Chapter 4 - THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
“Get the car,” Luca ordered, his bloody hand tossing a set of keys to me.
“Me?” I stammered.
“You’re the only person in this house I know isn’t on Bellini’s payroll,” Luca said, hauling Frank to his feet. “Move, Emily!”
I didn’t think. I just ran.
Ten minutes later, we were tearing down the I-95 in Luca’s black SUV. I was behind the wheel, my hands gripping the leather at ten and two, pushing the engine to eighty-five. Luca was in the passenger seat, barking orders into his phone, mobilizing every man he had. Frank was in the back, praying softly clutching his rosary.
“They won’t hurt her,” Luca told his uncle, though his jaw was tight. “Vanessa is using Mia as leverage. She wants to force the marriage. She wants the territory.”
“She wants the cabin,” I said suddenly.
Luca muted his phone. “What?”
“Mr. Bellini didn’t just cheat to humiliate Frank. He specifically wanted the deed to the lake cabin. Why? What’s up there?”
Frank stopped praying. He looked out the dark window.
“It’s where your father hid the ledger, Luca. The real one. The one that proves the Bellinis were stealing from the syndicate. I thought it was safe there.”
“You left evidence that could destroy the Bellinis in a wooden shack?” Luca yelled.
“It’s hidden under the floorboards in the old nursery!” Frank cried. “I was going to give it to you when you were ready, but Bellini figured it out. He’s been trying to buy that land from me for a year.”
“Take the next exit,” Luca told me. “Head for the lake.”
The drive took another agonizing forty minutes. The winding dirt road up to the cabin was pitch black. I killed the headlights a mile out, relying on the moonlight reflecting off the lake to guide us.
We parked in the brush. The cabin was dark.
Luca pulled a heavy Glock from his shoulder holster. He looked at me. “Stay in the car. Keep the engine running.”
“No,” I said, my voice surprisingly steady. “Vanessa knows me. If she’s in there with Mia, she might let her guard down if she sees the maid instead of the man with the gun.”
Luca stared at me. For a second, the mob boss faded, and I saw a man terrified of losing the only family he had left.
“Two minutes,” he whispered. “If you don’t come out with Mia, I’m coming in, and I’m not asking questions.”
I slipped out of the SUV. The night air was freezing. I crept up the wooden steps, wincing as the old boards groaned.
The front door was ajar.
I pushed it open.
A single lantern was lit on the dining table. Vanessa stood there, holding a little girl in a pink tutu by the wrist. Mia’s face was streaked with tears, clutching a faded blue teddy bear.
Across the room, Mr. Bellini was tearing up the floorboards with a crowbar.
“Well, well,” Vanessa sneered, seeing me. “The help followed us.”
“Let the girl go, Vanessa,” I said, keeping my hands visible. “You don’t want to do this.”
Mr. Bellini pulled up a loose plank. He reached into the dirt beneath the foundation and pulled out a heavy, rust-covered metal lockbox.
“I have what I need,” Bellini grunted, dusting off the box. “Take the girl out back. We don’t leave loose ends.”
Vanessa yanked Mia’s arm. The little girl screamed.
I lunged forward, grabbing a heavy cast-iron skillet from the stove, but before I could swing, a cold metal barrel pressed against the back of my neck.
I froze.
“Drop it, sweetheart,” a familiar voice said behind me.
It was Marco. Luca’s head of security.
Marco stepped around me, his gun pointed at my chest. He looked at Bellini and nodded.
May you like
“Luca’s waiting in the car,” Marco told them. “I cut his radio. His men are at the other side of town.”
Bellini smiled. “Good work, Marco. Finish the maid. Bring the boss to me.”
