The Greatest Secret
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own iCarly
A/N:
Chapter 198 (The Lion, The Bull, and the Tiger)
A little over two months passed and everyone besides the police were beginning to forget about Bana and Lionel Shay. Both men had been laying low and the Idaho prison had a new warden. Marissa still followed the trail, even though it had gone cold, she would do whatever it took to find and take out the two dangerous men, and it showed. Now that it was once again, Friday the 13th, April 13th, she was almost certain Lionel would be coming out of hiding.
She wanted to keep her relatives inside, but it was clear they weren't going to do that. Tyrone and an appointment with his therapist, and Carly was driving him there. He wasn't feeling all that well and really didn't feel like driving. Jonah and Freddie were hanging in the back seat, ready to go pick up Griffin after dropping off Tyrone, then meet up at Gibby's to practice with their band.
Carly came to a stop at a red light and tapped her thumb on the steering wheel. Tyrone was leaning against the door and watching the light. They were going to be an hour early for his appointment, but that was all right, considering the band had plans. It only meant that Tyrone could see Dr. Parper earlier, as long as it wasn't an inconvenience to the therapist. He'd been doing better lately and was becoming more accepting of the culture. He still wasn't sure about Griffin, but he wasn't saying anything about it. Besides, his concern about Griffin wasn't about arranged marriage, it was about the motorcycle. "Carly. Why do you date a man who rides a motorcycle? Can I ask that? I don't want to say you shouldn't date him, especially not for that reason, but a motorcycle?"
"What Grandpa? Even Freddie and Jonah are starting to ride bikes. Sam and Valerie think it's hot." Tyrone paled and the men in the back began to snicker. It was true, Griffin was teaching them to ride a motorcycle and look cool doing it. He was even warming Gibby up to the idea! It would be awesome to have matching motorcycles. "It's not like Griffin lets me ride them, he doesn't. It would be nice, but he does say they're too dangerous. I wonder, what does he think I'll do, break a nail?"
"They are dangerous," Freddie smirked. She rolled her eyes and he laughed. "I'm just saying, Griffin has a point. Anyway, Tyrone-"
"Why do you just call me by my name? Why not Granddad or something like that?"
"You've not reached that level yet."
"Go figure." Tyrone's flat response prompted another chuckle from the sidelines. He reached back and thwacked Jonah upside the head. "I'd say respect your elders…" Freddie turned his eyes to Jonah and laughed.
"Him? Please, he's probably the most respectful to elders as anyone in this car is. How's Valerie's grandpa and your grandpa, by the way? They getting along?" Jonah leaned sideways and brought his right leg up to rest on his left.
"I wouldn't know, her grandpa went back to New York about a month ago." Freddie raised an eyebrow and Carly glanced to the rearview mirror. What did Valentine have to do with New York, besides Valerie, in which case he would probably be unable to see her? "My grandpa, he recently came out and said that it had been a couple years before he changed his name over, that he'd been a part of an Italian Mafia family in New York, rivaling that which Valerie's grandpa was involved in."
"Really?" The others, minus Carly, who was still watching the road, looked over to Jonah with interest. "So what happened? Why did the two of them change their names and move to Seattle?"
"Both families had branches here in Seattle, to be honest. Eventually the two warring families ceased their war, Grandpa Valentine's Mob family wiped out Grandpa Castagno's mob family. So my grandfather changed his name in order to avoid detection." Freddie nodded carefully and Tyrone's eyebrows started to rise. "I'm not entirely clear on why Grandpa Valentine changed his name, other than I think he actually didn't, it was just Valerie's father that did, due to the difficulty to pronounce the name. Vincent has a brother who is still named Guglielmo. Johnny Guglielmo, to be exact. Haven't really heard much about him except I think he may still be a part of the mafia and he answers to the Don in New York."
"Your grandfathers sure keep a lot of history to themselves…"
"Yeah, they promised no more secrets, but I always get the feeling there's something they're not saying. Or at least Grandpa Valentine isn't."
Tyrone whistled and turned back around in his seat, shaking his head. "Damn. And you two call me a bad grandfather!" Carly laughed and Jonah rolled his eyes. "Nice to know you have connections to the mafia, Jonah. Have I ever said how sorry I am that I might have pissed you off over the years?"
"Relax, I'm not going to call out a hit on you. Just as long as you stay out of my friend's relationship, I'm fine. See, we Italians put strong values on family, so I'd hate to think what could happen if you tried to tear a family apart."
"Hey! Didn't you just say you weren't going to call a hit out on me?"
"I did." Freddie and Carly broke out in laughter again and couldn't stop, so she pulled over to the curb and parked the car. Tyrone glared at the two of them and crossed his arms over, huffing in frustration. After a minute, Jonah chuckled and pat Tyrone's back. "I'm not a part of the Mafia, Tyrone, and I have no means of being a part of it. Anyway, I hear you and Carly's grandmother are dating more frequently now?"
"Yeah, she's finally decided to give actual dating a try." Carly grinned. Freddie smiled at Tyrone and turned his gaze to where Carly parked. They were right next to the docks.
"Hey guy, let's explore!"
"I need to get to my appointment…"
"We got time." Tyrone looked over at the docks and shrugged his shoulders, it had been years since he'd been out there. They brought back memories of his youth, so he figured there was no reason not to explore.
"I guess, but just as long as we get moving soon enough. I'm feeling a bit unsettled here."
"Ah, it'll be fine." The four of them left the car and started heading into the docks. It looked like your typical port with boats lying at the docks and old newspapers flying along the pavement. The more they walked, the more unsettled they became. "In retrospect…why does it feel so dreary here?"
"Feels like something out of the Godfather." Tyrone smirked at Jonah, who rolled his eyes and took out his phone.
"I got a call to make. I told Grandpa I'd let him know when the band was going to meet, haven't done that yet…" Carly looked over to Jonah and shook her head.
"You're just trying to get out of the vicinity of the mafia jokes, aren't you?"
"Yes." He dialed Ryan's number and started to walk off a few paces from the group. Freddie looked over at him and raised an eyebrow at Jonah's surprised expression. "Grandpa Valentino, you two are in the same room together? I thought you were still in New York?" Ryan answered the question for him, as Valentine was only heard speaking in the background.
"We've reached a consensus, Nipote, an agreement, if you will. Valentine's come back from New York and is talking with his son, Johnny. I was merely invited over to discuss the unity of our two families. He feels we should regain our surname, the Castagno, and-" Jonah caught a glimpse of something in the window of a nearby building and narrowed his eyes as he walked closer and peered inside. Bana was sleeping on a makeshift bed.
"Caro dio…"
"What was that, Jonah?"
"Nothing grandfather, I just saw Bana!"
"Bana? You mean the guy that Valerie told us about back upon our meeting? The serial killer? Where are you? Where is he?"
"The Seattle Docks, west side…outside the giant yacht."
"Yacht? Johnny owns a yacht, has Bana been staying at the docks there all this time?"
"Grandpa, I'm sorry, I have to go. I have to warn the others."
"Jonah-" Jonah hung up the phone and hurried over to where Freddie and the others were, his heart was racing and his blood was pumping.
"Guys, Bana's asleep in one of the buildings here."
"We have bigger problems, Jonah." Jonah glanced over to see what everyone was looking at, they were shaking and pale. His eyes widened and settled in on Lionel Shay. "Lionel isn't asleep in any of the buildings here." Thinking fast, the trio stepped in front of Tyrone and Carly. Lionel narrowed his eyes and moved forward with a menacing gait.
"Don't worry, it is only Tyrone that I want. Carly is not a pure Shay. I won't kill anyone other than a Shay." Tyrone's eyes widened and sweat dripped down his neck.
"I'm actually not going by Shay anymore. I mean, I'm half Davidson!"
"And thirty years of arrogance has brought us to this day. Tyrone, it is your turn to die." Lionel moved his eyes to Carly, Jonah, and Freddie, all of whom did not appear to be backing down. "Move aside. Don't impede justice." Tyrone took a fearful step back and slowly shook his head. Freddie narrowed his eyes and folded his arms over.
"You have a sick view of justice, Lionel. Didn't think I'd be meeting you anytime soon…Didn't really want to."
"I am well aware of my own self, to prevent hypocrisy, once I have destroyed all the Shays and my job is done, I'll destroy myself." Freddie chuckled vainly and looked over to Carly. They knew about Shane's girlfriend, Allison, and her unborn daughter Ciara. They only hoped that Lionel was clueless about it. "There are no Shays left besides Tyrone and Bana Shay, it is my duty to eradicate them. On this day, my job will be complete, as fortunately for me, you've led me right to two Shays. I had been following Tyrone for a while now, I am pleased to know that Bana is here at the docks as well."
The group heard a loud footstep behind them and closed their eyes, groaning, terror in their voices. Bana was awake. Now it was anyone's game. "Lionel!" Bana's voice shook the docks like an earthquake. Lionel stood firm and the group quickly scattered to the right, hiding behind some boxes as the two killers glared into each other's eyes. Lionel smirked and tilted his head.
"I see you're on your feet again."
"It took me a month to recover from that! I still walk with a limp!"
"Too bad. You did well in hiding from me, but tell me why you chose these docks? And more specifically, hiding out around that yacht?"
"It was where no one could find me of course."
"I see." Lionel's eyes drifted to the right and narrowed upon Tyrone, who sank a bit more behind the crates. "That Shay will have to wait…I have to take out the greater evil." Bana raised an eyebrow and smirked as he reached into the black overcoat he was wearing.
"Bring it…" Lionel watched as his prey pulled out his claws, two long serrated daggers that could rival a simple machete. "…Bitch." Lionel readied himself to pounce, leaning his body back and taking a martial arts stance. "You killed my father, you are a fucking hypocrite, and I'm going to tear your head off."
"I've made it my goal to destroy men with hearts and souls as evil as yours, now you've reached your judgment day."
"You're one to judge!" With that, the fight began. Bana charged for Lionel, spreading his wings out and swinging his arms in towards the old man. Lionel's eyes widened and he quickly hopped back, narrowly avoiding the slashes. "You're a monster just as bad as I am!" With a shout, Lionel jumped to the back of Bana and delivered a shattering kick into his recovering knee. Bana screamed and fell towards the ground.
"You are simply a bloodthirsty behemoth, I am a dignified fighter." Lionel reached into his jacket and pulled his pistol from his pocket. He aimed it cleverly towards Bana and fired a gunshot into the man's left side. "Dignified fighters outlast the bloodthirsty killer."
"Oh shut up you glorified excuse for a murderous priest!" Bana stabbed his knifes into the ground and slowly pushed himself up. His face was etched into a deadly scowl and his eyes filled with venom. "Because that's all you sound like. Talk, talk, talk, you're nothing but talk! At least I'm honest with myself!" He roared and slashed Lionel across the left leg. Lionel released a painful grunt and recoiled to a nearby pool. "
"Honest? Honest how?" He slowly pulled himself up and growled as Lionel removed his jacket and tied it around his bleeding leg.
"I don't try to justify my murders by saying I'm cleansing evil. I know what I'm doing is evil and I don't give a shit. That's what makes me the bull and you the Lion, you think you're God, you play King, when in reality, even the animal Lion is far better than you are!" Bana charged in once more and Lionel made a move to dodge again.
Freddie, Jonah, Carly, and Tyrone all watched helplessly as the two killers clashed. Freddie thought back to Andre and sighed. "That's what he was talking about, the clash of the titans. Should we be sitting here right now?"
"Well eventually one of them is going to kill the other," Carly replied with a soft, squeaky voice. "So, that leaves us sitting ducks until then, because we don't actually want to, uh, get in the middle of that?"
Jonah's voice fell flat as he eyed the exit. His Italian blood wanted to get out and fight, but logic said to stay out of the way of the two men. "You do realize that either one of the two that survives will probably come after us, right? I'm not going to sit around when that happens, I'm going to fight whichever one of them lives…"
"Yeah, about that…" Freddie pointed at Bana, who had yet another bullet wound and lost a knife, which Lionel had skillfully managed to snatch away from him. He, along with Lionel, both had a few slashes from the weapons. "I don't know if you want to fight Bana or not."
"Well hey, I'm the son of a Mafia man, I married the mafia, and to this day, no force, person, or organization has ever stopped the Mafia. Therefore…" Jonah frowned as Bana grabbed Lionel and threw him into some broken wooden crates on the opposite of the group. "Yeah we're screwed if Bana lives. Which one would be the better? If Valerie's grandfather is mafia, why couldn't he be the Don?"
"I say let Lionel live, that way, only Tyrone's dying." Tyrone blinked and did a double take at Freddie.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
"Lionel only goes after Shays. So Lionel lives, you stand a chance of surviving because he's already wounded…" Freddie pressed his lips together and saw Lionel kick out Bana's knee again and pound the knife into his abdomen. His hair was an unsightly mess, his clothes were in tatters, and he was covered in blood. Bana appeared to be in the same shape, but was enduring better. "Either way, they both look like they could take a fight after this. If Bana lives, we have about ten seconds before he regains his senses and then we're dead."
"True…"
"So who wants to place their bets and then try to find a way to escape the docks? Oh, and by the way, I'm sorry for getting us into this mess, we should never have stopped here."
"It's all right Freddie," Carly replied. "I think I'll call Mom….but as far as wagering, I'd probably wager Bana to survive, sadly. I mean, he's younger, seems to be in better shape, and is giving the statistical fighter a hard time."
Jonah looked at his phone and frowned as he pushed it into his pocket and sighed. "I agree with her. By the way, I got a text from Grandpa. Can't quite make it out, but he wants us to stay where we're at and not move."
"Oh nice Grandfather of yours, tell you to do that…we're going to die if one of these men lives!"
Bana and Lionel pressed their backs against walls of opposing buildings, facing each other and panting their exasperation. Bana's nostrils flared and Lionel's breath sounded as a hiss. "I've never had a Shay give me this much of a fight, Bana. You are definitely a fearsome man."
"Oh, I'm glad a 'god' like you decided to acknowledge that. The gloves are off Lionel. You wanted to hunt me, you did a good job of hunting me for the past few months, but I'm not letting you kill me."
"Don't let your arrogance show too much." Lionel aimed his gun at Bana, whose eyes widened. He was caught, with Lionel's intentional aiming, he knew a bullet to the heart would end him. "No more games Bana Shay, I'm done playing with my food. Goodbye."
"Fuck…" He closed his eyes as Lionel pulled the trigger. The expected rush of pain to his chest never came, there was no explosion, merely a click. He opened his eyes and took a deep breath and exhaled his relief as he saw Lionel struggling with his gun. His lips curled into a smirk and the bystanders all gasped at the inevitable. "You've run out of ammo."
"Shit."
"Die!" With a quick hoof, he held his arm out to the side and flexed it tight as he charged towards his enemy. Lionel looked up with wide eyes as Bana slammed into him, crushing his abdomen with his strong arm. He let out a loud shout and Bana brought his hand up and placed it firmly onto Lionel's neck. He glared into the old man's eyes and sneered "Looks like it's your turn to die, Lionel Shay. You messed with the wrong Shay at the wrong time."
"Y-You bastard!" He gagged and gasped for air as Bana began laughing mercilessly. In the sidelines, the observers were beginning to grow frantic at the realization of their worst nightmare.
"We're screwed!" Carly shouted. She cupped her hand over her mouth and whined as Freddie slowly closed his eyes. He wasn't ready to accept death, he just couldn't bear the thought of it. Not now, not when there were so many people depending on him, so many people who needed him, what about Sam? Who would take care of her? Who would be there for her?
"Should have just kept going. Shouldn't have stopped here…"
"Freddie, Carly, I want you to know one thing…" The two looked at Tyrone, he was shaking tremendously and sweat was running along his body. He closed his eyes and sighed as Bana dropped Lionel's body to the ground. "I'm sorry, I know it doesn't take back all these years of pain. I wish I had been a better person, a better man than this. Maybe if I was better, we wouldn't be in this position."
"It's okay Tyrone…You're not so bad, I guess. I wish we could have gotten to know each other just a little better." Freddie turned his eyes to Bana and met the killer's cold, vicious gaze. Bana's lips curled up as he started to turn fully towards them. "We could run, but I'm not sure how much good it would do us."
"Not much," Jonah answered. He still contemplated fighting. He moved his eyes to Bana's feet and raised an eyebrow. Lying at the man's heel was Lionel's hand, but his fingers were closing. The old man was still alive, but barely conscious. Even stranger, they were at the corner of the building, and on the other side, Jonah was certain he saw a black dress shoe just partially in view. "Hey guys, I don't think we're the only ones here…"
"What are you talking about?"
"Look at Bana…behind him…" The group looked over just as Bana held out his hands and started grinning at them.
"The Bull beat the Lion. What do you know?" Just as he took a step forward, the man Jonah saw beside the building stepped into view. He had black pants, a pinstripe sports jacket, black shades and a fedora on his head. His hands revealed a Garrote Wire in which he quickly moved it around Bana's neck. The group gasped and Bana threw his hands to the wire and let out a grunt. "Who the fuck are you? What are you doing?"
"Hold still." The man stepped on Lionel's hand, crushing it. "Confirm this for me. You are Bana Shay, correct?" Bana growled and tugged at the wire, which was too tight around his neck.
"Yes, and I've been in worse scrapes than this. You think you can hold me with something like this?"
"No. I'm pretty sure you've not been in a more dire situation than you are about to be in, Asino Muto."
"What did you just call me?"
"I called you a dumb ass. You know, a man lacking in intelligence. You spent all your time fighting this old codger that you failed to see the ambush coming for you."
"What?"
"What's this guy talking about?" Freddie asked with a curious tone. Jonah shrugged and slowly rose to his feet, he was incredibly curious as to who this man was. Before he could say anything, a line of black cars, led by a dark convertible, began parking alongside the curb of the dock. His eyes settled in on the twenty men exiting the cars. They were following a man about fifty years of age. He had curly black hair and a slightly graying moustache. He wore a solid fedora, had a cigar in his mouth, and bore a tuxedo. Jonah instantly recognized him from the pictures he'd seen.
"What the hell is Valerie's uncle doing here?"
The man narrowed his eyes into Bana's gaze and smirked. He had his hands in his pocket and tilted his head to the right as all other similarly dressed men formed a single file, horizontal line behind him. They each had their hands in their jackets, grabbing a hold of something unseen. "Name's Johnny Guglielmo, the Underboss for the Guglielmo family." Jonah raised an eyebrow and looked to his friends.
"Underboss?"
"I preside over the Seattle district. Behind me I have men from the Guglielmo family and men from our recent union with the Castagno Famiglia." Jonah snapped his head towards the man and watched with growing confusion and anxiety as his own father started moving from one of the cars. "Here to keep the peace and ensure his son's safety is Michael Castagno, the brother of the Castagno's underboss, Roy."
"Jonah? Your uncle is in the mafia?" Freddie stood next to Jonah, who was staring with wide and confused eyes.
"I never really talked to Uncle Roy, how was I supposed to know he was the underboss for…wait a minute? My family's still a mafia family?" Johnny turned his eyes to Jonah and his lips curled into a smile. Michael looked over and frowned, he knew a big explanation was needed. Bana roared and tried to break free from the Garrote, but the mafia man only made his hold tighter. Johnny locked eyes with Bana once more and rolled his head.
"Ah. Yes, the Castagno's and Guglielmo's have been at war. That's why the Castagno's made their primary base in Seattle, WA while the Guglielmo's made theirs in New York, with only branches here. With the union of the two Dons' grandchildren, the two families have been united."
"Oh that's gre-wait a minute, Don-"
"Bana Shay, nearly three months ago your existence was made aware to Don Valentino Guglielmo and Don Ryan Castagno. At his granddaughter's mention of the harm you've been causing his friend's family, Don Valentino, out of the kindness of his heart, returned to New York and ordered your head on a silver platter. Tonight, after months of searching, and Don Castagno's grandson stumbling on your presence, we've found you and the two Don's will sign the peace treaty that your death shall symbolize. Un connubio di faiglie."
"What does that even mean?" Bana asked. With a sneer, he tore the Garrote from his neck. The mafia man holding him ran to the side, out of the line of fire. Bana glared at Johnny and took a dangerous step forward. Without hesitating, Johnny took his cigar from his lips and tapped it in the air with his middle and index fingers.
"It means a union of families. A treaty signed by the two Don's and sealed with the blood of a killer." Johnny turned to the side as the soldiers and capos each pulled a Tommy Gun from their pockets and aimed it at Bana, who gazed on with wide eyes. Johnny flicked the ash from his cigar and started to walk out of the range of the men. "You put up a tough fight, trying to hide from the eyes of the Mafia, but your fatal mistake was hiding where I park my yacht. Know this Bana, no force has ever managed to topple the Italian Mafia." He put his cigar back into his lips and stopped walking. The cigar was framed by a red ring as he took a breath. Bana growled and Jonah watched the man pull the cigar and blow the smoke from his lips. "Whack him boys. Try not to get any holes or dents in my yacht, please."
"No!" Bana screamed as his body was pelted with bullets. Johnny flung his cigar to the ground and started to reach for another. He set a fresh cigar in his mouth and started to light it. "Fuck you!" Bana clenched his teeth as his body jerked in every direction from the machine guns' never ending assault. Johnny removed his cigar and looked up to the sky as he exhaled.
"Castagno, Brown, whatever you want to be called. Go to your son. Take care of him, his son is the jewel of the Castagno and Guglielmo family, after all."
Michael nodded and ran behind the mafia men towards Jonah and the group. The men were still firing, perhaps overkill, but the Dons had ordered the mafia to tear Bana into shreds. He hugged his son, who was frozen from all that he was seeing. Freddie, Carly, and Tyrone were not faring much better. "Jonah, son, are you okay?"
"Define okay, Dad. You knew about all this?"
"Yes. I'm sorry Jonah, I'm sorry. I promise you, we'll explain everything, but first we need to get you guys home."
"I thought we were done with secrets!"
"We are, I promise you, no more secrets."
"Grandpa's the boss of a Mafia family? Why was this kept?"
"Your own protection, but that's over now…you can know and you can be safe. So can Valerie, so can Aaron." Jonah raised an eyebrow as Michael hugged him tighter.
"Protection?" His father pulled away and met his eyes. Johnny made his way over to Jonah and took a puff of his cigar.
"Yes kid, the Guglielmo and Castagno families have been at war since the 1960s. Why do you think your family name was different? Your father, Valerie's father, wanted nothing to do with the Italian Mafia, so they hid away. In an ironic twist of fate that should only happen in Shakespeare, you and my niece decide to hook up! Half of the Castagno family seems to have remained hidden at your wedding, that's how we didn't know. I guarantee, if we had known, a war would have broken out. By us not knowing, you saved a lot of grief." Johnny turned around as the men stopped firing and watched Bana's bullet ridden, flesh-torn body slump to the ground. "As your father said, there will be no more secrets. Everything will be explained to you." Sirens broke out in the distance and the men began heading towards the cars. "We'll let the police clean this up, our Consigliere will talk to the cops if necessary. In this case…I don't think it will be. Jonah, keep in mind that neither you nor Valerie ordered this hit. Understand? It was Don Valentino that ordered the hit, only because he saw the grief that this man was causing for his granddaughter and her family."
"I think I understand…"
"I believe we'll see you in a few hours." Jonah swallowed and watched his uncle retreat to his vehicle. Within minutes, the mafia men were gone. Carly and Tyrone were still frozen, trying to process what had just occurred. Freddie was watching the cops pile onto the street. His mother exited the car and stared at Bana's dead body and Lionel's unconscious form, every bone in the man's hand was crushed and broken. Her eyebrows rose in shock as the officers rushed over to the two fallen serial killers.
"Jesus Christ, what the hell happened here…"
My sentiments exactly, Mrs. Benson. WOW, so what did you think of that? Bana and Lionel clashed, BANA won, sort of, and then by a stroke of luck that Jonah was talking to his grandfather, the mafia shows up led by Valerie's uncle. *Whistles* The final secret has just come out.