Chapter 7 - THE TRAITOR
The horrific truth hit me like a physical blow.
Uncle Carlo wasn't rescuing Leo. He wasn't protecting him. He was betraying Luca. He had been working with Arthur Bellini the entire time.
"I won't give it to you!" Leo shouted, his young voice cracking with terror, but he clutched the heavy black ledger tighter against his chest. "Mr. Moretti said he would protect my sister! You're the bad guy!"
Carlo let out a harsh, ugly laugh. He took a slow step toward the terrified twelve-year-old, tapping the heavy tire iron against his open palm.
"Mr. Moretti is currently sitting in a federal interrogation room, kid," Carlo sneered. "He can't protect anyone. And your sister? She’s already in the back of my van. Give me the book, and maybe I’ll let you both live long enough to see sunrise."
My heart hammered against my ribs. I looked at Evelyn crouching beside me. The elderly woman’s face was pale, tears of betrayal spilling over her cheeks as she realized the man she had known for forty years had sold out her beloved Luca.
"We have to stop him," I whispered to Evelyn, my hands shaking.
"We don't have weapons, Natalie," Evelyn breathed back. "He’ll kill us."
She was right. We were two unarmed women against a mobster holding a deadly weapon. But I couldn't watch a child get murdered. I had already lost my father to these monsters. I wasn't going to lose anyone else.
I scanned the immediate area behind the wooden pallets.
My eyes landed on the massive electrical breaker box mounted on the brick wall just five feet away.
"Evelyn," I whispered urgently. "When the lights go out, run toward the front doors and start screaming for help as loud as you can. Draw his attention."
"What are you going to do?" she asked, her eyes wide.
"I'm getting the boy."
Before she could argue, I scrambled away from the pallets, staying low to the ground. I reached the breaker box, my fingers trembling as I gripped the heavy metal handle.
I took a deep breath, praying the distraction would work.
I yanked the lever down.
The massive warehouse plunged into absolute, pitch-black darkness. The sudden silence was deafening.
"What the hell?!" Carlo roared in the dark, the sound of the tire iron clanging against a shipping container echoing loudly.
"Help! Somebody help us! Police!" Evelyn screamed at the top of her lungs, sprinting toward the front entrance, her heels clicking loudly on the concrete.
"Who's there?!" Carlo shouted, his heavy boots pounding the floor as he turned away from Leo and charged toward Evelyn's voice.
I didn't hesitate. I used the memory of the warehouse layout to sprint blindly through the dark toward where Leo had been backed against the shipping container.
"Leo!" I hissed urgently, waving my hands in the pitch black.
Small, trembling hands grabbed my apron.
"I'm here," Leo whimpered, clinging to me, the heavy ledger pressing against my stomach.
"Come with me, quickly," I whispered, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the side exit we had used to enter the building.
We moved as fast as we dared in the dark, weaving through the maze of shipping crates. Evelyn was still screaming near the front doors, drawing Carlo further away from us.
We reached the heavy steel side door. I pushed it open just enough to slip through, dragging Leo out into the freezing Chicago night.
We were back in the desolate alleyway by the docks. The cold wind bit through my uniform, but the adrenaline kept me warm.
"Where is your sister?" I asked Leo, dropping to my knees to be at eye level with him.
"He said she was in the van," Leo cried, pointing toward a dark, unmarked cargo van parked near the loading dock.
"Okay. You hide behind those dumpsters," I ordered gently. "Do not come out until I tell you it's safe."
Leo nodded, scurrying into the shadows, clutching the ledger like a shield.
I crept toward the cargo van. The back doors were locked, but I could hear muffled crying coming from inside. I grabbed a heavy rock from the pavement and smashed the small window on the passenger side door.
I reached in, unlocked the door, and scrambled into the back of the van.
A tiny girl, no older than seven, was huddled in the corner, her hands zip-tied in front of her. She was terrified, crying silently.
"Shh, it's okay, sweetheart," I whispered, finding a pair of heavy shears in a toolbox near the driver's seat. I carefully cut the plastic ties binding her wrists. "I'm a friend. I’m taking you to your brother."
I grabbed her small hand and hurried out of the van, running toward the dumpsters where Leo was hiding.
When Leo saw his sister, he dropped the ledger and threw his arms around her, both of them sobbing in relief.
"We have to go," I urged, picking the ledger up from the dirty pavement. "Carlo will realize it was a trick soon."
We ran out of the alleyway, heading toward the main street to find a taxi or a phone.
But as we rounded the corner of the warehouse, a pair of blinding headlights suddenly washed over us.
An armored black SUV skidded to a halt, blocking our path.
My heart dropped into my stomach. It was one of Arthur Bellini's vehicles. Carlo must have called for backup before we arrived.
The heavy doors flew open.
But the men who stepped out weren't wearing mafia suits. They were wearing tactical vests with FBI emblazoned across their chests in bold yellow letters.
And stepping out of the passenger side, flanked by two federal agents, was Luca Moretti.
He didn't have handcuffs on. He looked exhausted, but the fierce, commanding authority had completely returned to his posture.
"Natalie," Luca breathed, a look of profound relief washing over his face as he saw me and the children.
"Mr. Moretti!" I gasped, clutching the children to me. "How… how did you get out?"
"I made a deal," Luca said simply, walking toward us. He looked at the heavy black ledger tucked under my arm. "And I see you brought my bargaining chip."
Agent Ramirez stepped out of the SUV, her sharp eyes scanning the scene.
"You promised us the ledger, Moretti," Ramirez said coldly. "If she doesn't hand it over right now, the deal is void, and you go back in the cell."
"I’ll give it to you," I said, stepping forward, holding the book out. "But you have to arrest his uncle. Carlo is inside the warehouse. He was working with Arthur Bellini. He tried to kill this boy."
Ramirez signaled to her tactical team. "Breach the warehouse. Find Carlo Moretti."
Five agents sprinted toward the building, their weapons raised.
Luca turned to me, his dark eyes filled with an intensity that made my breath catch.
"You went after the boy," Luca said softly, his voice full of awe. "You walked into a warehouse with a traitor to save a child you didn't even know."
"I knew what it felt like to be abandoned by the people who were supposed to protect me," I whispered, thinking of the corrupt detective who had buried my father’s case. "I wasn't going to let that happen to him."
Luca reached out, gently cupping my cheek with his large, warm hand. The touch sent a shockwave of electricity straight to my heart.
"You are the bravest woman I have ever known, Natalie," Luca murmured.
Before I could respond, a loud commotion echoed from the front doors of the warehouse.
The FBI agents were marching out, dragging a furious, struggling Carlo Moretti between them.
"You can't do this!" Carlo screamed, spit flying from his lips as he saw Luca. "I'm a respected businessman! Arthur will have your badges for this!"
"Arthur is currently sharing a cell block with a federal informant," Agent Ramirez smirked, holding up the black leather ledger. "And with this little book, I imagine he’ll be staying there for a very long time. Book him."
The agents shoved Carlo into the back of a federal transport van, slamming the doors shut on the traitor.
The nightmare was finally ending. The empire of corruption Arthur Bellini had built was crumbling, and the man who had sold out his own blood was going to prison.
"It's over," I breathed, looking up at Luca.
"Not quite," Luca said, his expression suddenly turning grim.
He turned away from the federal agents and looked out toward the dark, churning waters of the docks.
"Vanessa wasn't arrested at the mansion," Luca stated quietly. "She slipped through the federal perimeter before they breached the gates."
A cold chill ran down my spine. The woman who had orchestrated the entire engagement, who had terrorized Evelyn, who had manipulated everyone… was in the wind.
"Where would she go?" I asked nervously.
"She only cares about one thing," Luca said, his eyes narrowing as he stared into the dark. "Money. She knows her father’s accounts will be frozen by morning. She’ll need untraceable cash to disappear."
"But where would she get it?"
Luca slowly turned back to look at me, a terrifying realization dawning on his face.
"My mother’s safe deposit box," Luca whispered, the blood draining from his face. "When we broke the engagement, I demanded she return the engagement ring. But she didn't just take the ring when she left the dining room."
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Luca checked his suit pocket, his hands shaking slightly.
"She took the master key to the family vault."
