Chapter 5 - The Vault Key
The men moved instantly. One grabbed Nathan by the collar, dragging him toward the back hallway. Nathan was screaming, pleading for his life, begging me to help him. I couldn't even look at him. He had orchestrated this nightmare. He had sold us to a monster.
Two men grabbed my arms, hauling me to my feet. Another grabbed Benjamin.
“Mommy!” Benjamin shrieked, kicking his small sneakers against the man's shins.
“Let him walk by himself!” I screamed, struggling against the iron grip of the men holding me. “I'll do whatever you want! Just don't hurt him!”
Sofia ignored me. She was holding the tiny silver key up to the light, mesmerized by it.
They dragged us out through the back service elevator of the hotel, avoiding the main lobby. The cold Chicago night air hit my face as we were shoved into the back of a massive black SUV. Benjamin was thrown in next to me. I immediately pulled him into my lap, wrapping my arms around him, burying my face in his hair. He was shaking so hard his teeth were chattering.
“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay,” I chanted, rocking him, though I knew it was a lie.
Sofia climbed into the front passenger seat. Two armed men got in the front, and two sat on either side of us in the back.
The convoy of three SUVs peeled out of the alley, speeding through the neon-lit downtown streets.
“Where are we going?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Sofia looked at me through the rearview mirror. “To finish what your mother started, Katherine. The First Metropolitan Bank building. It’s been abandoned for five years, but the underground vaults are still intact.”
“And then what?” I asked, the dread pooling in my stomach. “You get the money. Then you let us go?”
Sofia chuckled softly. It was the sound of a death sentence. “You know too much, Katherine. And Luca will tear the city apart looking for you to prove a point. You’re going to have a tragic accident tonight. A robbery gone wrong. So sad for the little boy.”
My heart stopped. She was going to kill us. Both of us.
I looked frantically around the SUV. Child locks on the doors. Armed men on both sides. We were completely trapped.
I looked down at Benjamin. He was staring at something on the floor of the SUV, right near the left guard's heavy boots.
It was a heavy steel flashlight.
Benjamin looked up at me. His large brown eyes were completely clear of tears now. A strange, quiet bravery had settled over him. He gave a tiny, almost imperceptible nod toward the flashlight.
My ten-year-old son was telling me to fight.
The SUVs pulled into a dark, graffiti-covered alley behind a massive stone building. The First Metropolitan Bank. The windows were boarded up, and the streetlights were broken.
The car stopped. The guards opened the doors and dragged us out into the freezing wind.
“Bring them down to the vault,” Sofia ordered, marching ahead with her flashlight cutting through the gloom.
We were pushed through a rusted metal door and forced down a flight of concrete stairs into absolute darkness. The air smelled of mildew and dust. As we reached the bottom, Sofia’s men turned on heavy construction floodlights they had brought with them, illuminating a massive steel vault door.
It was already open, the heavy bolts rusted in place.
We walked into the vault. Thousands of small metal deposit boxes lined the walls.
Sofia walked straight to the wall labeled 400. She stopped in front of box 404.
Her hands were shaking with excitement as she inserted the tiny silver key from the rosary into the lock. It clicked loudly in the silent room. She pulled the metal box out and set it on a dusty table in the center of the vault.
“Finally,” she breathed.
She popped the lid open.
The guards leaned in. I held my breath.
Sofia stared into the box. Her smile slowly vanished, replaced by a mask of absolute fury.
“No,” she whispered.
She frantically dug her hands into the box, pulling out nothing but dust.
The box was completely empty.
Wait. Not completely empty.
Sofia pulled out a single, folded piece of thick parchment paper. And beneath it, resting on the velvet bottom of the box, was a heavy gold pocket watch.
Sofia unfolded the paper. As she read it, her face drained of all color.
“What does it say?” one of her men asked nervously.
Sofia crushed the paper in her fist, screaming in raw, unhinged rage. She threw the box across the room, the metal clattering against the concrete.
“He took it!” Sofia shrieked, kicking the table. “He betrayed me!”
“Who?” I asked, stepping backward.
Sofia turned to me, her eyes burning with homicidal hatred. She held up the gold pocket watch.
“Your precious, pathetic husband,” she sneered. “He didn't just find the rosary today. He found it months ago. He copied the key. He emptied the box himself.”
She threw the watch at my feet.
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The gold casing popped open on impact. Engraved on the inside cover were words that made my blood run cold:
To Nathan. Enjoy the retirement. - Luca.
