Chapter 5 - THE VAULT IN THE DARK
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.
Five million dollars for the girl with the blue scarf.
I touched the soft cotton fabric at my forehead, suddenly feeling like I was wearing a target wrapped in flowers.
“Marcus didn't just place a bounty,” Luca said, his voice terrifyingly calm as he hung up the phone. “By authorizing it through the Commission, he just gave every hitman, rival family, and dirty cop in Chicago permission to hunt us.”
“Then we have to move now,” I said, pushing past my exhaustion. The Thallium in my veins made my limbs feel heavy, but pure adrenaline was keeping me upright. “If Marcus gets to that bank before we do, my father’s ledgers are gone forever.”
Luca looked at Dr. Evans. “Pump her full of fluids and whatever stimulants won’t kill her. I need her on her feet for the next three hours.”
Dr. Evans immediately opened his bag and prepared a specialized IV push.
While the doctor worked, Luca turned to his mother. “Teresa, you and Mary will be moved to the underground bunker beneath the estate. No one gets in or out until I return.”
Teresa nodded, her hands trembling as she squeezed my shoulder. “Bring those ledgers back, Emma. Finish what your father started.”
Ten minutes later, I was sitting in the passenger seat of an armored black SUV. Luca was driving. We didn't take a convoy. A convoy of mafia vehicles would draw too much attention from the Commission’s spotters. We needed to be ghosts.
The rain was coming down in sheets as we sped toward the downtown financial district.
“How are you feeling?” Luca asked, keeping his eyes on the slick road.
“Like my bones are made of lead,” I admitted softly. I looked out the window at the blurred city lights. “Why did you do it, Mr. Moretti? Why didn't you just hand me over to Vanessa?”
Luca’s grip on the steering wheel tightened.
“Because for twenty years, I was told my uncle was murdered by a coward,” Luca said quietly. “I grew up hating the name Arthur Lawson. But tonight, I learned that a coward doesn't sacrifice his freedom to save his wife and child. Marcus Bellini is the coward. And I don't surrender innocent people to cowards.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Thank you.”
“Don't thank me yet,” he said, taking a sharp turn into an underground parking garage. “We have to get into the bank.”
The central bank was closed for the night. The massive glass doors were locked, and two armed security guards stood in the dimly lit lobby.
Luca parked in the subterranean VIP garage. He popped the trunk and pulled out a suppressed tactical handgun, checking the magazine before sliding it into his shoulder holster.
He handed me a heavy, bulletproof Kevlar vest.
“Put this on,” he ordered. “Keep your head down. If shooting starts, you get behind me and you do not move.”
I strapped the heavy vest over my uniform. It pressed uncomfortably against my chest, but it made me feel grounded.
We approached the secure service elevator that led directly to the vault level. Luca pulled a small electronic descrambler from his pocket and attached it to the keypad. Within seconds, the light turned green.
We rode the elevator down in tense silence.
When the doors opened, we stepped out into the subterranean vault lobby. It was a massive room lined with polished marble, dominated by a gigantic circular steel vault door.
Sitting at a desk in front of the vault was a single bank manager. He looked up, startled.
Luca didn't give him time to speak. He walked up to the desk, pulled out a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills, and placed them quietly on the glass.
“Safety deposit box 412,” Luca said softly. “We were never here.”
The manager looked at the money, then at Luca’s cold, dead eyes. He nodded rapidly, grabbed a master key, and led us to the vault.
He spun the heavy combination dial, and with a mechanical groan, the massive steel door swung open.
“Row four,” the manager whispered, pointing into the aisles of steel boxes before retreating to his desk.
Luca and I walked down the sterile, brightly lit aisle. The air was cold and smelled of old paper and metal.
We found box 412.
Luca inserted the bank’s master key, and I inserted the small brass key Teresa had given us. We turned them simultaneously.
Click.
Luca pulled the long metal box out and set it on a small viewing table.
My heart pounded against my ribs. I reached out and lifted the lid.
Inside lay a thick, leather-bound ledger. The pages were yellowed with age.
Luca opened it. His eyes rapidly scanned the columns of numbers, dates, and names.
“It’s all here,” Luca breathed, a fierce triumph in his voice. “Bribes to the mayor, payoffs to the police chief, the money Marcus stole from my family... it’s enough to send Marcus to federal prison for five consecutive life sentences.”
I let out a shaky breath. “We have it. My dad is going to come home.”
But as I looked closer at the box, I noticed something underneath the ledger.
It was a piece of folded paper.
I picked it up and unfolded it.
It was a child’s drawing. Stick figures drawn in bright, chaotic crayons. A tall man, a woman with curly hair, and a little girl holding a red balloon.
At the bottom, written in my father’s handwriting, were the words: For Emma. Always.
Tears filled my eyes. He had left this for me. He knew I would be the one to find it.
“Emma,” Luca said sharply.
His voice snapped me out of my emotions. I looked up.
Luca was staring at the reflection in the polished steel of the safety deposit boxes.
Standing at the end of the aisle, blocking the exit to the vault, were four men in tactical gear. They held suppressed submachine guns.
And leading them was Vanessa Bellini.
She had changed out of her red gown into a sleek black trench coat. She held a pistol, pointing it directly at my chest.
“Did you really think my father wouldn't have this bank watched?” Vanessa sneered.
“Vanessa,” Luca said calmly, subtly shifting his body to completely shield me from their line of fire. “You’re making a mistake. You don't want a war in a federal bank.”
“I’m not starting a war,” Vanessa smiled coldly. “I’m cashing in a bounty. Five million for the sick girl. And the ledgers come with me.”
She raised her gun.
“Kill them both,” Vanessa ordered.
Luca didn't hesitate. He kicked the heavy metal viewing table, sending it crashing into the first two gunmen just as they pulled their triggers.
May you like
Bullets sparked against the steel boxes above our heads.
“Down!” Luca roared, grabbing me by the Kevlar vest and throwing me to the cold marble floor.
