THE MAFIA BOSS FROZE WHEN THE WAITRESS SAID, “THAT CABLE WAS CUT”—THEN TURNED TO HIS MEN AND SAID, “LOCK THE CLUB.”

I screamed.

I fell to my knees amidst the shattered glass, clutching the quilt Leo had been sleeping under just an hour ago.

Vincent appeared in the doorway.

He didn't try to comfort me. He didn't offer empty promises.

He picked up the phone he had carried upstairs.

"If you touch a hair on that boy's head, I will burn Chicago to the ground with you in it," Vincent said. The absolute zero temperature of his voice was terrifying.

"Bring the girl and the bracelet to the old railyard at 2:00 AM," his father replied. "Come alone. No cops. No crew. Or the boy goes into the river."

The line went dead.

I looked up at Vincent. My vision was blurred with tears, but my mind was crystallizing into something sharp and cold.

"We are going to get him back," I said. It wasn't a question.

"Yes, we are."

"He wants the bracelet." I stood up, wiping my face. "We give it to him."

Vincent shook his head. "If we give him the bracelet, we all die. The moment he has the account numbers, we are liabilities."

"Then what do we do?!" I yelled, hitting his chest. "That's a seven-year-old boy!"

Vincent grabbed my wrists gently but firmly.

"Look at me, Grace."

I forced myself to meet his dark, calm eyes.

"My father is ruthless, but he is predictable. He plays chess. We are going to flip the board."

Vincent pulled me out of the freezing room and back downstairs.

"My father doesn't know what's in those ledgers," Vincent said, pointing to the books on the table. "He thinks they just track the money. But I know what else they track."

He flipped open the first ledger.

"Your father kept meticulous records. Dates, locations, names." Vincent pointed to a column of initials. "These aren't just hiding places. These are payoffs. Evidence of every politician, judge, and union boss my father bribed over thirty years."

Answer one: Don Carlo’s power relied entirely on secrecy.

Open two: If we threatened to release the ledgers, would it be enough to save Leo? Or would it just ensure our execution?

"We need leverage," Vincent said. "And we have exactly one hour to get it."

He went to a closet and pulled out a heavy tactical vest. He tossed one to me.

"Put it on under the coat."

"What's the plan?" I asked, strapping the heavy Kevlar across my chest.

"We go to the railyard. But we don't bring the real bracelet."

He walked into the kitchen and opened a drawer. He pulled out a pair of wire cutters.

He came back to the living room, picked up my mother’s gold bracelet, and carefully clipped the tiny golden bird off the chain.

He handed the bird to me.

"Swallow it."

I stared at him. "What?"

"Swallow it," he repeated. "If they search you, they'll find it. If it's inside you, they can't get the numbers. Not quickly, anyway. We attach a fake charm to the chain. A piece of brass from my cufflink."

I didn't hesitate. I put the tiny gold bird in my mouth and washed it down with a sip of scotch.

"Done."

Vincent looked at me with a mixture of respect and something deeper.

"You're braver than most men in my crew, Grace Mercer."