Jackie. You made me kill her and I LOVED her!!” She said crying as she still held the gun. Her behavior was becoming dangerously erratic and Kevin once more thought he would have a good chance if he charged at her.

“You killed her?” He asked now sounding a bit erratic and shaky himself. “Drop the gun!”

“Oh, so now you don’t care about me anymore. Just like how you deal with your sons. Throw them out if they don’t do what you want them to do. Run away from them when they need you most. The only way to make things right is for all of you to let me leave with Nick, get Jack out of jail or let me kill him!” She said pointing over at her father.

“Maybe we can make a deal and get Jack out of jail for you.” Brian said.

“He’s dead…” Kevin senior interrupted. “We just told you he was alive because you had Nick but the truth is, he’s dead.” Brian was shocked that his father chose this way to go forward.

“You’re lying again.” She said, this time temporarily looking down at the ground in disbelief.

“Not a lie.” Kevin senior continued. “My son had Jack’s phone because he took it off of his dead body.”

“Riri…” Howie said moving to stand next to Kevin senior. “Please, for me. Drop the gun.”

“For you?” He nodded at her.

“I love these people. They are the closest thing to family I have, besides you. I love you too. At least I did. You can make this right Ri…you have to make this right.”

She hated him for making her feel this way. She did love Howie, the smallest part of her wanted to believe what he was saying. She wanted to put that gun down and have a good old fashioned do over. Start fresh, all reformed after maybe a few years in jail. Maybe she’d get a reduced sentence because they’d take pity on her situation. She also knew that she had gone way past the place where you can have a successful restart. That ship sailed a long time ago and now Jack was dead as well.

“Come on Ariana, you can make this right.” Howie took a step towards her. “Give me the gun.” He asked, holding out his hand to her.

She almost gave it up, the vulnerable, lost little girl inside of her almost handed that gun to her husband and surrendered, but unfortunately, there was more darkness in her soul than light. “I’m sorry.” She said as she aimed the gun directly at Kevin senior’s heart and pulled the trigger.

It all happened so fast that no one for sure really could say with any real confidence what happened next. The bullet hit Kevin senior directly in the chest just as another gunshot was heard. That bullet hit Ariana right between the eyes. The last thing she saw was her husband pulling the trigger.

As the two bodies fell to the ground almost at the same time, there was a flurry of activity surrounding them both. Kevin and Brian flew to their father while AJ stayed behind to be with Nick. Howie stood motionless still holding the smoking gun in his hands, raised as if he was going to shoot again.

Brian got to his dad before Kevin did and quickly fell to the ground beside him, “Dad, talk to me…can you hear me?” He asked putting two fingers by his neck to check for a pulse.

“Is he dead?” Kevin asked as he opened his father’s shirt, relaxing a bit when he saw the bullet lodged in the vest.

“He’s breathing. I think he just hit his head when he hit the ground.” Brian said, wiping a tear from his eyes. Kevin then glanced over at his best friend who was still standing over his wife’s body, holding the gun in his hand, ready to fire.

Slowly he stood up and walked over to Howie, gently placing his hand on the man’s shoulder, “Give me the gun D.” He said softly as he took the gun out of Howie’s hands and placed it on the ground beside Ariana’s body. “You had to, you had no choice.”

Howie looked over at his best friend, “There’s always a choice.” He said before turning his attention back to the body of his wife. “There’s always a choice.” He repeated again, reaching over and closing her staring eyes for the final time.

~*~*~*~*~

Nick woke up dazed and confused. His head hurt a lot and he felt like he had swallowed a cotton sweater. He wasn’t sure where he was but when he turned his head he recognized his dad lying in the bed beside him.

“Looks who’s awake.” Brian whispered, sitting on the bed beside his little brother.

“It’s about time. We thought we’d have to rename you Rip Van Winkle.”

Nick turned his head towards Brian and grimaced when he saw the cast on his foot. “Is dad okay?”

“He’s fine. Just has a concussion, just like you buddy. How are you feeling?”

“Where are AJ and Kevin?”

“Right here kiddo.” AJ said walking into Nick’s view. “Kevin is with Howie at the station. He’ll be back shortly.”

“Are they okay?”

AJ nodded, “Everyone is fine.”

“Ariana?”

“She didn’t make it.”

He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. At first all he wanted was for her to be dead, but a little part of him. The part that remembered the Ariana that wasn’t a psycho was sad, especially for Howie.

“How’s D?”

“Not good.” Brian said giving his baby brother the smallest of smiles before grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly. “All you need to know is that it’s finally over.”

Nick nodded, “So many people have died because of her. She could have prevented it all from happening if she had just done things differently. We could have had a big sister. That would have been cool, you know? Instead she took so much away from us.”

AJ nodded, feeling the same amount of regret that Nick was feeling. His thoughts turned to Howie just as both he and Kevin walked into the room carrying a huge stuffed dog and a bag from McDonald’s.

“Hey guys.” Kevin said walking over to Nick and giving him a kiss on the cheek and the dog, “How are you feeling?”

“Good.”

Kevin gave the bag of food to Brian and then walked over to his dad who was still sleeping peacefully on the bed beside his youngest son. “Has he woken up yet?”

Brian nodded, taking out some fries and popping them in his mouth. “Just briefly.”

“How are you holding up?” Brian then asked Howie who just kind of stood in the back looking awkward and uncomfortable. The last place he wanted to be was with the same people who his wife had done so much harm to. There was no way Kevin was going to let him be alone anytime soon. In fact, he already told Howie they would be living together until D was able to get back on his feet and overcome this. They’d get through this just like they got through everything, together as one big family. Howie was always part of that equation. To show the point, it was Nick who motioned for D to join him on the bed.

Howie slowly walked over but didn’t want to sit. “Come on Howie, sit with me.” He said, shifting over to make room. Once the man he not only considered a friend but a brother sat down he placed his hand on top of Howie’s. “I’m sorry about Ariana, but I hope you know no one blames you for any of this.”

Hearing those words was like music to Howie’s ears. “Thanks Nicky, that means a lot.” He said as he felt the grip on his hand tighten. It was all the validation he needed to start his healing process. A process he knew would take a very long time.

Kevin senior stirred and slowly opened his eyes. “Nick?” He called out.

“I’m okay dad.” He answered, as he grabbed for a burger.

“Thank God. Is everyone else okay?”

“We’re all good dad.” Kevin answered, walking over and sitting right beside his father.

“I’m so sorry for all of this, boys. Everything and I’m sorry to you too Howie. This was all my fault. She’s dead, isn’t she?” He asked hesitantly.

Kevin nodded. “We had no choice. She shot you and she probably would have aimed for someone else next.”

He started crying. He didn’t know what to do with himself. The others just sat in the room quietly all feeling the same exact way, with one word silently ringing in everyone’s ears.

Regret.