Chapter 6

When word of Andrea's plan to be murdered hit me, I was already stunned about Diaz's idea of killing her tonight. Of all nights, Giovanni Diaz wanted Mario and I to lead them in killing an innocent woman.

I just couldn't do that. Deep inside of me I couldn't kill an innocent young girl; she had done nothing wrong to deserve such a punishment, all she did was her job. And for some reason, I wouldn't allow myself to hurt her for any reason.

From where I was standing at the time, I was at the table where Mario and I were with Ken and Enrico. The women had left the two of them, and even much of the people who were dancing to the live music were beginning to leave. It was 2AM at the time and time just seemed to be passing by so quickly.

In just a few moments, Mario and I were going to get into our cars and head down to Vice Springs, the beach were Jeff had reported Andrea. It also came to my attention that at least half of the Miami Vice Police Department were already at home, because of the fact there were preparations for a festival in Downtown Miami Vice for the police. A supposed holiday, and Andrea got stuck with one of the few late night shifts where there were only a few cops around.

With my mind still on the events ahead of me, I never heard Mario speak with Diaz about why we were pulling the job tonight.

My thoughts continued to haunt me. . .What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I do this? Everything just seemed to be going by in a blur with nothing standing still anymore. My entire life was a fast-paced, adrenaline- charged, energy pumping one, and now I was afraid to put the pedal to the metal one more time?

Watching the mobsters hand Diaz some bullet-proof armour (Diaz was a formidable mobster, but he was no gunman), I saw them place a handgun in his hand, which he put in the inside of his jacket pocket.

I could see Ken and Jeff being fitted with the same as well, while Mario and I had our artillery sitting on the chair beside us. We watched in a silent mood as Diaz and the gang had wide grins on their faces, ready to just have some fun and manipulate a young woman so violently.

Finally, Mario decided to break another set of tension and thwacked me on the arm. "What the hell was that for?" I muttered to him, turning to face his pale face. Mario's eyes were red and he even looked upset.

"What're we going to do, Josh? We've got to get going in a few minutes." Mario asked worriedly.

Staring down at my hands, my mind was blank. Normally I was quite ideal at coming up with tactics in the heat of the moment, but now I didn't know what to do for sure. There were the two options: Either do away with Andrea and have my feelings of guilt surface me forever, or let loose all the good times and memories with the mob and assist a stranger I had never even known before in my life.

"Josh!"

Behind me, Diaz came towards me with two handguns in his hand. "Ah, Josh, Mario!" He shouted gleefully. "My two favourite men in the mob. I want you two to have the honour of first shot on the woman. And when we come back, you both can expect a few more bonuses into your accounts."

Bonuses. It'll make no difference to me, I thought to myself. I put on a fake smile and watched Diaz accept it with a gracious hug. Then, he opened my hand and thrust one of the handguns into my palm. He gave an evil sort of smirk and placed one in Mario's hand as well. "I'll see you two at the beach in half an hour." We nodded, and he walked off and into his elevator with Ken, Enrico and Jeff.

He left us there, standing with two handguns clutched, with the feeling of guilt surrounding the two of us at that time. A sadistic killing machine, was he, and we were the pawns doing his dirty work.

"Here." Mario said quietly, handing me his black cellular phone. "Take one of my extras. You never know what might happen tonight."

Courteously accepting it, I placed it in my shirt pocket. Then, we took to our feet and went into the elevator. One of my cars were parked there, and I would take my black convertible out tonight. Mario chose his white Ferrari, of course.

"I'll see you in awhile." Mario whispered, driving off in his car and out of the King's Club. I pulled the door of my vehicle open, put the top down and spun out of there as quick as I could.

Feeling the cool breeze of Miami Vice, I passed by the King's Club and looked at it for what could possibly be the final time. I passed by the crystal blue inlet and the people wading their boats in it. There were few cars lingering around at the time and even at 2:30AM, Miami was usually a noisy place.

Stopping at a red light, I looked down at the handgun in the passenger's seat next to me. It stood there, its silver gleaming into my eyes. Would I use that weapon tonight? Would I have the heart to?

The world passed me by, as I made my way through on the bridge and past the bank, and the pizza parlour and the mall as well. All of Miami Vice never looked more beautiful at the time.

The nightlights went by me individually, and I could see the crystal blue water of the beach make its appearance. The beach was coming closer and closer, even though I did not want it to, and I continued to drive closer and closer to my destination.

Why me? I thought to myself. Why was I chosen to do this? I didn't want to see any woman die in front of me. Was this all about finding out who I really was, or would be? I talked to Mario about finding who I really was, and I wanted to know if this was it.

Slowing down my convertible, I wanted to stall as much as possible. The car was going at a slow pace, where even the walking could go faster.

For some reason, the image of my father came into my head. I had no idea why, but he was just there. I didn't even know my father as well as most boys knew their fathers, yet he was in my mind. All I remember was from Diaz, who had told me he was a good man and saw a lot of me in him.

As the car came to a halt at the beach parking lot, I could see Mario there, arms crossed, waiting for me at his Ferrari. Diaz and the rest hadn't made it yet, for whatever reason that was. "About time you showed up." Mario called out, as I got out of the car.

"Yeah, whatever." I told him. I placed the gun into my pocket and stood there beside him, leaning against his car. "Have you seen the girl by any hopeful chance?" I asked.

Mario shook his head. "No sign of her yet. Maybe if we're lucky, she will have completed her shift and we can just go. Or even better, she turns up before Diaz and we can all get out of here."

"Why don't you just let me call the shots, okay?" I told him. He was taken a bit aback, but nodded. "I'm not even sure what to do yet."

"You're joking, right?" He inquired. "Don't you have any idea of what we're going to do? You've got to do what's right, Josh. . ."

Closing my eyes, I could swear I could hear cars approaching. Diaz, Ken, Enrico and Jeff were all here, or they would be, momentarily. I knew what I had to do, but I was still unsure about it all.

"I can't help you with anymore advice, Josh." Mario said quietly. "There's nothing more I can do for you. You've got to make this decision yourself, you know that. But you know I'll support your decision whatever it is it may be. I know you'll do the right thing." He put a hand on my shoulder.

The tires of Diaz's shiny white Cadillac screeched as he approached. Diaz opened his door from the passenger seat with a smile on his face, carrying his gun proudly. "You two ready to do your thing?" He said joyfully.

"Oy, mush," Ken said in his English accent. "Jeff drives like a bloody nitwit. I swear, your Americans always drive terrible."

"Well if you hadn't kept waving your hands in the air and slowing me down in the first place, I would've been a better driver, Ken!" Jeff snapped. Jeff Talon was a built man with broad shoulders and a slight tan. He had a punk hairstyle and short black hair to go with his dark clothing.

"Never mind that!" Diaz yelled furiously, firing his handgun into the air. "That ought to attract the woman." He said. Ken and Jeff both jumped, frightened of the surprising gunshot. Enrico stood there, his arms crossed coolly, as he smoked a cigarette casually.

Mario and I stared around, looking for a sign of Andrea Tanelli in a police outfit. Soon enough, a lone person from the sandy beaches was hurrying along towards our direction. She wasn't armed; or at least she wasn't carrying her weapon. She was alone, and that was a bad thing.

Diaz, Jeff, Enrico and Ken walked into her direction. The four quickly put their handguns in their pockets, concealing them from her view. Mario and I followed behind them. Once or twice, I glanced a quick look at Mario, his worried look not disappearing from her face.

"Hi there." Andrea said, running up to them. "I may be wrong, but I think I heard a gunshot from your area, and-Hey!"

I looked up front to see Jeff and Ken holding her back. Jeff hit her straight in the stomach with a hard right, and she screamed in pain. I cringed at the sight of her being hurt. There she was, the same officer whom I had fooled at the police station, with a gigantic feeling of hurt on her face.

"Oof!" She was hit again. Jeff and Ken continued to hold her back. Enrico took her weapon and radio, placing them in his pocket. "Do I look familiar, honey?" He said deviously, wearing a massive grin on his face. I continued to remain silent.

"Yeah." She said, still sore from the pain. "You're that one who escaped from the department a few days ago!"

Diaz scoffed. "We're so glad you noticed, darling." He muttered, spitting on her shoes. "It seems you got yourself into the wrong sort of business by bringing in Enrico to the Police Department, lady."

Mario and I were still quiet, not moving from behind them or speaking a word. "Now we're going to have to pay you back." Enrico whispered in her ear, with Diaz, Jeff and Ken laughing sadistically. "Now you and your entire police department will learn not to mix with the wrong people, hmm?"

"Josh, if you will." Diaz said, moving out of his way and leaving a clear shot. Jeff and Ken punched her one more time and she was on the ground, her uniform dirty and her mouth trickling with blood.

Pulling the handgun out of my pocket, I took a final glance at Mario. He stood there, pulling his out as well. He looked at me in a guilty sort of way, and Diaz and Enrico were to my left and right, enjoying their box seat for the show.

I raised my gun toward her, and she looked at me, her eyes begging for mercy. She was helpless; her mouth continued to have blood caked around, her arms clutching her stomach in submission. It seemed like forever passing by in only a few short moments.

The seconds ticked by like hours. The four of them waited anxiously for me to pull the trigger. My finger was dancing around the silver handle, ready to pump a single bullet into her. I took a look at Diaz, who's expression of pure joy was almost sickening.

"Do it!" Enrico yelled impatiently. I closed my eyes, opened them to see Andrea Tanelli's eyes begging for mercy. Then, I began to lower my weapon in submission, dropping it to the ground as it landed with a thud into the sand.

Mario did the same, following suit. "What are you doing?!" Diaz screamed. "Shoot her!"

"No." I said quietly. I looked at her, to see her stop clutching her stomach. She looked, wide-eyed at me, in shock and surprise. Ken, Jeff and Enrico were all speechless, and it shocked me too, even though I knew that this truly was the right decision to do.

For a few moments, there was silence. Then, Diaz and Enrico approached. "You disappoint me, Josh." Diaz raised his own handgun to my forehead. "Your father was just the very same, you know."

In only a manner of a few seconds, Mario delivered a high kick to Diaz's temple, knocking him out instantly. I punched Enrico square in the nose and in the jaw, and he fell down hard onto a flat rock. Mario punched Jeff and he landed with a dull thud onto the very same rock. Approaching Ken, he held out his gun, shaking, but I snatched it away from him and hit him at the back of the head with it.

Breathing fervently, I could see Mario in a panicked look. "That was your idea?!" He yelled angrily.

"We'd better get the hell out of here." I told him quietly, still panting hard. I pulled Andrea by the hand and began making my way towards my car. "Mario, we'll meet you just outside my penthouse!"

Without Andrea Tanelli saying a word, it all happened. I had found her and now we were making a getaway to wherever destiny would take the three of us.