Chapter 2: Caught in the Crossfire

            Jack opened the door to his apartment. He found 8-Ball, as usual, sitting down, and watching a sports game with snacks and beer close by.

            'Hey, wassup," 8-Ball said, as Jack put down pizza box he brought back, "Pizza! You my dawg, yo!"

            "No problem," Jack said, as the two sat down to eat it, "but, 8-Ball, I want to know something."

            "Ya, go ahead," 8-Ball said, already starting to devour a slice.

            "I've been here for a month now," Jack said, "But I've always wanted to know the reason for the hospitality. I mean, it just seems odd that you took a total stranger right off the street, gave me a job, and somewhere to live. You even knew that I did a job for the Cartel, and you still didn't think of how dangerous I could be to you."

            "Dangerous?" 8-Ball laughed, "Man, I've seen my share of dangerous, and I know how to deal with it when I see it. But seriously, if you really wanna know why I picked you off the street or... river,... its 'cause I needed to repay a favor to the big guy. And I don't mean Salvatore Leone, I mean The Big Guy." he pointed up. "Y'see, I shouldve been dead, but I'm not. A few months ago, I was setting up this bomb that was supposed to take out a Purple Nine's crib. Something went wrong, and it detonated before I could out of there. Everything was either crumbling down or on fire, and I was trapped. For the first time in a long time, I prayed. Ya, I told God that if He let me get out of there that I would go to Church, and do something good for someone else. And, just like that, the smoke in front of me gave way, and I saw a doorway out. I had to throw every chunk of flamin' wood out of the way before I got out. That's how my hands got messed up. So since then, I've been going to church more often than not, and helped you out, as the other end of the bargain. 'Cause I'd rather wreck one of Joey Leone's new cars than break a deal with the Big Guy."

            After hearing the story, Jack counted up his own luck that 8-Ball had been around during the night of the bank robbery.

            "Oh, and speaking of Joey Leone," he said, "taking a third slice, Luigi just called and told me he pulled some strings for you. Joey Leone needs a driver tonight, and you're the man for the job."

            The two of them finished their dinner and Jack was excited that he earned the opportunity to get a job from Joey Leone. He was the son of Salvatore Leone, the supreme head of the entire Leone Clan there in Liberty City. Jack figured that getting this job was the next step in his rise to establishing a name for himself in the city. He had already worked Driver jobs for Luigi for the past month, and was a regular at the Diablo street races. Two nights before, he won a quarter-mile race with one of Luigi's sports cars. Already he was starting to become known in the Portland area of Liberty City.

            Jack went off afterwards, and drove to Joey Leone's Repair Shop. He walked over to the front door, where a man in a black suit, like the one at Luigi's, waited. Again, he had to be frisked and checked over before he was allowed in. He was brought to a garage, where a man wheeled out from under a car he was fixing.

            "'Ey, Jack," Joey said, as if he knew him, "Luigi's told me good things about you. He says you're one of the most reliable drivers he's had yet. So thats why I'm offering a job to you right now, and I want a straight yes or no answer from you, cause its a lot bigger than the chauffeur runs you've been doing. So do you want it?"

            "Yes, sir," Jack said with a hint of enthusiasm.

            "Good," he said and walked over to a map of Portland on the wall, "Okay, so youre going to walk to this Diner over here. Ya, you gotta walk, cause you'll be driving this red car outta there." He showed Jack a picture of the car, "Now the catch is that in the trunk of this car is the body of a Forelli brother. Those three brothers have been getting on my nerves, so The Hitmen had to deal with 'em. We were only able to take one down, but one's as good as any. So you'll be bringing the car and the Forelli's body to the car crusher over here. He pointed to another part of town, but before you get into the car, you gotta make sure no one's watching you. I got this feeling that the Forelli's know where their brothers body is, and they're only waiting for someone to drive away with the evidence."

            "This is a trap, isn't it," Jack said analytically, half-excited by the danger he was presented, "You want me to go there and lure the other Forelli's."

            "Maybe," Joey said, But that's the way things work in this town. You're gonna have to deal with the danger, and do the job if you want to get paid. A mission like this calls for, I dunno, $5000? But, if you run into any trouble, just remember that getting to the car crusher is your utmost priority. We left a walkie-talkie in the backseat, so just tell me if things get hairy. I'll call for help if you need it. Oh, and here, take this." He handed Jack a handgun, "Use it if you need it. So get going, you should get there while the Diner's still open."

            Jack started away, after looking at a picture of the three Forelli's on the wall. He stepped out into the damp, fall evening and started his jog to the Diner. About 15 minutes later, he arrived at the parking lot where he spotted the car that matched the one of the picture. It was parked directly in front of the Diner. The Diner was still open, so he made his way to the car, while cautiously looking around for any sign of someone watching him. Before stepping into the car, he noticed the Forelli's running out of the Diner and toward him. Jack turned the key that was already in the car and backed up quickly. He sped out of the parking lot, seeing, through his rearview mirror, both Forelli's get into two different cars.

          "I need help," Jack yelled into the walkie-talkie he found in the back seat, "They're are after me. They have two cars and are in pursuit of me. Requesting support. Repeat, requesting support."

            No one answered, and a flood of possibilities ran through Jack's head. Was I set up? Suddenly, he was jolted out of a thinking mode when a Forelli bumped him from the left. Another bumped him from behind, and Jack was sent swerving. He immediately regained control of the car and accelerated. He tried to lose them by going down the sidewalk, because two cars blocked the way, as they were waiting at the stoplight.

            Jack looked at his rearview mirror, and saw his plan worked, only one Forelli made it through the small sidewalk space, and the other had to swerve to left of the two cars at the intersection, and he ended up banging into a light pole.

The other Forelli kept banging the back of Jack's car, as he sped down the road for a few minutes, but Jack saw the car crusher yard up ahead. Jack sharply made a left, then turned into the yard with a power slide. The Forelli hit the rear-side of Jack's car, but kept going down the sloping road. Jack knew he was safe for now, but he still needed to get the car to the crusher.

Jack drove the car under the lifting magnet, and he went up to ladder to the control room. When he got up there, he immediately saw the Forelli's get out of their cars and start to shoot at him. He recognized that one had an automatic pistol, and the other had a shotgun. He ducked and covered his head from the glass that was shattering around him. He took out the handgun and prepared to return fire.

Suddenly he heard more gunshots, and assumed the two Forelli's got help. But he realized that the shooting continued, but no one was shooting at the control room anymore. He sprung his gun out in front of him in shooting stance, and looked out the shattered window to see what all the new shooting was all about outside.

He saw a black Mafia Sentinel car moving quickly across the yard, with many guns blazing out of it's sides. Jack saw the two Forelli's scramble around for cover. Jack remembered his purpose, and used the magnet to attach to the car with the Forelli body in the trunk. A Forelli started shooting at him again, so Jack ducked down, while peeping up enough to guide the crane into the crusher. He dropped the car and turned on the crusher.

It was a loud screeching sound, so Jack used that as a distraction, as he kicked open the door of the room and popped his head out. He quickly saw the two Forelli's running, and the one with the shotgun shot at the doorway. Jack hid himself, then jumped down the ladder. He slid down the side of it with one hand and his legs, while the other fired with the handgun in the Forelli's direction. Jack continued to shoot as he hit the ground, but he saw that the men in the Sentinel had ripped through one of the Forelli's with a storm of bullets. The unharmed Forelli turned away from shooting at Jack to see his brother go down, and Jack took the opportunity to pop a bullet in the back of his thigh.

Jack kept his gun fixed at the Forelli as he went down, and he barked at him to put his gun down. As he moved toward the Forelli, who threw the shotgun to the side, he saw five men deploy from the Sentinel with guns aimed at the downed Forelli. From Jack's view, he could only see their silhouettes in front of their cars blinding headlights. Jack was afraid the five figures, each with a deadly weapon, may mistake him for an enemy. Jack dived behind a nearby crate.

"It's alright," Jack heard someone say, "We were sent by Joey to help you out. Jack, you can come out."

Jack hesitated for a few moments, and finally came out. He walked around to where the five were, and looked closely at them. They all had black suits and dark shades on. Four kept their guns fixed on the Forelli, who was cursing and holding his wounded leg. One Mafia man moved over to Jack.

"Jack," he said with an outstretched hand, "I see Joey gave you the same model handgun I've got. Let me introduce us to you. We're The Hitmen."

"The Hitmen?" Jack said. Jack knew who they were. They were the Leone Clan's secret killers. He heard that the five of them attacked in their Mafia Sentinel car, and made sure they killed they're man. They were the Mafia's finest, and Jack was afraid his usefulness to the Mafia was up. He stepped back and went for his handgun.

"Easy buddy," the man said, "we're not gonna do anything to you. We're only here to take him away." He pointed at the four of them tying the Forelli to the top of their car, "Heh. I think he needs a little air. Alright, were gonna show him around town now. Go back over to Joey's to get your pay cut. But that was pretty impressive, by the way, what you just did. Tonight you were just caught in the crossfire, but I can tell you're gonna do well working with us. Have a good night."