Chapter 5 - [THE COAT ON THE PLATFORM]
“He has her?”
Rosa grabbed the edge of the table to keep from collapsing.
“That’s impossible. She’s too careful.”
Luca stared at the wall.
“He said he’s waiting at the Racine station. He said if I’m not there in twenty minutes, he’s going to push her onto the third rail.”
Answer one.
Open two.
Vanessa’s father hadn’t died.
Carlo had lied about finding a dead man’s diary.
The Bellinis and Carlo had been working together this entire time.
I ran toward the stairs.
“I’ll go get Vanessa. She has to know—”
“No.”
Luca’s voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Leave her. This is between me and him.”
Luca looked at Daniel.
“You know what she looks like now. You’re coming with me.”
Daniel didn’t hesitate.
“Let’s go.”
Luca looked at me.
“Emma. Lock the doors. Stay with Rosa and Mia. Don’t let anyone inside.”
“Be careful,” I whispered.
He didn’t answer. He just ran out the back doors into the rainy Chicago night.
I locked the heavy deadbolts behind them.
I turned to Rosa. She was rocking Mia in her arms, praying rapidly in Italian.
I couldn’t just stand there.
I ran up the grand staircase.
I had to know what Vanessa knew. If her father was alive, she had lied to us downstairs.
I burst into the master guest suite.
Vanessa was frantically throwing clothes into a leather suitcase.
“Your father is alive,” I said.
Vanessa froze.
She didn’t look surprised.
She looked terrified.
“Where is Luca?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“He went to the Racine station. Your father has his mother.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“Oh, God. He actually found her.”
“You knew he was looking for her?”
Vanessa collapsed onto the edge of the bed.
“My father never stopped looking. He knew if Lucia was alive, she was the only one who could prove he cut those brakes. He needed her dead to protect himself.”
“But Carlo said he died.”
“Carlo hid him,” Vanessa sobbed.
“Carlo staged my father’s death ten years ago to protect him from the syndicate. In exchange, my father became Carlo’s ghost. He did Carlo’s dirty work. And Carlo forced me to marry Luca so he could control everything.”
A heavy, dark realization hit me.
“Vanessa,” I said slowly.
“If your father is Carlo’s ghost... and Carlo is locked in the wine cellar...”
Vanessa’s eyes widened.
“My father is going to kill Luca.”
She jumped up.
She ran to her closet and pulled out a heavy gray wool coat.
She grabbed her car keys.
“Where are you going?” I yelled.
“To stop him!” she cried.
“He ruined my life. He killed my sister. He’s not going to kill the only man who just gave me my freedom!”
Before I could stop her, she ran past me, down the back stairs, and into the garage.
I heard the roar of her sports car engine, and she was gone.
I stood in the empty hallway, my heart hammering against my ribs.
Twenty minutes.
That’s all Luca had.
(Shifting to Luca's perspective for the climax)
The rain was coming down in sheets as Luca’s SUV skidded to a halt outside the Racine station.
It was 11:40 PM.
The station was elevated, sitting above the dark, wet streets of Chicago.
Luca jumped out, his gun drawn.
Daniel struggled to keep up as they sprinted up the concrete stairs.
The platform was completely empty.
Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead.
The rain blew sideways across the concrete.
“Look!” Daniel shouted over the wind.
At the far end of the platform, near the edge of the tracks, stood a man in a black trench coat.
He was holding a woman by the arm.
The woman was frail.
She wore a cheap plastic poncho over a faded dress.
Her gray hair was soaked.
Luca stopped.
Twenty-two years.
He hadn’t seen her since he was a boy.
But he knew the slope of her shoulders. He knew the way she held her head.
“Mom,” Luca whispered.
The man in the trench coat turned.
It was Antonio Bellini. Vanessa’s father.
He looked older, weathered, but his eyes were sharp and cruel.
He held a revolver pressed against Lucia’s ribs.
“Stop right there, Luca!” Antonio shouted.
Luca raised his gun, aiming dead center at Antonio’s chest.
“Let her go.”
Lucia looked up.
She saw Luca.
Her knees buckled, but Antonio hauled her upright.
“Lucio,” she sobbed.
She called him by his childhood name.
“Oh, my beautiful boy.”
“I’m here, Mom,” Luca said, his voice breaking. “I’m right here.”
Antonio laughed.
“Touching. Put the gun down, Luca, or I push her onto the third rail.”
“If you push her, you’re dead before she hits the tracks,” Luca promised.
“Maybe,” Antonio said. “But Carlo promised me my life back if I finish the job I started twenty-two years ago.”
“Carlo is locked in a cellar,” Luca said. “He can’t protect you.”
Antonio smirked.
“Carlo doesn’t need to protect me. Because you’re going to drop the gun.”
“Why would I do that?”
Antonio pulled back the hammer on his revolver.
“Because if you shoot me, I pull this trigger. The bullet goes right through her spine.”
A perfect stalemate.
Luca couldn’t shoot without killing his mother.
He couldn’t lower his gun without getting them both killed.
Then, footsteps echoed on the metal stairs.
Someone was running up to the platform.
Fast.
Antonio glanced toward the stairs.
Luca didn’t take his eyes off Antonio.
A figure burst onto the platform, wearing a heavy gray wool coat.
“Dad! Stop!”
It was Vanessa.
Antonio stared at his daughter.
“Vanessa? What are you doing here? Go home!”
Vanessa walked slowly down the platform.
She was soaking wet, her expensive engagement dinner dress ruined beneath the heavy coat.
“It’s over, Dad,” Vanessa cried.
“Luca called off the wedding. Carlo is locked up. It’s over.”
Antonio’s face twisted in rage.
“It’s not over until she’s dead! She’s the only witness!”
“Witness to what?” Vanessa screamed.
“Killing Sofia?”
Antonio froze.
Lucia gasped.
“I know, Dad,” Vanessa sobbed, stopping ten feet away from him.
“I know you put Sofia in that car. I know you killed my sister.”
Antonio’s hands shook.
For a split second, the gun wavered.
May you like
It was all Luca needed.
TITLE: THE LAST TRAIN HOME
